I agree it is overshadowed, but the Korsun Pocket is not "almost completely unknown", at least to many of us. To think there are dozens of other major battles like this one, Kiev (twice), Smolensk, Leningrad, Seelow Heights, Sevastopol, Velikie Luki, Budapest...there are several dozens of them that do get overshadowed. Plus thousands of smaller ones with the same stories of heroism, humanity and inhumanity, and unspeakable bestiality that are truly unknown...it boggles the mind of a modern westerner.
Actually, his removal of command came a month later, during the battle of the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket, where the 1st Panzer Army became encircled on 21 March, when permission to break out was not received from Hitler in time. Manstein flew to Hitler's headquarters in Lvov to try to convince him to change his mind. Hitler eventually relented, but relieved Manstein of his command on 30 March 1944.
Same here. The numbers are just staggering ! Unbelievable losses. If old Adolf had got his mitts on the oil fields of the Caucases it could have been much different.
@@MWL4466 yes,it certainly would have been.Access to the Caucusus oil feilds ( Maikop/Groznty) would have at least extended the war in the east. Sobering that the video says the russkies lost another 9 million before the end of the war.
Well done. Forty years ago I rode by train from Poland to Moscow with a touring group of two dozen German veterans returning to visit the battle sites of their youth. The tour's leader was accompanied by his Russian wife. I wish I had known more then about these experiences they survived.
This story is eerily reminiscent of the breakout of the German 9th Army after Seelow Heights to link up with the 12th Army shortly after Halbe. That breakout was a stern test of German resolve and for those who made it they were able to surrender to the US Army instead of the Russians.
@@jerrycoronado6887 The whole thing was so attrociously mismanaged it beggars belief......the Panzer myth which never addresses the reality that even there industrial and scientific was being run in a deeply flawed way . like what Donny is just about to do in Der States✌️
My ex is from Korsun. They had alot of German equipment in their museum there in 2018. The turret of a Panther for one. I have no idea why the Germans thought they could cover that kind of distance against those overwhelming numbers
My dad (Waffen SS, Das Reich Div.) Considered the Finns "out only worthwhile comrades in arms,". He also liked their country, having been there on a forest combat course.
why do idiots like you feel sorry for german facists invading another country and killing millions of civilians and captured russian soldiers and destroying villages towns and cities.....just why
Russians did not came to play around with Germans! I'm by no means a fan...but they where brave Soldiers...they just keep on comming,pushing,atacking,despite crazy losses...You can't win against Army like that...just relentless,but Germans did enormous damage to Russian core population...20 million gone in 4 years,they still can't properely recover even today from that.
@erichhartmann3960It doesn't matter what help They got. The Soviets still had to defeat the Germans themselves, fighting and dying in vast numbers, whether they had Western supplies or not. Too bad the Nazis believed their own deranged ideology instead of facing the reality that these eastern 'subhumans' were just as hard, tough-willed and ready to sacrifice themselves for their cause as we're the German soldiers themselves.
@@kieranororke620 Yeah tbf lend lease didn't arrive in force until 1942, and they had already pushed Army Group Centre back some 150 miles from Moscow in 1941.
@@Anajlirv Hitler expected a quick collapse especially after a decade of Stalins purges and perhaps a government overthrow and quick surrender. Stalin nearly had a mental breakdown and was surprised his underlings didn’t hang but instead pleaded for his leadership. AH rolled the dice and lost. I think providence played a role.
@@Anajlirv Probably not win, but I think had they not been at least tied down in other fronts in North Africa, Sicily, Italy etc and focused all of those additional resources in the East, the Germans might have forced a stalemate situation where neither side can advance.
Interesting/informative/entertaining 😉. Excellent still-motion photography pictures 📷/maps. Enabling viewers 👀 to better understand what/whom the orator is describing 😉. A special shout out to the veteran photographers. Whom made this documentary possible☺.
Amazing footage...coming from a WW2 fiend of decades, well done and well done narration and editing! However I will suggest that you NEED more maps and fairly descriptive maps to match the narration. I KNOW you realize this as you are obviously a WW2 media aficionado. I want your channels success is why I mention this. Most WW2 "fans" love seeing our maps. I sometimes will forward thru video and if it has no maps I wont watch it. WW2 battle docs NEED maps, it supports the narration and context massively (and is extremely engaging and dare I say enjoyable. Its a feature). Consider this please, its not a preference..in the big pic its actually important, I'd all but guarantee in the long run more subs and return viewers. Also everything else was so well done I would be remiss if I didnt mention MAPS (maps are 10-20% of a WW2 battle docs. at minimum. I Know you know this)
The Germans were very skilled at pulling back and holding a corridor to escape. It's no surprise that 29,000 men managed to slip out of the Korsun-Cherkassy encirclement, they had done the exact same thing in the Falaise Gap in Normandy.
Hitler was a fanatic and la la la. Also people. Need to educate themselves no savior is on the scene and people need to stop listening to clowns. @@DeepTexas
@@DeepTexas "a shame"? I think it was extremely beneficial for the Allies during WW2. Hitler's obsessive refusal to allow tactical retreats thru out the War was a minor factor in Germany's defeat.
Love watching your documentary’s factual and emotional can only guess what them men went threw real hard soldiers never given up....thanks and keep up the good work big shout out from the uk🙂
The fact that Hitler had lost faith in the superb leadership of manstein says a lot about how detached with reality the ww1 corporal had become. Despite wanting the nazis to lose , humanity made me want the breakout to succeed for the lowly men of the wermacht . The campaign in the east is really what the war was about , everything else was but a minor side show
The bravest of the brave, and probably the craziest of all had to be the tank crews of both sides. I can't even imagine what must have been going through what remained of their sound minds as they drove their tracked monsters into what they had to know was an almost certain gruesome death. Nor can I imagine the PTSD suffered by the survivors. It's an understated shame the men of both sides had to suffer so much and sacrifice their lives for two murderous evil dictators. But I salute them all as brave soldiers.
both the german and the soviet armies were inexorably determined to destroy each other. both knew that simple fact: victory over the enemy would be unconventional and utterly awful.
