How the soldiers of the Second World War had fun. The brightest examples of ingenuity among Soviet soldiers during the Great Patriotic War 

A collection of photographs that have mysteriously appeared in the south of France were taken at a camp in Bavaria that the Nazis advertised to show that they honored human rights.

The Polish prisoners in the photographs are dressed up in costumes. Some are dressed in make-believe uniforms adorned with imposing medals, mustaches and pince-nez. Others squeezed into women's dresses, painted their eyelashes and hid their hair under blond wigs. They laugh and dance on the stage. In the orchestra pit, in front of the scores, other prisoners sit, fascinated by playing their violins, flutes and trumpets.

These are scenes from Everyday life Nazi Oflag (short for the German Offizierslager, officer prisoner of war camp) in Murnau, in the far south of Bavaria, during World War II.

Polish officers imprisoned in Murnau were allowed to put on performances and operettas for entertainment. Men took on women's roles.

The photographs do not quite fit the usual picture of a Nazi camp that is associated with forced labor and massacres. Indeed, reports of prisoners acting in plays, libraries, exhibitions, sporting events and academic lectures behind barbed wire and prison walls have always sounded farfetched. Reasonable skepticism persisted even after the end of the war, when the prisoners returned home and talked about the rich cultural life in a prisoner of war camp.

In Germany, most people still know little about the living conditions of the Polish officers held in Oflag. One of the reasons is the language barrier. Memoirs of former Polish prisoners of war, published for years, as a rule, appeared exclusively in Polish.

These photographs tell a completely different story. Although it took more than a decade before the general public in Murnau became aware of an unusual collection of photographs found in the south of France documenting events in Oflag VII-A, at the foot of the Alps, shortly before the end of World War II, in amazing detail.

Wooden box in the trash can

It was a winter night in 1999 when 19-year-old Olivier Rempfer was returning to his city of Cagnes-sur-Mer in southeastern France after spending an evening with friends in nearby Saint-Laurent-du-Var. Then he caught his eye wooden box on the trash can. Out of curiosity, Olivier opened the box and saw cylindrical objects wrapped in paper.

At home, he unfolded them and found that they were rolls of black and white 35mm film. In the light it was possible to make out the stage, uniforms, barracks, watchtowers and people in suits. Rempfer decided that the tapes must be from the shooting of some film about the war, and the men in them are actors. With this thought, he put the box aside and forgot about it, and the old house next to which he found it was demolished by bulldozers a couple of days later.

Years later, his father, Alain Rempfer, stumbled upon this belongings. The elder Rempfer, a photographer, was also in no hurry to show the negatives to anyone until 2003. But then he bought a film scanner and finally found the time to take a closer look at about 300 frames from the collection. “I quickly realized that these are real historical photos taken during the war in POW camps,” Rempfer said. “The brand name “Voigtländer” (Vogtländer) was written on the edges of the film. It was not familiar to me from the films, but I knew that Voigtländer was a German camera manufacturer.”

"It was like a silent movie"

Rempfer was looking for clues as to where these photographs might have been taken. In one shot, he saw a truck with several men. On the back of the car, “PW Camp Murnau” was written in white paint, and “PL” on the right. A small study showed that from 1939 to 1945 there was a camp for Polish prisoners of war officers in the German city of Murnau.

This shot of a truck with "PW Camp Murnau" written on it was a clue to the location.

Father and son studied the photographs intently and enthusiastically. “These young people who lived in the camp were looking straight at us from the tapes,” Rempfer Sr. said. “We don't know their names, we don't know their lives, we don't know anything about their hopes and their feelings. It was a strange impression that someone turned off the sound and left watching a silent movie.

“Olivier and I thought that perhaps we should donate the photographs to a museum or library. But we were afraid that they would be forgotten again for many years,” says Rempfer. Father and son decided that the best way show pictures to the world will become a website. They hoped that the images would reach anyone who might be interested in them, especially family members of former prisoners of war who might recognize someone in the photographs. Collection of digitized images published online. The site also constantly adds new personnel-related information.

Forgotten chapter of history

The Remphers were contacted by relatives of many Polish POWs whose families now live in the US, Australia, Canada or England. “Some recognized their fathers, grandfathers or uncles in the photographs,” Alain said. Former prisoners of war, after their release, as a rule, did not say much about the years spent in captivity. For many descendants, this was the first opportunity to learn about the life of officers in camp conditions.

The Remphers did not even hope to find the photographers who took the pictures. "It was too difficult." But one of them was identified. It turned out to be a Polish soldier Sylvester Budzinsky.

Efforts have also been made in Murnau over the years to collect information about the camp, but few publications on the subject have reached readers outside the region. In 1980, the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper published an article by the German historian Alfred Schickel "Polish prisoners of war in German officer camps - a forgotten chapter of history." Later, however, Schickel became associated with right-wing extremism. In a 1980 article, he lamented the lack of interest on the part of "historians both here and elsewhere in the West" in the fate of some 18,000 Polish officers who became German prisoners of war.

model camp

Of the 12 Nazi POW camps for officers, Murnau held the highest-ranking prisoners. Others included the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Navy, Vice Admiral Józef Unrug, as well as General of Division Juliusz Rummel, who led the defense of Warsaw in 1939.

“The prisoners were treated well, at least as far as was possible under the circumstances,” says Marion Hruska, head of the Murnau Historical Association. She studied the history of the camp for many years and organized an exhibition dedicated to it. Hrushka says Oflag VII-A Murnau held over 5,000 prisoners and was set up as a "model camp". It was regularly inspected by representatives of the International Red Cross. The historian explains that by doing so, the Nazis intended to show that they adhered to the norms. international law and the Geneva Conventions.

