Enemy at the Gates
Enemy at the Gates is a 2001 American-French war film written and directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. The films title is taken from William Craigs nonfiction book Enemy at the Gates, The Battle for Stalingrad, the films main character is a fictionalized version of sniper Vasily Zaytsev, a Hero of the Soviet Union during World War II. It includes a snipers duel between Zaytsev and a Wehrmacht sniper school director, Major Erwin König, nikita Khrushchev arrives in Stalingrad to coordinate the citys defences and demands ideas to improve morale. Vasily is transferred to the division, and he and Danilov become friends. They both become interested in Tania Chernova, a citizen of Stalingrad who has become a private in the local militia. Danilov has her transferred to an intelligence unit away from the battlefield, with the Soviet snipers taking an increasing toll on the German forces, German Major Erwin König is deployed to Stalingrad to take out Vasily and thus crush Soviet morale. A renowned marksman and head of the German Army sniper school at Zossen, he lures Vasily into a trap, when the Red Army command learns of Königs mission, they dispatch Königs former student Koulikov to help Vasily kill him.
König, outmaneuvers Koulikov and kills him with a very skillful shot, Khrushchev pressures Danilov to bring the sniper standoff to a conclusion. Sacha, a young Soviet boy, volunteers to act as an agent by passing König false information about Vasilys whereabouts. Vasily sets a trap for König and manages to wound him, the German command takes the log as evidence of Vasilys death and plans to send König home, but König does not believe Vasily is dead. The commanding German general takes Königs dog tags to prevent Russian propaganda from profiting if König is killed, König tells Sasha where König will be next, suspecting that the boy will tell Vasily. Tania and Vasily have meanwhile fallen in love and have sex in the Russian barracks at night, the jealous Danilov disparages Vasily in a letter to his superiors. König spots Tania and Vasily waiting for him at his next ambush spot and he kills the boy and hangs his body off a pole to bait Vasily. Vasily vows to kill König, and sends Tania and Danilov to evacuate Sashas mother from the city, thinking she is dead, Danilov regrets his jealousy of Vasily and expresses disenchantment for his previous ardency of the Communist cause.
Finding Vasily waiting to ambush König, Danilov intentionally exposes himself in order to provoke König into shooting him, thinking that he has killed Vasily, König goes to inspect the body, but realizes too late that he has fallen into a trap and is in Vasilys sights. He turns to face Vasily and takes off his hat, after which Vasily kills him, two months later, after Stalingrad has been liberated and the German forces have surrendered, Vasily finds Tania recovering in a field hospital. Vasily Zaitsev was a sergeant of the 2nd Battalion, 1047th Rifle Regiment. Historian Antony Beevor suggests in his non-fiction book Stalingrad that, while Zaitsev was a real person, although William Craigs book Enemy at the Gates, The Battle for Stalingrad includes a snipers duel between Zaitsev and König, the sequence of events in the film is fictional
David L. Robbins (Virginia writer)
David L. Robbins is an American author of several historical fiction novels, and a co-founder of the James River Writers. He founded the Richmond-based Podium Foundation, the son of two World War II veterans, David Lea Robbins was born on March 10,1954, in Richmond, VA. He received his B. A. in Theater and Speech from the College of William and Mary in 1976 and he spent one year practicing environmental law in South Carolina and turned to freelance writing. He did not devote his time to writing fiction until 1990, with the publication of War of the Rats and his subsequent novels, Robbins was able to become a full-time novelist. In 2007, Robbins returned to his William & Mary, this time as the Writer in Residence, along with several other authors, including Dean King and Phaedra Hise, Robbins co-founded James River Writers in 2002 to encourage creative expression in the Richmond area. Since its founding, the organization has held literary contests, newsletters. In 2015, Robbins collaborated with the Virginia War Memorial to host the Mighty Pen Project, following his experience with James River Writers, Robbins became interested in creating opportunities for urban students in Richmond Public Schools in creative expression and writing.
In 2008, he started the Podium Foundation, Podium has published five volumes of student submissions drawn from thousands of entries. Today, Podium students have published opinion pieces in the Richmond Times Dispatch, online journals, through this work, the organisation has exposed thousands of inner city students to the power of the written word and the potential they have within. In addition to writing novels, Robbins is an avid sailor, when not traveling to research his novels, he lives in his hometown of Richmond, VA. Robbins’s first book, Souls to Keep, attracted little attention and his breakthrough came in 1999 with the publication of War of the Rats, a recounting of the Russian and German sniper duels over the city of Stalingrad. His fourth novel, Scorched Earth, addressed contemporary racism in the American South, Robbins returned to World War II with Last Citadel, describing Cossack traditions and partisan warfare during the tank battle of Kursk in August 1943. Liberation Road deals with the experience of black and Jewish minorities in the U. S.
