It is traced from the photo taken by Emmanuil Yevzerikhin in August 1942, on a day in which 40,000 people died in the city under German ariel bombardment.
Most who see it comment on how exquisite the ink work is. It captures the picture of the children’s round dance fountain placed in the city in the 1930s, one of the few structures left standing at the end of that murderous day.
My interest in the battle was stirred long ago by its ruthless pitilessness. Men and women stripped of everything that would mark them out as human and transformed into quintessential fighting machines with one goal above all others– kill or be killed.
It is an apt page of history to open at a time when the hunted has opted to become the hunter. From the same Russian capital that directed the resistance at Stalingrad has come the order that unleashed against Ukraine its own Operation Barbarossa. As Moscow’s war crimes against humanity pile up so do the bodies.
Des Latham a couple of years ago created a podcast, The Battle Of Stalingrad. Running to 34 episodes it is gripping. I listened to an episode nightly. It pulls the listener into the city’s rubble, from the August heat to the December freeze. The narratorial use of mimicry accentuates the brutalism of it all.
Speaking to Being Human, Des Latham, when asked what prompted him to make the podcast, said:
The Soviet willingness to resist everything the Nazis could throw at them, the tactic of close quarter fighting, the night witches who swept down in the dark to return the serve of Wehrmacht terror, the nighttime hand-to-hand combat with knives and shovels which the Nazis feared and hated.
Des Latham’s tour of hell.
My interest in the battle was stirred long ago by its ruthless pitilessness. Men and women stripped of everything that would mark them out as human and transformed into quintessential fighting machines with one goal above all others– kill or be killed.
It is an apt page of history to open at a time when the hunted has opted to become the hunter. From the same Russian capital that directed the resistance at Stalingrad has come the order that unleashed against Ukraine its own Operation Barbarossa. As Moscow’s war crimes against humanity pile up so do the bodies.
Des Latham a couple of years ago created a podcast, The Battle Of Stalingrad. Running to 34 episodes it is gripping. I listened to an episode nightly. It pulls the listener into the city’s rubble, from the August heat to the December freeze. The narratorial use of mimicry accentuates the brutalism of it all.
Speaking to Being Human, Des Latham, when asked what prompted him to make the podcast, said:
I'm a war vet and found the stories utterly beyond survivability so wanted to understand how people could fight through such hell. Politically I understood it formed the basis of the Russian's core narrative so that was another reason. Ironically the podcast was produced before Putin's latest war. Who knew?
The Soviet willingness to resist everything the Nazis could throw at them, the tactic of close quarter fighting, the night witches who swept down in the dark to return the serve of Wehrmacht terror, the nighttime hand-to-hand combat with knives and shovels which the Nazis feared and hated.
Des Latham’s tour of hell.
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Did you ever see the three part series about Stalingrad on DVD? Very good. Can't remember offhand what it was called.
ReplyDeleteThe We Have Ways of Making You Talk podcast have a few good episodes on Stalingrad.
I'll need to check out Des Latham's podcast.
I can't remember Brandon. Have seen so much of it over the years. Des Latham's podcast is brilliant. Listed to a few of the podcasts from We Have Ways of Making You Talk, but the one by Des is unrivalled in terms of what it covers and the quality.
DeleteA very descript vision of conditions in the city caused by the Lufftwaffe airiel bombardment. The guts of the Soviets and overall leadership of Georgi Zukhov we should all be greatful. Without the Soviet victories at Stalingrad and, later, Kursk it is unlikely the fabled, but important, D Day landings would have happened, certainly not in 1944. It is fair to say, the outcome of that global conflict was decided largely on the Eastern Front. The Russians alone lost 22 million, other Soviet states also lost huge numbers which dwarf, apart from the holocaust, all other countries losses combined.
ReplyDeleteWould like to see your work of art on your arm Anthony. A brilliant idea for a tattoo.
Caoimhin O'Muraile
I remember watching War of the Century and being flabbergasted at the war on the Eastern Front. A million times more brutal than the Western Front and Stalingrad being the absolute low point for the troops invovled.
ReplyDelete