Both Napoleon's army, and the Germans underestimated the great distances and harsh climate of Russia. Freezing cold, and sweltering summers, and the rainy seasons in between that turned the roads into a soup that could swallow canons and vehicles.
I was walking on the southern steps of Russia listening to the snow crunching beneath my shoes when my guide told me to stop. Staring off into the distance I could see for miles and miles. Then my guide told me to look down. As my eyes adjusted to the blinding white of the snow I began to see shapes. My guide picked up one of these shapes, and I saw that it was a bone... A human bone. We began walking around this field picking up thighbones, clavicles, jawbones, and skulls. They were everywhere! Not just bones, but horse shoes, leather straps, and jackboots. Then my guide said "This is a tiny tiny fraction of how far this bone field stretches." Looking off into the horizon I could see bones sticking out of the earth for miles and miles. "This Bone Field is a monument", he said. "Not a monument that was planned out, or carved out by an artist but a monument none the less. This Bone Field is an inadvertent commemoration of an important event with many many many lessons to teach people today.
Tens of millions of bones.
Podcast
Ghosts of the Ostfront - Part I: http://www.dancarlin.com/hhredir.php?show=Show-27---Ghosts-of-the-Ostfront-I
Ghosts of the Ostfront - Part II: http://www.dancarlin.com/hhredir.php?show=Show-28---Ghosts-of-the-Ostfront-II
Wiki WWII East-Front (Ostfront): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Front_(World_War_II)
Napoleon's Invasion of Russia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_invasion_of_Russia
Ghosts of the Ostfront - Part I: http://www.dancarlin.com/hhredir.php?show=Show-27---Ghosts-of-the-Ostfront-I
Ghosts of the Ostfront - Part II: http://www.dancarlin.com/hhredir.php?show=Show-28---Ghosts-of-the-Ostfront-II
I was walking on the southern steps of Russia listening to the snow crunching beneath my shoes when my guide told me to stop. Staring off into the distance I could see for miles and miles. Then my guide told me to look down. As my eyes adjusted to the blinding white of the snow I began to see shapes. My guide picked up one of these shapes, and I saw that it was a bone... A human bone. We began walking around this field picking up thighbones, clavicles, jawbones, and skulls. They were everywhere! Not just bones, but horse shoes, leather straps, and jackboots. Then my guide said "This is a tiny tiny fraction of how far this bone field stretches." Looking off into the horizon I could see bones sticking out of the earth for miles and miles. "This Bone Field is a monument", he said. "Not a monument that was planned out, or carved out by an artist but a monument none the less. This Bone Field is an inadvertent commemoration of an important event with many many many lessons to teach people today.
Tens of millions of bones.
Podcast
Ghosts of the Ostfront - Part I: http://www.dancarlin.com/hhredir.php?show=Show-27---Ghosts-of-the-Ostfront-IGhosts of the Ostfront - Part II: http://www.dancarlin.com/hhredir.php?show=Show-28---Ghosts-of-the-Ostfront-II
Wiki WWII East-Front (Ostfront): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Front_(World_War_II)
Napoleon's Invasion of Russia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_invasion_of_Russia
Ghosts of the Ostfront - Part I: http://www.dancarlin.com/hhredir.php?show=Show-27---Ghosts-of-the-Ostfront-I
Ghosts of the Ostfront - Part II: http://www.dancarlin.com/hhredir.php?show=Show-28---Ghosts-of-the-Ostfront-II
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