Destruction of Axis forces in and around Stalingrad

Supreme commander of Armeeoberkommando 6 surrendering to the Red Army Jan. 1943
Soviet soldiers in the devastated city of Stalingrad February 1943
Down-trodden captured German POW in Stalingrad February 1943
Dead Italian soldier on the outskirts of Stalingrad February 1943
The encircled German 6.Armee were not only starving, but running out of ammunition. Nevertheless, they continued to resist stubbornly, in particular, the so-called HiWis, Soviet citizens fighting in the Wehrmacht, had no illusions about their fate if captured. Of the around 90,000 who surrendered in Stalingrad, only about 5,500 ever returned to Europe. Already weakened by disease, starvation and lack of medical care during the encirclement, they were sent to labour camps all over the Soviet Union, where most of them died of mistreatment and malnutrition. 27,000 German POWs died within weeks. It was not until 1955 that the last of the handful of survivors were repatriated after a plea to the Politburo by Chancellor of West Germany Konrad Adenauer. Over 11,000 German soldiers refused to lay down their arms at the official surrender on February 2 1943, presumably believing that fighting to the death was better than a slow end in Soviet camps. Since the beginning of the Italian campaign in Soviet, about 30,000 Italians had been killed and another 54,000 died in Soviet captivity according to Italian Ministry of Defence. After the Italian Eighth Army's near destruction during the Battle of Stalingrad, Benito Mussolini disbanded what was left of the Eighth Army and the surviving Italian troops of which 34,000 were wounded and frostbitten were unceremoniously brought home to Italy. Only minor Italian units participated on the Eastern Front past that point. The Romanian Army lost about 159,000 men killed and missing and wounded between November 1942 and January 1943. This represented 16 of the 18 divisions engaged at Stalingrad. The Romanian armed forces were not capable of recovering after such catastrophic losses, and from this point onward, they would only fight desperate defensive battles on their way back to Romania. The Hungarian Second Army was virtually eliminated as an effective fighting unit by overwhelming Soviet force during the Battle of Stalingrad. Of an initial force of about 200,000 Hungarian soldiers and 50,000 Jewish forced laborers, about 100,000 were killed and 35,000 wounded and 60,000 taken prisoners. Only about 40,000 returned to Hungary after the defeat at Stalingrad. Credit: Wikipedia i.a. Top image: the newly appointed Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Paulus surrenders to Soviet 38th Motorized Rifle Brigade on January 31 1943. Partly seen behind Paulus is Chief-of Staff Generalleutnant Arthur Schmidt along with Adjutant Oberst Wilhelm Adam. The talented Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein had told Paulus that the relief would need assistance from the 6.Armee, but the order to initiate the breakout never came. Paulus who was a poor choice to lead the German 6th Army remained absolutely firm in obeying the orders he had been given. Photo by Soviet war correspondent Georgy Lipskerov. Credit: Facundo Filipe. Second image: Soviets in a moment of calm in Stalingrad. The second soldier from the left is carrying a German MP 40 submachine gun. Photo by Soviet war correspondent Georgi Zelma. Third image: Soviet soldier armed with a Russian PPSh-41 submachine gun marches a German POW into captivity and most certain death in the camps. The picture is thought to have been taken in the final days of the Stalingrad onslaught. Credit: Jaris Almazani. Bottom image: Italian driver of a FIAT truck lies dead on the outskirts of Stalingrad. Credit: Olga Shirnina. Photos in the PD.

6 comments:

  1. Rare Historical Photos29/5/19

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  2. Michael Niebuhr23/9/20

    When I was a kid, the barber that my dad and I went to was a former Wehrmacht soldier who was almost trapped in Stalingrad. He had his eye shot out and was flown out on one of the last flights. He was eventually captured by the British and cut officers hair while a POW, earning some extra privileges. He finally moved to the USA. What a life story. I still remember his glass eye.

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  3. Irina Nelson15/4/21

    When I was young, I got to know the Romanian General officer Constantin Brătescu who was taken prisoner after the German Sixth Army's debacle at Stalingrad. He survived five years in Soviet prisoner camps.

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  4. Ricardo Alvarado Ramirez4/2/22

    Mark Felton put out a video a year ago about the 11 thousand German soldiers who did not lay down their arms as ordered, but continued to hold out and fight on for weeks after the general surrender of the 6th Army’s 11th Corps on 02/02. Its very interesting.

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  5. Ivaylo Petrov28/2/22

    Can´t imagine what they went through. Still fought to the bitter end. Respect.

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  6. James Barends9/4/22

    It is largely forgotten that Manstein ordered any units that could to break out from Stalingrad in small groups and reach German lines. Some did make it, I believe the number in Manstein’s book was around 40,000 men. Hitler promoted Paulus to Field Marshal very close to the surrender. This was a message to him as no German Field Marshal had ever been captured alive.

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