Which German unit did the Soviets fear/respect the most?

Agreed, this perfectly echoes what I just said about the T-34 and the 37mms

 

Yes. Your first assumption is incorrect. Thus your second is irrelevant.

 

I didn't get that at all. Any reasonable person or should I say any sane person fears someone who has the capability and intent of killing him/her. Just because one fears something doesn't make them a coward indeed there's a question of whether or not one can be brave in the abscence of fear. As for fearing their cmmissars that would be pretty rational as well given the events of the time.

I would argue superior training, doctrine, and NCO's played an important part as well. AS did surprise and the strategic posture of the Red Army of the time.

But it wasn't just the weapons now was it? The Soviets got a rather harsh lesson in tactics, operations, and strategy but they took that to heart. At the operational and strategic level they eventually eclipsed the Germans and they certainly improved dramatically on the tactical level while the Germans declined.

As for the initial question would who you fear not depend on where you were and what you were doing? A Soviet pilot for instance has little to fear from a German tank. Likewise a Soviet sailor. The latter however is going to worry about uboats if he is in European waters and probably the cold if he's in Siberia.
As for respect what kind of respect? Respect for military compitency? Respect for their honorable conduct? Respect for their bravery? The answer likely changes considerably depending on just what you are looking for.

 

I still say really no-one as well as for the German units, both fought and bled each other out, especially the last months in Ost Preußia, and yes according to a Guards infantrieman I interviewed there was fear of the Comm's, it is all matter of aspect and whom you have interviewed, are of engagement(s) and unit(s) involved, no-more than that Gentlemen

 

It is true that many of the Russian soldiers had a fear of the Commissars. But it would take more than a fear of someone to fight the way the Russian soldier fought. Something more has to be added to the equation such as the fact that Commissars = bad but Germans invading your country = worse. Soldiers that fight for fear of reprisal from their own government have never been very effective fighting a properly trained and armed military force. Hence the large amount of surrenders of Iraqi forces during the first Gulf War. Another point that may need some research is how many units where without Commissars and Officers yet still fought and advanced onto German positions. Causalities were extremely high on battles on the Eastern Front and it would be hard to believe that the Russian’s did not have a large amount of losses in their Commissars Corp (If considered a corp) and Officer Corp. There had to be fairly large amount of units, sections, and individuals that performed admirably without the afore mentioned supervision. I think that the common Russian soldier felt the duty to repulse a invading army from the Mother Land and of course once cleared of the Mother Land to punish that nation by taking the war to Berlin.

One also must remember that once the bullets start flying a soldier both German and Russian are fighting for their life and the life of their comrades not their countries or the officers appointed above. It is however their beliefs in their countries that give the reason and courage to engage in these battles to start with.

 

Tamino you´re kidding! You can be for any side you want, no probs. Only thing i wanted to say that at first the war had no really winner because all are losers in one or the other way. And there wasn´t a better Army or a bad Army reffering to the mayor players. All of the soldiers and i mean each single one, was a hero to go to war and to die for the weird ideas of their leaders. No matter if they had to die for a racial idea, or the assault on a hill that was unimportant the next day or what else. At least it was like Alaskarat said it was a fighting for themself to survive!

 

Thanks lwd for helping me to understand the subject of this conversation even better. Your post is quite interesting and helpful.

Agreed; that's entirely true; fear is a natural emotion of mentally sane beings, including human kind. Fear is a negative emotion indispensable for the survival. However, to fight in a war and to survive, a soldier must manage his emotions to accomplish his task. Good example is a Russian veteran mentioned before who said: »It was so terrible that for two days my teeth were trembling from fear but no one of us has retreated«. By managing his own fears that veteran has helped to save other people’s lives. That’s something to respect.

Indeed. Russians have developed a novel approach to stop the Bliztkrieg. That wasn’t just dominance by numbers or by equipment. In fact Soviet gross national product was lower than that of Germany until the end of 1944.

 

Yeah, I was. However the theme is difficult, we must keep smiling.

Agreed.

 

Maybe I should have worded the question better. Fear is a part of war no matter how you cut it. It has been documented that Soviet commanders did avoid certain German units if they were able to do so.

 

Sometimes you won´t get the answers you want to have. Happy New Year!

 

avoid certain units if you are able to do so? Oops there's a secret Russian weapon : the Babooschka mother in law

 

I would have to guess that facing Waffen-SS or units like GrossDeustchland and the Para's would most intimidate the Soviets as the were more likely to at or near full strength and possess the latest equipment. But again only a Guess

 

A Violation of the Geneva Convention if I ever saw one!

 

I know. Happy New year to you too! I had such high hopes for this thread.

 

Some of those SS divisions were not very good. Leibstandarte, Das Reich, Totenkopft, and Wiking did alot of damage. The Fallschirmjager did a good job in the northern sector.

 

Part of the problem is 50 years of official Soviet propaganda on the subject, and ever fewer veterans wou could give us an unvarnished version of what it realy was like to be a line sodlier in the Red Army. Which is a real pity, they were brave soldiers of course but human like the rest of us and their sacrifice deserves to have the truth told rather than a communist fairy tale that we seem to be left with.

 

Seems we are getting more of the truth these days. The Russians have even admitted there were not thousands of tanks present at Kursk.

 

Oh. they´ve admitted some interesting things like they´ve fired on their own soldiers in case of a withdrawal and that at some places they sent them without a gun into a battle and some other not funny things which blames their leaders not the individual soldier.

 

For many decades WE never gave them the credit they deserve. The USSR paid the largest debt for victory.

 

Maybe if Stalin hadn't decapitated his own army in the 30s, the Russians would have been able to defend themselves better from the start. I also find it hard to accept their 1939-41 period which is hardly ever mentionned in history books, with purges in the Baltics and in Bessarabia in 1940 or the ethnic cleansing of Lemberg poles from 1939 to 1941.
I respect their major contribution to the 1945 victory, but they should also remember they were zealeous helpers of the Nazis until 1941.
The last importation of Ukrainian wheat crossed the Reich border on June 21st 1941......