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Vasily Zaytsev is a world-known sniper of the Second World War, whose deeds are probably known by everyone. However this article will tell you little- known facts about the life of this hero.

The battle for Stalingrad lasted 200 days and nights, 135 of which were for Mamayev Hill. Mamayev Hill, rising over a central part of the city, was the most important link of the defense system of Stalingrad front, because it let the one who control its height take control not only over the city, but over the Volga crossing as well.

Pitomnik Airfield is known to everyone who has ever read about the Stalingrad battle. It’s the main airfield where all the supply of German troops came to, all the wounded were taken out of here. After having lost “Pitomnik” Paulus’s army supply practically ended.

The village of Rossoshka and the surroundings is a land soaked in blood, which saw scads of crippled fates. In 1942, there was a Soviet prison camp, and in 1943 there was a cemetery for German servicemen here. Now we have here a large military memorial cemetery for the soldiers of both the once opposing parties...

In the first photo, dated 1942, the Norwegian volunteer SS Hans Christian Romerud holds in his hands the skull of a soldier of the red army, from which, according to eyewitnesses, was going to make a candle holder or ashtray. This place is North Karelia (USSR).In the next photo, already skull of Romerud, discovered on 25 June 2006, 62 years after his death.

At the end of 1942, at the beginning of 1943, a terrible tragedy happened on the western outskirts of Stalingrad near Gumrak Airfield, which killed the last hopes of survival of the 6th Army of Gen Friedrich Paulus from the Stalingrad pocket. The German survivors of Stalingrad told that events occurring in the pocket near Gumrak Airfield can be definitely called hell on earth.

December 30 Sredneonskaya operation, or "Small Saturn", was completed. As a result of the Sredne Don operation, the Soviet troops, having broken through the enemy front with a width of 340 km, defeated 5 Italian, 5 Romanian and 1 German divisions, 3 Italian brigades, defeated 4 infantry and 2 tank German divisions, seized about 60,000 prisoners, 176 tanks, about 370 aircraft, advanced 150-200 km and withdrew to the rear of Army Group Don.

 "It is very, very difficult to properly assess the state of the enemy aviation grouping (this is especially true for the Luftwaffe.) The fact is that the air forces of the German Air Force were very often used as" fire brigades ". in a matter of days, if not the clock, operational direction to another. Therefore, the data that is relevant yesterday, today could no longer correspond to the current situation.

On December 14, the German troops had to evacuate a part of the bridgehead between Chir and Don in an area east of the Don. The offensive from the bridgehead in any case had to be abandoned, since even the division that Hitler originally agreed to transfer to strengthen the grouping on the bridgehead had to be transferred to the LVII section of the tank corps.

From the report of AM Vasilevsky to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of December 18, 1942.