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Here is another part from the Popel’s memoir:
It is a part of the talking of Katukov and the commander of a leading tank group about the actions of the group during the Vistula-Oder Operation in January-February of 1945
“Colonel Sobolev:
…Our group didn’t meet with a serious resistance in our last way to Lebus on the Oder, little groups of the Germans run away to Oder, we crushed them with a rush.
He stopped to speak, recalling something:
“Oh, yes, I met a few my old acquaintances – members of Volkssturm”
“Where did you meet with those very strange acquaintances?” – Katukov asked.
“I met them firstly during the combats in the region of Konin. We broke a Volkssturm unit and captured a few hundred prisoners. What to do with them? It was impossible the send them in our rears as our infantry left behind of us in a half of a hundred kilometers. And we couldn’t take the POWs with us as it is impossible to place a POW in a tank. Our guys asked the POWs: “Where are you from?” They answered: “We are from Brandenburg Province, it is not far from here”. And ours spoke: “So, let go home. But look, do not fight more against us. Your sons and grandsons couldn’t stop us so you much the more will not stop us. Auf viderzeen (“Good bye” (in German)).” And the old men turned out the honest-minded people – they came home and hided in the forests and basements… When they saw me they began to reprobate me: “Why did you, Herr Russian officer, go to us for a so ling time? SS-men had time to capture and to hang as deserters a half of us. It was better if you took us as POWs in our last meeting!”
Sobolev was silent for some time and then continued:
“Commonly, there were some amazing meetings in that raid. It was not the road but a real International. The landlords run away, the guards of concentration camps run away when they heard the sound of tank engines. And the POWs and slaves began to move to the East. All the motor road was full of them. An old woman drove on a cart, her children sat on a few bales – we look and see the white-red arm-band [Polish symbol – rem. of Andrey] on their hands. Our guys began to shout: “Hello from Poland, we were there not long time ago, we are moving from Poland.” And the people from the cart are waving by caps. Then we saw the group of the people who were moving on bicycles. They had short jackets, green berets with stars and stripes. Was it possible that these were Americans? We know English even the less than Polish. Suddenly one of them began to speak, it was difficult but we could understand him: “I am America, my grandfather is Ukraine. We were airdrop, we are prisoners. We are moving in Moscow, I and you, Oklahoma and Ukraine, OK?” Then some Italians arrived, and then some Dutchmen came to us. Later we met some African, probably, they were from the troops of De Goll. In the end we met even some swarthy men with turbans on their head, it were the Indians from the British Army. And we felt very fine! It looked like we saw by our eyes that we carry freedom to the whole World. But the most of all were ours – people from Bobruisk, Poltava, Chernigov.
Suddenly our column stopped. I saw that junior lieutenant Pudov, the commander of the leading tank, began to embrace a girl with a red kerchief over her head. He was shouting like he was crazy: “Olia! Sister!” He saw her through an observation slit and jumped down from the moving tank and hardly was not under the tank’s tracks. Here is a drama! But we have no to stop, we have no to slow down our motion. He began to bid farewell to her but she was crying and clutched at her brother. They didn’t see each other for three years, they didn’t know anything about each other for all this time. He said to her: “I must go, I must go in the other side of the Oder, here my commander is waiting for me.” And he showed me to her. She run to me: “Comrade Commander, let me to move together with you, I know short roads, I know where there are no Germans in the bank of the Oder!” I was lucky. I said: “Climb into your brother’s tank, lead us to the Oder!” And she leaded us to the Oder… ”
It is a part of the talking of Katukov and the commander of a leading tank group about the actions of the group during the Vistula-Oder Operation in January-February of 1945
“Colonel Sobolev:
…Our group didn’t meet with a serious resistance in our last way to Lebus on the Oder, little groups of the Germans run away to Oder, we crushed them with a rush.
He stopped to speak, recalling something:
“Oh, yes, I met a few my old acquaintances – members of Volkssturm”
“Where did you meet with those very strange acquaintances?” – Katukov asked.
“I met them firstly during the combats in the region of Konin. We broke a Volkssturm unit and captured a few hundred prisoners. What to do with them? It was impossible the send them in our rears as our infantry left behind of us in a half of a hundred kilometers. And we couldn’t take the POWs with us as it is impossible to place a POW in a tank. Our guys asked the POWs: “Where are you from?” They answered: “We are from Brandenburg Province, it is not far from here”. And ours spoke: “So, let go home. But look, do not fight more against us. Your sons and grandsons couldn’t stop us so you much the more will not stop us. Auf viderzeen (“Good bye” (in German)).” And the old men turned out the honest-minded people – they came home and hided in the forests and basements… When they saw me they began to reprobate me: “Why did you, Herr Russian officer, go to us for a so ling time? SS-men had time to capture and to hang as deserters a half of us. It was better if you took us as POWs in our last meeting!”
Sobolev was silent for some time and then continued:
“Commonly, there were some amazing meetings in that raid. It was not the road but a real International. The landlords run away, the guards of concentration camps run away when they heard the sound of tank engines. And the POWs and slaves began to move to the East. All the motor road was full of them. An old woman drove on a cart, her children sat on a few bales – we look and see the white-red arm-band [Polish symbol – rem. of Andrey] on their hands. Our guys began to shout: “Hello from Poland, we were there not long time ago, we are moving from Poland.” And the people from the cart are waving by caps. Then we saw the group of the people who were moving on bicycles. They had short jackets, green berets with stars and stripes. Was it possible that these were Americans? We know English even the less than Polish. Suddenly one of them began to speak, it was difficult but we could understand him: “I am America, my grandfather is Ukraine. We were airdrop, we are prisoners. We are moving in Moscow, I and you, Oklahoma and Ukraine, OK?” Then some Italians arrived, and then some Dutchmen came to us. Later we met some African, probably, they were from the troops of De Goll. In the end we met even some swarthy men with turbans on their head, it were the Indians from the British Army. And we felt very fine! It looked like we saw by our eyes that we carry freedom to the whole World. But the most of all were ours – people from Bobruisk, Poltava, Chernigov.
Suddenly our column stopped. I saw that junior lieutenant Pudov, the commander of the leading tank, began to embrace a girl with a red kerchief over her head. He was shouting like he was crazy: “Olia! Sister!” He saw her through an observation slit and jumped down from the moving tank and hardly was not under the tank’s tracks. Here is a drama! But we have no to stop, we have no to slow down our motion. He began to bid farewell to her but she was crying and clutched at her brother. They didn’t see each other for three years, they didn’t know anything about each other for all this time. He said to her: “I must go, I must go in the other side of the Oder, here my commander is waiting for me.” And he showed me to her. She run to me: “Comrade Commander, let me to move together with you, I know short roads, I know where there are no Germans in the bank of the Oder!” I was lucky. I said: “Climb into your brother’s tank, lead us to the Oder!” And she leaded us to the Oder… ”
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