Customer Reviews

Few Returned: Twenty-eight Days on the Russian Front, Winter 1942-1943

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

FEW RETURNED :BY EUGENIO CORTI

The famous translation of "I piu' non ritornano" in English. This is the account of the insanity, depravity, suffering and true war reality of an Italian Artillery lieutenant during the Soviet Don retreat.

This journal shows the bravery and fortitude of the Italian soldiers and the bare extents to which people will use to attempt to live. After twenty-eight days of encirclement, only 4,000 Italians of the retreating 30,000 made it out of the pocket. It shows the barbarity with which the Russians exacted on the Italians and the contempt and disrespect that the Germans also displayed to their allies.

Some notable parts of the book for me include:
1) The small contingent of Germans with which the Italians had in their ranks, executed Russian prisoners (captured by the Italians, not the Germans) without any authority of the Italian commanding officers. This led to the Russians killing countless Italian prisoners that they came across (many who could not move due to frostbite, wounds etc).

2) Corti writes about the callous disrespect that the Soviets showed to their own men One example is how the Soviets deployed an Uzbek company into an entrenched position where they were pounded by Italian 81 mm mortars and never got to fire a shot back...when the Uzbek company was completely destroyed the Soviets replaced them with another fresh Uzbek company to be mortared, essentially human life to absorb and use up the enemies ammunition.

3) Also interesting was Ukrainian and Italian relations (whilst fearing the Germans and the Soviets) .A notable part was when Ukrainian peasants helped the Italians build an underground/bunker type church so they could attend Christian mass.

4) A bizarre battle - when a joint Italian/German attempt to breakthrough the Soviet encirclement, consists of a single huge Panther Tank ,accompanied by several small French 1930s captured Hotchkiss tanks and "Battaglione M "Italian assault troops - they were able to knock out and force a withdraw of a force of over 15 T34/76 medium tanks.

This book is a first hand eyewitness account of the Italian eastern front, an area that is very often generalized and not well documented by English historians. It is among my favorite titles.

They say that one writes best about that which one knows best and has experienced. This is true specially of accounts of war told by those in the front lines. This book is Corti's first person account of the retreat of the German and Italian forces from the Russian front during December 1942 - January 1943, under inhuman conditions and against all odds of survival. Corti's own diary written at the time of the events provides the material used and provides us with an accurate and honest account of the events described, the people involved, the emotions felt and the entire human experience of war. Better yet, Corti's perspective is from an Italian fighting someone else's war, and therefore has an objectivity lacking in many other accounts of similar events.

Yet, the value of this book is more its insight into the human soul in times of great distress. Corti is one of those rare human beings that underwent suffering beyond words and were able to talk about it accurately, as a lesson for those of us who want to hear. To read this book as a historical account only, would be to miss Corti's point. The lesson imparted is the inhumanity of war, and its effect on those directly and indirectly involved. It is also a song to the heroism of those unsung and forgotten Italians sent to fight someone else's war, ill-equipped and for reasons they did not share, but whose sacrifice was not in vain in the eyes of God.

This book provides a very unique view of the Eastern Front. Not only is it a personal narrative of the great retreat from Stalingrad, but it was also written by an Italian. This means that it offers something very different from what most are used to reading--the German or Russian points of view. The Italian Army on the Eastern Front is not frequently written about in any detail and, therefore, this book would make a fine addition to any collection about the war in the east. Corti's personal narrative offers vivid description of the retreat few authors would be able to achieve. It's a good read.

A sensitive and compassionate telling of a mostly untold story. Corti speaks from the heart. Historical accuracy is excellent. This is a must read for anyone who wants a truthful reliving of history by someone who was there.

Few Returned provides a unique look at the retreat from Stalingrad in late 1942 and early 1943. The author was a member of the Italian forces caught up in the Soviet offensive that ended in the destruction of the German 6th Army in Stalingrad. The book is enjoyable because it offers the reader a chance to see what it was like to march days on end fighting the cold, hunger and, at time, your own comrades. It also offers interesting personal observations about the Axis troops caught up in the flight, both German and Italian. This book is highly recommended to anyone who has a good understanding of the larger confict and wants to study the events from the point of view of one who lived it.

Above all, this book is a record of one man's experience as an Italian soldier fighting on the Eastern Front during World War II against Russia. More specifically, it is about a few horrible weeks of fighting and retreating. It is *not* a story or novel, really, but almost like an after action report. The book contains the author's feelings and some of what he saw, but you get the distinct sense while reading this book that he wrote it as a record of what he saw and did, and as an homage to his friends who never made it out of Russia, but not as an attempt to write a story. The author never really tries tying the events into a broader context or explaining the full experiences he had on the Eastern front; it is just a snap shot of a limited time frame, and only limited snapshots even within that time frame.

This book is not a blow by blow recitation of combat. While the author is clearly involved in a number of intense fights, both before and during the period covered in the book, we never really hear about it. It's almost as if he is trying NOT to make this a book about combat. If there is an engagement we hear of the troops forming up for it, a sentence or two about the fight, and then more pages about the aftermath - the wounds, the dead.

