The department store building in Stalingrad. The rank of field marshal has been conferred upon you. When I say that we Germans must focus above all on the unity and independence of Germany, on the affirmation of the vital national rights of our nation, I realize that in this way we are best serving the cause of peace, of international dtente and reconciliation between peoples. An officer, the head of the guards, allowed me and the driver to go out and get the car ready. Friedrich Paulus on the way to the Soviet 64th Army HQ. [9] However, he only took over his new command on 20 January, six days after the sudden death of Reichenau,[10] leaving him on his own and without the support of his more experienced sponsor. [34] Unlike many German prisoners of war, such as Paulus himself and von Seydlitz-Kurzbach, Schmidt refused to co-operate with the Soviets, despite the NKVD's attempt to ingratiate themselves by serving him caviar and champagne in a luxury railway coach. Oktober 1895 in Hamburg; 5. The Soviets held higher ground to the west, meaning that Sixth Army would be exposed to their guns if it attempted to break out. January 1943). Street fighting was still under way in the center of Stalingrad when German officers, accompanied by Soviet commanding officers, set off in vehicles to order their units to cease firing. eMedals, Web. 12 Dec 2013. Intensive talks started between Mansteins and Pauluss HQs about the need to embark on the implementation of Operation Thunderclap - a breakthrough by the 6th Army to meet Army Group Hoth. The Germans had already had the successful experience of using an air bridge to resupply the 100,000-strong II Army Corps cut off near Demyansk at the beginning of the same year and successfully releasing it from its trap after several months of encirclement. Evacuating their HQ at Golubinsky amid a bonfire of burning files and stores, they flew to Nizhne-Chirskaya that same day, just missing Hitler's order that "Sixth Army stand firm in spite of danger of temporary encirclement." Schmidt and Paulus set up their HQ in the Kessel underneath the Univermag department store on the city's Red Square. The time has come for the old enmity that we have inherited and the many disputes to be buried once and for all. 1955 wurde er aus der Gefangenschaft entlassen. "[15], After a heavy Soviet offensive overran the last emergency airstrip in Stalingrad on 25 January, the Soviets again offered Paulus a chance to surrender. But I don't think I remained in this state for very long. pocket and became General Officer In February 1938, Paulus was appointed Chef des Generalstabes to Gen. Heinz Guderian's new XVI Armeekorps (Motorisiert), which replaced Lutz's command. Arthur Schmidt (25 October 1895 5 November 1987) was an officer in the German military from 1914 to 1943. [26] Schmidt addressed Thiel in the same vein: "[] here you come trying to justify the Luftwaffe, that has committed the worst treason, that has ever occurred in German history [] An entire army, this wonderful 6th Army, must go to the dogs like this. His troops fought Soviet forces defending Stalingrad for over three months in increasingly brutal urban warfare. [15] Paulus and Schmidt started planning for the breakout that evening, despite receiving another message from Hitler that they must stand firm and await relief. He led the drive to Stalingrad but was cut off and surrounded in the subsequent Soviet counter-offensive. [14][15] Schmidt contacted his corps commanders and, in defiance of Hitler's order to stand firm, they agreed with Schmidt that a breakout to the south was desirable. It was involved in heavy action against the French VIII Cavalry Corps and fought in Belgium at Namur on 23-24 August and again at St. Quentin. [19] Beevor states that it is unclear what happened at the meeting, except that Paulus, who still believed in the chain of command, refused to break out without a clear order to do so from a superior, something that the politically deft Manstein refused to give.[19][20]. He remained in that post until May 1939, when he was promoted to major general and became chief of staff for the German Tenth Army, with which he saw service in Poland. Schmidt joined the army as a one-year volunteer on 10 August 1914, attaining the rank of Leutnant on 8 May 1915. Life. [4], Despite Lieutenant-Colonel Niemeyer's frank and pessimistic area briefings, Schmidt severely underestimated the build-up and capabilities of Soviet forces at Stalingrad following the initial Axis successes, a failing that he unlike Paulus subsequently did not attempt to excuse. In it, he paid respect to the memory of General Heinz Guderian, who had died a little over a month previously, and criticized the political leaderships of the German Empire and Nazi