Stalingrad Holdouts - German Resistance After the Surrender

My uncle was fighting in Stalingrad with Italian Bersaglieri. He was captured by the Soviets and put in a prison camp somewhere East and South of Moscow. Previously he had fought in the African campaign. He came from Gorizia, in Northern Italy and many people there, including my uncle, spoke Italian, German and Slovenian. Once in Russia, he quickly learned that language and, at the camp, was put to work as a translator. According to him, conditions at the camp were terrible and even the Russians didn’t have much to eat. The Italians got less much less but got some food since they, unlike the Germans, had also fed Russian prisoners their own rations. The Germans got little food, no compassion and simply died off. When my uncle was finally released, one of the last to be let go, he was given a letter of safe passage and pointed in the right direction. Nothing else. He was forever grateful for the help he received from Russian peasants, who treated him kindly as he made his long walk home to Italy where he arrived several months later. He was starving, without his teeth, suffering from the malaria he picked up in Africa and forever changed both physically and mentally. Thank you for the excellent episode as otherwise I would not have thought of him, his travails and the strength of the human spirit.

"The railway station changed hands fourteen times over six hours of fighting." Fascinating research Mark as always! Thanks for sharing!

My former boss knew I'm a history buff. He told me he had an uncle from Austria who was in the 6th Army. He survived and retreated into the encirclement. He was wounded so was evacuated early on by one of the supply aircraft flying out. Very, very lucky man.

I read in a German memoir that the worst impact of Stalingrad was on moral. German troops had always believed they would never be left in the lurch. That if they were cut off every effort would be made to rescue them. After Stalingrad they knew that the German high command could no longer be trusted.

In my small hometown near Hamburg , northern Germany , there used to be a pub during the 1970s and 1980s run by a Stalingrad survivor. This landlord's name was Adolf L. , everybody called him "Addi" , but out of his presence we youngsters just nicknamed him , and accordingly also his place , "Einachser"(German technical slang that translates to about "single axle trailer" ), as he was one of the last severely wounded German soldiers to be flown out of the Stalingrad pocket with one of his legs severed above the knee. He had put wooden pallets all around behind his bar , where we often used to sit for a beer or two back then , as this more elastic underground was easier and less painful for his stump and wooden leg attached to walk and stand on rather than on the hard floor.

My grandfather was there, with the Romanian 4th Army, 30th inf regiment, at the river Don's bend. Out of a regiment of 3.200 nominal strenght, there were only 185 survivors that made it back to their lines, after walking more than 200 km, in the Russian winter. All the rest became KIA or MIA. Walking at night, hiding by day from the prowling Russians, scavenging what they could. He arrived in the town of Rostov in mid march 1943, and was sent straight home, as unfit for front duty. Weighed just 50 kg, was 1.65 m tall. He was 32 years old, had 3 children home. In august 1944, after Romania left the Axis and joined the Allies, he was recalled (he had 4 children home now) and sent westward, to fight the Germans and the Hungarians. He went through the liberation of Transylvania and the siege of Budapest, VE Day found him in the Banka Bistriza area, present day in Slovakia. He arrived back home, to his village outside Bucharest in late September 1945, after WALKING all the way from Slovakia (, 1.100 km, the Russians didn't allow them to use the trains and have confiscated their vehicles, because they were of German make and considered war spoils!). He tried to get back to his farming, only to see his land and wares confiscated by the communists, who forced him to work in a collective farm. He died in 1991, delighted to see the fall of the communist regime in Romania. From his scant stories, ( he would only talk after a couple of glasses of plum brandy) I got the details above and from the regiment's archives I tried retracing his steps and came up with the mindboggling distance of some 5.000 km, on foot, with countless engagements and fights against the Russian and the Germans Here is one story, from so many untold ones.

Is there an Emmy Award category for online content?? Dr. Felton's work would certainly be a good candidate if one does exist, brilliant storytelling

My father worked with a German architect in the 60s. He invited his German friend and family to come skiing with us. He said he d seen enough ice and snow in Russia. He came on a picnic with us and while we we swimming I noticed he had an incredible amount of scarring on his body from bullet and shrapnel wounds. They were a nice family. I was 8 yo at the time. His name was Karl Schmidt.

History Channel: Aliens Mark Felton: 100% History.

When you consider that most of the Germans that were captured at Stalingrad never returned home, putting up a resistance probably wasn't the worst idea.

Dr. Felton, I am a Black 71 yr old man and have watching you for two years! Thank You so very much

Personally I'd like to thank all commenters here who gave a personal report of their relatives who survived the incredible suffering during and after this monumental battle.

My great grandpa fought in Stalingrad and was one of the fortunate 6000 German soldiers in the cauldron who returned home. He was sent to a prison in Siberia and forced to mine coal. They didn't receive any food besides raw herring and onions. The mere smell of onions made him have flashbacks even when he was 97 years old. They didn't get medical supplies, attention or work breaks. He had scars all over himself black as night, from all the coal dust accumulating in the wounds. On a lighter note, he made the best waffles i ever had.

When you hear the number of casualties that came out of Stalingrad, D-Day seems like barely a blip on the German radar.

My wife's maternal grandfather was a Romanian cavalry reconnaissance soldier in the Fall Blau campaign in 1942; not sure if he was attached to the 3rd or 4th Romanian Army. He was captured sometime in September or October 1942 on a recon mission east of the Don. It probably saved his life since he avoided becoming a casualty when the Red Army launched its counterattack. He spent years in a POW camp in present-day Moldova, worked in a literal salt mine, and only returned to Romania in '48 or '49. Quite a story, but all too common for Eastern Europe at that time.

I love how detailed and informative the old news programs are. I absolutely love the animated drawing of maps and the front line.

Mark thank you for telling the side stories of WW2, as useal I was not aware of this, so keep telling th stories, so we all can learn

This is one of the things that makes this channel so great. Common sense tells you that not all Germans would have surrendered when Paulus did, but I have never seen, heard or read any other historical source that even mentioned 11,000 men remaining under arms of their own accord after the surrender. Thanks once again Mark for providing the service of not letting important history be forgotten. As usual, you’re information and presentation are second to none. Best history channel on YouTube.

A friend of mine, who is native German (who moved to US as a boy with his family but still has ties in Germany) told me about an uncle who fought in Stalingrad and who got back. The uncle said that in order to get through the German lines they killed more fellow Germans than Russians.

"This part of the battle of Stalingrad has been completely ignored by historians..." that is, until now. Mr. Felton, I am always amazed at the depth of your research. I learn something new every time👍