The frontline was holding on with the last of its strength, banking on Hitler imminently, in the run-up to Christmas, fulfilling his promise of relief. At 9.00 sharp the HQ commander of the 6th Army arrived to take the commander of the vanquished German 6th Army and its staff towards the rear. He told the journalist to tell the wives and mothers that their husbands and sons were well. In that role he helped draft the plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. Schmidt continued: 'At the same time I have to inform you that the Russians are at the door.' Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. He took with him 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. 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. On one of the final Luftwaffe flights out of Stalingrad, Paulus had sent his wedding ring to his wife. 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." Our soldiers were not beaten, let alone shot. later during World War 2, German officers who flew out of the Stalingrad [8], Paulus and Schmidt realised that Sixth Army was encircled on 21 November. [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). [12] All the while, Paulus remained silent; the only time he spoke during the conference "was to agree with his chief of staff".[13]. German soldiers fighting at Stalingrad, December 1942. 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. "[27], Thyssen comments that both Paulus and Schmidt seemed to have forgotten Fiebig's statements on 21 and 22 November that the Luftwaffe would not be able to supply Sixth Army in the Kessel.[28]. They knocked out and set on fire the enemys tanks and armored vehicles, they brought down the enemy infantry. "[33], Prior to Paulus's interrogation, Paulus asked Schmidt how he should respond, to which Schmidt replied, "Remember you are a Field Marshal of the German Army," apparently (according to the Soviet interrogator) using the intimate "du" form of address, although Captain Winrich Behr, who was familiar with the relations between the two men, considered this unlikely. He lived out the rest of his life in Dresden. [1] On 19 January, Major Thiel was sent by VIII Air Corps to assess the runway at Gumrak and see whether further landings by Luftwaffe supply aircraft would be possible. November 1987 ebenda) war ein deutscher Generalleutnant. The last German success in Operation Winter Storm was reaching the Myshkova River 48 km from Stalingrad on December 19. It now seemed more impossible than ever to act against an order of the High Command or Army Group.[17]. [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. Janaury 1943, Stalingrad - Oberst - At the same time, Paulus declined to order the northern pocket to surrender on the grounds that, since January 30, its commander, Col-Gen Karl Strecker, was directly accountable to Hitler. 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 "[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". After he concluded that they would not, telling both Schmidt and Paulus so, Paulus reprimanded him for the original promise that air supply to Sixth Army would be possible, asking him: "Can you imagine that the soldiers fall upon a horse cadaver, split open its head, and devour the brain raw?" American diplomats in Moscow expected it. [4] He tried, unsuccessfully, to secure a cadetship in the Imperial German Navy and briefly studied law at Marburg University. Manstein, Erich von; Powell, Anthony G. (2004). Soviet and German soldiers, who just a few hours earlier had been shooting at one another, now stood quietly together in the yard. eMedals, Web. Hitler implied that if Paulus allowed himself to be taken alive, he would shame Germany's military history.[16]. [1] On 19 January, Major Thiel[who?] was the 01 of 6. My God, what a contrast between the two sides! 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. 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. However, the lack of food and ammunition, equipment losses and the deteriorating physical condition of the German troops gradually wore down the German defense. Newspaper clippings about Friedrich Paulus, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Friedrich_Paulus&oldid=1149650806, This page was last edited on 13 April 2023, at 15:20. The department store building in Stalingrad. [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). In 1920s, as part of the military cooperation between Weimar Republic and Soviet Union to escape Treaty of Versailles, Paulus presented guest lectures in Moscow, Soviet Union.[8]. [23] When General Hans-Valentin Hube flew into the Kessel [the encircled pocket of Axis forces in Stalingrad] on the morning of 9 January with Hitler's message to stand firm, "this strengthened General Schmidt's intransigent position at Sixth Army's headquarters." Februar 1957 in Dresden-Oberloschwitz) war ein deutscher Heeresoffizier (ab 1943 Generalfeldmarschall) und im Zweiten Weltkrieg Oberbefehlshaber der 6. Only we Germans can decide the future of Germany. to solve several supply problems. Paulus and I came separately to the same conclusion. He was a First Lieutenant in the 71 st Infantry Division that spearheaded the attack into Stalingrad in September 1942. report to Hitlers headquarters to personally [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. 12 Dec 2013. 