Germany for causing the defeats of the German Army in both world wars: I have in mind in particular General Guderian, who died prematurely, and with whom I was particularly close, as chief of staff for the organization of the armored troops, and we were carrying out a task together. [citation needed], Many English-language sources and publications from the 1940s to the present day give Paulus' family name the prefix "von". Armee, Hauptmann Winrich Behr, Army From right to left: Friedrich Paulus, General-Feldmarshal, commanding general of 6th Army, Arthur Schmidt, General-lieutenant, Chief of the 6th Army Staff; Wilhelm Adam, Colonel, Adjutant for Gen. Paulus He was assigned to the 13th Infantry Regiment at Stuttgart as a company commander. "[18], On 18 or 19 December, Major Eismann was sent by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein to brief Paulus and Schmidt on Operation Donnerschlag, Army Group Don's plan, not sanctioned by Hitler, for the Sixth Army to break out and incorporate itself in Manstein's Army Group. After all the formalities had been settled and the Field Marshal had received guarantees of his personal safety, he was led out of the basement, along with his staff officers. 1943. Field Marshal Paulus in Custody After Stalingrad General Kurt Zeitzler, chief of the Army General Staff, was in a panic because hundreds of Soviet tanks had just smashed through the Romanian Third Army's lines northeast of Stalingrad, threatening communication and supply lines to the German Sixth Army. "[11] Schmidt maintained that the army, which would adopt a "hedgehog" defence, must be resupplied, but that the situation was not yet so desperate as there were plenty of horses left that could serve as food. Only we Germans can decide the future of Germany. In deciding to promote him, Hitler noted that there was no known record of a Prussian or German field marshal ever having surrendered. Hitler, leery of the reasons for Paulus' transfer to Nizhne-Chirskaya, orders him to move his HQ again. In 1942, Paulus was given command of the 6th Army despite his lack of field experience. the confines of the Kessel: he was ordered to Land Forces of the National People's Army, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, The Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918, "The Battle of Stalingrad | Doomed from the start? Friedrich Paulus - Wikipedia At first, Paulus refused to collaborate with the Soviets. Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox. [6] This is incorrect, as Paulus' family was never part of the nobility,[citation needed] and Antony Beevor refers to his "comparatively humble birth" (like Rommel's family; their "sole similarity").[7]. It was some time before I could break out of the maze of thoughts and strange dreams that depressed me so greatly. 26. said Paulus after reading the dispatch. Paulus did not request to evacuate the city when the counter-offensive began. [1], Schmidt held various positions in the Heer, including chief of operations in Fifth Army (25.08.3912.10.39) and Eighteenth Army (05.11.3901.10.40). [1] Am 17. [32] When their baggage was searched for sharp metal objects, Schmidt, referring to Paulus, snapped at the Soviet officers: "A German Field Marshal does not commit suicide with a pair of scissors. An ordinary lieutenant could not accept the capitulation of the German commander and, gradually, representatives of the senior and top-level Red Army command started arriving at the department store. It appears the Storks only had the range to fly one way. The battle ended in disaster for the Wehrmacht when Soviet forces encircled the Germans within the city, leading to the ultimate death or capture of most of 265,000 6th Army personnel, their Axis allies and collaborators. [22] The envoys were even fired on; Paulus denied that he had ordered this, so it is possible that Schmidt might have issued the order. In the meantime, he kept his entire army in fixed defensive positions. He is Lieutenant General Mikhail Malinin, chief of staff for the Stalingrad front and one of the men responsible for putting into operation plans for the encirclement of the German 6th Army. As a former military man and commander of a large sector, taking into account the current situation and based on my experiences, I have come to the conclusion that we must definitely take the path that, in any form, leads to the development and consolidation of relations between East and West. How the Germans tried to rescue their troops at Stalingrad (PHOTOS [16] However, on 24 November Sixth Army received a further Fhrer order relayed from Army Group B, ordering them to stand firm. On the night of January 31, 1943, units of the 64th Army's 38th. