For more than 5 months the people of Stalingrad were in desperate trouble. Relying on their normal blitzkrieg strategy, Hitler and his generals thought Stalingrad would quickly surrender. The enemy had moved in. But out of the Stalingrad rubble, a hero emerged to fight the enemy one at a time. Legend has it that Vasily, accompanied by his friend Koulikov, fought a duel with Major Konig, a German sniper.
Historians differ on whether the duel was real or a product of Soviet propaganda.
In our story behind the movie, you will see the real people and view the actual carnage. Meet the real Vasily Zaitsev. Learn about the incredible suffering of Stalingrad's citizens. Examine documents from German and Russian archives. Look at pictures of the war-ravaged city.