KURSK FINALE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 34, 10 February 1943, Page 3

KURSK FINALE

German And Rumanian Remnants Wiped Out STUBBORN STREET BATTLES Rec. 2 p.m. LONDON, Feb. 9. Pravda reports that the remnants of the German and Rumanian divisions at Kursk have now been wiped out or captured. General Schneider, their commander, is unable to hold out, despite the arrival of reinforcements, including a tank division from Orel.

When the Red Army entered the town the streets were strewn with dead, and miserable-looking troops crept out of cellars with their hands up. The Russians, after silencing the German artillery, approached Kursk fanwise at dawn yesterday. Russian infantry first attacked the railway area. The Germans retreated to the suburbs and attempted to regroup. The Russians thereupon infiltrated through the streets and suburbs and outflanked the Germans. The Russians crossed the Kuster River and entered the centre of Kursk, They then broke into German strong points and bayoneted or shot the gunners. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting developed.

• The Russians pushed the Germans to the river bank, cutting them off from the centre of the town. The remaining Germans launched a counter-attack, but were beaten back and wiped out in stubborn street battles.

Pravda also reports that thousands of Kursk citizens were tortured to death during the first six months of German occupation, and 25,000 others were forcibly removed to Germany German doctors injected poison into 400 children under the pretext that they were saving them from death owing to a bread shortage.

Moscow radio announces that General Chernikovsky, the conqueror of Kursk, has been awarded the Order of Suvorov (first-class).