NINE
FROM 27 JUNE TO MID-OCTOBER, 16TH PANZER DIVISION was involved in a series of major battles with the Red Army’s South-West Front. Because of the short breaks between them they tend to merge into one long campaign of Operation Barbarossa, but they can be broken up into fairly distinct stages or battles. The first was the Battle of Dubno-Werba from 27 June to 1 July. This was followed by the Battle of Uman from 15 July to 8 August and then the larger Battle of Kiev, which went to the end of September. From 29 September through to mid-October there were the battles of Rostov and the Azov Sea.
The Soviet South-West Front was commanded by Marshal Budenny. A mediocre general at best, he nevertheless had an able subordinate in General Kirponos who had gained renown while commanding the 70th Rifle Division during the 1939 invasion of Finland. To defend the South-West Front, Kirponos had six mechanised corps—the IV, VIII, IX, XV, XIX, and XII—which were among the best in the Red Army at that stage of the war. On 25 June he launched them against the 11th, 13th, 14th and 16th Panzer Divisions in a bold attempt, not just to halt their advance, but to encircle and destroy them. His VIII and XV Mechanised Corps attacked from Brody while the IX and XIX Corps thrust into von Kleist’s Panzer Group’s northern flank, with the intention of meeting at Dubno. The Russians had a powerful force of 717 T-34 medium and KV heavy tanks which were half the total available to the entire Russian Army, and was more than sufficient to ensure victory given their superiority to the lighter undergunned German tanks. They eventually took Dubno, badly mauling the 11th Panzer Division, which lost 20 tanks.
The Germans were, however, slowly coming to terms with dealing with the T-34s and KVs. The 50mm guns of the Panzer IIIs could only destroy them at very close range and only then by hitting the Russian tanks’ more lightly armoured flanks and rear. At longer ranges their only option was to disable the Russians by hitting their tracks, which of course, still allowed the Russians to keep firing so it was only a partial—and very risky—solution. The majority of the German anti-tank guns were 37mm calibre and absolutely useless, while the heavier 50mm guns were, like the Panzer III, only effective at suicidally close ranges. One can then appreciate the sheer terror and feeling of helplessness the Germans experienced when they encountered these Soviet tanks. Their phrase for it, Panzerschreck, meant “tank terror,” and they spent a great deal of time, effort, training and weaponry to overcome it. The only effective weapon the Germans had at this stage of the war was the 88mm anti-aircraft gun, a superlative weapon against both aircraft and tanks. General Erhard Raus describes the effort it took to destroy a KV-1 tank at Rossienie, Lithuania, which had broken through and blocked a main supply road:
The first shot flashed forth from the anti-tank gun. The traced trajectory pointed like a silver ray directly into the target… . A glare of fire appeared followed by a violent impact. The tank received a direct hit. A second and third shot followed …
The tank did not move. It did not discover the firing battery until it received the eighth hit. Now it took aim and silenced the battery with a few 80mm [actually 76mm] shells. Two anti-tank guns were shot to pieces and the remainder damaged. The battery suffered dead and wounded and had to withdraw the balance of the personnel into safe cover in order to avoid further losses. Only after night had fallen could the guns be recovered.1
An 88mm anti-aircraft gun was brought up but the KV-1 destroyed it before it could fire a shot. Volunteers from the engineers placed explosives on the tank that night but even these failed to destroy it. Another 88mm gun was brought in but this time German tanks attacked the Russian tank with fire and manoeuvre to distract it while the 88mm gun got into a favourable firing position. The anti-aircraft gun fired seven rounds into the Russian tank. Only two penetrated, but they succeeded in putting the heavily armoured giant out of action.
When 16th Panzer encountered its first T-34, the anti-tank battalion sent in its 37mm guns, which fired from a range of 120 metres. Two hits were scored in quick succession without result. More guns opened fire, scoring 23 hits in all, with every round bouncing off harmlessly. At a range of 30 metres they finally managed to hit the T-34’s turret ring, immobilising its turret and rendering the tank harmless. This all boded ill for von Strachwitz and his tanks with their 50mm guns and relatively thin amour. He would have to rely on guile and superior training as well as the experience garnered by his troops in the French campaign.