But that was far from the case, says Hrushka. There were cases when prisoners were shot. And in general, the allegedly correct treatment of prisoners instantly stopped when faced with the racist ideology of the Nazis. For example, Polish officers Jewish origin were kept separately from other prisoners in the camp ghetto. [Note that the Soviet prisoners of war in any of the camps were treated inhumanly. Joseph Goebbels explained this by the fact that the USSR did not sign the Geneva Convention and did not follow its provisions.]

But how did the photographs from the Murnau POW camp end up in the south of France?

Hrushka says that last days of the war, several hundred Allied soldiers arrived in Murnau, among them were the French military. It is quite possible that there is a relationship, but there are other versions. For example, a Polish officer could move to France after the war and bring back the film footage.

Who was allowed to take pictures?

It is impossible to say who might have taken the photographic films from the camp. Among them are footage of the liberation of Oflag by American troops and images of the blown up Munich. Apparently, several photographers took them.

However, the value of the find is undeniable. “I was overwhelmed by so many photos. I always thought that only Germans were allowed to take pictures in the camp,” says Hrushka.

She knew that there was a German photographer inside the camp. His photographs, after being censored, were printed as postcards, which the prisoners were allowed to send home. Most of these are photos of theatrical productions or sporting events. Some of those shots ended up in the city archives of Murnau.

But Hrushka does not believe that the photographs found in France were taken by a German. She is sure that during the liberation of the camp by the Allies, not a single German photographer stood next to the camera in his hands.

Eyewitness Tom Wodzinski, who contacted the Rempfers after the photos were released, said the photo likely showed the premises for junior officers and enlisted men in blocks E, F, G, H and K.

Most of the imprisoned Polish officers belonged to the military elite and were spared the forced labor common in Nazi camps. Apparently, the officers were given enough free time.

Theatrical scene.

The Oflag in Murnau also included an orchestra. The audience consisted of German soldiers in the camp, who occasionally brought their families to the performances.

On the stage of the camp theater.

According to eyewitness Tom Wodzinsky, this photo shows a laundry room for junior officers and ordinary soldiers.

A prisoner in front of the camp administration door.

You might think that this is a picture from a sanatorium. But it is not known whether the captives or only the guards were allowed to swim in the pool.

On the afternoon of 29 April 1945 american soldiers drove up to Murnau from the north, when a car with SS officers was passing by.

After a skirmish, most of the German soldiers turned to flee.

The German soldiers retreated in the direction of Murnau. Eyewitnesses say that some prisoners climbed the fences and shot at the Americans.

The frame was taken by an unknown photographer from the window of one of the camp buildings.

Two dead SS men. Tom Wodzinski identified them as Colonel Teichmann and Captain Widmann.

The American soldiers hurried to detain the rest of the German soldiers and guards in the camp.

Apparently the photographer left his position in the camp to take a closer look at the dead. German officers, whose bodies had by then been moved to the side of the road.

Entrance to Oflag VII-A Murnau on the day the camp was liberated by American troops on April 29, 1945.

The mysterious photographer apparently took photographs in the camp both before and after his release.

Polish officer after the liberation of the camp.

On April 29, 1945, American troops liberated about 5,000 prisoners from the officer prisoner of war camp at Murnau.

The people with their hands up may be surrendered German camp guards.

Prisoners are preparing to be released from Murnau.

Polish officers in the camp.

After the camp was liberated in 1945. In front of the barracks, former prisoners sit on sun loungers.

This photo was taken after the release of the captives. Apparently, they are waiting for trucks to leave.

The abbreviated name of the Murnau camp, Oflag VII-A, is carved on the stone.

Red Cross van and officers released from the camp.

Who these people are and what prompted the photographer to capture them is unknown.

Among the photographs of prisoners of war in the camp there are shots from Munich, in which the Germans stand in line for milk.

A few more photos with the ruins of Munich after the bombing by the allied forces. This picture shows the towers of the Church of St. Maximilian.

Munich's Reichenbach Bridge with destroyed houses behind it.

Another shot from Munich.

Brothels for the Germans were in many occupied cities of the North-West of Russia.
During the years of the Great Patriotic War many cities and towns of the North-West were occupied by the Nazis. On the front line, on the outskirts of Leningrad, there were bloody battles, and in the quiet rear, the Germans settled down and tried to create comfortable conditions for recreation and leisure.

“A German soldier must eat on time, wash himself and relieve sexual tension,” many Wehrmacht commanders reasoned. To solve the latter problem, brothels were created in large occupied cities and meeting rooms at German canteens and restaurants, and free prostitution was also allowed.

Girls usually did not take money

Mostly local Russian girls worked in brothels. Sometimes the shortage of priestesses of love was replenished from the inhabitants of the Baltic states. The information that only purebred German women served the Nazis is a myth. Only the top of the Nazi party in Berlin was concerned with the problems of racial purity. But in military conditions, no one was interested in the nationality of a woman. It is also a mistake to think that girls in brothels were forced to work only under the threat of reprisal. Very often they were brought there by a fierce military hunger.

Brothels in major cities Northwest, as a rule, were located in small two-storey houses where from 20 to 30 girls worked in shifts. On the day, one served up to several dozen military personnel. Brothels enjoyed unprecedented popularity among the Germans. “On another day, long queues lined up at the porch,” wrote one of the Nazis in his diary. For sexual services, women most often received payment in kind. For example, German clients of the bath and laundry plant in Marevo, Novgorod Region, often spoiled their favorite Slavs in "brothel houses" with chocolates, which was then almost a gastronomic miracle. The girls usually did not take money. A loaf of bread is a much more generous payment than rapidly depreciating rubles.

