During the Great Patriotic War, the Germans were our enemies. But meetings took place not only on the battlefield. There were frequent cases of informal and even friendly communication between Soviet and German soldiers.
"Comrades in Misfortune"
Propaganda tried to create an image of the enemy. Our soldiers understood that Nazi Germany wanted to capture them native land and it will end badly both for themselves and for their loved ones. Many had personal scores to settle with Hitler: some had their families killed in a bombing, some had their wives or children starve to death, some had relatives killed by the occupiers. It would seem that in such a situation one could only hate.
But by the middle of the war, the “Kill the German, kill the reptile” attitude began to fade into the background, because most of the fascist soldiers were ordinary people who left their families and loved ones at home. Many had peaceful professions before the war. And not all German soldiers went to the front voluntarily - for refusing to go fight for the Third Reich they could be sent to a concentration camp or simply shot.
The Germans, in turn, also realized that they were not so much enemies as “comrades in misfortune” and that Hitler, who was the first to attack the USSR, was to blame for this situation of confrontation.
"Ivans" and "Hanses"
If in the First world war There were many cases of front-line fraternization between Russian and German soldiers, but during the Great Patriotic War this was not welcomed and was even prohibited by the Soviet command. And yet, the Germans and ours did not always strive to kill each other.
Often headquarters kept troops in positions for weeks, developing a battle strategy, waiting for the right moment to attack. Sitting idle in trenches or dugouts was a bit boring, but it usually never occurred to anyone to go and just kill the enemies dug in opposite.
Subsequently, former front-line soldiers said that during such periods they sometimes exchanged a couple of phrases with the Germans (especially those who knew German), shared smokes and canned food, and even played football, throwing the ball across the front line. Some called representatives of the enemy side by name, although nicknames were more common - Ivan or Hans.
In war as in war
In May 1944, rumors spread among the units of the 51st Army fighting in the Sevastopol area about an allegedly concluded truce between the USSR and Germany. The Germans were the first to stop firing. Fraternization began, which lasted exactly until the moment when Soviet soldiers the order to attack did not come. The information about the truce turned out to be a "duck".
From time to time, captured Germans ended up in Soviet hospitals, where they were treated on an equal basis with Soviet military personnel. They wore the same hospital uniform as ours, and they could only be distinguished by their German speech.
Former German officer Wolfgang Morel, who was captured by the Soviets in January 1942 and ended up with frostbitten feet in a hospital in Vladimir, recalled that only some Red Army soldiers were hostile towards him and other German prisoners of war, while the majority shared shag and behaved quite friendly. But all informal relations were forgotten when the order to attack came.
In 1944, military reports that reached the population of the Reich were of great importance. Of course, all of them were worked out in detail, since military propaganda was still in the hands of Dr. Goebbels, whose credibility, it is worth noting, had been greatly shaken by this time. However, the population believed unconditionally in the radio hosts and commentators of those war years, who were Hans Fritsche and Kurt Ditmar, absorbing every word they said.
The influx of information also came from outside, from direct participants in the events: vacationers and wounded were constantly coming from the front. Was it possible to hide the Allied landing in Normandy, the defeat at Stalingrad, the surrender of the army in Tunisia? It's not an easy matter. However, victories had a greater impact on the population than defeats. They not only raised the morale of the Germans, but also united them into a single family.
Cards have become one of the mechanisms for financing military expenditures
From the first days of the war (more precisely, even earlier - from August 25, 1939), a card system was introduced in Germany. Hitler and the top leadership of the Reich understood perfectly well that it was necessary to establish strict control over food in the country so that what happened in Germany at the end of the First World War would not happen again: death, hunger, destruction. It must be said that the population reacted to this measure (the introduction of cards) not only positively, but with great understanding. First of all, coupons were introduced for essential products: meat, fish, bread, fats (not butter), sugar, salt, some vegetables, milk. By the way, prices for dairy products were not regulated for a very long time. For example, yogurt and ice cream could almost always be found, since top level It was decided that during the heat these products are calming.
In addition to normalized distribution, there was also free sale. However, all provisions cost a lot of money and were not always available. If at the beginning of the war trade exchange in the country was carried out using money, then by the beginning of 1944 the market switched to non-monetary trade - barter. So, for example, 10 cigarettes were exchanged for 50 grams of meat, a goose - for 3 bottles of cognac.
German ration cards, 1940s
Needless to say, the lowering of standards had a much greater effect on the population of the “brown empire” than the events at the front. By the way, returning to military reports, listening to “enemy voices” was strictly prohibited in the Third Reich. For this, the Germans were not only deprived of radios, but as a preventive measure they could well have been placed in a concentration camp for several days.
The elite of the Third Reich did not even deny themselves oysters
As already mentioned, with the outbreak of war in Germany, a rationed distribution of goods was established, which was designed to maintain the pre-war level of consumption. With German pedantry, an incredible number of gradations were introduced, which, of course, created the appearance of social justice, that is, you work more... Thus, workers in metallurgical and military enterprises received additional standards, unlike office workers and agricultural workers.
