Interestingly, on the day I was injured, my mother had a feeling that something had happened to me. This is maternal instinct.

After recovery and until 1945 I was in training battalion mountain rangers. At first I trained as a radio operator, and then was retained as an instructor. I was given the rank of corporal and became a squad commander. They tried to promote me all the time, to make me an officer, but I didn’t want it. In addition, for this it was necessary to undergo an internship in a combat unit at the front, and to be honest, I didn’t want that at all. I liked the work of a radio operator, a radio station. We, in the communications department, had a music student. He masterfully understood the “radio salad” that was happening on the air, and found the necessary station. Management relied on him a lot. Tuning a radio station yourself was strictly prohibited, but we had a technician, a radio amateur, who did it anyway, and we could listen to foreign radio stations, although this was prohibited on pain death penalty, but we listened anyway. Nevertheless, I was in Italy twice, took part in hostilities, but there was nothing special there. In the spring of 1945 I became a chief huntsman. My commander, when he promoted me to chief huntsman, and we were alone, asked me if I had any desire. I told him that I wanted this to be my last military rank.

U Were there HIVIs in your company?

Yes, several people. There were also those who fought on the German side. There was even a Russian division. I somehow had to deliver one soldier there. I don’t know where they fought, I only met them when I was at home in Germany.

- Were there lice?

And how much! It was a disaster! We were completely covered in lice. We could neither bathe nor do laundry. During the offensive, in spring or autumn, our clothes were damp, and we slept in them so that they would dry on us. Under normal conditions, this could make you sick, but in war the body’s resources are mobilized. I remember we entered a house after the march, completely wet, it was impossible to turn on the light, I found some kind of box that suited me surprisingly well, and went to sleep in it. In the morning I discovered that it was a fob.

- Russian soldiers received vodka in winter. Did they give it to you?

No. To keep warm, we only had tea. There were no warm clothes. In Germany, they collected warm clothes for soldiers at the front, people donated their fur coats, hats, and mittens, but nothing reached us.

- Did you smoke?

Yes. Cigarettes were given out. I sometimes exchanged them for chocolate. Sometimes sutlers would appear and you could buy something. In principle it was fine.

- What can you say about preparing the army for war?

I must say that the army did not meet the conditions of the war in Russia. As for the Russians, an individual soldier was not our enemy. He did his duty on his side, and we on ours. We knew that Russian soldiers were under pressure from the commissars. We didn't have that.

- The most dangerous Russian weapon?

In 1942, aviation was the most dangerous. Russian planes were primitive, but we were afraid of them. We, the mountain rangers, had pack animals, mules. They noticed very early that planes were flying, and they simply stopped and did not move. This was the best tactic - not to move so as not to be noticed. We were afraid of Russian bombs because they were filled with nails and screws.

- Did Russian planes have nicknames?

The night bomber was called a “sewing machine.” I don’t remember anymore... We forgot a lot about the war, because after it we didn’t talk about it. I'm just in recent years I began to remember where and in what dangers I had been. Memories come back and become alive. But overall, I can say that when we look at the past, we see it in an enlightened, blissful light. We just laugh at a lot of things now. The sharp corners have been rounded, we are no longer angry about what happened then. Now we have a completely different view, even on former enemies. We have been to France many times and met with soldiers there. The French and I understand each other very well, although in the past we have been very hostile towards each other. I remember, during the war, we came to some city, we did not walk in a column, but simply, as if on a walk, towards the cathedral, and when we walked, people in the houses, seeing us, closed the windows with an expletive word “ Bosch,” although we behaved very decently.

- Have you heard about the existence of the “order on commissioners”?

No. I honestly can’t say anything about such things.

- Have your brothers returned home?

They returned a little later. I returned home ten days after the end of the war. My older brother returned three weeks after me, and my younger brother three months later. But all three of us returned. When I returned, we didn’t celebrate at home; my mother said that we should wait for the other brothers. When they returned, we celebrated, and my mother said that she knew about me that I would return home, she was absolutely sure of it.

- Did you receive your salary as a soldier?

Yes, soldiers received cash, and non-commissioned officers received their salaries into account. In Russia, we sometimes lived in cities, in huge luxurious apartments on big streets, and behind them there was poverty. We didn't have that.

