Talk:Vasily Zaitsev (sniper)

Where did this text come from? Is it copyright? Respectfully -- Cimon Avaro on a pogo-stick 22:10 30 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Well, I compiled it from a few sources, Including the books "Enemy at the Gates", and "Barbarossa". Plus I did research on the web and found Interviews with former Russian officials, as well as some other sites that had small references. But since I submitted the original article, it has been mercilessly butchered. Now it reads like Kool-Aid with no sugar. :) - Dan T. d_h_thomp@hotmail.com

The story of the high ranking German sniper who is dispatched to dispose of the pesky Russian peasant is as good a tale as could be told. <--- The Wikipedia does accept tolerated unaccredited opinions nor "fancy prose". In short, no sugar. Pizza Puzzle

I added a picture. Figured if this guy was a hero, then people ought to see what he looks like. --Kross 23:40, Apr 22, 2005 (UTC)

Sources?

Offensive (in my view) info without sources: "in Batyuk's division who in the October Revolution celebrations raised his tally to 149 German kills" Firstly, year is not pointed. Well,suppose that the year is 1942. Then it is claimed that by 1942 November 7 he killed 149 Germans. This needs to be sourced, in source should be written:

• namely Batyuk's division
• namely "Germans" (as in the war participated many soldiers from other Axis's countries).
• namely 149
• namely by November 7 1942
• namely "raised his tally", which in particular looks pretty offensive for me as Zaitsev fought for his Motherland against the invaders, not played or did this just for fun.

After this is figured out, you can add it again, as that source's POV in contrast to the POV of my source [1] which I use now to translate the following quote from it into English and replace that unsourced sentence: "К тому времени из простой «трехлинейки» Зайцев убил 32 гитлеровца. В период с 10 ноября по 17 декабря 1942 года в боях за Сталинград уничтожил 225 солдат и офицеров противника в том числе 11 снайперов. " Cmapm 23:41, 19 May 2005 (UTC)

---

I suggest adding something about Tania Chernova.

I added the book "War of the Rats." David L Robbins interviewed Zaitsev and used many books (including "Enemy at the Gates") to create the story of the snipers. A much truer account of the soldier, if you ask me. -cniinc

Who is Professor Filatov and how did he restore his sight? He just came out of nowhere Deus Ex Machina like in the article and cured him seemingly magically.

According to "Notes of a Sniper" the english translation of Zaitsev's own book, there was no Tania Chernova.... You must understand the War of the Rats and Enemy at The Gates have some fictional parts and true parts, some of witch were stolen from Zaitsevs book, as it wasnt printed in english until recently. Zaitsev did have a "thing" for a female nurse he kept running into in his early days in stalingrad, before he was a sniper.

Also, Zaitsev was originally a Seamen, and his unit was transformed into an infantry unit... One of these days i will record all the info out of the book and put it into the wikipage.

Oh, 1 last thing, Zaitsev was in a hospital for most of 1944 with his eye injury from what i remeber, so it wasnt a quick recovery.--Ryan 07:47, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Right, so he used to be a navy man after all. I was looking at the photo, and noticed that his belt buckle had an anchor on it - it's the buckle used with navy uniforms. --Bicycle repairman 19:40, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Move

I suggest moving this to his name without the Grigoryevich, since WP typically doesn't include middle names in titles. Sherurcij ^{(talk) (Terrorist Wikiproject)} 04:56, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

how many kills in Stalingrad?

Currently Soviet sniper says that Zaitsev "killed 242 Germans" in the Battle of Stalingrad, this page says he "killed 225 soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht and other Axis armies", and Battle of Stalingrad says he "was credited with 149 kills during the battle". I don't have a reliable source for what the number should be, but somebody needs to find it and make these pages consistent with one another. Moskvax 02:58, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

The vast majority of web-sources seem to endorse 242 kills, so I've changed it to that for the time being until someone can find a more reliable source. --Mad Max 18:49, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

In Antony Beevor's recently published account of the battle, he says during the battle of Stalingrad itself Zaitsev killed 149, but that the highest scorer was "Zikan" with 224, but I believe that's only for the battle of Stalingrad rather than throughout the whole war. Unfortunately I can't print...but a reliable websource for this information would be nice. (71.192.34.220 05:07, 12 November 2007 (UTC))

Thorvald

This chap's telescopic sight gets suddenly mentioned with no reference to who he is or any introduction at all. Needs fixing.

I would like to stress the need for this fixing. Zaitsev/Thorvald "duel" should be better explained.200.174.47.180 02:45, 16 July 2006 (UTC)

date of death??

needs to be more specific. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.34.84.57 (talk) 20:55, 22 April 2007 (UTC).

Call of Duty 2?

What is the deal with the comment about Call of Duty 2 and why should the character in the game be a reference to Zaitsev? The only connection explained is their first name Vasili, which is one of the common Russian first names, resulting in tens if not hundreds of thousands of people named Vasili.

But considering the original Call of Duty stole the whole opening scene of Enemy at the Gates, it cannot be merely a coincidence as the article states now. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 85.225.26.79 (talk) 20:27, 1 May 2007 (UTC).

It is also mentioned on the jewelcase of the game; that a part of it is based on "Enemy at the Gates", which in itself is based on Vasili Zaitsev

No land behind the Volga - says whom?

The quote 'There is no land for us behind the Volga' isn't really Zaytsev's invention. It was the credo of many soldiers of the initially trapped Russian 62nd Army, says Antony Beevor in Stalingrad. Why then the remark in the Commemoration section that Zaytsev was buried near a monument that had 'his' quote written on it? I feel it should state something like 'the famous Stalingrad defenders quote'.

ElAlamein 22:32, 22 May 2007 (UTC)