[烛光生存狂]-【罗马尼亚老兵系列】马木尔·扎姆菲尔中士的战争回忆

http://www.worldwar2.ro/memorii/?article=106

马木尔•扎姆菲尔中士-战争回忆

1941年2月15日,马木尔-扎姆菲尔进入切尔纳沃德(Cernavoda)附近的彼得鲁-拉莱士(Petru Rares )军事学校开始了自己的军事生涯.毕业后,他被分配到了第9步兵师第36步兵团的工兵连.(营长:Secareanu少校,团长:Vatasescu上校,师长:Panaitiu将军).

1942年9月1日,部队被送往了东线的顿河地区.他们乘火车到了斯大林诺(Stalino)车站后,步行了6个星期抵达前线.此时战线基本平静,所以他们的主要任务就是修筑防御工事和冬季的掩蔽所.

11月9日,苏联人向罗马尼亚人的阵地发起新的攻势,苏联人被击溃.在接下去整整一个月的战斗中,双方互有攻守但都没有取得任何进展,除了给双方造成严重的人员损失外,没有任何的意义.

在军官[政委?]的催逼下,苏联士兵用罗马尼亚语叫喊:"兄弟,你为什么要杀我?安东尼斯库和斯大林在一起喝着伏特加,而我们却在这里互相残杀!"

罗马尼亚人的进攻一般都是在炮击敌军防线后,由一线步兵发起.可问题是罗马尼亚人的炮兵不仅口径小,精度又差,很难撼动敌军的工事.此外,罗军步兵的武器也非常的落后,大部分士兵拿的是装有刺刀的ZB步枪,每排有1-2挺冲锋枪,每连只有2挺机枪和一门Brandt迫击炮.这些因素导致了部队的大量伤亡,有时伤亡比例甚至达到了90%.在经历了又一次失败的进攻后,马木尔-扎姆菲尔把全连仅剩的7名幸存者(包括他自己)带了回来.为了表彰他的勇敢,马木尔-扎姆菲尔被晋升为中士.战斗中指挥工兵连的年轻军官们总是冲在进攻的最前列,因此这些尽管经常成为第一批阵亡的人,人员替换是如此频繁以至于扎姆菲尔都无法记得他们的名字.

在和苏联人交几次手后,罗军士兵开始使用缴获的武器和装备.扎姆菲尔中士挑了一挺伯莱塔冲锋枪（意大利造的武器吧？

）作为自己的主武器[副武器是什么?呵呵,游戏玩太多了].单兵武器的问题解决了,但是在反坦克武器的问题上,情况却变得更糟.手榴弹对坦克没有多大效果,又没有地雷或者其他的反坦克武器.罗军用"莫洛托夫鸡尾酒"取得了一定的战果.苏联人的坦克被击中燃烧后,坦克手就投降了.[问题是这种自杀性的进攻付出的代价实在是太高了]不过在这个地区,苏联人手上没多少坦克.一般也就把坦克放置在阵地后作为固定炮台执行一些无意义的炮火支援任务.当坦克被投入到地面进攻时,罗军的突击工兵（^_^ 又回忆起了CC）们就负责解决它们.

大部分的战斗都和一战类似,步兵在战壕内用刺刀拼杀.在一起战斗中,扎姆菲尔用刺刀杀了一名苏联士兵.在死之前,苏联人用罗马尼亚语告诉他,他家里有5个孩子.中士对此非常的内疚,但在当时他别无选择.

另一件让人"吃惊"的事的是一条来自德军最高司令部的命令--杀死所有的苏联战俘.罗军军官对此非常厌恶,他们要求手下的部队在抓到战俘后,在收缴武器装备后就放走战俘.在罗军取得了一次战斗的胜利后,当苏联战俘跑向无人区的时候，军官们就要求士兵们"眼睛看着其他方向".