- What did you do in free time at the front?

We wrote letters. It was very important to me that I had something to read. We only had cheap novels, they didn’t interest me, but I had to read a few so that I had something to talk about with my comrades and so that they wouldn’t ask why I didn’t read them. I wrote letters to practice German. I wrote a letter, and if I didn’t like the way it was written, I tore it up and wrote a new one. For me it was a necessity to stay spiritually alive.

I really regretted that it didn't work out. We knew that everything was ending and that there were impossible people at the top. I then had the impression that most of the population thought exactly the same. Why didn't anything happen to him?

- What awards have you received?

- “Frozen meat” for the winter of ’41. An award for wounding and an Iron Cross of the second class, almost everyone had it, we were not particularly proud of it.

- Where were you at the end of the war?

Before the end of the war, I was transferred to a military school in Mittenwald, to an officer position. It's right next to my house. I was very lucky, no, not lucky, it was the beloved Lord who did it, that it turned out the way it did. The war is already over. I continued to be the commander of a squad of 12 people. In the barracks in Garmisch we did everyday things: loaded food, did housework. The barracks were to be handed over completely as they were to the Americans, who were slowly moving from Oberammagau to Garmisch. It was forbidden to leave the barracks. I stood guard with my squad, the chief was a chief lieutenant, whom I knew from Munich. I explained to him that I would like to go to the local monastery. The chief lieutenant let me go, I said goodbye, but he told me that I was still a soldier and should return in the evening, at seven o’clock. I went to the monastery and was caught by an officer patrol. It was mortally dangerous; I could have been shot on the spot. They stopped me and asked where I was going. I said I was going home. They were two smart young men and they let me through, I was very lucky. A sign was given from heaven that I was still needed.

- Is the war the most important event in your life or is post-war life more important?

Yes, of course, during my life there were events that were much more important than the war. The war forged us young people. We have matured in war. I am grateful to fate that I survived this and went my own way.

Morell Wolfgang

(Morell, Wolfgang)

My name is Wolfgang Morell. This is a Huguenot surname because my ancestors came from France in the 17th century. I was born in 1922. Until the age of ten he studied at a public school, and then for almost nine years at a gymnasium in the city of Breslau, present-day Wroclaw. From there, on July 5, 1941, I was drafted into the army. I just turned 19 years old.

The Mystery of Doctor Morel

Dr. Theodor Morel was Hitler's personal physician for many years. A huge number of rumors and suspicions are associated with his name. Most observers considered him a charlatan. He had bad manners, sloppy dress and was an alcoholic. At one time they made hints about his Jewish origin. But a thorough investigation concluded that the venerable doctor was of purely Aryan origin.

Why did Hitler, who was famous for his extreme pickiness in people, choose a man who did not arouse anyone's sympathy? Didn't this doctor contribute to the gradual transformation of the Fuhrer into a mental and physical invalid, unable to accept right decisions? It is believed that after the declassification of some secret documents, it became possible to answer these questions.

American Glen Infeld, who had access to archival materials The Third Reich, in his book “The Secret Life of Hitler,” in particular writes:

“Morel was the type of person who usually disgusted Hitler. He was very fat, dark, had greasy black hair and wore glasses with thick, convex lenses. But even worse than the physical characteristics were his personal manners, which did not at all correspond to Hitler’s nervous pattern. He constantly gave off a bad smell, and his inability to behave at the table became the talk of the town. However, one thing testified in his favor: by the end of 1937, thanks to the medications prescribed by the “dork doctor,” Hitler felt well for the first time after several years of illness. The Fuhrer decided that he could ignore Morel's shortcomings if he could cure him.

At the very beginning of 1937, Morel carried out a thorough examination of Hitler. The doctor concluded that his patient “suffered from gastritis problems and from poor diet. Swelling is noted in the lower abdomen; the left half of the liver is enlarged; right kidney hurts. Eczema was noted on the left leg, apparently associated with indigestion.”

Morel quickly prescribed what was called mutaflor, one or two capsules taken daily for a month after breakfast. Hitler's digestive system began to function more normally, the eczema disappeared after six months, and he began to recover. The Fuhrer was pleased. In September, he invited Morel as a guest of honor to a party rally at which Hitler was able to wear boots for the first time after many months, having gotten rid of eczema.

