Enemy at the Gates, a film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, is the story of a Russian sniper named Vassili Zaitsev who fights in the Battle of Stalingrad. The film is set in the fall of 1942 in the destroyed city of Stalingrad, when Vassili Zaitsev rises from a grunt in the Russian Army to become the most known sniper in Russian history by demonstrating superior marksman abilities. Vassili did not become so popular alone; with the help of Commisar Danilov, a Chief Political Officer, they inform the world of the actions of Vassili by telling stories of how many Germans he had killed that day. By doing this, Russian morale skyrockets, creating more hope for the Russian cause than ever before. The Germans send their best sniper, Major Konig,
…show more content…
Certainly Zaitzev has been fueled up by his division commander to expect a visit from an expert German sniper. Certainly amongst the Soviet snipers, the anticipation of a "duel" ran high. Therefore, I tend to believe the story as written by Chuikov; it's fairly simple and straightforward. The issues of whether or not a German sniper was flown in, what his name and rank were, and whether or not he participated in this duel are not conclusively dealt with in the account. What started as unverified information from one prisoner took on a life of its own--that much is readily apparent. That later writers have filled in the name of Zaitzev's opponent is not a fault of Chuikov's book, which links the interrogation and the subsequent "duel" but doesn't come right out and say who the German participant was. As to the general issue of the accuracy of Russian historical accounts, well, I think it's best to take all accounts from whatever side under close scrutiny. But I would sincerely doubt that Zaitzev, with his record of confirmed kills, would lie about this single encounter, even if he drew the wrong conclusion. (Zimmerman). This shows that there are different accounts of what happened in the Battle of Stalingrad, and we may not ever not what happened for
Certainly Zaitzev has been fueled up by his division commander to expect a visit from an expert German sniper. Certainly amongst the Soviet snipers, the anticipation of a "duel" ran high. Therefore, I tend to believe the story as written by Chuikov; it's fairly simple and straightforward. The issues of whether or not a German sniper was flown in, what his name and rank were, and whether or not he participated in this duel are not conclusively dealt with in the account. What started as unverified information from one prisoner took on a life of its own--that much is readily apparent. That later writers have filled in the name of Zaitzev's opponent is not a fault of Chuikov's book, which links the interrogation and the subsequent "duel" but doesn't come right out and say who the German participant was. As to the general issue of the accuracy of Russian historical accounts, well, I think it's best to take all accounts from whatever side under close scrutiny. But I would sincerely doubt that Zaitzev, with his record of confirmed kills, would lie about this single encounter, even if he drew the wrong conclusion. (Zimmerman). This shows that there are different accounts of what happened in the Battle of Stalingrad, and we may not ever not what happened for