Description:

GEN. FRANZ HALDER'S BARBAROSSA MAP OF KHOLM AND THE LOVAT MARSHES, 1941
Original hand-drawn situation map from the personal files of German Gen. FRANZ HALDER (1884–1972) documenting the Operation Barbarossa Kholm sector situation on July 25, 1941 just over a month after the initial invasion of Russia. The map was executed using india ink and blue (representing German) indelible pencil on coated map paper, 1p. 4to. in size, the drawing titled: 'Skizze 1 – Lage am 25 Juli 1941' ('Sketch 1 - Situation 25 July 1941') and drawn on a 1:750,000 scale. The map includes Dno, Staraya Russa, the Lovat River running north–south, Kholm marked at a crossing or bridge, Velikiye Luki and Loknya (Loknja). The center is labeled 'Sumpf' (marsh/swamp), edged with dotted lines and bog symbols. At the south is a hatched 'Zone'—another region difficult to traverse - making it clear that most routes must skirt the marsh on its western and eastern rims. Short arrows near Loknya point east along the causeway toward the Kholm corridor, and small marginal notations (e.g., '96', divisional abbreviations) mark units or reports observed on that date. This is a German staff situation sketch from the first month of Operation Barbarossa. It focuses on the Lovat marshes—a huge natural obstacle between Army Group North and Army Group Center, and it singles out the Loknya–Kholm corridor as one of the very few practicable east–west passages across the swamps and highlights Kholm as a river crossing and choke point on the Lovat. Already in July 1941, German staffs recognized the marsh barrier and the few dry corridors that would govern maneuver, supply, and later relief attempts. The emphasis on Kholm anticipates its later significance (the Kholm Pocket, 1942) and the broader logistics of the Demyansk area; this sheet helps explain why those places became focal points. It documents the early German appreciation of the Loknya–Kholm bottleneck, a fact that helps historians understand both the 1941 advance and the costly battles that followed in the Kholm/Demyansk sector.

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April 21, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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