The order in the brothels was monitored by the German rear services, some entertainment establishments worked under the wing of the German counterintelligence. In Soltsy and Pechki, the Nazis opened large reconnaissance and sabotage schools. Their "graduates" were sent to the Soviet rear and partisan detachments. German intelligence officers sensibly believed that it was easiest to "prick" agents "on a woman." Therefore, in the Solecki brothel, all the attendants were recruited by the Abwehr. The girls in private conversations asked the cadets of the intelligence school how devoted they were to the ideas of the Third Reich, whether they were going to go over to the side of the Soviet Resistance. For such "intimate-intellectual" work, women received special fees.

And full and happy

In some canteens and restaurants where German soldiers dined, there were so-called visiting rooms. Waitresses, dishwashers, in addition to their main work in the kitchen and in the hall, additionally provided sexual services. There is an opinion that in the restaurants of the famous Palace of Facets in the Novgorod Kremlin there was such a meeting room for the Spaniards of the Blue Division. People talked about it, but official documents, which would confirm this fact, no.

The canteen and club in the small village of Medved became famous among the Wehrmacht soldiers not only for the “cultural program”, but also for the fact that they showed a striptease there!

Free prostitutes

In one of the documents of 1942, we find the following: “Since there were not enough brothels for the Germans in Pskov, they created the so-called institute of sanitary-supervised women, or, more simply, revived free prostitutes. Periodically, they also had to appear on medical checkup and receive appropriate marks in special tickets (medical certificates).

After the victory over Nazi Germany, the women who served the Nazis during the war years were subjected to public censure. People called them "German bedding, skins, b ...". Some of them had their heads shaved like the fallen women in France. However, not a single criminal case was opened on the fact of cohabitation with the enemy. The Soviet government turned a blind eye to this problem. In war, there are special laws.

Children of love.

Sexual "collaboration" during the war left a memory of itself for a long time. Innocent babies were born from the invaders. It is even difficult to calculate how many blond and blue-eyed children with "Aryan blood" were born. Today you can easily meet a person in the North-West of Russia retirement age with the features of a purebred German who was not born in Bavaria, but in some distant village in the Leningrad region.

The "German" woman who lived during the war years was far from always left alive. There are cases when the mother killed the baby with her own hands, because he was the "son of the enemy." In one of the partisan memoirs, a case is described. For three years, while the Germans were “dining” in the village, the Russian woman had three children from them. On the first day after coming Soviet troops she carried her offspring onto the road, laid them in a row and shouted: “Death to the German invaders!” smashed everyone's head with a boulder...

Kursk.

The commandant of Kursk, Major General Marseille, issued "Instruction for the regulation of prostitution in the city of Kursk". It said:

Ҥ 1. List of prostitutes.

Only women who are on the list of prostitutes, have a control card and are regularly examined by a special doctor for venereal diseases can engage in prostitution.

Persons who intend to engage in prostitution must register to be included in the list of prostitutes in the Department of the Order Service of the city of Kursk. Enrollment in the list of prostitutes can only occur after the relevant military doctor (sanitary officer), to whom the prostitute is to be referred, gives permission for this. Deletion from the list can also only occur with the permission of the respective physician.

After entering into the list of prostitutes, the latter receives a control card through the Department of the Order Service.

§ 2. A prostitute must adhere to the following regulations in the performance of her trade:

A) ... to engage in her trade only in her apartment, which must be registered by her in the Housing Office and in the Department of the Order Service;

B) ... nail a sign to your apartment at the direction of the appropriate doctor in a conspicuous place;

C) ... does not have the right to leave his area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe city;

D) any attraction and recruitment on the streets and in in public places prohibited;

E) a prostitute must strictly follow the instructions of the relevant doctor, in particular, regularly and accurately appear at the specified time for examinations;

E) sexual intercourse without rubber guards is prohibited;

G) prostitutes who have been forbidden sexual intercourse by the relevant doctor must have special announcements from the Department of the Order Service indicating this prohibition nailed to their apartments.

§ 3. Punishments.

1. Death is punishable by:

Women who infect Germans or persons of the allied nations with a venereal disease, despite the fact that they knew about their venereal disease before sexual intercourse.

The same punishment is imposed on a prostitute who has intercourse with a German or a person of an allied nation without a rubber guard and infects him.

Venereal disease is implied and always when this woman is forbidden to have sexual intercourse by the appropriate doctor.

2. Forced labor in the camp for up to 4 years is punishable by:

Women who have sexual intercourse with Germans or persons of allied nations, although they themselves know or assume that they are sick with a venereal disease.

3. Forced labor in a camp for a period of at least 6 months is punishable by:

A) women engaged in prostitution without being listed as prostitutes;

B) persons who provide premises for prostitution outside the prostitute's own apartment.

4. Forced labor in the camp for a period of at least 1 month is punishable by:

Prostitutes who do not comply with this prescription, designed for their trade.

§ 4. Entry into force.

Prostitution was similarly regulated in other occupied territories. However, strict penalties for contracting venereal diseases led to the fact that prostitutes preferred not to register and engaged in their trade illegally. The SD assistant in Belorussia, Strauch, lamented in April 1943: “At first, we eliminated all the prostitutes with venereal diseases that we could only detain. But it turned out that the women who had previously been ill and reported it themselves later disappeared after hearing that we would mistreat them. This error has been eliminated, and women suffering from venereal diseases are cured and isolated.”