@Tomszpl I don't think you know much about Mainstein and why Hitler retired him or why Paulas went into Russian hands willingly and lived a comfortable life, while his Men had starved and slaved in the gulags
@@oldViking66 what i know is that manstein was just disobeying orders and it didnt brought any success since kharkov, then he got mad and blamed hitler for everything he and every other generals did wrong, even stating that if not hitler they would have won which is bulshit and shows that he didnt know what really cost them the war which is lack of natural recources and whoever would lead germany it would end up the same
Cr documentaire est tout simplement parfait. Les unités, dont la Wallonie de Léon Degrelle ont fsit un travail inimaginable. Corpas à corps tous les jours. Léon avait lui-même 7 fpis l'insigne en or des corps à corps, la Ritter Kreut et bien d'autres Sur TH-cam, il y a une interview de 90 minutrs dans lequel il raconte cette bataille de Tcherkassy .
If I'm right at 06:22 we can see soldiers taking cover behind walls of frozen mud, snow, poo and corpses. This is also what veterans of the Belgian SS units told in the TV series "De Oostfronters" van Maurice de Wilde. This documentary series also has a episode about the Cherkasi pocket. Veterans described the horror scenes at the river, tanks driving back and forward over the escaping men and also Leon de Grelle in full uniform with his romanticised views on the events.
Korsun shaped later operations. German accounts of losses seem underestimated by ~75% when taking into account graves data. Hitler's order to hold the salient, then once encircled, his order for a counter encirclement, limited German commanders. After February came Roumania, then with the focus still on the south, Bagration in June destroyed AG Centre.
Impressive to offer so much resistance so late in the war in 1944, when fighting 3 super powers... General Patton called the Germans "some of the greatest warriors the world had ever seen, and would most likely never see again". They knew, and was also told, that they were fighting for Germanys survival and right to exist. And it was true...
That could be an mkb42(H) or mp43. It's impossible to tell from the grainy footage provided. There were almost 30,000 of these weapons in the field by the end of 1943.
For Germany at that time, biggest mistake was opening so many new battle fronts........if they did country by country with diplomatic relations with others.......ohhh God, scared to admit it, but half of the planet will be talking German right now..
Cruelty of weather combination of wars brutalities besides the insisting of victory ✌️ results by both sides desirable (which is unreasonable) created ultra beast circumstances
After the encirclement, abandoning Stalingrad would have meant 6th Army being massacred on the Steppes. They were doomed from the moment the Russian bridgeheads to the north weren't cleared. And they didn't have the troops to clear them. Manstein was lucky to pull 4th Pz Army from the Caucuses.
@winstonsmith565 arguably, he had a few days to breakout whilst unlikely given his orders they could have broken out if they abandoned their heavy equipment. A lot of them would have died but it was definitely briefly possible I think.
Germanys only fault, they stretched too much , but still I salute all the soldiers during ww2 , betrayed by their governments by denying adequate supplies for oil ,food , and moreover chilling winter took a toll on german soldiers, poor training specially for Russians😮 Their government did kill these innocent soldiers, people for their own interests...
It is interesting how the narrator emphasizes the Germans as this or that. If I didn't know better, I would have the impression that Germany won the war. And again the same story about Soviet meat attacks and huge losses. Eastern Front: German Army 5.1 million dead, Soviet Army 6.5-6.7 million dead - Wikipedia.
Ahem.. the Fritz Hamann of this ww2 engagement was NOT the man pictured. The man pictured in this video was infamous serial killer Fritz Haarmann, executed in 1925.
Yes I’m aware unfortunately my editor added the wrong photo, we really struggled to find a photo of Fritz and we found this photo on a forum, it was in Russian we thought it was him, our mistake!!
It would not have changed the outcome of the war (IMO) but had Paulus ignored the order to not attempt a breakout (as Manstein did) tens of thousands of soldiers of the 6th Army would have survived Stalingrad
With the current state of affairs in Western Europe, I’ve seen quite a lot of English and others say “ We fought the wrong enemy” in regards to Germany in WWII. Well I’d like to say that we also fought the wrong enemy in Russia. Despite the ideological and political differences. The Bolsheviks were the enemy, but the people of Russia are warriors and Hitler underestimated them. Some historians theorize that the Soviets would have eventually attacked Germany if they weren’t attacked first. Either way, the world order would have been in a better place if Russia and Germany had been geopolitical allies. Hitlers admiration for the English and his obsession with trying to make peace with them was a huge part of the downfall of the Third Reich. This obsession was perhaps the most logical reason why he allowed 300k + troops to escape at Dunkirk. It’s a travesty that so many Germans and Russians killed each other in this war
Mostly wrong. Nazi Germany and the USSR were allies at the beginning of WW2. They collaborated in dividing Poland. They divided between them all the remaining border areas in Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union was busily supplying Germany with the resources it needed up until the start of Barbarossa. The main war aim of Nazi Germany was always the same, "invade the lands of the east, kill everyone, and steal everything they owned." This had been clearly stated in Mein Kampf in 1923.
Sadly, both World War have involved Germanic blood on both sides. It’s like a giant Germanic blood sacrifice. American Germans killing Germans,many Russians have Germanic blood from Scandinavia… the international banking cartel got its wet dream…
@@colinhunt4057 You’re mostly wrong. While Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union did sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and collaborated in dividing Poland, their relationship was far from a true alliance. It was a temporary, opportunistic agreement based on mutual self-interest rather than ideological alignment. Let me break it down: 1. Temporary Alliance, Not True Partnership: Nazi Germany and the USSR were not allies in the truest sense. Their pact in 1939 was purely pragmatic. Both sides were buying time and securing strategic advantages. They knew their ultimate goals were incompatible, and each anticipated a future conflict with the other. 2. Soviet Aims Were Defensive: The USSR’s main goal wasn’t to help Germany conquer Europe. Stalin’s actions were focused on regaining territory lost during the Russian Civil War and creating a buffer zone to protect against an eventual German invasion. While opportunistic, this was about self-preservation rather than alignment with Hitler’s goals. 3. Resource Supplies Were Tactical: Yes, the Soviets supplied resources to Germany, but this wasn’t some grand gesture of support. It was a tactical exchange-resources for industrial equipment and technology. Stalin wasn’t fueling Hitler’s war machine out of shared ambition; it was pure pragmatism. 4. Germany’s Goals Were More Complex: Hitler’s plans weren’t just about “killing everyone.” While his genocidal policies, especially against Jews, are undeniable, his broader goal was Lebensraum-seizing and colonizing Eastern Europe for the German people. It was exploitation and domination, not simply extermination. 5. Mein Kampf Isn’t a Step-by-Step Plan: Citing Mein Kampf as if it was Hitler’s rigid blueprint for war oversimplifies things. Sure, Hitler expressed his ideological goals in 1923, but his strategy evolved over the years based on political and military circumstances. The early relationship between Nazi Germany and the USSR wasn’t an alliance; it was a temporary arrangement between two regimes with fundamentally opposing long-term goals. Stalin was preparing for eventual conflict, and Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 was always inevitable. They were never true partners-just two powers using each other until their ambitions clashed.
