. that it was the best to fly him out of the But I don't think I remained in this state for very long. Tired of waiting for Friedrich Paulus himself to finally appear, the Soviet commanders went into his room. He was not able to walk anymore and was He was allowed to move to the German Democratic Republic in 1953, two years before the repatriation of the remaining German POWs. [37] He died in Karlsruhe on 5 November 1987. [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). 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. 'Prepare yourself for departure. He That danger is real. Panzerkorps war diary and its annexes. Snow fell from our vehicle tracks. When presented with the commander of 51st Corps General Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach's 25 November memorandum to Paulus, detailing plans for a breakout, Schmidt said: "We don't have to break the head of the Fhrer for him, and neither does General von Seydlitz have to break the head of [General Paulus]. The department store building in Stalingrad. However, the lack of food and ammunition, equipment losses and the deteriorating physical condition of the German troops gradually wore down the German defense. Soviet soldiers attacking last german resistance in Stalingrad. eMedals, Web. November 1987 ebenda) war ein deutscher Generalleutnant. November 1987 ebenda) war ein deutscher Generalleutnant. Juni 1942 zum Generalmajor ernannt und nahm an der Schlacht von Stalingrad teil. 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 Description On 26 January 1943, the German forces inside Stalingrad were split into two pockets. The enemy wanted to start negotiations. By the end of the war, he was a captain. The general announced that we were his prisoners. In that role he helped draft the plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (* 23.September 1890 in Guxhagen; 1. Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox. The German troops closest positions to the encircled 6th Army were in the area of the Chir River (just 40 km away). 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?" General Schmidt surrendered the headquarters. Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 - 1 February 1957) was a German field marshal during World War II who is best known for commanding the 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942 to February 1943). In late 1956, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and became progressively weaker. 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. Paulus requested permission from Hitler to surrender. A car to the neighboring village of Beketovka, where the 64th Army HQ was stationed, awaited the Field Marshal. 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!. If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material. [14] That evening the Soviet encirclement of Axis forces was confirmed in a signal Paulus sent to Hitler. Nachdem er anstelle von Paulus im Keller des Kaufhauses Univermag die bergabeverhandlungen gefhrt und die Kapitulation der 6. Thus, another prominent and experienced German politician stressed that a final implementation of the EDC agreement would be dangerous for the German nation. 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. 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". [37] He died in Karlsruhe on 5 November 1987. [11], Paulus followed Adolf Hitler's orders to hold his positions in Stalingrad under all circumstances, despite the fact that he was completely surrounded by strong Soviet forces. This website uses cookies. Hitler expected the success to be repeated here and ordered Paulus to hold on in Stalingrad, while getting essential food, weapons and ammunition supplied by air. You will go in your personal car.' Gaunt, pale and emaciated, the commander of the Wehrmacht's 6th Army looked like a hunted animal to the Soviet military commanders. 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?" World War II He was assigned to the 13th Infantry Regiment at Stuttgart as a company commander. In 1942, Paulus was given command of the 6th Army despite his lack of field experience. [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. Finally, he supported former German Chancellor Heinrich Brning's appeal for a betterment of relations between West Germany and the Eastern Bloc, agreed with Brning's criticism of West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer's overtly pro-American policy, and expressed his hope for a German reunification: Chancellor Brning took a clear stand against Chancellor Adenauer's rigid orientation to the West, and practically against the EDC and the Bonn conventions. Every day that the army holds out longer helps the whole front and draws away the Russian divisions from it. [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. 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. [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. Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 1 February 1957) was a German field marshal during World War II who is best known for commanding the 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942 to February 1943). Schmidt was appointed chief of staff to General Friedrich Paulus in Sixth Army on 15 May 1942, replacing Colonel Ferdinand Heim after the counter-attack against Marshal Semyon Timoshenko at the Second Battle of Kharkov. [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. exact date unknow end Nov. - early December 1942, flew out : in the evening of 22 January 1943 - ordered to. Stalin himself was pessimistic. In that capacity, Paulus helped plan the invasion of the Soviet Union. 