[C19fan]

The Russians were responsible for killing over 65% of German manpower.

[dfwgator]

Hitler Ah yes, ve make a little hike for, for Bideford.

Johnson (leaning over map) Oh well, you'll want the A39 then...no, no, you've got the wrong map there, this is Stalingrad, you want the Ilfracombe and Barnstaple section.

Hitler Ah! Hein...Reginald you have the wrong map here you silly old leg-before-wicket English person.

Himmler I'm sorry mein Fuhrer. I did not...(Hitler slaps him) Mein Dickie old chum.

Landlady Lucky Mr Johnson pointed that out, eh? You wouldn't have had much fun in Stalingrad, would you...(they don't see the joke) I said, you wouldn't have had much fun in Stalingrad, would you, ha, ha, ha?

Hitler (through clenched teeth) Not much fun in Stalingrad, no.

[a fool in paradise]

>>It is now fashionable to demonize Russia

Eh, Russia was celebrated at a time when it shouldn’t have been:

https://www.nytco.com/new-york-times-statement-about-1932-pulitzer-prize-awarded-to-walter-duranty/
New York Times Statement About 1932 Pulitzer Prize Awarded to Walter Duranty

[dfwgator]

I still say they would have been better off trying to take Moscow, Stalin may not have been able politically survive had Moscow fallen.

[wbarmy]

I have a degree in Russian History and Russian Language.

I did a major thesis on the 900 days in Leningrad and some of the battles around Mga.

I get some grief, but I really believe that Germany was already defeated by Russia because of Stalingrad.

If we had stayed out, Russia would have eventually taken over Germany, but it would have bled them to the point that they would have fallen apart much faster and Eastern Europe might not have suffered as they did.

A resurgent Czechoslovakia or Hungary, aka 1956, would have destroyed the Eastern European coalition and brought about the end of the Soviet Union much faster.

[NorthMountain]

The Russians were responsible for killing 61,000,000 people in acts of mass murder.

[snoringbear]

“The Soviet Union lost about 27 million soldiers and civilians — about 60 times more than America lost in the war.”

Yep, Stalin was willing to take casualties for sure. We (US) lost about 400k in both theaters. The American public would never have accepted anything close to the kind of casualties that the Soviets took. In fact, the prospect of taking 250,000 casualties should we had invaded Japan was a big factor in the decision to drop the two nukes.

[dfwgator]

Biggest mistake the Germans made in Stalingrad was bombing the city to rubble. It made the city easier to defend.

[CodeJockey]

I have the move Stalingrad. The 1993 German production.

Something about seeing the file with the German and Soviet languages spoken and English subtitles. Just like with Downfall. Anyhow, a great film for any WWII history buff.

The conditions on both sides were brutal. Really drives home the old saying. War is hell.

[Combat_Liberalism]

To me, one of the most interesting aspects of the Stalingrad battle was the treatment of the surrendered 6th German army. Many thousands died along the frozen march to Siberia.

Many more died there until a very few—I believe the number was under 5000—were finally sent home in the mid 1950’s. The Soviets were not signers of the Geneva accords pertaining to the treatment of POW’s.

I do not know if any of those march-to-Siberia survivors are alive today.

I believe some of the wounded who were flown out of the besieged German pocket in Dec ‘42 and Jan ‘43 are still living.

[hanamizu]

Had a friend in college whose wife was a Red Diaper Baby—her dad fought in the Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. She was named Victoria—after the victory at Stalingrad.

[dfwgator]

Visiting Mamayev Kurgan is on my bucket list.

[dfwgator]

William Hoffman
DIARY OF A GERMAN SOLDIER

1942

September 16th:
Our battalion, plus tanks, is attacking the elevator, from which smoke is pouring - the grain in it is burning, the Russians seem to have set alight to it themselves .Barbarism. The battalion is suffering heavy losses. There are not more than sixty men left in each company . the elevator is occupied not by men but by devils that no flames or bullets can destroy.

September 18th
Fighting is going on inside the elevator. The Russians inside are condemned men;the battalion commander says; “The commissars have ordered those men to die in the elevator”

If all the buildings of Stalingrad are defended like this , then none of our soldiers will ever get back to Germany.

I had a letter from Elsa today. She’s expecting me home when victory’s won.

September 20th:
The battle for the elevator is still going on.The Russians are firing on all sides. We stay in our cellar; you can’t go into the street. Sergeant-Major Nuschke was killed today running across a street. Poor fellow , he’s got three children.

September 22nd:
Russian resistance in the elevator has been broken . Our troops are advancing towards the Volga. We found about forty Russian dead in the elevator building. half of them were wearing naval uniform - sea devils. One prisoner was captured seriously wounded, who can’t speak, or is shamming.