扎姆菲尔回想起有一次,他的排抓了四名苏联女军官(后勤军官,偶然在前线抓获的).连长命令他把四个人带到后面的灌木丛里枪毙.在灌木丛里,中士问她们是否能听懂罗马尼亚语,出乎意料,四个来自摩尔多瓦的苏联人回答能听懂.中士告诉她们:"现在,你们知道自己的位置在那里,一会我会对着地面开枪,我希望再也不会见到你们了.女人就是母亲,不是士兵!".四个苏联战俘亲吻了他,很快就消失在树林中.之后,中士对着地面开了几枪后回到了排里.

有时候,一些罗军士兵会强奸苏联妇女.扎姆菲尔对此感到非常不舒服.他感觉这是一种最严重的犯罪.如果一名军官看到的话,他会立刻枪毙这名士兵,但是军官不是每次都在附近.不过他们的战友会惩罚这名强奸犯.如果他在战场上受伤的话,没有人会去救他.

一天,上级命令扎姆菲尔中士找5名志愿者,组成一支搜索摧毁小队渗透到距离森林大约2公里处的敌人防线之后.据报在那里敌人部署了一支坦克部队.他要了一名下士和四名士兵,开始设法渗透敌人的阵地.在森林里他们发觉一辆坦克周围没有乘员(空的).几米外,中士看到从地面上升起一根管子,管子里不断冒出烟雾.没有哨兵,周围也没有敌军活动.他命令手下把手榴弹投入到管子和空坦克的内部.

出乎意料,地堡的爆炸强度大大超过了手榴弹可能造成的损害.这是一座弹药库.在一阵强烈的爆炸后,中士决定迅速返回本方防线.几分钟后,三辆苏联坦克出现并开始追捕他们.幸运的是,苏联人只用坦克炮射击而没有用坦克机枪.小队顺利逃脱了追捕,但是罗军误以为苏联人又开始发动一次大规模的进攻,所以炮兵开始射击.小队被压制在两军阵地之前无法动弹,炮击中小队阵亡了4人.

幸运的是,三辆苏联坦克因为畏惧罗军的掩护炮火开始撤退,扎姆菲尔中士和那名幸存的下士也因此得以及时安全返回.

12月30日(很有可能是1942年11月19日),四名德国高级军官来到罗军防线视察.尽管在经历了一个星期的苦战后,德罗联军的防线只向前推进了2或3公里,可一名德国将军宣布:"到了明年的圣诞节,我们将一起漫步在美国的道路上"….扎姆菲尔甚至都不知道美国在哪里,他一直都在苏联的严冬中坚持战斗,希望能在明年过一个完整的圣诞节.三天后,苏联人在重炮,大量的T34坦克和俯冲轰炸机的支援下,发起了一次毁灭性的进攻.到了夜里,为了避免被包围,罗军匆匆开始撤退.苏联士兵叫喊到:"罗马尼亚兄弟,我们会在布加勒斯特见面".

几天后,撤退开始有点组织,但是部队之间的联系要么中断要么非常差,每个连(有些甚至是每个排)都自己想办法避免被俘虏并安全的撤离.从指挥部下达的命令经常是互相矛盾的,要么就到了太晚.就算这样也只有一部分的部队可以接到命令.第36团设法保持了一定程度的紧密性与秩序,这主要是因为这个团处于Secareanu少校的直接指挥下,也就是说他们有一个合适的领导者,这是一个优势.沿途也有其它的排加入他们.

第一个星期,撤退非常的仓促和艰难,那些不能继续行走的伤员被抛弃.扎姆菲尔到现在也不能忘记伤员拼死伸手想自己的战友能救他们.苏联人会射杀所有受伤的战俘.

之后,第9步兵师组织起了一些零星的攻势以缓解后方追兵的压力.大部分的重型火炮,重装备和运输工具都丢失了.人们只有靠步行撤退,孤立的排或者连想尽办法躲避敌人的轰炸或被坦克包围.

工兵们负责解决苏联坦克为了给苏联人造成一种本方大量的增援部队已经抵达的印象.罗军也在村庄里和道路上设置诡雷.有时1或2个连会挖掘战壕来抵抗苏联小部队的袭击,以赢得时间和转移敌人对罗军主要的撤退路线的注意力.这些任务只能取得部分成功.因为俄国人的攻势仍在继续,即使是这些罗马尼亚小部队给他们的敌人造成了与自己的实力不相称的严重损失的情况下.

