Paulus was born in Breitenau in the family of an accountant who served in the Kassel prison. After graduating from school, he dreamed of a career as a cadet in the Kaiser's navy. Later he studied law at the University of Marburg. However, he did not complete his training and in February 1910 he became a fanen cadet in the 111th Infantry Regiment. In August 1911 he received the rank of lieutenant. Married Elena Constancia Rosetti-Solescu on July 4, 1912.
World War I
At the beginning of the war, Paulus's regiment was in France. Later he served as a staff officer in mountain infantry units (jaegers) in France, Serbia and Macedonia. He finished the war as a captain.
Period between wars
Until 1933 he served in various military posts, in 1934-1935. was the commander of a motorized regiment, in September 1935 he was appointed chief of staff of the command of tank formations. In February 1938, Colonel Paulus was appointed chief of staff of the 16th Motorized Corps under the command of Lieutenant General Guderian. In May 1939, he was promoted to the rank of major general and became chief of staff of the 10th Army.
The Second World War
At the beginning of hostilities, the 10th Army operated first in Poland, later in Belgium and the Netherlands. After the numbering change, the tenth army became the sixth. In August 1940 he received the rank of lieutenant general, from June 1940 to December 1941 he was deputy chief of the general staff of the German army (ground forces). At the same time, he worked on developing a plan to attack the USSR.
In January 1942, he was appointed commander of the 6th Army (instead of Reichenau), which at that time was operating on the Eastern Front. In August 1942 he was awarded the Knight's Cross. In the summer and autumn of 1942, the 6th Army was part of Army Group Don, which fought on the southern sector of the front, and from September 1942 took part in the Battle of Stalingrad, where it was surrounded by Soviet troops. Contrary to the assurances of Hitler and Goering (commander of the Luftwaffe), it was impossible to supply the surrounded army with ammunition, fuel and food.
On January 15, 1943, Paulus was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. On February 2, 1943, the 6th Army ceased to exist, and its remnants, together with commander Paulus, surrendered to Soviet captivity. On January 30, 1943, Hitler promoted Paulus to the highest military rank - field marshal. The radiogram sent by Hitler to Paulus, among other things, said that “not a single German field marshal has ever been captured.” This was a veiled hint to Paulus to commit suicide. Paulus did not agree to this and the next day became the first field marshal to be captured in German military history. In Soviet captivity, Paulus became a critic of National Socialism and in 1944, while in captivity, he joined the anti-fascist organization of German soldiers and officers.
Friedrich Paulus acted as a witness at the Nuremberg trials.
Post-war time
In 1953, Paulus was released from captivity. In the last years of his life he served as a police inspector in the GDR. He died in 1957 in Dresden.
Quotes
“If we look at the war only with our own eyes, we will only get amateur photography. Looking at the war through the eyes of the enemy gives us a great x-ray."
Several years ago, while collecting materials for a documentary film about the Battle of Stalingrad, I managed to track down a very important witness to the last years of the life of Friedrich Paulus. After his return from Soviet captivity, the former field marshal was appointed aide-de-camp to Heinz Beutel, who remained Paulus's confidant and friend until his death.
The excerpt from my conversation with Boitel (he died on December 23, 2015) offered to Rodina has not been published anywhere before.
Evgeniy Kirichenko, reserve colonel
- It is known that Paulus really wanted to write a book about Stalingrad. But I never wrote...
This was very important to him. Especially after the commander of Army Group Don, Manstein, published his book Lost Victories. Paulus tried to challenge him on many decisive issues.
- For example?
The Battle of Stalingrad was largely planned and conducted by Manstein, who also inspired the failure of the Hoth tank group. Paulus, having never received permission from Hitler to break out of the cauldron, was ready to try to break out of the encirclement from the inside, gathering his last strength into a fist. But Manstein told him: “No, I’m going to make a breakthrough! Follow Hitler’s order - hold on!” You know the rest. Naturally, in his memoirs, Manstein presented the situation in a light favorable to himself, shifting all the blame for the defeat onto Paulus. But to expose him, documentary evidence was needed. You can’t rely only on memory, it can change or just lead a little aside. For example, sometimes Paulus and I would spend half a day together to write a regular one-page letter. And this was necessary in order to correctly describe the facts distorted in Manstein’s book.
Paulus appealed to the government of the GDR and the Soviet side with a request to provide him with captured documents of the 6th Army, in particular a combat diary. But, unfortunately, I never received them.
Manstein accused Paulus of ruining the army. Paulus claimed that he was carrying out the order to “stand to the death.” Both have their own truth...
That's why Paulus wanted to gain access to the sources. He believed that the truth is only in documents.
A few hours before the surrender, Hitler awarded Paulus the rank of field marshal. Transparent hint: field marshals do not give up?
Yes. Returning from captivity and settling in Dresden, he often said: “It was, in general, a compulsion to commit suicide.”
- Did Paulus feel that this step was expected of him?
Yes. They waited, but did not wait. As Paulus said, I could not give them such pleasure as my suicide.
It is known that after Paulus’s famous speech at the Nuremberg trials, he was offered to meet his wife...
- Why?
So that no one would even think that a date is payment for speaking before the International Tribunal. Paulus then said: “If this happens now, my revelations can be put to rest. Everyone will talk about her, and not about my testimony before the court; they say, I spoke before the Nuremberg Tribunal only because I was allowed a meeting.”
Paulus gave his testimony voluntarily. I hope I don’t need to retell them; they were published a long time ago, including in Russia. But, of course, for many it came as a bolt from the blue: Paulus spoke out against the main German war criminals; he exposed Hitler's plan to attack the USSR and the lie that it was not Hitler's Germany, but the Soviet Union, that was the aggressor. He had nothing to complain about and no one to take revenge on. He simply felt obligated to tell the court the truth that the war was started by criminals who needed to be tried for it.
- Paulus’s wife died in 1949...
Yes, after the war they never met.
- After returning from captivity, Paulus had the right to choose - to live in West Germany or East Germany?
Yes, he had a choice. But he said: my understanding of the situation convinces me that in the West I will face attacks, slander, and quite possibly prison. He always defended this point of view to his relatives. But only his daughter understood him correctly. And the son was amazed: “Why don’t you move to West Germany, or even better, to Switzerland, to an air resort, to receive medical treatment, to rejuvenate?”
- You also didn’t write your book of memories...
Saying goodbye, Paulus said to me: “Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you know a lot about me that others do not know and should not know. Let this remain between us.” There are topics related to Paulus that I have never talked about and will never talk about. It will go with me.
One of the authors of the Barbarossa plan, field marshal, and finally, commander of the army capitulating at Stalingrad Friedrich Paulus in German Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus, born September 23, 1890 in Breitenau.