The most insightful and remarkable aspects of this book to me are: 1) the ability of the author to show us the horrors of war; 2) the brutality on both sides; and 3) how horrible the Nazis were even to their allies. I take each in turn.

1) This book makes very clear how much human suffering war brings with it. Through its dry, almost camera-like recitation of horror after horror (friends freezing to death in front of him, morter shells cutting people in two) we can almost imagine what it must be like to be walking through a combat zone strewn with bodies and wounded men and animals. We also see how war turns honorable, good men into self-interested beings centered only on survival. The author, for example, is clearly a brave, honorable, educated man and officer. We watch as his pride in being an officer and an Italian soldier slowly gives way to self-survival. We also watch as this man with deep loyalty to his unit and his friends gives way (as we all would, I'm sure) to self-interest. Fascinating.

2) Suffice it to say that the book makes clear how brutal all sides were in this war: Soviets and Nazis alike commit brutal, heartless acts.

3) The savagery and callousness of the Nazis towards their allies is stunning. While paying homage to the combat skills of the Nazis, the author shows clearly how the Nazies treated the Italians serving and dying in their cause only slightly better than their hated enemy the Soviets. For example, we read of a time when, during the retreat, the Nazis held up thousands of Italians, subjecting them to withering small arms and artillery fire from the Russians for hours, in order to clear mud off of German trucks. We see how Nazis failed to share food, information or shelter with their "allies." We see Germans shooting at wounded Italians (their allies, remember!) who dared to try and get a ride on a German vehicle.

This book is somewhat dry, somewhat repetititious, but worth a read for those wanting a sense of what the winter retreat was like for an Italian soldier serving in WW2's horribly grueling East Front.

Corti who was a twenty-one year old artillery officer on the Stalingrad front, was part of the Eighth Italian Army that was cut off when Zhukov sent in the pincers that surrounded the Sixth German Army. His group was in a pocket northeast of Stalingrad that was made up of Italian and German soldiers.

Out of the 30 thousand Italians who held the front at the Don north of Stalingrad, less than four thousand made it out of the pocket and up to one thousand of those died from their wounds and exposure. Corti doesn't pull any punches as to what happened in the pocket or who was to blame.

Many of the Italians had just come to the front over the last two weeks. They were totally unprepared for what was going to become a retreat over one hundred kilometers while constantly under Russian fire. They had to walk most of the way in inadequate uniforms and boots while the Germans requestioned horse and mules and sleds for their own use.

Corti speaks of how the Germans were much better organized and kept their military lines-or-command intact, whereas the Italians in many cases became a mob without any reason or understanding of the situation. At times no one was in charge of taking care of the wounded or giving out provisions. While the German Luftwaffe dropped food and ammunition by parachute, the Italian Air Force was conspicuous by their absence.

The story is straight forward and brutal. Corti does not try to make excuses for anyone (including himself) in the treatment of fellow soldiers or of civilians. It was survive at any cost.

Zeb Kantrowitz

I have always been interested in the Second World War and especially the little known battles and actions of that war.
Lately; I have delved into the Italian part in this conflict and the tragic consequences to their brave soldiers.
"Few Returned", gives you a first hand glimpse of what it was like for man, pack animals and equipment, fighting and struggling to survive on the Eastern Front.
You will wonder how anyone returned from that winter retreat.
The author Eugenio Corti also gives the reader a good feel for the national differences between the Italians, Germans and Russians.
Combat is sporadic throughout the retreat, but again Corti gives you a good feel of how it was for all sides.

A sensitive and compassionate telling of a mostly untold story. Corti speaks from the heart. Historical accuracy is excellent. This is a must read for anyone who wants a truthful reliving of history by someone who was there.

This book is different from others in that it does not glorify War,it does not tend to over exaggerate what happened in battle, it does'nt even try to blow up the truth with nonsensical war heroics recounted ( like many german or British books, dare I say).
Its a straight forward recount in diary form of how onw Italian officer and his brave troops dared all to fight back the Russians, the bitter cold and the odds of making it back on foot without decent rations , heavyweapons or transportation which were rendered useless in battle or just plainly nevr had their ammo resupplied by the faster retreating better equiped self serving Nazis.
It si common for the uneducated armchair historian or plainly ignorant war hobbyist to brand the Italians as cowards, however when one delves deeper into the actualities of WW2 and gets to the events as they really happened unaltered by propaganda and rascist reporting then we really see that the Italians which were up against it from the start, put in as brave a performance as any fighting man could and beyond that in many a case.

I recommend this book to all for the honesty and open portrayal of the horrors of War and the true nature of men when faced with the harshness and desperation of survival.
Its not a novel as anyone who's half literate can plainly see, but a diary of man brave man and his troops that fought their way thru the russians, the elements and evn the Nazis cruelty to survive!
Enjoy the read! A must have for the war historian at heart.