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. [36], After Voikovo, Schmidt was held in the Lubyanka prison. And the mission would have had to be accomplished by troops who were thoroughly weary through lack of food and whose mobility had been almost completely lost. He later acted as a witness for the prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials. The following excerpt covers the last two days in Stalingrad as Adam began to have doubts about the Chief of Staff to the 6th Army, Lieutenant-General Schmidt: Was Lieutenant-General Schmidt playing a double game? They need these forces for a big offensive against Army Group 'A' in the Caucasus and along the still-unstable front from Voronesh to the Black Sea. The Red Army fighters looked fresh and wore warm winter uniforms. This is on page 194. We Germans have seen that in the 20th century, such "power politics" that a strong and rich country seeks to pursue at the expense of other countries is doomed to failure. Interrogation of captured German officers led Soviet commanders to realise that, because of the toll of events on Paulus's nerves, Schmidt was the real commander of the defending forces. Manstein told Paulus that the relief would need assistance from the Sixth Army, but the order to initiate the breakout never came. Battle of Stalingrad - Definition, Dates & Significance - History report to Hitlers headquarters to personally The Soviet Operation Uranus, as a result of which the 300,000-strong German grouping ended up trapped in a pocket on November 23, 1942, shocked the leaders of the Third Reich. [36], After Voikovo, Schmidt was held in the Lubyanka prison. Schmidt suffered a life threating He lived out the rest of his life in Dresden. [8], Paulus and Schmidt realised that Sixth Army was encircled on 21 November. [31] Schmidt, together with Paulus and Colonel Adam, were taken to Don Front HQ at Zavarykino, where they were interrogated. [32] When their baggage was searched for sharp metal objects, Schmidt, referring to Paulus, snapped at the Soviet officers: "A German Field Marshal does not commit suicide with a pair of scissors. Stopped Cold at Stalingrad - HistoryNet [20]:207208,212215 Beevor comments, "Whether this was a ploy to allow Paulus to distance himself from the surrender, or a further example of Schmidt handling events because Paulus was in state of nervous collapse, is not clear. Speaking about the surrender of Paulus, Hitler told his staff: In peacetime Germany, about 18,000 or 20,000 people a year chose to commit suicide, even without being in such a position. Paulus was promoted to lieutenant general in August 1940. We reacted to this order with astonishment, since we had expected some sort of discussion with the Army Group, and were fairly certain of the breakout. In an attempt to distance himself in every possible way from the capitulation, Paulus delegated the right to negotiate to Roske and Schmidt. He told the journalist to tell the wives and mothers that their husbands and sons were well. After the Armistice, Paulus was a brigade adjutant with the Freikorps. German officers who flew out of the Stalingrad The northern pocket was tactically commanded by General Strekker while the southern pocket was commanded by General Roske. This policy can have no prospect of success unless it manages to stifle the national will of other peoples, to crush their independence. [29] The signal sent from Sixth Army HQ on the evening of 30 January, that stated that soldiers were "listening to the national anthem for the last time with arms raised in the German salute", was, according to Beevor, much more likely to have been written by Schmidt than by Paulus. A huge Soviet counteroffensive, planned by generals G.K. Zhukov, A.M. Vasilevsky, and Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov, was launched on Nov. 19-20, 1942, in two spearheads, north and south of the German salient whose tip was at Stalingrad. [14] That evening the Soviet encirclement of Axis forces was confirmed in a signal Paulus sent to Hitler. I had the official seal with me. A German officer who met the Soviet soldiers told them through an interpreter: Our top commander wants to talk to your top commander. To that, Ilchenko retorted: Well, our top commander has many other things to attend to. [2] On 25 October 1940 he served as chief of staff in 5th Army Corps, a position he held until 25 March 1942, when he moved to the Fhrerreserve at Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH). He was chosen as one of only 4,000 officers to serve in the Reichswehr, the defensive army that the Treaty of Versailles had limited to 100,000 men. The Soviet Operation Koltso (Ring) to defeat the enemy grouping encircled in the city was approaching its finale. "[11] When told that this was impossible, he replied