His father was an accountant in the Kassel prison; the young boy graduated from the Kaiser Wilhelm Gymnasium in this town in 1909 and received a certificate. Then he entered the University of Munich to study law, where he studied two semesters in the specialty of jurisprudence. Without completing his studies, young Friedrich, in February 1910, entered service in the infantry regiment as a fanen cadet, where, with the help of his colleagues, he met his future wife.
Elene Solescu (whose full name is Elena Constance Rosetti-Solescu), was much younger than her husband and was a real Romanian aristocrat. Thanks to her skill and tact, she was able to instill in her husband true noble manners. It is safe to say that their marriage became a decisive factor in the subsequent career of the future military leader.
The regiment met Paulus in France, where he continued to serve in mountain infantry units as a staff officer. He met the end of the war as a captain.
After that, he occupied various military posts - from the commander of a motorized regiment to the chief of staff of tank formations. At this time he served under the command of, who at that time was already a lieutenant general. By May 1939, he was promoted to major general and chief of staff of the 10th Army.
The Second World War. Paulus meets its beginning in Poland, and a little later he acts as part of the army in Belgium and the Netherlands. The numbering of the armies is changing and the tenth army will become the sixth. After this, the military leader serves in various positions on the general staff. At this time, he was tasked with developing a plan for an attack on the USSR, which he was engaged in from July to December 18, 1940.
Military operations against the Soviet Union are in full swing, and Paulus is appointed commander of the army in which he served, because... W. Reichenau was removed from this position. The army at this time is on the eastern front. At this time, Paulus was awarded the Knight's Cross. During the summer and autumn of 1942, the army under his command was part of Group B of the German group, which conducted military operations on the southern sector of the front, and in the fall of the same year began military operations in the Stalingrad area.
It was here that Paulus's army was surrounded by Soviet troops. While in a besieged city, the military leader tries to persuade Hitler to leave the city, pointing out that this is the only correct decision in this case. He insists that the army under his leadership try to get out of the encirclement. However, Hitler categorically forbade Paulus to even think about leaving the city, promising the latter that an uninterrupted supply of ammunition and food to the army would be established through the air bridge. Despite these assurances and promises from Hitler and Goering remained only assurances. The bridge was never built.
On Hitler's instructions, in January 1943, Paulus was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Iron Cross, and at the end of the month he was awarded the rank of field marshal. Sending him a radiogram of congratulations, he pointed out that Paulus was the first German field marshal to be captured. Hitler, therefore, hinted at him to commit suicide, but Paulus did not agree to this, which he never regretted in the future. At the end of January 1943, he was arrested and taken to Beketovka, where on the same day he was interrogated.
After this, the field marshal was held captive in various camps of the former Soviet Union, the last place where he was held was a sanatorium in Suzdal. It was in this former sanatorium that the field marshal’s intestinal disease began to progress; for this disease he had been previously operated on several times. However, despite his illness, he refused individual nutrition. All the prisoners who were in this “sanatorium” were engaged in creativity.
Every day he was being processed about giving consent to cooperate with the authorities, but he did not make a deal with his conscience. Reports on his movements were received daily by Beria. After the conspirators against Hitler were shot in Berlin, he signs an appeal to German soldiers. Presumably, a letter received from his wife in Berlin played a role in the decision. He begins to actively speak on the radio, calling on German soldiers to fight against Hitler. Now there was no turning back. His behavior also affected his family. The Gestapo immediately arrests his son, a Wehrmacht captain, and his wife because she refused to renounce Paulus. He would never see his wife again, because in 1949 she would die in the American Occupation Zone, in Baden-Baden. He learns about her death a month later.
Paulus becomes Stalin's personal prisoner and lives in a dacha in Tomilino near Moscow. After the death of the leader in October 1953, Paulus, with his cook and orderly, went home to Berlin. Here he begins teaching, trying to show his loyalty to the socialist system.
Field Marshal Paulus died of sound mind on the eve of the next anniversary of the defeat of his army on February 1, 1957. The urn with the military leader's ashes is buried next to the grave of his wife in Baden-Baden.
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Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus(German) Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus ; September 23, Huxhagen, Hesse-Nassau - February 1, Dresden) - German military leader (since 1943 - Field Marshal) and commander of the 6th Army, which was surrounded and capitulated at Stalingrad. One of the authors of the Barbarossa plan.
In some sources there is a spelling of his last name with the addition of a predicate background, which is incorrect, since Paulus was not an aristocrat by birth and never used such a prefix to his surname.
Biography
Childhood and youth
Period between wars
For Paulus and his comrades, who were transferred to the general’s camp in the Spaso-Evfimyev Monastery in Suzdal in the spring, this was a betrayal. Seventeen generals, led by the field marshal, sign a collective statement: “What the officers and generals who have become members of the “Union” are doing is high treason. We no longer consider them our comrades, and we resolutely reject them." But a month later, Paulus unexpectedly withdraws his signature from the general’s “protest.” Soon he was transferred to the village of Cherntsy, 28 km from Ivanovo. The highest ranks of the NKVD feared that the field marshal might be kidnapped from Suzdal, so they sent him to the depths of the forests. In addition to him, 22 German, 6 Romanian and 3 Italian generals arrived at the former Voikov sanatorium.
In the former sanatorium, Paulus's intestinal disease began to progress, for which he was operated on several times. However, in spite of everything, he refused individual dietary nutrition, and only asked to deliver the herbs marjoram and tarragon, which he always carried with him, but lost the suitcase with them in battles. In addition, he, like all prisoners of the “sanatorium”, received meat, butter, all the necessary products, parcels from relatives from Germany, beer on holidays. The prisoners were engaged in creative work. To do this, they were given every opportunity: there was plenty of wood around, so many were engaged in wood carving (even carving a linden baton for the field marshal), canvases and paints were available in any quantity, Paulus himself also did this, and wrote memoirs.
However, he still did not recognize the “Union of German Officers”, did not agree to cooperate with Soviet authorities, and did not oppose A. Hitler. In the summer of 1944, the field marshal was transferred to a special facility in Ozyory. Almost every day, reports from the UPVI are written to L.P. Beria on the progress of the processing of the Satrap (this nickname was assigned to him by the NKVD). Paulus is presented with an appeal from 16 generals. Intelligent, indecisive Paulus hesitated. As a former staff officer, he was apparently accustomed to calculating all the pros and cons. But a number of events “help” him in this: the opening of the Second Front, defeat on the Kursk Bulge and in Africa, the loss of allies, total mobilization in Germany, the entry into the “Union” of 16 new generals and his best friend, Colonel V. Adam, as well as death in Italy in April 1944 of his son Friedrich. And finally, the assassination attempt on A. Hitler by officers whom he knew well. He was shocked by the execution of the conspirators, among whom was his friend Field Marshal E. von Witzleben. Apparently, a letter from his wife, delivered from Berlin by Soviet intelligence, also played a role. 
