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I went to the commander and asked him to help me get to my unit or leave me in his squad. I was checked by the special department [responsible for checking political reliability of the troopers. There were special departments in all civil offices, army units and in prisons] and afterwards I was left in the tank squad as radio operator. Tank men had different radio station – portable. It was not installed on the covered truck, like it was with the pilots. It was easy to assemble and carry that radio station. We worked both with a key and with Morse code. I went to Konigsberg [20] with that tank squad. When we reached Konigsberg, the snow had already thawed. There were corpses of our soldiers on the ground. They were lying in the position they faced death. Konigsberg was taken, when it was snowing and the cadavers were covered with snow. In spring the snow melted. It was definitely a dreadful scene.
I and other girls radio-operators lived in the houses left by Konigsberg population. We were well fed. The food was cooked by field kitchen. I even drank 100 grams of vodka on the front (given to me in the ration), but I never got drunk.
I got along with my fellow soldiers. I should say that all of us were united by a strong patriotic feeling on the lines. We were aware that the country was in great danger. Patriotism, love for the motherland and feeling of duty were not mere words for us, we felt each of those notions in our soul. There was no national discrimination. We had to think of other things at that time.
We lived and worked in the town Konigsberg, when it had not yet been totally captured. First, we stayed in the basement of the house. We did not see what was happening on the top since we stayed down in the basement by the radio stations. When we went outside, we saw a pandemonium. There was a strong artillery shooting from different weapons. There was a terrible clatter and a dense fog. Germans were desperately fighting. There were a couple of strong citadels in Konigsberg. Our artillery had to crush the walls of those fortresses before taking them. Only then Konigsberg could be captured. Tank men were totally exhausted and black from the soot after the battle. I was in touch with them and sent messages to the headquarters via radio. Commander of the headquarters was close to me and took messages where the tanks were and indicated directions for the tanks to take. It was much more difficult for me than working with the pilots. It was the leading edge. Half of three quarters of Konigsberg was taken by Germans. Besides, our planes were bombing military sites and communications, but Americans and English people made carpet bombings of the towns, which were supposed to be taken by us after victory. They crashed the town of Dresden and they bombed Konigsberg that way as well.
War did not finish for us after Konigsberg had been captured. Our squad was told to liberate the port Pilau (now Baltiysk) [about 1000 km to the west from Moscow]. It was a historic citadel. There were huge marine weapons. There was a German tank regiment, several infantry squads in Pilau. Soon, they started attacking and even took a lot of captives. There were a lot of battles and assaults. Especially I remembered one fierce battle. It was called ‘paratroopers on the armor’. Tank men were inside on the tank and infantrymen were on the armor. We had to maintain an incessant communication in order to know the location of the tanks and periodically advise them on directions. Port Pilau was taken by our troops. Having liberated it we got an order to come back to Konigsberg. On our way to Konigsberg some German squads were still resisting and we were caught in the skirmishes. We were ordered to leave the cars, lied down and disguise ourselves. There was «Katyusha» in front of us. [editor’s note: The 82mm BM-8 and 132mm BM-13 Katyusha rocket launchers were built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II. The launcher got this unofficial, but immediately recognized in the Red Army, name from the title of a Russian wartime song, Katyusha.] That gun «Katyusha» was working. I cannot even put it into words. There was such a clatter that it was difficult to discern whether the shells were coming from us or from Germans. The operation on capturing Konigsberg lasted from the 6th till 9th or 10th of April.
I and other girls radio-operators lived in the houses left by Konigsberg population. We were well fed. The food was cooked by field kitchen. I even drank 100 grams of vodka on the front (given to me in the ration), but I never got drunk.
I got along with my fellow soldiers. I should say that all of us were united by a strong patriotic feeling on the lines. We were aware that the country was in great danger. Patriotism, love for the motherland and feeling of duty were not mere words for us, we felt each of those notions in our soul. There was no national discrimination. We had to think of other things at that time.
We lived and worked in the town Konigsberg, when it had not yet been totally captured. First, we stayed in the basement of the house. We did not see what was happening on the top since we stayed down in the basement by the radio stations. When we went outside, we saw a pandemonium. There was a strong artillery shooting from different weapons. There was a terrible clatter and a dense fog. Germans were desperately fighting. There were a couple of strong citadels in Konigsberg. Our artillery had to crush the walls of those fortresses before taking them. Only then Konigsberg could be captured. Tank men were totally exhausted and black from the soot after the battle. I was in touch with them and sent messages to the headquarters via radio. Commander of the headquarters was close to me and took messages where the tanks were and indicated directions for the tanks to take. It was much more difficult for me than working with the pilots. It was the leading edge. Half of three quarters of Konigsberg was taken by Germans. Besides, our planes were bombing military sites and communications, but Americans and English people made carpet bombings of the towns, which were supposed to be taken by us after victory. They crashed the town of Dresden and they bombed Konigsberg that way as well.
War did not finish for us after Konigsberg had been captured. Our squad was told to liberate the port Pilau (now Baltiysk) [about 1000 km to the west from Moscow]. It was a historic citadel. There were huge marine weapons. There was a German tank regiment, several infantry squads in Pilau. Soon, they started attacking and even took a lot of captives. There were a lot of battles and assaults. Especially I remembered one fierce battle. It was called ‘paratroopers on the armor’. Tank men were inside on the tank and infantrymen were on the armor. We had to maintain an incessant communication in order to know the location of the tanks and periodically advise them on directions. Port Pilau was taken by our troops. Having liberated it we got an order to come back to Konigsberg. On our way to Konigsberg some German squads were still resisting and we were caught in the skirmishes. We were ordered to leave the cars, lied down and disguise ourselves. There was «Katyusha» in front of us. [editor’s note: The 82mm BM-8 and 132mm BM-13 Katyusha rocket launchers were built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II. The launcher got this unofficial, but immediately recognized in the Red Army, name from the title of a Russian wartime song, Katyusha.] That gun «Katyusha» was working. I cannot even put it into words. There was such a clatter that it was difficult to discern whether the shells were coming from us or from Germans. The operation on capturing Konigsberg lasted from the 6th till 9th or 10th of April.
Period
Interview
Berta Zelbert