The Budapest Siege

World War II German Military
#81

Memoirs of a soldier from the second wave

“Relatively quiet.I hear only the jarring of the burning vehicles and the injureds soft voices.Injured german soldiers laying on the grounds and ask for cigarettes to abate they suffering.They tell me,the breakout of them are failed and they seen many dead.”

Memoirs of a officer from the first wave

"There is many dead on the road and the sidewalk.My soldiers isn’t move any further now.
We’re going into a yard,of a house.
By misadventure,a few officer coming in a few minutes later.
I injured and I have strong pains.
A german first lieutnant medic is coming,and set up my wound.
Injured SS officer lurch into the yard:

  • “they hit me,I finish this off.”
  • “Where are you come from?” - I ask him.
  • 'The side street from the left.The russians close all way down,my 30 mens are falled or injured."
    He commit suicide with his sidearm."
#82

Meanwhile Wildenbruch SS obergruppenführer is on his way with Dörner SS Oberführer,and the 500 Waffen SS policemen and some hungarian units who protect the obergruppenführer,under the underground canal,called “Devils Ditch” (Ördög Árok)

Memoirs of a soldier from the Wildenbruch group

“I’ve receive a complete spare rib,2 kg of sugar,2 bread,rice,salami,butter,and a gourd of snifter.We’re moving under the lights of signal rockets,artillery fire,and blasting mines to the entrance of the canal.The canal entrance is about 1 meter wide,and the canal is 3x3 meter circle round,and 40 cm deep.Fortunately we have some candle to make some light in the canal or else we lost in this dark underground.Sometimes we moving under the openings,we can hear the embittered fightning noises from the top.I don’t think the mountainers are moving slower than we are.”

The mass is pad up the water in the canal,the backpacks are getting heavy,many soldier drop of his backpack into the water,and someones bored from the stumbling and get out from the canal.

Memoirs from a soldier from the Wildenbruch group

“The drift of the water is bring different things:fightning gear,helmets,gourd,handgrenade,panzerfaust and a female corpse.I don’t know the woman how get into here but she looks like from the upper ten:around 40,blonde,crummy,fur coat,silkstockings with bright high heeled shoes.She hold her reticule fitful with his hands.”

#83

At daybreak Dörner Waffen SS oberführer who is the leader of the escaping group,are out from the canal but they must turn back because the russians discover the moving group and make strong artillery fire on the exit side.
Obergruppenführer Wildenbruch is come away from the escaping group and choose another way and get out from the canals with 10-15 Waffen SS soldier,getaway and hide in a high class house in Budakeszi.
Dörner SS oberführer staying in the canals and killed in action.

The russians discover the obergruppenführer and his staff in the forenoons.
After a short battle around the house,the russians set up a 45mm cannon in front of the house and send into the house a civilian who speak german,to surrender the Waffen SS commander.

The answer was accept if:
1. The russians isn’t kill someone
2. At least a major ranked officer taken the commander and his group to being a POW
3. A major of the Red Army write a paper from this action

The russians accept the german appeal and the commander of Budapest taken be a Prisoner Of War.

#84

Helmut Dörner (right)
Waffen SS oberführer,leader of a Kampfgruppe in the 4. SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division
http://www.ww2incolor.com/d/47672-6/helmutd__rnerhungary

#85

Memoirs of a soldier from the canals of the Devils Ditch
“The commanders and the officers are fade out.Where they going? No one knows.
Just us in the canal and a few hundred desperate german soldier.
The exit on the top of the ladder was a death trap,soviet snipers watching the caps of the canal,many dead laying around the opening beyond us,who try to get out.The german soldiers try to crawl in a small tunnel.When around 100 german vanished into the tunnel,the water spilling out.
Suddenly gruesome howling,and the germans turn back from the small tunnel completely drenched.The reason is to the runaway,the germans saw a small light on the other side of the tunnel,and they think that was a light of a russian flamethower.The german soldiers disappearing in a few seconds from the place.”

The stress slowly overcome on the germans,many of them even more choosing suicide,like 26 SS soldier in a garden of a house,at the downtown.

#86

The closed escaping units is break up in the city to a lot of bigger group.Many breach spring up on the Soviet circle,a few escaping group get across the Soviet lines.

Memoirs from a officer from the Billnitzer group
“With gaffer Bill (Billnitzer lieutenant general) we set forth to the mountains.The snow was 20 cm deep somewhere,fog sit down between the valleys.We’re enter a woody area the fog getting stronger.Seven impassive and whiskery SS troop with submachine guns lead the unforesseable mass behind us civilians,soldiers,kids,womans injureds on carts trod the snow.”