On August 8, Paulus finally did what they wanted from him for a year and a half - he signed an appeal “To the prisoners of war of German soldiers and officers and to the German people,” which literally said the following: “I consider it my duty to declare that Germany must eliminate Adolf Hitler and establish a new state leadership that will end the war and create conditions that will ensure our people’s continued existence and the restoration of peaceful and friendly relations with the current enemy.” Four days later he joined the Union of German Officers. Then - to the National Committee of Free Germany. From that moment on, he became one of the most active propagandists in the fight against Nazism. He regularly appears on the radio, puts his signature on leaflets, calling on Wehrmacht soldiers to go over to the side of the Russians. From now on there was no turning back for Paulus.
This also affected his family members. The Gestapo arrested his son, a Wehrmacht captain. His wife, who refused to renounce her captive husband, his daughter, daughter-in-law, and grandson are sent into exile. Until February 1945, they were kept under house arrest in the mountain resort town of Schirlichmülle in Upper Silesia, along with the families of some other captured generals, notably von Seydlitz and von Lenski. The son was under arrest in the Küstrin fortress. Paulus's daughter and daughter-in-law wrote petitions for release in connection with their young children, but this played the opposite role to expectations - reminding the Main Directorate of the RSHA, they were transferred first to Buchenwald, and a little later to Dachau, when the Red Army approached Silesia. In April 1945 they were liberated from the Dachau concentration camp. But the field marshal never saw his wife. On November 10, 1949, she died in Baden-Baden, in the American occupation zone. Paulus found out about this only a month later.
Friedrich Paulus acted as a witness at the Nuremberg trials.
Post-war time
After the war, the “Stalingrad” generals were still held captive. Many of them were then convicted in the USSR, but all 23, except one who died, later returned home (of the soldiers - about 6 thousand). However, Paulus visited his homeland already in February 1946 as a participant in the Nuremberg trials. His appearance there and speaking at the trial as a witness came as a surprise even to the officers closest to Paulus. Not to mention the defendants V. Keitel, A. Jodl and G. Goering, who were sitting in the dock, and had to be calmed down. Some of the captured generals accused their colleague of baseness and betrayal.
After Nuremberg, the field marshal spent a month and a half in Thuringia, where he met with his relatives. At the end of March he was brought to Moscow again, and soon Stalin’s “personal captive” (he did not allow Paulus to be put on trial) was settled in a dacha in Ilyinsky near Moscow. There he studied the works of the classics of Marxism-Leninism, read party literature, and prepared for speeches before Soviet generals. He had his own doctor, cook and adjutant. Letters and parcels were regularly delivered to Paulus from his relatives. When he fell ill, he was taken to Yalta for treatment. But all his requests to return home, to visit his wife’s grave met with a wall of polite refusal.
One morning in 1951, Paulus was found unconscious, but managed to be saved. Then he fell into a severe depression, did not talk to anyone, and refused to leave his bed or eat. Apparently fearing that the famous prisoner might die in his “golden” cage, Stalin decides to release the field marshal without giving a specific date for his repatriation.
Only after Stalin's death, on October 24, 1953, Paulus, accompanied by orderly E. Schulte and personal cook L. Georg, left for Berlin. A month before, he met with the leader of the GDR, W. Ulbricht, and assured him that he would live exclusively in East Germany. On the day of departure, Pravda published a statement by Paulus, which spoke, based on the terrible experience of the war against the USSR, about the need for peaceful coexistence of states with different systems, about a future united Germany. And also about his admission that he, in blind submission, arrived in the Soviet Union as an enemy, but leaves this country as a friend.
Life in the GDR
In the GDR, Paulus was given a guarded villa in an elite area of Dresden, a car, an adjutant and the right to have personal weapons. As the head of the newly created military historical center, he began teaching in 1954. Gives lectures on the art of war at the higher school of the Barracks People's Police (the forerunner of the GDR army), and gives reports on the Battle of Stalingrad.
All the years after his liberation, Paulus did not stop proving his loyalty to the socialist system. The leaders of the GDR praised his patriotism and did not object if he signed his letters to them as “Field Marshal General of the former German army.” Paulus condemned “West German militarism” and criticized the policy of Bonn, which did not want German neutrality. At meetings of former World War II veterans in East Berlin in 1955, he reminded veterans of their responsibility for a democratic Germany.
The modest funeral ceremony in Dresden was attended by several high party functionaries and generals of the GDR. Five days later, the urn containing Paulus's ashes was buried near his wife's grave in Baden-Baden.
Film incarnations
- Vladimir Gaidarov “The Oath” (1946), “Battle of Stalingrad” (USSR, 1949).
- Ernst Wilhelm Borchert “Dogs, do you want to live forever? "(Germany, 1959)
- Zygmunt Maciejewski “November Epilogue” / Epilog norymberski (Poland, 1971)
- Siegfried Voss “Stalingrad” (USSR, 1989).
- Paul Glavion “War and Remembrance” (TV series) / “War and Remembrance” (USA, 1988)
- Matthias Habich “Enemy at the Gates” / “Enemy at the Gates” (USA, 2001)
- Christian Wewerka "Die Geschichte Mitteldeutschlands" (TV series). Germany, 2011.
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Notes
Literature
- Steidle L. From the Volga to Weimar: Memoirs of a German Colonel, Regimental Commander of the 6th Army Paulus = Entscheidung an der Wolga / Luitpold Steidle; Per. with him. N. M. Gnedina and M. P. Sokolov; Ed. Z. S. Sheinis; Preface N. N. Bernikova. - M.: Progress, 1973. - 424 p. - 50,000 copies.(in translation)
- Poltorak A.I. Nuremberg epilogue. - M.: Military Publishing House, 1969.
- Pikul V.S. Barbarossa (Square of Fallen Fighters). - M.: Voice, 1996. - 624 p.
- Mitcham S., Mueller J. Commanders of the Third Reich. - Smolensk: Rusich, 1995. - 480 p. - (Tyranny). - 10,000 copies. - ISBN 5-88590-287-9.
- Gordienko A. N. Commanders of the Second World War. - Minsk: Literature, 1997. - T. 2. - 638 p. - (Encyclopedia of Military Art). - ISBN 985-437-627-3.
- Correlli Barnett.. - New York, NY: Grove Press, 1989. - 528 p. - ISBN 0-802-13994-9.
