In these last days Schmidt also developed a lively busy-ness in other respects. Schmidt joined the army as a one-year volunteer on 10 August 1914, attaining the rank of Leutnant on 8 May 1915. [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. jaundice. Manstein's forces were unable to reach Stalingrad on their own and their efforts were eventually halted due to Soviet offensives elsewhere on the front.[12]. He was a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union for twelve years, and was released following West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer's visit to Moscow in 1955. with these words he opened the door and a Soviet general and his interpreter entered the room. 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]. 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? 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. He studied philology at the University of Kyiv before World War II, and after the war he became an author.. Stalingrad truce First attempt. This is the precondition for collective security in Europe and at the same time for a happy future for our own nation. He was not able to walk anymore and was But the city held, aided by the very destruction heaped on it by the Luftwaffe and Nazi tanks and artillery. Oktober 1895 in Hamburg; 5. I was taken by surprise" in conversation with Marshal Voronov. German 6. "[15], After a heavy Soviet offensive overran the last emergency airstrip in Stalingrad on 25 January, the Soviets again offered Paulus a chance to surrender. They were all armed, some with weapons in their hands, some with them over their shoulders. 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. [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. [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. had been ordered to fly out by Heeresgruppe Don 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. According to Soviet statistics, from 1945 to 1956, over 580,000 people died in prison camps, over 356,000 of them Germans. Only if that happens is there a chance of the war going well for Germany. Kommandeur Infanterieregiment 191, Stalingrad Oberstleutnant - Kommandeur 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. 139142; other examples are Allen and Muratoff's The Russian Campaigns of 19411943, published in 1944[5] and Peter Margaritis (2019). "Award Document to General der Panzertruppe Paulus, Item Number: EU4642". Its appalling pronounced Paulus somberly. 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. Paulus awoke and sat up. The Germans started to withdraw, pursued by Malinovskys 2nd Guards Army which had begun a counterattack on December 24. The Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943) was fought during the Second World War between Nazi Germany led by Adolf Hitler and the Soviet Union led by Joseph Stalin. It was some time before I could break out of the maze of thoughts and strange dreams that depressed me so greatly. The time has come for the old enmity that we have inherited and the many disputes to be buried once and for all. 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. [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. Hitler for permission for Paulus to. 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. He was told that "The Luftwaffe doesn't have enough aircraft." Paulus requested permission from Hitler to surrender. [10] He re-emphasised that before Sixth Army could break out to the south: "We must have fuel and ammunition delivered by the Luftwaffe. General Schmidt surrendered the headquarters. 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. [30] When the forces defending Sixth Army HQ surrendered on the morning of 31 January, Schmidt discussed surrender terms with officers from General Shumilov's HQ, while Paulus waited unaware in a room next door. [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. We shall be back for you at 9.00. In June 1942, Nazi Germany was looking forward to victory. Arthur Schmidt (25 October 1895 - 5 November 1987) was an officer in the German military from 1914 to 1943. Oktober 1895 in Hamburg; 5. He told the journalist to tell the wives and mothers that their husbands and sons were well. Juni 1942 zum Generalmajor ernannt und nahm an der Schlacht von Stalingrad teil. I had the official seal with me. Dyatlenko had no doubt that Schmidt was "the eyes and hand of the Nazi Party" in the Sixth Army, because captured officers reported that "Schmidt was commanding the Army and even Paulus himself."[21]. Behrs instructions were to ask Malinin looked 35, square-faced with hair in a short pompadour which stuck up like a schoolboy's. Career [ edit] Schmidt joined the Prussian Army in 1906 and served during World War I. 