Communication with Russian women sometimes ended very sadly for German soldiers. And not venereal diseases were the main danger here. On the contrary, many soldiers of the Wehrmacht had nothing against picking up gonorrhea or gonorrhea and turning around in the rear for several months - everything is better than going under the bullets of the Red Army and partisans. It turned out a real combination of pleasant with not very pleasant, but useful. However, it was the meeting with the Russian girl that often ended for the German with a partisan bullet. Here is the order dated December 27, 1943 for the rear units of Army Group Center:

“Two chiefs of the convoy of one sapper battalion met two Russian girls in Mogilev, they went to the girls at their invitation and during the dance were killed by four Russians in civilian clothes and deprived of their weapons. The investigation showed that the girls, together with the Russian men, intended to go to the gangs and in this way they wanted to acquire weapons for themselves.

According to Soviet sources, the occupiers often forcibly drove women and girls into brothels intended to serve German and allied soldiers and officers. Since it was believed that prostitution in the USSR was done away with once and for all, partisan leaders could only imagine the forced recruitment of girls into brothels. Those women and girls who had to cohabit with the Germans after the war, in order not to be persecuted, also claimed that they were forced to sleep with enemy soldiers and officers.

Stalino (Donetsk, Ukraine)

in the paper" TVNZ in Ukraine" dated August 27, 2003 on the topic "Brothels for Germans in Donetsk". Here are excerpts: "There were 2 front-line brothels in Stalino (Donetsk). One was called the "Italian Casino". 18 girls and 8 servants worked only with the allies of the Germans - Italian soldiers and officers. According to local historians, this institution was located near the current Donetsk Covered Market ... The second brothel, intended for the Germans, was located in the oldest hotel in the city "Great Britain" . In total, 26 people worked in the brothel (this is counting the girls, technical workers and management). The girls' earnings were about 500 rubles a week (the Soviet ruble circulated on this territory in parallel with the mark, the rate was 10:1). The work schedule was as follows: 6.00 am - medical examination; 9.00 am - breakfast (soup, dried potatoes, porridge, 200 gr. (first course, 200 grams of bread); 14.00-20.30 - customer service; 21.00-dinner. Ladies were allowed to spend the night only in a hotel. A soldier to visit a brothel received a corresponding coupon from the commander (during the month, an ordinary was supposed to have 5-6 of them) , underwent a medical examination, upon arrival at the brothel, registered a coupon, and handed over the spine to the office of the military unit, washed (the regulations suggested issuing a piece of soap, a small towel and 3 condoms to the fighter) ... According to the surviving data in Stalino, visiting the brothel cost the soldier 3 stamps (brought into the cash desk) and lasted an average of 15 minutes Brothels existed in Stalino until August 1943.

In Europe.

During the fighting in Europe, the Wehrmacht did not have the opportunity to create a brothel in every major locality. The respective field commander agreed to the creation of such institutions only where a sufficiently large number of German soldiers and officers were stationed. In many ways, the real activities of these brothels can only be guessed at. Field commanders took responsibility for equipping brothels, which had to meet well-defined hygiene standards. They also set prices in brothels, determined the internal routine of brothels and made sure that at any time there was a sufficient number of available women.
The brothels had to have hot and cold bathrooms. cold water and obligatory bathroom. Every "visiting room" was to have a poster reading "Sexual intercourse without contraceptives is strictly prohibited!". Any use of sadomasochistic paraphernalia and devices was strictly prosecuted by law. But the military authorities turned a blind eye to the trade in erotic pictures and pornographic magazines.
Not every woman was taken as a prostitute. Ministry officials carefully selected candidates for the sex service of soldiers and officers. As you know, the Germans considered themselves the highest Aryan race, and such peoples as, for example, the Dutch or Finns, according to certain criteria, are related to the Aryans. Therefore, in Germany, incest was very strictly monitored, and marriages between Aryans and close associates were not welcomed. There was no need to talk about non-Aryans. It was taboo. The Gestapo even had a special department for "ethnic community and health care." His functions included control "over the seed fund of the Reich." A German who had sexual intercourse with a Polish or Ukrainian woman could be sent to a concentration camp for "criminal squandering of the seed fund of the Reich." Rapists and revelers (of course, if they did not serve in elite troops SS) were identified and punished. The same department monitored the purity of the blood of prostitutes in field brothels, and at first the criteria were very strict. Only true German women who grew up in the interior, primordially German lands of Bavaria, Saxony or Silesia had the right to work in officer brothels. They had to be at least 175 cm tall, must be fair-haired, with blue or light gray eyes and have good manners.
Doctors and paramedics from military units had to provide brothels not only with soap, towels and disinfectants, but also with a sufficient number of condoms. The latter, by the way, until the end of the war will be centrally supplied from the Main Sanitary Directorate in Berlin.

