With 242 confirmed hits, Vasily Zaitsev was one of the best Soviet snipers of World War II. But how much of his aura is just propaganda?
Many view Vasily Zaytsev as an undeniable hero, while others see him as merely a product of the Soviet propaganda machine. The reality – as often is the case – lies somewhere in the middle. Zaytsev was undoubtedly a highly successful Soviet sniper and a courageous man who fought valiantly in the hell of Stalingrad, one of the most critical and decisive battles between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front in World War II. For that, he surely deserves admiration.
However, it’s also true that his myth as a miracle sniper, heavily promoted by propaganda during the siege of Stalingrad, eventually took on a life of its own, influencing literature and film portrayals of his story. Today, let’s explore the real life of this undoubtedly brave man.
Early Life of Vasily Zaytsev
Vasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev was born on March 19, 1915, into a humble farming family in the village of Yeleninka (in the Chelyabinsk region, Southern Urals). His father, Grigory Dmitrievich Zaytsev, was a World War I veteran who had participated in the Brusilov Offensive, where Russian forces dealt a heavy defeat to the Austro-Hungarian and German armies, leading to the occupation of Bukovina and Southern Galicia.
Significantly for young Vasily’s story, his grandfather taught him to shoot and hunt from an early age, giving him a rifle at the age of twelve. Vasily continued to hone his shooting skills, even practicing by hunting squirrels.
At 16, Vasily left to work in the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant, attending evening school. He later recalled how he suffered from bullying due to his small stature (he was only 160 centimeters tall). In 1930, he graduated from a technical school in Magnitogorsk as a fitter and completed accounting courses.
Entry into the Military
Zaytsev initially served in the Soviet Navy as a clerk in Vladivostok. However, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa, he volunteered for the front lines, like many of his comrades. After reaching the rank of Senior Sergeant in the Navy, he was reassigned as a senior warrant officer in the army, joining the 1047th Rifle Regiment of the 284th Rifle Division “Tomsk,” which became part of the 62nd Army in Stalingrad on September 17, 1942. It was here that he would unknowingly play the role of a lifetime.
The Battle of Stalingrad and the “Sniper Duel”
On the night of September 22, 1942, Zaytsev, as part of the 284th Division of the 62nd Army, was transported across the Volga along with other reinforcements. By then, Stalingrad was already in the midst of one of the largest and most brutal battles of the Second World War. Over the course of six months, millions of soldiers became embroiled in this colossal conflict; at its peak, more than two million soldiers fought in the battle, resulting in over a million deaths. The prosperous city was reduced to ruins and mass graves.
The life expectancy of an ordinary infantryman in this fight was counted in minutes. Yet Zaytsev survived. His precise marksmanship soon led to his role as a sniper. Together with his partner Nikolai Kulikov, Zaytsev refined the tactics of camouflage and shooting, becoming an exceptionally effective sniper. One method involved covering a large area from three positions, with each position manned by two men—one sniper and one scout. This technique, interestingly, is still used today.
It would hardly be surprising that propaganda took notice of him. Zaytsev fought in the Battle of Stalingrad until January 1943, when an explosion injured his eyes. By that time, he was leading a group of thirteen snipers tasked with repelling German attacks. Severely injured and temporarily blinded by a mine explosion, Zaytsev was treated by ophthalmologist Vladimir Filatov, a pioneer of corneal transplants and founder of the Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy in Odessa, who ultimately restored his sight. According to Soviet sources, Zaytsev killed 225 people in the Battle of Stalingrad before his injury.
Full movie is available here.
The Sniper Duel with Major König?
The well-known feature film Enemy at the Gates (2001), starring Jude Law as Zaytsev, was based on part of William Craig’s book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad (1973), which includes a “sniper duel” between Zaytsev and Wehrmacht sniper school director Major Erwin König. But what part of that story is true?
Propaganda vs. Reality
Deciphering the reality of the Stalingrad inferno is now nearly impossible due to the passage of time and the many conflicting versions of events. Zaytsev himself claimed in his memoirs—heavily laced with Soviet propaganda—that a three-day duel did occur and that the sniper he killed was indeed the director of a sniper school near Berlin. However, historian Sir Antony Beevor argues that Russian Defense Ministry archives refute this, suggesting that the duel was a product of Soviet propaganda. Russian researcher Oleg Kaminsky speculates that the duel might have actually been between Zaytsev and German Corporal Hermann Stoff from the 295th Infantry Division, who had 103 confirmed kills, or SS Colonel Heinz Thorvald, head of the sniper school in Gnössen.
In fact, no official records confirm the existence of Erwin König, much less that he was sent to kill Zaytsev. The only available sources for this story come from the Soviet army and Zaytsev himself.
There’s also another possibility: Erwin König could have been simply a fictional character created by the Soviet propaganda machine to boost soldiers’ morale. Given the lack of evidence, it’s likely that he was invented. After all, difficult times often demand heroes, and in deadly circumstances, this need becomes even greater.
Btw, Matthäus Hetzenauer was a best Wehrmacht Sniper. And he also inspired a movie. Tarantino’s movie 🙂
Post-War Life
After the war, Zaytsev settled in Kyiv, where he studied at a textile university and became an engineer. He eventually became the director of a textile factory, where he worked until his death. Vasily Zaytsev died on December 15, 1991, at the age of 76, and was buried in Kyiv. On January 31, 2006, his remains were reinterred with full military honors at the Stalingrad Memorial in Volgograd, Russia.
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