[21]. "[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. The enemy wanted to start negotiations. He handed the colonel general a piece of paper and said: 'Congratulations. the confines of the Kessel: he was ordered to 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. 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. Arthur Schmidt (* 25. 139142; other examples are Allen and Muratoff's The Russian Campaigns of 19411943, published in 1944[5] and Peter Margaritis (2019). Schmidt, confident of his own abilities, put many backs up within Sixth Army headquarters, although he also had his supporters. Thus, another prominent and experienced German politician stressed that a final implementation of the EDC agreement would be dangerous for the German nation. 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 Adolf Hitler prohibited attempts to break out or capitulate, and German defence was gradually worn down. 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. White flags appeared from the ground and second floors. In that role he helped draft the plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. During his captivity, according to General Max Pfeffer, Paulus said, "I have no intention of shooting myself for this Bohemian corporal." General Schmidt; an ardent Nazi, that the Luftwaffe would not be able to supply an encircled 6th army from the air alone. Here is a man who sees 50,000 or 60,000 of his soldiers die defending themselves bravely to the end. 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. Guderian described him as "brilliantly clever, conscientious, hard working, original and talented" but had severe doubts about his decisiveness, toughness and lack of command experience. He led the drive to Stalingrad but was cut off and surrounded in the subsequent Soviet counter-offensive. [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). Everyone knows that our nation used to have great military experts, known all over the world, such as Clausewitz, Moltke the Elder, Schlieffen. 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. 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]. He German troops during the Operation Winter Storm. Paulus fought in World War I and saw action in France and the Balkans. Paulus surrendered in Stalingrad on 31 January 1943,[a] the same day on which he was informed of his promotion to field marshal by Hitler. 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, after the attempted assassination of Hitler on 20 July 1944, he became a vocal critic of the Nazi regime while in Soviet captivity, joining the Soviet-sponsored National Committee for a Free Germany appealing to Germans to surrender. The tanks opened up their devastating fire and the assault rifles of the Hitlerite infantry stuttered and rattled. fly out of the Stalingrad pocket and he left on He was assigned to the 13th Infantry Regiment at Stuttgart as a company commander. [8], Paulus and Schmidt realised that Sixth Army was encircled on 21 November. 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. He was told that "The Luftwaffe doesn't have enough aircraft. 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." 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]. [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. [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. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. On one of the final Luftwaffe flights out of Stalingrad, Paulus had sent his wedding ring to his wife. They all looked desperately frightened. [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]. explain to Hitler the situation of the encircled XIV. Arthur Schmidt (* 25. Schmidt continued: 'At the same time I have to inform you that the Russians are at the door.' 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. [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. Stalingrad archives of Jason Mark, Manfred Kehrig - 3 reasons why the Red Army won the Battle of Stalingrad, The WWII battle that nearly turned into a second Stalingrad, The battle that allowed the Nazis to break through to Stalingrad. 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 . Schmidt joined the army as a one-year volunteer on 10 August 1914, attaining the rank of Leutnant on 8 May 1915. 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. 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. Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (* 23.September 1890 in Guxhagen; 1. For the next two months, Paulus and his men fought on. In 1953, Paulus moved to East Germany, where he worked in military history research. [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 studied philology at the University of Kyiv before World War II, and after the war he became an author.. Stalingrad truce First attempt. On the night of January 31, 1943, units of the 64th Armys 38th Motorized Rifle Brigade broke through to the department store building in the center of Stalingrad, sealing it off from all sides. He was allowed to move to the German Democratic Republic in 1953, two years before the repatriation of the remaining German POWs. Paulus was born in Guxhagen and grew up in Kassel, Hesse-Nassau, the son of a treasurer. Paulus claimed that "I didn't surrender. I have in mind, first of all, France. That danger is real. "[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. 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. Youll have to talk to me.. Paulus said he had not surrendered and refused to order the remaining German forces to surrender. Hitler implied that if Paulus allowed himself to be taken alive, he would shame Germany's military history.[16]. The governments responsible for this have both put their armed forces in front of insoluble problems. He attempted to conduct himself in a suitably dignified manner, but in his condition it was difficult for him to manage. 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. [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. This website uses cookies. "[31] Schmidt, together with Paulus and Colonel Adam, were taken to Don Front HQ at Zavarykino, where they were interrogated. There are still many people today who wonder how Germany, which no doubt possessed a highly trained army, could be defeated in two wars. A northern pocket centered on the tractor factory and a smaller southern pocket in the city center. November 1987 ebenda) war ein deutscher Generalleutnant. He was told that "The Luftwaffe doesn't have enough aircraft." 