The Russian forces rolls over everything.

The war with its thunder and lightning embraces us all.

The encirclement of the German forces at Stalingrad in the winter of 1943 and its liberation by the Russian forces should have been a warning.This defeat was followed by the disaster at Kursk in the summer of 1943. The action there is regarded as the biggest tank battle of WW II.The long thin line from the Baltic Sea to the Black 

Sea could not be defended in any way.The mighty German dragon of the East had exposed its belly and was mortally wounded and bleeding to death.

The German command realized that the Russian forces could not be stopped or even slowed down in the northern and eastern areas of Europe desperation set in.

The Germans from the cities had an advantage of rail or boats but not for long to remove themselves from the conflict...not for the farmers who used wagons with horses for power.The rails were destroyed by the Partisans and the boats in the Baltic sea were torpedoed by the Russian subs.The retreating German forces took priority over the civil needs.The Russian tanks moved fast over the flat land and the air force squadrons bombed the cities.The Allied supplies reached the Russian forces and took full advantage over the undersupplied German forces.I saw the planes overhead theading west and the tanks came much later to mop up.The German farmers were forbidden to pack up and leave. Packing up and leaving is a sign of defeat.It was not until the fall of 1944 that evacuation plans were set up.The local civil command called up every male...14y and older....one rifle for every 100 civil soldiers...the Polish workers had to grab a spade and dig canals so the Russian tanks would get stuck...it did not work out as the planners wished...one tank filled the canal and served as a bridge.The civil forces were mowed down with the tank machine guns and later the canals served as graves for the frozen bodies stripped of boots and other useable items.Who were the looters? The local population did not see,hear or feel anything.Now they are all dead..maybe.My Mom worked to fill the canal graves with the civil defense bodies and the bodies of the Germans killed out of revenge by the local Polish militia forces with the red bands on their arms.The revenge period was slow to start...for Germany and Berlin had not fallen yet.Once the war was over...the Germans left behind paid the price....more beatings, raping and killings by the local people who felt abused by the Germans during the occupation period...the Russians moved on to capture Berlin and shake hands with American forces at the Elbe river and the locals took over.Most Germans (children,women and old men) were now rounded up and placed into concentration camps.They had to sew on  Swastikas on their clothing...one on the back and one on the front and march down the road to the jeers and boos of the local people.If the old men and women did not move fast enough,a stick or a boot or a push was used as a reminder.I was in that Trail of Tears and an uncle and aunt paid the ultimate price and are buried some were in that canal grave.Our family reached the camp with barbed wire and guards to keep the tired and exhausted people inside.