European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 21, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Nfn Pitinii Barbarossa saw memories of deadly Campaign remain vivid a. Data a a. A. A ,. A. A a a a a a 4. We germans were confident about our fighting ability. A by de Reavis staff writer h Hitler s code word for the invasion of the. Soviet Union was operation Barbarossa its outcome would decide the Fate of Europe and Divide the world for the next 50 years. It also introduced a new dimension in brutality. During the Poland Campaign Hitler had. Practice deportation and extermination but nazi cruelly was carried to even greater extremes in the soviet Union. A. A a a the invasion was preceded by a massing of the greatest i number of soldiers that history has known for a Battle. A a a at 3.15 a m on june 22,1941, the germans crossed the soviet Border with 153 divisions armed with 3,580 tanks and 600,000 other vehicles 7,184 artillery pieces and 2,740 air planes moreover there were 12 divisions and 10 brigade s from Romania 18 finnish divisions three a hungarian brigades 2v?. Slovak divisions and later three italian divisions and the Spanish Quot Blue  All in All there were 3 million men fighting on the German Side and some 4 million soviets on the defense. A a. But operation Barbarossa broke a Cardinal Rule of military theory if not of common sense that Rule was never fight War on two fronts. / \. A a. A. A. Historians disagree As to Why Hitler attacked the soviet Union while his forces were entangled with the allies in the West they agree however that Hitler s staff of advisers and High ranking generals did not try to dissuade him. A a at our level we had no idea that Hiller wanted to attack Russia. The a soviets had deployed some troops at the Border and we thought we had to be there As a deterrence. That was ail Quot said count Johann Adolf von Kielman Segg a major and chief of staff for the German 6th army div in a Poland at the time of the invasion., a. When the order to March came von Kielman Segg said there was great doubt in the ranks about the undertaking. A a but you also have to Bear in mind that Hitler had won a a. Resounding victories All Over the continent Poland France Norway Yugoslavia and Greece were All Quick victories. A and we germans were confident about our fighting ability and above All we knew we had the Best leadership. The a count Johann Adolf von Kielman Segg former German officer question that Caine to my Mihoci and not Only to me was could we do it a capture Moscow before Winter Hitler and the High command apparently thought so Quot von. Kielman Segg said.  a. Y there was another reason for Hitler and the High command to be confident about the invasion. Stalin had purged at least 10,000 officers from the soviet military in 1938, killing Many and sending the rest into siberian exile. In that Light it was believed the soviets weren t ready for combat. A a v. A after hard fighting on the Border we moved very quickly Inland Quot the former Soldier recalled. Quot our main goal was Leningrad. In fact we moved so quickly the first. 700 or so Kilometres i became optimistic about the undertaking a a a. A Bui his unit was stopped about 60 Miles from. Leningrad. Quot we got stuck  the soldiers called the Green hello. Primeval forests so thick that you could t see the enemy a or Friend a  he was Only 2 feet away. A 1 a a a we also encountered heavy resistance. But a suddenly we got the order to Stop our Advance and head South toward Moscow. It was baffling. T could  a Golden Spires of Peter and Paul Cathedral. I can to prove it but i know that we could have taken the City. .1 later Learned the plan was to surround the City and starve a them  a ,.a a a. Von Kielman Segg said they  to. Surround entire a armies but were unable to a capture them because of the. Dense Forest. He said these / forces later became the nucleus of the partisan army that harassed a the germans until the end. / Quot we headed toward Moscow but on oct 9 a you see How Quot indelible that Date has remained a in my mind a a  Day it began to rain and the unit got a stuck in the notorious mud. And on that Day i knew we would not have a Quick Victory Over the . A a von Kielman Segg said. Germans like to. Believe that it was a the mud and the russian Winter that Defeated the German army. A Quot people Here Don t like to hear it but we were also  beaten. A a it. Col. Heinz Guderyan at his capture by the americans in 1945. Strategically soviet general Georgi Zhukov was a Brilliant strategist. He came at our flank with his reservists from Siberia a a a. A ,.  Only one train line from Siberia to Moscow at the time a the trans Sib. . A capabilities of the line were minimal. One of the divisions we fought was sent from somewhere in Siberia around the beginning of August. They came mainly on foot and arrived at the front on december 5th and fought us on december 6th. Try and copy that feat a.  said he can to Praise the soviets a. Morale  said they fought to the last . Often chose to kill themselves rather than be captured by the germans. A a. A a. A Quot. A perhaps the soviets knew better than von. A a. Kielman Segg what Fate awaited them in German prison , not Only called it a War of extinction but practice it. Captured soviet soldiers were not protected by the rules of the Geneva conventions /. Kielman Segg said he did not see what happened. Behind the  did t realize genocide was being practice. /.a. /�,.-. A. Quot i do know that Hitler lost hundreds of thousands of / potential allies by not taking advantage of the sympathy we had when we marched  Baltic states and the Ukraine Quot he.said., Quot they came out with Salt and bread throwing Flowers. We were the liberators from stalinist  a von Kielman Segg blamed the defeat on the brilliance of Zhukov poor German intelligence and the fighting a morale of the soviets. He said the soviets also came at them with tanks they had never seen before. A a a a Quot they had a tank that was so. Heavy we could t penetrate it with our conventional arms. The soldiers called it the elephant that thing would drive around. Behind our lines crushing our. Weapons and Light vehicles. Quot that was the. First time i saw Gorman soldiers in a panic we finally devised a Way of stopping it a by firing artillery directly at it or blowing off its treads. Nes count Johann ado Ifon Kielman Segg asap Iera German army. 196 3hot Page 14 the stars and stripes Friday 2