At 41:25 the ramblings about Alexander Fadin heroic deeds, I can’t recall what they were as I had to fast forward through it. I was curious what the purpose of even including a Soviet “hero” in such a heart, wretched story of the Germans trying to escape. Especially after hearing all the horrible things that the Soviets did to wounded Germans, I don’t think he actually cares about this man. I think if anything at this point in the story, they really dislike this hero and hate the mention of him . Did you not want to seem like you were trying to favor the Germans?, I’d really like to know actually it just seems like it has no place.
There is always better to save troops than save land. Because troopa can take that land again and even more. But to trade troops for land is the pure stupidity
What mastermind? He promptly lost it all when he mishandled the batlle of Kursk that summer. His bungling allowed Rumania, Germany's only source of oil to be lost at the end of 1944.
I have the book hells gate the battle of the cheekassy pocket by Doug Nash outstanding read he puts the reader in the action so the reader experience the hell
There is always some bad ass stories from the germans, but they will never have a proper film or series about them because people will get too butthurt.
Soviets were raging about German scorched earth? Hahah That's rich. That is exactly what they did to their own villages and towns when they were retreating from the German onslaught earlier in the war. I think they just used it as an excuse to act out their brutal ways They still do torture their Ukrainian captives to death in this current war
Man the eastern front makes the western front look like walk in the park. Germany in their prime is no joke. Germany weathered so many battles even their lowest ranks had more battle prowess or more ornless knew how to keep their heads on. The soviets were like zombies in world war Z. Never let up.
The Wehrmacht fought for an evil cause and they are not innocent of many acts of the Holocaust, but as a soldier I admire their bravery and devotion in fighting to the bitter end even knowing that there was no hope for victory after Kursk in the East and the Ardennes in the West. The Russians were tough too but their commanders wasted their lives. In Ukraine today one sees the lack of concern for the lives of Russian soldiers.
It also shows how little the all lies allies care about 2020 or 1920/30 gennocides.. when the govts are all run by zionists clearing out their homeland/links in Ukraine..
Germany saved half of Europe and suffered near total destruction. The Europeans lead by Germany fought to the bitter end to save Europe from the Communist thugs that had taken over Russia; (Allies) Austria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, Finland and Slovakia. Volunteers joined the SS from across Europe; 20,000 from France and 60,000 from Holland are two countries from a long list. I suggest people familiarise themselves with this cause.
The Eastern front is a crazy thing for me, I am so against Hitler and I support the Russians but at the same time I can't stand the Soviet Union and Stalin! But if Hitler had not taken control of the Army and used Ukrainians, Finnish, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian people as allies, especially Ukrainians they would have fought with the Germans, fed and clothed the Army, made V-1 and 2 rockets in Poland to use against Soviets he could have defeated them.
@Sjsjsjsjsjks1 it's like Satan against the Grimreaper, 2 evils fighting each other, I just have sorrow for the civilians and soldiers who were just doing their duties. I listen to WWII German audio books on TH-cam and the regular soldiers didn't want to hurt civilians, they talk about how helpful they were, some worked for them and they liked them, even in some of the stories they didn't like the SS going around and killing them.
It wasn't just about the dictator - the German armies had no plans to feed themselves but take food not just for millions of Axis troops but tens of millions of German civilians inside the Reich. Quite an imagination that Ukrainians, after the usual scorched earth tactics enforced by Red Army, somehow still had enough food to feed all three Ukraine, Germany, and the Wehrmacht inside Ukraine. And then Germany somehow had enough guns and transportation to give hundreds of thousand Ukrainians actual weapons to fight with, when German armies barely able to supply themselves, and other Axis armies were starving for modern equipment and guns. Again another cheap and old "Germany could've won if..." myth and fantasy.
@@michaelmccartin2054 Drivel. Read Walter Reichenau's Severity Order. The purpose of Operation Barbarossa was to seize the lands of the East, to kill everyone, and seize everything they owned. From the outset of the invasion, they were an army of murderers and rapists. All of them; not just the SS.
One of the benefits of having a cohesive Army bound together by culture and love of country. Exactly the things “ they “ are trying to destroy in every Western nation today.
@@timpatrick2109 Yes, the German 'mission based' training allowed their officers down to lowest junior level to be far more flexible in responding to quickly altering scenarios on the battlefield.
@@joachimthielker3132 Me either. But certain forces who are equally evil as the N…S, and just as power hungry, like to shame the German people and the other successful Western nations into cultural self destruction and self hatred. This is evil in the opposite way of what the N…S were doing and should be resisted.
I don’t think you can impute knowledge of atrocities or complicity in them to the front line German soldiers. The atrocities were happening behind them. I think the only time frontline German soldiers would have had knowledge of atrocities would have been because they saw it because of a retreat. Hitler didn’t allow much in the way of retreats.
@@justinrichardson4456 Sorry, most of you are lying or ignorant of the facts. Walter Reichenau's Severity Order indicates just how guilty the Wehrmacht was in atrocities. It's only means of feeding itself was from murdering and pillaging the local peasantry.
It is...well..."amusing"...how the definetly young narrator trys to put "weight" into this by the choosing of words and pronounciation but the gravitas still is missing.
