September 1942. The few assault pioneers of a battalion who survived the North African campaign have now been sent to the eastern front. Throughout the crucial fight for Stalingrad, a battle which claimed two million victims, human tolerance is tested beyond all limits. There is trench warfare, hand-to-hand combat for every single building, hunger and cold. Madness as a last resort before death… In these conditions, young lieutenant von Wetzland is forced to accept he cannot possibly keep up even the most basic of moral standards. And that applies to himself, as well as his men. This book is based on extensive research, including numerous interviews with contemporary witnesses. However, this book is fiction rather than non-fiction. The author chose to keep close to fiction even when the two competed for priority, so that he could get inside the main characters’ minds – and look with them into the depths of the abyss. It is this unique narrative perspective which distinguishes the book in comparison to the many other publications on Stalingrad and presents it as a heartfelt, searing indictment against war.weiterlesen