In 1940, the French campaign led the Reich to a significant improvement in food supplies. Dairy, meat products, wine and even oysters came to the “brown empire” from Denmark, France, and the Netherlands. Of course, the latter were unlikely to be issued on cards, but it was quite possible to purchase them from the “black market sharks”. That is, in Germany there were still stores of both regular and exclusive goods.
Queue in Berlin after the bombing. "Die Wehrmacht", December 1943
As soon as the war began, income taxes in Germany were increased by 50%. Population incomes have declined. In addition, Hitler refused to agree to a salary reduction, although this was offered to him (for purely populist reasons). The country has introduced a system of delayed payments. In 1940, a 10-hour working day was established (again by order, but taking into account overtime pay). And already at the end of 1943, people in Germany worked 72 hours a week. Quite a grueling schedule, isn't it? They were given 12 hours of rest, most of which the workers had to hide in bomb shelters. However, nutritional standards until 1944, despite the replacement of products, remained quite sufficient to maintain a decent standard of living.
But a year before the end of the war, a radical change occurred. By the fall of 1944, consumption rates on cards were no more than 2/3 of the 1938 standards. Moreover, this figure does not take into account the fact that the quality of provisions has sharply deteriorated. Why? The top leadership of the Reich set the goal of primarily supplying the Wehrmacht with food. For example, the meat consumption rate for a German soldier was 57% higher than the rate for a worker.
In 1944, all German industry was transferred to the needs of the army.
If we talk about foreign workers, then for them there were completely different standards (again depending on nationality), which, naturally, were significantly lower than German ones. In 1944, foreign labor (7 million 400 thousand people) played a huge role in the German economy. For example, in agriculture foreign labor reached 50%, in industry - around 30%. And all this huge number of people needed to be fed. Therefore, they replaced products such as meat, fats, and bread with potatoes. Jews get cards for cigarettes, meat, fish, White bread, they didn’t give me any oil at all.
As for public catering, by the end of the war it practically did not exist in Germany. Firstly, many people (cooks, waiters, service personnel) were drafted into the army. In a word, there was a personnel shortage. Then food famine followed. That is, public catering establishments could not maintain the same level due to a shortage of products. Secondly, public catering did not enjoy the support of the ruling party, which, accordingly, caused certain difficulties in continuing its functioning.
As already mentioned, in 1944 the entire industry of the Third Reich was transferred to the needs of the army. Yes, during this period fashion magazines continued to be published, small sewing workshops and ateliers operated. Only now they did not sew clothes, but were mainly engaged in repairing old uniforms, adjusting them, and so on. Problems with shoes began back in 1940, and in 1944 they reached their climax. Clothing production was also suspended. And those industries that could not be put on a war footing were either repurposed or simply seized workers, transporting them either to other enterprises or sending them to the front.
Propaganda poster dedicated to the recruitment of ostarbeiters
But with manufactured goods the situation was much better. For example, at the beginning of 1940, the so-called “imperial textile cards” were issued. That is, each product had a certain point value. A coat, for example, cost 100 points, panties - 5 points. In general, everything, as is customary among the Germans, was thoroughly detailed, right down to the underwear. True, it must be said that these cards were not particularly enough, and then fashion magazines came to the rescue, which gave valuable advice on remaking old clothes into new ones.
Let's touch on another area - public transport, which, although it continued to operate, was still in a state of stagnation. Again, specialists were sent to the front, the transport fleet was being repaired, buses were confiscated for the needs of the army, the metro was used as a bomb shelter - all this made the work very difficult and led to a tragic end. As for cars, compared to the Soviet Union they were used a lot, but compared to the USA - few. It was even developed in Germany special program, according to which anyone could buy a car. But she did not go because the Volkswagen plant was loaded with military orders.
From the very first days of the war, the most severe restrictions were placed on fuel, which the Wehrmacht urgently needed. Our tanks ran on diesel, diesel fuel, and in Germany they ran on gasoline. The country had little of its own fuel, so all the factories that produced synthetic fuel worked only for the army.
The Reich authorities were well aware of the prices and assortment of the black market
Speaking about consumption standards, we forgot to pay attention to baby food. It is worth noting that they (the norms) were quite sufficient. In this case, one feature should be highlighted: in Germany, especially in the first years of the war, a policy was taken to send children to so-called recreational camps in the summer months. And forcibly. Why? Firstly, removal from the city is an escape from bombing and artillery shelling, which in 1944 began to play a dominant role. Secondly, this is an opportunity to give children balanced diet from central norms.
True, this measure (taking children to distant, safe areas) caused discontent among the population: parents did not want to part with their children, for fear of losing them forever.
Despite the fact that large sporting events was not carried out in the Reich (the reason is still the same - mobilization to the front), leisure in the country remained practically at the pre-war level. That is, people were shown films, plays, and concerts were organized. Cinema reached a special blossoming. In January 1945, the film “Kolberg” was released, filming of which began in January 1942, telling the story of the heroic resistance of a town in Pomerania, besieged by the Napoleonic army.
Adolf Hitler greets young men from the Hitler Youth. Berlin, 1945
In 1944, the black market also flourished in Germany, which, of course, was banned. Remember Hitler’s phrase about coffee from the film “My Fuhrer, or the Most True Truth about Adolf Hitler”: “Real! Turkish! From the black market! The fact is that coffee was in terrible short supply during the war. A good one, indeed, could only be obtained on the black market.
