Russia 1943 ▶ Battle of Stalingrad - Radio Report (January 1943) OKW Oberkommando der Wehrmacht Armeebericht 6th Army 6. Armee Pocket Kessel Paulus
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OKW Oberkommando Wehrmacht Report - Radio Address January 1943
"In the area of Stalingrad and the Don Arch:
We would not be doing the German people any favours if we were to deny that the situation here had at times been very serious, and that even today, when we give this interim assessment, it shows some worrying features. Nevertheless, it is far from being a catastrophe, even in the literal sense of the word. The fact that it did not happen is not in the least due to the actions of those whose actions have been reported daily for weeks and months in the OKW report - the Stalingrad fighters. For some time now, the area around this important Soviet industrial city has been transformed into a fortress, admittedly only an improvised one, in which a German army has been called upon again and again from all sides, cut off from all earthly connections, to assert itself against Soviet forces which are far superior in number and armament. It is an infinitely difficult struggle which is taking place here, and every single one of those standing there knows what fate may be decided for him and his troops. It can be the fate of the Nibelungs in the burning banquet hall of King Etzel (Attila), surrounded by Hun weapons. The men of the Colonel General Paulus fought their heroic battle deathly and faithfully. It is a fight with the back against a wall. A fight that knows no retreat, no evasion, only assertion or destruction. But: may the outcome of this unequal fight be as it will be. The operational benefit of this heroic resistance is already clearly evident today. It is not too much to say when we say that the holding of Paulu's army for weeks and weeks has had the strongest influence on the operational development in the southern part of the Eastern Front. More than that, the unopposed Stalingrad has averted the worst calamities. The heavy sacrifices made by its brave defenders, and perhaps even heavier ones that may have been imposed on them, have not been in vain."
The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 -- 2 February 1943) was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in the south-western Soviet Union. Marked by constant close quarters combat and disregard for military and civilian casualties, it is amongst the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. The heavy losses inflicted on the Wehrmacht make it arguably the most strategically decisive battle of the whole war. It was a turning point in the European theatre of World War II--the German forces never regained the initiative in the East and withdrew a vast military force from the West to reinforce their losses. The German offensive to capture Stalingrad began in late summer 1942 using the 6th Army and elements of the 4th Panzer Army. The attack was supported by intensive Luftwaffe bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble. The fighting degenerated into building-to-building fighting, and both sides poured reinforcements into the city. By mid-November 1942, the Germans had pushed the Soviet defenders back at great cost into narrow zones generally along the west bank of the Volga River. On 19 November 1942, the Red Army launched Operation Uranus, a two-pronged attack targeting the weaker Romanian and Hungarian forces protecting the German 6th Army's flanks. The Axis forces on the flanks were overrun and the 6th Army was cut off and surrounded in the Stalingrad area. Adolf Hitler ordered that the army stay in Stalingrad and make no attempt to break out; instead, attempts were made to supply the army by air and to break the encirclement from the outside. Heavy fighting continued for another two months. By the beginning of February 1943, the Axis forces in Stalingrad had exhausted their ammunition and food. The remaining elements of the 6th Army surrendered. The battle lasted five months, one week, and three days.
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