Army during the war, branching from historical fiction into alternate history, The Assassin’s Gallery features the assassination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His novel Broken Jewel was released on November 10,2009 by Simon & Schuster, in this novel, Robbins explores the Pacific Theater and the atrocities committed upon the so-called “comfort women” enslaved by the Japanese military. When the waters of traditional trade publishing turned tepid, Robbins turned to Amazon. com to publish his work directly and he packaged a series of novels called USAF Pararescue Thrillers. His tenth novel, a tale of Somali pirates and international intrigue influenced by Mary Shelley. Its sequel, The Empty Quarter, was published in 2014, the Devils Horn is another in the series
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill Games, Inc. is a game company that specializes in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contains its initials AH, and the company is referred to by this abbreviation. It has published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game and it is now a subsidiary of the game company Wizards of the Coast, which is itself a subsidiary of Hasbro. Avalon Hill pioneered many of the concepts of modern recreational wargaming, complex games could and did take days or even weeks, and AH set up a system for people to play games by mail. Avalon Hill was started in 1954 by Charles S, following the success of Tactics, Roberts changed the name upon incorporation from The Avalon Game Company to Avalon Hill in 1958 because of an argument with another company. AH published two games that year and the railroad game Dispatcher. In 1959, Roberts moved Avalon into a space on Gay Street in Baltimore and took on its first outside designed game, Verdict. Of this sports strategy line, the football and baseball versions were previously published by Shaw in 1959.7 With a recession occurring.
Avalon launched a childrens line in 1963 with four games, Imagination. Doll House and Trucks, Boats & Planes, which flopped, Roberts gave up and planned to file bankruptcy on December 13,1963. p7 Instead his creditors, Monarch Office Services and J. E. Smith & Co. interceded and took over. Monarch had printed all but the boxes, which were done by J. E. Smith and this game was an abstract combat game, featuring two sides and some neutral countries. Many rules variants were created for Blitzkrieg, the company published simulations of actual battles and campaigns, such as Midway, Afrika Korps, and The Battle of the Bulge. Avalon Hill published PanzerBlitz in 1970, designed for the company by Jim Dunnigans Simulations Publications, Avalon Hills co-owner, on November 30,1971. Both lines increased the retail outlets that would take AH games, the Aladdin Industries game line was another acquisition in March 1977. With the SI line, the started a sports game division in May 1977 with Bruce Milligan hired to head the division.
Avalon Hill purchased many games from companies and republished them. AH acquired Jedko Games The Russian Campaign and War at Sea,1830 was developed by Avalon Hill, but based on Francis Treshams 1829. The company entered the game market by publishing Powers and Perils in 1983
White Pine Award
The White Pine Award is an annual literature award sponsored by the Ontario Library Association that has awarded Canadian young adult books since 2002. In order to vote for the winner, one must register at the branch library. The program ends in April, with the day usually on April 18. Based on student voting across the province, the most popular book is selected, there are usually about 10 different nominees for the award every year. 2002, Dancing Naked, written by Shelley Hrdlitschka,2003, A Foreign Field, written by Gillian Chan. 2004, The First Stone, written by Don Aker,2005, More Than You Can Chew, written by Marnelle Tokio. 2006, The Blue Girl, written by Charles De Lint,2007, written by Eric Walters. 2008, Keturah & Lord Death, written by Martine Leavitt,2009, Little Brother, written by Cory Doctorow. Fenn and Company 2010, Mostly Happy, written by Pam Bustin,2011, The Monkeyface Chronicles, written by Richard Scarsbrook. 2012, The Gathering, written by Kelley Armstrong,2013, Dark Inside, written by Jeyn Roberts Simon & Schuster.
2014, Live to Tell, written by Lisa Harrington,2016, The Bodies We Wear, written by Jeyn Roberts Knopf Books. The winners and nominees of the White Pine Award are used as studying material for schools in the York Catholic District School Board in York Region. Ontario Library Association White Pine Award Nominees and Winners Official Site of the White Pine Award Burlington Public Library
Call of Duty: World at War
Call of Duty, World at War is a 2008 first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The game is the mainstream game of the Call of Duty series. The game is the first title in the Black Ops story line, the game was released in North America on November 11,2008, and in Europe on November 14,2008. A Windows Mobile version was made available by Glu Mobile and different storyline versions for the Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2 were produced. The game is based on a version of the Call of Duty 4, Modern Warfare game engine developed by Infinity Ward with increased development on audio. It is told from the perspectives of Marine Raider Private C, Miller, US Navy Petty Officer Locke and Red Army soldier Private Dimitri Petrenko, and is based on several historical battles. The multiplayer component of the game contains various game modes and a system that allows the player to unlock additional weapons and rewards as they progress.