And finally, let’s remember one more episode from the film, this time from “Seventeen Moments of Spring”: an insurance agent (who is also an investigator from the district Gestapo office) visits Kat in the hospital. What is all this for? It turns out that Insurance companies they worked in the Reich even during the war. In Germany, unlike other countries, a so-called social insurance system was developed, semi-public and semi-private, which existed until May 1945.
Today, very little is mentioned about the role of the very first ally of the USSR in the fight against Nazi Germany. This ally became the Tuvan People's Republic.Rewritten modern history mercilessly erases the faces and destinies of those who stood to the end, in one of the bloodiest wars of the past century. The Tuvans fought to the death even when the enemy was clearly superior, but they did not take prisoners. After the very first battle, the brave Tuvans received the nickname from the Germans: “Der Schwarze Tod” - “Black Death”.
It happened on January 31, 1944 in the battle near Derazhno (Ukraine). Tuvan cavalrymen jumped out on small shaggy horses with sabers at the advanced German units. A little later, a captured German officer recalled that the spectacle had a demoralizing effect on his soldiers, who on a subconscious level perceived “these barbarians” as the hordes of Attila.
In his memoirs, General Sergei Bryulov explained:
“The horror of the Germans was also connected with the fact that the Tuvans, committed to their own ideas about military rules, did not take the enemy prisoner as a matter of principle. And the command of the USSR General Staff could not interfere in their military affairs, after all, they are our allies, foreign volunteers, and in war all means are good.”
From the report of Marshal Zhukov comrade. To Stalin:
“Our foreign soldiers, cavalrymen are too brave, they do not know the tactics, strategy of modern war, military discipline, despite preliminary training, they do not know the Russian language well. If they continue to fight like this, by the end of the war none of them will be left alive.”
To which Stalin replied:
“Take care, do not be the first to attack, return the wounded in a delicate manner with honors to their homeland. Living soldiers from the TPR, witnesses, will tell their people about the Soviet Union and their role in the Great Patriotic War.” 
"THIS IS OUR WAR!"
The Tuvan People's Republic became part of Soviet Union already during the war, August 17, 1944. In the summer of 1941, Tuva was de jure an independent state. In August 1921, the White Guard detachments of Kolchak and Ungern were expelled from there. The capital of the republic became the former Belotsarsk, renamed Kyzyl (Red City).
Soviet troops were withdrawn from Tuva by 1923, but the USSR continued to provide all possible assistance to Tuva, without claiming its independence.
It is commonly said that Great Britain was the first to support the USSR in the war, but this is not so. Tuva declared war on Germany and its allies on June 22, 1941, 11 hours before Churchill's historic radio statement. Mobilization immediately began in Tuva, the republic declared its readiness to send its army to the front.
38 thousand Tuvan arats stated in a letter to Joseph Stalin: “We are together. This is our war too."
Regarding the declaration of Tuva War on Germany, there is a historical legend that when Hitler found out about this, he was amused and did not even bother to find this republic on the map. But in vain.
At the time of entry into the war with Germany, there were 489 people in the ranks of the army of the Tuvan People's Republic. But it was not the army of the Tuvan Republic that became a formidable force, but its assistance to the USSR. 
Seeing off the Tuvan cavalry squadron to the front. Kyzyl. 1943
EVERYTHING FOR THE FRONT!
Immediately after the declaration of war against Nazi Germany, Tuva transferred to the Soviet Union not only the entire gold reserve of the republic, but also the production of Tuvan gold - for a total of 35 million rubles of that time (the payment and purchasing power of which is tens of times higher than the current Russian ones).
Tuvans accepted the war as their own. This is evidenced by the amount of assistance that the poor republic provided to the front.
From June 1941 to October 1944, Tuva supplied 50,000 war horses and 750,000 head of cattle for the needs of the Red Army. Each Tuvan family gave from 10 to 100 heads of cattle to the front. Tuvinians are in literally put the Red Army on skis, supplying 52,000 pairs of skis to the front.
Prime Minister of Tuva Saryk-Dongak Chimba wrote in his diary: “They destroyed the entire birch forest near Kyzyl.”
In addition, the Tuvans sent 12,000 sheepskin coats, 19,000 pairs of mittens, 16,000 pairs of felt boots, 70,000 tons of sheep wool, 400 tons of meat, ghee and flour, carts, sleighs, harnesses and other goods totaling about 66.5 million rubles
To help the USSR, the arats collected five echelons of gifts worth more than 10 million Tuvan aksha (rate 1 aksha - 3 rubles 50 kopecks), food for hospitals worth 200,000 aksha.
Almost all of this is free of charge, not to mention honey, canned fruits and berries and concentrates, dressing bandages, medicinal medicinal herbs and medicines of national medicine, wax, resin...
From this reserve, 30 thousand cows were donated to Ukraine in 1944. It was with this livestock that the post-war revival of Ukrainian livestock farming began. A telegram from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR to the Presidium of the Small Khural of Tuva noted: “The Ukrainian people, like all the peoples of the USSR, deeply appreciate and will never forget the assistance to the front and the liberated areas that the workers of the Tuvan People’s Republic provide...”. 
