On 31st December (1941) at 1300 hours Colonel-General Strauss had
turned up at General Schubert's Corps Headquarters in Rzhev with the
order: "Mologino must be defended to the last man."
What other order could he give?
Twenty minutes later, at 1325 to be exact, Lieutenant-General
Kauffmann, commanding 256th Infantry Division, entered the room. He
came straight from Mologino. He was as white as a sheet and half
frozen. In a voice trembling with emotion he reported to his Army
Commander-in-Chief: "Herr Generaloberst, my division is down to the
combat strength of a regiment and is surrounded by Soviet ski troops.
The men are at the end of their tether. They are just dropping with
fatigue. They flop into the snow and die from exhaustion. What they
are expected to do is sheer suicide. The young soldiers are turning on
their officers, screaming at them: 'Why don't you just go ahead and
already."
Colonel-General Strauss stood petrified. Then he said slowly, "It is
the Fuehrer's express order that we hold out. There is no other way
than to hold on or to die." And turning to General Kauffmann he added,
"You'd better drive to the fighting-line, to your men, Herr
The General saluted without a word and left the room.
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