The eventual prevail of Soviets is explained only by the sheer number of cannon fodder thrown down on the Germans. As two historians familiar with the subject matter informed me in response to my related inquiry, such massacres did in fact happen - but only in isolated cases and mainly in the areas that had been annexed by the Soviet Union in 1939/40, not on territory that had been part of the USSR before 1939.

What happened during the retreat from Stalingrad though just totally opened Gunter up to us and gave us so much more than so many personal account give; emotion and feeling, fear and joy. Sometimes we discover new information that changes what we know about an object, such as who made it or used it.None of all this is mentioned by Koschorrek; according to his memoirs the German side was obviously so gentlemanlike as a rule that the author was deeply shocked when an non-commissioned officer Schwarz killed Soviet wounded with a shot in the head so as not to be eventually shot in the back by them.

The novel describes the origins and events of the Russian Revolution, interwoven with the experiences of Arthur Ransome, then a journalist in Russia. This memoir will always rate highly amongst those for the Russian Front and the author has done historians a great service by noting his exploits on those slips of papers that went missing for 40 years. It may be that Korschorrek, as a frontline soldier fighting for his life in the phase of German retreats, did not or only marginally get in contact with crimes of his own side.Blood Red, Snow White was favourably reviewed by the major British newspapers [3] and was shortlisted for the 2007 Costa Children's Book Award. It may be that Koschorrek's diary was a truthful account of the man's experience at the time it was written.