Description
DER SIEG
Armee-Zeitung
Nr. 162 · Im März 1944
12 pages scanned. Instant PDF download.
Front-line army weekly, distinct from the Illustrierter Beobachter and Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung
Cover Page
Caption: “Na bitte! Man muss sich nur zu helfen wissen. Unsere Jäger beim Mittagkochen am Lagerfeuer.” (“There you go! You just have to know how to help yourself. Our light infantry cooking their midday meal at the campfire.”)
Subject: Masthead page combining the paper’s title logo (eagle and swastika emblem) with the lead article „Falschspieler“ („Card sharps“) on French distrust of de Gaulle’s and Italian troops in Algiers, and a photograph of Jäger infantrymen cooking a meal over a campfire in the field.
Location: Not specified (field kitchen scene, likely Eastern Front).
Photo credit: Kriegsber. Tiemann.
Major Headlines & Content
Soll die Welt so aussehen? (Should the world look like this?) — Attack on American labour-union politics through the figure of Louis „Lepke“ Buchalter, described as a friend of Roosevelt and a symbol of racketeering and rigged elections in the USA. Names: Lepke Buchalter, President Roosevelt. Photo credit: Scherl.
Wenn London die Bilanz zieht … (When London draws up the balance sheet …) — Report claiming Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt’s confidant, described England as „tired and heavily strained“ after a visit; discusses strains in the Anglo-American alliance. By Wilfred von Oven. Names: Harry Hopkins, Winston Churchill.
Inmitten schwerster Kämpfe (In the midst of the heaviest fighting) — Overview of the intensifying war in the East as the Soviet mud-season nears, describing heavy losses on both sides amid non-stop fighting. Places: Moscow, the Eastern Front.
Europäische Festungsfahrt (A tour of the European fortress) — Feature on the Atlantic Wall coastal defences from the North Cape to the Bay of Biscay, with a map of the Channel and North Sea fortifications guarding against Allied invasion. By Heinz Bongartz. Places: Narvik, Drontheim, Dänemark, Skagerrak, Cherbourg, Kanalinseln.
Feindlichen Graben allein aufgerollt (He rolled up the enemy trench alone) — Account of how Obergefreiter Kurt Nöbel single-handedly cleared a Soviet trench line and earned the Ritterkreuz, and was promoted in front of the enemy. Photo credit: Kriegsber. Krippen.
Other Content
Feature — “Die Kunst der vielen Hände” by Willi Stampfel. Explains the many professions involved in making a film, from script to premiere.
Travel feature — “Am silbernen Saum” — illustrated portrait of the North Sea and Baltic coast, including Sylt and Pomerania, with local dialect sayings.
Fiction — “Der sterbende Schwan” by Walter Persich. Episode about the ballerina Anna Pawlowa and an admirer, Herr Bärenberg, set around a Vienna Opera performance.
Fiction — “Der erste Traum” by Fritz Heinrich Ryssel. Story of a young man, Gerhard, and two sisters, Ruth and Editha, at a lakeside resort.
Fiction — “Die unglückliche Liebe mit dem glücklichen Ende” by Heinrich von Kleist. Tale of a merchant’s wife in Paris and a case of mistaken identity and reconciliation.
Feature — “Kleist, der Soldat” by Karl Heinz Lea. Memorial essay on the poet Heinrich von Kleist’s military service and character, with accompanying anecdotes.
Feature — “Wilhelm Busch — Schalk und weiser Herzenskenner.” Illustrated tribute to caricaturist and poet Wilhelm Busch, with reproductions of his verse-cartoons.
Humour column — “Willst Du mich verkohlen?” — short jokes and cartoons, including pieces by Anton Stieger and Felicitas von Reznicek.
Column — “Zwischen zwei Wachen” — soldiers’ life column including “Kartoschkibraten — eine Privatsache” on roasting potatoes in the field, and a “Soldbuch-Klappe” reader-photo feature.
Photo feature — “einmal anders geschen” — photographs taken from unusual angles and perspectives. Photo credits: Kriegsberichter Boger, Tschira (Schmackerl), von Husen, Archiv.
Reader competition — “Such dir’s raus” — promotion for the paper’s ongoing prize competition (“Das große Preisausschreiben des ‘Sieg‘”), offering cash prizes.
Puzzles — “Zum Kopfzerbrechen” — syllable puzzle (“Silbenrätsel”) and crossword (“Kreuzworträtsel”).
Advertisements — None (army field newspaper; no commercial advertising present).