The Battle of Stalingrad (Continued)
Link: https://ww2db.com/image.php?image_id=7282
Above is a picture of German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, Major General Arthur Schmidt,and Colonel Wilhelm Adam after their surrender at Stalingrad in January, 1943. Hitler's order for Paulus and his 6th Army to stand their ground was supported by the assurance that the Luftwaffe would be able to provide supplies to the army within via airlift. This would result in an utter fail as the Luftwaffe were unable to provide sufficient supplies for the 6th Army to survive due to heavy weather and Russian planes (Martin). Paulus needed to be rescued. Field Marshal Erich Von Manstein had launched Operation Winter Storm on December 12th, 1942 (Limbach). The operation objective was to break through the Soviet's encirclement of the city using panzers. But the operation was halted on December 23rd due to increasing Soviet resistance, and were eventually beaten back by Soviet artillery barrages and tanks, destroying any hope of rescuing Paulus and his men. On January 24th, 1943, Field Marshal Paulus radio messaged Adolf Hitler the following,
"Troops without ammunition or food. Effective command no longer possible. 18,000 wounded with any supplies or dressings or drugs. Further defense senseless. Collapse inevitable. Army requests immediate permission to surrender in order to save lives of remaining troops."
Hitler's response to Paulus' plea:
"Surrender is forbidden. Sixth Army will hold their positions to the last man and the last round and by their heroic endurance will make an unforgettable contribution toward the establishment of a defensive front and the salvation of the Western world."
Now the Soviets began to choke the city. On January 31st, 1943, Paulus was forced to surrender, with 100,000 Germans taken prisoner (Martin). On the same day, Paulus radio messaged Hitler the following message: "The Sixth Army, true to their oath and conscious of the lofty importance of their mission, have held their position to the last man and the last round for Führer and Fatherland unto the end." On February 2nd, 1943, an official German radio broadcasted "The battle of Stalingrad has ended. True to their oath to fight to the last breathe, the Sixth Army under the exemplary leadership of Field-Marshal Paulus have been overcome by the superiority of the enemy and by the unfavorable circumstances confronting our forces." The losses of this battle were enormous, with an estimated 300,000 Germans lost and a total of 800,000 axis forces dead, wounded, missing, or captured. The Soviets estimated losses were at 1.1 million dead, wounded, missing, or captured along with 40,000 civilian casualties (Limbach).
