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| Kompanieführer Oberleutnant Friedrich Winkler |
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| Unidentified soldier of the 6.Armee |
According to archival figures, the Soviet Red Army suffered a total of 1,129,619 total casualties; 478,741 men killed or missing and 650,878 wounded. These numbers are for the whole Stalingrad area; in the city itself 750,000 were killed, captured, or wounded. The Soviet authorities executed approximately 13,500 Soviet soldiers during the battle, equivalent to almost two rifle divisions. The total number of civilians killed in Stalingrad and the regions outside the city is unknown. The German 6.Armee suffered 282,606 total casualties from August 21 1942 to the end of the battle, including around 90,000 taken prisoner and herded into Joseph Stalin's Gulags in February 1943. Fewer than 5,500 survived Soviet captivity. The 4.Panzerarmee which guarded the outside perimeter of Stalingrad suffered 17,293 total casualties. According to historian Karl-Heinz Frieser Axis troops from Hungary, Italy and Romania who helped protect the northern and southern flanks of the 6.Armee suffered 328,000 total casualties and the losses among Soviet turncoats Hiwis range between 19,300 and 52,000. Left image: Oberleutnant Friedrich Konrad Winkler somewhere in the northern sector of Stalingrad in October 1942. He took command of 6.Kompanie of Grenadier-Regiment 577 of the 305.Infanterie-Division during the ferocious battles for the Barrikady Gun Factory in the northern industrial district of Stalingrad. The regiment was destroyed in January 1943. Winkler wears standard 6x30 binoculars with a leather eyepiece protective cover fitted and the Iron Cross First Class, the Wound Badge with much of the black paint worn off and the Infantry Assault Badge in Silver with part of the wreath broken off. Friedrich Winkler was promoted Hauptmann on December 1 1942. He was born on August 22 1909 in Worms (one of the oldest cities in Germany situated on the Rhine river) and captured in Stalingrad after the 6th Army had capitulated on February 2 1943. He died soon after, at the age of 34, between February 8 and 10 1943 at POW Camp Beketowka. Photo by KB Kurt Heine. Credit: Facundo Filipe. The right photo is said to have been taken during the siege of Stalingrad. This German soldier trapped in the Stalingrad pocket has never been identified. Credit: Jaris Almazani. Commons: Bundesarchiv.
The German Stalingrad veterans would often break their infantry assault badges as an indication that earning the assault badge in Stalingrad was a different level of achievement than earning it somewhere else. A whole generation of trained leaders perished in a few months. A true tragedy indeed.
ReplyDeleteMy uncle was a radio operator in WW2 and was mortally wounded north of Kyiv. That spared him the Stalingrad disaster. The division of the army, the encirclement and the bad decisions of the leadership. In Germany today, Stalingrad is considered a betrayal of the final commitment and devotion of brave soldiers.
DeleteOne brother and a cousin of my grandfather fought in Stalingrad. They both are missing in action, nobody knows if they died in the battle or in captivity. We are still remember them.
ReplyDeleteRIP.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather was doctor in 369th Croatian Reinforced Infantry Regiment. He was in Stalingrand til the end, he was captured and sent to russian camp. Only survived because he was a doctor and they needed them. Came home after few years. He was already proclaimed dead at home and his mother died from sadness when she got the news.
ReplyDeleteThe Siege of Stalingrad resulted in more Russian deaths (military and civilian) than the US and Britain sustained (combined) in all of World War II.
ReplyDeleteCasualties were staggering on both sides, particularly among the Soviets. After reading 'Stalingrad' by Anthony Beevor the current Russian behavior came as no surprise. An excellent book, nothing less. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteFriedrich Konrad Winkler was my great uncle. My mother have pictures of him in a family photo book and letters which he wrote to my grandmother. She was his sister. Since this day I did not know that he was so famous.
ReplyDeletePaulus should have gotten these men out, Hitler be damned.
ReplyDelete