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In early December we marched towards Velikiye Luki. On 12th December 1942 our Estonian corps had the first battle. The battles were fierce, with a lot of bloodshed. I and the lieutenant, who was sent to us from the former Estonian corps, were the only ones, who were battle-seasoned in our squad, where I was the commander. The rest did not have any experience in battle. The casualties were big – it was a mêlée. Only 3800 survived out of 10,000 people in our division. Though, there were a lot of wounded who came back to the squad. I also was wounded in those battles and came back in the lines after having been treated.
We lost a lot of good lads there. One of them was Kulman, the husband of my cousin Gerta, the daughter of Uncle Biniumin. He came there in replenishment troops. I met him before the battle and asked him to come to me after the battle. He was killed in action and was dead by evening. My friend from Rakvere, Blekhman, also perished. He was a tall and handsome guy, a good sportsman. There were 50 Jews in our regiment only 12 people survived the battle at Velikiye Luki.
We did not have experience in battle tactics, there was no proper reconnaissance. We had big causalities, but we managed to take the town anyway. It was the first military operation of the Soviet army, when our troops besieged the town and the battles were in the town and on the streets. It was like that in Stalingrad, but the Battle of Stalingrad [27] was after Velikiye Luki. It means, that our battle was the first to come and we had the battles in town before the Stalingrad army.
We lost a lot of good lads there. One of them was Kulman, the husband of my cousin Gerta, the daughter of Uncle Biniumin. He came there in replenishment troops. I met him before the battle and asked him to come to me after the battle. He was killed in action and was dead by evening. My friend from Rakvere, Blekhman, also perished. He was a tall and handsome guy, a good sportsman. There were 50 Jews in our regiment only 12 people survived the battle at Velikiye Luki.
We did not have experience in battle tactics, there was no proper reconnaissance. We had big causalities, but we managed to take the town anyway. It was the first military operation of the Soviet army, when our troops besieged the town and the battles were in the town and on the streets. It was like that in Stalingrad, but the Battle of Stalingrad [27] was after Velikiye Luki. It means, that our battle was the first to come and we had the battles in town before the Stalingrad army.
Period
Location
Velikiye Luki
Russia
Interview
Isaac Serman