FIRST VOLUNTEERS
In the fall of 1942, the Soviet government allowed admission to military service volunteers from Tuva and Mongolia. The first Tuvan volunteers - about 200 people - joined the Red Army in May 1943 and were enrolled in the 25th separate tank regiment (since February 1944 it was part of the 52nd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front). The regiment fought in Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
And in September 1943, the second group of volunteers - 206 people - were enrolled in the 8th Cavalry Division, which participated, in particular, in raids on fascist rear areas and Bandera (nationalist) groups in western Ukraine.
The first Tuvan volunteers were a typical national part; they were dressed in national costumes and wore amulets. Only at the beginning of 1944 did the Soviet command ask Tuvan soldiers to send their “objects of Buddhist and shamanic cult” to their homeland. 
TUVA HEROES
In total, during the war years, up to 8,000 residents of Tuva served in the Red Army. About 20 Tuvan soldiers became holders of the Order of Glory, and up to 5,000 Tuvan soldiers were awarded other Soviet and Tuvan orders and medals.
Two Tuvans were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union - Khomushka Churgui-ool and Tyulush Kechil-ool. Khomushka Churgui-ool was a driver-mechanic of the T-34 tank of the 52nd Army of the same 25th Tank Regiment throughout the war.
Another Tuvan, Kyrgyz Chamzy-ryn, a holder of many Soviet orders, including the Order of Glory, met on May 9 in Prague.
One can cite many other military episodes that characterize the courage of the Tuvans. Here is just one such case:
The command of the 8th Guards Cavalry Division wrote to the Tuvan government: “... with the obvious superiority of the enemy, the Tuvans fought to the death. So, in the battles near the village of Surmiche, 10 machine gunners led by the squad commander Dongur-Kyzyl and an anti-tank rifle crew led by Dazhy-Seren died in this battle, but did not retreat a single step, fighting until the last bullet. Over 100 enemy corpses were counted before a handful of brave men who died the death of heroes. They died, but where the sons of your Motherland stood, the enemy did not pass...” 
Mortar crew of the legendary Tuvan brothers Shumov in the foreground (from left to right): Semyon, Alexander, Luka; in the background - Vasily, Ivan, Avksenty. 1944
The Tuvans not only helped the front financially and fought bravely in tank and cavalry divisions, but also ensured the construction of 10 Yak-7B aircraft for the Red Army.
On March 16, 1943, at the Chkalovsky airfield near Moscow, the Tuvan delegation solemnly handed over the aircraft to the 133rd Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Red Army Air Force. The fighters were handed over to the commander of the 3rd Aviation Fighter Squadron, Novikov, and assigned to the crews. On each one was written in white paint “From the Tuvan people.” Unfortunately, not a single aircraft from the “Tuvan squadron” survived until the end of the war. Of the 20 servicemen of the 133rd Aviation Fighter Regiment, who made up the crews of the Yak-7B fighters, only three survived the war. 
Tuva's assistance to the USSR during the war years fits well with the well-known saying: small is the spool, but dear. And if we discard metaphors, the Tuvan people shared the very last with the peoples of the USSR in the name of Victory.
The history of the republic and its people is impressive. Just one stroke. The political longevity of one of the leaders, Salchak Kalbakhorekovich Tok (1901-1973), who led Tuva from the late 1920s until his death in 1973, is truly unprecedented. No leader has led any country for so long! 
Salchak Toka
He was respected by Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (leader of China from 1928 to 1949, then of Taiwan until 1975), leader and Marshal of Mongolia Khorlogiin Choibalsan (1930 to 1952), and his successor Yumzhagiin Tsedenbal.
After the transformation of the republic in October 1944 into the Tuva Autonomous Region of the RSFSR, Toka became the first secretary of the Tuva regional party committee. Since 1971, he has been a member of the CPSU Central Committee and Hero of Socialist Labor. In addition, Salchak Kalbakhorekovich Toka is considered the founder of Tuvan Soviet literature: his stories and articles began to appear in the Tuvan and Soviet press in the early 1930s. Toki’s autobiographical story “The Word of Arata” (1950) was awarded the Stalin Prize for Literature in 1951.
Symbolic fact: the most famous Tuvan today is the Minister of Defense Russian Federation Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu was born in 1955 in the Tuvan regional center of Chadan.
On the question of the price of Bavarian beer
Two front-line veterans are sitting on a bench and drinking Zhigulevskoye. One of them sighs and says: “But if we fought worse, we’d be drinking “Bavarian” now...
(Indecent joke)
It should be understood that war itself is a very cruel thing. Therefore, to say that one side is better and the other worse is, as a rule, incorrect. As a rule - but not in this case. There are stories of a different kind, too. They remember German soldiers who shared their rations with Russian children, protecting the local population from their own colleagues. There are also stories about our cruelty towards the Germans. But here are the proportions - one to a hundred, one to a thousand...
By the way, here’s another question: are there many pictures like this, where the field kitchen is German and the action takes place, but in the occupied territory of the USSR?
