Stalingrad: The film that makes Private Ryan look like kids' stuff Having reached the wall, Soviet soldiers stumbled upon a barbed wire fence and fell under a machine gun crossfire. In this first photo from the "killed" series, the fighter in the lower right corner is still "alive". The headquarters of the dugouts had a hand-to-hand fight, the Russians and Germans killing each other with furious faces. The prestige of Stalin, the Soviet Union, and the worldwide Communist movement was immense, and their political position greatly enhanced.[201]. Stalingrad was strategically important to both sides as a major industrial and transport hub on the Volga River. This film highlights the conflict between the German Sixth Army and the Soviet 62nd Army in Southern Stalingrad during September 1942. On the left flank stood the four- and five-story "House of Specialists" and the State Bank. The Gerhardt Mill ruins in Volgograd, Russia - Dreamstime The burden of the initial defence of the city fell on the 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment,[58] a unit made up mainly of young female volunteers who had no training for engaging ground targets. Army Group South had overrun the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1941. The garrison was disbanded on the night of November 24 with troops returning to their original units. *A collage of aerial photos from October 2, 1942 and an August video panorama of the Volga coast. Suffering losses, the group retreated again. [199], The news of the battle echoed round the world, with many people now believing that Hitler's defeat was inevitable. "[46], The Germans formed bridgeheads across the Don on 20 August, with the 295th and 76th Infantry Divisions enabling the XIVth Panzer Corps "to thrust to the Volga north of Stalingrad." If you're looking for a detailed account of street fighting in Stalingrad or specifics on Pavlov's house, this book is not your answer. The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (present Volgograd) in Southern Russia, on the eastern boundary of Europe. The implication was clear: if Paulus surrendered, he would shame himself and would become the highest-ranking German officer ever to be captured. [59] Casualties were estimated to have been 40,000,[60][21] though they were likely exaggerated,[61] and after 25 August the Soviets did not record any civilian and military casualties as a result of air raids. Only forty dead Soviet fighters were found, though the Germans had thought there were many more due to the intensity of resistance. Beyond that army, a single German division, the 16th Motorised Infantry, covered 400km. Whoever controlled Stalingrad would have access to the oil fields of the Caucasus and would gain control of the Volga. In addition, from the sector of the 34th Guards Rifle Regiment to the Volga, two deep ravines emerged - the Dolgiy and Krutoy, literally cutting off the 13th Guards Rifle Division from the 284th Rifle Division of Colonel NF. The day October 1 almost became the last for the defenders of the small bridgehead. Naumova to conduct reconnaissance of a four-story building on the January 9 square, standing next to the ruins of "Zabolotnys house." In that basement[] there were still two hundred Germansdying of hunger and frostbite. The base point received the call sign "Mayak" and became one of the main OPs in the defense system of the 13th Guards Rifle Division. Artillery spotters were an especially prized target for snipers. The 16 th Panzer Division had outrun its supplies and accompanying infantry just as it approached the city. Stalingrad: Experimentation, Adaptation, Implementation This is how it looked after the war: The ruins of mill is now a part of Pavlov's house memorial, the modern look of ruins: The battle for Stalingrad devolved into a desperate street-by . [1] In the reports of the regiment on irretrievable losses it was noted: on October 1, 77 men were missing and 130 Red Army men died, for October 2 - 18 more and 83 people, respectively. Opposite the complex, separated by the wide Republican Street and scorched wooden blocks, two German strongholds stood out: a four-story school No. [192][193][194] The Red Army had the initiative, and the Wehrmacht was in retreat. Location of army's units is as it was previously. In late September 1942, between 30 and 50 soldiers of the 42nd Guards Regiment, 13th Guards Rifle Division secured the large apartment blocks from German control,[4] following its recapture by four soldiers four days beforehand which Yakov Pavlov himself led. Under Section . At 00:30, Berlin time units of the 295th Infantry Division and the attached units secretly accumulated to the west of the tramway bridge and seeped through the drainage pipe in the mound along the slopes of the Krutoy ravine to the banks of the Volga. "We haven't had time to deal with them yet," one of the Russians said. [144] So heavy were the Luftwaffe's losses that four of Luftflotte 4's transport units (KGrzbV 700, KGrzbV 900, I./KGrzbV 1 and II./KGzbV 1) were "formally dissolved".[55]. The plan was to punch through the overstretched and weakly defended German flanks and surround the German forces in the Stalingrad region. The soldiers surrounded it with minefields, set up machine-gun positions at the windows and breached the walls in the basement for better communications. For two days the 13th Guards Rifle Division was putting itself in order - the soldiers remembered and buried their dead comrades. [2], The position was quickly fortified under the command of Lieutenant Ivan F. Afanasiev, who ordered the men to lay landmines in all approaches to the square, barbed wire around the perimeter of the apartment block, and to position multiple machine guns in the windows as well as a PTRS anti tank rifle. At four in the morning on 2 February, Strecker was informed that one of his own officers had gone to the Soviets to negotiate surrender terms. [189] He remained in the Soviet Union until 1952, then moved to Dresden in East Germany, where he spent the remainder of his days defending his actions at Stalingrad and was quoted as saying that Communism was the best hope for postwar Europe. We all knew where we stood after we had heard it. [183] Bartov reported that a great many of the soldiers were well aware that they would not be able to escape from Stalingrad, but in their letters to their families stated that they were proud to "sacrifice themselves for the Fhrer". Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. According to Soviet intelligence documents shown in the documentary, a remarkable NKVD report from March 1943 is available showing the tenacity of some of these German groups: The mopping-up of counter-revolutionary elements in the city of Stalingrad proceeded. PDF Operation Hubertus - The Assault on the "Red House" 11 November 1942 The next day he made a six-page situation report to the general staff. After the fire in the State Bank, the Germans began to cover the windows of the upper floors with bed nets - the probability of burning at night from a flying bottle of copolymers or a thermite ball was very large. [159] On 28 January, the cauldron was split into three parts. In the region of location of the 38th Motorised Rifle Brigade in a basement eighteen armed SS-men [sic] were found, who refused to surrender, the Germans found were destroyed.[186]. Below to the right is the destroyed building of a butter-milling plant. They are worthy of being told about. At night, the small bridgehead was revived and resembled an anthill: the soldiers hastily unloaded the boats with ammunition, and the commanders raised small groups of replenishment for positions.
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