On November 19, 1942, the troops of the Southwestern and Don fronts launched a counteroffensive at Stalingrad, starting to encircle and liquidate the group of German fascist troops.
In commemoration of the 79th anniversary of these events, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has launched a new historical section on its website “The Stalingrad Turn.
The battle that changed the course of the Great War ”, which contains archival documents about the defeat of the Nazi group in Stalingrad and the capture of German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus by Soviet troops.
Some of the documents were presented to the general public for the first time.
"Destroy a powerful German grouping"
The Battle of Stalingrad, which historians call one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles in human history, began on July 17, 1942.
According to experts, the Nazis launched an offensive against Stalingrad, hoping to break through to the Volga and cut an important transport artery connecting the European part of the USSR with Central Asia and the Caucasus.
For four months, the Red Army held back the fierce attacks of the enemy, fighting literally for every building in Stalingrad.
And on November 19, 1942, the strategic offensive operation of the Soviet troops, codenamed "Uranus", began.
"Operation Uranus" was aimed at destroying a powerful German group that was advancing on Stalingrad and bogged down in battles for the city.
This operation was supposed to lead to a radical turning point in the war, "Mikhail Myagkov, scientific director of the Russian Military Historical Society, told RT.
According to military historian Sergei Perelygin, before the start of the offensive, the Soviet command ensured the necessary concentration of troops and prepared strikes on the enemy's flanks.
Already on November 23, 1942, Soviet troops closed the encirclement ring around the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht.
The encircled Nazis offered fierce resistance, and the German Army Group Don tried to break through the encirclement from the outside.
However, the efforts of the Nazis were unsuccessful, and the Soviet troops began to liquidate the enemy grouping.
At the same time, the Soviet command tried to avoid bloodshed and repeatedly invited the surrounded Nazis to start negotiations.
In December 1942, the commander of the Stalingrad Front, Colonel-General Andrei Eremenko presented the following ultimatum to General of Tank Forces Friedrich Paulus: “General!
If my proposal is not accepted, you will be held responsible for the deaths of many thousands of soldiers and officers, whose fate is entrusted to you.
At the same time, I inform you that if I do not receive a satisfactory answer from you, I will have to enter into negotiations directly with the commanders of the divisions and regiments entrusted to you. "
However, the content of a German radio message intercepted by Soviet troops indicates that the Nazi command did not initially intend to surrender and did not want to reckon with losses.
"By all means at your disposal, up to executions, to stop any talk of surrender among soldiers and officers ... to strictly impose the obligation on all officers and soldiers to unconditionally fulfill the special order of the Fuehrer," Paulus ordered.
Translation of intercepted German documents / Soviet combat report
© Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
Nevertheless, the skillful actions and courage of the Soviet soldiers left no chance for the surrounded Nazis. In early January 1943, the Soviet command presented the leadership of the Hitlerite group with an ultimatum signed by the representative of the Supreme Command of the Supreme Command Colonel-General of Artillery Nikolai Voronov and the commander of the Don Front, Lieutenant General Konstantin Rokossovsky. According to this document, which surrendered, among other things, the following conditions were offered: "All personnel of the surrendered troops keep their military uniform, insignia and orders, personal belongings, values, and the senior officers and edged weapons."
The Nazi command was warned that if the ultimatum was rejected, the Red Army would continue to destroy the Nazi group.
The answer to the demands of the Headquarters was expected on January 9, but the Nazis did not provide it.
The fighting continued.
"Victory recognized by the whole world"
In the combat report of the commander of the Don Front on January 27, 1943, the chief of the General Staff of the Red Army is informed of another attempt at negotiations between the command of the Soviet troops and the Nazi group. This document refers to a meeting between representatives of the 57th Army of the Don Front and the command of the encircled, at which the German officer said that since “General Paulus has not received instructions from Hitler”, he refuses to negotiate. After that, Rokossovsky makes a decision: "In connection with the refusal of the commander of the 6th German army to surrender, the troops of the Don Front were ordered to resume hostilities to fulfill the previous task - the complete destruction of the encircled enemy grouping."
At the same time, the Nazis, seeing their desperate situation, contrary to the orders of the command, began to surrender.
The certificate on the process of surrender of the encircled and defeated German troops at Stalingrad states that on January 25, the 297th German Infantry Division, numbering about 1200 people, surrendered, on January 26, the communications regiment surrendered (about 800 people), on January 27, the 44th Infantry Division laid down its arms - another 2,250 military personnel.
The Soviet documents stated the complete collapse of the Nazis' hopes for any favorable outcome of the battle for them.
On January 31, 1943, an operational report was received from the 64th Army headquarters that Friedrich Paulus, who by that time had been awarded the rank of Field Marshal, had been taken prisoner.
“Continuing the destruction of the encircled enemy grouping, army units in the morning of January 31, 1943 surrounded the headquarters of the 6th German army, located in the building of the executive committee.
After that, at the suggestion of the commander of the 6th German Army, Field Marshal von Paulus, negotiations began on the surrender of the southern ring of Stalingrad, ”the document says.
Soviet servicemen during the Battle of Stalingrad
© Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
According to the published data, during the negotiations, German officers turned to the Soviet side with a request to ensure personal safety for Paulus and not to disarm German soldiers in his presence.
However, by this time, many of them, without Paulus's order, threw down their weapons.
“When our delegation and von Paulus's retinue left the basement to get into the cars, there was almost no one left from the armed guard of von Paulus: our guards were already standing, and some of the soldiers in a huge column on the site were also indifferent,” the document says.
The section on the website of the Ministry of Defense also contains a report on Paulus being held captive, with entries from the diary of the counterintelligence officer of the special department of the Don Front, senior lieutenant of state security Yevgeny Tarabrin, with details of the surrender of the fascist military leader.
The Soviet officer was next to the captured Nazi generals and monitored them, not letting them understand that he spoke foreign languages.
Friedrich Paulus in captivity
© Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The diary contains data on the life of prisoners of war, records of their conversations.
It also contains Paulus's personal assessment of the actions of the Soviet troops during the Battle of Stalingrad: "Yes, all this will go down in military history as a brilliant example of the enemy's operational art."
The website of the Ministry of Defense also contains documents on awarding orders and medals to Soviet servicemen who distinguished themselves during the Battle of Stalingrad.
In particular, award documents were presented for the commander of the 38th motorized rifle brigade, Colonel Ivan Burmakov, as a result of which Paulus's headquarters was cut off from the main German forces, which accelerated the surrender of the Nazi group.
According to historians, the total losses of the Nazis during the Battle of Stalingrad amounted to about 1.5 million troops, the Soviet troops lost more than 1.1 million people.
After the defeat of the Hitlerite group that was rushing to the Volga, the strategic initiative in the war passed to the USSR.
“This is a huge victory recognized by the whole world.
In Stalingrad, Soviet troops for the first time managed to encircle and defeat such a large enemy grouping, "Sergei Perelygin emphasized in a conversation with RT.
Prisoners
© Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
In turn, Mikhail Myagkov stressed that the publication of historical documents about the events of the Great Patriotic War is extremely relevant today.
“Any authentic document of those years helps to reveal the truth about the courage of our heroes and to expose those who are trying to rewrite the history of the Great Patriotic War.
This is the defense of the historical truth, ”the expert summed up.