Why are the Brits BoJo, Sunak, Starmer so blood thirsty 4 Slavic blood Special Military Operation. One of the Wehrmacht who escaped cauldron, survived WW2 & retired in France. In fluent French, he confessed to French TV he never complained about anything ever since he escaped the cauldron
Great video footage, but let's look into the bigger picture: the battlefield on and above the army group level, since Hitler and the High Command was viewing and making decision at that level. For this particular encirclement battle, lets' start with the Panther-Wotan Line, a defensive line set up behind the then frontlines - a kind of defense in depth - its construction was ordered by Hitler himself in mid 1943, so the portray of him never ordering retreat held little ground since it showed he did consider a fall back line then, but why he didn't authorize the withdrawal of German forces leading up this pocket? Soviet advance, and its advance fast and deep as it became highly mechanized with US/UK made trucks. At the end of 1943, Manstein ordered the withdrawal of AG South to the Panther-Wotan Line, despite the line had barely started the construction and thus had little actual contribution against Soviet forces. In any case, the Soviets crossed the Dnieper River there, with the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Front on the German side of the river, posing a significant threat of breaking into German Army Group South's strategic rear areas, as there was little prepared defense standing in the way. Once breakthrough is achieved, the Soviets tank armies could very well extend deep into German lines till the Carpathian Mountains, possibly cutting the whole Army group in two. In addition, the Soviet advance created a German salient that soon to be Korsun Pocket. For a bit of military tactics overview, a salient wasn't having a sole purpose of being encircled, but rather it incentivize the enemy to deal with it first (usually by encircling), since it would greatly extend the flank of advancing forces that bypass it. In addition it could be a staging area of offensive (though a bit irrelevant for the Germans then). For this reason, that's why the Germans couldn't just ignore Kursk in 1943. To reinforce the crippling situation of Army Group South, German divisions were already called from Western Europe and many other areas, yet they need time to arrive. In order to buy time for reinforcement, Hitler decided to keep the salient as an ad-hoc obstacle for the two Ukrainian Fronts, and letting them undergo an encirclement operation in late January meant the inevitable deep-thrusts into AG South could be delayed into March, where German rear areas and reserves were strengthened by transfer of forces from other theatre. In fact, in the subsequent Kamenets-Podolsky pocket in March, it was Paul Hausser's SS Panzer Corps from France that linked up the surrounded 1st Panzer Army, saving from its complete destruction, though still with heavy material losses. Had Hitler withdrew the salient leading up to Korsun pocket, then instead in early February they would have a Soviet offensive operation into Army Group South strategic rear, and without the timely reinforcement the offensive would be even more successful and German 1st Panzer Army might likely be completely destroyed in the process. What Hitler did with the salient was to buy time, delaying the eventual Soviet final major thrust into his army group, trading parts of 8th Army (even then it was able to partly breakout) to strengthen the Army Group rear areas, the towns, roads, railways, leading the Soviets paying a high price in their March offensive.
Thank you. This story almost completely unknown, overshadowed by Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, but amazing story
I agree it is overshadowed, but the Korsun Pocket is not "almost completely unknown", at least to many of us.
To think there are dozens of other major battles like this one, Kiev (twice), Smolensk, Leningrad, Seelow Heights, Sevastopol, Velikie Luki, Budapest...there are several dozens of them that do get overshadowed.
Plus thousands of smaller ones with the same stories of heroism, humanity and inhumanity, and unspeakable bestiality that are truly unknown...it boggles the mind of a modern westerner.
von Manstein saved his troops but lost his command. He was replaced by Model
Actually, his removal of command came a month later, during the battle of the Kamenets-Podolsky pocket, where the 1st Panzer Army became encircled on 21 March, when permission to break out was not received from Hitler in time. Manstein flew to Hitler's headquarters in Lvov to try to convince him to change his mind. Hitler eventually relented, but relieved Manstein of his command on 30 March 1944.
Hitler never trusted him 100%. some say..Mannstein was part Jewish.
@@LemonHead-sq5ws ignorants dont care
@@LemonHead-sq5ws You need to go back.
He loved his troops cared about them
Always found the Eastern Front theatre of WW2 absolutely fascinating.Just a bloodbath on steroids.
Same here. The numbers are just staggering ! Unbelievable losses. If old Adolf had got his mitts on the oil fields of the Caucases it could have been much different.
@@MWL4466 yes,it certainly would have been.Access to the Caucusus oil feilds ( Maikop/Groznty) would have at least extended the war in the east.
Sobering that the video says the russkies lost another 9 million before the end of the war.
My main area of interest as well.
@@TheJimmyidol yeah,and the thing is we have all the footage of these events unfolding.
Seriously harrowing stuff.
That's where the real war was fought!
Well done. Forty years ago I rode by train from Poland to Moscow with a touring group of two dozen German veterans returning to visit the battle sites of their youth. The tour's leader was accompanied by his Russian wife. I wish I had known more then about these experiences they survived.
How did the veterans react towards the russian wife?
This story is eerily reminiscent of the breakout of the German 9th Army after Seelow Heights to link up with the 12th Army shortly after Halbe. That breakout was a stern test of German resolve and for those who made it they were able to surrender to the US Army instead of the Russians.
@@jerrycoronado6887 The whole thing was so attrociously mismanaged it beggars belief......the Panzer myth which never addresses the reality that even there industrial and scientific was being run in a deeply flawed way . like what Donny is just about to do in Der States✌️
Mainstein always looked after his soldiers...
His reputation also allowed him to get away with some things, other people would have paid a high price for
Oh yeah?
Don't play stupid, if you know something he doesn't just explain it to him. You lack maturity and education.@@patrickwatrin5093
@@patrickwatrin5093 much more than Hilter cares for German Aryan for sure.
Manstein was a soldiers soldier
always the the best ww2 videos - hidden gem of a channel, glad to see you're growing too! Well deserved
Thank you for documenting this epic fights forever 🙏
Isn't this where Léon Degrelle won his knights cross of the iron cross?
Yes it was!!,
Thank you for yet another awesome video!
Another excellent documentary. Great work guys
Great quality video, love the original footage and live narration
Your videos are so good, how the hell do you get this footage? After over 20 years of WW2 I never see the footage you use ever before. Just amazing
My ex is from Korsun. They had alot of German equipment in their museum there in 2018. The turret of a Panther for one. I have no idea why the Germans thought they could cover that kind of distance against those overwhelming numbers
They did it ! Crazy but they did it.
When you’re facing death you’ll try anything
Danke!
Thank you! :)
My dad (Waffen SS, Das Reich Div.) Considered the Finns "out only worthwhile comrades in arms,". He also liked their country, having been there on a forest combat course.
yes the lovely division that murdered the whole town of oradour sur glenn men women and children..get back under your rock
rest in piss to your dad. keep yourself safe
great channel!
Thanks for video
So sad for the fighting men of both sides.
why do idiots like you feel sorry for german facists invading another country and killing millions of civilians and captured russian soldiers and destroying villages towns and cities.....just why
I heard H/itler would confront his generals really angry when they talked about retreat.