Only air raids prevented the immediate delivery of such goods to the front. Even when supply problems began to arise in the Third Reich, and rubber was provided on a special schedule for certain industries, the Nazis never skimped on condoms for their own soldiers. In addition to the brothels themselves, soldiers could purchase condoms from canteens, kitchens, and supply chains.
But the most striking thing about this system is not even that. It's all about the notorious German punctuality. The German command could not allow the soldiers to use sexual services whenever they wanted, and the priestesses themselves worked according to their mood. Everything was taken into account and calculated: for each prostitute, “production standards” were set, and they were not taken from the ceiling, but were scientifically substantiated. To begin with, German officials divided all the brothels into categories: soldiers, non-commissioned officers (sergeants), sergeant majors (foremen) and officers. In soldiers' brothels across the state, it was supposed to have prostitutes in the ratio: one per 100 soldiers. For sergeants, this figure was reduced to 75. But in officers, one prostitute served 50 officers. In addition, a certain customer service plan was established for the priestesses of love. To receive a salary at the end of the month, a soldier's prostitute had to serve at least 600 clients per month (assuming that each soldier has the right to relax with a girl five or six times a month)!
True, such "high rates" were assigned to bed workers in ground forces. In the aviation and navy, which in Germany were considered privileged branches of the military, the "production standards" were much lower. The prostitute who served Goering's "iron falcons" had to receive 60 clients a month, and according to the state in aviation field hospitals it was supposed to have
one prostitute for 20 pilots and one for 50 ground support personnel. But for a warm place at the air base, it was still necessary to compete.
Of all the countries and peoples that participated in the war, the Germans were the most responsible approach to the sexual service of their soldiers.

Camp of Catherine's soldiers. Illustration by Alexandre Benois for the publication "Pictures on Russian History". 1912 Wikimedia Commons

18th century recruit long road he ended up in his regiment, which became a home for young soldiers - after all, service in the 18th century was lifelong. Only from 1793 was her term limited to 25 years. The recruit took an oath that forever separated him from his former life; received from the treasury a hat, a caftan, a cloak-epancha, a camisole with trousers, a tie, boots, shoes, stockings, undershirts and trousers.

The "Instruction of the colonel's cavalry regiment" of 1766 prescribed to teach the privates "to clean and screw up trousers, gloves, a sling and a harness, tie a hat, put a casket on it and put on boots, put spurs on them, plant a scythe, put on a uniform, and then stand in the required a soldier's figure, to walk simply and to march ... and when he gets used to everything, begin to teach rifle techniques, horse and foot exercise. It took a lot of time to teach the peasant son to behave valiantly, "so that the peasant's vile habit, evasion, antics, scratching when talking were completely exterminated from him." The soldiers had to shave, but they were allowed to grow mustaches; hair was worn long, to the shoulders, and on ceremonial days they were powdered with flour. In the 1930s, soldiers were ordered to wear curls and braids.

It took a lot of time, "so that the peasant's vile habit, evasion, antics, scratching during conversation were completely exterminated from him"

Coming to a company or squadron, yesterday's communal peasants were included in their usual form of organization - a soldier's artel ("so that there were at least eight people in porridge"). In the absence of a developed supply system (and the shops and shops that are familiar to us), Russian soldiers have adapted to provide themselves with everything they need. Old-timers taught newcomers, experienced and skillful ones bought additional provisions with artel money, repaired ammunition themselves and sewed uniforms and shirts from state-owned cloth and linen, and those who were smart at the billet were hired to earn money. Money from salaries, earnings and awards was deducted to the artel cash desk, at the head of which the soldiers elected a sedate and authoritative "expenditor", or company headman.

This arrangement of military life made the Russian army of the 18th century socially and nationally homogeneous. The feeling of connection in battle provided mutual assistance, supported the morale of the soldier. From the very first days, the recruit was told that now “he is no longer a peasant, but a soldier, who in his name and rank is superior to all his previous ranks, differs from them indisputably in honor and glory,” since he, “not sparing his life, provides of his fellow citizens, defends the fatherland ... and thus deserves the gratitude and mercy of the Sovereign, the gratitude of fellow countrymen and the prayers of spiritual ranks. Recruits were told the history of their regiment, mentioning the battles where this regiment participated, and the names of heroes and generals. In the army, yesterday's "mean peasant" ceased to be a serf, if he had been before. A peasant boy became a "state servant" and in the era of constant wars he could rise to the rank of non-commissioned officer and even - if he was lucky - to the chief officer. The "Table of Ranks" of Peter I opened the way to obtaining a noble rank - in this way, about a quarter of the infantry officers of the Peter's army "came out to the people". For exemplary service, an increase in salary, awarding a medal, promotion to corporal, sergeant was provided. "Faithful and true servants of the fatherland" were transferred from the army to the guards, received medals for battles; for distinction in the service, the soldiers were awarded "a ruble" with a glass of wine.

A serviceman who had seen distant lands on campaigns forever broke with his former life. The regiments, which consisted of former serfs, suppressed popular unrest without hesitation, and in the 18th and XIX centuries the soldier did not feel like a peasant. And in everyday practice, the soldier got used to living at the expense of the townsfolk. Throughout the 18th century, the Russian army did not have barracks. AT Peaceful time it was lodged in the houses of rural and urban residents, who were supposed to provide military premises, beds and firewood. Release from this duty was a rare privilege.

In everyday practice, the soldier got used to living at the expense of the townsfolk.

AT short days rest from battles and campaigns, the soldiers walked with might and main. In 1708, during a difficult Northern war brave dragoons “became quarters in the towns. Wine and beer were collected before the convoy. And a certain rank of the gentry drank unbearably. They reproached those viciously, and also beat them with the sovereign's name. But fornication still appeared. Imali in the corners of the dragoons of the shvadrony gentry. There were those young children and there is no passage from these whores to girls and women "gentry"- noblemen (gentry) who served in the dragoon squadron ("shkvadron"). These young nobles did not give the women a pass.. Our colonel and worthy cavalier Mikhail Faddeyich Chulishov ordered to frighten all those who are impudent and beat them with batogs.<…>And those dragoons and granodirs, who were from the battles of small battles, they rested and drank koumiss with Kalmyks and Tatars, flavored with vodka, and then fought with fists with the neighboring regiment. De we, reproached, fought and lost our bellies, and de you hovil and sveev Svei- Swedes. were afraid. And in the distant shvadron they staggered and barked obscenely, and the colonels did not know what to do. By the sovereign's command, the most malicious were sent and broadcast and fought in batogs on the goats in front of all the front. And two of ours from the shkvadron also got the dragoon Akinfiy Krask and Ivan Sofiykin. They were hung around the neck. And Krask’s tongue fell out from the strangulation, it even reached the middle of his chest, and many were amazed at this and went to look. "Official notes (diary) of Simeon Kurosh, captain of the dragoon shvadron, Roslavsky.".

