Today sevastopol, Tomorrow The world

october 1941

Directions and distances to cities of Europe sprout out of a street sign in Sevastopol, the strategic Ukrainian seaport in the Crimea. Hitler ordered the area taken to protect the nearby Romanian oil fields that were vital to Germany’s fuel supplies. Von Manstein’s 11th

Army, with supporting Romanian troops, began a siege on 30 October 1941. Russian infantry and naval personnel fought courageously but German forces prevailed –both sides suffered major losses. 18,000 Russians were killed, 95,000 captured. The German

11th Army listed 4,264 killed, 21,626 wounded and 1,522 missing, while Romanian casualties included 1,597 killed and 6,571 wounded. Less than a dozen buildings in Sevastopol remained. After the fighting ended, Sseinsatzgruppe D entered the city and murdered its Jewish residents.