#87

Remembering of a civilian
“Around 02:00 am we’re get on a highway,there we seen many abandoned cart,cars,cannons and horses.The trucks pack up with ammunition.We seen many executed civilians at multifarious truck column.We’re get to a pile,there is many german soldier rest and the remains of the Winter group:8 undergrad student.Now at least 600 person in the group.
After a short appointment we head on the woody area in the deep snow.
At daybreak the russians firing us from the houses with machineguns and mortars at the mountains.
The group is move along two soviet Sturmovik fighter plane come up and shoot along the mass.
Many dead and injured also a german major general,and a major also.
After dark around 6:00 pm the group stopped if someone have food that eat it.
At midnight we arrived to a extermination area,we try to sleep near the pile of the cutted lumbers.
We haven’t got blankets the strong sleet leach our clothes what getting frozen,after a two hour rest we must to set out.”

A few german supply plane drop down some foodstuff and supply in tanks to help the escaping groups,but only one or two arrived to own lines.

#88

Memoirs of a civilian
“The group move along with suffering.We spot some bread supply carts.The mass is going mad and start fight for the breads.
Horrible scenery: two own group shoot each other with pistols.
Some wilder clear off from the carts loading with breads,injureds and deads laying at the empty carts and mute horses.”

#89

Memoirs of a soldier from the Flügel group
“The germans who move along before us rashly stoped,we move on to see what’s happened:
Flügel obersturmbannführer laying on the snow and shouting:enough from this insanity,he won’t take another step,anything is useless etc.His mens just staying around him…”

#90

Memoirs of a soldier from the Wolff group
“Once at the front of the group hasty shooting starting,a lieutenant and a few machinegunner go forth,meanwhile the whole mass turning back from the front.A few brave guy going to the front into the fog.We hear the sound of our Mg42 during the russian machinegun rounds,but a few grenades blast making quiet.After all we can go back to the front.”

#91

13rd of february 1945

The german lines hits only the Helmut Wolff group around 700 person from the whole 144000 german hungarian army and civilians who try to breakout from the enclosed Budapest.(video)

#92

Images
South Buda
Nádor József university of technologic
Waffen SS soldier with panzerfaust around civilians at the downtown of Budapest
Soviet marine at the Grand Hotel
Otto Skorzeny in the Castle of Buda
The Schmidt castle
Statue of St. Gellért

#93

Images
German graves in the city
Jilted panzerfausts in the foxhole

#94

Chronology

1. 11st of february 1945 20:00 pm The breakout starting under heavy enemy artillery,air and overland strike
2. 11st of february 1945 21:00 - 23:00 pm Gerhard Schmidhuber Wehrmacht major general is killed in action under the starting of the breakout
3. 11st of february 1945 Dörner and Wildenbruch is trying to escape the canals of the Devils Ditch.
(In 12nd of february morning Dörner killed in action in the canals,Wildenruch hiding and captured by the russians the forenoons in a high class house)
4. 12nd of february 1945 Flügel obersturmbannführer get nervous breakdown in the woods at the mountains near Budapest under escaping
5. 12nd of february 1945 Billnitzer hungarian lieutenant general and his group captured by russian forces
6. 13rd of february 1945 Wolff oberstleutnant and his group arriving to the german lines

#95

Gerhard Schmidhuber (9 April 1894 – 11 February 1945 in the battle of Budapest) German major general.

He was also a recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
Born in Dresden in the Kingdom of Saxony, Schmidhuber was commanding officer of the Wehrmacht Heer’s 13th Panzer Division during World War II. When the Germans occupied Hungary in 1944, Schmidhuber was supreme commander of German army forces in that country.
Schmidhuber send a truck of german troops to a secondary school and save the jews from the arrow cross soldiers.
In that capacity, he had extensive dealings with the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and prevented the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto in the face of the advancing Red Army.(he never get any posthumus award for his action from any nation)
Schmidhuber was have nightfall blindness,he get a death hit in 21 - 23 pm under the breakout of Budapest.
His corpse dropped to a foxhole mass grave after the breakout in the downtown of Budapest.

#96

Imi,

Glad to see that you have posted my little map creation about the progression of the siege.
Udvozol,
Gv

#97

Great Karady song – and it says it all for poor Hungary: “It’s useless to run, it’s useless to flee, fate awaits you eternally…” or something like that. Thanks for posting it, imi.

#98

Good job, imi, you have done a lot of hard work. Many thanks to you – sok koszonet!!!

#99

you’re welcome Gulfview any time.the storys continue I only rest a while!
bye
imi

#100

Return to the exhausted Capitol

About 5000 person staying in the Castle.
Mostly injureds and hungarian military squads who don’t see the point of the breakout.

Memoirs of a eyewitness
“Total chaos dominate in the castle.The claustrophobia from the long weeks under the siege come close the peoples to the dementia.Hardship,the destitution and the fears about the future.Many of them crying and think dread about tomorrow.The injureds notice their attendants are gone and get into panic.Continuous clapping pistol shots in every corner in the enormous underground hospital.No one want to be a russian POW in injured status.”

A small group 2 doctors, 2 officers and 8 warrant officer try to hold up the evolved situation in the topmost places,try to attend the injureds and collect the weapons from the injureds.

Memoirs of a Doctor
“About 8 am I’m getting started to a hand amputation.Someone report me the first russians are here.Suddenly a soviet submachine gunner standing in the operating room.I feel great relief and I try not to deal with him,we haven’t got any incident.”