An American diplomat witnessed an extraordinary reunion in once war-torn Stalingrad.

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By Peter A. Huchthausen

Some years after the end of the war, a small group of German survivors of the Battle of Stalingrad (now called Volgograd) encountered a throng of Red Army veterans revisiting the scene for the first time since the end of the battle in 1943. The two parties met by chance near the city center, the site of some of the most bitter fighting of the long siege.

As she related the horrific story of the siege, the Russian tour guide accompanying the German veterans was overcome by emotion and withdrew, sobbing, unable to continue translating. I was visiting the city as an embassy attache at the time and happened to be part of the same tour group as the German veterans. The Germans asked me to translate for them as they spoke to the Red Army veterans.

I repeated the question asked by the German spokesman: “Are there no cemeteries here for the fallen?”

One Russian veteran turned toward the Germans to respond. He was tall and slightly stooped but dignified-looking, with dark eyes and Slavic cheek bones. His dark-colored suit jacket was adorned with rows of faded campaign ribbons, and two medals hung from its worn lapel. His rumpled light brown canvas trousers were patched. “I’m not sure,” he said. “We’re back for the first time since ‘43, and we’ve seen only the big monument on the hill, to Mother Russia. Where are you from?” he asked .

“Munich,” replied the German veteran, a shorter man who was wearing a Bavarian suit of charcoal with green lapels and no ribbons or medals. He did, however, have a memento of his fighting days–one of his coat sleeves was empty, folded neatly and pinned to his shoulder. He carried a walking stick with a top of carved antler. “We were here in ‘43, too.” he said. “We’re back on a tour.”

The Russian stared at him as if confused. “Munich, that’s Germany, right?” he asked.

“Ja,” answered the German proudly; his back stiffening almost imperceptibly. “Were you here that winter when it was so cold?”

The Russian nodded. Then, looking astonished, he gazed directly at the German and inquired, “Why did you come back?”

“I don’t know,” said the German. “I wanted to see this place again, I guess, and visit the graves. Do you know where to look?”

“No, we haven’t seen any graves, only the big markers on the hill with some unit numbers,” answered the Russian, still studying the German’s face with wonder, as if trying to establish some hidden explanation as to why on earth a German would come back to a place that had been the site of such utter destruction and bitter fighting. “Where were you then?”

“Well, I’m not sure,” replied the German. “It doesn’t look the same now. Do you remember where you were?” he asked, looking across the embankment toward the Volga River.

“I was inside the basement of the tractor factory to the north,” said the Russian, pointing up the river. “We were dug in there for a long time when we thought you had taken the city. We were going to take it back,” he added somewhat fiercely.

The German looked around him silently, then said: “We never did take it. But it seems I was near here somewhere.” He paused and spoke again: “We brought flowers. Are you sure there are no cemeteries?”

The Russian exchanged a few words with several members of his group, all of whom were wearing different types of clothing. Clearly, they had all dressed with some care for the outing, since each of them was wearing a suit jacket. Several of them also wore colorfully embroidered skullcaps from central Asia. One sported a wide-brimmed felt fedora, and his wide smile revealed glistening gold teeth. All had campaign ribbons, and some also had medals. Several used a cane, while one man was equipped with a crutch.

“They say there’s a plaque behind the ruined building that mentions some units,” said the Russian spokesman, “but we think there are no monuments with names.” He pointed to a ruined building adjacent to the battle museum. It was pockmarked and partially destroyed, unchanged since the fighting had stopped.

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