Description
Erwin König was reported to have been a German Wehrmacht sniper killed by the Soviet sniper Vasily Zaytsev during the Battle of Stalingrad. Due to the lack of any Nazi records proving the existence of König and his achievements there is some doubt as to whether he existed at all or was an invention of Soviet propaganda.
König is mentioned both in Zaytsev's memoirs Notes of a Sniper (a "Major Konings", potentially SS ) and William Craig's 1973 non-fiction book Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad. According to Zaytsev, the duel between him and König took place over a period of three days in the ruins of Stalingrad. In a post-war visit to Berlin, Zaytsev was allegedly confronted by a woman who told him that she was König's daughter, with Soviet authorities quickly evacuating Zaytsev to avoid any confrontation.