Hitler was not a citizen of germany. Not educated. A clown drug addict etc The dude who took peoplet
Koresh took people to central america. Etc. People need to think
der furhrer doin der donald duckischer fitzen
I heard gumshots when the soviet commanders suggested retreat.
@@leighz1962that's what the Commissar's were for, shooting Soviet soldiers who refused to commit suicide via Wehrmacht.
Russians did not came to play around with Germans! I'm by no means a fan...but they where brave Soldiers...they just keep on comming,pushing,atacking,despite crazy losses...You can't win against Army like that...just relentless,but Germans did enormous damage to Russian core population...20 million gone in 4 years,they still can't properely recover even today from that.
@erichhartmann3960It doesn't matter what help They got. The Soviets still had to defeat the Germans themselves, fighting and dying in vast numbers, whether they had Western supplies or not. Too bad the Nazis believed their own deranged ideology instead of facing the reality that these eastern 'subhumans' were just as hard, tough-willed and ready to sacrifice themselves for their cause as we're the German soldiers themselves.
@@kieranororke620 Yeah tbf lend lease didn't arrive in force until 1942, and they had already pushed Army Group Centre back some 150 miles from Moscow in 1941.
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-Don't forget that the Wehrmacht NEVER had a chance to win in the East... FAR too much was asked of far too few men.
@@Anajlirv Hitler expected a quick collapse especially after a decade of Stalins purges and perhaps a government overthrow and quick surrender. Stalin nearly had a mental breakdown and was surprised his underlings didn’t hang but instead pleaded for his leadership. AH rolled the dice and lost. I think providence played a role.
@@Anajlirv Probably not win, but I think had they not been at least tied down in other fronts in North Africa, Sicily, Italy etc and focused all of those additional resources in the East, the Germans might have forced a stalemate situation where neither side can advance.
Great video, but it would be nice if you could add more maps!
Amazing Footage , thanks for the video
Fantastic documentary!!
Thanks WarMonkey!
The final river crossing was a reminder of Napolian’s retreat over the Berezina River.
Interesting/informative/entertaining 😉. Excellent still-motion photography pictures 📷/maps. Enabling viewers 👀 to better understand what/whom the orator is describing 😉. A special shout out to the veteran photographers. Whom made this documentary possible☺.
Another excellent video , well done
awesome work on this vid and narrativion
Amazing footage...coming from a WW2 fiend of decades, well done and well done narration and editing! However I will suggest that you NEED more maps and fairly descriptive maps to match the narration. I KNOW you realize this as you are obviously a WW2 media aficionado. I want your channels success is why I mention this. Most WW2 "fans" love seeing our maps. I sometimes will forward thru video and if it has no maps I wont watch it. WW2 battle docs NEED maps, it supports the narration and context massively (and is extremely engaging and dare I say enjoyable. Its a feature). Consider this please, its not a preference..in the big pic its actually important, I'd all but guarantee in the long run more subs and return viewers. Also everything else was so well done I would be remiss if I didnt mention MAPS (maps are 10-20% of a WW2 battle docs. at minimum. I Know you know this)
The Germans were very skilled at pulling back and holding a corridor to escape. It's no surprise that 29,000 men managed to slip out of the Korsun-Cherkassy encirclement, they had done the exact same thing in the Falaise Gap in Normandy.
perhaps it’s a shame that hitler was obsessed with holding out until the last man
Hitler was a fanatic and la la la. Also people. Need to educate themselves no savior is on the scene and people need to stop listening to clowns. @@DeepTexas
@DeepTexas
Shartler was obsessed with Russia and Germany being destroyed.. like he was some British puppet.
@@DeepTexasHitler thought they can be like Japan
@@DeepTexas "a shame"? I think it was extremely beneficial for the Allies during WW2. Hitler's obsessive refusal to allow tactical retreats thru out the War was a minor factor in Germany's defeat.
Great video. Well done
Love watching your documentary’s factual and emotional can only guess what them men went threw real hard soldiers never given up....thanks and keep up the good work big shout out from the uk🙂
The fact that Hitler had lost faith in the superb leadership of manstein says a lot about how detached with reality the ww1 corporal had become. Despite wanting the nazis to lose , humanity made me want the breakout to succeed for the lowly men of the wermacht . The campaign in the east is really what the war was about , everything else was but a minor side show
beautiful video, thanks ❤
The bravest of the brave, and probably the craziest of all had to be the tank crews of both sides. I can't even imagine what must have been going through what remained of their sound minds as they drove their tracked monsters into what they had to know was an almost certain gruesome death. Nor can I imagine the PTSD suffered by the survivors.
It's an understated shame the men of both sides had to suffer so much and sacrifice their lives for two murderous evil dictators. But I salute them all as brave soldiers.
both the german and the soviet armies were inexorably determined to destroy each other. both knew that simple fact: victory over the enemy would be unconventional and utterly awful.
Paulas was nothing like Mainstein, when it came to being a Man who actually had a set and cared more for his Men than what Hitler thought
Dude manstein didnt want to Save 6th army from stalingrad
@Tomszpl
I don't think you know much about Mainstein and why Hitler retired him or why Paulas went into Russian hands willingly and lived a comfortable life, while his Men had starved and slaved in the gulags
@@oldViking66 what i know is that manstein was just disobeying orders and it didnt brought any success since kharkov, then he got mad and blamed hitler for everything he and every other generals did wrong, even stating that if not hitler they would have won which is bulshit and shows that he didnt know what really cost them the war which is lack of natural recources and whoever would lead germany it would end up the same
Why is ww2 so fascinating
The Soviet tactic of hammering a line until a breakthrough was made in a line. All forces would exploit the breakthrough. Re: Inside the Soviet Army
Respect! for pronouncing the german names quite good, i think youŕe not a native speaker so really: well done!
Cr documentaire est tout simplement parfait.
Les unités, dont la Wallonie de Léon Degrelle ont fsit un travail inimaginable.
Corpas à corps tous les jours.
Léon avait lui-même 7 fpis l'insigne en or des corps à corps, la Ritter Kreut et bien d'autres
Sur TH-cam, il y a une interview de 90 minutrs dans lequel il raconte cette bataille de Tcherkassy .
