2. Battle of Stalingrad  Part of Operation Barbarossa-the German invasion of the Soviet Union (USSR)  Barbarossa begins June 1941, Stalin furious about violation of non-aggression pact by Hitler  Battle of Stalingrad November ‘42 – Feb 1943

3. Overview  Turning point in European war after Germany loses battle and entire 6 th Army.  Hitler unreasonably wanted troops to hold Stalingrad and dismissed commanders at will, so few dared to tell him the truth about conditions and losses.  “I saw then that he (Hitler) had lost touch with reality. He lived in a fantasy world of maps and flags.”  Germans too far from supply lines, got surrounded, starved, froze.

5. Battle Info  Germans advanced quickly at first, but were unprepared for cold, no winter gear.  USSR killed 13,000 of their own troops for running away.  Soviets used penal units, little ammo, no radio  Germany underestimated Soviets, got encircled in Operation Uranus

8. Conditions  290,000 Germans got trapped.  Urban fighting  Snipers were well supplied  No fuel meant no water  German troops began to starve to death  Dead bodies not buried

10. Casualties  91,000 German POWs, 21 Generals captured  General Paulus not released by Soviets until 1953  Red Army suffered 1.1 million casualties, 485,751 were deaths  Civilian casualties for USSR-18 million, 18 million military  Total dead for USSR around 26 million, 5 times the total for Germany