Last days at Stalingrad and First interrogation of Field Marshal Paulus 

The best reward for our work is comments like this. Thank you so much it's really appreciated. And you're right about it all: Stalingrad is probably THE event of the XX century.

Fantastic video! My father served in the US Navy, his brother(unknown at the time as my father was adopted) served in the Wermacht, my grandmother’s brother served in the Red Army as an artilleryman. I wonder how many other families from the Eastern Europe that changed hands during the seemingly endless invasions over the centuries had similar histories?

Garcia morato pilioto La douce france Garcia

Johann Eduard Schnorr Yes excellent comments from you and I think you have a viewpoint that really adds to the whole story . We are shown these precious jewels, insights every so often and this is one of them. Just when I think I know everything about WW2 something comes along like this and adds a whole new perspective to that event . Yes ! Yes ! Absolutely terrible and I would add THE most terrible event in Western Civilization . I HATE HATE War ...but I love studying it . Some times I question the validity of my morbid curiosity but perhaps with the unfolding knowledge we are finding we can perhaps at some important time talk people out of going to War . Patton said something very profound when he said “Next to War All Human endeavors pale in comparison !” Sadly he was right all of our scientific, medical, technical and other breakthroughs come from war , hopefully we don’t need war anymore to do that . Paulus like most of his. fellow Generals who fought in the First WW seeing all of the treasure ,blood and suffering were filled with angst that it was all for nothing because the politicians had “Stabbed Germany in the Back !” They took a vow that that would never happen again, they would never surrender too early they would fight to the last man the last bullet to behave or even think in any other way was treason and I think that this was behind his refusal to ask or order the rest of his army to surrender. I believe that the brutality of the First WW set. The stage for the brutality in the second , the Armies were full of damaged and psychopathic people. No more Brothers War ....ever

Should have attacked the pocket towards Manstein. He owed that to his men

Not many living anymore, you would have to be at least about 95. I wonder just how many are left that actually fought in the battle. Kind of like Pearl harbor survivors.

@@johnstudd4245 there are two Pearl Harbor Survivors left.My dad passed in 2016.He was on the Battleship California.

Comparing Stalingrad to Pearl Harbor is like comparing 9/11 to Steve Scalise shooting.

I was stationed in F.R.G. in the early seventies and our post barber was a Stalingrad survivor.

@@ThisHandleWasTheOnly1Available The dead of Peral Harbor are just as dead as the dead of Stalingrad..just fewer.

Thank you sir.

​@@Armageddon4145 Sorry for asking an unrelated question. Etes-vous Francais, Bélge, Suisse ou Quebecois ? Ou bien un Russe polyglotte ? vous n'êtes pas obligés de répondre. Merci

@@brahim119 Franco-Russe

@@Armageddon4145 Enchanté et merci.

Wow,I know it's crazy to ask but is the roundabout with the statue of children playing still there?I have seen Russian videos of it,always amazed me to think that the enemy HQ is half a city block away just out of sight of the times crazy,cameramen in WW2.....equivalent to carrying a weopan with the weight,it amazes me how they knew capturing the moment was important first for morale,second for the history of mankind truly

No *von, just Paulus.

@@javiermartinezjr8849Yes ! Those statues are familiar from many documentaries.

And time it took indeed. But the comments of you all reward for it. Thanks very much for the positive words!

@@Armageddon4145How did you get into the field of war documentary-making? Are you ex-military ?

Thank you sir, for your support and your interest! Will continue to do my best for people like you.

Yes indeed ,he does great job .....I love his channel ,although i am a new subscriber ,i shall watch every new video ,he will post !!

Thanks for the positive words!

Thank you so much for your feedback, sir! Indeed these were dramatic times.

