general schmidt stalingrad

Stalingrad - An Examination of Hitler's Decision to Airlift Stalingrad cover The novel begins with a meeting between fascist dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini on April 29, 1942, in which they discuss the progress of the war. 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. In dieser Funktion wurde er am 1. [4] The British historian and author Antony Beevor offers the following description of Schmidt: (In fact, he went on to appoint another seven field marshals during the last two years of the war.) The governments responsible for this have both put their armed forces in front of insoluble problems. 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. 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. [10] Later that day, Schmidt and Paulus held a conference attended by General Hermann Hoth and Major-General Pickert,[10] during which Schmidt "did much of the talking". [35] Together with most German officers, Schmidt was moved to Camp 48 at Voikovo, although he was kept away from Paulus by the NKVD, apparently because he was considered to be a bad influence on him. German troops during the Operation Winter Storm. Dr. Karl Uhrmacher and the 6. [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. His troops fought Soviet forces defending Stalingrad for over three months in increasingly brutal urban warfare. They led the Soviet soldiers to Pauluss room. On one of the final Luftwaffe flights out of Stalingrad, Paulus had sent his wedding ring to his wife. Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox. Soviet soldiers, who seized the headquarters of Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus. An ordinary lieutenant could not accept the capitulation of the German commander and, gradually, representatives of the senior and top-level Red Army command started arriving at the department store. [1] Am 17. 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 Manstein told Paulus that the relief would need assistance from the Sixth Army, but the order to initiate the breakout never came. [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. 1943. Field Marshal Paulus in Custody After Stalingrad . [4] He tried, unsuccessfully, to secure a cadetship in the Imperial German Navy and briefly studied law at Marburg University. 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 This is the precondition for collective security in Europe and at the same time for a happy future for our own nation. 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. 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. on New Years Day 1943, In the morning of 19 [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. that it was the best to fly him out of the He handed the colonel general a piece of paper and said: 'Congratulations. On the night of January 31, 1943, units of the 64th Army's 38th. "[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. 139142; other examples are Allen and Muratoff's The Russian Campaigns of 19411943, published in 1944[5] and Peter Margaritis (2019). Arthur Schmidt (general) | Military Wiki | Fandom In the meantime, he kept his entire army in fixed defensive positions. How can he surrender himself to the Bolshevists?! And anyway, my new uniform will hardly be of any use to me now, the commander added with a wry smile. [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." Almost 70% of deaths occurred in the winter of 1945-1946. 1955 wurde er aus der Gefangenschaft entlassen. While south of Stalingrad, some Soviet soldiers were holding back the onslaught from Hoths tanks, northwest of the city, in the area of the great bend in the Don River, their fellow servicemen were making short work of the Italian and Romanian divisions: They broke through the enemy front lines, advanced 340 km inside them and reached the rear of Army Group Don itself. "[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 Battle of Stalingrad was a brutal military campaign between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. [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. Armee, Hauptmann Winrich Behr, 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. [5] Ignoring Hitler's 'Fhrer instruction' of 30 June 1942 that Axis formations should not liaise with their neighbours, Schmidt authorised an officer from Sixth Army, Lieutenant Gerhard Stck, to be issued with a radio and join up with Romanian forces to the north-west of Stalingrad to help with intelligence gathering. He was allowed to move to the German Democratic Republic in 1953, two years before the repatriation of the remaining German POWs. 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. My God, what a contrast between the two sides! brought to the divisional doctor, Oberstarzt Dr. [2] On 26 January 1942 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold.[3]. The general announced that we were his prisoners. It would have had to go out to meet the 4th Panzer Army, while fighting on all four sides as if forming a square, Erich von Manstein wrote in his memoirs, Lost Victories. However I'm not going to do them such a favour.' But how shockingly different their external appearance was! recalled Wilhelm Adam, adjutant to the 6th Army commander. [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. The following excerpt covers the last two days in Stalingrad as Adam began to have doubts about the Chief of Staff to the 6th Army, Lieutenant-General Schmidt: Was Lieutenant-General Schmidt playing a double game? Januar 2022 um 19:24 Uhr bearbeitet. 