- Chukarev A. G., Sleptsov E. Ya. Ahead of its time. - M.: NEI “Academic Thought”, 2008.
| This article or section contains or external references, but the sources of individual statements remain unclear due to the lack of footnotes. Statements not made may be questioned and removed. You can improve the article by providing more accurate citations to your sources. |
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Excerpt characterizing Paulus, Friedrich
All the people of this party were catching rubles, crosses, ranks, and in this fishing they only followed the direction of the weather vane of the royal favor, and just noticed that the weather vane turned in one direction, when all this drone population of the army began to blow in the same direction, so that the sovereign the more difficult it was to turn it into another. Amid the uncertainty of the situation, with the threatening, serious danger that gave everything a particularly alarming character, amid this whirlwind of intrigue, pride, clashes of different views and feelings, with the diversity of all these people, this eighth, the largest party of people hired by personal interests, gave great confusion and vagueness of the common cause. No matter what question was raised, the swarm of these drones, without even sounding off the previous topic, flew to a new one and with their buzzing drowned out and obscured sincere, disputing voices.Of all these parties, at the same time that Prince Andrei arrived at the army, another, ninth party gathered and began to raise its voice. This was a party of old, sensible, state-experienced people who were able, without sharing any of the conflicting opinions, to look abstractly at everything that was happening at the headquarters of the main headquarters, and to think about ways out of this uncertainty, indecision, confusion and weakness.
The people of this party said and thought that everything bad comes mainly from the presence of a sovereign with a military court near the army; that the vague, conditional and fluctuating instability of relations that is convenient at court, but harmful in the army, has been transferred to the army; that the sovereign needs to reign, and not control the army; that the only way out of this situation is the departure of the sovereign and his court from the army; that the mere presence of the sovereign would paralyze the fifty thousand troops needed to ensure his personal safety; that the worst, but independent commander-in-chief will be better than the best, but bound by the presence and power of the sovereign.
At the same time, Prince Andrei was living idle under Drissa, Shishkov, the Secretary of State, who was one of the main representatives of this party, wrote a letter to the sovereign, which Balashev and Arakcheev agreed to sign. In this letter, taking advantage of the permission given to him by the sovereign to talk about the general course of affairs, he respectfully and under the pretext of the need for the sovereign to inspire the people in the capital to war, suggested that the sovereign leave the army.
The sovereign's inspiration of the people and the appeal to them for the defense of the fatherland - the same (as far as it was produced by the personal presence of the sovereign in Moscow) inspiration of the people, which was the main reason for the triumph of Russia, was presented to the sovereign and accepted by him as a pretext for leaving the army.
X
This letter had not yet been submitted to the sovereign when Barclay told Bolkonsky at dinner that the sovereign would like to see Prince Andrei personally in order to ask him about Turkey, and that Prince Andrei would appear at Bennigsen’s apartment at six o’clock in the evening.
On the same day, news was received in the sovereign's apartment about Napoleon's new movement, which could be dangerous for the army - news that later turned out to be unfair. And that same morning, Colonel Michaud, touring the Dries fortifications with the sovereign, proved to the sovereign that this fortified camp, built by Pfuel and hitherto considered the master of tactics, destined to destroy Napoleon, - that this camp was nonsense and destruction Russian army.
Prince Andrei arrived at the apartment of General Bennigsen, who occupied a small landowner's house on the very bank of the river. Neither Bennigsen nor the sovereign were there, but Chernyshev, the sovereign’s aide-de-camp, received Bolkonsky and announced to him that the sovereign had gone with General Bennigsen and the Marquis Paulucci another time that day to tour the fortifications of the Drissa camp, the convenience of which was beginning to be seriously doubted.
Chernyshev was sitting with a book of a French novel at the window of the first room. This room was probably formerly a hall; there was still an organ in it, on which some carpets were piled, and in one corner stood the folding bed of Adjutant Bennigsen. This adjutant was here. He, apparently exhausted by a feast or business, sat on a rolled up bed and dozed. Two doors led from the hall: one straight into the former living room, the other to the right into the office. From the first door one could hear voices speaking in German and occasionally in French. There, in the former living room, at the sovereign’s request, not a military council was gathered (the sovereign loved uncertainty), but some people whose opinions on the upcoming difficulties he wanted to know. This was not a military council, but, as it were, a council of those elected to clarify certain issues personally for the sovereign. Invited to this half-council were: the Swedish General Armfeld, Adjutant General Wolzogen, Wintzingerode, whom Napoleon called a fugitive French subject, Michaud, Tol, not a military man at all - Count Stein and, finally, Pfuel himself, who, as Prince Andrei heard, was la cheville ouvriere [the basis] of the whole matter. Prince Andrei had the opportunity to take a good look at him, since Pfuhl arrived soon after him and walked into the living room, stopping for a minute to talk with Chernyshev.
At first glance, Pfuel, in his poorly tailored Russian general's uniform, which sat awkwardly on him, as if dressed up, seemed familiar to Prince Andrei, although he had never seen him. It included Weyrother, Mack, Schmidt, and many other German theoretic generals whom Prince Andrei managed to see in 1805; but he was more typical than all of them. Prince Andrei had never seen such a German theoretician, who combined in himself everything that was in those Germans.
Pfuel was short, very thin, but broad-boned, of a rough, healthy build, with a wide pelvis and bony shoulder blades. His face was very wrinkled, with deep-set eyes. His hair in front, near his temples, was obviously hastily smoothed with a brush, and naively stuck out with tassels at the back. He, looking around restlessly and angrily, entered the room, as if he was afraid of everything in the large room into which he entered. He, holding his sword with an awkward movement, turned to Chernyshev, asking in German where the sovereign was. He apparently wanted to go through the rooms as quickly as possible, finish bowing and greetings, and sit down to work in front of the map, where he felt at home. He hastily nodded his head at Chernyshev’s words and smiled ironically, listening to his words that the sovereign was inspecting the fortifications that he, Pfuel himself, had laid down according to his theory. He grumbled something bassily and coolly, as self-confident Germans say, to himself: Dummkopf... or: zu Grunde die ganze Geschichte... or: s"wird was gescheites d"raus werden... [nonsense... to hell with the whole thing... (German) ] Prince Andrei did not hear and wanted to pass, but Chernyshev introduced Prince Andrei to Pful, noting that Prince Andrei came from Turkey, where the war was so happily over. Pful almost looked not so much at Prince Andrei as through him, and said laughing: “Da muss ein schoner taktischcr Krieg gewesen sein.” [“It must have been a correctly tactical war.” (German)] - And, laughing contemptuously, he walked into the room from which voices were heard.