that "more than 10,000 wounded and the bulk of the heavy weapons and vehicles would have to be left behind. Dr. Karl Uhrmacher and the 6. Unwashed, with unkempt beards, they wore comical-looking makeshift snow boots and were wrapped in towels and womens headscarves. [4] The British historian and author Antony Beevor offers the following description of Schmidt: [He was] a slim, sharp-featured and sharp-tongued staff officer from a Hamburg mercantile family. But the city held, aided by the very destruction heaped on it by the Luftwaffe and Nazi tanks and artillery. [4], Despite Lieutenant-Colonel Niemeyer's frank and pessimistic area briefings, Schmidt severely underestimated the build-up and capabilities of Soviet forces at Stalingrad following the initial Axis successes, a failing that he unlike Paulus subsequently did not attempt to excuse. Involuntarily I remembered the chain of unfortunate events which had prevented me from sleeping for so many nights. For example: Mark Arnold-Forster's The World At War, companion volume to the documentary of the same name, Stein and Day, 1973, pp. In that role he helped draft the plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. Climbing out of the cellar, I stood dumbfounded. The German That would be a Napoleonic ending. The battle of Stalingrad, fought between Stalin's Red Army and Hitler's forces from 23 August 1942 to 2 February 1943, is considered one of the major confrontations of World War II. Hitler implied that if Paulus allowed himself to be taken alive, he would shame Germany's military history.[16]. While in Soviet captivity during the war, Paulus became a vocal critic of the Nazi regime and joined the Soviet-sponsored National Committee for a Free Germany. was sent by VIII Air Corps to assess the runway at Gumrak and see whether further landings by Luftwaffe supply aircraft would be possible. With Paulus at Stalingrad - by Martin Cherrett Aggressively ideological, his aggression would translate into a passive kind as he functioned as his chief's alter ego [] As late as mid-December, Paulus, even as illusions had all but vanished, would still not contradict Schmidt when he presented his tragically absurd hypotheses to visitors to the besieged and starving Sixth Army.[24]. The appearance of the Red Army soldiers seemed symbolic. Our soldiers were not beaten, let alone shot. He was told that "The Luftwaffe doesn't have enough aircraft. [6] Many false reports of the massing of Soviet forces were received from the Romanian sector, so when Stck radioed at 5 a.m. on 19 November that an offensive (marking the start of Operation Uranus, the Soviet encirclement of Axis forces) was about to begin, Schmidt, who was furious when disturbed by false alarms, was not informed,[7] although he was awoken twenty minutes later when it became clear that this was no false alarm. Pages in category "German commanders at the Battle of Stalingrad" The following 25 pages are in this category, out of 25 total. [c], Lieutenant General Friedrich Paulus (June 1942). It has been suggested that much of the reason for Schmidt's ascendancy over Paulus lay in the fact that, unlike Paulus, Schmidt was a committed Nazi, and Paulus, afraid of Hitler and conscious of his responsibility for Sixth Army's catastrophic position, saw Schmidt as a cipher for the Fhrer whom he could placate. Paulus was born in Guxhagen and grew up in Kassel, Hesse-Nassau, the son of a treasurer. Nach dem Krieg wurde er in die Reichswehr bernommen. Friedrich Paulus - Wikipedia [19], Shortly before surrendering, Paulus sent his wedding ring back to his wife on the last plane departing his position. The negotiators were met by the commander of the Wehrmachts 71st Infantry Division, Maj-Gen Friedrich Roske, and the 6th Armys chief of staff, Gen. Arthur Schmidt. Russians consider it to be one of the greatest battles of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. [12] All the while, Paulus remained silent; the only time he spoke during the conference "was to agree with his chief of staff".[13]. Karl Uhrmacher (missing in Stalingrad since end Millions were killed, wounded, missing, or captured in what was perhaps the most brutal battle in modern history. The Germans started to withdraw, pursued by Malinovskys 2nd Guards Army which had begun a counterattack on December 24. said the Soviet general through his interpreter. with these words he opened the door and a Soviet general and his interpreter entered the room. By the end of the war, he was a captain. Behr had an important task once he was free of I placed my revolver on the table. Telling Hitler that collapse was "inevitable," Paulus stressed that his men were without ammunition or food, and he was no longer able to command them. It was still dark but day was dawning almost imperceptibly. Januar wurde er zum Generalleutnant befrdert. Dyatlenko had no doubt that Schmidt was "the eyes and hand of the Nazi Party" in the Sixth Army, because captured officers reported that "Schmidt was commanding the Army and even Paulus himself."