Posted on 02/02/2021 4:25:59 AM PST by Bull Snipe
The last survivors of the German 6th Army surrender to Soviet forces in Stalingrad. Of the 91,000 German POWs, captured at Stalingrad, only 6,000 would live to see Germany again.
...and it’s my day...Punxsatawney Phil
Field-Marshal Friedrich Paulus, who had just been promoted to that rank by Hitler, was the highest ranking German to surrender thus far.
He became a spokesman for the Soviet Union against the war.
Battle of Stalingrad reminds me to count my blessings and thank our vets. I can’t imagine the living hell of Stalingrad.
Hitler was so enraged that Paulus surrender rather than commit suicide, he swore that he would not promote anyone to the rank of Field Marshal for the remainder of the war.
Clearly, the Roosian retirement plan sucked!
one of the most brutal, if not the most brutal, battle of the 20th century.
As did the Krauts
“Of the 91,000 German POWs, captured at Stalingrad, only 6,000 would live to see Germany again.”
Wow, I never knew that. I guess the 85,000 were summarily executed or worked to death in the gulags.
Some were sent east to the gulags. A large proportion were sent to Beketovka, a prisoner of war camp near Stalingrad. The conditions and lack of provisions in the camp made it into a death factory.
The Soviets marched the Stalingrad POWs from Stalingrad to Siberia in February. Would have looked a lot like the Bataan Death March except at 20 below zero and 3 foot of snow & ice. Once in the camps in Siberia, they were worked to death.
This is why Kraut soldiers were desperate to surrender to US forces. And also why they fought to the death, in the end, against the ruskies. They knew they were in for execution, or worse, if captured by russian forces.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.