部队的补给几乎为零.所以他们只能使用缴获的武器弹药.一路上找到什么吃什么.有时他们吃狗,死马肉,甚至是在村庄里找到的没熟的谷物和土豆.缴获的补给物是最好的奖赏,所以会组织一些"进攻"(与游击队渗透类似)找到敌人的补给.很快,苏联人开始变得谨慎起来,保护自己的补给部队.

1943年5月2日,中士在一次战斗中,被炮弹碎片击中负伤.他很幸运被送到了野战医院.一星期后,野战医院和所有伤员都撤离到了塞瓦斯托波尔.他和其他大约700名德罗联军伤员一起被送到了一艘德国医疗船,准备撤往康斯坦察港.

医疗船被油漆成了白色,还画有红十字标志,可当它离开港口后还是立刻受到了苏联飞机的轰炸.在航行了12公里(大约7英里)后沉没.包括船员在内只有大约200名幸存者.由于负责营救的小船全部沉没,所以幸存者们只能在水里泡了整个晚上.到了白天,还活着的人不超过100人.他们被一艘刚从塞瓦斯托波尔(Sevastopol)起航的德国潜艇救起,但是艇长不能改变自己的航程把这些幸存者送到康斯坦察(Constanta).很多人在这一过程中死去,潜艇上没有医生,仅有一名艇员接受过医疗训练,最后只剩下30人还活着.

扎姆菲尔中士被送到了维也纳的一家大医院,在哪他完全康复了.二个月后,他被飞机送回了康斯坦察和自己的部队回合.在经历了东线的严重损失后,第9步兵师如今已经降级为康斯坦察地区的守备部队.这段时间对他们来说是非常平静的,苏联人没有意图登陆罗马尼亚.

1944年秋,第9步兵师完成了整编,坐火车来到了Tarnaveni,之后步行抵达了Oarba de Mures.在那里他们遇到了一些苏联部队,接受命令穿过穆列什河(Mures),对德国人发起一次奇袭.罗马尼亚士兵冲在前面,苏联人则在后面负责"支援".Vatasescu上校对着手下演讲,告诉他们目前的形势:"我们一定要活下去来保卫我们的国家.如果我们不向德国人进攻,那么苏联人就会把我们当做战俘枪毙,烧我们的房子,杀死我们的孩子.苏联人的军队你也看到了是不会来支援我们的,但是如果我们撤退了他们就会射杀我们,所以别指望他们能帮助我们.如果你能在这场战争中幸存的话,记住我们会为自己的民族做点什么".

他们坐着橡皮艇穿过了穆列什河,对德国部队发起了正面冲锋,进攻获得了成功很大部分原因是罗马尼亚人的英勇战斗,他们只得到了很少的炮兵或装甲部队的支援.德国人投入了炮兵和一些坦克作为支援,所以罗马尼亚人遭受了重大的损失.但是罗马尼亚人还是突破了阵地,他们不停的进攻几乎没有停止,解放了全部的匈牙利领土.扎姆菲尔记得一名军官在被俘后说的话:"你们这些罗马尼亚人,在1916年就从我们背后捅了一刀,现在又这么干了一次.你们就是为什么我们在东线输掉原因的罪魁."

得不到任何的休息或增援,苏联人命令罗军继续发起进攻.在德布勒森第一次停下脚步,此时第9步兵师已经无法再发动任何进攻了.苏联人终于意识到如果想让罗马尼亚人继续投入进攻的话,那就一定要从罗马尼亚获得增援才行.

在整个西线战役中,苏联人的部队都呆在罗马尼亚人的背后,在前方令人绝望的战斗中,后者遭受了惨重损失.罗军只接受了很少的补给和装备,还经常得不到炮兵和空军的支援.苏军坦克之后在德军装甲力量发动反击并突破罗军步兵战线的时候才投入作战,苏联部队更愿意"安全"的占领目标,而不是在一线投入进攻.德国战俘被苏联人立刻射杀,罗马尼亚人经常拒绝执行"不留战俘"的命令.

