The Forsaken Army: The Great Novel of Stalingrad

by Heinrich Gerlach

February 1943: after six weeks of appalling struggle for the city of Stalingrad the German Sixth Army, originally 270,000 strong, finally surrendered. A starved and exhausted remnant of 91,000 German soldiers was taken into captivity. By 1945 only about 6,000 were still alive, and only a handful ever returned from Russia. Heinrich Gerlach was one of them. From the moment of surrender he began to collect the personal stories of his fellow prisoners, everyone from generals to veteran infantrymen to boys who had only just left the Hitler Youth. It was his mission to tell the world how the Sixth Army, loyal to the last, had been sacrificed to the megalomania of one man, Hitler, who refused to order withdrawal even when there was no other possible course. The stories Gerlach collected he wove into this novel of bitter, hopeless betrayal, which relates one of the great events of twentieth century history. Every episode, every character, every detail of description in it is wholly authentic, making for a memorable and deeply moving book - one of the great classics of war literature.

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

383 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Heinrich Gerlach was a German soldier in the 14th Panzer Division during the Second World War, who later became a Latin and German teacher. His semi-autobiographical novel, The Forsaken Army, was published in West Germany in 1957. It was rewritten with the help of hypnosis after the original manuscript was seized by the Soviets. In 2012, Carsten Gansel discovered the original manuscript in the State Russian Military Archive. It was then published in Germany in 2016 and its English translation was published in 2017 as Breakout at Stalingrad.

Reviews

[Andy Weston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winter of 1942 and 270,000 German soldiers who had come to take the city of Stalingrad are surrounded. Any possible retreat routes lessen and the air supplies soon become to dangerous to undertake, but most significantly of all Hitler had no intention of letting them break out.

The duty of the soldiers of Stalingrad is to be dead

he famously said.
Gerlach’s novel is heavily based on fact, he was one of the 5,000 that survived the subsequent marches through Asia and concentration camps.
There is a large character list of course, many of which make fleeting appearances in the story. It’s a different type reading experience in that regard, yet an extremely rewarding one. It would make sense, with hindsight, to jot the names and ranks down and refer to when necessary.
Last year I read Breakout At Stalingrad by the same author, then picked this up in Bookends in Carlisle. It’s basically the same story. The former is his original novel, published in 1957. The latter is his whole manuscript, 150 pages longer, and so has more detail, only discovered in 2012.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Gripping" is the word for this novel about the German soldiers at Stalingrad in WWII--by a German soldier who survived the frightful ordeal. This is actually a paperback that's been sitting on the shelf for the longest time. It was published in 1967. Originally, it was published in Germany in 1958.
On November 22, 1942, the Russian armies closed a ring around the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad. 270,000 men were trapped, cut off from supplies. Hitler refused to permit the Army to attempt a breakout to the west. Luftwaffe (German Air Force) commander Goering promised his Leader that his planes could keep the trapped army supplied. He would fail dismally to carry out his promise. The Germans could hold "Cauldron Stalingrad" against superior numbers but they began running out of food and other supplies. On the 76th day of the siege, the Battle of Stalingrad ended as the greatest German military defeat in their history. 91,000 men, all that was left of the Sixth Army, went into captivity. When the war ended, less than 5,000 were still alive...

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than quarter of a million German soldiers fought in the Kessel at Stalingrad.Of the remaining 91,000 that were marched into captivity by the Red Army,perhaps 6000 were still alive by 1945.Only a small handful of these men ever made it back to Germany.
Heinrich Gerlach was one of them.From the start of his gaol term he vowed to write the story of Stalingrad and the men who were sacrificed there to Hitlers vanity.
Through his years in captivity he collected the stories of his comrades ,writing in miniature so he could hide the work from the NKVD.Yet he was compromised and the book was confiscated.On his release in 1950 he even underwent hypnosis to recall his lost work.Thus incredible book is the result.A heartbreaking collection of true stories powerfully woven into a narrative that faithfully fulfils his desire to tell the story of this forgotten army .
A tragic and awe inducing read and a genuine classic of WW2 literature .One of the few really great books on the Eastern Front campaign .

[Tom Andersson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Författaren till ”dödsdömd armé” var själv närvarande vid slaget vid Stalingrad vilket ger boken en ytterligare nerv av närheten till verkligheten. Även om skildringen är fiktiv är mycket av innehållet taget ifrån verkligheten.

