Battle of Stalingrad | History, Summary, Location, Deaths, & Facts [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? Paulus remained absolutely firm in obeying the orders he had been given. Ahead for Friedrich Paulus lay Soviet camps, work in the anti-fascist National Committee for a Free Germany and life in the GDR for the short time left to him. Arthur Schmidt (general) | Military Wiki | Fandom [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. 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. His troops fought Soviet forces defending Stalingrad for over three months in increasingly brutal urban warfare. Armee war diary and its annexes. Januar 2022 um 19:24 Uhr bearbeitet. [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. 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. exact date unknow end Nov. - early December 1942, flew out : in the evening of 22 January 1943 - ordered to. Schmidt kmpfte im Ersten Weltkrieg als Zugfhrer und Kompaniechef im Infanterie-Regiment Frst Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau (1. Juni 1942 zum Generalmajor ernannt und nahm an der Schlacht von Stalingrad teil. Every day that the army holds out longer helps the whole front and draws away the Russian divisions from it. 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. [4] The British historian and author Antony Beevor offers the following description of Schmidt: The implication was clear: Paulus was to commit suicide. Panzerkorps war diary and its annexes. This list may not reflect recent changes . 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. [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. Arthur Schmidt (general) - Wikipedia [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). 'One can't help feeling it's an invitation to suicide. List of officers and commanders in the Battle of Stalingrad Career [ edit] Schmidt joined the Prussian Army in 1906 and served during World War I. The frontline was holding on with the last of its strength, banking on Hitler imminently, in the run-up to Christmas, fulfilling his promise of relief. They all looked desperately frightened. Battle Of Stalingrad: 36 Photos From WW2's Deadliest Clash [23], From 1953 to 1956, Paulus lived in Dresden, East Germany, where he worked as the civilian chief of the East German Military History Research Institute. on New Years Day 1943, In the morning of 19 Kurt Zeitzler, the newly appointed chief of the Army General Staff, eventually got Hitler to allow Paulus to break outprovided he continue to hold Stalingrad, an impossible task. [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). We shall be back for you at 9.00. 1943. The Aftermath in Stalingrad - billdownscbs.com Paulus and his staff were captured on the morning of 31 January 1943. Behr had an important task once he was free of 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. 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. Paulus fought in World War I and saw action in France and the Balkans. German hopes for the rescue of the encircled grouping were finally dashed by the Soviet Operation Little Saturn that started on December 16. [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]. Rudolf Schmidt (12 May 1886 - 7 April 1957) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded the 2nd Panzer Army on the Eastern Front. Climbing out of the cellar, I stood dumbfounded. The Soviet units and subunits already there were to contain the enemy until its arrival. On its way to the HQ, the car caught up with columns of German prisoners dragging themselves along the road. The anti-tank gunners (anti-tank rifle squads) fought to the last round, to the last grenade. In this it would constantly face the danger that its southwesterly push could stall or the enemy could overwhelm its rear guard or flank defenses. 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. was sent by VIII Air Corps to assess the runway at Gumrak and see whether further landings by Luftwaffe supply aircraft would be possible. Paulus and I came separately to the same conclusion. Arthur Schmidt (Offizier) - Wikipedia When World War I began, Paulus' regiment was part of the thrust into France, and he saw action in the Vosges and around Arras in the autumn of 1914. The main reason was the extremely low stocks of fuel, which would have allowed his hundred tanks or so to travel only 30 km, whereas the relief forces were almost 50 km away. Maybe since the last time we met - more than 10 years ago - our views on specific issues differed, but I know in general, through his writings, with what sense of responsibility, how restlessly he refused to align himself with the Federal Chancellor's European Defence Community policy. Paulus also forbade his soldiers from standing on top of their trenches in order to be shot by the enemy. He was, in any case, a defender of a united and sovereign Germany. Januar 1943 erhielt er das Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. high command ordered him not to fly back into [4] He tried, unsuccessfully, to secure a cadetship in the Imperial German Navy and briefly studied law at Marburg University. On that frosty morning in Stalingrad, it dawned on all the men of the Red Army and the overwhelming majority of the German soldiers that this was the beginning of the end for them and the start of our Victory.. For example: Mark Arnold-Forster's The World At War, companion volume to the documentary of the same name, Stein and Day, 1973, pp. [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. [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. There are still many people today who wonder how Germany, which no doubt possessed a highly trained army, could be defeated in two wars. The governments responsible for this have both put their armed forces in front of insoluble problems. [36], After Voikovo, Schmidt was held in the Lubyanka prison. While in Soviet captivity during the war, Paulus became a vocal critic of the Nazi regime and joined the Soviet-sponsored National Committee for a Free Germany. (In fact, he went on to appoint another seven field marshals during the last two years of the war.) "[31] Schmidt, together with Paulus and Colonel Adam, were taken to Don Front HQ at Zavarykino, where they were interrogated. Arthur Schmidt (soldier) - Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core 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]. Hitler, leery of the reasons for Paulus' transfer to Nizhne-Chirskaya, orders him to move his HQ again. Behrs instructions were to ask 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). 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. A shameful capitulation, the terrible tragedy of the soldiers. On one of the final Luftwaffe flights out of Stalingrad, Paulus had sent his wedding ring to his wife. A Gnther Angern D Alexander Edler von Daniels Heinrich-Anton Deboi Moritz von Drebber F Max Fremerey G Eccard Freiherr von Gablenz H Alexander von Hartmann Walter Heitz [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 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. [10] He re-emphasised that before Sixth Army could break out to the south: "We must have fuel and ammunition delivered by the Luftwaffe." [1] On 19 January, Major Thiel was sent by VIII Air Corps to assess the runway at Gumrak and see whether further landings by Luftwaffe supply aircraft would be possible. 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]. "[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. [citation needed], Many English-language sources and publications from the 1940s to the present day give Paulus' family name the prefix "von". But, the enemy kept pressing home their attack, their tanks and armored vehicles reached our dug-in positions and then started to steamroll them. pocket and became General Officer, Chef Generalstab XIV. Several hours later, accompanied by several colonels and lieutenant-colonels, Maj-Gen Ivan Laskin, chief of staff of the 64th Army, came down to the basement. The following month he was named deputy chief of the German General Staff (Oberquartiermeister I). 'Prepare yourself for departure. 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?" He later acted as a witness for the prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials. We reacted to this order with astonishment, since we had expected some sort of discussion with the Army Group, and were fairly certain of the breakout.