类似的情况也发生在Debrecen，经历了短暂的停战后，进攻再次开始。发生在塔特拉山(Tatra)上的残酷战斗,经常就是在战壕内徒手搏斗,用匕首和刺刀拼杀.双方都遭受了严重的损失.扎姆菲尔在战斗中再次负伤.他的右半边屁股扎进了3快弹片,被飞机送回了麦帝斯(Mediash),在那里接受了手术.他还是非常的幸运,子弹是从很远的距离射出屁股上的骨头没有伤得很严重[屁股上也有骨头?].仅过了两个星期他被送回了战场,没有完全康复,但是"可以战斗".

一次,一名苏联军官对罗马尼亚士兵演讲到:"我们必须要完全摧毁德国,射杀所有人,从孩子,老人到妇女.一个不留.德国必须成为一个无人区".(不清楚这些话具体是在那里说的,很多士兵都不记得他们所在的位置).大部分的罗马尼亚士兵对这个命令都感到非常的震惊,很少有人会真的去这么做.但是苏联人会怂恿一些罗马尼亚士兵和苏联士兵一起去强奸德国妇女和强占德国人的房屋.

扎姆菲尔记得德国妇女在脸上涂泥土和粪便以次来躲避强奸.母亲会牺牲自己来保全自己的孩子.德国男人宁肯选择自杀也不愿落入苏联士兵的手中惨遭酷刑.这是一种让人疯狂的行为,一段极其丑陋的回忆.扎姆菲尔觉得只有他对上帝的信仰才能拯救他,因为在那些日子里,基督教的教义是他所尊重的唯一法律.他为他的一些战友的行为感到羞耻,有时他会为在那时被杀的德国平民而祈祷.

欧战结束后罗军也停止了前进的步伐.在接下来的一个月里主要负责在被占领土上执行巡逻任务,直到苏联人接管这一地区为止.苏联人拒绝用火车送罗马尼亚人回家,只能靠11路回去.7月19日,部队抵达了罗马尼亚边境.之后来到了布拉索夫(Brasov).在那他们被苏联人缴械后就地遣散回家.他们没有拿到任何同德国人打仗时应得的报酬[难道之前苏联人和他们有协议?],他们身无长物的被遣送回家。不过他们都庆幸自己还活着.

如今马木尔-扎姆菲尔已经86岁高龄,居住在离首都布加勒斯特25公里远的锡内什蒂(Sinesti)的一个小村庄里.村里几乎没有人知道他是名二战老兵.他的妻子已经去世了,儿子也快60岁了生活在布加勒斯特.在村里他有一间有三个房的屋子,有一头山羊和一个2000平米的花园.在花园里种了很多的蔬菜和葡萄.我[指原文作者]的度假小屋就在他的花园边上,我们也认识快10年了.作为他的朋友,我想把他的故事写出来,是因为我们不应该忘记他们这些人在二战中所做的事.

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此贴已由管理员在 2009-1-16 13:39:11 执行 +30分 操作

Sergeant Manole Zamfir - War memories

On February 15th 1941, solider Zamfir Manole’s training began at the Petru Rares military school, near Cernavoda. After graduating, he was assigned to the Pioneers Company of the 36th Regiment from the 9th Infantry Division (Battalion commander: major Secareanu; regiment commander: colonel Vatasescu; division commander: general Panaitiu).

On 1 September 1942 the unit was sent to the Eastern front, in the Don sector. They were transported by train to the Stalino rail station and then marched for 6 weeks to reach the front line. At their arrival, the front line was quiet, so they were assigned to build fortifications and winter shelters.

The first serious Russian attack on their positions started on 9 November. It failed and the Russians suffered heavy casualties. It was followed by about a month of heavy fights, with attacks mounted by both sides, without any side gaining any decisive advantage. It was a pointless massacre, both sides registering heavy losses.

Pushed foreword by their officers, the Russian soldiers were yelling (in Romanian): “Brothers, why are you killing us? Antonescu and Stalin drink vodka together and we’re killing each other for nothing!”

