Wilhelm Hoffman

Who is Wilhelm Hoffman?

Wilhelm Hoffman was a soldier in the 267th Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division of the German 6th Army who chronicled the Battle of Stalingrad in his journal, and is cited in many documentaries and books concerning that topic. The most notable account used in both is the brutal six-day long battle between 16 and 22 September 1942 over a grain elevator where, according to him, only 40 Russian soldiers were found dead in the elevator at the end of the engagement, while his battalion in comparison, suffered disastrously heavy losses.

His journal provides a first hand account of what the German 6th Army was experiencing and how they were coping with the situation, without the outside interpretive influence of propaganda and censorship. Although it is limited in information because it only gives the account of one person, it is still one of the few unaltered German accounts to survive World War II.