On 13 and 14 January 2024 a group of 9 Tuscan Gothic re-enactors (including 3 "veterans" from the excavations at Kirov pits) went all the way to Hungary to take part in an event commemorating the retreat from the Don. in short, after having stopped the Axis advance - fighting house to house in the streets of Stalingrad - the Red Army went on the counterattack on 19 November 1942: it was "Operation Uranus", a great pincer to encircle from the north and from the south the German-Italian enemy forces. On January 16, 1943, exactly 80 years ago, the retreat began Here is an article from vocitempo.it on this sad story.
The reenactors' event, called Matasz Don-81, was organized byHungarian National Association of Reservists, something similar to the American National Guard. It consisted of a 35 kilometer march around the city of Sopron. Hundreds of participants and notable media coverage in Hungary.
The task of us Italian volunteers re-enactors of Gothic Tuscany is to manage a checkpoint along the route, where a small stage command on the Russian front has been rebuilt. Beautiful reconstruction. Many people were present. It was a success.
Among other things, the Gotica Toscana volunteers donated some copies of the book LE FOSSE DI KIROV to the national president of the reservists, to two local managers of the same association, and to a manager of the department for honoring the fallen.
Here are some photos of Leonardo Mattioli