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. The appearance of the Red Army soldiers seemed symbolic. later during World War 2, German officers who flew out of the Stalingrad to solve several supply problems. The German troops sustained significant losses and found it difficult to make headway. In an attempt to distance himself in every possible way from the capitulation, Paulus delegated the right to negotiate to Roske and Schmidt. [34] Unlike many German prisoners of war, such as Paulus himself and von Seydlitz-Kurzbach, Schmidt refused to co-operate with the Soviets, despite the NKVD's attempt to ingratiate themselves by serving him caviar and champagne in a luxury railway coach. However, suicide rearguard regiments put up the usual hopeless and violent last stand battles in the streets. Hitler expected Paulus to commit suicide,[3] repeating to his staff that there was no precedent of a German field marshal ever being captured alive. German soldiers pushing a Junkers-52 aircraft through snow at the captured Soviet airfield of Pitomnik during the Battle of Stalingrad. Thus, another prominent and experienced German politician stressed that a final implementation of the EDC agreement would be dangerous for the German nation. Diese Seite wurde zuletzt am 24. [8], Paulus and Schmidt realised that Sixth Army was encircled on 21 November. Believing that an attempt to break the encirclement would be made here, the Soviet command attached special importance to the sector and intensively reinforced it. On the order of the brigade commander, Colonel Ivan Burmakov, a group of negotiators led by Senior Lieutenant Fyodor Ilchenko headed for the department store building. A shameful capitulation, the terrible tragedy of the soldiers. Hitler implied that if Paulus allowed himself to be taken alive, he would shame Germany's military history.[16]. [1] Am 17. 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. General Schmidt also was trying one last way to exit from Stalingrad. Aggressively ideological, his aggression would translate into a passive kind as he functioned as his chief's alter ego [] As late as mid-December, Paulus, even as illusions had all but vanished, would still not contradict Schmidt when he presented his tragically absurd hypotheses to visitors to the besieged and starving Sixth Army.[24]. 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. . In 1920s, as part of the military cooperation between Weimar Republic and Soviet Union to escape Treaty of Versailles, Paulus presented guest lectures in Moscow, Soviet Union.[8]. Schmidt and Paulus set up their HQ in the Kessel underneath the Univermag department store on the city's Red Square. that it was the best to fly him out of the The Germans had already had the successful experience of using an air bridge to resupply the 100,000-strong II Army Corps cut off near Demyansk at the beginning of the same year and successfully releasing it from its trap after several months of encirclement. Panzer Korps, - Armee Adolf Hitler prohibited attempts to break out or capitulate, and German defence was gradually worn down. [36], After Voikovo, Schmidt was held in the Lubyanka prison. [2][3], deutscher Generalleutnant im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Zuletzt bearbeitet am 24. . On one of the final Luftwaffe flights out of Stalingrad, Paulus had sent his wedding ring to his wife. Schmidt was not a man of great tactical skill, daring or initiative; rather he was characterised by a stubborn optimism, tenacity and a willingness to obey the orders of his superiors without question. Amidst the ruins of their city which the Germans had destroyed, Soviet soldiers would pull a piece of bread or cigarettes or tobacco out of their pocket and offer them to the weary, half-starved German soldiers., Sergeant Pyotr Alkhutov was present when the German commander was taken prisoner: Paulus was haggard and clearly ill. "[33], Prior to Paulus's interrogation, Paulus asked Schmidt how he should respond, to which Schmidt replied, "Remember you are a Field Marshal of the German Army," apparently (according to the Soviet interrogator) using the intimate "du" form of address, although Captain Winrich Behr, who was familiar with the relations between the two men, considered this unlikely. Telling Hitler that collapse was "inevitable," Paulus stressed that his men were without ammunition or food, and he was no longer able to command them. Stalin himself was pessimistic. I have in mind, first of all, France. The following month he was named deputy chief of the German General Staff (Oberquartiermeister I). The battle ended in disaster for the Wehrmacht when Soviet forces encircled the Germans within the city, leading to the ultimate death or capture of most of 265,000 6th Army personnel, their Axis allies and collaborators. [21] Of the 91,000 German prisoners taken at Stalingrad, half had died on the march to Siberian prison camps, and nearly as many died in captivity; only about 6,000 survived and returned home.[b]. Worse than a tram! Had the Germans succeeded in their Operation Winter Storm (Operation Wintergewitter), all the efforts and sacrifices of the Soviet troops which had been heroically defending Stalingrad would have been in vain. Wilhelm Adam (28 March 1893 - 24 November 1978) was an officer in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. As a result of the talks, the southern pocket of German troops, commanded by General Roske, was to capitulate. In that capacity, Paulus helped plan the invasion of the Soviet Union. [16] However, on 24 November Sixth Army received a further Fhrer order relayed from Army Group B, ordering them to stand firm. Soviet and German soldiers who just a few hours earlier had been firing on each other stood calmly next to one another in the courtyard holding their guns in their hands or slung on their shoulder. "[31] Schmidt, together with Paulus and Colonel Adam, were taken to Don Front HQ at Zavarykino, where they were interrogated. 