0:01 The Battle of Stalingrad is considered
0:03 the deadliest and most brutal single
0:05 battle in human history with casualties
0:07 that exceed those of many entire wars.
0:09 However, the numbers are just numbers,
0:12 and you don't really get the idea of how
0:14 bad this actually was until you reduce
0:16 it to a personal level and describe the
0:17 actual way it happened. People were
0:19 brought to the breaking point where
0:21 humanity as we know it simply ceased to
0:23 exist from complete mercilessness
0:24 through atrocities all the way to
0:26 cannibalism. When the battle finally
0:28 ended, 99% of the city was completely
0:31 destroyed and just around 1,500 of over
0:32 half a million of its inhabitants were
0:35 still alive in the ruins. So, let's
0:36 briefly go over the course of the battle
0:38 to set the stage for what was about to
0:40 happen so you'll get the complete
0:41 picture and understand the kind of
0:45 horrific suffering that was coming.
0:47 It was the summer of 1942 when Hitler
0:49 launched Operation Blue. This was a
0:51 massive German offensive into southern
0:52 Russia with the goal of seizing the oil
0:54 richch Caucus region and capturing the
0:56 city of Stalingrad on the Vular River.
0:58 This would secure Germany's flank and as
1:00 a nice bonus deliver a symbolic blow to
1:02 the Soviet Union by capturing the city
1:05 that bore its leader name. So the German
1:07 army group south was split into two
1:09 thrusts. One going after the oil fields
1:10 and the other of course towards
1:12 Stalingrad. They didn't know it at the
1:14 time, but the Germans were already
1:16 making a mistake that would cost the
1:18 entire eighth army its existence. On the
1:20 other side, the Soviet Union knew the
1:22 price of the fall of Stalingrad and the
1:24 oil fields. So, Stalin himself issued
1:27 the infamous order number 227, stating
1:29 not one step back. As you probably
1:32 assumed, any unauthorized retreat was
1:33 strictly forbidden, and blocking
1:34 detachments were formed with orders to
1:36 shoot any desertters who might try to
1:38 leave their positions. This strategic
1:40 setup from both sides set the stage for
1:42 the savage fighting that was about to
1:45 unfold. By late August 1942, the German
1:47 6th Army under General Friedrich Powas
1:49 and the fourth Panza army under General
1:51 Herman Hoth reached Stalingrad's
1:52 outskirts. The city's population had
1:55 little time to fully evacuate while tens
1:56 of thousands of residents were mobilized
1:58 to dig trenches and prepare defensive
2:00 networks, and they were still there now
2:02 as the firestorm was about to start. On
2:05 August 23rd, 1942, the relentless
2:07 Luftvafa bombing raids began with wave
2:09 after wave of bombers blanketing the
2:11 city and already killing a staggering
2:13 number of civilians and soldiers. On the
2:15 very first day, a huge portion of the
2:16 city was in flames and reduced to
2:19 rubble. Then came the German tanks into
2:20 the northern suburbs where they faced
2:22 something they couldn't have even
2:25 dreamed of. A unit of literally teenage
2:27 girls manning anti-aircraft guns opened
2:29 fire on advancing German tanks, holding
2:31 them off and reportedly knocking out
2:33 over 80 of them before being overrun.
2:35 Shocked Germans pressed through isolated
2:37 strongholds of resistance. And by early
2:39 September, assault units had reached the
2:41 vulgar river north of Stalingrad and
2:43 split Soviet defenses. Red Army
2:45 reinforcements were urgently flooded in
2:47 across the river to stop the Germans
2:49 from advancing to the other side. By
2:51 November, the Germans held 90% of the
2:53 city, while the Soviets were cornered in
2:55 two small enclaves along the river.
2:57 Exhaustion on both sides was palpable,
2:59 but this was only a warm-up for what was
3:01 about to come because the Soviets were
3:03 preparing a huge counter-strike to take
3:04 advantage of the Germans overextended
3:06 yet overconfident position. And the
3:08 battle was about to shift inside the
3:10 city. And that quite literally would
3:12 become hell on earth for both sides.
3:14 Unbeknownst to the Germans, the Red Army
3:16 was amassing fresh armies on the flanks
3:18 of the city. And on November 19th,
3:20 Operation Uranus was unleashed.
3:22 Germany's weakly held flanks manned by
3:24 their not so well motivated and poorly
3:25 equipped Romanian, Italian, and
3:27 Hungarian allies were shattered and
3:29 overrun by waves of T34 tanks and
3:32 infantry. In just 4 days, two Soviet
3:33 thrusts met each other west of
3:35 Stalingrad, completely encircling the
3:37 entire German 6th Army and parts of the
3:40 fourth Panza army inside the city.