Apparently, Pfuel, who was always ready for ironic irritation, was now especially excited by the fact that they dared to inspect his camp without him and judge him. Prince Andrei, from this one short meeting with Pfuel, thanks to his Austerlitz memories, compiled a clear description of this man. Pfuel was one of those hopelessly, invariably, self-confident people to the point of martyrdom, which only Germans can be, and precisely because only Germans are self-confident on the basis of an abstract idea - science, that is, an imaginary knowledge of perfect truth. The Frenchman is self-confident because he considers himself personally, both in mind and body, to be irresistibly charming to both men and women. An Englishman is self-confident on the grounds that he is a citizen of the most comfortable state in the world, and therefore, as an Englishman, he always knows what he needs to do, and knows that everything he does as an Englishman is undoubtedly good. The Italian is self-confident because he is excited and easily forgets himself and others. The Russian is self-confident precisely because he knows nothing and does not want to know, because he does not believe that it is possible to completely know anything. The German is the worst self-confident of all, and the firmest of all, and the most disgusting of all, because he imagines that he knows the truth, a science that he himself invented, but which for him is the absolute truth. This, obviously, was Pfuel. He had a science - the theory of physical movement, which he derived from the history of the wars of Frederick the Great, and everything that he encountered in the modern history of the wars of Frederick the Great, and everything that he encountered in the latest military history, seemed to him nonsense, barbarism, an ugly clash, in which so many mistakes were made on both sides that these wars could not be called wars: they did not fit the theory and could not serve as the subject of science.
In 1806, Pfuel was one of the drafters of the plan for the war that ended with Jena and Auerstätt; but in the outcome of this war he did not see the slightest proof of the incorrectness of his theory. On the contrary, the deviations made from his theory, according to his concepts, were the only reason for the entire failure, and he, with his characteristic joyful irony, said: “Ich sagte ja, daji die ganze Geschichte zum Teufel gehen wird.” [After all, I said that the whole thing would go to hell (German)] Pfuel was one of those theorists who love their theory so much that they forget the purpose of theory - its application to practice; In his love for theory, he hated all practice and did not want to know it. He even rejoiced at failure, because failure, which resulted from a deviation in practice from theory, only proved to him the validity of his theory.
He said a few words with Prince Andrei and Chernyshev about the real war with the expression of a man who knows in advance that everything will be bad and that he is not even dissatisfied with it. The unkempt tufts of hair sticking out at the back of his head and the hastily slicked temples especially eloquently confirmed this.
He walked into another room, and from there the bassy and grumbling sounds of his voice were immediately heard.
Before Prince Andrei had time to follow Pfuel with his eyes, Count Bennigsen hurriedly entered the room and, nodding his head to Bolkonsky, without stopping, walked into the office, giving some orders to his adjutant. The Emperor was following him, and Bennigsen hurried forward to prepare something and have time to meet the Emperor. Chernyshev and Prince Andrei went out onto the porch. The Emperor got off his horse with a tired look. Marquis Paulucci said something to the sovereign. The Emperor, bowing his head to the left, listened with a dissatisfied look to Paulucci, who spoke with particular fervor. The Emperor moved forward, apparently wanting to end the conversation, but the flushed, excited Italian, forgetting decency, followed him, continuing to say:
“Quant a celui qui a conseille ce camp, le camp de Drissa, [As for the one who advised the Drissa camp,” said Paulucci, while the sovereign, entering the steps and noticing Prince Andrei, peered into an unfamiliar face .
– Quant a celui. Sire,” continued Paulucci with despair, as if unable to resist, “qui a conseille le camp de Drissa, je ne vois pas d"autre alternative que la maison jaune ou le gibet. [As for, sir, up to that man , who advised the camp at Drisei, then, in my opinion, there are only two places for him: the yellow house or the gallows.] - Without listening to the end and as if not hearing the words of the Italian, the sovereign, recognizing Bolkonsky, graciously turned to him:
“I’m very glad to see you, go to where they gathered and wait for me.” - The Emperor went into the office. Prince Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky, Baron Stein, followed him, and the doors closed behind them. Prince Andrei, using the permission of the sovereign, went with Paulucci, whom he knew back in Turkey, into the living room where the council was meeting.
Prince Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky held the position of chief of staff of the sovereign. Volkonsky left the office and, bringing cards into the living room and laying them out on the table, conveyed the questions on which he wanted to hear the opinions of the assembled gentlemen. The fact was that during the night news was received (later turned out to be false) about the movement of the French around the Drissa camp.
General Armfeld began to speak first, unexpectedly, in order to avoid the difficulty that had arisen, proposing a completely new, inexplicable position away from the St. Petersburg and Moscow roads, on which, in his opinion, the army should have united and await the enemy. It was clear that this plan had been drawn up by Armfeld long ago and that he now presented it not so much with the aim of answering the proposed questions, which this plan did not answer, but with the aim of taking advantage of the opportunity to express it. This was one of the millions of assumptions that could be made, just as well as others, without having any idea of what character the war would take. Some disputed his opinion, some defended it. The young Colonel Toll, more ardently than others, disputed the opinion of the Swedish general and during the argument took out a covered notebook from his side pocket, which he asked permission to read. In a lengthy note, Toll proposed a different campaign plan, completely contrary to both Armfeld’s plan and Pfuel’s plan. Paulucci, objecting to Tol, proposed a plan for moving forward and attacking, which alone, according to him, could lead us out of the unknown and the trap, as he called the Dris camp, in which we were located. Pfuhl and his translator Wolzogen (his bridge in court relations) remained silent during these disputes. Pfuhl only snorted contemptuously and turned away, showing that he would never stoop to object to the nonsense that he was now hearing. But when Prince Volkonsky, who led the debate, called him to express his opinion, he only said:
- Why ask me? General Armfeld proposed an excellent position with an open rear. Or attack von diesem italienischen Herrn, sehr schon! [this Italian gentleman, very good! (German)] Or retreat. Auch gut. [Also good (German)] Why ask me? - he said. – After all, you yourself know everything better than me. - But when Volkonsky, frowning, said that he was asking his opinion on behalf of the sovereign, Pfuel stood up and, suddenly animated, began to say:
- They ruined everything, confused everything, everyone wanted to know better than me, and now they came to me: how to fix it? Nothing to fix. Everything must be carried out exactly according to the principles I have laid out,” he said, banging his bony fingers on the table. – What is the difficulty? Nonsense, Kinder spiel. [children's toys (German)] - He went up to the map and began to speak quickly, pointing his dry finger at the map and proving that no accident could change the expediency of the Dris camp, that everything was foreseen and that if the enemy really goes around, then the enemy must inevitably be destroyed.