The use of mutaflor did not cause controversy in medical circles, but some of the other remedies prescribed by Morel were frankly surprising. For example, to relieve problems associated with gas accumulation in the stomach, he prescribed Dr. Coster's anti-gas tablets, two to four after meals. The composition of these tablets was the subject of great controversy among doctors, and their side effect on Hitler may have changed the course of history.

But in 1937, the Fuhrer was grateful for the relief the medicine brought him. In his estimation, Morel was the greatest medical luminary in the Third Reich, and in the next eight years, despite increasing criticism of the doctor throughout Germany, Hitler did not change his opinion. Wherever Hitler went, Morel went there too. The more pills Morel gave him, the happier Hitler felt. And he never tired of saying that Morel is the only man who keeps his promises. Morel told Hitler that he would cure him within a year, and he did as he was told. Hitler did not realize at the time that the treatment, which initially brought such good results, would ultimately contribute to his physical collapse.

The name Unity Mitford is associated with the beginning of a strange story, the details of which have not yet been fully revealed. Unity was an English aristocrat and a close friend of Hitler. She enthusiastically shared his ideas, admired him and sought to help bring rapprochement between Nazi Germany and England. When France and England declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, she realized the futility of her efforts. Unity Mitford went to a Munich park - English garden and shot herself in the head. The suicide attempt was unsuccessful, but the wound led to paralysis nervous system. For several months, the English fan of the Fuhrer was unconscious. Hitler sent the best doctors to her, including Morel, but all efforts were in vain. Eventually, he arranged to send her home to England via neutral Switzerland. Morel was assigned to accompany the unlucky suicide. A trip to Switzerland in December 1939 marked a turning point in Adolf Hitler's life, although neither he nor Morel realized it.

After Unity Mitford was handed over to the care of a waiting English doctor, Morel took a few days' leave. Zurich at that time was swarming with agents of all kinds of intelligence services, but he ignored this fact. The vain Morel decided: it would be nice for Swiss medical circles to know that he was Hitler’s personal doctor. One of those he told about this immediately contacted Allen Dulles, who was already actively involved in American intelligence activities and often visited Switzerland. Fearing that Morel would be suspicious of the meeting with the American, Dulles sent his man, a former police officer from Munich, to “make friends” with the unsuspecting doctor. This German agent of the Americans found out about the tablets (against the accumulation of gases in the stomach) prescribed to Hitler and discovered that Morel was interested in opening a company in Switzerland producing this medicine. Morel was no longer satisfied with purchasing from outside: he wanted to earn a little extra money. Dulles managed to organize the matter in such a way that his agent, together with the greed-ridden aesculapian, opened a small pharmaceutical company.

From the first day of the new company, the slow poisoning of Hitler began. The doses of strychnine included in the tablets were gradually increased. But it was only at the end of 1944, when Dr. Karl Brandt and Dr. Erwin Giesing became suspicious, analyzed and the secret was revealed. However, Hitler did not believe their statement and... both vigilant doctors fell out of favor.

There was at least one other person who did not trust Morel and was very suspicious of him. In an interview on September 4, 1948, Eva Braun's mother, Frau Franziska Braun, said in part:

“Everyone hated Morel, and even Eva tried to get rid of him. She called him a charlatan. I often heard Eva tell the Fuhrer that Morel's injections were poisoning him, but Hitler did not agree. He always answered that he felt great after the injections. In my opinion, Dr. Morel was a British agent who wanted Hitler to be unable to think realistically and make good decisions."

Frau Braun was close to the truth. Morel was an unwitting tool of the Allies. His Swiss “friend”, an American agent, added atrophy in addition to strychnine. When he later met with Morel in Switzerland, he recommended that he use other drugs to treat Hitler. By 1944, Morel prescribed 28 (!) medications for the Fuhrer. Some of them were taken daily, others only when necessary... Constant use of drugs for many years, encouraged by an agent from Zurich, led to an imbalance in Hitler's mental balance...

Eva Braun once complained:

“I don’t believe Morel. He's such a cynic. He's experimenting on all of us like we're guinea pigs..."

