Hitler's attack on the Soviet Union plunged his invincible army and decided Germany's defeat in World War II. Harsh conditions, winter, hunger and relentless defense of Stalingrad went down in the history of the world for a long time. And what was it like from the inside, from the perspective of the closest associates of Field Marshal Paulus?
The memories of General Wilhelm Adam allow us to look inside the 6th Army at Stalingrad, to observe its activities. They also make it possible to trace the fate of some German prisoners of war after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the largest and most important clashes of the Second World War. Therefore, in each of their fragments, they carry valuable information, and bring the reader closer to the complexity of the history of the second half of the 20th century.
Thousands of German soldiers remained at Stalingrad, far from home, driven to the steppe on the Volga by the insane politics of Adolf Hitler. Reading the book Difficult decision. With Paulus at Stalingrad , we may not understand better why it happened, but we will definitely know more about what happened. For General Wilhelm Adam, one of the closest associates of Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, Stalingrad was not only the greatest battle of his life, but also the beginning of the path of "conversion" to communist ideology and subsequent service in the German Democratic Republic.
Wilhelm Adam's book “Difficult Decision. With Paulus at Stalingrad. " (Publisher Vesper 2017).
As the commander of the German troops in the battle of Stalingrad, which was fateful for my country, I learned deeply about all the atrocities of the partition war, not only against the Soviet people invaded by us, but also against my own soldiers. The lesson I learned from my own experience and from the course of the Second World War as a whole made me understand that the fate of the German nation cannot be built on the premise of a superpower, but only on an enduring friendship with the Soviet Union and with all peace-loving peoples. Therefore, I believe that the military pacts concluded in the West, based on the pursuit of a superpower, are not the appropriate means of peacefully restoring German unity and securing peace in Europe. Rather, these pacts increase the danger inherent in the division of Germany and will prolong this division. I am convinced that the only viable way to the peaceful reunification of Germany and to peace is an agreement between the Germans themselves and the conclusion of a peace treaty on the basis of the Soviet note to the Western powers of August 15 this year. on the German problem.
Therefore, I made the decision to devote all my energies after returning to my homeland to the exalted goal of the peaceful reunification of Germany and to deepen the friendship of the German people with the Soviet people and with all peace-loving nations.
I would not want to leave the Soviet Union without telling the Soviet people that, out of blind obedience, I once went to their country as an enemy, but now I am parting with it as a friend.
- General Friedrich Paulus, October 25, 1953.
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