And in peacetime, the stay of the troops in any place was perceived by the townsfolk as a real disaster. “He fornicates with his wife, dishonors his daughter… eats his chickens, his cattle, robs him of his money and beats him incessantly.<…>Every month, before leaving the quarters, the peasants must be gathered, questioned about their claims, and their subscriptions taken away.<…>If the peasants are dissatisfied, they are given wine to drink, they get drunk, and they sign. If, in spite of all this, they refuse to sign, then they are threatened, and they end up keeping silent and signing, ”general Langeron described the behavior of soldiers at the checkpoint in Catherine’s time.

The soldier fornicates with his wife, dishonors his daughter, eats his chickens, his cattle, takes his money and beats him incessantly.

The officers had the opportunity for more refined leisure - especially abroad. “... All other officers of our regiment, not only young, but also elderly, were engaged in completely different matters and concerns. All of them, almost in general, their zealous desire to be in Koenigsberg stemmed from a completely different source than mine. They heard enough that Koenigsberg is a city that is full of everything that the passions of the young and in luxury and debauchery can satisfy and satiate their lives, namely: that there was a great many taverns and billiards and other places of entertainment; that you can get anything in it, and even more so, that the female sex in it is too prone to lust and that there is a great many young women in it, practicing dishonest needlework and selling their honor and chastity for money.
<…>Before two weeks had passed, when, to my great surprise, I heard that there was not a single tavern left in the city, not a single wine cellar, not a single billiards and not a single obscene house, which would be unknown to our gentlemen officers, but that not only all of them are on their register, but very many have already brought close acquaintance with their mistresses, partly with other local residents, and some they already took them to themselves and to keep them, and everyone in general was already drowning in all the luxuries and debauchery, ”recalled Andrey Bolotov, a former lieutenant of the Arkhangelsk city infantry regiment, about his stay in Koenigsberg conquered by Russian troops in 1758.

If in relation to the peasants "impudence" was allowed, then in the "front" discipline was demanded from the soldiers. The soldiers' poems of that era truthfully describe the daily drill:

You go to the guard - so grief,
And you will come home - and twice,
In the guard we are tormented,
And how you change - learning! ..
Suspenders are on guard,
Wait for stretch marks for training.
Stand up straight and stretch
Don't chase the pokes
Slaps and kicks
Take it like pancakes.

Violators under the "Military Article" were expected to be punished, which depended on the degree of misconduct and were determined by a military court. For "magic" was supposed to be burned, for the desecration of icons - cutting off the head. The most common punishment in the army was "chasing gauntlets", when the intruder was led with his hands tied to a gun between two ranks of soldiers who struck him on the back with thick rods. The one who committed the offense for the first time was taken through the entire regiment 6 times, the one who committed the offense again - 12 times. Strictly asked for the poor maintenance of weapons, for deliberate damage to it or for "leaving a gun in the field"; sellers and buyers were punished for selling or losing their uniforms. For repeating this offense three times, the guilty person was sentenced to death. Theft, drunkenness and fighting were common crimes for the servicemen. The punishment followed for "inattention in the ranks", for "being late in the ranks." A latecomer for the first time "will be taken for guard or for two hours, three fuzes Fusee- smoothbore flintlock gun. on the shoulder". A latecomer for the second time was supposed to be arrested for two days or "six muskets per shoulder." Those who were late for the third time were punished with gauntlets. For talking in the ranks was supposed to be "deprivation of salary." For negligent guard duty in peacetime, a “serious punishment” awaited the soldier, and in war time- the death penalty.

For "sorcery" was supposed to be burned, for the desecration of icons - cutting off the head

Especially severely punished for the escape. Back in 1705, a decree was issued according to which, of the three fugitives caught, one was executed by lot, and the other two were exiled to eternal hard labor. The execution took place in the regiment from which the soldier fled. The flight from the army took on a wide scale, and the government had to issue special appeals to deserters with the promise of forgiveness for those who voluntarily returned to duty. In the 1730s, the situation of the soldiers worsened, which led to an increase in the number of fugitives, especially among recruits. The penalties were also increased. The fugitives were expected either by execution or hard labor. One of the decrees of the Senate of 1730 reads: “Which recruits learn to run abroad and will be caught, then from the first breeders, for fear of others, they will be executed by death, hanged; but for the rest, who are not breeders themselves, to inflict political death and exile them to Siberia for government work.

The usual joy in soldier's life was to receive a salary. It was different and depended on the type of troops. The soldiers of the internal garrisons were paid the least - their salary in the 60s of the 18th century was 7 rubles. 63 kop. in year; and cavalrymen received the most - 21 rubles. 88 kop. If we take into account that, for example, a horse cost 12 rubles, then this was not so little, but the soldiers did not see this money. Something went for debts or into the hands of resourceful marketers, something - to the artel cash desk. It also happened that the colonel appropriated these soldiers' pennies, forcing the rest of the officers of the regiment to steal, since they all had to sign expenditure items.