[21]. Arthur Schmidt (25 October 1895 5 November 1987) was an officer in the German military from 1914 to 1943. The general announced that we were his prisoners. Several hours later, accompanied by several colonels and lieutenant-colonels, Maj-Gen Ivan Laskin, chief of staff of the 64th Army, came down to the basement. The History Press | Hitler's defeat at Stalingrad Battle of Stalingrad | History, Summary, Location, Deaths, & Facts The German soldiers - ragged, in thin greatcoats over threadbare uniforms, as thin as skeletons - presented emaciated figures exhausted half to death, with sunken, unshaved features. He was, in any case, a defender of a united and sovereign Germany. He was told that "The Luftwaffe doesn't have enough aircraft." 139142; other examples are Allen and Muratoff's The Russian Campaigns of 19411943, published in 1944[5] and Peter Margaritis (2019). Lt-Gen Konstantin Rokossovsky (L) and Friedrich Paulus. Then they left the room. Paulus and his staff were captured on the morning of 31 January 1943. According to Beevor: [Soviet commanders] were increasingly convinced that Paulus was virtually a prisoner in his own headquarters, guarded by his chief of staff [Schmidt]. was the 01 of 6. In these last days Schmidt also developed a lively busy-ness in other respects. This decision to stand firm in a "hedgehog" defence sealed Sixth Army's fate. The Battle of Stalingrad was a brutal military campaign between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. The recently formed Army Group Don under the command of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, reinforced with divisions transferred from the North Caucasus and Western Europe, was tasked with opening a corridor to the city. Later, Paulus briefly commanded a motorized battalion (193435) before being named chief of staff for Panzer headquarters in October 1935. On the same plane as him that it was the best to fly him out of the later during World War 2, German officers who flew out of the Stalingrad This website uses cookies. Certainly, in their time they assessed the political-military situation of Germany with perseverance and sobriety, developed principles and positions for the strategy and tactics of a general nature, which were valid for the special situation in which Germany would be in a state of war. But it is a misconception and dangerous idea that the age of nations is over simply because a power, the United States, relies on this position so that it can bend over and dominate other nations at the lowest cost to it. This is the precondition for collective security in Europe and at the same time for a happy future for our own nation. had been ordered to fly out by Heeresgruppe Don Nevertheless, the hope of a restoration of freedom and of deliverance from death or captivity would have given the troops the strength to make the impossible possible!. He attempted to conduct himself in a suitably dignified manner, but in his condition it was difficult for him to manage. On 4 July 1912 he married the Romanian Constance Elena Rosetti-Solescu, the sister of a colleague who served in the same regiment. Other historians, such as Mitcham, agree: As the situation in Stalingrad deteriorated, Paulus's self-confidence declined, and he allowed himself (and 6th Army) to be more and more guided by his chief of staff, until Arthur Schmidt was virtually conducting the battle for the German side. 4 posts Page 1 of 1 And anyway, my new uniform will hardly be of any use to me now, the commander added with a wry smile. 'Meeting The Victors', Sputnik Magazine, 1968, USSR; (English-language article). [37] He died in Karlsruhe on 5 November 1987. [4] He tried, unsuccessfully, to secure a cadetship in the Imperial German Navy and briefly studied law at Marburg University. Paulus took part in the Poland and Low Countries campaigns, after which he was named deputy chief of the German Army General Staff. In dieser Funktion wurde er am 1. It has been suggested that much of the reason for Schmidt's ascendancy over Paulus lay in the fact that, unlike Paulus, Schmidt was a committed Nazi, and Paulus, afraid of Hitler and conscious of his responsibility for Sixth Army's catastrophic position, saw Schmidt as a cipher for the Fhrer whom he could placate. German 6. Malinin looked 35, square-faced with hair in a short pompadour which stuck up like a schoolboy's. [13], The decision not to negotiate with the Soviet envoys who bore an ultimatum to Paulus on 8 and 9 January 1943, was, for example, made by Schmidt, not Paulus, as Colonel Wilhelm Adam told one of the envoys, Captain Nikolay Dyatlenko, during his post-battle interrogation. According to Soviet statistics, from 1945 to 1956, over 580,000 people died in prison camps, over 356,000 of them Germans. Januar 1943 erhielt er das Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. Dyatlenko had no doubt that Schmidt was "the eyes and hand of the Nazi Party" in the Sixth Army, because captured officers reported that "Schmidt was commanding the Army and even Paulus himself."