The game contains downloadable content called map packs, which can be purchased online, a new feature to the series was the addition of a cooperative mode, which supports up to two players locally and four players online. In 2010, a sequel, Call of Duty, Black Ops was released, two other sequels followed including Call of Duty, Black Ops II in 2012 and Call of Duty, Black Ops III in 2015. On September 27,2016, the Xbox 360 version of World at War became backwards compatible on the Xbox One, World at War is a game in the Call of Duty series, and features a more mature theme than its previous installments. The game is open-ended, giving the player multiple ways to complete objectives, the gameplay of World at War shares several features with previous iterations of the franchise. They help during the missions by providing cover fire, shooting down enemies. The Zapper, or Wii Remote and Nunchuk, can be used to aim at targets to fire at them, the games return to World War II-era warfare reintroduces weapons and technology.
The player gains access to these over the course of the game and ammo from fallen foes or friendlies can be picked up to replace weapons in a players arsenal. Players can find weapons with additional attachments, including guns equipped with grenades, telescopic sights. A character can be positioned in one of three stances, crouching, or prone, each affecting the rate of movement, accuracy. Using cover helps the player avoid enemy fire or recover health after taking significant damage, when the character has taken damage, the edges of the screen glow red and the characters heartbeat increases. If the character out of fire, the character can recover
Pavlov's House
Pavlovs House was a fortified apartment building in which Red Army defenders held for 60 days against a heavy Wehrmacht offensive during the Battle of Stalingrad. The siege lasted from 27 September to 25 November 1942 and eventually the Soviet forces managed to relieve it from the siege and it gained its popular name from Sergeant Yakov Pavlov, who commanded the platoon that seized the building and defended it during the long battle. In late September 1942 between 30 and 50 soldiers of the 42nd Guards Regiment, 13th Guards Division secured the large apartment blocks from German control, the position was quickly fortified under the command of Lieutenant Ivan F. The Soviets had large amounts of support from the opposite side of the Volga. The strategic benefit of the house was that it defended a key section of the Volga bank, the tactical benefit of the house was its position on a cross-street, giving the defenders a 1 km line of sight to the north and west. In keeping with Stalins Order No, Pavlov was ordered to fortify the building and defend it to the last bullet and the last man.
Taking this advice to heart, Pavlov ordered the building to be surrounded with four layers of barbed wire and minefields, for better internal communication, Pavlovs soldiers breached the walls in the basement and upper floors, and dug a communications trench to Soviet positions outside. Supplies were brought in via the trench or by crossing the river, defying German air raids. Nevertheless and especially water was in short supply, lacking beds, the soldiers tried to sleep on insulation wool torn off pipes but were subjected to harassing fire every night in order to try to break their resistance. The Germans attacked the building several times a day, sources conflict on the date at which the siege began, and the date at which the Soviet reinforcements reached the building and lifted the siege. On September 27, a 30-man Russian platoon was ordered to retake an apartment building the Germans had just captured. Until November 25,1942 the defenders of Pavlovs House who participated in its defense from 26 September 1942 till 25 November 1942, the defense of the house lasted for 58 days and nights.
Vasily Chuikov, commanding general of the Soviet forces in Stalingrad, Pavlovs House was rebuilt after the battle and is still used as an apartment building today. There is a memorial constructed from bricks picked up after the battle on the East side facing the Volga. Pavlov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his actions, a Russian TV documentary in 2009, Legendary Redoubt, on Russian Channel One reported on Pavlovs House. According to the documentary, the defense was in fact led by Lieutenant Ivan F. Afanasiev. This report does not discount Pavlovs efforts, which led to his earning the Hero of the Soviet Union, the last member of Pavlovs group, K. Turgunov from Turakurgan District, Namangan Province, Uzbekistan died on 16 March 2015, aged 93. Sihang Warehouse Pavlovs House - Stalingrad, September-November 1942 Map of Pavlovs House and the defenders of the house
Sudden Strike
The Sudden Strike series is a collection of real-time tactics computer games set in World War II. The series is developed by Fireglow based in Russia and published by CDV software of Germany and has since been re-published by ZOOM-Platform. com, the player selects a faction and gains control of many varied units such as infantry and artillery. The games focus primarily on tactics, eschewing traditional real-time strategy resource gathering, the original Sudden Strike, released in 2000, included three campaigns. The battles are presented in a perspective with line-of-sight occlusions. Sudden Strike helped pioneer the real-time tactics genre, building upon concepts established by Counter Action for DOS, Sudden Strike 2 was developed by Russian developer Fireglow and published by CDV and was released in 2002. The game has undergone minor changes in its game engine and now features a higher resolution setting. The campaign still involves the Soviets and Allies, against the Germans, Sudden Strike 3 is the third title in the series and the first to incorporate a 3D graphics engine.
