On July 23, 1942, Adolf Hitler from his headquarters Werwolf (Croatian: Werewolf) in Ukraine ordered the launch of an offensive that was to deal a death blow to the Soviet Union. Interestingly, Hitler ordered a simultaneous incursion in as many as three directions: towards the Caucasus and the Baku oil fields, towards Stalingrad and towards Leningrad. Of course, this does not seem like a reasonable move because it has overstretched the German offensive capabilities.
According to some sources, Hitler issued such an order in a sick state. Namely, at that time he had a severe flu, with a temperature of about 40 degrees. Werwolf’s headquarters was the easternmost of all Hitler’s commands. It was located near the city of Vinnytsia in Ukraine, almost 1,000 kilometers east of Berlin. The complex was located in the middle of a pine forest and contained concrete bunkers and about 20 buildings, including a barber shop, a cinema hall, and even an outdoor pool built for Hitler, although he never bathed in it.
The headquarters had its own electric generators and even a large vegetable garden that provided food. The whole complex was fenced with barbed wire and well defended. Hitler stayed at Werwolf’s headquarters in the summer of 1942. The weather was very hot, with temperatures up to 45 degrees. Then Hitler issued the above fatal orders which divided German power into several sides and thus weakened the edge of the attack. The plan of attack on the Caucasus and the oil fields of Baku was called Operation Edelweiss and the plan of attack on Stalingrad was called Operation Fischreiher because of the Volga River.