3:42 Almost 300,000 Axis soldiers were now
3:44 trapped in a stunning reversal, now
3:47 besieged within the enemy city. Panic
3:49 and confusion swept through German high
3:51 command, and General Pow begged for the
3:52 order to break through the encirclement
3:54 while they still had the strength to do
3:56 it. And while Soviet defenses were not
3:58 yet fully locked in, but to his horror,
4:00 Hitler personally forbade any retreat
4:02 from the city. He ordered the encircled
4:05 army to fortify themselves and hold out,
4:06 promising that the Luftwaffer would
4:09 resupply them entirely by air. This
4:10 order would seal the fate of almost
4:13 every German soldier inside the pocket.
4:14 Such an army needed several hundreds of
4:16 tons of supplies daily, and the
4:18 Luftvafer could provide only a fraction
4:20 of that. So, the shortages of everything
4:22 from food to ammunition and winter
4:25 clothing began almost immediately. The
4:26 horrors that were about to become
4:28 reality, they couldn't have even
4:30 imagined in their worst nightmares.
4:32 Let's start lightly and first explain
4:34 the way combat worked inside the
4:36 encircled city. And when I say lightly,
4:38 I really mean that. As horrible as it
4:40 was, the fighting itself wasn't even the
4:42 worst thing they endured. Germans
4:44 expecting a quick victory got their
4:46 dreams shattered in what they now called
4:48 Raten Creek, colorfully meaning the rat
4:50 war. House to house, floor to floor, and
4:52 room to room fighting was an everyday
4:54 occurrence with both sides fanatically
4:57 trying to capture and hold positions.
4:58 One side would capture a house, then
5:00 lose it in a counterattack, then attack
5:02 again and recapture it, only to be
5:04 pushed back once more. Each time, both
5:06 sides suffered horrendous casualties.
5:08 And this was a daily occurrence. For
5:10 example, Stalingrad's central railway
5:13 station changed hands 13 times in a
5:14 single day. And we should probably
5:16 explain the way of fighting a bit more
5:17 because this was everything but an
5:20 ordinary battlefield. We really couldn't
5:22 put enough emphasis on how close the
5:23 fighting was. The Soviets were using the
5:25 tactic of quote unquote hugging the
5:27 Germans to make it harder for artillery
5:29 and dive bombers to be used as the
5:30 targets were so close to friendly
5:33 troops. There were actual instances of
5:34 fighting in multi-story buildings where
5:36 Germans would be on one floor, beneath
5:38 them were Soviet soldiers, and beneath
5:39 them again were more Germans, all
5:42 fighting from every direction. Soldiers
5:44 were crawling through sewers, trenches,
5:46 rubble, and collapsed buildings to
5:48 outmaneuver and surprise one another.
5:49 Night raids were common, and they were
5:51 literally fighting in the same rooms
5:53 with both sides forming small assault
5:55 squads of 5 to 10 men to infiltrate
5:58 enemy-held ruins. bayonets, knives,
6:00 spades, grenades, satchel charges,
6:02 submachine guns, and even flamethrowers
6:04 were all tools used to do the job. Here,
6:07 the Soviet PPSH41 submachine gun would
6:09 shine, and it was used by both sides.
6:11 But there were others as well. Every
6:13 conceivable tactic and trick was used by
6:16 both sides to inflict as much damage as
6:18 possible. Soviets would dig tunnels and
6:20 plant explosives to blow up heavily
6:22 defended German positions, much like the
6:24 tunnelers and trench raiders of World
6:27 War I. mines, booby traps, ambushes,
6:28 snipers, for example, had unlimited
6:30 opportunity to hide in ruins, camouflage
6:32 themselves in the snow, and shoot anyone
6:34 who peered out of cover. They had a huge
6:36 impact on both sides and caused heavy
6:39 casualties. Soviet sniper Vasili Zaitzv
6:41 famously had over 200 confirmed kills
6:43 and participated in several infamous
6:45 sniper jewels. As the battle dragged on
6:47 into December and real winter began,
6:49 with temperatures plummeting to
6:51 minus30°, the cold began to take as many
6:54 lives as the fighting. German soldiers
6:55 already malnourished, battered, and
6:57 without proper clothing, were now
6:59 freezing to death in large numbers.
7:01 Frostbite and hunger became even greater
7:03 enemies than Soviet soldiers, and there
7:06 was no protection from either. The site
7:07 was horrific, and we could not even
7:09 describe it or show it here on YouTube,
7:11 but you can look it up on Google and see
7:12 it for yourself, although I do not
7:15 recommend it. The already reduced daily
7:18 bread ration was further cut from 300 g
7:20 to 100, which was about two slices. And
7:22 even that bread was mostly made from
7:24 sawdust. Horses were eaten at first, but
7:26 they were soon gone. Then starving
7:28 soldiers turned to dogs, rats, and even
7:30 cooking leather belts. But when that ran
7:31 out, well, how can I say it without
7:34 saying it? There was one thing that was
7:36 not in short supply, and that was fallen
7:38 soldiers. I will let your imagination
7:40 conclude the rest. And yes, that did
7:42 happen. Soldiers wrote in their diaries
7:44 that they were turning into animals.
