- Order 227 issued by
the Commissar on behalf of Stalin (July 28th
1942)
We have lost more than 70 million people, more than 800 million pounds of bread annually and more than 10 million tons of metal annually. Now we do not have predominance over the Germans in human reserves, in reserves of bread. To retreat further - means to waste ourselves and to waste at the same time our Motherland. Therefore it is necessary to eliminate talk that we have the capability endlessly to retreat, that we have a lot of territory, that our country is great and rich, that there is a large population, and that bread always will be abundant. Such talk is false and parasitic; it weakens us and benefits the enemy, if we do not stop
Retreating we will be without bread, without fuel, without metal, without raw material, without factories and plants, without railroads. This leads to the conclusion; it is time to finish retreating. Not one step back! Such should now be our main slogan. It is necessary to defend each position, each meter of our territory, up to the last drop of blood, tooling for each plot of Soviet land and to defend it as long as possible. Our Motherland is experiencing hard days. We must stop, and then to throw back and smash the enemy regardless of cost. This is the cause of why so many Russian soldiers were dying at the dawn of Barbarossa
- Excerpt from Albert
Speer’s book, Inside the Third Reich (1970)
that the Sixth Army must break out to the West. He deluged Hitler with data on all that the army lacked, both as
regards to rations and fuel, so that it had become impossible to provide warm
meals for the soldiers exposed to fierce cold in the snow-swept fields or the
scanty shelter of rums. Hitler remained calm, unmoved and deliberate, as if bent
on showing that Zeitzler's agitation was a psychotic reaction in the face of
danger. 'The counterattack from the south that I have ordered will soon relieve
Stalingrad. That will
recoup the situation. We have been in such positions
often before, you known. In the end we always had the problem in hand
again." He gave orders for supply trains to be dispatched right behind the
troops deploying for the counteroffensive, so that as soon as Stalingrad was
relieved something could at once be done about alleviating the plight of the
soldiers. Zeitzler disagreed, and Hitler let him talk without interrupting. The
forces provided for the counterattack were too weak, Zeitzler said. But if they could unite successfully
with a Sixth Army that had broken out to the west, they
would then be able to establish new positions farther to the south. Hitler offered counter arguments, but Zeitzler held to his view.
Finally, after the discussion had gone on for more than half an hour.
Hitler's patience snapped: "Stalingrad simply must be held. It must be; it is a key position. By breaking traffic on the Volga at that spot, we cause the Russians
the greatest difficulties."
- Wilhelm Hoffmann, German Army Soldier, diary entry in Stalingrad, 26 Dec
1942
Longer take cover from Russian shells; they haven't the strength to walk, run away and hide. This illustrates the desperate condition that every German soldier must put up with or die trying. It paints a gruesome picture of the life at Stalingrad
- Friedrich Paulus, Commanding General 6th Army at Stalingrad, radio
message to Adolf Hitler, 24 Jan 1943
Drugs. Further defense senseless. Collapse inevitable. Army requests immediate permission to surrender in order to save lives of
Remaining troops. The troops are not obeying Paulus and are dying every day, everywhere and are in desperate need of Ammo and Food.
- Adolf Hitler, radio message to Friedrich Paulus, 24 Jan 1943
Make an unforgettable contribution toward the establishment of a defensive front and the salvation of the Western world. Talking of how Paulus is fighting a war to “Cleanse” the world.
- Friedrich Paulus, radio message to Adolf Hitler, 31 Jan 1943
And the last round for Führer and Fatherland unto the end. Paulus is trying to make Hitler proud of the men which fought in Stalingrad.
- Official German radio broadcast, 3 Feb1943
Field-Marshal Paulus has been overcome by the superiority of the enemy and by the unfavorable circumstances confronting our
Forces. Saying that the Russians have beaten not only Paulus but the 6th army.