Near Dubno, Hube’s 16th Panzer Division was attacked on both its flanks as well as frontally. The major threat came from Lieutenant General D.I. Riabyshev’s VIII Mechanised Corps, which had the 12th and 34th Tank Divisions and an armoured brigade under Brigade Commissar N. K. Popel. Their objective was to destroy Hube’s division from the rear and retake Dubno. The corps was well provided with deadly T-34s but their crews were poorly trained, especially the drivers, who were not yet familiar with their new tanks. The Soviet divisions had also suffered heavy casualties in men and equipment from relentless Stuka dive-bombing attacks while receiving little or no support from the Russian Air Force. Overall the Russian Army in the area lost over 200 tanks to the Luftwaffe attacks, sufficient to considerably weaken it.
Luftwaffe reconnaissance planes warned Hube of the advancing menace and Graf von Strachwitz was sent forward by Rudolf Sieckenius as a reconnaissance in force. Almost instantly von Strachwitz and his battalion were involved in repeated small-scale actions with Russian armoured forces. Excellent command and control, combined with accurate gunnery saw the Russian units engaged and destroyed. All too often the Reds fired while on the move making their gunfire extremely inaccurate. The Germans, on the other hand, always halted to fire. The Graf’s personal command tank destroyed many of the Soviets, beginning a tally that would place him among the top German tank aces of the war. Contrary to the practice of most regimental and battalion commanders, he invariably used a command tank carrying a main gun rather than the purpose-built command tanks which carried extra radio equipment in lieu of the main gun, and a dummy gun, which didn’t suit von Strachwitz’s active fighting command style at all.
General Hube redeployed his division in order to attack Werba. On the way he captured Ort very quickly but was then halted by heavy tank and anti-tank gunfire from positions on the hills north of Plaszowa. The German tanks were engaged in continuous running battles with Soviet armour, requiring individual tanks to retreat to the rear in order to take on more ammunition before returning to the fray. The fighting continued until dusk, with no relief in sight. It was a nightmare of thundering guns, exploding tanks, near misses, smoke, fire, noise and death. Crews of abandoned tanks struggled to make their way back to safety as still mobile tanks had little opportunity to see or collect them.
Russian infantry now surged forward to cut the road where the main divisional battle group was echeloned. Russian tanks smashed onto the road crushing soft-skinned vehicles while firing wildly at the armoured personnel carriers and light flak assembled there. Panic set in as the dreaded tank terror took hold, and German troops ran frantically in all directions to escape the firing steel monsters and roaring Russian infantry. A mad scrambling withdrawal began, covered by the few German tanks and guns available, which just managed to hold the Russians back. Mercifully nightfall prevented a major Russian breakthrough.2
Hube called for help from the Graf’s 1st Battalion, which had streaked ahead of the main body. On their return the Panzer Graf’s battalion came under heavy fire from Russian gun batteries set up on the high ground, which disabled several of his tanks with track damage. This type of damage could be repaired, but not under constant gunfire. As night fell the Germans sought to regroup and repair their damaged tanks. As they did so the Russians launched a massive attack at last light, with tanks and infantry hoping to catch the Germans in the open and off-guard. A wild melée developed as the Graf’s men desperately fought to repulse the vastly superior Bolshevik force. Flares and flames lit up the night sky, with light and dark alternating as fleeting shadows of men and tanks criss-crossed between them. Every so often a sharp flash indicated an exploding tank. Tracers streaked in long seemingly endless streams of deadly light, seeking out the soft targets of the advancing Russian infantry.
Von Strachwitz quickly realised that retreat was his only option. To stand and fight would mean the destruction of his vastly outnumbered force, despite killing more than four times his number in enemy infantry and tanks. He remained calm, rallying his force with clear, concise instructions for their withdrawal. He personally led the rearguard as the majority of his force sought to escape into the dark. Howling with rage the Russians infantry pursued, but losing direction soon gave up. The Russian tanks however pushed on.
As one by one his beleaguered tanks disengaged, the Panzer Graf fought on, knocking out or disabling Russian armour at every opportunity. Gradually his men abandoned the battlefield, leaving it strewn with burnt-out and blown-up Russian hulks, along with mounds of corpses from their supporting infantry.
There was very little time for von Strachwitz’s battalion to regroup, repair any damage, and take care of the wounded. Any of the wounded who could, stayed with their crews to keep on fighting. Speedily his men reorganised for the counterattack that von Strachwitz was eager to launch.
