When in June 1942 it became clear that the Blitzkrieg (the plan of lightning war on the Eastern Front crashed) and long battles were coming, Hitler set the Wehrmacht's forces to deprive the Soviet troops of the opportunity to replenish fuel reserves at the expense of the Caucasian oil fields. Thus, the Germans tried to bleed the aircraft and armored vehicles of the Red Army. The capture of the Caucasus carried out under this program received the code name Operation Edelweiss from them. Briefly about this operation itself and why the Nazis could not bring it to the end, will be described in this article.
German Command Plans
In order to fulfill the tasks set by the Führer, Army Group A, led by Field Marshal Wilhelm Liszt, had to bypass the Caucasian ridge from the west and capture Novorossiysk to strike Tuapse, which was the center of a large oil region. At the same time, Army Group B moved under the command of another Field Marshal, Fedor von Bock, to capture Grozny and Baku from the eastern side of the ridge.
Even before the start of the offensive in Germany, two oil companies were established with the aim of exploiting the Caucasian fields, which received this exclusive right for a period of 99 years. In addition, the High Command issued an order to cease all bombing of areas of industrial interest to Germany. The defense of all the objects captured by the Germans was previously entrusted to the SS troops, as well as to the parts of the Don Cossacks that crossed to the enemy’s side, General Krasnov.
Since Operation Edelweiss had as its goal the solution of the most important strategic task, enormous forces were thrown at its implementation, which included 168 thousand soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht and more than 1,5 thousand tanks. In addition, about 14 thousand oil specialists were sent to the Caucasus together with the military.
Mountain Rifle Division
Since Edelweiss is a military operation carried out in the region of the Caucasus mountain range, for its successful execution the Germans tried to use the natural features of this region with maximum benefit. Having at its disposal a mountain rifle division, staffed by the indigenous inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Southern Bavaria, as well as mountaineering athletes, the command assigned it a key role in the execution of the planned operation.
Units of this division, also called Edelweiss, were ordered to cross the mountain pass that remained unprotected in Elbrus region and strike the rear of Soviet units trying to stop the advance of Group A armies. Such a technically difficult maneuver was supposed to deliver an unexpected blow to the Red Army and thereby seize the initiative.
Swastika over Elbrus
To prepare for the transition of the main approaching forces of the Wehrmacht, 5 companies of the mountain rifle division, each of which totaled up to 90 people, advanced forward and, rising to the dominant heights, entrenched. There they installed machine guns and mountain tools. To raise the morale of the personnel of the units, which carried out the operation "Edelweiss", the German command ordered the installation of Nazi flags everywhere at the highest points.
This order was executed with purely German pedantry, and already on August 21, banners with a swastika fluttered on the eastern and western peaks of Elbrus. Despite the fact that this action took a lot of effort and caused a delay throughout the operation, it was of great propaganda significance, giving the Goebbels press an opportunity to place headlines on the front pages of newspapers, announcing that henceforth the German flag flies above the highest point in Europe.
To top it off, the commander of the mountain rifle divisions, General Hubert Lantz, sent films to Berlin shot by specially arrived operators on this occasion, and took the initiative to rename Elbrus, calling it Hitler's peak.
Nameless company
As most military historians note, for the Soviet command it was a complete surprise that the Germans managed to climb almost impregnable mountain slopes and, in addition, establish firing points on the peaks.
An order was received from the Command Headquarters to immediately drive them out of there. However, for its implementation it was only possible to hastily form a unit manned from former cavalrymen of Budenny, who had no experience in conducting military operations not only in mountainous terrain, but even in general on foot, as well as from rear units, many of which were not kept in hands arms.
This hastily formed unit did not have not only its official number, but even a named list of fighters. The command was entrusted to a purely civilian - yesterday’s female hairdresser Grigoryants, who had been promoted to lieutenant shortly before.
