Abstract
 Zusammenfassung
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 Streszczenie
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 Резюме
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 Résumé
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 Kopsavilkums
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 Santrauka
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 Рэзюмэ
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 Синопсис
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 Abstract
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Herbert Schrödter, born in Berlin in 1910, served as a volunteer in the army from 1940 to 1945, most recently as a First Lieutenant and Company Chief of a machine-gun company. He fought mainly near Uman, in the area around Sloviansk, near Nikopol and in Courland.
1940 to 1944 he was a sergeant, officer candidate and platoon commander in the Infantry Regiment 477 (257th Infantry Division, changing corps affiliation, mostly 17th Army or 1st Panzer Army, Army Group South). First as an occupation force in Poland, he later took part in Operation Barbarossa from 21 June 1941, fought at the Uman pocket and reached the Donets without great fighting, mostly assigned to the officers replacement pool. In winter 1941/42 he participated in the battles around Sloviansk and received the Iron Cross 2nd Class, the Infantry Assault Badge in Silver and the East Medal. Shortly after the start of the summer offensive in 1942, the division was relocated to France for refreshment and coastal protection, where he was appointed lieutenant. In 1943 they again came to Sloviansk, which, in the beginning retreat, was now contested again. After being wounded and hospitalized back home, where he met his future wife, he saw action near Nikopol. There he was wounded for the third time, after only a short while, received the Wounded Badge in Silver and thus did not have to witness the extermination of the division in Romania. In 1944 he married. 1944–45 he commanded the 3rd Company of the Corps MG Battalion 410 (X. Army Corps, 18th Army, Army Group Courland) in the area around Liepāja where he was promoted to First Lieutenant and received the Iron Cross 1st Class and the Close Combat Clasp in Bronze. From 1945 to 1949 he was in Soviet captivity in Riga, Smolensk and Barysaw.
In 1944 he had left his original diary at home, where it was left behind while his family fled. During the captivity, he reconstructed it and brought it home unnoticed.
(Google translation, revised by Winfried Schrödter)