World Battlefronts: The Night’s Terrible Darkness

“With red-rimmed eyes which know no sleep, the German soldiers stare into the night’s terrible darkness, from which the enemy may appear at any moment. With ears clogged with mud, they listen to the distant roar of tank motors, which just as often come from the rear as from the front. . . .

“They freeze in storms of ice-cold rain and hail. Their feet burn and smart horribly from endless marching through mud. Their stomachs growl because food arrives irregularly and often must be dropped from airplanes. Even ammunition is often scarce when the supply trains cannot proceed because of enemy activity or bottomless mud on the roads.”

This description of the plight of German soldiers came not from Russian sources but from a Nazi correspondent, for Herr Goebbels has apparently decided that the best way to toughen German citizens is to scare them stiff. The report added: “The perpetual order is: positions must be held until retreat is ordered, and the order must be carried out at any price. Thus there are endless marches through night and darkness. . . . More than once entire regiments—and once an entire division—have had to fight a way through to our own lines.”