[21]. A grisly monument to the human capacity for violence and survival, the Battle of . [8], Paulus and Schmidt realised that Sixth Army was encircled on 21 November. It formed part of the German Third Army that enacted the attack on France and Belgium in August 1914 as part of the pre-war Schlieffen Plan. The Soviet units and subunits already there were to contain the enemy until its arrival. [11] Schmidt maintained that the army, which would adopt a "hedgehog" defence, must be resupplied, but that the situation was not yet so desperate as there were plenty of horses left that could serve as food. Stalingrad pocket to, received orders to [18], Paulus, a Roman Catholic, was opposed to suicide. Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad : A Soviet masterpiece about World War II Even the best army is doomed to fail when it is required to perform impossible tasks, that is, when it is ordered to campaign against the national existence of other peoples.[23]. high command ordered him not to fly back into According to Beevor: [Soviet commanders] were increasingly convinced that Paulus was virtually a prisoner in his own headquarters, guarded by his chief of staff [Schmidt]. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [16] However, on 24 November Sixth Army received a further Fhrer order relayed from Army Group B, ordering them to stand firm. He was not able to walk anymore and was He attained the rank of Generalleutnant during World War II, and is best known for his role as the Sixth Army's chief of staff in the Battle of Stalingrad in 194243, during the final stages of which he became its de facto commander, playing a large role in executing Hitler's order that it stand firm despite being encircled by the Red Army. Kurt Zeitzler, the newly appointed chief of the Army General Staff, eventually got Hitler to allow Paulus to break outprovided he continue to hold Stalingrad, an impossible task. As part of his last will and testament, his body was transported to Baden-Baden, West Germany, to be buried at the Hauptfriedhof (main cemetery)[24] next to his wife, who had died eight years earlier in 1949, not having seen her husband since his departure for the Eastern Front in the summer of 1942. Battle Of Stalingrad: 36 Photos From WW2's Deadliest Clash Interrogation of captured German officers led Soviet commanders to realise that, because of the toll of events on Paulus's nerves, Schmidt was the real commander of the defending forces. The enemy wanted to start negotiations. Nikolay Dyatlenko - Wikipedia Soviet and German soldiers who just a few hours earlier had been firing on each other stood calmly next to one another in the courtyard holding their guns in their hands or slung on their shoulder. "[18], On 18 or 19 December, Major Eismann was sent by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein to brief Paulus and Schmidt on Operation Donnerschlag, Army Group Don's plan, not sanctioned by Hitler, for the Sixth Army to break out and incorporate itself in Manstein's Army Group. Battle of Stalingrad, (July 17, 1942-February 2, 1943), successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russia, U.S.S.R., during World War II. Hitler for permission for Paulus to. He also said that 18,000 men were wounded and were in immediate need of medical attention. Its appalling pronounced Paulus somberly. Amidst the ruins of their city which the Germans had destroyed, Soviet soldiers would pull a piece of bread or cigarettes or tobacco out of their pocket and offer them to the weary, half-starved German soldiers., Sergeant Pyotr Alkhutov was present when the German commander was taken prisoner: Paulus was haggard and clearly ill. Stalingrad encirclement from Pitomnik airfield "[10] Later that day, Schmidt and Paulus held a conference attended by General Hermann Hoth and Major-General Pickert,[10] during which Schmidt "did much of the talking". Field Marshal Paulus in Captivity: NKVD Files - All World Wars Januar 1943 gemeinsam mit dem tags zuvor zum Generalfeldmarschall befrderten Paulus in sowjetische Kriegsgefangenschaft, zunchst im Kriegsgefangenenlager 5110/48 Woikowo, dann im Gefngnis Lubjanka.
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