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. [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. It was still dark but day was dawning almost imperceptibly. The Field Marshal was lying on an iron bed without a uniform, in just his shirt, recalled Ilchenko. The unit was renamed the Sixth Army and engaged in the spring offensives of 1940 through the Netherlands and Belgium. Paulus claimed that "I didn't surrender. Paulus remained absolutely firm in obeying the orders he had been given. Armee war diary and its annexes. Most significantly, he promoted Paulus to field marshal. [33], Of all the senior German officers held at Zavarykino, Schmidt was the most disliked by the Soviets; on one occasion he apparently reduced a mess waitress to tears during lunch, for which a Soviet officer, Lieutenant Bogomolov, made him apologise. Dr. Karl Uhrmacher and the 6. "[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. Adolf Hitler prohibited attempts to break out or capitulate, and German defence was gradually worn down. Hitler expected it. While the Field Marshal was tidying himself up in the room next door, the Soviet negotiators presented his generals with an ultimatum: The encircled grouping must immediately stop any resistance, lay down its weapons and surrender to the Soviet troops in an orderly manner. Paulus relied greatly on his judgement, and as a result he played a large, some say an excessive, role in determining the course of events later that year. Having survived Winter Storm and not having heard the Thunderclap, the Soviet command calmly returned to drawing up its planned operation to split up and conclusively destroy the Paulus grouping - preparations for which had been interrupted by the German offensive. This plan was to be successfully implemented in early 1943. [35] Together with most German officers, Schmidt was moved to Camp 48 at Voikovo, although he was kept away from Paulus by the NKVD, apparently because he was considered to be a bad influence on him. [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. Paulus did not request to evacuate the city when the counter-offensive began. . 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. Schmidt suffered a life threating Armee whrend der Schlacht von Stalingrad.Paulus war von 1943 bis 1953 in sowjetischer Kriegsgefangenschaft und lebte danach bis zu seinem Tod in der DDR It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked . 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. The rank of field marshal has been conferred upon you. Then they left the room. According to Pois and Langer: [Paulus's] chief of staff, Arthur Schmidt, a committed National Socialist to the end, seemed to represent Hitler for Paulus, indeed, probably was Hitler at Stalingrad. He handed the colonel general a piece of paper and said: 'Congratulations. List of important officers and commanders of the German Wehrmacht, the Russian Red Army, Romanian Army, Italian army and Hungarian Army in the Battle of Stalingrad . The dispatch came early this morningit was the last one.'. The Soviets held higher ground to the west, meaning that Sixth Army would be exposed to their guns if it attempted to break out. There, he would be interrogated by the Army commander Lt-Gen Mikhail Shumilov and the Don Front commander Lt-Gen Konstantin Rokossovsky. A car to the neighboring village of Beketovka, where the 64th Army HQ was stationed, awaited the Field Marshal. On December 18, the 4th Mechanized Corps which had particularly distinguished itself in the fighting here was awarded the title of Guards Corps. 26. As part of his communication, Rokossovsky advised Paulus that he was in an impossible situation. Schmidt and Paulus set up their HQ in the Kessel underneath the Univermag department store on the city's Red Square. "[31] Schmidt, together with Paulus and Colonel Adam, were taken to Don Front HQ at Zavarykino, where they were interrogated. He was a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union for twelve years, and was released following West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer's visit to Moscow in 1955. [37] He died in Karlsruhe on 5 November 1987. Following his orders, Paulus prepared to break out of Stalingrad. On the afternoon of 22 November, Schmidt flew with Paulus to the new Sixth Army HQ at Gumrak. [5] Ignoring Hitler's 'Fhrer instruction' of 30 June 1942 that Axis formations should not liaise with their neighbours, Schmidt authorised an officer from Sixth Army, Lieutenant Gerhard Stck, to be issued with a radio and join up with Romanian forces to the north-west of Stalingrad to help with intelligence gathering. "Award Document to General der Panzertruppe Paulus, Item Number: EU4642". The Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943) was fought during the Second World War between Nazi Germany led by Adolf Hitler and the Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin. [citation needed], Many English-language sources and publications from the 1940s to the present day give Paulus' family name the prefix "von". According to Soviet statistics, from 1945 to 1956, over 580,000 people died in prison camps, over 356,000 of them Germans. Arthur Schmidt (25 October 1895 5 November 1987) was an officer in the German military from 1914 to 1943. 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. Once again, Hitler rejected Paulus' request out of hand, and ordered him to hold Stalingrad to the death. sick. He studied philology at the University of Kyiv before World War II, and after the war he became an author.. Stalingrad truce First attempt. [30] When the forces defending Sixth Army HQ surrendered on the morning of 31 January, Schmidt discussed surrender terms with officers from General Shumilov's HQ, while Paulus waited unaware in a room next door. He crossed the Meuse river at Dinant. In 1942, Paulus was given command of the 6th Army despite his lack of field experience. [9] At Nizhne-Chirskaya on 22 November, Schmidt told 8th Air Corps's commander, General Martin Fiebig, that Sixth Army needed to be resupplied by air. Tired of waiting for Friedrich Paulus himself to finally appear, the Soviet commanders went into his room. Schmidt, confident of his own abilities, put many backs up within Sixth Army headquarters, although he also had his supporters. pocket and became General Officer Snow fell from our vehicle tracks. [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". He was considered a promising officer; by the time World War II broke out he had been promoted to major general. That would be a Napoleonic ending. After his return to the German Democratic Republic in 1953, Paulus gave a press conference in Berlin on 2 July 1954 in the presence of Western journalists, titled "On the vital issues of our nation". Paulus fought in World War I and saw action in France and the Balkans. These two peoples must put aside all conflicts between them, all the more so because German-French relations are the link in the dangerous chain held by the Americans to turn one European people against the other and use them as a vehicle for their own policy.