Erwin König was a
sniper for the German army during
World War II.
König was accredited 400 kills during the war, and allegedly rose to the rank of
major before his career ended. The history around König is fairly clouded, just as with the famed Baron Von Richthofen, during
World War I.
The most fabled event connected with Königs name is the
sniper-duel that he had with Vasilij Zaitsev, a
Soviet sniper, during the battle of
Stalingrad.
There is now a great discussion whether this encounter ever took place at all, or if it really was König who was engaged in the duel. In
Soviet war records, he actually does show up as a Major Erwin König. But in Zaitsev's war memoirs he is refered to as Heinz Thorwald, another great german
sniper. In German records, there are no traces of either König nor Thorwald - not to say this information was removed to save face.
It is unclear which statements are
fact in this situation, or if the duel was simply a propaganda scam fabricated by the
Soviets, or if Königs name simply served as an embodiment of the German adversary in the
Soviet propaganda.
It is certainly a topic open to discussion and debate.
See also:
Simo Hayha,
Carlos Hathcock.