Tank battle of Lieutenant Otto Karius near Malinov on July 22, 1944

Memories of Lieutenant Otto Karius:

"I was leading my company to the village along the route we had just reconnoitered. Then we stopped, and I discussed the operation with the platoon and tank commanders. What I said then has stuck with me to this day:

“We are completely alone. Moreover, the situation is completely uncertain. It would be too dangerous for us to attack the village in one line. We must get out of this situation without losses, if possible. The assault artillery battalion behind the village has already suffered heavy losses. But we will not do that! We will organize everything as follows: “Two tanks will enter the village at full speed and surprise Ivan. He must not be allowed to fire a single shot. Lieutenant Nienstedt will bring up the other six tanks. Herr Nienstedt! You will remain on the opposite slope until I give further orders. Let us hope that the guardian angel of the radio is awake! Herr Nienstedt, this is your first battle with us. Remember one thing more than anything else: if you are patient, everything will work out. The first two will be Kerscher and I. The rest is self-evident. What happens next will be determined by the development of the situation.”

That was our brief discussion, and that was all that was needed. Then I called my “teammate” aside and discussed everything important with him. Complete success depended on our entry into the village, or rather, on our surprise.

"I'll go ahead, and we'll both head for the center of the village as quickly as possible, where we'll quickly get our bearings. You'll watch the rear, and I'll go ahead. Then we'll take care of anything that gets in our way. I estimate there's at least one company in the village, unless the rest of the Russian battalion has joined in by now."

I tapped Kersher on the shoulder. After a short “Go!” we were sitting in our tanks. We quickly checked our radios and started our engines. In an instant we had overcome a slight rise and were in sight of the Russians. My excellent driver, Baresch, squeezed everything he could out of our “box”. We both understood that at this moment the decisive factor was speed. The two Russian tanks covering our side did not react at all at first. Not a single shot was fired. I immediately drove past the center of the village. It is difficult to remember what happened next, because events unfolded suddenly and with lightning speed. Kersher, who had approached the village about 150 meters behind me, noticed that the turrets of the two Russian tanks were moving. He immediately stopped and destroyed both. At the same moment I also began to clear the other end of the village.

When Kerscher approached me, he radioed and pointed to the right. Next to the barn was a Stalin tank. It was a vehicle we had never seen before on the northern sector of the front. We stopped for a moment in surprise, because the tank was equipped with an extremely long 122 mm gun.

It was the first Russian tank with a gun equipped with a muzzle brake. In addition, the Stalin tank somewhat resembled our Royal Tiger in shape. At first, I, like Kerscher, hesitated, but then it immediately occurred to me that only the wheels were typically Russian. I opened fire, and the tank burst into flames. After this short pause, we destroyed all of Ivan's vehicles in the village, as we had previously agreed. Kerscher and I had to laugh later, because for a moment we thought that we were standing in front of a captured Russian Royal Tiger. In the heat of battle, such things can sometimes happen.

At the same time as I began shelling the village, I gave Lieutenant Nienstedt the order to slowly advance towards the high ground to the north. He had to ensure that no Russian could escape from the village. Otherwise, they could warn the enemy's main forces, which were approaching. This measure turned out to be very important for the further course of our operation. The whole event in the village lasted no more than a quarter of an hour.

Only two Russian tanks tried to escape to the east. The rest were unable to move. After my entire company had reached the village and three tanks were positioned to provide protection on the eastern side of the village, we dismounted to briefly discuss the new situation.

We had reason to be satisfied. The surprise attack had gone off without a hitch, because we had arrived at exactly the right moment. It turned out that the Russians had reported to their unit that everything was in order on the road. The main force could continue on its way without alarm. Based on this information, we were able to develop a new plan.

The Russians had dragged their wounded along the road. I took them, along with those who could walk, to Daugavpils with the help of the assault artillery battalion. We could do nothing with these people with our vehicles. Soon after, a motorcycle with a sidecar drove into the village from the north. The commander of the assault artillery battalion got out of it. He was so happy that he almost hugged me. He had already lost hope for his surrounded unit. In addition to everything else, we also brought him his adjutant.

There were no Russian infantry in the village. All those still alive were tank crews. They felt completely safe. Judging by the fact that most of the enemy tanks were stationary, the drivers and radio operators had probably gone to loot the houses when we appeared out of the blue. The village was cleared of the enemy. At that moment it was important to move east to establish a front line as far as possible in that direction. This would make the Daugavpils-Rēzekne highway passable again.