It was released in June 2010 and it is a sequel to Sudden Strike 3 which brings back a few features from Sudden Strike 2. The user interface is reworked in order to make it easier for player to control units, the game was announced in August 2016 and is set to be released in the second quarter of 2017. It is currently developed by Kite Games and is set to be published by Kalypso Media for PlayStation 4, while the developers hope to remain true to the spirit of other games in the series, new skill trees and commander roles will be introduced as features
Stalingrad (1993 film)
Stalingrad is a 1993 war drama film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier. The movie follows a platoon of World War II German Army soldiers transferred to Russia, the film is the second German movie to portray the Battle of Stalingrad. It was predated by the 1959 Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben, in August 1942, German soldiers enjoy leave in Cervo, Italy after fighting in North Africa. The unit is sent to the Eastern Front to participate in the Battle of Stalingrad. Witzlands platoon joins a company commanded by Hauptmann Hermann Musk, Musk leads an assault on a factory, which results in heavy casualties and the survivors being surrounded in a decrepit building. After a botched ceasefire to rescue some wounded outside, they capture Kolya, the Russians attack again the next day, and Kolya escapes in the confusion. With the radio not working, von Witzland, Rollo, Emigholtz, GeGe Müller and Wölk enter the sewers to go for help. His men rescue him, and Emigholtz is found wounded by an explosive trap, they take him to a crowded aid station.
Emigholtz dies anyway, and they are arrested by Hauptmann Haller and they end up in a penal battalion disarming land mines. Four weeks later, a brutal winter has set in and the Soviets have utterly surrounded the German Sixth Army, Hauptmann Musk thus reassigns the penal battalion – which includes disgraced fellow officer Otto – to combat duty. Witzlands platoon defends a position from a Russian tank column, hauptman Haller orders von Witzland and his men to execute some unarmed civilians, including Kolya, whom Witzland tries to save but to no avail. By the time they arrive, the last transport leaves without them as the base is shelled by Russian artillery and they rejoin the others in the shelter, where they find Musk suffering from severe trench foot. A German aircraft suddenly drops a container full of supplies, Haller appears and holds them at gunpoint, but is subdued by von Witzland and shot by Rollo, Haller accidentally shoots GeGe as he falls, killing him. He pleads for his life, telling them about the supplies he is hoarding in a house before being executed by Otto.
In the houses cellar they find shelves stocked full of food and liquor, von Witzland cuts Irina free and befriends her, she reveals she was a German collaborator, and both share in their despair and disillusionment. As the rest of the men themselves, a deluded. Otto becomes hysterical and commits suicide, the only one to obey the order, is last seen carrying Musks corpse outside, only to find the Sixth Army surrendering to the Russians. Irina offers to help Witzland and Reiser avoid capture, but while trudging through the snow they are shot at by the Soviets, Irina is killed, the Germans get away, but Witzland eventually becomes too weak and dies in Reisers arms
Vasily Zaytsev
Vasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev was a Soviet sniper and a Hero of the Soviet Union during World War II. Prior to 10 November, he killed 32 Axis soldiers with the standard-issue Mosin–Nagant rifle, between 10 November 1942 and 17 December 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, he killed 225 soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht and other Axis armies, including 11 enemy snipers. Zaytsev served in the Soviet Navy as a clerk in Vladivostok, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, like many of his comrades, volunteered to be transferred to the front line. He was a petty officer in the Navy and was assigned the rank of senior warrant officer upon transfer to the army. He was eventually assigned to the 1047th Rifle Regiment of the 284th Tomsk Rifle Division, during Zaytsevs career as a sniper, he would conceal himself in various locations – for example, on high ground, under rubble, or in water pipes. After a few kills, he would change his position, together with his partner Nikolai Kulikov, Zaytsev would exercise his hide and sting tactics.