J.V. Stalin did not tire of repeating for a very long time that the Germans are a people of high culture and many people in the USSR completely agreed with this. There are known sentiments and cases when Red Army soldiers did not want to shoot at Wehrmacht soldiers, believing the latter to be brothers in class, deceived by Hitler’s government, who needed to explain the state of affairs, and they would turn their weapons against the Nazis. But such sentiments passed rather quickly and the Germans themselves largely contributed to this. In the end, Stalin also admitted this. Already on November 6, he stopped separating them from the Nazis. Speaking at a rally in honor of the 24th anniversary October revolution, Stalin sometimes uses the term “German fascist invaders,” but basically in this little-quoted speech it sounds: Germans, Germans, Germans...
“... And these people, devoid of conscience and honor, people with the morality of animals, have the audacity to call for the destruction of the great Russian nation... The German invaders want to have a war of extermination with the peoples of the USSR. Well, if the Germans want to have a war of extermination, they will get it... From now on, our task, the task of the peoples of the USSR, the task of the fighters, commanders and political workers of our army and our navy will be to exterminate every last one of the Germans who made their way into the territory our homeland as its occupiers. No mercy to the German occupiers! Death to the German occupiers!..”
Film documents about the atrocities of the Nazi invaders (1945)
The material offered to readers consists of excerpts from diaries, letters and memoirs of German soldiers, officers and generals who first encountered the Russian people during the Patriotic War 1941–1945. Essentially, we have before us evidence of mass meetings between people and people, between Russia and the West, which do not lose their relevance today.
Germans about Russian character
It is unlikely that the Germans will emerge victorious from this struggle against Russian soil and against Russian nature. How many children, how many women, and they all give birth, and they all bear fruit, despite the war and looting, despite the destruction and death! Here we are fighting not against people, but against nature. At the same time, I am again forced to admit to myself that this country is becoming more and more dear to me every day.
Lieutenant K. F. Brand
They think differently than us. And don’t bother - you’ll never understand Russian anyway!
Officer Malapar
I know how risky it is to describe the sensational “Russian man”, this vague vision of philosophizing and politicking writers, which is very suitable for being hung, like a clothes hanger, with all the doubts that arise in a person from the West, the further he moves to the East . Still, this “Russian man” is not only a literary invention, although here, as everywhere else, people are different and irreducible to a common denominator. Only with this reservation will we talk about the Russian person.
Pastor G. Gollwitzer
They are so versatile that almost each of them describes the full circle of human qualities. Among them you can find everyone from a cruel brute to St. Francis of Assisi. That's why they can't be described in a few words. To describe Russians, one must use all existing epithets. I can say about them that I like them, I don’t like them, I bow to them, I hate them, they touch me, they scare me, I admire them, they disgust me!
Such a character infuriates a less thoughtful person and makes him exclaim: Unfinished, chaotic, incomprehensible people!
Major K. Kuehner
Germans about Russia
Russia lies between East and West - this is an old thought, but I cannot say anything new about this country. The twilight of the East and the clarity of the West created this dual light, this crystal clarity of mind and mysterious depth of soul. They are between the spirit of Europe, strong in form and weak in deep contemplation, and the spirit of Asia, which is devoid of form and clear outlines. I think their souls are drawn more Asia, but fate and history - and even this war - brings them closer to Europe. And since here, in Russia, there are many incalculable forces everywhere, even in politics and economics, there can be no consensus either about its people or about their life... Russians measure everything by distance. They must always take him into account. Here, relatives often live far from each other, soldiers from Ukraine serve in Moscow, students from Odessa study in Kyiv. You can drive here for hours without arriving anywhere. They live in space, like stars in the night sky, like sailors on the sea; and just as space is vast, man is also boundless - everything is in his hands, and he has nothing. The breadth and vastness of nature determine the fate of this country and these people. In large spaces, history moves more slowly.
Major K. Kuehner
This opinion is confirmed in other sources. A German staff soldier, comparing Germany and Russia, draws attention to the incommensurability of these two quantities. German offensive Russia seemed to him to be a contact between the limited and the unlimited.
Stalin is the ruler of Asian boundlessness - this is an enemy that forces advancing from limited, dismembered spaces cannot cope with...
Soldier K. Mattis
We entered into battle with an enemy that we, being captive of European concepts of life, did not understand at all. This is the fate of our strategy; strictly speaking, it is completely random, like an adventure on Mars.
Soldier K. Mattis
The Germans about the mercy of the Russians
The inexplicability of Russian character and behavior often baffled the Germans. Russians show hospitality not only in their homes, they come out with milk and bread. In December 1941, during the retreat from Borisov, in a village abandoned by the troops, an old woman brought out bread and a jug of milk. “War, war,” she repeated in tears. The Russians treated both the victorious and the defeated Germans with equal good nature. Russian peasants are peace-loving and good-natured... When we get thirsty during the marches, we go into their huts, and they give us milk, like pilgrims. For them, every person is in need. How often have I seen Russian peasant women crying out over wounded German soldiers as if they were their own sons...
