Erwin König
Erwin Konig | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Erwin Konig or Heinz Thorvald |
| Nickname(s) | The Unknown Nazi Sniper |
| Born | Unknown Germany |
| Died | 1943 Russia |
| Cause of death | Killed (By Vasily Zaitev) |
| Allegiance | Germany |
| Branch | Wehrmacht Heer or Waffen-SS |
| Years of service | Unknown |
| Rank | Heer Major (Heer), SS-Sturmbannführer (Waffen-SS) |
| Battles / wars | Stalingrad |
Erwin König was reported to have been a German Heer Officer in the Wehrmacht the regular military of Germany or was an Officer in the Waffen-SS who was a sniper killed by the Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev 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 Zaitsev'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 Zaitsev, his duel with König took place over a period of three days in the ruins of Stalingrad. In a post-war visit to Berlin, Zaitsev was allegedly confronted by a woman who told him that she was König's daughter, with Soviet authorities quickly evacuating Zaitsev to avoid any confrontation.