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. At 9.00 sharp the HQ commander of the 6th Army arrived to take the commander of the vanquished German 6th Army and its staff towards the rear. "[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. During his captivity, according to General Max Pfeffer, Paulus said, "I have no intention of shooting myself for this Bohemian corporal." Januar 1943 erhielt er das Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes. Unwashed, with unkempt beards, they wore comical-looking makeshift snow boots and were wrapped in towels and womens headscarves. Certainly, in their time they assessed the political-military situation of Germany with perseverance and sobriety, developed principles and positions for the strategy and tactics of a general nature, which were valid for the special situation in which Germany would be in a state of war. November 1987 ebenda) war ein deutscher Generalleutnant. We Germans have seen that in the 20th century, such "power politics" that a strong and rich country seeks to pursue at the expense of other countries is doomed to failure. He is not here. He also said that 18,000 men were wounded and were in immediate need of medical attention. The march towards the Volga had ended.[17]. 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). Paulus also forbade his soldiers from standing on top of their trenches in order to be shot by the enemy. This website uses cookies. Paulus and I came separately to the same conclusion. The German soldiers - ragged, in thin greatcoats over threadbare uniforms, as thin as skeletons - presented emaciated figures exhausted half to death, with sunken, unshaved features. 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). February 9, 1943 The Russian blow at Kursk was so fierce and the threat of encirclement so great that the Germans fled frantically, throwing away quantities of equipment. German officers who flew out of the Stalingrad I recorded Paulus's new rank in his military document, stamped it with the seal then threw the seal into the glowing fire. Facing Stalingrad Interview of Gerhard HindenlangMedia Sources and CreditsInterview of Gerhard HindenlangSenior copyright holder: Facing Stalingrad Project, . [14] That evening the Soviet encirclement of Axis forces was confirmed in a signal Paulus sent to Hitler. Paulus remained absolutely firm in obeying the orders he had been given. He died a few months later, in Dresden, on 1 February 1957, aged 66, exactly 14 years and one day after his surrender at Stalingrad. explain to Hitler the situation of the encircled 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. Nachdem er anstelle von Paulus im Keller des Kaufhauses Univermag die bergabeverhandlungen gefhrt und die Kapitulation der 6. Paulus was asleep. said the Soviet general through his interpreter. Hitler, leery of the reasons for Paulus' transfer to Nizhne-Chirskaya, orders him to move his HQ again. 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?" In February 1938, Paulus was appointed Chef des Generalstabes to Gen. Heinz Guderian's new XVI Armeekorps (Motorisiert), which replaced Lutz's command. 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. [19] Beevor states that it is unclear what happened at the meeting, except that Paulus, who still believed in the chain of command, refused to break out without a clear order to do so from a superior, something that the politically deft Manstein refused to give.[19][20]. Lasting from August 1942 to February 1943, the Battle of Stalingrad was the largest battle of World War II and in the history of warfare. Janaury 1943, Stalingrad - Oberst - 1955 wurde er aus der Gefangenschaft entlassen. Adam later served in the National People's Army of East Germany . Mrz 1942 Chef des Stabes des V. Armeekorps der Wehrmacht. Nevertheless, the hope of a restoration of freedom and of deliverance from death or captivity would have given the troops the strength to make the impossible possible!. [19], Shortly before surrendering, Paulus sent his wedding ring back to his wife on the last plane departing his position. [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. 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 [4] The British historian and author Antony Beevor offers the following description of Schmidt: [He was] a slim, sharp-featured and sharp-tongued staff officer from a Hamburg mercantile family. In it, he paid respect to the memory of General Heinz Guderian, who had died a little over a month previously, and criticized the political leaderships of the German Empire and Nazi Germany for causing the defeats of the German Army in both world wars: I have in mind in particular General Guderian, who died prematurely, and with whom I was particularly close, as chief of staff for the organization of the armored troops, and we were carrying out a task together. In late 1956, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and became progressively weaker. He was assigned to the 13th Infantry Regiment at Stuttgart as a company commander. They were all unwashed and hungry and they smelt to high heaven! wounded, in the evening of 19 January 1943 - ordered to, became The implication was clear: Paulus was to commit suicide. It formed part of the German Third Army that enacted the attack on France and Belgium in August 1914 as part of the pre-war Schlieffen Plan. And, until now, the 6th Army was regarded as the best field army in the Wehrmacht. 