A raw taste of history!

The text translation below refers to a flyer issued and dropped on the winter front lines by Stalin's Red Army in 1942. It incites German soldiers to surrender and to fight Hitler. My father brought the leaflet home during his marriage vacation in 1943. Dismissed as miltary propaganda, it contains a surprising amount of truthful elements, that were only recognized many years later by the German public. The damage and all the unspeakable atrocities of the genocide had been completed by then.

The Flyer From The Russian Front January 1942


Today I looked at some old family pictures, and by doing so stumbled upon a flyer my father had brought back from the Russian front during a short vacation. The text is rather interesting, and I’ll try to give a proper translation.



Page 1

First header: Give up and surrender! Call loud: Proschaj Moskwa daloj Gitleral” This means: May you thrive, Moskwa, down with Hitler.”

Second header: What happens in Germany. January 1942 issue nr. 62
Text body: German soldier! Hitler has brought the utmost suffering upon your country. Hunger and misery reign in Germany. Read about the life of your families!”

Header: Diseases are mowing down the German Nation
Text body: The Swedish newspaper National Tidning has published a declaration issued by the director of the Prussian Center of Health, Mr. Conti, which admits that diseases such as tuberculosis, diphtheria and skin diseases are on the rise.
Typhoid infections are common. Given shortages of seasonal vegetables, Skorbut is on the rise. This has lead to an increase of mortality.”

Header: Germany is bleeding to death
Text of sketch page 1: These children won’t see their father again. He lies buried beneath one of the countless crosses in distant Sovjet Russia – Hitler has sent them to their death

Otto from Augustusburg wrote to Corporal Martin Vogel:
“Twenty men from our little village have fallen in Russia.

Page 2 text continued

It is frightening if you consider how many people we have lost during this cursed war already. The losses even exceed those from the First World War.”

Header: Where do the warm clothes end up?

Text body: A letter was found with the fallen soldier Franz Kipp. It came from his wife Gisela. She wrote: “I’m not surprised that you are freezing to death in Russia. The warm clothes that were taken away from us, have found new owners – such as ‘homeland warriors.’ The Gauleiter always used to be seen in a light coat, but now you can see him proudly walk around in furs. That’s what these people call volk solidarity.”

Header: I prefer to die

Text body: Soldier Karl Werner receives a letter from his mother. She writes: “It is unimaginable, what might still happen to us. I prefer to die. Our father feels like that, too. The war might finally end, once they have killed all of you, and Germany is devoid of any soldiers.”

Header: Himmler creates a special police force
Text body: United Press wrote that Himmler is organizing special police units for tasks inside Germany. This qualifies as renewed proof for the increasing discontent of the German people, and their outcry over these Hitler politics of war and hunger.”

Final paragraph: Hitler- this means war without end. Hitler – this means misery, famine, and death. Go back to your country, and, together with the German nation, eliminate Hitler!

Code word= Heimat (homeland)
Box to lower left: Passport. I, German soldier, refuse to fight against Russian workers and peasants. I hereby surrender, and give myself over to the red Army.”

Bottom line: Read and distribute to your comrades.

End of document

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comment: errors in the "Russian" German text have been corrected in the English version.

© 2007 by Franz L Kessler