In a critical situation
Nevertheless, it was they who were to engage in battle with the selected shooters of the Edelweiss division. The 1942 operation to capture the Caucasus reached its climax in early September, when the Grigoryants subunit, under cover of night darkness and fog, so frequent at this time of year, rose to the height of the Terskol mountain pass. Their task was to, unexpectedly attacking the enemy, force him to retreat from previously occupied positions.
Having completed the first part of the plan and rising to a predetermined mark, the Red Army men were in a critical position. When the morning fog cleared, they, being on the open slope of the mountain slightly lower than the Germans, were an ideal target for mountain shooters. When sending fighters on a mission, the command did not even provide them with camouflage robes, and their dark gymnasts clearly stood out in the white snow.
Heroes of the Ice Slopes
Analyzing the situation, military historians unanimously agree that the daredevils of Lieutenant Grigoryants had no chance not only to throw the Germans out of their positions, but even to stay alive. Apparently, the Red Army men themselves understood this, but nevertheless acted as real heroes.
The letters of the German soldiers who participated in the operation, in which they talk about the amazement with which they looked at the doomed, but not surrendering soldiers, literally fighting for every meter of the icy slope, have been preserved. It was impossible to force them to retreat, and only death stopped the daredevils. It was their unparalleled courage that predetermined the future collapse of Operation Edelweiss.
At the end of September 1942, by order of the Soviet command, a special unit was sent to Elbrus, consisting entirely of specially trained fighters. These included NKVD employees who had undergone the necessary training, as well as professional climbers. However, even with their help it was not possible to free the territory of the mountain range from the Germans.
The collapse of Operation Edelweiss
However, it was at this time that the course of the war was approaching a decisive turning point, which was the result of the defeat of German troops near Stalingrad. And although at that time the divisions of Paulus still continued resistance, it was clear to everyone that the outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion.
Since, in the event of the defeat of the Germans near Stalingrad, the mountain rifle division was inevitably surrounded, the Wehrmacht command ordered its withdrawal from the Caucasus region. Thus, Operation Edelweiss, successfully launched and widely promoted by the Goebbels ministry, turned into a failure.
Unnamed heroes and their feat
It is sad, but almost none of the heroically deceased unit, formed from the rear and former Budenovites, was posthumously presented for awards, and nowhere in memory of them have erected monuments. Moreover, even the names of the heroes remained unknown, since the company assembled in a hurry, as mentioned above, did not have not only a military number, but even a list of personnel.
Nevertheless, the merit of these people is unusually great, because only thanks to their courage they managed to detain the German units on Elbrus and not allow them, bypassing the Caucasus Range, to hit the rear of the Soviet troops opposing the advance of the German armies “A” and “B”. Their feat became one of many episodes of heroism of anonymous Soviet soldiers, which marked the entire Great Patriotic War.
Operation Edelweiss, conceived and carried out by the Germans in accordance with all the rules of military art, ran into resistance from people whose perseverance went beyond real human capabilities and it was impossible to defeat.
Memory of the war years
Nowadays, the only monument to those events is the ruins of the highest mountain hotel of the Soviet Union (4130 meters above sea level), which was once called “Shelter of the Eleven” and burned down in 1998, located in Elbrus region. At a time when the Germans carried out Operation Edelweiss (WWII), it housed the headquarters of the Wehrmacht mountain rifle division.
Since the general public was extremely little aware of the heroic company of Lieutenant Grigoryants and their feat, Russian filmmakers decided to fill this gap. In 2012, the directors Ruslan Bozhko and Igor Malakhov made the documentary Operation Edelweiss. The last secret. " The creators of the tape did a great job studying materials stored in both domestic and foreign archives.
The reason for creating the film was information published in the press that in our days, climbers on the slopes of Elbrus increasingly began to find the remains of Soviet soldiers preserved in ice. Since, according to official information, no significant military operations were carried out in that area (the Soviet command did not like to recall their miscalculations), the question arose: what really happened there during the war? So it became known about the heroic deed of the fighters, thanks to whom the operation "Edelweiss" was frustrated and a barrier was put on the way of the Nazis to Caucasian oil.