7:45 Medical supplies ran out as well, and
7:47 being wounded more often meant death,
7:49 just in a slower and far more horrible
7:51 way. Typhus spread, and most surgical
7:53 procedures that had to be done were
7:54 performed without anesthesia. The
7:56 condition of the German army was on the
7:58 breaking point. There was no morale with
7:59 all kinds of incidents you could and
8:01 could not imagine. And yet, they were
8:03 strictly forbidden to surrender with
8:04 Hitler personally reminding General
8:07 Palace that no German field marshall had
8:09 ever surrendered. However, not only
8:11 German soldiers were the ones who
8:13 struggled with supplies. Soviet
8:15 civilians who had not evacuated were now
8:16 trapped in this battle and just
8:18 contributing to the all-out horror. They
8:20 tried to find protection in the
8:22 devastated city without food or water
8:24 and around 40,000 of them would perish
8:26 during the fighting. Many of them died
8:28 during bombings and shellings including
8:30 from both the German and Soviet side as
8:32 they were right in between the fighting
8:33 but also from far more disturbing
8:36 reasons. There were atrocities, there
8:38 was hunger, there was winter, and there
8:40 was no protection from any of it. Women
8:42 even shaved their heads to look like men
8:44 and avoid being attacked in different
8:46 ways by the soldiers. Going out in
8:48 search of food or water was a deadly
8:50 activity. Meanwhile, the encircled
8:52 German army was desperately negotiating
8:54 with the high command to save them.
8:55 Field marshall Manstein attempted an
8:57 armored relief and he managed to fight
8:59 through to within 30 mi of Stalingrad,
9:01 but was stopped by relentless Soviet
9:03 attacks. Inside the city, German
9:05 defenses were shrinking inward. They
9:07 soon had to abandon the last functioning
9:09 airrip. They received a couple more
9:11 airdrop supplies, but it was a far cry
9:13 from the amount they needed. Ammunition
9:15 was almost completely expended. Fuel for
9:18 tanks and heating had long been gone. By
9:20 late January 1943, the situation was
9:22 beyond hopeless. But still, one final
9:24 and most disturbing chapter of the
9:27 battle was yet to come. Soviet forces in
9:29 Operation Ring cut German defenses into
9:31 smaller pieces. And from the original
9:33 300,000 soldiers, there were about
9:36 90,000 remaining, barely alive and in
9:38 any fighting condition. Many were
9:39 deserting and surrendering, but after
9:41 everything that happened and what the
9:42 German army had done to the Soviet
9:44 people, they were not always quite
9:46 welcome to become prisoners of war, if
9:48 you know what I mean. And that brings us
9:50 to the next disturbing point. What
9:52 happened to almost all German soldiers
9:54 who surrendered and what those handful
9:56 few who would still be alive after the
9:59 war had to endure. On January 31st,
10:01 General Palace finally found the courage
10:03 to directly disobey Hitler's order.
10:05 After being completely surrounded in his
10:07 headquarters, he decided to surrender
10:08 the remaining half-st starved Axis
10:11 troops still alive in Stalingrad. Hitler
10:13 was furious. Palace became the only
10:14 German field marshal ever to be captured
10:16 alive. The once invincible Sixth Army
10:18 had been annihilated. Even Soviet
10:20 soldiers were shocked by the state of
10:22 the Germans in dirty, frozen uniforms,
10:24 looking like skeletons, barely able to
10:26 walk. But the hatred ran deep, and the
10:28 horrors were still far from over for the
10:31 Germans. They were now marched off to
10:33 prisoner of war camps, but many would
10:34 never reach them. They were marching
10:36 over the freezing step and they were
10:38 dying from exposure and exhaustion in
10:40 massive numbers. Anyone who could not
10:42 keep walking was immediately put down by
10:44 the guards and left in the snow. Listen
10:47 to this. Out of approximately 91,000
10:50 German prisoners, only around 5,000
10:51 would survive to return home. To make
10:53 this even worse, the last of them
10:55 returned a full 11 years after World War
10:57 II had ended. They were forced to work
10:59 in camps, factories, and mines. As the
11:01 Soviets put it, to repair the damage
11:03 they had caused to the country and
11:05 rebuild what they had destroyed. In
11:07 other words, from all prisoners, over
11:09 90% would perish after the battle had
11:12 ended, completely abandoned by the very
11:14 country they fought for. Stalingrad
11:15 marked the first major loss for the
11:17 German army and the turning point in the
11:19 tide of the war. After the battle, the
11:21 German army was in strategic retreat all
11:23 the way back to Berlin eventually, where
11:25 it had all started years before. The
11:26 battle of Stalingrad has long since ended.
