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The Kholm Pocket ((ドイツ語:Kessel von Cholm); (ロシア語:Холмский котёл)) was the name given for the encirclement of German troops by the Red Army around Kholm south of Leningrad, during World War II on the Eastern Front, from 23 January 1942 until 5 May 1942. A much larger pocket was simultaneously surrounded in Demyansk, about to the northeast. These were the results of German retreat following their defeat during the Battle of Moscow.〔Carel, p. 25〕 At the small Kholm pocket, 5,500 German soldiers held out for 105 days.〔Carel, p. 251〕 The pocket was supplied by air, but was too small for planes to land; therefore, supplies had to be dropped in and recovered by the German defenders.〔Carel, p. 253〕 Among the airdropped supplies were 35 of the first 50 prototype MKb 42(H) rifles. The puzzled together German units trapped at Kholm were mainly part of:〔 * 218th Infantry Division * Reserve-Polizei-Bataillon 65 * Infanterie-Regiment 553 (of the 329th Infantry Division) * Parts of the 123rd Infantry Division * Jagdkommando 8 * III. Bataillon of the Luftwaffenfeldregiment 1 Hauptmann Albert Biecker was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 20 March 1942 for his command of the defence of the GPU-ruin in the pocket. Biecker was killed in action five weeks later in Cholm, four days before the pocket was relieved by German forces.〔 In July 1942, the Cholm Shield was awarded to the German defenders of the pocket, upon the suggestion of Generalmajor Theodor Scherer, similar to the Demyansk Shield.〔(Kholm Shield ) www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de, accessed: 16 December 2011〕 Scherer was personally awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves by Adolf Hitler for the command of the defense of Kholm.〔 Kholm was eventually liberated by the Red Army on 21 February 1944. Members of the Reserve-Polizei-Bataillon 65, a police unit from Gelsenkirchen, were questioned after the war by the state prosecuter in Dortmund for their involvement in ethnic cleansing in Eastern Europe. The unit was found to have taken part in a minimum of 5,000 executions and a large number of deportations to concentration camps. Among them was also the hanging of a young girl in Kholm during the siege.〔(Reserve-Polizeibataillon 65 (mot) ) www.gelsenzentrum.de, accessed: 16 December 2011〕 ==Gallery== File:Demjansk Einkesselung.png|Offensive of the Red Army south of Lake Ilmen 7 January–21 February 1942 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B21250, Russland, Cholm, Soldaten vor Hausruinen.jpg|Soldiers in the Kholm Pocket, 1942 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-004-3633-05, Russland, Cholm, Soldatentransport mit Go 242.jpg|Soldiers preparing to board a Gotha Go 242 glider, Kholm File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-004-3637-13A, Russland, Cholm.jpg|Sergeant gives soldier food, right: wounded with head and arm injuries, the end of January - beginning of May 1942 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-004-3637-35A, Russland, Cholm, essender Soldat.jpg|Soldier sitting for dinner in front of a ruined house 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kholm Pocket」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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