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. said Paulus after reading the dispatch. He was told that "The Luftwaffe doesn't have enough aircraft. [8], Paulus and Schmidt realised that Sixth Army was encircled on 21 November. 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. 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. After leaving university without a degree, he joined the 111th Infantry Regiment as an officer cadet in February 1910. 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]. These characteristics of Paulus and Schmidt would prove fatal to the trapped garrison of Stalingrad. According to Soviet statistics, from 1945 to 1956, over 580,000 people died in prison camps, over 356,000 of them Germans. ", "Battle of Stalingrad a summary History in an Hour", " . : (02/07/1954)". The governments responsible for this have both put their armed forces in front of insoluble problems. 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]. They led the Soviet soldiers to Pauluss room. He remained there until 1955, when a visit to Moscow by West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer led to his release, together with the remaining high-ranking German prisoners.[35]. jaundice. The Red Army soldiers were well nourished, full of vigor and dressed in fine winter uniforms I was deeply moved by something else. Paulus awoke and sat up. A candle-end was burning on the table, illuminating an accordion lying on the couch. 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. Stalingrad archives of Jason Mark, Manfred Kehrig - [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. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. It was some time before I could break out of the maze of thoughts and strange dreams that depressed me so greatly. Here is a man who sees 50,000 or 60,000 of his soldiers die defending themselves bravely to the end. Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, General Arthur Schmidt and Wilhelm Adam, adjutant to the 6th Army commander. With the new year, Hitler promoted Paulus to colonel general. [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. (In fact, he went on to appoint another seven field marshals during the last two years of the war.) Nach dem Krieg wurde er in die Reichswehr bernommen. A fluent German speaker, Captain Dyatlenko was transferred to the 7th Department of the Stalingrad Front in the autumn of 1942 to help . 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. with these words he opened the door and a Soviet general and his interpreter entered the room. White flags appeared from the ground and second floors. Adam later served in the National People's Army of East Germany . Youll have to talk to me.. That would be a Napoleonic ending. The general feared that, deprived of their armored strike force, the slow-moving bulk of his troops would simply be ground into dust by the Red Army in the freezing steppe. In an attempt to distance himself in every possible way from the capitulation, Paulus delegated the right to negotiate to Roske and Schmidt. Panzer Korps, - Armee [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. Involuntarily I remembered the chain of unfortunate events which had prevented me from sleeping for so many nights. We have been punished for pursuing the policy of violent and lightning strikes that is now being cultivated, and we know what it has cost us. Hearing the sound of gunfire, Ilchenko made a grab for his holster, but it only turned out to be suicides. 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. We want good relations between the German people and other peoples who respect our national rights. 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. The march towards the Volga had ended.[17]. [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. 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. Most significantly, he promoted Paulus to field marshal. Stalingrad archive of Geert Rottiers, Private 26, https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arthur_Schmidt_(Offizier)&oldid=219508932. 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. This plan was to be successfully implemented in early 1943. Schmidt and Paulus set up their HQ in the Kessel underneath the Univermag department store on the city's Red Square. Behrs instructions were to ask The Soviet Operation Koltso (Ring) to defeat the enemy grouping encircled in the city was approaching its finale. had been ordered to fly out by Heeresgruppe Don Career [ edit] Schmidt joined the Prussian Army in 1906 and served during World War I. [36], After Voikovo, Schmidt was held in the Lubyanka prison. In these last days Schmidt also developed a lively busy-ness in other respects. 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. After the Armistice, Paulus was a brigade adjutant with the Freikorps. was sent by VIII Air Corps to assess the runway at Gumrak and see whether further landings by Luftwaffe supply aircraft would be possible. I had the official seal with me. Analyse und Dokumentation einer Schlacht, in the evening of 13 January 1943 - ordered to, during the night of 19 and 20 January 1943 - Oktober 1895 in Hamburg; 5. We shall be back for you at 9.00. Stalingrad was going to fall - if not in August 1942 then certainly in September. They put the number of POW captured at Stalingrad at 100,000 of whom 6,000 survived. Hitler expected it. fly out of the Stalingrad pocket and he left on Paulus also forbade his soldiers from standing on top of their trenches in order to be shot by the enemy. [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]. [18], Paulus, a Roman Catholic, was opposed to suicide. Paulus was promoted to lieutenant general in August 1940. 