He prefers to go to Moscow

Friday, July 15th, 2011

At Stalingrad, Germany’s Sixth Army followed Hitler’s orders not to break out but to fight to the bitter end, and, so, they slowly died, frozen and starved. The German Supreme Command announced the news as follows:

The battle for Stalingrad has ended. Faithful to its oath to fight to the last breath, the Sixth Army under the exemplary leadership of Field Marshal Paulus has been overcome by the enemy’s superior force and by adverse circumstances.

Apparently Hitler expected more of his new field marshal. He expected Paulus to commit suicide, as he told his staff:

What hurts me most, personally, is that I still promoted him to field marshal. I wanted to give him this final satisfaction… a man like that besmirches the heroism of so many others at the last moment. He could have freed himself from all sorrow and ascended into eternity and national immortality, but he prefers to go to Moscow.

(From von Mellenthin’s Panzer Battles.)

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