No fieldmarshal surrenders yea great soldier my ass

@Voracious Reader An estimated Twenty Six Million Russians died as a result of WWII. The respect the Russian Generals showed to the field Marshall depicted in this video transcended the carnage on both sides. If you read my comment, you see what they meant by their words. No one is "glorifying" nor "flowery talking" war. But when witnessing the conversation between the two foes in midst of hell and what the admiration truely meant, it does cause one to pause. I am sorry about your father and circumstances that transpired.

@Voracious Reader Just “terrible cold and terrible hunger”? Are you serious? The Battle of Stalingrad was the bloodiest and most torturous in WE2. The civilians that were left didn’t just freeze and go hungry. They either experienced, if the Germans let them live, or witnessed the most cruel and inhumane acts. It was a war of attrition and civilians were fair game, unfortunately. No doubt your Dad witnessed the same horrible cruelty in the Pacific Theater by the Japanese Axis soldiers. Btw, as if 2020, they are still finding bodies out on the Steppe surrounding and in Stalingrad/ Volgograd? Mass graves. Soldiers and civilians. Because for Russia, The Great Patriotic War isn’t over until the last soldier comes home. No one is glorifying carnage. Sometimes you have to rise above the ugly.

@@joannsissy4768 Would you shoot yourself if you got captured because of following militarily dumb order? He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. He was forbidden to do what every half-capable military commander would do in hopeless situation - retreat. Was effectively given order to sacrifice himself for PR purpose. Would you?

Your're welcome!

Its sicking to say the least !!!!!!!!

@@bustersmith5569 Its not sickening. That's how it works.

Paulus isn't a real man.. He didn't breakout and let his people starve..... Filthy son of a b

@Matt M To be fair, Paulus came to deeply regret what he had done and been a part of, and longed to see Stalingrad rebuilt. Not exactly justice, but definitely not a karma houdini.

Would he have saved any lives of his men by not surrendering?, did he not surrender his men when he surrendered?

Thank you my friend!

Wow, thanks! Really appreciated.

This is one of the great surrenders of WW2 to go along with Gen Wainwright at Baatan, Gen. Percival and the fall of Singapore!

Seriously, this is legendary I'm so stoked to find this It's such a massive moment in history and I'm so glad this is here for posterity (Kind of sad that rokossovsky got purged not too long after this haha)

My favorite thing before I heard all this was after hitler gave him the promotion to basically condemn him to suicide paulus said I won't shoot myself for that bohemian corporal hahaha

The way they left this army group to die was kind of the writing on the wall for all the orders leading up to the fall of berlin.. it's bizarre since hitler believes the Germans are this "master race" he's so willing to let millions die needlessly I mean even in 42 there was zero chance germany could win, their manpower was fucked, their supply lines were a joke and barely mechanized, they had way too many tank designs with a shit ton of flaws and requiring a lot of maintenance, other than the big dick guns and armor on them the worst design for this attritional war, especially compared to the mass produced t34s and sherman's, with nearly just as good armor potential, very survivable for the crew and easily repaired and maintained in massive numbers All the supply guys knew they were boned And yet hitler let so many guys run headlong into the meat grinder The Soviets lost more than anyone, but at least they knew they would win by this point. It just sucks the brutal oppression they dealt out and imposed were basically the same as the germans

Agreed. Just a small spelling correction- Roman Karmen.

Thank you sir.

Thanks for your interest.

Thanks a lot!

Thanks :)

Thanks!

Thank you sir.

Thanks a lot!

Thanks for your interest.

Thank you my friend

i just learn that Anton is French, i love France ,in my school years i studied French and English .....Anyway thank you for this information!

Many thanks.

Thanks a lot Pita!

I came to these docus after viewing the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing. It opened my interest in WW2.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Many thanks Pete, really appreciated.

Right. Should have tried something like this indeed.

But then, when his men surrendered-95% of them died in captivity anyway from starvation, slave labour and disease. They were willing to fight til the end because they thought surrender meant certain death. Lose-lose situation. The 5 or 6,000 German POWs who were able to return were lottery winners.

Thank you sir

Thanks, really appreciated

Thanks, really appreciated.

because they re not fighting at that moment

Thank you sir!