The Russian tanks had withdrawn, happy with their result, despite suffering horrendous losses. Thinking that the Germans were badly mauled they were not expecting the riposte when it came. The Graf’s battalion infiltrated the Russian lines stealthily, slipping in just before dawn. As the first streaks of light lit up the sky, the German panzers stuck. Their prime targets were the T-34s bivouacked for the night. The noise of their engines and clatter of tracks didn’t alarm the sleepy Soviet sentries, who merely assumed that it was a Russian tank column moving up. The German tanks moved slowly forward and halted. The Graf took in the scene before him and issued his orders. Every Russian tank was targeted. “Fire!” came his order and the German guns blazed. Immediately hits were registered all along the line. T-34s flamed and exploded in one continuous roar of fire and destruction. The German radio operators who manned the hull machine guns fired frantically into the Russian tank crews seeking to board their tanks or to escape. Very few escaped alive.
The Germans roared on to other targets. The Russian supply vehicles parked nearby were blown to pieces by high-explosive rounds. The Graf then called a quick halt to take stock. Behind him over 30 Russian tanks lay burning and destroyed, some with their turrets blown clear off.
Von Strachwitz’s next objective was the nearby Russian artillery positions. He ordered his battalion to follow his lead. The Russian gunners had heard the firing and were alert, but were not aware of the true situation or from which direction the attack would come. As it was, it took them from the rear. Tank fire, red-hot shrapnel and machine-gun bullets smashed through their exposed positions, wiping them out and destroying their guns. Massive explosions rent the air as the ammunition blew up. The gun crews didn’t even have time to send out a call for help.
This was still insufficient destruction for the Panzer Graf. His rampaging tanks roared through the Russian rear destroying all before them. Soviet supply columns were easy targets, succumbing to gunfire or simply being crushed by tank tracks. Headquarters units were also caught by surprise and blasted into oblivion as were food and ammunition dumps. Nearby he found a fuel depot, carrying mainly diesel for the T-34s, but enough petrol to refuel his thirsty tanks. At one combined fuel-ammunition depot he found a Russian tank column in the process of replenishing. The Russians didn’t stand a chance. Their shock was so great that the crews simply abandoned their tanks and fled on foot. Fourteen Russian tanks were set ablaze without a single shot being fired in return. Straggling Russian tanks were added to the tally as they returned to their rear for repairs or fuel, and a marching column of infantry was nearly annihilated with machine-gun fire before they could flee.
The rampage continued with von Strachwitz roving around the enemy’s rear. Rapid movement meant the Reds had no idea where he was, or what his strength was. Their greatest fear was that he represented a major German breakthrough. Fatigue was now his greatest enemy, as his men had had no sleep for two days and nights and were staying awake through adrenalin and sheer willpower. Still their battalion commander drove them on. All that mattered was to keep moving and keep destroying the enemy. His drive and determination kept his men going. If their older battalion commander could do it, then so could they.
The mayhem and uncertainty he caused was a major factor in the Russians’ calling off the attack on the beleaguered 16th Panzer Division. The Russians, unaware of von Strachwitz’s real strength, or the focus of his attack, sought to regroup in order to counter the threat that he represented. Hube’s division was saved. Kirponos had not only been repulsed but he had been forced to withdraw. No doubt the rescue of his division and the Russian withdrawal were major factors in General Hube’s later recommendation for von Strachwitz to be awarded the coveted Knight’s Cross.
Not all the Russians were happy with Kirponos’ withdrawal order. Political Commissar N.N. Vashugin countermanded the retreat order as being gross defeatism. He personally took command of the battered 8th Mechanised Corps and launched his own attack. Unfortunately he led his armoured force into a swamp where his tanks got bogged down, and for want of recovery tractors had to be abandoned. In utter despair at this pointless failure he drew his pistol and shot himself.
The battle of Dubno was the largest tank battle of the war to date, with the Germans fielding 250 tanks combined in the 11th and 16th Panzer Divisions. The Soviets had available 717 tanks, which they concentrated on 16th Panzer and the 57th and 75th Infantry Divisions. They lost 293 tanks, many of them to Graf von Strachwitz’s 1st Battalion. His own personal score would easily have been over 30 enemy tanks. Overall it was a considerable defensive success for the Germans.