Already by 1942, it was clear to his generals and inner circle that physical and mental changes had occurred in Hitler. Himmler no longer considered him normal and even asked his personal physician, Dr. Felix Kersten, if he believed that the Führer was mentally ill.

Theodor Morel's pills and injections slowly but surely destroyed the Fuhrer's body. Perhaps the explanation for his many irrational orders should be sought in “medicines”, and they explain his loss of contact with reality? And, who knows, maybe this minister of medicine, seduced by a small gesheft, unwittingly played a fatal role in the life of not only Adolf Hitler, but also the entire Third Reich.

I fought in the Wehrmacht and the SS [Revelations of the Nazis] Drabkin Artem Vladimirovich

Morell Wolfgang

– My name is Wolfgang Morell. This is a Huguenot surname because my ancestors came from France in the 17th century. I was born in 1922. Until the age of ten he studied at a public school, and then for almost nine years at a gymnasium in the city of Breslau, present-day Wroclaw. From there, on July 5, 1941, I was drafted into the army. I just turned 19 years old.

I avoided forced labor (before serving in the army, young Germans were required to work for six months for the Imperial Labor Service) and was left to my own devices for six months. It was like a sip fresh air before the army, before captivity.

– Before coming to Russia, what did you know about the USSR?

– Russia was for us closed country. Soviet Union did not want to maintain contact with the West, but the West also did not want connections with Russia - both sides were afraid...

From the book of Luftwaffe Asa, Bf 109 pilots in the Mediterranean author Ivanov S.V.

Hauptmann Wolfgang Tonny, JG-53 During the Battle of France, Tonny served in 3./JG-53, and Wolfgang Tonny fought in the same staff during the Battle of Britain. Then Tony long time was on Eastern Front, by the time of the attack on the Soviet Union he had five

From the book Air War over the USSR. 1941 author Kornyukhin Gennady Vasilievich

Wolfgang Schelmann A native of Kassel, Schelmann began his combat career with the Condor Legion in Spain, where he arrived at the end of 1937 as commander of squadron 1./J 88. In subsequent air battles he showed typical German prudence, without much need

From the book “Truth of the Trenches” by the Wehrmacht [War through the eyes of the enemy] author Drabkin Artem Vladimirovich

From the book I Fought in the Wehrmacht and the SS [Revelations of the Nazis] author Drabkin Artem Vladimirovich

Morell Wolfgang (Morell, Wolfgang) – My name is Wolfgang Morell. This is a Huguenot surname because my ancestors came from France in the 17th century. I was born in 1922. Until the age of ten he studied at a public school, and then for almost nine years at a gymnasium in the city of Breslau, present-day Wroclaw.

Great Patriotic War left an indelible mark on the history of our country. The crimes of the German command do not require confirmation, the atrocities of German soldiers do not know forgiveness. But still, in war it is not soulless machines that fight, but real people, who are characterized not only by bitterness and rage, but also by such human qualities like curiosity, kindness, warmth, sociability.

Each side paid special attention to propaganda and creating the image of the enemy. German propagandists focused on the image of despicable barbarians who, as a result of an unknown universal injustice, occupy territories and own resources that God created for the Germans.

In turn, Soviet soldiers were instilled with Muslim, which is best reflected in the famous poster of the artist Koretsky “Warrior of the Red Army, save!” Our soldiers, at least in the first half of the war, went to save their land and their families from the surging German hordes.

The propaganda worked well, and many had personal scores to settle with the Hans. But already in the third half of the war, the attitude “Kill the German, kill the reptile” began to be relegated to the background. The German soldier was more often seen as a worker, grain grower, or representative of any other peaceful profession, driven into the army by Hitler. Well, with such a rattle, you can even exchange a few words. Until the order to attack came, of course.

During the First World War, our soldiers willingly fraternized with the Germans, which was facilitated by the situation in the country and revolutionary ideas on the fronts. During the Great Patriotic War, such episodes were no longer observed, but frequent cases of bloodless communication were still noted.

So, in May 1944, in the units of the 51st army fighting in the Sevastopol area, rumors spread about a truce. Apparently, the rumor came from the Germans, since they ceased fire first. But things didn’t come to the point of mass fraternization according to the scenario 25 years ago; the next day the order came to attack.