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]. https://books.google.com/books?id=OWOQAv01lYEC, https://books.google.com/books?id=inwd2rDaLm4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=isbn:1874622469&cd=1#q=schmidt, https://books.google.com/books?id=xg8QrmsLK-kC, https://books.google.com/books?id=qWuWOFS4o7AC&dq=%22arthur+Schmidt%22+stalingrad, "A Desperate Struggle to Save a Condemned Army: a critical review of the Stalingrad airlift", http://www.stormingmedia.us/44/4497/A449793.html, "Photographs of Schmidt at a Sixth Army reunion, Wiesbaden 1969", http://www.stalingrad.net/german-hq/members-aok-6/members_aok_6_a.htm, Pages containing cite templates with deprecated parameters, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, Lieutenant generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht), Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union, German commanders at the Battle of Stalingrad, Knights of the House Order of Hohenzollern, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. In 1953, Paulus moved to East Germany, where he worked in military history research. His troops fought Soviet forces defending Stalingrad for over three months in increasingly brutal urban warfare. Schmidt was not a man of great tactical skill, daring or initiative; rather he was characterised by a stubborn optimism, tenacity and a willingness to obey the orders of his superiors without question. The units craved encouraging news, recalled an officer of the 6th Army's intelligence section, Joachim Wieder. The Field Marshal was lying on an iron bed without a uniform, in just his shirt, recalled Ilchenko. A car to the neighboring village of Beketovka, where the 64th Army HQ was stationed, awaited the Field Marshal. They need these forces for a big offensive against Army Group 'A' in the Caucasus and along the still-unstable front from Voronesh to the Black Sea. Paulus was born in Guxhagen and grew up in Kassel, Hesse-Nassau, the son of a treasurer. On 30 January, Paulus informed Hitler that his men were only hours from collapse. [citation needed], Many English-language sources and publications from the 1940s to the present day give Paulus' family name the prefix "von". How can he surrender himself to the Bolshevists?! [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? [c], Lieutenant General Friedrich Paulus (June 1942). Upon finding out about Paulus' "surrender", Hitler flew into a rage and vowed never to appoint another field marshal again. Contents 1 German 2 Soviet Red Army 3 Romanian 4 External links German Soviet Red Army Romanian External links Persons Battle of Stalingrad" (nl.) Januar 1943 gemeinsam mit dem tags zuvor zum Generalfeldmarschall befrderten Paulus in sowjetische Kriegsgefangenschaft, zunchst im Kriegsgefangenenlager 5110/48 Woikowo, dann im Gefngnis Lubjanka. On 2 February 1943 the remainder of the Sixth Army capitulated. 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. [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). Januar wurde er zum Generalleutnant befrdert. On the night of January 31, 1943, units of the 64th Army's 38th. The dispatch came early this morningit was the last one.'. [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. 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. Arthur Schmidt (25 October 1895 5 November 1987) was an officer in the German military from 1914 to 1943. Stalingrad pocket to, received orders to [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. He attained the rank of Generalleutnant during World War II, and is best known for his role as the Sixth Army's chief of staff in the Battle of Stalingrad in 194243, during the final stages of which he became its de facto commander, playing a large role in executing Hitler's order that it stand firm despite being encircled by the Red Army. [1] On 19 January, Major Thiel[who?] Hitler expected it. 'Prepare yourself for departure. He attained the rank of Generalleutnant during World War II, and is best known for his role as the Sixth Army's chief of staff in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-43, during the final stages of which he became its de facto commander, playing a large role in executing Hitler's order . Armee war diary and its annexes. Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox. On December 18, the 4th Mechanized Corps which had particularly distinguished itself in the fighting here was awarded the title of Guards Corps. [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. What happened to the first German Field Marshal made prisoner?On January 31, 1943, in the basement of the Univermag department store, Field Marshal Paulus su. The Red Army fighters looked fresh and wore warm winter uniforms. Paulus led the drive on Stalingrad that summer. [4], Despite Lieutenant-Colonel Niemeyer's frank and pessimistic area briefings, Schmidt severely underestimated the build-up and capabilities of Soviet forces at Stalingrad following the initial Axis successes, a failing that he unlike Paulus subsequently did not attempt to excuse.
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