One of Zaytsev’s common tactics was to one large area from three positions, with two men at each point – a sniper and a scout. This tactic, known as the “sixes”, is still in use today and was implemented during the war in Chechnya, Zaytsev took part in the Battle of Stalingrad until January 1943, when a mortar attack injured his eyes. He was attended to by Vladimir Filatov, who is credited with restoring Zaytsevs sight, on 22 February 1943, Zaytsev was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. He returned to the front and finished the war at the Battle of the Seelow Heights in Germany and he became a member of the Communist Party in 1943. After the war, Zaytsev settled in Kiev, where he studied at a university before obtaining employment as an engineer. He was initially buried in Kiev despite his final request to be buried at Volgograd, on 31 January 2006, Vasily Zaytsev was reburied on the Mamayev Kurgan in Stalingrad with full military honors. Zaytsevs dying wish was to be buried at the monument to the defenders of Stalingrad and his coffin was carried next to a monument where his famous quote is written, For us there was no land beyond the Volga.
Colonel Donald Paquette of the U. S, sniper School was present and laid a wreath as a sign of respect to a legendary sniper. U. S. Army News quoted Colonel Paquette, Vasily Zaytsev is a legend and every American sniper must memorize his tactics and he is a legend amongst snipers. Zaytsev indicates in his own memoirs that a three-day duel did indeed occur, there is currently no available evidence that any Major Erwin König ever existed, despite the claim made by the Armed Forces Museum of Moscow to be in possession of his telescopic sight. But as the duel claimed by Zaytsev has never officially determined to be fiction, historians consider it neither proven nor disproven. The video game Destiny allows players to select and use a rifle named No Land Beyond, in recognition of Zaytsev and his quote
Commandos: Strike Force
Commandos, Strike Force is a first person tactical shooter video game and the fifth and final installment of the Commandos series. It is developed by Pyro Studios and published by Eidos Interactive, released during the first months of 2006, the game makes a departure from the first four games. Hence, the game is far more similar to the Medal of Honor or Call of Duty games than to earlier entries of the series, the game is split between three campaigns in France and Russia during World War 2. The first campaign is in France, hawkins sneaks up with his sniper rifle and snipes the German troops stationed around the French village where he is heading for. Upon arriving the village he clears a farmhouse full of German soldiers and he sends Maurice, a French Resistance contact to the Green Berets landing zone. In the plane carrying the Green Beret, one of the pilots go rogue, shoots the pilot and kills nearly everyone else on the plane before the Green Beret overpowers. The plane explodes after he jumps out, the Green Beret covers the landing of some allied soldiers and a wounded Captain before blowing up a bridge.
Earlier that evening, Brown had made contact with a Resistance member named Pascal and destroyed Nazi trucks and they soon realize that there has to be a Nazi informer among their ranks which builds tension between OBrien and Brown. OBrien suspects Brown himself is the informer, the next campaign takes the Green Beret, the Sniper and the Spy to Norway where Green Beret and Sniper are locked in a deadly fight with the Germans. Upon eliminating all the Germans in the area, the Spy Goes ahead and destroys a German patrol boat, covered in the darkness of night the Sniper and the Spy prepare for a surprise attack on the towns Nazi garrison. The Sniper moves up to a building, gets to the attic. The Spy receives the signal, moves up to the bridge on the far side of the town, again he moves to the farther corner of the town and upon taking control of the radio, sends the radio signal to Green Beret to initiate the strike. After a heavy battle, the town is captured by the commandos, the final campaign takes the commandos to Stalingrad, Russia.
Led by a certain Russian Officer named Salenkov, the head for a Nazi garrison through the sewers. They soon realize its a trap, and the Spy, disguised as a Nazi soldier, out of compulsion, acts to arrest Green Beret and Sniper and he makes his way to the garrison using stealth and disguise and rescues both of them. While attempting to plan their escape, he sneaks through the window, the Spy, prior to stealing a truck and escape along with his comrades, came to Green Beret and Spy, revealing the true identity of the treacherous Salenkov and managed to kill him. When boarding the truck, Green Beret apologized to the Spy for suspecting him to be the German informer, the Spy reveals to him that he is indeed a German, but he detests the Nazis, and all they stand for. The Green Beret and The Sniper manages to bring much damage to the Nazi forces, the Sniper takes out most of the high-ranking officers by his deadly marksmanship and the Green Beret destroys tanks and artillery
