SS (mot) Inf Div Das Reich July 1941 Pt 11, Original War Diary, Smolensk-Moscow Highway Paul Hausser

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Episode 134

This beautiful color footage is from the summer of 1941 during operation Barbarossa. The original film is simply titled Vormarsch in Russland, or Advance into Russia. At the end pf this video I’ll show the end of this reel so stick around.

In part 11 we'll follow the unit through July 20th and 21st. The last time we were with the motorized SS Division Reich Kurt’s specific reinforced Regiment was fighting its way north east towards the Dorogobusch Bridgehead in order to help put a lid on the Smolensk pocket and cut the Smolensk - Moscow highway. It was cold and rainy and enemy resistance was heavy which made progress slow.

At a fork in the road that we’ve been advancing along we suddenly come into contact with the enemy and in a flanking move to the left attack. As our vehicles scatter to leave the road Russian artillery opens up in their midst however after just a few shots, it stops. We cautiously continue

Arriving to the Pronino Hills (Hill 125.6) we come into contact with strong enemy units and are engaged in heavy combat through the afternoon and on into the evening. We’re eventually able to eliminate the majority of the enemy and most of those who remains surrender. With this engagement won we are able to regain contact with the SS Regiment Deutschland which has been advancing to our right.

After securing the area things get once again uncomfortable as suddenly both Russian and German artillery fire begins to rain down on us but that doesn’t last long. That same night we push on to reach the railroad junction at Pronino and at around 11.30 pm the sound of combat all along the front around us falls quiet. Finally we have the feeling that the area is securely in the hands of our division.

But the enemy has one more surprise in store for us. A few Comissars with about a company of men managed to get hold of some heavy weaponry and, looking to break out of the pocket, somehow managed to fight their way all the way through to our position. A large firefight develops and after about 10 minutes, all the Russians except for the lead Commisar, surrender. He continues firing his weapon even after being hit two times and is lying badly wounded on the ground. The firefight continues until one of our men finally is able to kill him. This first encounter with the Russian commissar certainly has shown how fantastic a fighter the Russian is capable of being.

At sunrise we are ordered to dig in. Absolutely sure that this can only be temporary we soon learn that this is actually not the case. Our most difficult days are expected to be in front of us. What we must now do is something that no German soldier, especially not us, should have to experience. We’re going over to the defensive.

The Smolensk Pocket now a reality has left the Russians with the option of either trying to break out to the South or, using formations outside of the pocket to the South to try and break the encirclement and allowing the trapped units to escape. The SS Division Reich is alone responsible for stopping any Russian break through attempt coming from the direction of Jelnia. The divisions defensive position has a front of approximately 35km that must be held at all cost.

In the next video in this series we’ll continue with Kurt’s war diary and see what happened during the defense of the position. If you like material produced with primary historical sources please remember to like this video and subscribe to the channel. And if by chance you are interested in possibly buying Kurt’s war diary it is for sale. Please contact me through the website Military1945.com. And now, let’s take a look at the rest of that color footage.

My guess is that the footage is from June and July from one of Army Group Centers PzD’s. Do you see any identifying details? Also, what do you make of Kurt’s last entry regarding the taking up of defensive positions? Do you think his innocent arrogance was a trait specific to the Waffen SS of the time or was the normal Wehrmacht soldier equally confident?