En bok på 400 sidor om slaget vid Stalingrad kan man ju tänka sig innehåller dödliga halter av sk ”krigs-rønk”. Men för att vara en bok som utspelar sig i ett av världshistoriens största slag så är det relativt lite av det. Det mesta av det kommer i början av boken, vilket också är den svagaste delen. Man förstår inte riktigt vad som händer med alla ryska ortsnamn som fladdrar förbi och alla personer som man inte förstår om man skall komma ihåg eller ej - något som tyvärr dröjer sig med hela boken.

Men bokens stora förtjänst är hur den skildrar en kollaps. En organisation som faller samman och det stora armmodet som infinner sig. Från sidan 50 börjar sönderfallet då jag tänkte - ”fan, nu har de det väldigt tight” när de inte har all utrustning, kommunikationen är dålig, brist på mat och det låter som ryssarna kommer köra över dem vilken dag som helst.

Men berättelsen har stoff för två månader till. Stridshandlingar utgör en väldigt liten del, man kan räkna dem på fingrarna, och det är inte i striderna som handlingen ställs på sin spets. Det är när maten tar slut, när de kämpar för bränsle, för att få sina sår omvårdade och skräcken i att bli kvarlämnade ensamma framför fienden när snaran dras åt om ruinstaden.

Man träffar ett (lite för) brett persongalleri, där nästan alla är ”nazister” dvs del av tredje rikets krigsmakt. Till en början svårskilda från varandra eftersom de alla uppträder på samma militära manér. Men efter hand utmejslas de fega, de rädda, de förtvivlade, de ståndaktiga, de hänsynslösa och de mänskliga. När en burkkonserv kan få en kapten att gråta eller när beviljandet av att få krypa ihop med 12 andra i en källare eller inte är en fråga om liv och död släpper förtrollningen.

I deras situation, då hundratusentals män blir övergivna på order av han som skulle leda riket till seger blir det endast den galna som håller kvar vid tron. Som deras befäl säger när de till slut skall ge sig: ”Vi har varit soldater i tredje rikets armé, nu måste vi lära oss att bli människor igen!”

Och när man följer dessa soldaters utdragna lidande och förhoppningar - chansen till utbrytning, chansen till förstärkning, chansen att ta sig till flygplatsen och få åka där ifrån och till slut bara chansen att överleva en dag till i väntan på slutet - så kan man inte annat än att ha empati med dem. Och hur meningslöst allt är då man själv redan insett att det är kört för dem vid sida 50.

[Davidg · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cover says that this is the greatest novel ever to come out of Stalingrad. I am not sure that the lovers of Grossman’s “Life and Fate” would agree with that, but it this is written from the German point of view.

Having said that, I was hooked, I found it almost unputdownable. I was reminded ofMichael Herr’s “Dispatches”. Like that great book, this quickly describes an event or moment, without great detail, and allows you to grasp the horror yourself. And like that book, you know that everything that is described happened. It may be a novel, but it is true. Gerlach may have combined several individuals into one character, but all the events he described happened to someone.

Gerlach was one of the very few German soldiers to survive Stalingrad, be captured and survive the years in Siberian prison camps. He spoke to other prisoners in the camps, from common soldiers to officers to generals. From all these stories, he created his novel. Written in the camps, it was eventually discovered and confiscated. He had to recreate the whole novel, under hypnotism, in the 1950’s after his return to Germany.

Having finished the book, I learned that his original book was discovered in the Russian archives in 2012. I now need to read “Breakout at Stalingrad” and see how the passage of 10 or more years affected the immediacy of his original version.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictional account, based on the authors own experience, of the Battle of Stalingrad. Set during “the cauldron” phase of the fighting after the Soviet counterattack surrounded VIth Army. Based on a small group of junior staff officers and NCOs the author follows the evolution from early acceptance but no concern, through to panic and then resignation that they had been abandoned by Hitler. The book does not shy away from the grim realities of life, though still leaves a sense of self-censorship over the worst aspects of life in the cauldron. The main characters are all staff officers, and the narrative doesn’t focus on much of the battles or actual fighting, but the collapse of their division as a fighting force.

Junior officer, and ordinary soldiers, are portrayed as victims, with little reflection of the atrocities committed as they crossed Russia (I understand other editions, do include more recognition of this).

A harrowing but engaging story of one of the most savage battles in modern history. Highly recommended.

[Andy Hiscox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found a 1950s edition of this book whilst staying in a small country inn and immediately set about reading it.
The book is about the personal account of the authors involvement in the Battle of Stalingrad during World War Two. It’s an engrossing and interesting story of how Hitlers great 6th Army was encircled and abandoned by Hitler and it’s commander General Von Paulus to the Russians. The author describes the horrors of fighting on the Eastern Front in all its horrendous detail. I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in this period of world history.

[Rory · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome insight in to what happened at Stalingrad, and how the ignorance of one pathetic fool destroyed the lives of 270,000 German soldiers.

