—— Red Army Sniper ——156sleeve of my tunic, so that it did not gleam. I squeezed the handle
powerfully and got ready to crawl into the trench.
But I was in luck. Reassured that everything nearby was ‘sehr
gut’, the German had taken the risk of finally walking a little
farther along the trench. It was after all the third line, deep in the
rear. His steps began to fade slowly into the distance. He seemed
calm, but I was agitated: I had no right to wait any longer! I would
have to take care of the others in the dugout, if indeed there were
any. It would be good if they were asleep.
I slid into the trench right by the door. Slowly I pulled it towards
me. It opened without a sound and I carefully stepped into the
unknown. Inside it was quiet. Dimly burning on the table was a
Russian ‘Lightning’ kerosene lamp, with its top chipped where it
met the glass. It spread a soft light around.
I had a matter of minutes to complete my task; the officer
could return at any moment. Just in case I had a grenade ready for
action; I could use it first as a hammer – hit the officer on the head
with it. The pistol was also to hand, in case of extreme emergency.
I took a quick look around. On the solidly built log wall hung a big
portrait of Hitler in a glassless frame. Stuck on at all angles around
the portrait were a couple of dozen postcards and photos cut out
from magazines of naked beauties in various poses. ‘They make
appropriate neighbours!’ I thought.
Around the lamp on the table stood some wine bottles, which
were either empty or not yet opened. There were also some snacks
on plates, open tins of food, and bread. I was looking for what
was most important and, hanging over a nickelplated double bed
I saw an officer’s field bag, three gas masks, and two submachine
guns.
I grabbed the field bag without looking in it and hung it over
my shoulder and under my belt, so it would not dangle, and I took
the magazines out of the submachine guns and thrust them in
the tops of my boots. The bag was still not everything. Where was
the important stuff? Piled one on top of the other near the table
were three wooden shell boxes. It was our practice to use them to