Red Road from Stalingrad: Recollections of a Soviet Infantryman

by Mansur Abdulin, Artem Drabkin (Editor)

A Soviet infantryman offers a raw and candid look at life and death on the Eastern Front of WWII in this harrowing military memoir. While the average Soviet infantryman survived the battlefield for mere weeks before being killed or wounded, Mansur Abdulin fought on the front ranks for an entire year—and survived to tell his remarkable story. His extensive service pitted him against the German invaders at Stalingrad, Kursk and on the banks of the Dnieper. He therefore saw and engaged in some of the most bitter fighting in all of World War II. Abdulin’s vivid inside view of the ruthless war on the Eastern Front gives a rare insight into the reality of the fighting as well as the tactics and mentality of the Soviet army. In his own words and with a remarkable clarity, Abdulin describes what combat was like on the ground, face to face with a skilled, deadly and increasingly desperate enemy.

Genres: History, World War II, War, Nonfiction, Russia, Biography, Military Fiction

294 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 31, 1990

Reviews

[Bon Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as detailed in terms of factional going ons on the front, because it was written decades after the events, to my understanding, at constant nagging of authors comrades about "when will somebody write the book" about what they went through. Since nobody seemed up to it, Mansur took the heroic task upon himself like so many times before.

What's missing in geographical, timeline and other details, this book more than makes up in story about camaraderie, sacrifice, looking death in the eye pretty much every day, for years, and just being there. For instance, part about how they took pity on "little Fritz", all red haired and bespactacled (must have been -6, so thick the glasses were), lost in the whole charade because they forced him into that scorched earth nonsense from military music band. They spared his life and gave him some lard, and he returned the favor in buckets. Simply unforgettable.

[Bogdan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not so detailed as expected, but, still a good account of that time from a soviet perspective. Also, he has fought on the Stalingrad front, but there aren`t a lot of new pieces of information about that peculiar front.

[Dachokie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engrossing Personal Narrative from a Red Army Soldier ..., February 22, 2011

Considering the titanic struggle between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union generated some of the most tragic superlatives in human history (bloodiest battles, longest siege, greatest tank battle, etc.), it still doesn't get the attention it rightfully deserves in Western culture. While historians from Europe and North America thankfully produce a continuous flow of literature that analyze the myriad of components that comprise such an enormous and complex event, there seems to be a void when it comes to personal accounts of the conflict from the Red Army perspective. In my opinion, there are surprisingly few personal narratives from the Soviet point-of-view that captivate the desperation, death, hatred, brutality and enormous destruction that defined Eastern Front combat and "Red Road from Stalingrad" is one of those few. Mansur Abdulin's memoir as a junior officer in an elite Guards unit serves as a great example of the nightmare the average Red Army soldier must have experienced while serving on the front line amid the fury of Eastern Front combat.

One way to describe Mansur Abdulin is that he could likely be Soviet Union's version of GI Joe ... an ordinary man assigned to achieve an extraordinary task. Coming from the mines of Eastern Russia, Mansur was well-equipped mentally and physically to handle the strain of front-line duty in some of the most pivotal battles of World War II: Stalingrad and Kursk. Abdulin's account of his service, while gripping and vivid, is humbly written. His story provides rare insight as to what a surviving Red Army soldier experienced in fighting battles that are typically defined as bloodbaths.

There are several attributes to Abdulin's book that I found appealing. First, the book is engaging and easy to follow. Many first-hand accounts told by Soviet veterans, in my opinion, are not enjoyable to read because they are written in such a straight-forward manner and are void of any emotive quality. Running through a hail of bullets appears no more exciting that sitting in a foxhole smoking a cigarette; it was just something that happened and we're being told about it. Abdulin, on the other hand, articulates his experience quite well and makes it easy for the reader to empathize with his moments of fear, frustration, anger and elation. Rather than dutifully telling us where he was and what he did, we go there with him ... we see the mangled corpses and feel the concussion of an artillery barrage; we are blinded by the smoke and taste the powdery dry dirt and grass in our mouths. The descriptive quality of the author's writing is simply captivating. Second, his story comes across as sincere and modest. Mansur Abdulin tells us about what he sees and experiences but does not portray himself as heroic (regardless of the medals he was awarded). Third, his experiences are enthralling:

