Description:

GEN. FRANZ HALDER'S MAP OF THE ENCIRCLEMENT OF KIEV
A most important hand-drawn situation map from the personal files of German Gen. FRANZ HALDER (1884–1972) documenting the encirclement of hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers east of Kiev in September, 1941. The map was executed using india ink, blue (representing German) indelible pencil and red (indicating Soviet lines) indelible pencil on coated map paper, 1p. 4to. in size. The drawing is titled: 'Skizze 1 – Übersicht über die Kesselschlacht von Kiew im Sept. 1941' ('Sketch 1 – Overview of the Encirclement battle of Kyiv, Sept. 1941'), drawn on a scale of 1:1,000,000 with a 0–80 km bar. The map displays the Dnieper curving along the lower half, and the east–west road through Yagotin and Berezan serving as the central axis. Priluki sits to the northeast; a note points 'n. Poltava' ('toward Poltava') to the east. German formations include the 6. Armee pressing on Beresan, and Guderian's 'Pz.Gr. 2' to the northeast with 'Pz.Gr. 1' to the southeast—the pair forming formidable armored pincers driving south-west and north-west respectively to close behind the Soviet southwestern front. German corps-level framework supporting the ring is also shown. A red dashed oval marks the Kyiv pocket, small red arrows point outward, indicating anticipated Soviet breakout attempts. Date tags near the eastern approaches—e.g., '15.9' on the right and '21.9.' near Yagotin mark key moments as the ring tightened in mid-to-late September 1941. This map is a German staff overview of the Kiev encirclement: Panzergruppe 2 driving down from the north-east and Panzergruppe 1 up from the south-east meet east of Kyiv (around the Yagotin–Lokhvitsa belt) while 6th Army presses from the west. Their junction cuts off Soviet forces around and west of Kiev from any retreat across the Dnieper. It captures one of the war's largest encirclements which yielded several hundred thousand Soviet prisoners—among the biggest 'Kesselschlacht' outcomes of the eastern campaign. This map freezes the operational design that produced it. However, this vast victory in Ukraine cost precious time before the push on Moscow—central to debates about 1941 strategy. Fine condition.

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

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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