The periodical Deutsche Welle published a German historians’ survey of the opinions on the theme of the Battle of Kursk. The material describes a number of myths and legends. They are refuted by Mikhail Myagkov, the Scientific Director of the Russian Military Historical Society.

To date, there are several falsifications in the history of the Battle of Kursk, which are spreading in the West, primarily by German historians.

For example, the fact that the landing in Sicily in July 1943 meant that the Germans turned off the Citadel operation. This was also written by German memoirists, former generals who participated in the battle. But this is not true - on the day when the Allies landed in Sicily, Hitler ordered the operation to continue on the Kursk Bulge. And it was the transition to the offensive of our troops on July 12 that meant that the Germans would no longer achieve their plans.

Another falsification - allegedly, Hitler made a mistake: everything in the war after Stalingrad was decided, and Kursk was not of crucial importance. No, Kursk was decisive for the whole course of the Great Patriotic War and World War II. This is evidenced by facts and documents. Hitler collected for the offensive on the Kursk Bulge a huge grouping - 900 thousand soldiers, 2,700 tanks, 2,000 aircraft. And all this armada, including the latest technology - "Tiger", "Panther", "Ferdinand", with new guns and strong armor, was to overturn our troops, to surround the forces of the Voronezh and Central Fronts on salient around the city of Kursk. And then, depending on the situation, advance either to the rear of the South-Western Front, or to Moscow. Hitler in his order said that the best German forces should be assembled near Kursk, all possible weapons should be used to break the resistance of our troops. The Soviet command adopted the right strategy - to wear out the enemy on the defensive, knock out his shock armored power and then go on the offensive. For the first time during the war it was used such a deeply echeloned enemy defense. The total number of trenches, which were dug by our soldiers and the local population was more than 9,000 kilometers. It's like from Moscow to Kamchatka. Mining the terrain, creating "firebags" with the help of artillery, and, above all, the heroism of our soldiers who stood to death, allowed the Red Army troops first to stop the Germans, and then go on a counteroffensive. It would be superfluous to recall that the courage of warriors, such as the battery of Captain Igishev, who perished, but did not miss the enemy; or the tanker Yakov Kobzar, who fought on the southern facet of the Kursk Bulge and destroyed 17 tanks, made it possible to turn the tide. Hitler set the most decisive goals, and our victory at Kursk, and then the victory in the battle for the Dnieper meant that the war finally brought about a radical change that began during the Battle of Stalingrad.

Here it is essential to note the reaction of the Allies. The Allies were waiting, they promised us to open a second front in 1942. But neither in 1942, nor in 1943 it was not opened. It was at the final stage of the Battle of Kursk, in August 1943, that the Quebec Allies Conference was held, in which Roosevelt and Churchill participated. And only there the decision was made that it is necessary to open a second front in the spring of 1944. Finally, this decision was made at the Tehran conference in December 1943. After the victory at Kursk, the Allies realized that we can not only liberate our territory, but also liberate Europe. And in order not to let our troops to Europe up to the end, so that part of Europe was under their control, it was decided to land in Normandy.

We turn to the falsification, which is published on the resource "Deutsche Welle". The German historian Friser says that we lost the Prokhorov battle, trying to prove that the Germans fought excellently, and we fought badly and simply piled up the enemy with corpses.

In fact, speaking of the Prokhorov battle, which took place from July 11 to July 16 with the culmination of July 12, relying on official sources and documents, the Germans lost 300 tanks out of 400, that is 75%, and the Soviet troops lost 500 from 800, it is 60 %. We lost more, but for the Germans such huge losses meant that their "armored fist" was dealt a fatal blow. We had additional reserves, and we put them into battle. After the Kursk Bulge, the Germans could no longer carry out a major offensive, and the war rolled back. It became clear to the world that it would end in Berlin.

And returning to the role of landing Allies in Sicily, one must understand that the main German forces were connected on the Soviet-German front, so the Germans could not help their Italian satellite. That is why the Allies succeeded in landing in Sicily, and then in the south of Italy. Japan also realized that Germany would not help anything in the war with America, and also went to the defense in the Pacific theater of operations. I stress that the decisive events took place on the Soviet-German front. The Battle of Kursk has convincingly proved that the Red Army is stronger, more powerful than the Wehrmacht, that we have an excellent command structure that took responsible and important decisions during the battle.


Reference about the activities of The Russian Military Historical Society