- Getting caught disobeying Stalin Order 227 (No retreat!) and not getting shot solely because the Captain he faced was Estonian.
- Several accounts of luck saving him from certain death ... including an informal gathering of Stalingrad survivors that was interrupted by a random artillery round ... killing everyone but Abdulin.
- The descriptive combat recollections of the Battle of Kursk from an infantryman's point-of-view.
- The numerous towns and villages he liberated during the Red Army advance. Seeing first-hand the brutal impact of the Nazis (who poisoned the wells and razed the buildings in their retreat).
- Possibly shooting down a German plane with small arms.
- Getting caught in a cross fire, playing dead and making a run for safety

"Red Road from Stalingrad" is the best first-hand account I've read from a Red Army soldier so far. As I continue my search to find more combat narratives from the Soviet perspective, Mansur Abdulin's book will serve as a benchmark.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since reading William Craig’s 1973 classic Enemy at the Gates I’ve always been fascinated with the Eastern Front due to the massive scope of carnage and attrition seen in this theater of World War II. The obscure war memoir Red Road from Stalingrad is a great supplement for anyone interested in the conflict known as the “Great Patriotic War” in Russia and the former Soviet Republics. First published in 2004 when the author was 81 years old, this title, while not what I would consider “literature,” is basically a collection of experiences and recollections put into story form in a simple and conjunctive manner. I enjoyed this one a lot despite the occasional typo or mistranslated English verb tense in the printed text. While war memoirs aren’t generally a definitive guide for military campaigns, they can be great in showing us the depravity and even the humanity of war. Regardless of which country and/or ideology the veteran-turned-author fought for, the published war memoir, in my opinion, is an excellent tool in educating current and future generations across the globe to learn from past mistakes and avoid repeating them.

What occurred in and around Stalingrad from August 1942 – February 1943 was to become the greatest and most destructive military conflict of all time resulting in 2,000,000 casualties. The USSR had over 500,000 men die there alone. (To put that into perspective, the United States lost approximately 400,000 in the entire war.) Mansur Abdulin, a 19-year-old multilingual Tartar, born and raised in Siberia, finds himself volunteering to serve in the Red Army despite having an exemption from service due to his occupation as a miner of ore. After leaving his home in the Southeastern region of the Ural Mountains near the Kazakhstan border, he completes Infantry School in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and is assigned to the Stalingrad front on the Volga River. He partakes in the Red Army’s maneuvers that lead to the complete encirclement and destruction of the German 6th Army within the city. Though he hailed from the Artic climate, the winter fighting conditions on the Russian Steppe took its toll even on him. The average lifespan of a Soviet infantryman at the front was two weeks. This guy defied the odds and served for over a year being present at Stalingrad and Kursk before being wounded near the Dnieper River in the Ukraine. What’s unique about this memoir is that it was written from behind the Iron Curtain during the 1980’s and few exist from the Soviet perspective. Unlike soldiers within other armies, Abdulin and his comrades were in fear of being shot by their own if they retreated even from the most hopeless of situations. The author escaped such death three times while the Reds pushed the enemy westward.

Anyone interested in the history of Germany, Russia, WWII or who simply wants to read a good story of survival will dig this book.

[Al-Hussein Abutaleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars. Reminded me of Zorba the Greek.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

An immersive account of the author's time in the Soviet armed forces during WWII.

Format: Audiobook via Hoopla
Rating: 4 stars
Book 76 of 2024

[Wes Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exceptional. A great way to see how and why the Russian advance was determined and merciless toward the German resistance and lines. An epic read in line with Enemy at the Gates in terms of vividness. Highly recommended as it is not part of the main stream media for this theater of combat.

