Panzergrenadiers with the Wrecked T-34

Image size: 1600 x 1235 pixel. 757 KB
Date: December 1942
Place: Verkhne-Kumskiy, Volgogradskaya Oblast, Soviet Union
Photographer: Helmut Ritgen

Near the Don, winter 1942-1943: the costly fighting following the attempt to open a corridor to the trapped 6. Armee at Stalingrad. A wrecked Soviet T-34/76, with some of its ammunition spilled on the snow, is surrounded by the curious Panzergrenadiers of 6. Panzer-Division dressed in the reversible combat suit. Operation Winter Storm (German: Unternehmen Wintergewitter) was a German offensive in World War II in which the German 4th Panzer Army failed to break the Soviet encirclement of the German 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad. In late November 1942, the Red Army completed Operation Uranus, encircling some 300,000 Axis personnel in and around the city of Stalingrad. German forces within the Stalingrad pocket and directly outside were reorganized under Heeresgruppe Don (Army Group Don), under the command of Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein. Meanwhile, the Red Army continued to allocate as many resources as possible to the eventual launch of the planned Operation Saturn, which aimed to isolate Heeresgruppe A (Army Group A) from the rest of the German Army. To remedy the situation, the Luftwaffe attempted to supply German forces in Stalingrad through an air bridge. When the Luftwaffe proved incapable of carrying out its mission and it became obvious that a successful breakout could occur only if launched as early as possible, Manstein decided on a relief effort. Originally, Manstein was promised four panzer divisions. Due to German reluctance to weaken certain sectors by redeploying German units, the task of opening a corridor to the German 6th Army fell to the 4. Panzerarmee (4th Panzer Army). The German force was pitted against several Soviet armies tasked with the destruction of the encircled German forces and their offensive around the lower Chir River. The German offensive caught the Red Army by surprise and made large gains on the first day. The spearhead forces enjoyed air support and were able to defeat counterattacks by Soviet troops. By 13 December, Soviet resistance slowed the German advance considerably. Although German forces took the area surrounding Verkhne-Kumskiy, the Red Army launched Operation Little Saturn on 16 December. Operation Little Saturn defeated the Italian 8th Army on Army Group Don's left flank, threatening the survival of Manstein's entire group of forces. As resistance and casualties increased, Manstein appealed to Hitler and to the commander of the German 6th Army, General Friedrich Paulus, to begin the 6th Army's breakout; both refused. The 4th Panzer Army continued its attempt to open a corridor to the 6th Army on 18–19 December, but was unable to do so without the aid of forces inside the Stalingrad pocket. Manstein was forced to call off the assault on 23 December and by Christmas Eve the 4th Panzer Army began to withdraw to its starting position. Due to the failure of the 6th Army to breakout and the attempt to break the Soviet encirclement, the Red Army was able to continue the destruction of German forces in Stalingrad.

Source:

Helmut Ritgen photo collection
Book "The 6th Panzer Division: 1937-45" by Oberst a.D. Helmut Ritgen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Winter_Storm

Wounded SS With StuG and Destroyed T-34

Image size: 1600 x 1155 pixel. 481 KB
Date: Tuesday, 7 October 1941
Place: Staniza-Nowopaskaja, Sea of Azov, Soviet Union
Photographer: Unknown

A Sturmgeschütz (StuG) III A of the 1.Batterie/SS-Sturmgeshütz-Abteilung "Leisbstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" (commanded by SS-Untersturmführer Georg Isecke) approaches the Soviet T-34 tank that just recently destroyed. Other Waffen-SS men are evacuating SS-Unterscharführer Martin Hermann August Bergemann (born 30 July 1920 in Berlin-Heiligensee) from 1.(Krad.-)Kompanie/SS-Aufklärungs-Abteilung "Leisbstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" after his unsuccessful attempt to destroy the tank with a mine. Several rounds fired against the tank at a range of 25 meters failed to damage it. Destruction came as a result of gasoline 'bombs' being hurled against the vehicle and setting it afire. It is possible that the damage to the track and road wheels was done by means other than gasoline bomb. Bergemann died of his wounds in the same day and then buried in Melitopol, Ukraine. This brave young warrior is listed as one of the early tank destroyer of the Wehrmacht.

Source:

Book "Waffen-SS in Action" by Norman Harms and Ron Volstad, page 15

http://www.volksbund.de/index.php?id=1775&tx_igverlustsuche_pi2[gid]=03195b53b216d97b5230c47fa55c3a8d

Edited Photo of Bombed Out Berlin

Image size: 1600 x 1210 pixel. 336 KB
Date: Friday, 1 June 1945
Place: Berlin, Germany
Photographer: Yevgeny A. Khaldei

This composite image by renowned Soviet photographer Yevgeny A. Khaldei (March 23, 1917 - October 6, 1997) depicts the Red Army on the move. T-34/85 tanks are transporting Tankodesantniki (Tank Borne Troops). An artillery crew appears to be pulling a ZiS-3 76mm field gun through the rubble. Horse-drawn wagons carry supplies. Yet this image is made from several others; if you zoom in, you can see the crude lines where the photos were cut together, and even where Khaldei hand-drew details to cover where two photos do not fit together! The background clouds come from a separate photo entirely. Even the rubble has been cut and pasted into the photo. The view of this street may not actually exist; The spire in the background is part of the ruins of Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche ("Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church") but only one of its two surviving towers appears. This view angle of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche does not match up with contemporary photos of Kurfurstendamm, the street next to the ruins. The bell tower of Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche was never repaired; it was left in ruins as a memorial to the war dead. The church was bombed on November 23, 1943 in a Royal Air Force night bombing of Berlin. Composite images such as this one reinforced Soviet propaganda concepts intended for their public media. By depicting the Red Army on the move, it was not a static garrison of occupation, but a dynamic force against Nazism. Khaldei and other Soviet photographers did not share the western belief that photos should not be radically altered for propaganda purposes. Most of Khaldei's work has been altered in some major or minor way. 

Source:

http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery3/index.php/wwii0267