31 January 1943, World War II: German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrenders to the Soviets at Stalingrad, followed two days later by the remainder of his Sixth Army, ending one of the war’s fiercest battles.

16 comments

  1. >I have no intention of shooting myself for this Bohemian corporal.

    Paulus, a Roman Catholic, was opposed to suicide. On 30 January Hitler promoted Paulus to field marshal.

    In deciding to promote him, Hitler noted that there was no known record of a Prussian or German field marshal ever having surrendered. The implication was clear: Paulus was to commit suicide.

  4. The battle isn’t over tho. This wasn’t the only German army at Stalingrad, the true end of the battle is in 2 days.

  5. From a speech he gave in the mid-50s

    >*”We Germans have seen that in the 20th century, such “power politics” that a strong and rich country seeks to pursue at the expense of other countries is doomed to failure. This policy can have no prospect of success unless it manages to stifle the national will of other peoples, to crush their independence. But it is a misconception and dangerous idea that the age of nations is over simply because a power, the United States, relies on this position so that it can bend over and dominate other nations at the lowest cost to it. Establishing good neighborly relations with the countries that surround us from east and west is crucial for our national existence.*

  6. The vast majority of the troops taken by the Soviets never saw their home again, with most of them dying. Their surrender, ironically, was meaningless, since they got no mercy. In my eyes – inexcusable, since it’s not as if the Soviets couldn’t have treated them better and established a solid framework for showing humanity to those who had shown none to them, but revenge and a totalitarian police state will act as one does.

    However the revenge wasn’t exactly universal – IIRC the generals and leading officers were treated relatively well and even used to create the armed forces of East Germany. So revenge for the working, lower class and rehabilitation for the upper class. 10/10 display of Marxist-Leninist values.

    Not to take away from the heroism of the Soviet soldiers, and the generals, who fought in Stalingrad to prevent the Nazis from taking the city. It’s just a shame they were led by morally-bankrupt and ideologically confused monsters.

  7. He was assigned the title just because Hitler wanted a fight to the bitter end. Nearly 95% of the army died in gulags

  9. Completely torn down city built from 0 afterwards.

    Volgograd is probably one of the ugliest cities mankind has ever built even 79 years after the battle ended.

    But soviets were experts at buildings the ugliest things possible.

  10. You just have to imagine the losses both sides suffered in that one battle.
    More people died in and around Stalingrad alone then in the whole western campaigns the wehrmacht fought. From france 1940 over africa to 1944 battles in france and germany.

  12. Such a waste of life and for what?
    Lets hope such dark times have ended if not forever, then at least for a very long time.

  13. 51% of Axis casualties in the battle were Romanians, Italians, Hungarians and Croats. 3,000 Romanians surrendered with Paulus and I believe none ever made it back from Siberia

  16. One of the croatian officers that surrendered later joined the yugoslav army only to be “accidentaly” pushed under the train and lose both legs after the war lol

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