If I'm right at 06:22 we can see soldiers taking cover behind walls of frozen mud, snow, poo and corpses. This is also what veterans of the Belgian SS units told in the TV series "De Oostfronters" van Maurice de Wilde. This documentary series also has a episode about the Cherkasi pocket. Veterans described the horror scenes at the river, tanks driving back and forward over the escaping men and also Leon de Grelle in full uniform with his romanticised views on the events.
Yea you right l wonder in what year was take that footage of those soldiers
I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL. HISTORY AT WAR IS PURE EXCELLENCE !!! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Korsun shaped later operations. German accounts of losses seem underestimated by ~75% when taking into account graves data. Hitler's order to hold the salient, then once encircled, his order for a counter encirclement, limited German commanders.
After February came Roumania, then with the focus still on the south, Bagration in June destroyed AG Centre.
Impressive to offer so much resistance so late in the war in 1944, when fighting 3 super powers...
General Patton called the Germans "some of the greatest warriors the world had ever seen, and would most likely never see again".
They knew, and was also told, that they were fighting for Germanys survival and right to exist. And it was true...
32:14 MP44? whats the date this all took place?
That could be an mkb42(H) or mp43. It's impossible to tell from the grainy footage provided. There were almost 30,000 of these weapons in the field by the end of 1943.
January 1944
War is hell.
Damn that'"rasputitsa" mud like you've never known. Maybe like ww1's Paschendale ground.
Why put the title in singular? Manstein never listened to the guy, it's part of the reason they lost
Sometimes the narrator's voice get slow and then accelerates , it's normal?
AI voice.
Why does this guy sound like he’s sounding out common words for the first time ever at random spots in the video?
Either he's reading from a script or he wanted to pronounce the German names correctly. Just be happy it's a human narrating and not some awful AI
He is British. It is new to him to speak English clearly.
For Germany at that time, biggest mistake was opening so many new battle fronts........if they did country by country with diplomatic relations with others.......ohhh God, scared to admit it, but half of the planet will be talking German right now..
34:50 wrong picture and maybe person? Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb was put in reserve in Jan '42 and nowhere near the cherkassy pocket
Cruelty of weather combination of wars brutalities besides the insisting of victory ✌️ results by both sides desirable (which is unreasonable) created ultra beast circumstances
More maps with detailed movements of formations would have offered a far better description of the narrative than irrelevant combat footage.
Manstein did not allow the 6th army to abandonn Stalingrad- yet later he blamed Pauli’s not a honest fact.
After the encirclement, abandoning Stalingrad would have meant 6th Army being massacred on the Steppes. They were doomed from the moment the Russian bridgeheads to the north weren't cleared. And they didn't have the troops to clear them. Manstein was lucky to pull 4th Pz Army from the Caucuses.
@winstonsmith565 arguably, he had a few days to breakout whilst unlikely given his orders they could have broken out if they abandoned their heavy equipment. A lot of them would have died but it was definitely briefly possible I think.
bullshit, this is absolute hogwash, who is speading such nonsense ???
Napoleon ❌ Hitler ❌ who is the next ☢️💀 ?
40:10 "wounded - carried on PANJAYS - to be carried across..." What are "panjays?"
hors drawn carts , Panje means PONY in Russian
@@achimotto-vs2lb Thanks awfully for your help!
Germanys only fault, they stretched too much , but still I salute all the soldiers during ww2 , betrayed by their governments by denying adequate supplies for oil ,food , and moreover chilling winter took a toll on german soldiers, poor training specially for Russians😮
Their government did kill these innocent soldiers, people for their own interests...
The rich declare wars, the poor die in those wars.
Dude, soldiers had same ideals as goverment so shut up
@@TomszplOnly about 30 % voted for the nazi party in 1933. They were just soldiers carrying out orders.
@@Tomszplnot all. Not most
@@whiteglint7694 yea keep believing myths 😂, wehrmacht commited more war crimes than SS or einsaztgruppen
is this an A.I reading? Not trying to be rude and offend, very sry just noticed some curious pronunciations.
It is interesting how the narrator emphasizes the Germans as this or that. If I didn't know better, I would have the impression that Germany won the war. And again the same story about Soviet meat attacks and huge losses. Eastern Front: German Army 5.1 million dead, Soviet Army 6.5-6.7 million dead - Wikipedia.
Ahem.. the Fritz Hamann of this ww2 engagement was NOT the man pictured. The man pictured in this video was infamous serial killer Fritz Haarmann, executed in 1925.
Yes I’m aware unfortunately my editor added the wrong photo, we really struggled to find a photo of Fritz and we found this photo on a forum, it was in Russian we thought it was him, our mistake!!
It would not have changed the outcome of the war (IMO) but had Paulus ignored the order to not attempt a breakout (as Manstein did) tens of thousands of soldiers of the 6th Army would have survived Stalingrad
With the current state of affairs in Western Europe, I’ve seen quite a lot of English and others say “ We fought the wrong enemy” in regards to Germany in WWII. Well I’d like to say that we also fought the wrong enemy in Russia. Despite the ideological and political differences. The Bolsheviks were the enemy, but the people of Russia are warriors and Hitler underestimated them. Some historians theorize that the Soviets would have eventually attacked Germany if they weren’t attacked first. Either way, the world order would have been in a better place if Russia and Germany had been geopolitical allies. Hitlers admiration for the English and his obsession with trying to make peace with them was a huge part of the downfall of the Third Reich. This obsession was perhaps the most logical reason why he allowed 300k + troops to escape at Dunkirk. It’s a travesty that so many Germans and Russians killed each other in this war
Mostly wrong. Nazi Germany and the USSR were allies at the beginning of WW2. They collaborated in dividing Poland. They divided between them all the remaining border areas in Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union was busily supplying Germany with the resources it needed up until the start of Barbarossa. The main war aim of Nazi Germany was always the same, "invade the lands of the east, kill everyone, and steal everything they owned." This had been clearly stated in Mein Kampf in 1923.
Sadly, both World War have involved Germanic blood on both sides. It’s like a giant Germanic blood sacrifice. American Germans killing Germans,many Russians have Germanic blood from Scandinavia… the international banking cartel got its wet dream…
@@colinhunt4057 You’re mostly wrong. While Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union did sign the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and collaborated in dividing Poland, their relationship was far from a true alliance. It was a temporary, opportunistic agreement based on mutual self-interest rather than ideological alignment. Let me break it down:
1. Temporary Alliance, Not True Partnership: Nazi Germany and the USSR were not allies in the truest sense. Their pact in 1939 was purely pragmatic. Both sides were buying time and securing strategic advantages. They knew their ultimate goals were incompatible, and each anticipated a future conflict with the other.
