In Germany there were still no Sondermeldungen. These satisfying fanfares of music on the radio had been a distinctive feature of the preceding French campaign, heralding Wehrmacht victories. Edith Hagener wrote to her husband in the field:
‘My Dearest,
We want to be very brave at this time and draw strength from the many beautiful years we have spent together. After the first perplexing sadness I have come quietly to my senses, because I need also to remain a happy mother to our children and a brave wife for you. Stay healthy my love. May dear God and my enormous love protect you. Your Edith.’(7)
Goebbels, better informed, enthused to his diary on 23 June:
‘Brest-Litovsk taken. All the day’s objectives reached. No problems so far. We are entitled to be very pleased. The Soviet Regime will crumble like touchwood. [He continued the following day] Our new weapons are carrying all before them. The Russians are emerging from their bunkers trembling, unfit for interrogation for a day afterwards… Everything is going to plan and better.’(8)
This information was unavailable to the general public. The only point they might identify with was Goebbels’ comment on the prevailing weather. ‘I am totally drained by the oppressive heat,’ he complained. ‘These are difficult days for our soldiers.’(9) One housewife, fretful at the absence of mail, expressed entirely different emotions:
‘If only I knew how my love was getting on. Are you still in good health? Otherwise I hope you are well. I would gladly have fetched you something to eat and drink during this hot week. If I had to be outside in the heat as well, then you would not have been thirsty. Where are you my love? I so look forward to your next letter. Write to me as soon as you can. Perhaps you are near Brest-Litovsk, where there is certainly fighting going on.’(10)
She was correct. Fighting still raged within the disputed border city.
Brest-Litovsk…
‘I wonder how it is I am still alive!’
On the fourth day of the siege at Brest-Litovsk, combat teams from the three infantry regiments of the German 45th Division formed mixed groups of assault pioneers and infantry to reduce remaining strongpoints. Nebelwerfer multi-barrelled rocket launchers were in support. Helmut Böttcher, an assault engineer, recalled their bizarre impact on the enemy.
‘A type of rocket was used. They didn’t go far, but their impact was terrible. The worst possible there was, I think, at that time. Everything within a circle of about three and a half metres was dead, caused by the air vacuum created, which collapsed all the lungs of humans and animals alike. It was awful. Generally one saw the people simply sat there, immovable, frozen like dolls – Ja! – many had marks, but some simply sat still on a chair or bench. Death was certain, and came very quick. Ghastly!’(1)
It was decided to clear the North Island before grappling again with the citadel. Immense difficulties were encountered from the start. Artillery support was impractical due to the confined nature of the areas to be reduced. ‘Infantry weapons were ineffective due to the strength of the walled fortifications,’ reported 45th Division staff, while ‘heavy tanks or SPs (self-propelled guns), which might have made an impact, were not available’. The one remaining flamethrower belonging to Pionier Battalion 81 could not close up to the houses without armoured protection. Attempts were made to bring captured Russian tanks into action.
Newly constituted assault teams commenced mopping up the identified resistance points. Daja Dmitrowna, married to a Soviet artillery soldier, tearfully recalled the claustrophobic nature of the fighting:
‘We were hidden in barrack cellars with no water or anything to eat the whole week long. When the Fascists stormed the fortress they threw smoke grenades into the cellar. I saw my children suffocating but could do nothing to prevent it. I have no idea how I manage to survive – purely by chance. I wonder how it is I am still alive!’(2)
Close-in fighting for these enclosed built-up areas was brutal. Trapped Russians, expecting to be shot on the spot if taken prisoner, even fought back with knives. Grigori Makarow, a Red Army soldier, recalled how attack directions conducted with tear gas ‘were indicated by the noxious clouds rising in the air’. Women and children were trapped within the same choking casemates as desperately resisting Russian soldiers. Makarow saw ‘a small youngster, dead. He had suffocated in the gas. His mother had covered his face with a fur glove, to protect him.’ Their position was hopeless. ‘There were many wounded,’ said Makarow, ‘but no disinfectants; gangrene took hold therefore very quickly and many of the injured died.’(3)
Leutnant Schneiderbauer, of 45th Division’s 50mm Anti-tank Platoon, was ordered to move his guns forward to assist in the reduction of citadel strongpoints. As the platoon advanced across the South Island he noticed:
‘The whole route showed the bitter fighting that had taken place here over the first few days. Buildings were for the most part destroyed and brick rubble, and dead Russians and horses covered the roads. The oppressive stench of burning and corpses was all-pervasive.’
As the specially constituted assault groups began mopping up enemy-held buildings, 50mm guns provided fire support, shooting up windows and suspected hiding places. Snipers made the enterprise extremely hazardous. A propaganda company officer, ignoring exhortations to be careful, was shot. Extricating the casualty degenerated into a lengthy and dangerous task. Stretcher-bearers came under fire ‘but by a miracle,’ commented Schneiderbauer, ‘managed to get back in one piece’. The remorseless process of wearing down the defenders continued. The anti-tank platoon commander watched as:
‘Assault engineers got up onto the roof of the building block opposite us. They lowered explosive charges down with poles onto windows and firing positions, but only a few Russians gave up as a result. The majority sat it out in secure cellars and, despite the heavy artillery strikes, would take up the fire fight again after the demolitions had exploded.’
The German tactic was to utilise these brief respites offered by supporting fire and rush into the buildings. Schneiderbauer explained, ‘we would go in between, packing and ramming boxes, crates and rubble into all the outlets to prevent the surrounded Russians from breaking out again from beneath the houses.’ The monotonous cracks and thumps of demolitions carried on throughout the day(4)
The so-called ‘Officers’ Mess’ building in the citadel was a constant thorn in the side of mopping-up operations being conducted to clear the North Island. These were repeatedly exposed to enfilading fire. Assault Pionier Battalion 81 was ordered to reduce this flanking threat with demolition teams. Groups clambered onto the roof and again dangled massive explosive charges attached to poles, which were exploded opposite occupied windows. ‘One heard the screams and moans of Russians wounded in the explosions’ recorded the Division report, ‘but they carried on firing.’(5)
Conditions in the Russian strongpoints were becoming intolerable. One nursing sister, Katschowa Lesnewna, described how:
‘In the casemates we gave emergency aid to the wounded, injured children, soldiers and women. By then we had no bandages, medicines or water. Everything had been used up, above all, the water. We couldn’t fetch water from the river, but we had to have it for the wounded!’