Thanks a lot, sir!

There are plenty of "battles of the century" to choose from. From Stalingrad to Shanghai to Manila, etc., there is no end to human slaughter.

Thank you very much, it's appreciated, supportive comments like these will make this channel grow to the size it deserves!

Thanks for the positive words.

Glad you think so!

Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks for your feedback and the positive words! Appreciated.

Thank you sir. And yes, the series you speak about is already ongoing, its first episode "Stalingrad: The Beginning" was released two months ago.

Very tragic for germans but a glorious victory for Russia

Soviet Union please)

@@freefall9832But may I respectfully say that the Russians continued to suffer under a cruelly repressive autocracy and an inefficient command economy until 1990. I lived in Moscow in June 1990 til April 1994. They were deprived. Russia was a Third World country under communism.

@cindymaceda2999 thank you for responding. Russia is an ongoing tragedy. I am sad how things have turned out in 4 years since the post. I used to try and learn about Russia but lost interest after they invaded Ukraine.

Thank you sir, for your positive words. The aim was indeed to get into the intimacy of that room. Glad you enjoyed it. And true these generals were hypocrites. Their detachment from the realities for which they are responsible is astonishing.

I suspect the German foot soldiers knew what their fate would be at the hands of the Soviets as pow's,that could be why some chose to keep on fighting to the death,rather than surrender.

@@hubertwalters4300 After they murdered over 3 million POWs themselves, they knew they would receive no quarter.

@@hubertwalters4300For sure! I read that 95% of the Axis POWs did not survive in Russia. They died a slow death as slaves in other words, instead of in battle.

Hopefully you'll enjoy this one :)

@@Armageddon4145 oh i did enjoyed it, i can never get enough of Stalingrad battle information, and thank you for translating the stuff that wasnt!

Thank you Ken.

Thank you sir!

I am not writer myself and I find it quite tacky.

@@RogerThat787 yeah there is a great word for Stalingrad. "tacky". I guess you have been though much more than the men who were in that.

Agree. Some beautiful writing from the photographer and others involved.

Yes indeed. The writing is surprisingly very very good.

Thank you indeed! Do you know other channels on Stalingrad? I thought this was the only one :)

Stalingrad Battle Data It is! Yours is the original!

Glad you enjoyed, appreciate!

Monty Python sketch. 😅

You should. It was a great sacrifice. It is impossible to not pay homage to the millions who died. I have spent my entire life in New York City and feel as you do.

I wanted to see Voronov. The quiet Giant always shy of fame.

Thanks for your interest!

Thank you sir!

Thank you Paul

Thanks for your interest! For more on Paulus in captivity, watch the Suzdal Camp series

@@Armageddon4145 I've watched it twice. It's amazing that you were able to bring out the pressures on Paulus and the changing view he had of Germany's role. Very well done

@@bookaufman9643 what are you trying to say with your comment above " He may not have been a murderer himself but he listened to them and surrounded himself with them"....?

@@siggifreud812 I guess I was trying to say that Paula's had a quiet dignity but the team he was playing on was evil and if you choose to play on that team then you were tainted by them.

@@bookaufman9643 I see what you are saying. I guess many of the Wehrmacht Generals could have gotten together and attempted some kind of putsch before Barbarossa, but prior to Stalingrad, even the respected Generals were basking in the light as great conquerors. Once it became apparent that there was no chance of winning in Russia, it was too late for them to save face - they were in too deep. Also, many of them turned a blind eye to what the Einsatzgruppen were doing in their wake. Fact is: Paulus would be more respected today if he had died in battle with his troops.

He writes like Hemingway.😊

Yes, Roman Karmen is to be congratulated. I lived in Moscow 4 winters and have experienced -28C. Your ears feel like they are being pierced with needles, your tongue is frozen solid and you can hardly speak, your nose is sealed and you cannot breathe except through your open mouth, much less run in snow carrying a heavy camera.