Paulucci, who did not know German, began asking him in French. Wolzogen came to the aid of his principal, who spoke little French, and began to translate his words, barely keeping up with Pfuel, who quickly proved that everything, everything, not only what happened, but everything that could happen, was all foreseen in his plan, and that if there were now difficulties, then the whole fault was only in the fact that everything was not executed exactly. He laughed ironically incessantly, argued, and finally contemptuously gave up proving, just as a mathematician gives up verifying in various ways the correctness of a problem that has once been proven. Wolzogen replaced him, continuing to express his thoughts in French and occasionally saying to Pfuel: “Nicht wahr, Exellenz?” [Isn't that true, Your Excellency? (German)] Pfuhl, like a hot man in battle hitting his own, shouted angrily at Wolzogen:
– Nun ja, was soll denn da noch expliziert werden? [Well, yes, what else is there to interpret? (German)] - Paulucci and Michaud attacked Wolzogen in French in two voices. Armfeld addressed Pfuel in German. Tol explained it in Russian to Prince Volkonsky. Prince Andrei silently listened and observed.
Of all these persons, the embittered, decisive and stupidly self-confident Pfuel most excited the participation of Prince Andrei. He alone, of all the people present here, obviously did not want anything for himself, did not harbor enmity towards anyone, but wanted only one thing - to put into action the plan drawn up according to the theory he had developed over years of work. He was funny, unpleasant in his irony, but at the same time he inspired involuntary respect with his boundless devotion to the idea. In addition, in all the speeches of all the speakers, with the exception of Pfuel, there was one common feature that was not present at the military council in 1805 - it was now, although hidden, a panicky fear of the genius of Napoleon, a fear that was expressed in everyone objection. They assumed everything was possible for Napoleon, waited for him from all sides, and with his terrible name they destroyed each other’s assumptions. Only Pfuel, it seemed, considered him, Napoleon, to be the same barbarian as all the opponents of his theory. But, in addition to a feeling of respect, Pful instilled in Prince Andrei a feeling of pity. From the tone with which the courtiers treated him, from what Paulucci allowed himself to say to the emperor, but most importantly from the somewhat desperate expression of Pfuel himself, it was clear that others knew and he himself felt that his fall was close. And, despite his self-confidence and German grumpy irony, he was pitiful with his smoothed hair at the temples and tassels sticking out at the back of his head. Apparently, although he hid it under the guise of irritation and contempt, he was in despair because now the only opportunity to test it through vast experience and prove to the whole world the correctness of his theory eluded him.
The debate continued for a long time, and the longer it continued, the more the disputes flared up, reaching the point of shouting and personalities, and the less it was possible to draw any general conclusion from everything that was said. Prince Andrei, listening to this multilingual conversation and these assumptions, plans and refutations and shouts, was only surprised at what they all said. Those thoughts that had long and often occurred to him during his military activities, that there is and cannot be any military science and therefore there cannot be any so-called military genius, now received for him the complete evidence of the truth. “What kind of theory and science could there be in a matter in which the conditions and circumstances are unknown and cannot be determined, in which the strength of the war actors can be even less determined? No one could and cannot know what the position of our and the enemy’s army will be in a day, and no one can know what the strength of this or that detachment will be. Sometimes, when there is no coward in front who will shout: “We are cut off!” - and he will run, and there is a cheerful, brave man in front who will shout: “Hurray! - a detachment of five thousand is worth thirty thousand, as at Shepgraben, and sometimes fifty thousand flee before eight, as at Austerlitz. What kind of science can there be in such a matter, in which, as in any practical matter, nothing can be determined and everything depends on countless conditions, the meaning of which is determined in one minute, about which no one knows when it will come. Armfeld says that our army is cut off, and Paulucci says that we have placed the French army between two fires; Michaud says that the disadvantage of the Dris camp is that the river is behind, and Pfuel says that this is its strength. Toll proposes one plan, Armfeld proposes another; and everyone is good, and everyone is bad, and the benefits of any situation can only be obvious at the moment when the event occurs. And why does everyone say: a military genius? Is the person who manages to order the delivery of crackers in time and go to the right, to the left, a genius? It is only because military men are invested with splendor and power, and the masses of scoundrels flatter the authorities, giving it unusual qualities of genius, that they are called geniuses. On the contrary, the best generals I have known are stupid or absent-minded people. The best Bagration, - Napoleon himself admitted this. And Bonaparte himself! I remember his smug and limited face on the Austerlitz Field. Not only does a good commander not need genius or any special qualities, but, on the contrary, he needs the absence of the best highest, human qualities - love, poetry, tenderness, philosophical inquisitive doubt. He must be limited, firmly convinced that what he is doing is very important (otherwise he will lack patience), and only then will he be a brave commander. God forbid, if he is a person, he will love someone, feel sorry for him, think about what is fair and what is not. It is clear that from time immemorial the theory of geniuses was falsified for them, because they are the authorities. The credit for the success of military affairs does not depend on them, but on the person in the ranks who shouts: lost, or shouts: hurray! And only in these ranks can you serve with confidence that you are useful!“
On January 30, 1943, Hitler promoted Friedrich Paulus, commander of the German 6th Army that fought at Stalingrad, to the highest military rank - field marshal. The radiogram sent by Hitler to Paulus, among other things, said that “not a single German field marshal has ever been captured,” and the very next day Paulus surrendered. We bring to your attention the diary report of the detective officer of the counterintelligence department of the special department of the NKVD of the Don Front, senior lieutenant of state security E.A. Tarabrin about finding and communicating with German generals captured at Stalingrad.
Field Marshal Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus, commander of the 6th Wehrmacht Army encircled in Stalingrad, chief of staff Lieutenant General Arthur Schmidt and adjutant Colonel Wilhelm Adam at Stalingrad after the surrender. Time taken: 01/31/1943,
Diary-report of the detective officer of the counterintelligence department of the special department of the NKVD of the Don Front, senior lieutenant of state security E.A. Tarabrina 1 about finding and communicating with the generals of the German army who were captured by the troops of the 64th Army in Stalingrad
Received orders to be placed with German general prisoners of war. Do not show knowledge of German.
At 21:20, as a representative of the front headquarters, he arrived at his destination - to one of the huts in the village. Zavarygino.
In addition to me, there is security - sentries on the street, Art. Lieutenant Levonenko - from the headquarters commandant's office and the detective officer of our 7th department Nesterov 2.
“Will there be dinner?” - was the first phrase I heard in German when I entered the house in which the commander of the 6th German Army, General Field Marshal Paulus, his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Schmidt 3, and his adjutant, Colonel, were housed on January 31, 1943 Adam 4.