Romanian attacks were mounted as frontal infantry assaults, preceded by an artillery bombardment of the enemy lines. One problem was that Romanian artillery had little impact on enemy strong points, partially due to the small caliber guns and partially to the poor accuracy. Another weak point was the obsolete weapons. Most soldiers had ZB riffles, with attached bayonets. There were only 2 machineguns and one Brandt mortar per company and 1 or 2 sub-machineguns in each platoon. That led to very heavy casualties, sometimes up to 90%. During this period Zamfir Manole was promoted to sergeant for his bravery and to cover the losses. After one unsuccessful attack, he recalls that there were only 7 survivors from the entire company, including him. The young officers leading the Pioneers Company were being killed so often that sergeant Zamfir did’t even got to know their names. They were leading the attacks in front of their men, so were often among the first to die.

After a few fights, the Romanian soldiers started to use captured weapons and equipment. Sergeant Zamfir took a Beretta sub-machinegun as his primary weapon. As for the anti-tank weapons, the situation was even worst. The grenades were ineffective and they had no mines or special AT weapons. They used Molotov cocktails, with pretty good results. Tank crews surrendered after their tank started to burn. But there were few tanks in that sector and the Russians were rarely using them to support their attacks. Those tanks were kept behind, for a kind of pointless artillery support. Romanian pioneers engaged tanks mainly when they were gaining ground in their attacks.

Most fights were WW1 style, infantry assaults with close bayonet fighting in the trenches. In one of these ocasions, sergeant Zamfir killed a Russian solider with his bayonet. Before he died, the Russian told him (in Romanian) that he had 5 children at home. To this day Nea Manole regrets that, even if he knows he had no choice.

Another “amazing” thing that happened on that front was the order (from the German high command) to kill all Russian prisoners. Romanian officers hated that, so they quietly suggested to the troops to “loose” Russian prisoners after taking the weapons and equipment. Many times there were Russian prisoners running through the “no man’s land” after a Romanian successful attack, while the officers were “looking the other way”.

Sergeant Zamfir recalls one occasion when his platoon captured 4 women officers (supply officers, caught accidentally in the front line). The company’s commander ordered him to take them behind some thick bushes and shoot them. In that bush, he asked them if they knew Romanian language. To his surprise, they all did, they were Moldavian. He told them: “Now, you know where your positions are. I’ll shoot in the ground and I hope I’ll never see you again around here. Women are meant to be mothers, not soldiers!” The prisoners kissed him and melted in the forest. Than he shoot a few rounds in the ground and returned to the platoon.

There were also some Romanian soldiers that raped Russian women when they had the occasion. Sergeant Zamfir was very upset by that, he believes that is one of the greatest sins. If an officer saw such an act, he’d shoot that solider on the spot, but they weren’t around every time. The punishment came often from their comrades. A rapist was never recovered from the field if he was wounded.

One day, the commander ordered sergeant Zamfir to ask for 5 volunteers and conduct a search and destroy patrol behind enemy lines, in a forest about 2 km. away. There were reports of a tank unit deployed there. He took a corporal and 4 soldiers and infiltrated through the enemy positions. In the forest they discovered one tank without its crew around (empty). A few meters away he saw a pipe rising from the ground, with smoke coming up through it. No sentinels, no enemy activity around. He ordered his men to throw grenades through the pipe and inside the empty tank.

To his surprise, the underground bunker’s explosion was far grater than the grenades could have done. It was a munitions store. After such a loud explosion, he decided it is wisely to return to Romanian lines. But in a few minutes 3 Russian tanks got out of the trees and started to chase them. Fortunately, the Russians used only the canons to shoot them down and not the tank’s machine-guns. They would have got away, but the Romanians thought that the Russians were starting a major attack, so Romanian artillery opened fire with all they had. The patrol was pinned down in between and they lost 4 men.

Fortunately the 3 tanks got scared by the artillery barrage and withdrew, so sergeant Zamfir and the surviving corporal got to safety just in time.