[Andrea Di Bernardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The military experience of the Red Army in the Second World War tells us of an enormous number of losses, quantifiable in millions of men. However, there is no doubt that the contribution of blood and the Soviet war effort gave the decisive push, it was fundamental in the defeat of Nazism in Europe.
We often have the idea of ​​the Soviet army as depersonalized, but it must be said that in recent years a large number of memories have restored a face to many of the Soviet soldier's war experiences. In this case we find ourselves in front of a beautiful book of memoirs, those of Mansur Abdulin, a soldier, who, as the name reveals, came from the places located south of the Urals, from what today are peripheral regions of the great Russian state.
Miner by profession, his qualification in battle was that of mortar gunner, and his past, accustomed to the efforts of the mine made him ideal for carrying the heavy loads that were required of those who operated a mortar. A book on a German mortarist recently came out, published by Greenhill Books (reviewed here the first part: https://oldbarbedwire.blogspot.com/........ ) and the combined reading can provide excellent insights into war tactics and the many points in common between soldiers of the same specialty although of enemy armies.
Mansur's war, narrated in this beautiful book published by Pen & Sword, is quite short when compared to the entire course of a world war that lasted 6 years, but coincides, on the Russian side, with one of the most intense periods and with the most ferocious fighting. , that is, those who began with Operation Uranus, the encirclement of the German forces of the Sixth Army of Von Paulus pushed towards the fateful city of Stalingrad.
Abdulin's account of those weeks and months spent on the field in the encirclement action are full of drama, but also of moments of humor and distraction. It is interesting to learn how the new recruits were received with the constant search for elements from the same region who could replace the fallen soldiers and preserve the strength of the unit and its cohesion. Another characteristic of Abdulin is his faith in the Communist Party which brought him various duties and tasks such as "Komsorg" a sort of commissioner who coordinated and assisted the members of the Communist Youth Union (Komsomol). This reference is cited several times and it was certainly a situation of responsibility rather than an advantage.
Following the victory in Stalingrad Abdulin will participate in other battles such as Kursk, Kharkov and the crossing of the Dnieper, always distinguishing himself for his tenacity, strength and above all, by his own admission "lucky star". Without doubt the period of battles that led to the turning point in the war in the east.
We are facing one of the best, most exciting memoirs from the Soviet side. Abdulin is an exceptional narrator, with an excellent sense of humor, and despite being ideologically very committed, he does not reveal the heaviness of political opinions, with reflections that are always fresh, very human and unusually, for those who were under the bombs and in the inferno of the eastern front, very bright.
I can only recommend this book for its beauty and for the very human and tragic stories, for the humor, for the sacrifice shown by a generation of soldiers who found themselves facing an invasion and revived an army that only a few years earlier had met terrible defeats.

[Shawn Fahy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted a shorter read while I waited for some holds from the library and I saw “Red Road From Stalingrad'' by Mansur Abdulin (1991) which not only seemed to fit that bill but was something that I’d been searching for for quite a while with no success: a first-hand account of a Red Army soldier from WWII. Finding such accounts seems to be a big problem, as even the editor/translator writes in the foreword that he had to read German accounts of the war to learn about the Eastern Front as a child in the USSR. He attributes this to a combination of the sheer horror of The Great Patriotic War (27 million men, women, and children of the USSR died in WWII, about 15% of the total population) and the extreme repression of the Soviet government, especially in the realm of free expression.

Abdulin was the son of a miner in Siberia who signed up to fight the Germans after their 1941 invasion and was made a mortarman, crewing an 82mm mortar, starting in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. He would go on to fight in Kursk and then the Dnieper River crossings, where he was finally wounded badly enough to be sent home.

