Mikelas Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 I am at work without access to my reference books, and having a heated "discussion" on another website about the wisdom of stubbornness vs. thoughtfulness in military actions. I would be very grateful if someone could supple me with the dates and quotes of the following: 1. Paulus request to break out of the Stalingrad pocket. 2. Hitler's reply 3. The 6th Army surrender Thank you. Mikelas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demoss Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 I checked the Stalingrad Pack's PDF, and only found a clear answer to #3: Paulus surrendered on January 31, 1943, with the last troops surrendering on February 2. There's no obvious mention of the other two points directly, although the December 22, 1942 entry may be what you're looking for: "Chief of Staff Zeitzler tries to get Hitler's approval for the breakout, but Hitler said the 6th Army could break out only if it could also hold Stalingrad on the Volga." It isn't completely clear from the context whether Zeitzler is Manstein's chief of staff or Paulus's. [ January 21, 2003, 03:12 PM: Message edited by: demoss ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xipe Posted January 21, 2003 Share Posted January 21, 2003 Did some googling... hard to find any specific answers to what you were asking though, hope this helps in some way at any rate... 24th January - Hitler refuses Mansteins request that Paulus is ordered to surrender. 30th January - Hitler makes Paulus a Field Marshal, an indication that he expects Paulus to commit suicide rather than be captured. The Soviets locate and surround Paulus headquarters in the southern German pocket. 31st January - Paulus surrenders himself and the southern German pocket. General Strecker holds out in the northern pocket. 2nd February - the northern pocket surrenders. The Battle of Stalingrad is over. http://www.blease.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/WG.pzf.stalingrad02.html January 9, 1943: The Soviet ultimatum to 6.Armee at Stalingrad is ignored by order of Colonel-General von Paulus, and the battle continues with unabated ferocity. http://www.feldgrau.com/january.html December 19. Manstein advances to within 30 miles of Stalingrad, asks Paulus to attempt to breakout in his direction. Paulus, fearful of the Fuhrer's wrath, refuses to budge. http://history.acusd.edu/gen/WW2Timeline/BARBAROS.HTML [Jan]09 The Russians waited through the whole they but no answer came. Paulus asked Hitler again for freedom of action but it was refused. Hitler told Paulus that every day the 6th Army holds out, it helps the entire front. What that meant was that as long as the 6th Army tied up hundreds of thousands of enemy troops at Stalingrad, Army Group A ,in the Caucasus, had a better chance of escaping a Russian trap (Russian Operation Saturn). Paulus refuses to surrender, committing the Army to fight to its death. [Jan] 22 After another huge Soviet artillery barrage announcing the start of renewed attacks, Sixth Army’s airstrip, at Gumrak, is assaulted by the Russians, and is soon lost, as Paulus evacuates his headquarters and moves into the city itself. (Univermag department store) He asked Hitler the permission to surrender. "Absolutely not" thundered Hitler. Manstein backed the Paulus request, but Hitler would not budge. Italian and Hungarian forces in Russia were placed under German command, their own Headquarters being withdrawn to "reoganize". [Jan] 23 Paulus added the argument that his ammunition was almost all gone, and repeated the request for authority to negotiate a surrender of 6th Army. Hitler refused again. He argued that it must fight to the last in order to gain time. (for what is not so clear), and informed Paulus of this personally by radio. [Jan] 24 The Russians again offered surrender terms. Paulus reports that his Army can only hold out for another couple of days, and asks for permission to try and save some of his men, by filtering them out to the southwest. Again, Hitler resolutely refuses even this attempt to salvage anything of 6th Army, in spite of the fact that they are literally without food and ammunition. Now, the fighting in Stalingrad is sporadic and hopeless. etc. http://216.198.255.120/diary/ [ January 21, 2003, 04:01 PM: Message edited by: Xipe ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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