On 30 December [most likely around 19 November 1942], 4 German high officers visit the Romanian lines. Although after weeks of heavy fights they gained just 2 or 3 kilometers, a German general proclaimed: “Until next Christmas we’ll march together on the streets of America”…. Sergeant Zamfir did not even know where America was, he was fighting to exhaustion in the cold Russian winter, hoping to see the next Christmas in one piece.

After only 3 days, the Russian started a devastating attack, supported by heavy artillery fire, masses of T34 tanks and dive-bombers. In just one night the Romanian front collapsed and a hasty retreat begun to avoid being surrounded. The Russians were shouting: “Romanian brothers, we’ll see you in Bucharest”.

The retreat got more organized after a few days, but the contact between the units was lost or very poor, each company (and in some cases each platoon) making its own strategy to avoid capture and secure the retreat. The orders from the high command were often contradictory, arrived too late and were delivered only to some units.The 36th Regiment managed to keep a degree of unity and order mainly because it was under the direct command of major Secareanu so they had the advantage of a proper leader. Other strained platoons joined them along the way.

In the first week, the retreat was hasty and desperate, leaving behind the wounded that could not walk. Sergeant Zamfir couldn’t forget the desperate calls of the ones left behind and the hands of the wounded trying to reach for their comrades. The Soviets were shooting any wounded prisoners.

After that, the 9th Division got a little more organized and started to mount limited operations to slow down the attack and allow a proper retreat. Most of the heavy artillery pieces were lost, together with most of the heavy equipment and transport means. So the men retreated on foot, separated in platoons or companies to avoid being located and attacked by the enemy bombers or surrounded by tanks.

The pioneers were used to attack Russian tanks in order to create the impression of a much larger force arrived as reinforcements. They were also preparing booby-traps on the roads and in the villages. Occasionally one or 2 companies were digging trenches and resisting the attack of a smaller Russian unit for a while, to gain time and divert the enemy’s attention from the route used for the main retreat.These missions were only partially successful, as the Russian advance continued even if these small Romanian units caused severe losses to the enemy compared with their real strength.

The supplying of the troops was almost zero, so they had to use captured weapons and ammo and eat whatever they could find along the way. There were times when they were eating dogs, dead horses or even raw cereals and potatoes found in the villages. Captured provisions were the most appreciated, so a few “attacks” were mounted (as guerilla infiltrations) to reach to the enemy’s supplies. Soon, the Russians began to be more careful, protecting their supply units.

On May 2nd 1943 sergeant Zamfir was wounded by splinters from an artillery shell, in one of the many skirmishes with Russian infantry. He was lucky to be evacuated in a field hospital, so he survived. After a week, the field hospital was retreated with all the wounded in Sevastopol. He was taken on board of a German hospital-ship together with 700 other wounded, both Romanian and German and evacuated towards Constanta harbor.

Even if the hospital-ship was painted white, with the Red Cross on it, Russian bombers attacked it immediately after leaving the harbor. It sunk after just 12 km. (about 7 miles). Only about 200 men survived, including the crew. They’ve spent the night in the water, because the rescue boats of the ship were lost in the attack. In the morning less than 100 were living. They were saved by a German U-boat that was leaving Sevastopol, but submarine’s commander couldn’t change his route to leave them in Constanta. Many men died on the way, as the submarine had no medic on board, just a crewman with nursing training, and only 30 survived.

Sergeant Zamfir was taken in a big hospital in Vienna, where he recovered properly. After 2 months he was sent to Constanta (Romania) by plane to rejoin his unit. The 9th division had been relegated to costal defense of the Constanta area to recover after the huge losses on Eastern front. It was a quiet time for them, as the enemy made no attempt to land on Romanian shore.

During the fall of 1944, the 9th division completed its recovery and rearming and was moved by train to Tarnaveni, than marched on foot to Oarba de Mures. There they’ve met with some Russian units and received the order to cross the Mures River and attack the Germans by surprise. Romanian soldiers had to attack directly, as the Russian troops “supported” them from behind. Colonel Vatasescu addressed his men, telling them the truth about the situation: “We have to do this to stay alive and protect our country. If we don’t attack the Germans, the Soviets will shoot us as prisoners and burn our houses and kill our children. And the Russian units you see here are not supposed to support us, but to shoot us if we retreat, so don’t count on any help from them. If any of you survive this war, remember that we did it for our nation”.