The rest of the salary the soldier squandered in a tavern, where sometimes, in dashing courage, he could “scold everyone obscenely and call himself a king” or argue: with whom exactly did Empress Anna Ioannovna “live prodigally” - with Duke Biron or with General Minich? Drinking buddies, as expected, immediately denounced, and the talker had to justify himself with the “immeasurable drunkenness” usual in such cases. In the best case, the case ended in “chasing gauntlets” in their native regiment, in the worst case, with a whip and exile to distant garrisons.

The soldier could argue with whom exactly did Empress Anna Ioannovna "live in prodigality" - with Duke Biron or with General Minich?

Bored in the garrison service, the young soldier Semyon Efremov once shared with a colleague: “Pray to God that the Turk gets up, then we would get out of here.” He escaped punishment only by explaining his desire to start the war by the fact that "while young, he can serve." The old servicemen, who had already smelled gunpowder, were thinking not only about exploits - among the “material evidence” in the affairs of the Secret Chancellery, conspiracies seized from them were preserved: “Strengthen, Lord, in the army and in battle and in every place from the Tatars and from the faithful and unfaithful tongues and from all kinds of military weapons ... but make me, your servant Mikhail, like a lion with strength. Others, like ordinary Semyon Popov, were driven by longing and drill to terrible blasphemy: the soldier wrote with his own blood a “letter of apostasy”, in which he “summoned the devil to himself and demanded riches from him ... so that through that riches he could leave military service.”

And yet the war gave a chance to the lucky. Suvorov, who knew perfectly well the psychology of a soldier, in his instruction “The Science of Victory” mentioned not only speed, onslaught and bayonet attack, but also “holy booty” - and told how in Ishmael, taken by a brutal assault under his command, soldiers “divided gold and silver in handfuls ". True, not everyone was so lucky. To the rest, “who remained alive — that honor and glory!” - promised the same "Science to win."

However, the army suffered the biggest losses not from the enemy, but from diseases and the lack of doctors and medicines. “Walking around the camp at sunset, I saw some regimental soldiers digging holes for their dead brethren, others already burying, and still others completely buried. In the army, quite a few suffer from diarrhea and putrid fevers; when officers also move into the realm of the dead, for whom, during their illness, they are certainly better looked after, and doctors use their own medicines for money, then how can soldiers not die, left in illness to their fate and for which medicines are either dissatisfied, or absolutely not available in other shelves. Diseases are born from the fact that the army stands in a square, a quadrangle, that defecating feces, although the wind blows a little, spreads a very bad smell through the air, that Liman water, being used raw, is very unhealthy, and vinegar is not divided among the soldiers, which On the shore, dead corpses are visible everywhere, drowned in the estuary in the three battles that took place on it ”- this is how army official Roman Tsebrikov described the siege of the Turkish fortress Ochakov in 1788.

For the majority, the usual soldier's fate fell out: endless marches across the steppe or mountains in the heat or mud, bivouacs and overnight stays in the open, long evenings in "winter-apartments" in peasant huts.

) and post you interesting photos for 1941-45

Today I found one disk with photos from satellite fishing. I saw this folder how the Germans had fun during the war, after the battles. Funny shots will surprise you, I think. Of course, there are such photographs that, many will think: well, he showed this here on the forum ... But I think that history is not shame and not false, the story should be impartial, such as the photographer of that time caught!

By the way, what is satellite fishing? It's free to rob from a satellite. I did that for a while, got carried away. This is someone downloading via satellite Internet, and I wedge into the stream and download myself too! I set to catch jepeg, avi, dvd from zero to infinity (catch file size). It was great, but tiring... I "stole" 15-20 gigs in total during the night. It took an hour and a half to sort and watch. You quickly get fed up with pleasure ... Someday I will tell you here what satellite fishing is and what you need to do at home in order to download for free from any satellites.

For you, I reduced the photos and posted them here in the topic. Photos of fascists who have fun after the battles, laugh, make fun of their friends - it's so interesting to look at all this after 60 years! Of course, the Germans are people too, and it is common for all people to joke and have fun in their free minutes from fighting. After all, to survive and enjoy every day when you are alive is an immense happiness ...

Show me, buddy! A fascist sits on a baby stroller, barely fitting his seat.

The German is trying something, apparently a cook. And friends smirk at his sour face

An interesting photo shoot of naked Wehrmacht soldiers! Helmets, machine guns in hand and smirks, like we still can’t do something ...

Like Hercules with a cigarette in his mouth in the war!

Apollo, your mother, covered the most intimate with a "fig leaf" (burdock). Knife-bayonet on the side, always ready for battle...

The hunt was a success ... Apparently, the north. Perhaps where Murmansk or where the Kola Peninsula.

And we don't care about serving in the army! Long and short. The photographer clearly lets know that it is an honor to serve in the German army. And to us in more than 60 years, this is ridiculous. Imagine for a moment, the trench dug by the tall soldier on the right is too big for the little guy? How to get out of it in battle and run on the attack with everyone???? Imagine for a moment his attempts to get out of a deep hole?

And now vice versa! Zhirtrest and thin! At first I thought that Hitler was standing on the right as a child) But I saw the insignia, this is clearly a soldier wearing a mustache ala Fuhrer Hitler! Imitates, so to speak. A covert parody of opposites in the German army. Do you think that this photo shows us the essence?

Russian bear and German conquerors. Please note - the sign shows that Leningrad is 70 km away

It itched ... A shitting fascist with a cigarette in his mouth) The photographer caught a good moment from the inside of the war ...

Cultural performance for the Germans after the battle...

Soon this baby piglet will go into the pot and feed all the German pilots...