Major K. Kuehner
It seems strange that a Russian woman has no hostility towards the soldiers of the army with which her sons are fighting: Old Alexandra uses strong threads... to knit socks for me. Besides, the good-natured old woman cooks potatoes for me. Today I even found a piece of salted meat in the lid of my pot. She probably has supplies hidden somewhere. Otherwise, it’s impossible to understand how these people live here. There is a goat in Alexandra's barn. Many people don't have cows. And with all this, these poor people share their last good with us. Do they do this out of fear or do these people really have an innate sense of self-sacrifice? Or do they do it out of good nature or even out of love? Alexandra, she is 77 years old, as she told me, is illiterate. She can neither read nor write. After her husband's death, she lives alone. Three children died, the other three left for Moscow. It is clear that both of her sons are in the army. She knows that we are fighting against them, and yet she knits socks for me. The feeling of hostility is probably unfamiliar to her.
Orderly Michels
In the first months of the war, village women... hurried with food for prisoners of war. “Oh, poor things!” - they said. They also brought food for the German guards sitting in the center of small squares on benches around the white statues of Lenin and Stalin, thrown into the mud...
Officer Malaparte
Hatred for a long time... is not in the Russian character. This is especially clear in the example of how quickly the psychosis of hatred among ordinary Soviet people towards the Germans disappeared during the Second World War. In this case, the sympathy and maternal feeling of the Russian rural woman, as well as young girls, towards the prisoners played a role. A Western European woman who met the Red Army in Hungary wonders: “Isn’t it strange - most of them do not feel any hatred even for the Germans: where do they get this unshakable faith in human goodness, this inexhaustible patience, this selflessness and meek humility...
Germans about Russian sacrifice
Sacrifice has been noted more than once by the Germans in the Russian people. From a people that does not officially recognize spiritual values, it is as if one cannot expect either nobility, Russian character, or sacrifice. However, the German officer was amazed when interrogating a captured partisan:
Is it really possible to demand from a person brought up in materialism so much sacrifice for the sake of ideals!
Major K. Kuehner
Probably, this exclamation can be applied to the entire Russian people, who apparently have retained these traits in themselves, despite the breakdown of the internal Orthodox foundations of life, and, apparently, sacrifice, responsiveness and similar qualities are characteristic of Russians to a high degree. They are partly emphasized by the attitude of Russians themselves towards Western peoples.
As soon as Russians come into contact with Westerners, they briefly define them with the words “dry people” or “heartless people.” All the selfishness and materialism of the West is contained in the definition of “dry people”
Endurance, mental strength and at the same time humility also attract the attention of foreigners.
The Russian people, especially the large expanses, steppes, fields and villages, are one of the healthiest, joyful and wisest on earth. He is able to resist the power of fear with his back bent. There is so much faith and antiquity in it that the most just order in the world could probably come from it.”
Soldier Matisse
An example of the duality of the Russian soul, which combines pity and cruelty at the same time:
When the prisoners were already given soup and bread in the camp, one Russian gave a piece of his portion. Many others did the same, so that there was so much bread in front of us that we could not eat it... We just shook our heads. Who can understand them, these Russians? They shoot some and may even laugh contemptuously at this; they give others plenty of soup and even share with them their own daily portion of bread.
German M. Gertner
Taking a closer look at the Russians, the German will again note their sharp extremes and the impossibility of fully comprehending them:
Russian soul! She moves from the most tender, soft sounds to a wild fortissimo, it is difficult to predict only this music and especially the moments of its transition... The words of one old consul remain symbolic: “I don’t know the Russians enough - I’ve lived among them for only thirty years.
General Schweppenburg
The Germans talk about the shortcomings of the Russians
From the Germans themselves we hear an explanation for the fact that Russians are often reproached for their tendency to steal.
Those who survived the post-war years in Germany, like us in the camps, became convinced that need destroys strong feeling property even among people to whom theft has been alien since childhood. Improving living conditions would quickly correct this deficiency for the majority, and the same would happen in Russia, as it did before the Bolsheviks. It is not shaky concepts and insufficient respect for other people's property that appeared under the influence of socialism that makes people steal, but need.
POW Gollwitzer
Most often you helplessly ask yourself: why aren’t they telling the truth here? ...This could be explained by the fact that it is extremely difficult for Russians to say “no.” Their “no”, however, has become famous all over the world, but this seems to be more a Soviet than a Russian feature. The Russian avoids at all costs the need to refuse any request. In any case, when his sympathy begins to stir, and this often happens to him. It seems unfair to him to disappoint a needy person; to avoid this, he is ready for any lie. And where there is no sympathy, lying is at least a convenient means of ridding oneself of annoying requests.
IN Eastern Europe Mother Vodka has performed a great service for centuries. It warms people when they are cold, dries their tears when they are sad, deceives their stomachs when they are hungry, and gives that drop of happiness that everyone needs in life and which is difficult to obtain in semi-civilized countries. In Eastern Europe, vodka is theatre, cinema, concert and circus; it replaces books for the illiterate, makes heroes out of cowardly cowards and is the consolation that makes you forget all your worries. Where in the world can you find another such iota of happiness, and so cheap?
The people... oh yes, the illustrious Russian people!.. For several years I paid out wages in one work camp and came into contact with Russians of all strata. There are wonderful people among them, but here it is almost impossible to remain an impeccably honest person. I was constantly amazed that under such pressure this people retained so much humanity in all respects and so much naturalness. Among women this is noticeably even greater than among men, among old people, of course, more than among young people, among peasants more than among workers, but there is no layer in which this is completely absent. They are wonderful people and deserve to be loved.
