“Among the prisoners waiting to be ferried back across the river were wounded, many of whom had been badly burnt by flamethrowers…their faces had no longer any recognizable human features but were simply swollen lumps of meat. One of them also had his lower jaw torn away by a bullet and this wound had been bandaged roughly.

Through the rags his windpipe, laid bare, was visible. Another soldier had been hit by five bullets and his right shoulder and his whole arm was a ragged mass of flesh. He had no bandages and the blood oozed from his wounds as of from a row of tubes.

Not one of them was moaning as they sat there in the grass. Not one. Why did they not moan? Some of our soldiers brought out barrels of margarine and loaves of Russian bread. They began their distribution more than 30 meters from where the badly wounded were lying. These wounded rose up and hurried toward the distribution point.

Their hands were extended in gestures of supplication. As they moved each on left behind a broad smear of blood upon the grass. Not one of them cried…none moaned.”
– Erich Dwinger. German Army. Operation Barbarossa 1941.
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As we always say here at Battles and Beers (TM) Every soldier has a story, and every story deserves to be told.