2. Soviet Aims Were Defensive: The USSR’s main goal wasn’t to help Germany conquer Europe. Stalin’s actions were focused on regaining territory lost during the Russian Civil War and creating a buffer zone to protect against an eventual German invasion. While opportunistic, this was about self-preservation rather than alignment with Hitler’s goals.
3. Resource Supplies Were Tactical: Yes, the Soviets supplied resources to Germany, but this wasn’t some grand gesture of support. It was a tactical exchange-resources for industrial equipment and technology. Stalin wasn’t fueling Hitler’s war machine out of shared ambition; it was pure pragmatism.
4. Germany’s Goals Were More Complex: Hitler’s plans weren’t just about “killing everyone.” While his genocidal policies, especially against Jews, are undeniable, his broader goal was Lebensraum-seizing and colonizing Eastern Europe for the German people. It was exploitation and domination, not simply extermination.
5. Mein Kampf Isn’t a Step-by-Step Plan: Citing Mein Kampf as if it was Hitler’s rigid blueprint for war oversimplifies things. Sure, Hitler expressed his ideological goals in 1923, but his strategy evolved over the years based on political and military circumstances.
The early relationship between Nazi Germany and the USSR wasn’t an alliance; it was a temporary arrangement between two regimes with fundamentally opposing long-term goals. Stalin was preparing for eventual conflict, and Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 was always inevitable. They were never true partners-just two powers using each other until their ambitions clashed.
@@IvarEriksson83 "They were never true partners-just two powers using each other until their ambitions clashed."
That's what all alliances are.
@@IvarEriksson83All Alliances are temporary, mate. There are no "true partnerships" in geopolitics.
🔥
36:31 , 39:37 -Are you really refering to Fritz Hamann, the later serial killer??
..it should've said "the former serial killer", my fault.
During that battle , there were more german soldiers than soviets.
Nope... 330.000 russians x 140.000 germans
At 41:25 the ramblings about Alexander Fadin heroic deeds, I can’t recall what they were as I had to fast forward through it.
I was curious what the purpose of even including a Soviet “hero” in such a heart, wretched story of the Germans trying to escape. Especially after hearing all the horrible things that the Soviets did to wounded Germans, I don’t think he actually cares about this man. I think if anything at this point in the story, they really dislike this hero and hate the mention of him . Did you not want to seem like you were trying to favor the Germans?, I’d really like to know actually it just seems like it has no place.
Yessss
There is always better to save troops than save land. Because troopa can take that land again and even more. But to trade troops for land is the pure stupidity
Ah yes, the 'get out of jail Hitler madman card'.
you are full of it as usual!!
Manstein was a coward
Mainstein was the mastermind to delays Russian advance. Battle of karkov
What mastermind? He promptly lost it all when he mishandled the batlle of Kursk that summer. His bungling allowed Rumania, Germany's only source of oil to be lost at the end of 1944.
I have the book hells gate the battle of the cheekassy pocket by Doug Nash outstanding read he puts the reader in the action so the reader experience the hell
There is always some bad ass stories from the germans, but they will never have a proper film or series about them because people will get too butthurt.
Soviets were raging about German scorched earth? Hahah That's rich. That is exactly what they did to their own villages and towns when they were retreating from the German onslaught earlier in the war. I think they just used it as an excuse to act out their brutal ways They still do torture their Ukrainian captives to death in this current war
Are the Walloons Belgian SS?
Himmler recruited SS murderers from any group that would volunteer or be drafted. There were even Lithuanian and Latvian SS by 1945.
Terrible war. If one who wants war could watch and experience this hell, as told in this story, there would be no more wars. Pray for peace.
It was just a waste of a whole generation
Such brave men. Germany army was something special
If murderous invaders are special….
Then they are equal too today’s Russian military….
@@thomasmyers9128 you’re pretty slow, aren’t you buddy?
@ compared to Putin… I make Einstein look stupid…. 😳
Perdieron la guerra,como final grandioso los soviéticos en Berlin les sacudieron con 40.000 cañones
they should rebuild it
As Paulus's immediate superior he let the sixth army die at Stalingrad.
it was Hitlers fault
Man the eastern front makes the western front look like walk in the park. Germany in their prime is no joke. Germany weathered so many battles even their lowest ranks had more battle prowess or more ornless knew how to keep their heads on. The soviets were like zombies in world war Z. Never let up.
Tik wouldn't like this.
The Wehrmacht fought for an evil cause and they are not innocent of many acts of the Holocaust, but as a soldier I admire their bravery and devotion in fighting to the bitter end even knowing that there was no hope for victory after Kursk in the East and the Ardennes in the West. The Russians were tough too but their commanders wasted their lives. In Ukraine today one sees the lack of concern for the lives of Russian soldiers.
It also shows how little the all lies allies care about 2020 or 1920/30 gennocides.. when the govts are all run by zionists clearing out their homeland/links in Ukraine..
How do you know , Russia lack of concern for his sons ? How do you know ?
Germany saved half of Europe and suffered near total destruction. The Europeans lead by Germany fought to the bitter end to save Europe from the Communist thugs that had taken over Russia; (Allies) Austria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, Italy, Croatia, Bulgaria, Finland and Slovakia. Volunteers joined the SS from across Europe; 20,000 from France and 60,000 from Holland are two countries from a long list. I suggest people familiarise themselves with this cause.
Russia has always treated it's men as cannon fodder. The militaryleXef
The Allies and the Soviets were much more evil.
Maps aren't very good.
The Eastern front is a crazy thing for me, I am so against Hitler and I support the Russians but at the same time I can't stand the Soviet Union and Stalin! But if Hitler had not taken control of the Army and used Ukrainians, Finnish, Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian people as allies, especially Ukrainians they would have fought with the Germans, fed and clothed the Army, made V-1 and 2 rockets in Poland to use against Soviets he could have defeated them.
Don't think beyond the limit brother 😂 it's going very wrong way😂
@Sjsjsjsjsjks1 it's like Satan against the Grimreaper, 2 evils fighting each other, I just have sorrow for the civilians and soldiers who were just doing their duties. I listen to WWII German audio books on TH-cam and the regular soldiers didn't want to hurt civilians, they talk about how helpful they were, some worked for them and they liked them, even in some of the stories they didn't like the SS going around and killing them.