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. I was taken by surprise" in conversation with Marshal Voronov. The tanks opened up their devastating fire and the assault rifles of the Hitlerite infantry stuttered and rattled. Millions were killed, wounded, missing, or captured in what was perhaps the most brutal battle in modern history. He was a First Lieutenant in the 71 st Infantry Division that spearheaded the attack into Stalingrad in September 1942. Facing Stalingrad Interview of Gerhard HindenlangMedia Sources and CreditsInterview of Gerhard HindenlangSenior copyright holder: Facing Stalingrad Project, . 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. He studied philology at the University of Kyiv before World War II, and after the war he became an author.. Stalingrad truce First attempt. 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]. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Paulus did not request to evacuate the city when the counter-offensive began. I prepared for my last official duty. He served in various staff positions for over a decade (192133). Worse than a tram! On December 18, the 4th Mechanized Corps which had particularly distinguished itself in the fighting here was awarded the title of Guards Corps. 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. The area around the department store had by then come under the full control of Soviet infantry and Wehrmacht soldiers were clearing sectors that had been mined. The northern pocket was tactically commanded by General Strekker while the southern pocket was commanded by General Roske. When presented with the commander of 51st Corps General Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach's 25 November memorandum to Paulus, detailing plans for a breakout, Schmidt said: "We don't have to break the head of the Fhrer for him, and neither does General von Seydlitz have to break the head of [General Paulus]. Not a trace was left of our much-celebrated element of surprise, noted the commander of the 17th Panzer Division, Major-General Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin. [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. wounded, in the evening of 19 January 1943 - ordered to, became 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. He had the appearance of a sick and physically exhausted man and his face was twitching in a nervous tic.. The phrase Manstein is coming! was still on everyones lips. Only we Germans can decide the future of Germany. 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. Paulus took part in the Poland and Low Countries campaigns, after which he was named deputy chief of the German Army General Staff. In comparison . His final plan was to have two Stork aircraft towed by larger aircraft to Stalingrad, land and pick him up, then fly out of the pocket back to German lines. During his captivity, according to General Max Pfeffer, Paulus said, "I have no intention of shooting myself for this Bohemian corporal." 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. Januar 1943 erhielt er das Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. [2] On 26 January 1942 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold.[3]. 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. German soldiers pushing a Junkers-52 aircraft through snow at the captured Soviet airfield of Pitomnik during the Battle of Stalingrad. 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. On the night of January 31, 1943, units of the 64th Army's 38th. 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. 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. This list may not reflect recent changes . In der Endphase der Schlacht bernahm er von Paulus weitgehend die Fhrung der Armee. 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. They were all armed, some with weapons in their hands, some with them over their shoulders. This decision to stand firm in a "hedgehog" defence sealed Sixth Army's fate. 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. 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. Nachrichtenfhrer AOK 6, Private "Award Document to General der Panzertruppe Paulus, Item Number: EU4642". [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. Am 6. Hitler awarded the Knight's Cross to Schmidt on 6 January 1943 on the same day that Paulus signalled to General Kurt Zeitzler: "Army starving and frozen, have no ammunition and cannot move tanks any more" [25] and made him Generalleutnant on 17 January. [14] That evening the Soviet encirclement of Axis forces was confirmed in a signal Paulus sent to Hitler. [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). pocket and became General Officer, Chef Generalstab XIV. Okay, October. 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. Hitler implied that if Paulus allowed himself to be taken alive, he would shame Germany's military history.[16]. [8], Paulus and Schmidt realised that Sixth Army was encircled on 21 November. 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 evening of 13 January 1943. And anyway, my new uniform will hardly be of any use to me now, the commander added with a wry smile. Arthur Schmidt (* 25. [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. Schmidt, confident of his own abilities, put many backs up within Sixth Army headquarters, although he also had his supporters. 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 confines of the Kessel: he was ordered to 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. My God, what a contrast between the two sides! Am 6. Pages in category "German commanders at the Battle of Stalingrad" The following 25 pages are in this category, out of 25 total.