They crossed the Mures River in rubber boats and mounted a frontal assault at the German troops across. The attack was successful mostly because the men fought desperately, as they had little artillery or armor support. The Germans enjoyed proper artillery support and had even a few tanks, so the Romanian losses were significant. But the Romanians broke through and they continued the attack almost without brake, liberating all Hungary.Sergeant Zamfir remembers a German officer saying after was captured: “You, Romanians, f***ed us in ‘16 and now you’ve done it again, you’re the reason for us losing the war in the East”.

Russian orders were for a continuous attack, without any rest or reinforcements. The first stop was only in Debrecen, when the 9th division was too weak to attack anymore with any chance of success. Even the Russians realized that reinforcements (from Romania) were needed if they wanted to gain more ground.

During the entire western campaign, Russian troops came behind Romanian troops, which were decimated in frontal desperate attacks registering huge losses. They were also receiving few supplies and equipment and were often refused proper artillery and air support. Russian tanks engaged German armor only when this was counterattacking through the Romanian infantry and Russian troops preferred to “secure” conquered objectives than attack in the front line.The German prisoners were shot immediately by the Russians, as the Romanians often refused to execute the “no prisoners” order.

The attack was restarted after the short break in Debrecen, in similar conditions. The heaviest and most horrific fighting took place in Tatra Mountains, where the fights often degenerated in hand to hand combat in the trenches, with knifes and sticks. It was a true massacre on both sides. Here sergeant Zamfir was wounded again, getting 3 bullets in his right hip. He was evacuated by plane to Mediash (Romania), where he was operated. Fortunately for him, the bullets were fired from a great distance and the hip bone wasn’t crushed too badly. After only 2 weeks he was sent back on the battlefield, incompletely recovered, but “able to fight”.

At some point, a Russian officer addressed the Romanian troops: “We must completely destroy Germany, shoot anybody, from children to old men and the women as well. Germany must remain completely uninhabited” (the place of this event is unknown, many soldiers were not informed on their location). Most Romanians were shocked by this order and very few followed it. But the Russian’s attitude encouraged some of the men to rape German women and steal from German houses alongside with the Red Army.

Sergeant Zamfir remembers women covered themselves in dirt and excrements, so the invading soldiers wouldn’t rape them. Mothers were sometimes giving themselves to the soldiers to spare their children. German men preferred suicide to avoid being captured and tortured by the Russian soldiers. It was a sub-human behavior, a horrible time. Sergeant Zamfir thinks that only his faith in God saved him, as the Christian teachings were the only law he was respecting in those days. He is ashamed by the behavior of some of his comrades and sometimes preys for the German civilians that were killed then.

Romanian troops stopped as the war ended. For the next month they patrolled in the occupied territory, under Russian command. After that were sent home by foot, as the Russians refused to transport them on the railroad. They’ve reached Romanian border on July 19th and were sent to Brasov. There they were disarmed by the Russians and sent home. They did not receive any payment for the time spent fighting against the Germans and they were sent home with nothing but their clothes. However, they were glad to be alive.

Today Sergeant Manole Zamfir is an 86 years lonely old man living in the village of Sinesti at 25 km from the Romanian capital Bucharest. He is known as “Nea Manole” and few people know he’s a WW2 veteran. His wife died last year of old age and his son is almost 60 and lives in Bucharest. He owns an old house of 3 rooms made from dirt and sticks, a goat and a 2000sqm garden. On this small piece of land he has the most beautiful garden in the whole village and he lives from the vegetables and grapes he cultivates here. Many young peasants came to him for advice regarding the work of the land. My country holiday house is near his garden and so I came to meet and know him in the last 10 years. I have the privilege to be his friend and I wanted to write his story here because such a man deserves not to be forgotten.

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