[23]. Following the German surrender after the Battle of Stalingrad, he became a member of the National Committee for a Free Germany. Believing that an attempt to break the encirclement would be made here, the Soviet command attached special importance to the sector and intensively reinforced it. brought to the divisional doctor, Oberstarzt Dr. German soldiers pushing a Junkers-52 aircraft through snow at the captured Soviet airfield of Pitomnik during the Battle of Stalingrad. A candle-end was burning on the table, illuminating an accordion lying on the couch. This is on page 194. Paulus didnt greet us but he sat up. Soviet soldiers, who seized the headquarters of Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus. Click here to find out more. Paulus said he had not surrendered and refused to order the remaining German forces to surrender. 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. [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. On December 12, as part of Operation Winter Storm, the German Army Group Hoth (named after its commander, Colonel-General Hermann Hoth) launched a surprise attack and crushed the Red Armys outnumbered 302nd Rifle Division, subsequently embarking on a rapid advance in the direction of Stalingrad. Soviet soldiers attacking last german resistance in Stalingrad. Schmidt joined the army as a one-year volunteer on 10 August 1914, attaining the rank of Leutnant on 8 May 1915. A shameful capitulation, the terrible tragedy of the soldiers. [16] However, on 24 November Sixth Army received a further Fhrer order relayed from Army Group B, ordering them to stand firm. He led the drive to Stalingrad but was cut off and surrounded in the subsequent Soviet counter-offensive. By the end of the war, he was a captain. In dieser Funktion wurde er am 1. They led the Soviet soldiers to Pauluss room. Hitler, leery of the reasons for Paulus' transfer to Nizhne-Chirskaya, orders him to move his HQ again. [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. Armee. The march towards the Volga had ended.[17]. Karl Uhrmacher (missing in Stalingrad since end The phrase Manstein is coming! was still on everyones lips. Oktober 1895 in Hamburg; 5. This website uses cookies. Worse than a tram! Schmidt was not a man of great tactical skill, daring or initiative; rather he was characterised by a stubborn optimism, tenacity and a willingness to obey the orders of his superiors without question. If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material. Januar 2022 um 19:24 Uhr bearbeitet. Juni 1942 zum Generalmajor ernannt und nahm an der Schlacht von Stalingrad teil. Hitler did not consent to this request. He also said that 18,000 men were wounded and were in immediate need of medical attention. Operation Winter Storm, a relief effort by Army Group Don under Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, was launched in December. He was not able to walk anymore and was brought to the divisional doctor, Oberstarzt Dr. Karl Uhrmacher (missing in Stalingrad since end January 1943). [c], Lieutenant General Friedrich Paulus (June 1942). Magdeburgisches) Nr. For example: Mark Arnold-Forster's The World At War, companion volume to the documentary of the same name, Stein and Day, 1973, pp. It was some time before I could break out of the maze of thoughts and strange dreams that depressed me so greatly. 'One can't help feeling it's an invitation to suicide. On 4 July 1912 he married the Romanian Constance Elena Rosetti-Solescu, the sister of a colleague who served in the same regiment. [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. In November 1942, when the Soviet Red Army launched a massive counter-offensive, code-named Operation Uranus, Paulus found himself surrounded by an entire Soviet Army Group. During his captivity, according to General Max Pfeffer, Paulus said, "I have no intention of shooting myself for this Bohemian corporal." Er wurde am 15. Stalingrad cover The novel begins with a meeting between fascist dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini on April 29, 1942, in which they discuss the progress of the war. Ignoring the German officers halfhearted request to hand over their weapons, the Soviet negotiators started going down to the basement where Friedrich Paulus had his HQ. The Soviet units and subunits already there were to contain the enemy until its arrival. A firefighter by profession, he volunteered into the German army in 1939. On 2 February 1943 the remainder of the Sixth Army capitulated. The Germans started to withdraw, pursued by Malinovskys 2nd Guards Army which had begun a counterattack on December 24. Maybe since the last time we met - more than 10 years ago - our views on specific issues differed, but I know in general, through his writings, with what sense of responsibility, how restlessly he refused to align himself with the Federal Chancellor's European Defence Community policy.
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