A BIRTHDAY VISIT
On 4 June Hitler travelled to Finland, ostensibly to celebrate the birthday of Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, the nation’s commander-in-chief, but also to request greater Finnish support in the war against the Soviet Union. At the meeting held in Mannerheim’s private train, a member of the Finnish delegation, Thor Damen, recorded part of the leaders’ conversation. The recording is believed to be the only surviving example of Hitler speaking in normal conversation, as opposed to delivering a speech. In the recording, Hitler and Mannerheim discuss the situation on the Eastern Front, with the Führer expressing his surprise at the number of tanks the Soviet Union had been able to produce.
SEVASTOPOL UNDER SIEGE
The full Axis offensive against Crimea began in October 1941, with Erich von…
