Destruction of Axis forces in and around Stalingrad

Stalingrad Airlift – Luftwaffe's doomed effort to resupply 6th Army, Dec. 1942

Supreme Commander of  AOK 6 surrendering to the Red Army, Jan. 1943

Soviet Red Army soldiers in the devastated city of Stalingrad, Feb. 1943

Down-trodden captured POW of the once-mighty German 6th Army, Feb. 1943

Dead Italian soldier next to a Fiat on the outskirts of Stalingrad, Feb. 1943

The encircled German Sixth Army 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 8th 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 2nd 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 POWs. Only about 40,000 returned to Hungary after the defeat at Stalingrad. Credit: Wikipedia i.a. Top image: a German Junkers Ju 52 transport approaches a snowed in landing strip at Pitomnik inside the Stalingrad pocket in Dec. 1942. Another JU 52 prepares to take off. The Luftwaffe was tasked in late 1942 with resupplying the forces trapped in the cut-off city. These were apocalyptic conditions. The Luftwaffe lost 488 planes during the Stalingrad airlift: an average of 7.07 planes a day. Credit: Facundo Filipe. c. Bundesarchiv. Second image: the newly appointed Generalfeldmarschall Friedrich Paulus surrenders to Soviet 38th Motorized Rifle Brigade on Jan. 31 1943. Partly seen behind Paulus is Chief-of Staff Generalleutnant Arthur Schmidt along with Adjutant Oberst Wilhelm Adam. The talented Feldmarschall Erich von Manstein had told Paulus that the relief would need assistance from the 6th Army, 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 Jewish-Russian correspondent Georgy Lipskerov. Credit: Facundo Filipe. Third image: Soviets in a moment of calm in Stalingrad, second man from the left is carrying a German MP 40 SMG. Photo by Jewish-Uzbek correspondent Georgi Zelma. Fourth image: Soviet soldier armed with a Russian PPSh-41 SMG 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. SU photos in PD.