crosspost from /c/history
you can read his notes here https://www.allworldwars.com/Paulus-in-Captivity-NKVD-Files.html
tarabrin really conveys the characters of the captured germans. he not only wrote down their utterances but also described their actions, demeanor, and what they looked like.
you get this near the start, for example:
Paulus is a tall man, his height is about 6.4". He is skinny, with hollow cheeks, humpbacked nose and thin lips. His left eye always twitches.
and later you get
Night passed uneventfully, not mentioning that Schmidt several times asked not to shake his bed. Nobody did anything to his bed, he just had bad dreams.
Paulus being stuck with Schmidt almost made me feel bad for him
edit LMAO:
They started to ask me, what’s going on, who else was captured, etc. They learned that Paulus too was captured. They joyfully began smiling. Schmidt’s name caused a loud laughter, especially from Daniels.
“Schmidt was captured, hа, hа, hа!” - he was laughing for five minutes.