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 radioed Hitler once again for permission. [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. Paulus and I came separately to the same conclusion. 4 posts Page 1 of 1 He had not seen her since 1942 and would not see her again, as she died in 1949 while he was still in captivity.[20]. The time has come for the old enmity that we have inherited and the many disputes to be buried once and for all. In November 1941, after German Sixth Army's commander Field Marshal Walter von ReichenauPaulus' patronbecame commander of the entire Army Group South, Paulus, who had never commanded a larger unit than a battalion, was promoted to General der Panzertruppe and became commander of the Sixth Army. [14][15] Schmidt contacted his corps commanders and, in defiance of Hitler's order to stand firm, they agreed with Schmidt that a breakout to the south was desirable. Schmidt joined the army as a one-year volunteer on 10 August 1914, attaining the rank of Leutnant on 8 May 1915. But it is a misconception and dangerous idea that the age of nations is over simply because a power, the United States, relies on this position so that it can bend over and dominate other nations at the lowest cost to it. 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. "[31] Schmidt, together with Paulus and Colonel Adam, were taken to Don Front HQ at Zavarykino, where they were interrogated. Wilhelm Adam - Wikipedia [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." XIV. [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. Gaunt, pale and emaciated, the commander of the Wehrmachts 6th Army looked like a hunted animal to the Soviet military commanders. Wilhelm Adam (28 March 1893 - 24 November 1978) was an officer in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. 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. 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. Januar wurde er zum Generalleutnant befrdert. 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 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. Everyone knows that our nation used to have great military experts, known all over the world, such as Clausewitz, Moltke the Elder, Schlieffen. 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. 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]. But, the enemy kept pressing home their attack, their tanks and armored vehicles reached our dug-in positions and then started to steamroll them. Hitler responded by showering a raft of field promotions by radio on Paulus' officers to build up their spirits and bolster their will to hold their ground. With a reunited Germany having good relations with the two great powers, not only can peace not be disrupted in Europe, but the basis for the development of general prosperity is laid. 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]. Rudolf Schmidt - Wikipedia Battle of Stalingrad - Definition, Dates & Significance - History Then they left the room. . 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. Still, they believed that they could avoid disaster. flew out of the Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, General Arthur Schmidt and Wilhelm Adam, adjutant to the 6th Army commander. 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]. 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. 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. They were all unwashed and hungry and they smelt to high heaven! Schmidt joined the army as a one-year volunteer on 10 August 1914, attaining the rank of Leutnant on 8 May 1915. In 1942, Paulus was given command of the 6th Army despite his lack of field experience. Januar 1943 gemeinsam mit dem tags zuvor zum Generalfeldmarschall befrderten Paulus in sowjetische Kriegsgefangenschaft, zunchst im Kriegsgefangenenlager 5110/48 Woikowo, dann im Gefngnis Lubjanka. 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. 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. Schmidt commented: Early on the 24th November, while Paulus and I were preparing the necessary measures for a breakout to the south, we received a 'Fhrer decision' from Army Group [] It said that the Sixth Army was to stay in Stalingrad and wait to be relieved. Doctor Generalstabarzt Dr. Otto Renoldi adviced [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. [2] On 26 January 1942 he was awarded the German Cross in Gold.[3]. General Schmidt surrendered the headquarters. 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. 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. Stalingrad pocket to, received orders to Paulus did not request to evacuate the city when the counter-offensive began. If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material. high command ordered him not to fly back into 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. Paulus relied greatly on his judgement, and as a result he played a large, some say an excessive, role in determining the course of events later that year. Paulus didnt greet us but he sat up. Once again, Hitler rejected Paulus' request out of hand, and ordered him to hold Stalingrad to the death. Having survived Winter Storm and not having heard the Thunderclap, the Soviet command calmly returned to drawing up its planned operation to split up and conclusively destroy the Paulus grouping - preparations for which had been interrupted by the German offensive. In these last days Schmidt also developed a lively busy-ness in other respects. For us Germans, this is particularly indicative. Paulus requested permission from Hitler to surrender. And, until now, the 6th Army was regarded as the best field army in the Wehrmacht.

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