[ought-six]

I have been a history buff my entire life (and my degree is in History), with particular attention to the American West and WWII. I have read countless books and accounts on the Battle of Stalingrad. That was clearly “urban combat” at its most brutal. The Russians are an odd group, on many levels. But I don’t think there has ever before been a people who could have gone through the horrors of the Battle of Stalingrad and the Siege of Leningrad and not only survive, but win, and come out of it all far more powerful than when the fights started. The fights at Stalingrad and Leningrad define the adjective “horrific.”

[rbg81]

The Russians are an odd group, on many levels. But I don’t think there has ever before been a people who could have gone through the horrors of the Battle of Stalingrad and the Siege of Leningrad and not only survive, but win, and come out of it all far more powerful than when the fights started.

---

I’ll have to second that. The Russians are a strange bunch. One side of my family is Russian, the other is German. Russians are smart and tough. But they are also hopeless drama queens, melancholy and have a self-destructive streak. They are their own worst enemy. It’s almost funny to watch, but at times very sad too.