I quickly assessed the situation and sent a standard report to the battalion. I was accompanied by one of the battalion's communications officers (who were in an armored personnel carrier). Using a medium wave radio, I informed the commander of my location and the results of the battle (seventeen Stalins and five T34s). I also informed him of my new attack target, which I had determined myself. It was a village about ten kilometers east of our current location. Then I additionally requested that the scattered elements of the infantry division be gathered. They were to wait until I arrived at the battalion command post in trucks.

In the short time that this was happening, my tanks in the defensive position noticed two Russians trying to escape from one of the two Stalin tanks that had been shot down a few hundred meters to the east. They were moving extremely well in this terrain, and one of them was holding what looked like a map under his arm.

One of my Tigers went after them, but brought back only a map. The Russian officer, a major, had shot himself at the last moment. As we later found out, he was the commander of the 1st Tank Brigade “Joseph Stalin”. His comrade was seriously wounded.

The major was a "Hero of the Soviet Union" and wore the Order of Lenin on his chest. I had never seen this award at close range before. The two Soviet officers were buried in the village in the afternoon by their comrades. I learned this the next day when I returned and examined the grave. The major's maps were very informative to me, as they had penciled in the planned Russian attack. According to them, this Russian battalion was to attack Daugavpils along the highway after the rest of the company arrived. At the same time, another battle group was to attack north of Daugavpils, to reach the city from the northwest."

The Battle of Malinovka in reality

Malinova is located on the Daugavpils - Rezekne highway. On the morning of July 22, 1944, the village was occupied by tanks of the 41st Tank Brigade of the 5th Tank Corps of the 2nd Baltic Front assault unit. Having reached the highway, the 290th Infantry Division of the German 1st Army Corps in Daugavpils was cut off from the other units in the north.

The commander of the 5th Tank Corps, Major General Sakhno, ordered the commander of the 41st Tank Brigade, Colonel Korchagin, to send a reconnaissance unit in the direction of the Zalumi station (8 km from Malinovo) to also take over the railway leading to Daugavpils. Korchagin entrusted the reconnaissance of the 41st Tank Brigade to the commander of the 1st Tank Battalion, Captain Konstantin Orlovsky, whose battalion had suffered heavy losses in previous battles.

The headquarters of the 2nd Baltic Front found this insufficient, and General Yerenko gave the order to attack Daugavpils, which is located 20–25 km from Malinovka.

But then German aircraft appeared over Malinovka, causing minor damage to the reconnaissance unit's tanks (two T-34/85s of the 1st battalion of the 41st tank brigade and two IS-2s of the 1st company of the 48th guards heavy tanks), so Orlovsky was forced to delay to repair the vehicles. Then, from the northeast, the battle began with a company of the German 912th assault artillery brigade, which immediately began firing on the tanks of the 41st tank brigade. On the Red Army side, T-34/85s of the 3rd tank battalion of the 41st tank brigade, commanded by Captain Ivan Moroz, took part. For this battalion, formed from three reserve tank companies only on July 18-19, it was the first battle in their lives, which ended in a completely predictable tragedy.

At the height of the battle, the 2nd company of the 502nd heavy tank battalion “Tigers” appeared on the highway from the Daugavpils side. After crossing the bridge in the Mazai Kokini area, the company commander, reserve senior lieutenant Otto Karius, became a little worried and sent most of the company’s tanks to bypass the village to the left. O. Karius himself drove along the highway directly into the village, and behind him, about 50 - 100 m away, Oberfeldwebel Albert Kersher.

Most likely, O. Karius did not see the Soviet tanks behind the buildings of the village of Malinova, but as he approached the village, he noticed them one by one and destroyed them with accurate fire. The commander of the 1st battalion of the Soviet 41st tank brigade, Captain K. Orlovsky, apparently carelessly carried out the protection of his unit. In total, two T-34/85 and two IS-2 tanks were shot down at the beginning of the battle. Captain K. Orlovsky's own tank was shot down by A. Kersher, at the moment when it tried to attack O. Karius' tank from the side, which was already driving along the main street of Malinova.

Moving further northeast, the tanks of O. Karius and A. Kerscher noticed the tanks of the 1st battalion of the Soviet 41st tank brigade, which were firing at German assault guns. In a short battle, during which seven Soviet T-34/85s tried to break out of the trap in the east direction, but lost six tanks. At this moment, the IS-2 tanks of the Soviet 48th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment tried to counterattack, but, having lost three tanks shot down, retreated to the east. In total, two German tanks destroyed 13 Soviet tanks in one battle.

The "major with the Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union" mentioned by O. Karius was actually the commander of the 1st battalion, Captain Ivan Moroz, who jumped out of the tank that was shot down and, when he realized that he would not be able to escape, shot himself. I. Moroz was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

The fighting in the Malinovka area continued for several more days, and during the fighting the Red Army lost as many tanks, while Otto Karius was wounded during a reconnaissance mission.