Details of many things are kind of sparse at times and I found myself wishing for a little more. Maybe this was due to the translation losing detail or maybe the author was just used to not going into too much detail after growing up in the USSR? Some of the author’s exploits also seemed a little over-the-top and he always seemed to be the one who did something remarkable, never something that he merely witnessed, performed by anyone else. This made me a little suspicious about the story’s veracity but some quick searching online revealed nothing suggesting that Abdulin is suspected of being a fraud, for what that’s worth.

There’s an appendix that details the weaponry that I Soviet unit ought to have been issued along with the number of men and officers. This was interesting to me in itself but there was also a description of how the Red Army made do when the equipment that they were supposed to have wasn’t available. If Mosin-Nagant or Tokarev rifles weren’t available, then PPSh SMGs were often substituted, resulting in something that we’ll likely never see again: military units that are mostly armed with SMGs. It’s also funny to think that most of the small arms and light weapons mentioned in this book are still being employed in Ukraine today, often not geographically far from the locales detailed in the book.

Overall, the book was a good and quick read. There’s not a lot of other accounts from Soviet troops that I’ve seen so it was good to get a new perspective on that war.

[Cerisaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting account of what Russia calls The Great Patriotic War from the perspective of Machine Gunner Mandir Abdulin, a multi-lingual Muslim Tatar who volunteered for front line service despite being exempt from call-up as a miner. Abdulin survived the experience of Stalingrad, Kursk and the crossing of the Dneiper, from late 1942-43 when injury took him out of active service.

His book was published in the USSR in the 80s, based on his diaries. It's necessarily narrow in focus, detailing the daily experience of a young Red Army soldier. He joined the Communist Party as a serving soldier, becoming a political officer junior to a Commissar, and his memoir is very much from the perspective of a loyal Soviet citizen defending the Motherland from the invading Nazis. He refrains from judgement, and has little to say about the enemy he faced, though clearly had respect for their strength and tenacity in the face of heavy fire and retreat.

I've read other wartime memoirs from different sides of the Second World War, and this one is one of the better sort, engaging, informative, blunt as to the horrors of war. Abdulin considered himself lucky, and certainly he was to survive the carnage of the Eastern Front at its most intense period of combat. The Appendices confirm his chronology and accounts of engagements with the Germans.

He comes across as thoughtful, reflective, dedicated and friendly. I think he'd be good company for an evening over dinner and drinks. Though a good Soviet citizen he comes from a minority background and is therefore something of an outsider. He had a good long life as soldier, worker and family man, and lived until 2007. I wonder what he made of the collapse of the USSR and rise of Putin's Russia?

[Todd Kiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting read. I have read several books related to WW II, yet never one from the Soviet perspective and only limited material from a front-line soldier. Mansur Abdulin provided a very informative view of what the typical “in the trenches” soldier on the Eastern front endured during the war.
I found it interesting that Abdulin had a very fatalistic attitude before each battle in respect to his own life. It seemed he felt each time he entered a conflict it would be the day he died. This type of attitude seemed prevalent in the Soviet soldiers’ outlook on life. The author, by surviving for two years in battle, considered himself to be lucky; born under a lucky star. Yet, Mansur also felt a deep devotion to the “motherland” and worried how Russia would win the war without him fighting. It was a very interesting and unique look into the Soviet soldier psychological approach to WW II.
Abdulin details the horrific fighting endured in the Eastern front, yet provides this information without all of the blood, guts and gore you would expect. Don’t misunderstand this, it’s about war and more specifically frontline conflicts, so there is some description concerning death and the horrors of WW II. It’s just not packed full the expected “bloody details”. The author throughout reminds the reader of the hatred between Russia and Germany and about the Soviet soldiers attitude toward that hatred.
Overall a very interesting and informative read. A different perspective on the fighting in WW II. It’s a relatively short and easier read. It’s a translation from the author’s original Russian-written book and I found the editor’s notes throughout to be unnecessary and a little distracting, yet not enough to discredit the book.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting insight

Not having read a first hand account of the Red Army's campaign from Stalingrad to the Dniepr River this ibook provides an interesting insight to lives of the typical infantryman.
The account is written well and provides a first person commentary so often missing from accounts of the Great Patriotic War. What is also interesting is the window that is opened on civilian life in post-war rural Russia, a nation still struggling to emerge from the time of the Tsars.
One frustration with the book are the frequent and unnecessary clarifications presented as "editor's notes". This may be a personal opinion but surely not necessary.
All told, this is a worthwhile addition to the library of anyone with an interest in the period and it's campaigns.

