39. Ovcharenko Was More Dangerous With an Ax Than With a Rifle
In mid-July of 1941, a few weeks after the German invasion, Dmitry Ovcharenko was in southern Ukraine, serving in the 389th Regiment of the 176th Infantry Division. He had already been wounded once, so was given light duty and was entrusted with a cart, to bring up supplies from the rear to his comrades on the front. Unbeknownst to Ovcharenko, however, the front had moved, and on July 13th, 1941, he turned a bend in the road, only to find himself face to face with dozens of Germans. An enemy soldier quickly seized Ovcharenko’s rifle, then an officer came up to interrogate him. Unfortunately for the Germans, Ovcharenko’s cart had an ax, which he suddenly seized mid-interrogation, and used it to lop off the German officer’s head in one sweep.
As the shocked Germans tried to process what had just happened, Ovcharenko dove into the cart, pulled out some hand grenades and began lobbing them at the enemy soldiers. Within a few seconds, the ground was covered with 21 dead and dying Germans, and the rest scattered. Hefting his ax, Ovcharenko gave chase. He caught up with another enemy officer from behind, and lopped off his head as well with an ex. The now thoroughly demoralized and terrified Germans – most likely reaching echelon troops rather than front-line soldiers – had no thoughts of fighting back. Instead, they gave in to blind panic and fled in terror.
