Major Konig was the german sniper sent to kill the russian. Zaitsev and his spotter Nikolai Kulikov were stalking the german along with a communist political officer who was there to witness the historic event, and was wounded.
It was the next day when Zaitsev offed the german after waiting all day to spot the scope reflection.
Zaitsev was credited with 242 kills during the battle of stalingrad, and eventually had accounted for 400 kills during the war.
Plater = Plaster
The story is false.
There used to be a poster on FR who was very knowledgeable on military matters. He posted his opus and said he was never coming back to FR. I was just about to do the same thing but FR got rid of the ones who were banning conservative posters and I am glad I stayed.
I wish he would come back but he said he never would and was true to his word.
This guy, who a lot of people here remember well, mentioned that he actually met Zaitsev in Russia. He said as a matter of fact, that Zaitsev himself never claimed the story was true. It was finally proven when after the war, German records showed there was no such man as Major Koenig from the German Sniper School.
The story has been published as fact in many articles and probably historical documents, but it was not true. I can’t blame anyone who believes it as I was one of them.