General Hube’s 16th Panzer then continued its advance. Constant rain, however, slowed its progress, as mud caught vehicles in its glutinous remorseless grip. Von Strachwitz stood at the side of the river of mud that passed for a road and fumed, as his tanks were called in to tow the trapped vehicles through the morass. Never a patient man, he would have been sorely tested as he watched his fighting vehicles being used as beasts of burden, and using up precious fuel in the process. To make matters worse, Russian Rata fighters made several attacks on the almost stranded German vehicles, while at night obsolete Russian bi-planes dropped light bombs to disturb everyone’s sleep.
The Russians put up stiff resistance to the German advance at Kremeniece, Gamipol and Starokonstantinov. These were taken by German infantry supported by both battalions of the division’s panzer regiment. The division then went on to capture the bridges over the Horin River, and penetrated the Stalin Line near Ryuban with the help of 210mm guns of the heavy artillery.
Along with his regimental commander, von Strachwitz was getting concerned about his supply problems. Food was no problem, as the division had captured over a million eggs from a Soviet supply dump, so they were eating copious amounts of eggs cooked in every way imaginable. Resupply priorities were ammunition, fuel and food in that order, leaving little capacity for much-needed spare parts. The Graf’s tanks were in desperate need of repair and maintenance. The dusty dirt roads had scoured his tank engines, degrading their pistons and other parts, while the cloying mud, over a metre deep in places, had strained the tracks and engines. Very often the parts he requested just didn’t arrive, or they were the wrong ones, and if they were by chance the right ones they never arrived in the quantity necessary. He didn’t know it, but the supply officers back at army headquarters did not believe that his usage figures were genuine. They concluded that the division was simply hoarding in order to build up a spare parts reserve. With no real appreciation of the actual conditions at the front, they sent along only the amount they considered to be realistic and genuine. Von Strachwitz and 16th Panzer were not alone in their problems obtaining spare parts. Every division on the Eastern Front suffered from this difficulty. The situation was exacerbated by the diversity of vehicles in use, which included many captured and requisitioned civil and military vehicles from the occupied countries. For instance 18th Panzer Division had over 100 different types of trucks, 37 motorcycle types and 96 different troop carriers, while the cars were a motley mixture of German, French and Belgian vehicles. The whole front was a maintenance nightmare.
The Germans now planned to cut off parts of Marshal Budenny’s Army Group around the city of Uman. Von Kleist’s panzers were sent southeast to complete the encirclement. The 16th Panzer moved across the vast fertile fields of the Ukraine with sunflowers as far as the eye could see, all nodding in veneration to the sun. Yet all too often these fields concealed Russian units who were prepared to sell their lives dearly to delay the German advance. Brisk bloody battles took place within the golden fields. No quarter was given or asked, with each taking a small toll of lives from the advancing German infantry, so that their numbers were slowly eroded. Most battalions and companies were at half-strength or less with replacements only trickling in. Most of these replacements were inexperienced, quickly becoming casualties themselves. Here at least Graf’s tank men had an advantage, for while their tank numbers were getting lower, the crews themselves had a far higher survivability rate than the infantry.
The Panzer Graf as usual placed himself at the front of the advance, scanning the horizon for the tell-tale signs of enemy armour. In the vast emptiness of the steppes, large forces could pass each other without knowing of each other’s existence. It was becoming impossible for the Luftwaffe to provide reconnaissance over the vast distances being covered, a situation that would only worsen. A thin trail of smoke or some distant faint signs of movement were often the only signs to betray the presence of the enemy. Nevertheless the noose was slowly, inexorably tightening around the Russians.
Von Kleist’s three panzer corps drove the Russians away from the vital Berdichev–Katazatin railway, capturing both towns in the process on 15–16 July. This severed Budenny’s north–south communications, forcing a gap into his armies. Budenny was too slow to order a withdrawal and even pushed some reserves into Uman, which was about to be surrounded.
Pushed back though they were, the Russians were far from being defeated, and had plenty of fight left in them. On 20 July they vigorously counterattacked Kleist’s panzers with six infantry and two cavalry divisions. Their infantry attacked in human waves, arms linked in a brotherly embrace of death. Large helpings of vodka fortified them against the knowledge that certain death awaited most, while the lucky few would escape with wounds. T-34s packed with infantry stormed towards the German lines until stopped by a direct hit, which smashed the tanks and mangled the troops on board. The attack was repulsed with great difficulty, leaving long rows of dead Russians and burning tanks.
