Posted on 04/12/2005 9:38:33 AM PDT by jb6
MOSCOW, April 7 (Pyotr DUNAYEV, a war historian, retired colonel and World War II veteran, for RIA Novosti) - It was the last radiogram Paulus' staff received from Hitler. Chief of staff R. Schmidt handed it to Paulus saying: "Congratulations! You are General Field Marshal." Paulus was emotionless. The condition of his army group in Stalingrad was fatal. The staff located in the basement of a local department store was blocked, communication with German troops was lost and the snow-covered square was heaped up with bodies of dead German soldiers swarming with lice.
I met veteran of the Battle of Stalingrad Fyodor Ilchenko in Kiev in 1991. He told me about the details of Field Marshal Paulus' captivity. Here is Ilchenko's story.
"On the frosty morning of January 31, 1943, we were fighting a violent battle near the department store. Suddenly I saw a German officer waving the white flag in an embrasure. I ordered a cease-fire and told signaler Alexei Mezhirko and two soldiers to follow me. I also took the interpreter, a captive German who wore our uniform.
The approaching territory to the department store was mined and we had to round the building along Ostrovsky Street. I reported the German officer's proposal to descend to Paulus' staff in the basement to brigade commander Colonel Burmakov on the radio. The commander ordered me to act. At the entrance to the basement, the German officer guiltily asked us to leave weapons behind. We disobeyed and went downstairs. We saw hundreds of exhausted German officers in the long, damp and stinking corridor. They were like ghosts. A shot rang and I seized my holster but it was suicide.
At last we entered the room of General Rosske. Chief of staff Schmidt came in an instant. They led us to Paulus. I looked at the clock. It was 6:45 a.m.
The field marshal lay on an iron bed without his uniform. A candle-end was burning on the table. It gave light to an accordion on the couch. Paulus did not greet us, but sat up. He looked sick and exhausted. His face was twitching convulsively. Having listened to Schmidt's report on the demands of Soviet officers, Paulus wearily bowed his assent.
Later I told Colonel Burmakov about this visit, and he told about it to other instances. He ordered me to go back to Paulus' bunker. And I went again accompanied by telephone and radio operators, and submachine gunners. At 8 o'clock officers from the 38th brigade, Captains L. P. Morozov, N. F. Grishchenko and N. Ye. Rybak, Colonel L. A. Vinokur, deputy brigade commander for political issues, and others went to see the 8th army staff. We agreed with Generals Rosske and Schmidt to send representatives of both sides with loudspeakers in cars along the frontline to announce the cease-fire."
At 8:15 a.m. officers from the 64th army staff arrived - Colonel G. S. Lukin, Major I. M. Ryzhov and Lieutenant Colonel B. I. Mutovin. They delivered an ultimatum to the Germans on the immediate cessation of resistance and total surrender of the southern group of forces. The surrender conditions were accepted and Germans were taken captive. Chief of staff of the 64th army Major-General I. A. Laskin came to the basement at 8:55. He offered Rosske to sign an order on cease-fire and surrender. Moreover, an ultimatum was delivered on Field Marshal Paulus' captivity.
In the small hours of February 1, 1943, commander of the 38th motorized rifle brigade Colonel I. D. Burmakov sent a report to the staff of the 64th army.
"...Special attention should be given to Senior Lieutenant Fyodor Ilchenko, deputy brigade commander for operational work, for battles in the city's center and the captivity of the commanders of the 6th German army. Comrade Ilchenko commanded the brigade's units on the site of the battle and supervised the encirclement of the central department store," he wrote.
The brigade commander named 50 other soldiers and officers who deserved awards for this heroic operation.
Unfortunately, his recommendations were ignored. Probably, they were swept away by the triumph of the great victory on the Volga. The Orders of the Red Banner were given to Burmakov and Major General Laskin who accepted the surrender act.
Did you know that Stalin killed at least twice as many of his own people as Hitler did?
I just hope that one day a Paulus is not a Johnson or a Smith and Ilchenko is not a Chiang or Yee.
Just a statment of fact that many forget or don't know.
Ooook. You feel the need to interject that on every Soviet/German thread, or just the WWII threads?
Unlikely, unless we develop a sudden, irrational desire to acquire Chinese territory. (Lets remember why the German 6th Army was in Stalingrad to begin with.)
Exactly.
IIRC, most of the Germans captured at Stalingrad did not survive the war.
Judging by the number of 6th army prisoners who finally saw home after the war the encircled Germans would've been better off dropping their rifles & sprinting for the homeland than surrendering to the soviets.
Unfortunately, a lot of people don't.
Stalin killed 36 million (over 30 years), Hitler killed 20 million (not counting military dead, over 4 years). Hitler's career was cut short. He had a much better and bigger plan and used the latest industrializations. /sarcasm
I've always wanted to eat Peking Duck in Peking so....
93,000 went into captivity. About 5,000 made it back to Germany. 2,000 of those weren't repatriated until 1955.
If you add together estimates of Soviet and German (plus Rumanian, Italian, and Hungarian) casualties between August 1942 and February 1943, a million men and women died at Stalingrad.
}:-)4
Nice attitude.
Only one German made it out of Stalingrad to his own lines. After 2 months wandering around he made it in. He was treated like a hero and given hot food and drink. While eating, he was killed by incoming artillery. Sometimes life can really suck.
Tip o' the hat to you, sir.
In 1941-1942, the Germans starved and worked to death 2 million out of 3 million Soviet POWs.
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