Vitebsk: The Fight and Destruction of Third Panzer Army (Die Wehrmacht im Kampf)

This book is an interesting first-hand account written in 1954 and originally only published in German. The author was the Chief-of-Staff of the 3rd Panzer Army at the time of these battles. Divisions of that Army were defending Vitebsk at this time. Keep all of that in mind when reading this book; more historical resources have been developed since then.The story is told in a matter-of-fact tone; you will not find any stories of small unit or individual soldier battles. There are references to battles with Soviet partisans in the region; a potentially controversial subject for some.As for the Amazon reviewer in 2021 claiming this is mostly a picture book, nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, there are 20 maps at the very beginning of the book, but the rest of the book, around 176 pages, is all text. I could not find any pictures other than those on the dustjacket of the book.My only complaint would be the "thinness" of some chapters, perhaps reflecting on the lack of historical information that was accessible to the author in 1954.Finally, if you want a broader and perhaps more detailed view of the offensives involving Vitebsk along with the surrounding region I would suggest looking at "Battle For Belorussia: The Red Army's Forgotten Campaign Of October 1943-April 1944" by David Glantz. That book was published in 2016 and it incorporates both Russian and German sources.

Good source of history

The book is entirely what it claims to be, and therefore what I expected it to be. It is a treatise on the fight and destruction of the German Third Panzer Army as told from the perspective of its Chief of Staff, Otto Heidkämper. It was compiled as part of a postwar NATO study on the German conduct of war against the Soviets in WW2. It is written in a concise manner. The maps, though concentrated at the front of the book, are dated and therefore quite helpful to the reader who wants to relate relative portions of the text to them. The book is also refreshing in that it refutes two common perceptions – that the Wehrmacht initiated and monopolized the “scorched earth” policy and atrocities that were mainstays of the war in the East. On his arrival in the Vitebsk area in May 1943 the author notes that the city “had been set ablaze by young Communists immediately before its capture by German troops in the summer of 1941. Only a few church steeples remained standing amidst what was otherwise devastated land”. In Appendix 2 “Affidavit on anti-bandit warfare”, which was written as evidence for the Nuremberg trials, he discusses the anti-partisan operations in the Army’s rear areas.The book is not, as “History Enthusiast” states in his review, “a report of the numerous offensives undertaken by the Red Army in and around Vitebsk … ”. Nor is it, from what I can tell, intended to be. It is quite clearly a report on the numerous defensive battles fought by the German Third Panzer Army in and around Vitebsk during the latter months of 1943 and early months of 1944. This distinction is important because he criticizes the book for not being “balanced” to both sides. Incidentally, the book he claims is balanced (Glantz’s The Battle for Belorussia) actually isn’t either. It covers the German side of the campaign only to the extent of providing context for Soviet initiatives. So in truth, the reader who is interested in viewing the events from the perspective of each side should probably read both books.Unlike “History Enthusiast” I do not believe the author resorted to exaggerations. Indeed, the context in which the report was written suggests that it would have been counter-productive and self-defeating to do so. In any event it is almost common knowledge by now that the Germans’ inability to replace losses, coupled with the ability of the Soviets to readily replace theirs and more, resulted in the former being worn down and grossly outnumbered at this point of the war. Heidkämper refers to the deterioration of the Third Panzer Army’s combat power on numerous occasions as being both chronic and severe, so it is absurd to suggest he might be “regularly avoiding the true casualties”. In fact, it is entirely plausible under the prevailing circumstances for the average combat strength of the German divisions to be down in the range of 1,500 men by February 1944 – not only due to combat losses, but also due to sickness and combat fatigue from being at the front for too long. As far as the suggestion that Heidkämper could be “over-estimating Soviet forces” is concerned, it should be noted that there is absolutely nothing in the Glantz book (referenced by the reviewer) that contradicts his estimations of Soviet strengths and casualties.

“Vitebsk” is a competent and forthright discussion of the German 3rd Panzer Army (3 PA) battles in the region of the strategic city of Vitebsk seen from the eyes of his chief of staff between summer 1943 and June 1944 massive Operation Bagration.Though preferring a little greater depth to the battles/operations described in the book, this is still a respectable book (originally published in 1954) and is still recommended because it allows seeing the operational events of a forgotten part of the Eastern Front from a factual and concise perspective of a staff officer that I knew so little about.In chapters 1 to 21, the narrative is dedicated to explaining the conditions, the nature of the fighting in 3 PA sector during Soviet late 1943 offensives, Army’s defensive tasks and relevant assessments of the different actions, anti-bandit (partisan) operations, etc.In Chapter 22 (the longest with 24 pages) the author covered some battles during “The Soviet summer offensive of 1944: the advance against Third Panzer Army”.In the final chapter (“Closing remarks” with 11 pages) the author tried to answer if the collapse of 3 PA, described in the chapter 22, could be avoided. Among the reasons provided for the near-complete destruction of 3 PA we can find the “almost non-existent freedom of action”, decisions made too late and, above all, Hitler’s obsession with fortress-towns.The two appendixes provide a series of helpful documents (3 PA’s Order of battle and an affidavit on anti-bandit warfare).There are 20 maps at the beginning of the book that are helpful and added to the narrative. The maps are poorly located. The maps should have been placed only in the chapters that actually discuss the battle. As it is, when you are reading about a battle you have to flip back several pages to find the relevant map.No photos are provided and an index closes out the book.Finally, in writing this book, the author relied on daily reports, extracts from the war diary and intelligence reports from 3PA.

While the photographs were nice, and some quite rarely seen, the text and narrative really lacked the depth I was looking for.

Interesting book, for a less known period, though most of the book covers events before the destruction of Army Group Centre in June 1944.

All good

This is a little gem. For the specialist. To be read (for German speakers) with Marsch aus dem Untergang by Claus Neuber.