There were also frequent cases of hazing between soldiers of the opposing sides during prolonged periods of sitting in positions awaiting an attack. The headquarters could keep the troops in positions for weeks, waiting for the right moment, and at this time the fighters retreated from the tension of battle and realized that on the other side there were the same people who may well have not wanted this whole war. Some veterans claim that at such moments there were secret exchanges of smokes and canned food, and even completely open football matches. However, no one has canceled SMERSH, so such stories require careful critical reflection.

And yet the soldiers of Germany and the USSR happened to communicate. This opportunity was provided, for example, when German prisoners were taken to Soviet field hospitals. And according to the recollections of veterans, not everyone treated them as enemies. Everyone has the same hospital uniform - blue gowns and white bandages with bloody stains. Here you won’t immediately understand whether the person lying there is German or Russian.

Thus, the former German officer Wolfgang Morel recalls that when in January 1942 he found himself in a hospital in Vladimir with frostbitten feet, only some of the Red Army soldiers who were lying there demonstrated acute hatred for him. Most were neutral, and some even showed interest.

However, all this applies to “peaceful” periods, and when the time came for battle, the saving feeling of the enemy returned again, without which to survive in that terrible war it was simply unrealistic.

Only melodrama screenwriters could probably come up with such a story - a Soviet girl and a German prisoner of war fall madly in love with each other, but meet again only after seventy years of separation. For Zhanna Vorontsova from Nizhny Novgorod, this plot became a reality - her lover, 95-year-old Wolfgang Morel, came to her, an 87-year-old pensioner, from Germany.

"Look into my eyes and everything will be fine"

Getting ready for a date, Wolfgang is probably much more nervous than in his youth. He combs his graying hair, pins a badge with two flags - Russia and Germany - on the lapel of his jacket, and buys a large bouquet of roses.

“My eyes are already a little wet,” Wolfgang Morel admits, a little clumsily, but almost without accent. Of course, he had been waiting for this meeting all his life!

Wolfgang met Zhanna in the spring of 1947 - the girl was then leading a concert in the prisoner of war camp, which he was. He was captured near Moscow, and the young man’s first thought was German soldier Then it was - I had to shoot myself! Fortunately, his gun misfired, and Soviet soldiers saved him from the second attempt. Morel was brought to Nizhny Novgorod and literally re-educated - the young man quickly realized the essence of fascism and even began educating his comrades, fighting the remnants of fascist ideology. As an exceptionally positive prisoner of war, he was even sometimes allowed to move around the city without an escort. And he, taking advantage of this, ran on dates with Zhanna!

Seventeen-year-old beauty! This was the first girl who attracted me so much. And I never saw one like that again,” Wolfgang Morel said in an interview.

Jeanne and Wolfgang's first date took place at the Lenin House of Culture, a now abandoned but still majestic building. The young people went there to dance, and Wolfgang almost fainted from hunger.

I only remember how we dance, Jeanne looks at me and says: “Look into my eyes, and everything will be fine!” recalls Herr Morel.

“It’s not for nothing that I fell in love with him then!”

Zhanna Vorontsova is now 87 years old. The pensioner’s health is no longer the same; she moves with with great difficulty, just recently lost her only son - but as soon as she heard that Wolfgang, her beloved Volodya, as she called him, would come to her, the elderly woman rushed to preen herself. After all, for her this meeting is also the most important.

He's a hundred years old. You have to be crazy to decide to go from Germany to Russia! – Zhanna is amazed. - It’s not for nothing that I was so in love with him then, not for nothing!

Although Zhanna knew very well that Wolfgang was German, she introduced him to her friends as a Latvian student. Just in case - you never know.

The lovers' happiness turned out to be short-lived - in the same 1947, Wolfgang Morel was deported. Moreover, in Germany, that is, there was no chance to continue communication at all. Parting, almost not believing in the possibility of a new meeting, Jeanne still asked Wolfgang in verse to promise that someday they would see each other again.

On a new first date, Wolfgang Morel gave his beloved French perfume. He admitted that he had always dreamed of doing this, but in captivity he did not have such an opportunity, and after deportation, he did not know how to find Zhanna. And then he married a German girl, life went on as usual, but the beautiful Komsomol member kept popping up in my memory. Morel talked about this in his memoirs, and caring readers helped him find his old love.