Lothar Zimmer

Lothar Zimmer was a German soldier with the Forty-First Panzergrenadiers. He was a small, skinny man, who didn't show much in the way of fear.

Zimmer reconnected with the remains of his unit in Kiev at Dynamo Stadium. When another survivor, Jürgen Sack, asked if the Reds had taken out that many panzers and combat vehicles, Zimmer said that the attacks weren't that bad, and that many crews were trying to get their vehicles serviced nearby. As they began to reorganize, rumors soon trickled that the Reds had crossed the Dnieper and were making their way towards Kiev. The Forty-First were directed to a vehicle park, where Zimmer and Sack boarded an armored vehicle and were driven west to Perayaslav, a trip that took the rest of the day and all night thanks to the lack of paved roads and bomb damage from the enemy. They even came under attack a few times.

A few hours later, Zimmer and the rest of the troops were let out to begin forming a skirmish line. However, after a long barrage against the German lines, the Reds launched their attack. Despite substantial losses of men and machines both, the PLA soon overran the German position. Zimmer found himself reunited with Sack, and the two tried to make their way back to Kiev. While they made it some distance without being noticed, a group of PLA caught them. Sack produced a leaflet the PLA had dropped the previous day, and found the words for surrender: Tow shong. The PLA troops understood Sack, and allowed Sack and Zimmer to surrender.