Faithful friends

The squirrel is touched

One must also drink for a successful invasion ... The soldier is clearly posing with a bottle in his hand, sitting astride a bust of Stalin.

Oh, horse racing))) On Russian carts in the steppes of Ukraine or in the Kuban region

Soldier's tales are an invariable attribute of Russian folklore. It just so happened that our army fought, as a rule, not "thanks", but "despite". Some front-line stories make us open our mouths, others scream "come on!?", but all of them, without exception, make us proud of our soldiers. Miraculous rescues, ingenuity and just luck are on our list.

With an ax to the tank

If the expression "field kitchen" only causes you to increase your appetite, then you are not familiar with the history of the Red Army soldier Ivan Sereda.

In August 1941, his unit was stationed near Daugavpils, and Ivan himself was preparing dinner for the soldiers. Hearing the characteristic clang of metal, he looked into the nearest grove and saw a German tank riding towards him. At that moment, he had only an unloaded rifle and an ax with him, but Russian soldiers are also strong in their ingenuity. Hiding behind a tree, Sereda waited for the tank with the Germans to notice the kitchen and stop, and so it happened.

Wehrmacht soldiers climbed out of the formidable car, and at that moment the Soviet cook jumped out of his hiding place, brandishing an ax and a rifle. The frightened Germans jumped back into the tank, expecting at least an attack by an entire company, and Ivan did not dissuade them from this. He jumped on the car and began to beat on its roof with the butt of an ax, when the taken aback Germans came to their senses and began to shoot at him from a machine gun, he simply bent his muzzle with several blows of the same ax. Feeling that the psychological advantage was on his side, Sereda began to shout orders to the non-existent reinforcements of the Red Army. This was the last straw: a minute later, the enemies surrendered and, under the gunpoint of a carbine, went to the side Soviet soldiers.

We woke up a Russian bear

Tanks KV-1 - pride Soviet army the first stages of the war - had the unpleasant property of stalling on arable land and other soft soils. One such KV was not lucky enough to get stuck during the retreat of 1941, and the crew, faithful to their work, did not dare to leave the car.

An hour passed, German tanks approached. Their guns could only scratch the armor of the "asleep" giant, and having unsuccessfully shot all the ammunition into it, the Germans decided to tow the "Klim Voroshilov" to their unit. The cables were fixed, and two Pz IIIs with great difficulty moved the KV from its place.

The Soviet crew was not going to give up, when suddenly the tank engine, groaning in displeasure, started up. Without thinking twice, the towed one himself became a tractor and easily pulled two German tanks. The puzzled Panzerwaffe crew was forced to flee, but the vehicles themselves were successfully delivered by the KV-1 to the very front line.

Correct bees

The fighting near Smolensk at the beginning of the war claimed thousands of lives. But more surprising is the story of one of the soldiers about the "buzzing defenders".

Constant air raids on the city forced the Red Army to change their positions and retreat several times a day. One exhausted platoon was not far from the village. There, the battered soldiers were greeted with honey, since the apiaries had not yet been destroyed by air strikes.

Several hours passed, and enemy infantry entered the village. The enemy forces outnumbered the Red Army several times and the latter retreated towards the forest. But they could no longer escape, they had no strength, and harsh German speech was heard very close by. Then one of the soldiers began to turn over the hives. Soon a whole buzzing ball of angry bees was circling over the field, and as soon as the Germans approached them a little closer, a giant swarm found its prey. The enemy infantry screamed and rolled across the meadow, but could not do anything. So the bees reliably covered the retreat of the Russian platoon.

From that world

At the beginning of the war, fighter and bomber regiments were separated and often the latter flew on a mission without air protection. So it was on the Leningrad front, where the legendary man Vladimir Murzaev served. During one of these deadly missions, a dozen Messerschmites landed on the tail of a group of Soviet IL-2s. It was a bad thing: the wonderful IL was good for everyone, but did not differ in speed, therefore, having lost a couple of planes, the flight commander ordered to leave the cars.

Murzaev was one of the last to jump, already in the air he felt a blow to his head and lost consciousness, and when he woke up, he mistook the surrounding snowy landscape for the Gardens of Eden. But he had to lose faith very quickly: in paradise, for sure, there are no burning fragments of fuselages. It turned out that he lies just a kilometer from his airfield. Having hobbled to the officer's dugout, Vladimir reported on his return and threw a parachute on the bench. Pale and frightened fellow soldiers looked at him: the parachute was sealed! It turns out that Murzaev was hit on the head by a part of the plane's skin, but did not open his parachute. The fall from 3500 meters was softened by snowdrifts and true soldier's luck.

Imperial cannons

In the winter of 1941, all forces were sent to defend Moscow from the enemy. There were no extra reserves at all. And they were required. For example, the sixteenth army, which was bled dry by losses in the Solnechnogorsk region.

This army was not yet led by a marshal, but already by a desperate commander, Konstantin Rokossovsky. Feeling that without a dozen more guns, the defense of Solnechnogorsk would fall, he turned to Zhukov with a request for help. Zhukov refused - all forces were involved. Then the tireless Lieutenant General Rokossovsky sent a request to Stalin himself. Expected, but no less woeful, the answer came immediately - there is no reserve. True, Iosif Vissarionovich mentioned that there may be several dozen mothballed guns that took part in the Russian-Turkish war. These guns were museum pieces assigned to the Dzerzhinsky Military Artillery Academy.

After several days of searching, an employee of this academy was found. The old professor, practically the same age as these guns, spoke about the place where the howitzers were stored in the Moscow region. So, the front got a few dozen old cannons, which played an important role in the defense of the capital.