It wasn't just about the dictator - the German armies had no plans to feed themselves but take food not just for millions of Axis troops but tens of millions of German civilians inside the Reich.
Quite an imagination that Ukrainians, after the usual scorched earth tactics enforced by Red Army, somehow still had enough food to feed all three Ukraine, Germany, and the Wehrmacht inside Ukraine.
And then Germany somehow had enough guns and transportation to give hundreds of thousand Ukrainians actual weapons to fight with, when German armies barely able to supply themselves, and other Axis armies were starving for modern equipment and guns.
Again another cheap and old "Germany could've won if..." myth and fantasy.
@@michaelmccartin2054 Drivel. Read Walter Reichenau's Severity Order. The purpose of Operation Barbarossa was to seize the lands of the East, to kill everyone, and seize everything they owned. From the outset of the invasion, they were an army of murderers and rapists. All of them; not just the SS.
@@michaelmccartin2054then you are felling for propaganda both soldiers and civilians supported what hitler did very much
Got to give it the germans fought like shit out numbered but fought like shit great soldiers dont forget that
One of the benefits of having a cohesive Army bound together by culture and love of country. Exactly the things “ they “ are trying to destroy in every Western nation today.
Germans were the finest soldiers in WW2. Unity is a strength. Not diversity.
Imagine we (I am a German) had won the war. A world I do not want to live in.
@@timpatrick2109 Yes, the German 'mission based' training allowed their officers down to lowest junior level to be far more flexible in responding to quickly altering scenarios on the battlefield.
@@joachimthielker3132 Me either. But certain forces who are equally evil as the N…S, and just as power hungry, like to shame the German people and the other successful Western nations into cultural self destruction and self hatred. This is evil in the opposite way of what the N…S were doing and should be resisted.
At the 8 minute mark (roughty) he said "Jew 52...: I think he meant Ju 52. It's a plane
🎉🎉🎉
I don’t think you can impute knowledge of atrocities or complicity in them to the front line German soldiers. The atrocities were happening behind them. I think the only time frontline German soldiers would have had knowledge of atrocities would have been because they saw it because of a retreat. Hitler didn’t allow much in the way of retreats.
No atrocities. Allied lies.
What??😂😂😂😂😂
@@Ben_Sahar No atrocities. Allied lies.
@@justinrichardson4456 Go back to the hole where you sit all the time, stay there, and don’t speak up.
@@justinrichardson4456 Sorry, most of you are lying or ignorant of the facts. Walter Reichenau's Severity Order indicates just how guilty the Wehrmacht was in atrocities. It's only means of feeding itself was from murdering and pillaging the local peasantry.
I am interested in learning about the incident where Hitler and Guederian almost got into a physical altercation over a similar matter. 😅
It is...well..."amusing"...how the definetly young narrator trys to put "weight" into this by the choosing of words and pronounciation but the gravitas still is missing.
Wow
8:34 Jew 52 transport planes?
its was called yunkers
I have always heard it pronounced "jay ewe fifty two" in English.
Manstein the absalute goat
Why are the Brits BoJo, Sunak, Starmer so blood thirsty 4 Slavic blood Special Military Operation. One of the Wehrmacht who escaped cauldron, survived WW2 & retired in France. In fluent French, he confessed to French TV he never complained about anything ever since he escaped the cauldron
just ordered "Lost victories", Mansteins Book, however in german.
BLOOD FROZE INSTANTLY ON MY HANDS.THATS WHAT A GERMAN SOLDIER TOLD.IF U RELIEF URSELF SIMILAR SITUATION 😮 6:00
❤❤❤
Great video footage, but let's look into the bigger picture: the battlefield on and above the army group level, since Hitler and the High Command was viewing and making decision at that level.
For this particular encirclement battle, lets' start with the Panther-Wotan Line, a defensive line set up behind the then frontlines - a kind of defense in depth - its construction was ordered by Hitler himself in mid 1943, so the portray of him never ordering retreat held little ground since it showed he did consider a fall back line then, but why he didn't authorize the withdrawal of German forces leading up this pocket? Soviet advance, and its advance fast and deep as it became highly mechanized with US/UK made trucks.
At the end of 1943, Manstein ordered the withdrawal of AG South to the Panther-Wotan Line, despite the line had barely started the construction and thus had little actual contribution against Soviet forces. In any case, the Soviets crossed the Dnieper River there, with the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Front on the German side of the river, posing a significant threat of breaking into German Army Group South's strategic rear areas, as there was little prepared defense standing in the way. Once breakthrough is achieved, the Soviets tank armies could very well extend deep into German lines till the Carpathian Mountains, possibly cutting the whole Army group in two.
In addition, the Soviet advance created a German salient that soon to be Korsun Pocket. For a bit of military tactics overview, a salient wasn't having a sole purpose of being encircled, but rather it incentivize the enemy to deal with it first (usually by encircling), since it would greatly extend the flank of advancing forces that bypass it. In addition it could be a staging area of offensive (though a bit irrelevant for the Germans then). For this reason, that's why the Germans couldn't just ignore Kursk in 1943.
To reinforce the crippling situation of Army Group South, German divisions were already called from Western Europe and many other areas, yet they need time to arrive. In order to buy time for reinforcement, Hitler decided to keep the salient as an ad-hoc obstacle for the two Ukrainian Fronts, and letting them undergo an encirclement operation in late January meant the inevitable deep-thrusts into AG South could be delayed into March, where German rear areas and reserves were strengthened by transfer of forces from other theatre. In fact, in the subsequent Kamenets-Podolsky pocket in March, it was Paul Hausser's SS Panzer Corps from France that linked up the surrounded 1st Panzer Army, saving from its complete destruction, though still with heavy material losses.
Had Hitler withdrew the salient leading up to Korsun pocket, then instead in early February they would have a Soviet offensive operation into Army Group South strategic rear, and without the timely reinforcement the offensive would be even more successful and German 1st Panzer Army might likely be completely destroyed in the process. What Hitler did with the salient was to buy time, delaying the eventual Soviet final major thrust into his army group, trading parts of 8th Army (even then it was able to partly breakout) to strengthen the Army Group rear areas, the towns, roads, railways, leading the Soviets paying a high price in their March offensive.
Never heard of the German Jew-52. Must be newly discovered😂