Paulus is tall, approximately 190 cm, thin, with sunken cheeks, a humped nose and thin lips. His left eye twitches all the time.
The commandant of the headquarters, Colonel Yakimovich, who arrived with me, through the translator of the intelligence department, Bezymensky 5, politely invited them to give them the pocket knives, razor and other cutting objects they had.
Without saying a word, Paulus calmly took two penknives from his pocket and placed them on the table.
The translator looked expectantly at Schmidt. At first he turned pale, then the color came to his face, he took a small white penknife out of his pocket, threw it on the table and immediately began shouting in a shrill, unpleasant voice: “Don’t you think that we are ordinary soldiers? There is a field marshal in front of you, he demands a different attitude. Ugliness! We were given other conditions; we are here guests of Colonel General Rokossovsky 6 and Marshal Voronov 7.”
“Calm down, Schmidt. - said Paulus. “So this is the order.”
“It doesn’t matter what order means when dealing with a field marshal.” And, grabbing his knife from the table, he again put it in his pocket.
A few minutes after Yakimovich’s telephone conversation with Malinin 8, the incident was over and the knives were returned to them.
Dinner was brought and everyone sat down at the table. For about 15 minutes there was silence, interrupted by individual phrases - “pass the fork, another glass of tea,” etc.
We lit cigars. “And dinner wasn’t bad at all,” noted Paulus.
“They generally cook well in Russia,” Schmidt replied.
After some time, Paulus was called to the command. “Will you go alone? - asked Schmidt. - And I?"
“They called me alone,” Paulus answered calmly.
“I won’t sleep until he returns,” Adam said, lit a new cigar and lay down on the bed in his boots. Schmidt followed his example. About an hour later Paulus returned.
“How’s the marshal?” - asked Schmidt.
"Marshal as a marshal."
“What were they talking about?”
“They offered to order those who remained to surrender, but I refused.”
“So what next?”
“I asked for our wounded soldiers. They told me that your doctors fled, and now we must take care of your wounded.”
After some time, Paulus remarked: “Do you remember this one from the NKVD with three distinctions, who accompanied us? What scary eyes he has!”
Adam replied: “It’s scary, like everyone else in the NKVD.”
The conversation ended there. The bedtime procedure began. Orderly Paulus had not yet been brought in. He opened the bed he had prepared, put two of his blankets on top, undressed and lay down.
Schmidt stirred up the whole bed with a flashlight, carefully examined the sheets (they were new, completely clean), winced with disgust, closed the blanket, said: “The pleasure begins,” covered the bed with his blanket, lay down on it, covered himself with another and said in a sharp tone: “ Turn off the lights." There were no people in the room who understood the language, no one paid attention. Then he sat up in bed and began to explain with gestures what he wanted. The lamp was wrapped in newspaper paper.
“I wonder what time we can sleep until tomorrow?” - asked Paulus.
“I’ll sleep until they wake me up,” Schmidt replied.
The night passed quietly, except for Schmidt loudly saying several times, “Don’t shake the bed.”
Nobody shook the bed. He had bad dreams.
Morning. We started shaving. Schmidt looked in the mirror for a long time and categorically declared: “It’s cold, I’ll leave the beard.”
“That’s your business, Schmidt,” Paulus remarked.
Colonel Adam, who was in the next room, muttered through his teeth: “Another originality.”
After breakfast we remembered yesterday's lunch with the commander of the 64th Army 9 .
“Did you notice how amazing the vodka was?” - said Paulus.
They were silent for a long time. The soldiers brought art. to the lieutenant the newspaper “Red Army” with the issue “In the Last Hour”. Revival. They are interested in whether their last names are indicated. Having heard the list given, they studied the newspaper for a long time and wrote their names in Russian letters on a piece of paper. We were especially interested in the trophy numbers. We paid attention to the number of tanks. “The figure is incorrect, we had no more than 150,” noted Paulus. “Perhaps they think the Russians are also” 10, answered Adam. “It wasn’t that much anyway.” They were silent for some time.
“And he, it seems, shot himself,” said Schmidt (we were talking about one of the generals).
Adam, frowning his eyebrows and staring at the ceiling: “We don’t know what’s better, isn’t captivity a mistake?”
Paulus: We'll see about that later.
Schmidt: The entire history of these four months 11 can be characterized in one phrase - you can’t jump over your head.
Adam: At home they'll think we're lost.
Paulus: In war - like in war (in French).
We started looking at the numbers again. We paid attention to the total number of people surrounded. Paulus said: Perhaps, because we knew nothing. Schmidt tries to explain to me - he draws the front line, the breakthrough, the encirclement, he says: There are many convoys, other units, they themselves did not know exactly how many.
They remain silent for half an hour, smoking cigars.
Schmidt: And in Germany, a crisis of military leadership is possible.
Nobody is answering.
Schmidt: Until mid-March they will probably advance.
Paulus: Perhaps longer.
Schmidt: Will they stay at the previous borders?
Paulus: Yes, all this will go down in military history as a brilliant example of the enemy’s operational art.
During dinner, there was constant praise for every dish served. Adam, who ate the most, was especially zealous. Paulus kept half and gave it to the orderly.
After lunch, the orderly tries to explain to Nesterov so that the penknife left with their staff doctor will be returned to him. Paulus addresses me, supplementing the German words with gestures: “The knife is a memory from Field Marshal Reichenau 12, for whom Hein was an orderly before coming to me. He was with the field marshal until his last minutes." The conversation was interrupted again. The prisoners went to bed.
Dinner. Among the dishes served on the table are coffee cookies.
Schmidt: Good cookies, probably French?
Adam: Very good, Dutch in my opinion.
They put on glasses and carefully examine the cookies.
Adam surprised: Look, Russian.
Paulus: At least stop looking at it. Ugly.
Schmidt: Please note, there are new waitresses every time.
Adam: And pretty girls.
We smoked in silence for the rest of the evening. The orderly prepared the bed and went to bed. Schmidt didn't scream at night.
Adam takes out a razor: “We’ll shave every day, we should look decent.”
Paulus: Absolutely right. I'll shave after you.
After breakfast they smoke cigars. Paulus looks out the window.
“Pay attention, Russian soldiers drop in and ask what the German field marshal looks like, but he differs from other prisoners only in his insignia.”
Schmidt: Have you noticed how much security there is? There are a lot of people, but you don’t feel like you’re in a prison. But I remember when there were captured Russian generals at the headquarters of Field Marshal Bush 13, there was no one in the room with them, the posts were on the street, and only the colonel had the right to enter them.
Paulus: That's better. It’s good that it doesn’t feel like a prison, but it’s still a prison.
