The original version of the classic novel of the epic World War II battle, confiscated by the Russian secret services in 1949, and now rediscovered in the Russian archives.

Heinrich Gerlach was captured by the Soviets after the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943 and proceeded to write a novel about the experience, but the manuscript was quickly confiscated by the KGB. Gerlach was however able to recall large sections under hypnosis back in Germany in 1950, becoming 1957 hit "The Forsaken Army". This is the confiscated version, found in the Moscow archives in 2011, differing from the popular novel massively due to its criticism of German war crimes and hatred of the war as an enterprise.

Anyone who wants an idea of what Stalingrad was really like should read this book ... Gerlach records the lives and feelings of soldiers of all ranks' Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.