Scorched Earth: The Other Side of World War II

On Slate

This is a feature project ‘in the pipeline’ that is basically ready to go. We’ve had some holdups/stalls because of the global economic situation (ok – I was being charitable; let’s call it what it is – a FUBAR MESS!!!) and our sponsors are hard at work as I write this trying to iron them out so we can get started. The Russo-German War of 1941-45 was the most savage and barbaric conflict in recorded history (since at least the Crusades). The loss of life was on an unimaginable scale: in the first three months of the conflict, the Red Army lost 3 million men.  What other western nation could absorb such losses and keep functioning let alone continue fighting? The superior training, weapons, & initiative of the German soldier allowed him to inflict casualties at an unheard of 6:1 ratio (and at times it went higher). The Eastern Front is largely unknown to most of those in the U.S. & (to a large extent) Great Britain. More emphasis there on the D-Day landings and subsequent campaign across France. And there are excellent personal eye witness histories available: Willi Heinrich’s classic Cross of Iron, Guy Sajer’s The Forgotten Soldier, Leon Degrelle’s Campaign in Russia, Günter K. Koschorrek’s Blood Red Snow, and this gem I’m reading now, In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier’s Memoir of the Eastern Front by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann. Below is but a sample of what you will experience through his memoirs.

Within minutes again we faced another onslaught, and the sun climbed above the horizon to reveal the full horror of the battlefield. Pushed to hatred and thirst for blood through liberal rations of vodka, the Russians staggered and reeled ahead of the threatening pistols wielded by their commissars, their loud screams of “Urrah!” again lost in the deafening roar of exploding weapons. Over the din I heard the machine gunner cry, “I just can’t keep on killing!” as he squeezed the trigger and held it tightly, sending a stream of bullets from the smoking MG {34} barrel into the masses of attackers. Our PAK {Panzerabwehrkanone or “anti-tank gun”} projectiles  screamed and tore holes in the collapsing ranks. This attack ground to a halt hardly fifty paces from the muzzle of our gun.”

This is heady stuff, the up-close & personal type of view we going to highlight on “Masters of War: Soldiers of Distinction.” Real-life drama is more compelling than fiction ever could be. But that’s the type of experience we want to bring to audiences. This is what you’re not seeing. Through the eyes of the grunt, the landser, the knight, the flier, the Seaman, the Submariner…

Locations have been scouted and we’re pretty pleased with one we’ve found in the Midwest. It is a very good stand in for the Ukraine in 1942. In the meantime, remember THE MARSCHER LORDS: Brotherhood or Death, get the word out & support us on kickstarter! Follow us on Twitter @ dutchmn007.

Available on amazon.com