POW Gollwitzer
On the way home from Russian captivity, impressions emerge in the memory of a German soldier-priest recent years in Russian captivity.
Military priest Franz
Germans about Russian women
A separate chapter can be written about the high morality and ethics of a Russian woman. Foreign authors left a valuable monument to her in their memoirs about Russia. To a German doctor Eurich The unexpected results of the examination made a deep impression: 99 percent of girls aged 18 to 35 were virgins... He thinks that in Orel it would be impossible to find girls for a brothel.
The voices of women, especially girls, are not melodious, but pleasant. There is some kind of strength and joy hidden in them. It seems that you hear some deep string of life ringing. It seems that constructive schematic changes in the world pass by these forces of nature without touching them...
Writer Junger
By the way, staff doctor von Grewenitz told me that during a medical examination the vast majority of girls turned out to be virgins. This can also be seen in the faces, but it is difficult to say whether one can read it from the forehead or from the eyes - this is the shine of purity that surrounds the face. Its light does not have the flickering of active virtue, but rather resembles the reflection of moonlight. However, this is precisely why you feel the great power of this light...
Writer Junger
About feminine Russian women (if I can put it that way), I got the impression that with their special inner strength they keep under moral control those Russians who can be considered barbarians.
Military priest Franz
The words of another German soldier sound like a conclusion to the topic of the morality and dignity of a Russian woman:
What did propaganda tell us about the Russian woman? And how did we find it? I think that there is hardly a German soldier who visited Russia who would not learn to appreciate and respect a Russian woman.
Soldier Michels
Describing a ninety-year-old old woman who during her life had never left her village and therefore did not know the world outside the village, a German officer says:
I even think that she is much happier than we are: she is full of the happiness of life, living in close proximity to nature; she is happy with the inexhaustible power of her simplicity.
Major K. Kuehner
We find about simple, integral feelings among Russians in the memoirs of another German.
“I’m talking to Anna, my eldest daughter,” he writes. - She is not married yet. Why doesn't she leave this poor land? - I ask her and show her photographs from Germany. The girl points to her mother and sisters and explains that she feels best among her loved ones. It seems to me that these people have only one desire: to love each other and live for their neighbors.
Germans about Russian simplicity, intelligence and talent
German officers sometimes do not know how to answer simple questions from ordinary Russian people.
The general and his retinue pass by a Russian prisoner herding sheep destined for the German kitchen. “She’s stupid,” the prisoner began to express his thoughts, “but she’s peaceful, and what about the people, sir? Why are people so unpeaceful? Why are they killing each other?!”... We couldn’t answer his last question. His words came from the depths of the soul of a simple Russian person.
General Schweppenburg
The spontaneity and simplicity of the Russians make the German exclaim:
Russians don't grow up. They remain children... If you look at the Russian masses from this point of view, you will understand them and forgive them a lot.
Foreign eyewitnesses try to explain the courage, endurance, and undemanding nature of the Russians by their proximity to the harmonious, pure, but also harsh nature.
The courage of Russians is based on their undemanding approach to life, on their organic connection with nature. And this nature tells them about the hardships, struggles and death to which man is subject.
Major K. Kuehner
The Germans often noted the exceptional efficiency of the Russians, their ability to improvise, sharpness, adaptability, curiosity about everything, and especially about knowledge.
The purely physical performance of Soviet workers and Russian women is beyond any doubt.
General Schweppenburg
The art of improvisation among Soviet people should be especially emphasized, no matter what it concerns.
General Fretter-Picot
About the intelligence and interest shown by Russians in everything:
Most of them show an interest in everything much greater than our workers or peasants; They are all distinguished by their quickness of perception and practical intelligence.
Non-commissioned officer Gogoff
Overestimation of the knowledge acquired at school is often an obstacle for a European in his understanding of the “uneducated” Russian... What was amazing and beneficial for me, as a teacher, was the discovery that a person without any school education can understand the deepest problems of life in a truly philosophical way and at the same time has such knowledge that some academician of European fame might envy him... Russians, first of all, do not have this typically European fatigue in the face of the problems of life, which we often only overcome with difficulty . Their curiosity knows no bounds... The education of the real Russian intelligentsia reminds me of the ideal types of people of the Renaissance, whose destiny was the universality of knowledge, which has nothing in common, “a little bit of everything.”
Swiss Jucker, who lived in Russia for 16 years
Another German from the people is surprised by the young Russian’s acquaintance with domestic and foreign literature:
From a conversation with a 22-year-old Russian who only graduated from public school, I learned that she knew Goethe and Schiller, not to mention that she was well versed in Russian literature. When I expressed my surprise at this to Dr. Heinrich W., who knew the Russian language and understood the Russians better, he rightly remarked: “The difference between the German and Russian people is that we keep our classics in luxurious bindings in bookcases.” and we don’t read them, while the Russians print their classics on newsprint and publish them in editions, but they take them to the people and read them.
Military priest Franz
The lengthy description by a German soldier of a concert organized in Pskov on July 25, 1942 testifies to talents that can manifest themselves even in unfavorable conditions.