[Ranadip Sikdar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Year 1941. Hitler’s war machine, the wehrmacht was just a few miles outside the capital city Moscow. But winter defended the fate of the capital and Russia stopped German advance. But with the withdrawal of winter the Germans once again stabilised their front. This was prelude to the main episode of russo-german war during WW2 commonly known as operation Barbarossa. Next summer to the surprise of Russian high command, the German forces on ground changed its direction towards south. It was already 1942 and Germans captured Leningrad on north and on south they almost reached the oilfields but the main thrust was going to be somewhere else. By end summer the wehrmacht was marching towards a city beside the Volga, STALINGRAD. And Hitler’s one of the most decorated division was given the task, the mighty 6th army headed by the commander and later field Marshall Paulus. What they didn’t know and we know now, Stalingrad was going to be a mass grave for all of the sixth army. The concept of invincible wehrmacht was to lose its ground. Initially the Germans captured the city with great force in three weeks and only a strip of land was remaining to be captured. Thousands of inferior Russian forces were killed or captured and brutality was given a new definition but the fight for the city was just beginning. The Germans were the master of war tactics, in open field they were undefeated but they were vulnerable to war in cities and lanes, they were vulnerable in sniper warfare. A German soldier in front writes ‘the Ivans apply cruel means, they fire from every direction, sometimes from our back’. With the winter advancing the fight became so intense that sometimes the opponents were divided by only few metres or few building and in some cases a single roof was the frontline. Nobody ventured in the streets during the day. But with the winter when the Germans thought nothing could get worse, the worse happened. On 18th December Russian soldiers broke through their right and left flanks and surrounded the sixth army in the dead frozen city, which was now completely cutoff from the German outposts in Russia and could be supplied only by air. But the Russians checked that no supply can reach to them. Of minimum 800 tones needed to maintain such army only 200-300 tones were able to reach through air. Paulus immediately asked Hitler to break through and it was an easy task for Paulus but Hitler ordered against it and asked them to defend their position while he will send an army from outside to break the cauldron. After three weeks in such condition, only 50 grams of bread was issued to each, but Paulus and his army still managed to exist and demanded to attack west and help the German relieving forces but what he didn’t know was Germans had already failed to break the cauldron from outside and moreover they were retreating west. The fate of sixth army was sealed and nobody could save them now. Bleeding, freezing at temperature of -28 degree centigrade the Germans hoped and believed their supreme commander in Berlin (Hitler) as he said in Christmas ‘you can believe me with rocklike confidence’ but no help was going to come through and the sixth army was on its own. On 7 feb finally the Russians decimated the German forces with 1.42 lakh dead or wounded and 91 thousand physically and morally broken men captured. Only 5 thousand among the captured will return from Russian gulags after the war is over. When Hitler was asked later he exclaimed ‘the duty of the soldiers of Stalingrad was to be dead’. This is the historical background to this book which is a personal and original firsthand account of a soldier in Stalingrad, Gerlach Heinrich. He was among the 5 thousands to return. He wrote this book while on captivity but the original manuscript was captured by the Russians. After coming home and only after proper psychological treatment he could recapture few of his memories and documents originally written during his captivity. This is a must read for not only military history enthusiasts but all book readers as strangely it’s not about the war.

[Charles Mccain · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were worse places to be in World War Two than Stalingrad, one of Hitler’s death camps for instance, but not many. When the Germans were surrounded in November of 1942, Hitler had no intention of allowing them to break out. Of the almost 100,000 men who surrendered in January of 1943, only 5,000 made it back to Germay after the war and that wasn’t until 1955. The author was one of the 5,000. This is bitter novel but by far one of he best novels written by anyone in World War Two. If you haven’t read it then you are missing out on one hell of a reading experience.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good example of the "memoir as novel," I'd guess -- written by someone who survived Stalingrad and years of Russian captivity. The bulk of the action takes place out on the perimeter, not in the city per se, which is unusual in my experience, as the other Stalingrad novels and memoirs I've read (and movies I've seen) take place in the city itself. In any event, "The Forsaken Army" graphically communicates the confusion and frustration and hopelessness of the German forces in the period from their November 1942 envelopment to the February 1943 surrender. A powerful book.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting novel written by a survivor from the German Army. He survived the Battle of Stalingrad and seven years in a Russian POW camp. His first hand account is based on interview with other survivors, which probably makes it the most factual account of the battle.

[Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping throughout.

[Ryan Wulfsohn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't do it for me. There are far better novels about the German army in World War 2, such as Willi Heinrich's The Willing Flesh (filmed as Cross of Iron).