Erwin König
Erwin König was reported to have been a German Wehrmacht sniper killed by the Soviet sniper Vasily Zaytsev during the Battle of Stalingrad.[1][2] Due to the lack of any Nazi records proving the existence of König and his achievements there is some doubt as to whether he existed at all was just a invention of Soviet propaganda.[3]
König is mentioned both in Zaytsev's memoirs Notes of a Sniper (a "Major Konings", potentially SS) and William Craig's 1973 non-fiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad.[4] According to Zaytsev, the duel between him and König took place over a period of three days in the ruins of Stalingrad.[1] In a post-war visit to Berlin,[when?] Zaytsev was allegedly confronted by a woman who told him that she was König's daughter, with Soviet authorities quickly evacuating Zaytsev to avoid any confrontation.[5]
In popular culture
A fictionalized account of the duel in the film Enemy at the Gates portrays Erwin König—played by Ed Harris—as the head of the Wehrmacht Sniper School.[6] He is sent to Stalingrad to take on the increasingly aggressive Soviet snipers.[7] Initially he is successful, killing four of Zaytsev's partners, but eventually he is outwitted by the Russian, portrayed by Jude Law.[8]
König appears in the 1999 novel War of the Rats by David L. Robbins in which he is an SS Colonel named Heinz Thorvald.
Ramón Rosanas wrote a comic about the conflict between Zaytsev and König.[9]
References
- ^ a b Zaytsev, Vasily (2010). Okrent, Neil (ed.). Notes of a Russian Sniper: Vassili Zaitsev and the Battle of Stalingrad. Frontline. p. 193. ISBN 9781848325654.
- ^ Craig, William. Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad. Reader's Digest Press. p. 457. ISBN 0141390174. OCLC 613817.
- ^ "The Mythical German Sniper From the 'Enemy at the Gates' Who Challenged Vasily Zaitsev". warhistoryonline. 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
- ^ Naughton, John (28 February 2013). "War mentality: How a man boosted the morale in Stalingrad". Russia Beyond. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
- ^ "Vassili Zaitsev (Russian)". Fakty (in Russian). Retrieved 29 April 2009.[dead link]
- ^ MP Film Management. "Famous snipers in history". CBS News. CBS Interactive Inc. p. 10. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
- ^ Seitz, Matt Zoller (28 March 2001). "Ed Harris in Enemy at the Gates". NY Press. Straus News. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
- ^ Jones, Robert (30 September 2016). "Best Netflix films: top movies to check out now". T3.com. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
- ^ Jiménez, Jesús (19 August 2013). "Ramón Rosanas lleva al cómic al famoso francotirador ruso Vasili Záitsev". Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 January 2019.