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What war is really like
Jan. 7th, 2004 05:43 pmFound by Mark Sinker, this extract from Thomas Jones's Short Cuts column in the current LRB made me larff like a drane:
Within hours of Hitler's suicide, General Hans Krebs set out to pay a visit to General Vasily Chuikov, the Soviet Commander. He arrived shortly before 4 am on 1 May 1945, taking Chuikov by surprise. With the Russian general were the writer Vsevolod Vishnevsky, the poet Evgeny Dolmatovsky and the composer Matvei Blanter. Vishnevsky and Dolmatovsky were in uniform and pretended to be members of Chuikov's war council. As Blanter didn't have a uniform he was made to hide in a cupboard and keep quiet. Krebs informed Chuikov that Hitler and his wife had killed themselves in his bunker. Chuikov, who wasn't even aware that there was a bunker under the Reich Chancellery or that Hitler was married, calmly said he already knew. He wasn't prepared to negotiate: it was unconditional surrender or nothing. A few hours into the meeting, which went on into the afternoon, Blanter tumbled noisily out of the closet, unconscious. He was lifted out from the floor and carried into another room without a word of explanation to Krebs.
Within hours of Hitler's suicide, General Hans Krebs set out to pay a visit to General Vasily Chuikov, the Soviet Commander. He arrived shortly before 4 am on 1 May 1945, taking Chuikov by surprise. With the Russian general were the writer Vsevolod Vishnevsky, the poet Evgeny Dolmatovsky and the composer Matvei Blanter. Vishnevsky and Dolmatovsky were in uniform and pretended to be members of Chuikov's war council. As Blanter didn't have a uniform he was made to hide in a cupboard and keep quiet. Krebs informed Chuikov that Hitler and his wife had killed themselves in his bunker. Chuikov, who wasn't even aware that there was a bunker under the Reich Chancellery or that Hitler was married, calmly said he already knew. He wasn't prepared to negotiate: it was unconditional surrender or nothing. A few hours into the meeting, which went on into the afternoon, Blanter tumbled noisily out of the closet, unconscious. He was lifted out from the floor and carried into another room without a word of explanation to Krebs.
