Life…Death…Iron

This blog is admittedly a steep departure from my usual topics, but I feel it so historically significant and interesting that it is has to be shared. For a little bit of background, another interest/hobby of mine since my childhood has been World War 2. That interest led me to begin collecting authentic World War 2 photographs, having bought my first over 30 years ago at the age of 12. Over my three decades of collecting World War 2 photos, I have accumulated thousands of images, private snapshots taken by frontline soldiers of all nations, most of which have never been published. I also have a smaller collection of what is known as “Press Corps” photos which were taken by professional war correspondent photographers.

On rare ocassions, when the subject matter warrants it, I will purchase copies/reprints of photographs when either the “original” photo is not for sale, or the price of the original photo is prohibitive, as a rule though, I really try to avoid copies/reprints. Recently though, my source in Germany (an estate broker and antique dealer) came into possession of roughly 300 color slides (known as farbdias) of the Battle of Stalingrad which was fought between August 1942 and February 1943. These farbdias are attributed to Dr. Chaplain Alois Beck, a Catholic Priest and Doctor of Austrian birth, who was drafted into the German Army in 1939. Dr. Beck held the rank of Kriegspfarrer (War Chaplain) and was assigned to a field hospital unit attached to the 297th Infantry Division of the German 6th Army, and, as an amateur photographer, documented the unit’s advance across the Soviet steppe and into the city of Stalingrad in the late-summer of 1942. Dr. Beck conducted Catholic Mass for soldiers preparing to enter battle, wrote letters home for wounded and dying soldiers, performed Last Rites, collected the identifications of the dead, and delivered eulogies for the fallen. He was also credited with establishing and overseeing 21 cemeteries in Stalingard for soldiers killed in the battle. Obviously, this was a case where my “hobby” budget would not allow for the purchase of the originals, so I purchased photographic copies of 45 of Dr. Beck’s farbdias. Dr. Beck and his farbdias survived the Battle of Stalingrad through a twist of fate- In the autumn of 1942, Dr. Beck contracted hepatitis and fell seriously ill. He and his belongings were airlifted out of the battlefield and removed to the safety of a hospital far behind the front lines.

Shortly after Dr. Beck was airlifted to safety, the Red Army launched a counter offensive which cut off and encircled the German 6th Army between the Don and Volga Rivers, in what would become known as the “Stalingrad Kessel” or “Stalingrad cauldron.” German, Rumanian, Italian, and Hungarian axis troops in the “kessel” fell back from their positions on the Don River Steppe and consolidated with the German forces inside Stalingrad and its suburbs. Surrounded on all sides by the Soviets, and cutoff from supply columns on the ground, the Axis troops in Stalingrad faced a grim fate. Aerial supply drops intended to keep the entrapped the 6th Army alive until German ground forces could attempt a rescue operation were hamstrung by horrible winter weather, and were largely unsuccessful.

Axis troops in the besieged city were shelled mercilessly by the Red Army artillery, and endless attacks were launched by Soviet foot soldiers., many of whom entered the battle without guns, simply scavenging rifles from the corpses of the dead within the cauldron. On the northern end of Stalingrad, in the factory district, Soviet workers at the Dzerzhinsky Tractor Works assembled tanks and drove them directly onto the battelfield, the front lines being just outside the doors of the facility. The most horrific and savage hand-to-hand combat ever winessed by humanity took place in the fatories, apartments, cellars, and sewers of Stalingrad. It was not uncommon for German and Soviet soldiers to occupy different floors or rooms of the same building.

Temperatures soon dropped below zero, and with little shelter, no food, inadequate clothing, and little water, Axis soldiers slowly began showing the effects of starvation and exposure. A German panzer force attempted to break through the encirclement and rescue the trapped 6th Army, but was reprelled by superior Soviet armor. Many Axis troops knowing there was now no way out of Stalingrad other than the long march to a gulag in Siberia chose to commit suicide with their last bullet, others simply took off their helmets and calmly walked into Soviet gunfire. Some resorted to cannibalism as a means of survival. Thousands more held on, but succumbed to starvation and hypothermia in the closing days of the battle. Of the 190,000 who survived the battle and marched into Soviet captivity in February 1943, only 5,000 would ever return home to Germany. Photos taken following the battle show mountains of German corpses stacked like cordwood on the outkirts of the city. When the spring thaw came, the bodies of dead soldiers, both Soviet and German, clogged the Volga River like jams.

Having narrowly escaped this grim fate, Dr. Beck returned home after the war and continued his duties with the Catholic Church. Dr. Beck authored two books (both in the German language) one titled “Messerklärung. Nach dem Rundschreiben Papst Pius XII. Mediator Dei”  (1953) a religous text, and the second titled “Bis Stalingrad” (1983) which documented his military service and showcased many of his farbdias. Both books are exceedingly rare and hardto find today. Dr. Beck is said to have delivered over 700 public speeches following the war, but he only displayed his farbdias of Stalingrad around a dozen times.

Here are some of the 45 copies of Dr. Alois Beck’s farbdias that I recently purchased, as well as additional black and white photographs of the Battle of Stalingrad from my personal collection which I have acquired over the years. I have provided descriptions of the photos when possible as well as crediting the original photographer/source when possible. Also included is the translation of a single page from an unkown German veteran’s diary/memoir I acquired detailing his experiences at Stalingrad.

The Battle of Stalingrad raged from August 23, 1942 to Febraury 2, 1943 and is recognized as the deadliest battle in the history of human conflict. Nearly 2,000,000 (two million) wounded and dead were recorded by the warring factions, as well as 40,000 civilian dead. Of the 190,000 German prisoners taken following the February 2, 1943 surrender, a further 185,000 would die in Soviet captivity, the 5,000 survivors would be released from Soviet POW camps between 1949 and 1955. Stalingrad marked the turning point of World War 2, giving the Soviets the upper hand.

Diary/Memoir of an Unknown Soldier in My Collection (translated from German)

“After November I was relocated to a platoon in the city of Stalingrad. Our position was located on the Volga River where it had been relatively quiet. To our left the Soviets had established a small bridgehead. The Soviets arrived at our position on Christmas and broke through our flank. My unit was pulled out of the city, and we recieved seven days rest.

On January 7th I was reactivated, this time to the north end of the city, in the area of the Red October factory. It was a long, rough journey to get through the city. The Soviets were well-informed of our movements, and were all over our radio waves for the next few days. They knew we were desperately in need of repalcements around Red October.

My company was situated among the remnants of a bread factory. My platoon stayed in the old kitchen area. My platoon consisted of six Germans and four Rumanian soldiers. The Rumanians had fought gallantly throughout the entire battle. There was very little left of the bread factory, just the rubble of the outer walls. I held a machinegun position in a window hole, open and exposed to the enemy.

At 5:30 am (no date given) the Soviets began a long bombardment that lasted three hours. They pounded us with every concievable weapon. Through my window hole they even tossed hand grenades. In short, it was hell.  The Soviets were about 45 feet away from our positions, and a German platoon even occupied half of the building the Soviets were in.”

The entry ends at this point (next page(s) missing) and picks up in March 1943 after the soldier was transferred to Rzhew, indicating he was one of the lucky ones who was airlifted out of Stalingrad after the encirclement.