I sat down at the back among the village girls in colorful cotton dresses... The compere came out, read a long program, and made an even longer explanation for it. Then two men, one on each side, parted the curtain, and a very poor set for Korsakov's opera appeared before the audience. One piano replaced the orchestra... Mainly two singers sang... But something happened that would have been beyond the capabilities of any European opera. Both singers, plump and self-confident, even in tragic moments sang and played with great and clear simplicity... movements and voices merged together. They supported and complemented each other: by the end, even their faces were singing, not to mention their eyes. Poor furnishings, a lonely piano, and yet there was a complete impression. No brilliant props, no hundred instruments could contribute better experience. After this, the singer appeared in gray striped trousers, a velvet jacket and an old-fashioned stand-up collar. When, so dressed up, he walked out into the middle of the stage with some touching helplessness and bowed three times, laughter was heard in the hall among the officers and soldiers. He began a Ukrainian folk song, and as soon as his melodic and powerful voice was heard, the hall froze. A few simple gestures accompanied the song, and the singer's eyes made it visible. During the second song, the lights suddenly went out in the entire hall. Only his voice dominated him. He sang in the dark for about an hour. At the end of one song, the Russian village girls sitting behind me, in front of me and next to me, jumped up and began to applaud and stomp their feet. A turmoil of long-lasting applause began, as if the dark stage was flooded with the light of fantastic, unimaginable landscapes. I didn't understand a word, but I saw everything.
Soldier Mattis
Folk songs, reflecting the character and history of the people, most attract the attention of eyewitnesses.
In a real Russian folk song, and not in sentimental romances, the entire Russian “broad” nature is reflected with its tenderness, wildness, depth, sincerity, closeness to nature, cheerful humor, endless search, sadness and radiant joy, as well as with their undying longing for beautiful and kind.
German songs are filled with mood, Russian songs are filled with stories. Russia has great power in its songs and choirs.
Major K. Kuehner
Germans about Russian faith
A striking example of such a state is provided to us by a rural teacher, whom the German officer knew well and who, apparently, maintained constant contact with the nearest partisan detachment.
Iya talked to me about Russian icons. The names of the great icon painters are unknown here. They dedicated their art to a pious cause and remained in obscurity. Everything personal must give way to the demand of the saint. The figures on the icons are shapeless. They give the impression of obscurity. But they don't have to have beautiful bodies. Next to the saint, the physical has no meaning. In this art it would be unthinkable that beautiful woman was the model of Madonna, as was the case with the great Italians. Here it would be blasphemy, since this is a human body. Nothing can be known, everything must be believed. This is the secret of the icon. “Do you believe in the icon?” Iya didn't answer. “Why are you decorating it then?” She could, of course, answer: “I don’t know. Sometimes I do this. I get scared when I don't do this. And sometimes I just want to do it.” How divided and restless you must be, Iya. Gravity towards God and indignation against Him in the same heart. “What do you believe in?” “Nothing.” She said this with such heaviness and depth that I was left with the impression that these people accept their unbelief as much as their faith. A fallen person continues to carry within himself the old legacy of humility and faith.
Major K. Kuehner
Russians are difficult to compare with other peoples. Mysticism in Russian man continues to pose a question to the vague concept of God and the remnants of Christian religious feeling.
General Schweppenburg
About youth, searching for meaning of a life that is not satisfied with schematic and dead materialism, we find other evidence. Probably, the path of the Komsomol member, who ended up in a concentration camp for spreading the Gospel, became the path of some of the Russian youth. In the very poor material published by eyewitnesses in the West, we find three confirmations that Orthodox faith to some extent passed on to older generations of youth and that the small and undoubtedly lonely young people who have found faith are sometimes ready to courageously defend it, without fear of imprisonment or hard labor. Here is a rather detailed testimony of one German woman who returned home from the camp in Vorkuta:
I was very struck by the integrity of these believers. These were peasant girls, intellectuals different ages, although young people predominated. They preferred the Gospel of John. They knew him by heart. The students lived with them in great friendship, promised them that in future Russia there will be complete freedom in religiously. The fact that many of the Russian youth who believed in God faced arrest and concentration camp, is confirmed by the Germans who returned from Russia after the Second World War. They met believers in concentration camps and describe them this way: We envied the believers. We considered them happy. The believers were supported by their deep faith, which also helped them to easily endure all the hardships of camp life. For example, no one could force them to go to work on Sunday. In the dining room before dinner they always pray... They pray all their free time... One cannot help but admire such faith, one cannot help but envy it... Every person, be it a Pole, a German, a Christian or a Jew, when he turned to a believer for help, always received it. The believer shared the last piece of bread...
Probably, in some cases, believers won respect and sympathy not only from prisoners, but also from the camp authorities:
There were several women in their team who, being deeply religious, refused to work on major church holidays. The authorities and security put up with this and did not hand them over.
The following impression can serve as a symbol of wartime Russia German officer, who accidentally entered a burnt-out church:
We enter like tourists for a few minutes into the church through the open door. Burnt beams and broken stones lie on the floor. Plaster fell off the walls due to shocks or fire. Paints, plastered frescoes depicting saints, and ornaments appeared on the walls. And in the middle of the ruins, on the charred beams, two peasant women stand and pray.
Major K. Kuehner
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Preparing the text - V. Drobyshev. Based on materials from the magazine " Slav»