[Nick Leader · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for the narrative, not necessarily the historical content. If you are looking for a book with in-depth military movements and strategies from the Red Army perspective, this isn't it. If you are interesting in reading an engrossing war recollection this is one for your shelf. It is an odd read because you know Mansur does not die (or he couldn't have written the memoir) but every conflict/chapter you are on edge because how could he possible survive?!?

Full disclosure, I listened to the audio production of this book and I'm not taking that into account of my rating. The narration was pretty awful and would drop my rating down to 3 stars.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read many first-hand accounts of WW2 experiences and they vary wildly. This one is somewhat unusual in that the author served on the Soviet side, and also in that it's more an emotional account than documentary. Looking at the casualty rates it's amazing anyone survived for any length of time at all, and indeed had the author not been injured it's unlikely he would have lived to write his account.

This fast read is not deep or detailed enough to satisfy historians but it's worthy anyway for another look at an already well examined situation.

[Alan McLintock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Russian soldiers experience of Stalingrad

An obviously genuine autobiography. Factually setting out the horror and his thoughts. The peripheral throw away comments are almost the most interesting such as about 3 sentence about shooting 200 wounded Germans they came across. A lot of awful horror also told in an interesting and low key way. Description of the surrender of Stalingrad and the wounded dying in the cold shows the absolute horror of it all. Very readable and enlightening.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting account of one Soviet infantryman's experience of the war. The account describes around a year of the war right at the turning point. The author entered the front lines as the Soviets counter-attacked at Stalingrad, and served there, at Kursk, and throughout the effort to retake the Ukraine until a wound rendered him unfit for duty.

Well worth reading to get a soldier's view of the war in the East.

[Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read. I liked how this was originally written during the Soviet era, so the attitudes of the author are made with the Soviet mindset. While it can be a bit depressing at times, given how much blood and gore there is in this story, I would recommend it to any history buff, especially as a companion text to something like Enemy at the Gates by William Craig. I give it a three out of five.

[Peter Rehn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great well written story that really draws you in and wakes you up to the horrors that went on in WWII. I could have done with less editors notes, especially the ones converting any measurements mentioned but I guess that's just me.

[Barry Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good account of frontline combat by a Red Army veteran who improbably survived 12 months of frontline combat.

The appendices provide good perspective of the wider picture, including dispelling the myth of human wave tactics by the Red Army.

[Jason Laseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome, awesome book. I've been trying to find bios from soldiers in the Russia/Germany side of the war and have had a difficult time. This book was exceptional, both in content and writing.

[Andres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book, written with so much passion and translated superbly.

[Steve Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent reading the best book I have read on Stalingrad.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent tactical descriptions

Makes me wonder 8f people these days could do what they did. Immense courage in battle under immense privation. Very much recommend it.

[Pulpo77 · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent first hand account of the experiences of a red army soldier in the eastern front.

[Dalibor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique and fascinating account of the WW2 personal experiences of a Soviet soldier.

[Patrick Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was intense and a powerful insight into the Russian experience. Wow, just wow

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 52% read. By then it just seemed like a very dry and very long list of what happened. Plus a bit propaganda-esque.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book and war is hell.

[Sarp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended.

Honest account of the Eastern Front and a thrilling read. Unique for the genre, the editor was actually helpful and did a good job.

[Ron L Scoggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting book. Similar to Eugene Sledge’s books. It was not a great book on the expansive big picture war, but rather a more personal account through four theaters of the Eastern Front. It was a good read. Glad I took the time.