Erwin König

Erwin König was reported to have been a German Wehrmacht sniper killed by the Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev during the Battle of Stalingrad.[1][2] Due to the lack of any Nazi records proving the existence of König and his achievements there is some doubt as to whether he existed at all or was an invention of Soviet propaganda.[3]

König is mentioned both in Zaitsev's memoirs Notes of a Sniper (a "Major Konings", potentially SS) and William Craig's 1973 non-fiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad.[4] According to Zaitsev, the duel between him and König took place over a period of three days in the ruins of Stalingrad.[1] In a post-war visit to Berlin, Zaitsev was allegedly confronted by a woman who told him that she was König's daughter, with Soviet authorities quickly evacuating Zaitsev to avoid any confrontation.[5]

A fictionalized account of the duel in the film Enemy at the Gates portrays Erwin König—played by Ed Harris—as the head of the Wehrmacht Sniper School.[6] He is sent to Stalingrad to take on the increasingly aggressive Soviet snipers.[7] Initially he is successful, killing four of Zaytsev's partners, but eventually he is outwitted by the Russian, portrayed by Jude Law.[8]

König appears in the 1999 novel War of the Rats by David L. Robbins in which he is an SS Colonel named Heinz Thorvald.

Ramón Rosanas wrote a comic about the conflict between Zaytsev and König.[9]

References
  1. Zaitsev, Vasily (2010). Okrent, Neil (ed.). Notes of a Russian Sniper: Vassili Zaitsev and the Battle of Stalingrad. Frontline. p. 193. ISBN 9781848325654.
  2. Craig, William. Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad. Reader's Digest Press. p. 457. ISBN 0141390174. OCLC 613817.
  3. "The Mythical German Sniper From the 'Enemy at the Gates' Who Challenged Vasily Zaitsev". warhistoryonline. 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
  4. Naughton, John (28 February 2013). "War mentality: How a man boosted the morale in Stalingrad". Russia Beyond. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  5. "Vassili Zaitsev (Russian)". Fakty (in Russian). Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  6. MP Film Management. "Famous snipers in history". CBS News. CBS Interactive Inc. p. 10. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  7. Seitz, Matt Zoller (28 March 2001). "Ed Harris in Enemy at the Gates". NY Press. Straus News. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  8. Jones, Robert (30 September 2016). "Best Netflix films: top movies to check out now". T3.com. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  9. Jiménez, Jesús (19 August 2013). "Ramón Rosanas lleva al cómic al famoso francotirador ruso Vasili Záitsev". Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 January 2019.
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