The ring around the Soviets closed on 2 August when troops of von Kleist’s Panzer Group reached elements of General Stülpnagel’s Seventeenth Army. The next day they were reinforced by Hube’s 16th Panzer Division which met up with the Hungarian Mechanised Corps. His division formed the eastward crest of the pocket at Monasteryschtsche.3 Trapped inside the Uman pocket were the Russian Sixth Army under General Muzyrchenko and the Twelfth Army under Major General Ponedelin with the remnants of 20 divisions.
The Reds made desperate attempts to break out of the cauldron, sometimes successfully. The 16th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion found itself surrounded by escaping Red Army troops in the Oratov forest. A desperate battle for survival followed with Russians hacking, stabbing and killing in frantic efforts to break through the ring, or at least kill as many invaders as possible. The majority of the Germans escaped, but just barely, being forced to abandon all their guns and heavy equipment, which were bogged down in the swampy terrain. There followed a week of heavy fighting as the Germans strived to keep the noose closed tight. The Soviets fought savagely in their attempts to break out, attacking in large and small formations with whatever weapons they had available against the German lines.
Von Strachwitz and his panzers moved around the perimeter, blasting the Reds with high-explosive rounds and scything machine-gun fire. In one instance, trucks crammed full of Soviets charged directly at his tanks, the soldiers firing wildly as they rushed forward. Tank shells blasted the trucks and men to pieces, while machine-gun fire cut down the survivors as they staggered from the wrecks, but not a single one surrendered. For these Russian troops, surrender was out of the question. As long as they held some hope of escape they fought tenaciously, not expecting any quarter nor giving any; it was a fight to the death. Some did escape through gaps in the line, as the Germans lacked the manpower to seal the pocket off completely; however, most ended up as corpses in the fields or as totally exhausted prisoners. Eventually 103,000 would be taken captive, while 100,000 would be either killed or wounded. Some 317 burnt-out or disabled Russian tanks would litter the battlefield. Budenny’s headquarters was overrun, with Budenny himself barely making his escape in a light aircraft. He left behind two army commanders, four corps commanders and eleven divisional commanders to march into captivity.4
During the battle von Strachwitz’s tanks captured Monasteryschtsche railway station, thus preventing any Russian escape by rail. Realising the importance of this escape route the Soviets repeatedly tried to retake it. The Graf’s men were exhausted by the continuous combat, as the enemy rarely let up, and constant vigilance was needed to spot infiltrators trying to sneak through the German lines, yet von Strachwitz kept pushing them on, leading by example, never resting and always where the fighting was thickest. He was always calm, almost coldly so, and completely in control no matter what the situation. Every so often, his sardonic humour would come to the surface and genuine warmth flashed in his eyes, giving a very human dimension to a highly disciplined and accomplished warrior.
The Reds, knowing the railway line was their best means of escape, kept up the pressure. They attacked in successive waves yelling their war cry, “Urra! Urra!” as they surged forward, often supported by tanks and armoured cars, or trucks bearing machine guns. However the Germans were equally determined to hold and they turned the railway station into a Russian graveyard. The enemy swarmed around and through their tanks. Frantic messages for infantry support went unanswered, and von Strachwitz soon faced a crisis. Ammunition was dangerously low, a number of his tanks were disabled, and his men were at the very end of their reserves of strength and courage. He was facing the option of abandoning his position or being annihilated. There came a welcome lull in the fighting, but all the old hands knew that it was just the enemy regrouping. At the very last minute a column of relieving infantry arrived to save the day. Even though the attacks still came in, they were stopped far more quickly and effectively. It had been a near-run thing. Slowly and with a great deal of relief, von Strachwitz led his battered battalion back to base and a well-deserved rest.
