the best

I never tire of watching this great documentary, there's so much to be learned from these old vets from both sides. Another excellent documentary on the Eastern Front is War of the Century; both these films offer much insight and data on this topic. To be utterly pragmatic, the war in the East was the biggest determining factor of WWII. 4 out of every 5 Germans were killed on this front and over 85% of the Wehrmachts weaponery was destroyed there.

The final aims of war, the land, resources, peoples, and ultimate victory, are characterized in compressed form on the Eastern Front. Wreckless disregard for life and property were not tempered by more civil concerns like diplomacy, mercy, appearances, or means. Man and machine were both used as a bludgeon to bring about a determinative edge, 2 meglomaniacal homocidal dictators a fight to the finish with the Eurasian landmass the stakes.

The Battle of Stalingrad epitomized in the space of a few months what this entire war in the east was in its totality; brutal, exhausting, cold, starving, hopeless, and a human meat grinder. And here I thought John Wayne and Audie Murphy won this war....