Zapadnovka
On January 2, 1943, to the west of Stalingrad, the 44th Infantry Division defended in sector against the 252nd Rifle Division and the 277th Rifle Division. The division suffered 12 NCOs/enlisted killed in action; 33 NCOs/enlisted were wounded in action; 23 men became frostbite casualties. To the north was the 76th Infantry Division; to the south was the 376th Infantry Division. The 177th Sturmgeschütz Detachment was attached to the division. The division headquarters was located in the Zapadnovka Balka. (Stalingrad: The Death of the German Sixth Army on the Volga, 1942-1943)
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Paul Hausser
Willi Rathsack was born on Strohkirchen in Mecklenburg on January 2, 1920, the son of a musician. A baker by trade, he attended middle school, was a member of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1938 and the Reich Labor Service in 1938-1939; he joined the Waffen-SS on April 1, 1939 with an SS number of 423843. Willi also spoke Dutch and stood 5’10” tall. He served in Poland, Holland, Belgium, France and Russia with the 2nd Company of SS Infantry Regiment Germania, where he won the Infantry Assault Badge in Silver and on October 30, 1941 the Iron Cross Second Class. He had been wounded in action on July 25, 1941. Willi Rathsack was promoted to SS-Sturmmann on April 1, 1940; to SS-Rottenführer on July 1, 1940; and to SS-Unterscharführer on October 1, 1941. At Kursk, in the 2nd SS Panzer Corps under Paul Hausser (above), SS-Untersturmführer Rathsack commanded Tiger 931 and was the leader of the Third Platoon in the 9th (Heavy) Company through July 12, 1943 when he was wounded in action. (Waffen-SS Tiger Crews at Kursk: The Men of SS Panzer Regiments 1, 2 & 3 in Operation Citadel, July 5-15, 1943)