Any rest was short-lived as Pervomaisk, a large town on the River Bug, had to be taken. Hube tasked von Strachwitz with advancing swiftly to take the bridges over the river, ignoring any Russian units found on the way. In a swiftly moving column von Strachwitz’s battalion raced towards their objective. They brushed past light front-line opposition and once behind enemy lines they simply pretended to be a Russian tank column, waving to marching Russian infantry, and ignoring any Soviet mechanised units. It was a risky manoeuvre, which depended on the Russians mistaking the German armor for Russian tanks, but it worked. Only after the Germans had crossed the bridge were the gun emplacements and guard posts taken out in a hail of high-explosive and machine-gun fire. The German tanks, with von Strachwitz in the lead, quickly pushed on into Pervomaisk itself. Russian troops alerted by the gunfire were just rushing out of their billets when the Germans smashed into them, cutting them down with machine-gun fire. Here and there some firm resistance was encountered but the Soviets were too surprised to do much more than surrender or flee.
The capture of the town represented quite a coup for von Strachwitz and his battalion, but he wasn’t content just to wait there for his relief. Tanks were meant to keep moving; holding ground was for the infantry. Leaving a reinforced company to secure the town with its vital bridge, his force sped further behind the Russian lines. He came across a long, straggling column of Russian vehicles—trucks of all types, tractors pulling artillery pieces, cars, carts, anti-tank guns and staff officer vehicles—all crowded together, barely moving on a heavily congested road. It was a tank commander’s dream.
The Russians paid no attention as the Panzer Graf wheeled his formation around to move in parallel with the column. After all, the front was many kilometres away so the tanks had to be Russian. When his panzers were in position, the Graf gave his order to fire. A ripple of flame flashed along the German line followed quickly by a string of explosions smashing into the Russian column. Explosions rent the air as ammunition trucks exploded, destroying everything near them, fuel trucks went up in huge fireballs, and debris and bodies were flung skywards. Machine-gun fire added to the carnage as the Graf moved along the road like an angel of death. Russians abandoning their vehicles ran aimlessly in all directions, often straight into the gunfire and explosions they were trying desperately to avoid. Those who tried to escape by heading away from the road only got a brief respite until von Strachwitz crossed the road, knocking aside burning trucks, to commence the mayhem on the other side. Russians were crushed beneath the grinding tank tracks while the relentless fire of the Germans continued, spraying the whole column with the hot metal of shrapnel and machine-gun rounds. Not a single vehicle escaped the inferno. Some 300 trucks remained only as twisted, burning piles of debris on the road along with numerous guns, cars and carts. Here and there ammunition was exploding with sharp crackles while grey black smoke smelling of fuel and burning rubber permeated the air. The Russian dead lay strewn all along the road, singly and in clusters. Some bodies were still convulsing in their death throes, while here and there, like spectres through the smoke, shattered survivors staggered about in shock. For both the Russian column, and the troops waiting for their supplies and reinforcements, it was an utter disaster.
There was grim satisfaction in the scene for it was a serious blow to the Soviets, but the Graf couldn’t tarry, as the smoke and noise were bound to bring the unwelcome attention of Russian reinforcements. He had to move quickly before he was taken by surprise. Cleverly he moved his small force some distance away into cover, to await the arrival of the Russian rescue units. He didn’t have long to wait. A column of T-34s was soon swiftly making its way along the road towards the plumes of smoke.
Von Strachwitz calmly gave brief firing instructions, allocating his tanks individual targets. When the leading T-34 was comfortably in range for a kill shot he gave the order to fire. His round streaked across, smashing into the Russians’ vulnerable side armour. It burst into flame almost immediately. The other German tanks then commenced firing at short range, scoring hits with every shot, disabling or destroying each T-34 in their sights. Black smoke rings spiralled up, indicating a turret blown off or displaced. In a matter of minutes it was all over. More than 20 Russian tanks were blown up and burning, and the crewmen fortunate enough to survive were scattered in all directions, pursued by angry machine-gun fire.
It was a good day’s work, but with his tanks almost out of ammunition and low on fuel it was time to go back. Von Strachwitz ordered a withdrawal back to Pervomaisk, where the 16th Panzer had fought its way through to meet him.
NOTES
1. P. Tsouras (ed.), Panzers on the Eastern Front. General Erhard Raus and His Panzer Divisions in Russia 1941–1945 (Greenhill Books 2002), pp. 39–44.
2. Paul Carrell, Hitler’s War on Russia Vol. 1 Hitler Moves East (Corgi Books, 1971), pp. 30–31.
3. Günter Schmitz, Die 16 Panzer Division 1938–1944 (Dörfler im Nebel Verlag Gmbh, 2004).
4. Carrell, Hitler’s War on Russia, Vol 1: Hitler Moves East.