'Meeting The Victors', Sputnik Magazine, 1968, USSR; (English-language article). Magdeburgisches) Nr. [2][3], deutscher Generalleutnant im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Zuletzt bearbeitet am 24. Had the Germans succeeded in their Operation Winter Storm (Operation Wintergewitter), all the efforts and sacrifices of the Soviet troops which had been heroically defending Stalingrad would have been in vain. Soviet soldiers attacking last german resistance in Stalingrad. [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." Armee. This website uses cookies. On the order of the brigade commander, Colonel Ivan Burmakov, a group of negotiators led by Senior Lieutenant Fyodor Ilchenko headed for the department store building. [4] The British historian and author Antony Beevor offers the following description of Schmidt: A firefighter by profession, he volunteered into the German army in 1939. Analyse und Dokumentation einer Schlacht, in the evening of 13 January 1943 - ordered to, during the night of 19 and 20 January 1943 - [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. The question cannot be answered in military terms. with these words he opened the door and a Soviet general and his interpreter entered the room. Operation Winter Storm, a relief effort by Army Group Don under Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, was launched in December. After the Soviet troops opened intensive fire from machine guns and mortars on the building at about six oclock in the morning, the shooting from the German side stopped. Only we Germans can decide the future of Germany. He was, in any case, a defender of a united and sovereign Germany. Almost 70% of deaths occurred in the winter of 1945-1946. [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." But as long as we keep on fighting, the Red Army has to remain here. We were in frenzied spirits and, had it made sense, we would have been shouting Hoorah! We were firing at every target that appeared, operating our machine guns to their very limit The Russian infantry dispersed in all directions; they must have thought we were madmen, is how 1st Lieutenant Horst Scheibert remembered the launch of Operation Winter Storm that aimed to break through to Friedrich Pauluss 6th Army encircled at Stalingrad. The carnage of the Battle of Stalingrad finally came to an end in February 1943, when the German Sixth Army Commander, Gen. Friedrich Paulus, surrendered the remaining ninety thousand troops of his army to the Soviet Forces. 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. 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. Paulus awoke and sat up. Manstein's forces were unable to reach Stalingrad on their own and their efforts were eventually halted due to Soviet offensives elsewhere on the front.[12]. The time has come for the old enmity that we have inherited and the many disputes to be buried once and for all. [16] However, on 24 November Sixth Army received a further Fhrer order relayed from Army Group B, ordering them to stand firm. Soviet and German soldiers, who just a few hours earlier had been shooting at one another, now stood quietly together in the yard. Facing Stalingrad Interview of Gerhard HindenlangMedia Sources and CreditsInterview of Gerhard HindenlangSenior copyright holder: Facing Stalingrad Project, . However I'm not going to do them such a favour.' 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. I was taken by surprise" in conversation with Marshal Voronov. They were all unwashed and hungry and they smelt to high heaven! Following his release, Schmidt remained bitterly hostile to those German officers who had co-operated with the Soviets in the National Committee for a Free Germany. Calender - November1942 during the battle for Stalingrad November 1942 . 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. The following month he was named deputy chief of the German General Staff (Oberquartiermeister I). 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. [31] Schmidt, together with Paulus and Colonel Adam, were taken to Don Front HQ at Zavarykino, where they were interrogated. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves . (In fact, he went on to appoint another seven field marshals during the last two years of the war.) My God, what a contrast between the two sides! I was going to get up quietly when someone knocked at the door. Unwashed, with unkempt beards, they wore comical-looking makeshift snow boots and were wrapped in towels and womens headscarves. In February 1938, Paulus was appointed Chef des Generalstabes to Gen. Heinz Guderian's new XVI Armeekorps (Motorisiert), which replaced Lutz's command. [13], Regarding the resistance to capitulate, according to Adam, Paulus stated .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, What would become of the war if our army in the Caucasus were also surrounded? That would be a Napoleonic ending. 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. This is the precondition for collective security in Europe and at the same time for a happy future for our own nation. The German soldiers, ragged and in light coats, looked like ghosts with hollow, unshaven cheeks. The German commander, according to Laskins recollections, greeted the members of the delegation with a sentence in broken Russian: Field Marshal of the German Army Paulus renders himself prisoner to the Red Army. He apologized that, since his new rank had only been conferred on him on January 30, his new uniform wasnt ready and he was compelled to appear in his colonel-generals uniform. You will go in your personal car.' 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]. 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. There, he would be interrogated by the Army commander Lt-Gen Mikhail Shumilov and the Don Front commander Lt-Gen Konstantin Rokossovsky. [14], On 7 January 1943 General Konstantin Rokossovsky, commander of the Red Army on the Don front, called a cease-fire and offered Paulus' men generous surrender terms: normal rations, medical treatment for the ill and wounded, permission to retain their badges, decorations, uniforms and personal effects. [18], Paulus, a Roman Catholic, was opposed to suicide. Heavy fighting broke out near the hamlet of Verkhnekumsky, where the Soviet forces managed to resist the Germans for about five days, thus winning precious time. Kommandeur Infanterieregiment 191, Stalingrad Oberstleutnant - Kommandeur
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