All three are in a somewhat depressed mood. They speak little, smoke a lot, and think. Adam took out photographs of his wife and children and looked at them with Paulus.
Schmidt and Adam treat Paulus with respect, especially Adam.
Schmidt is closed and selfish. He even tries not to smoke his own cigars, but to buy someone else’s.
In the afternoon I went to another house, where generals Daniel 14, Drebber 15, Wultz 16 and others are located.
Completely different atmosphere and mood. They laugh a lot, Daniel tells jokes. It was not possible to hide my knowledge of the German language here, since the lieutenant colonel with whom I had spoken earlier happened to be there.
They started asking: “What is the situation, who is still in captivity, ha, ha, ha,” he said for about five minutes.
The Romanian general Dimitriu 17 sat in the corner with a gloomy look. Finally, he raised his head and asked in broken German: “Is Popescu 18 in captivity?” - Apparently, this is the most exciting question for him today.
After staying there for a few more minutes, I returned back to Paulus's house. All three were lying on their beds. Adam learned Russian by repeating out loud the Russian words he had written down on a piece of paper.
Today at 11 o'clock in the morning again at Paulus, Schmidt and Adam.
They were still sleeping when I entered. Paulus woke up and nodded his head. Schmidt woke up.
Schmidt: Good morning, what did you see in your dream?
Paulus: What dreams could a captured field marshal have? Adam, have you started shaving yet? Leave me some hot water.
The procedure of morning washing, shaving, etc. begins. Then breakfast and regular cigars.
Yesterday Paulus was summoned for questioning, he is still under his impression.
Paulus: Strange people. A captured soldier is asked about operational issues.
Schmidt: Useless thing. None of us will talk. This is not 1918, when they shouted that Germany was one thing, the government was another, and the army was another. We will not allow this mistake now.
Paulus: I completely agree with you, Schmidt.
Again they remain silent for a long time. Schmidt lies down on the bed. Falls asleep. Paulus follows his example. Adam takes out a notebook with Russian notes written down, reads it, and whispers something. Then he also goes to bed.
Suddenly Yakimovich’s car arrives. The generals are asked to go to the bathhouse. Paulus and Adam happily agree. Schmidt (he is afraid of catching a cold) also after some hesitation. Paulus' statement that Russian baths were very good and always warm had a decisive influence.
All four went to the bathhouse. Generals and Adam in a passenger car. Hein is in the back on the semi. Representatives of the headquarters security went with them.
About an hour and a half later they all returned. The impression is wonderful. They exchange lively opinions about the qualities and advantages of the Russian bath over others. They wait for dinner, so that after it they can immediately go to bed.
At this time, several cars drive up to the house. The head of the RO, Major General Vinogradov 19, enters with a translator, through whom he conveys to Paulus that he will now see all his generals who are in our captivity.
While the translator is explaining herself, I manage to find out from Vinogradov that filming is planned to chronicle the entire “captive generals.”
Despite some displeasure caused by the prospect of going out into the cold after the bath, everyone hastily gets dressed. There is a meeting with other generals coming up! They know nothing about the shooting. But the operators are already waiting near the house. Schmidt and Paulus come out. The first shots are being filmed.
Paulus: All this is already superfluous.
Schmidt: Not superfluous, but simply disgraceful (they turn away from the lenses).
They get into the car and drive to the neighboring house, where other generals are located. At the same time, the others - Colonel General Geitz 20 and others - arrive in several cars from the other side.
Meeting. The cameramen are filming feverishly. Paulus shakes hands with all his generals in turn and exchanges a few phrases: Hello, my friends, more cheerfulness and dignity.
Filming continues. The generals are divided into groups, talking animatedly. The conversation revolves mainly around the questions of who is here and who is not.
Central group - Paulus, Heitz, Schmidt The attention of the operators is directed there. Paulus is calm. Looks into the lens. Schmidt is nervous and tries to look away. When the most active operator came almost close to him, he smiled caustically and covered the lens with his hand.
The other generals hardly react to the filming. But some seem to be deliberately trying to get on film, especially next to Paulus.
Some colonel constantly walks among everyone and repeats the same phrase: “Nothing, nothing! No need to be nervous. The main thing is that everyone is alive.” Nobody pays attention to him.
The shooting ends. The departure begins. Paulus, Schmidt and Adam return home.
Schmidt: Wow, it’s a pleasure, after the bath we’ll probably catch a cold. Everything was done on purpose to make us sick.
Paulus: This shooting is even worse! A shame! Marshal (Voronov) probably knows nothing1 Such a humiliation of dignity! But nothing can be done - captivity.
Schmidt: I can’t even stomach German journalists, and then there are the Russians! Disgusting!
The conversation is interrupted by the appearance of lunch. They eat and praise the kitchen. The mood is lifted. After lunch they sleep almost until dinner. Dinner is praised again. They light a cigarette. They silently watch the smoke rings.
The sound of breaking dishes is heard in the room nearby. Hein broke the sugar bowl.
Paulus: This is Hein. Here's a teddy bear!
Schmidt: Everything is falling out of hand. I wonder how he held the steering wheel. Hein! Have you ever lost your steering wheel?
Hein: No, Lieutenant General. Then I was in a different mood.
Schmidt: Mood - mood, dishes - dishes, especially someone else's
Paulus: He was Field Marshal Reichenau's favorite. He died in his arms.
Schmidt By the way, what are the circumstances of his death?
Paulus From a heart attack after hunting and having breakfast with him. Hein, tell me in detail.
Hein: On this day, the field marshal and I went hunting. He was in a great mood and felt good. Sat down to have breakfast. I served coffee. At that moment he had a heart attack. The staff doctor said that he should be immediately taken to Leipzig to see some professor. The plane was quickly arranged. The field marshal, I, the doctor and the pilot flew off. Heading to Lviv.
The field marshal was getting worse and worse. An hour into the flight, he died on the plane.
In the future, we were generally accompanied by failures. The pilot was already landing over the Lvov airfield, but took off again. We made two more circles over the airfield. Landing the plane for the second time, for some reason, neglecting the basic rules, he landed on a black man. As a result, we crashed into one of the airfield buildings. I was the only one who made it out of this operation intact.
Again there is almost an hour of silence. They smoke and think. Paulus raises his head.
Paulus: I wonder what news?
Adam: Probably further Russian advance. Now they can do it.
Schmidt: What's next? Still the same sore point! In my opinion, this war will end even more suddenly than it began, and its end will not be military, but political. It is clear that we cannot defeat Russia, and she cannot defeat us.
Paulus: But politics is not our business. We are soldiers. The Marshal asked yesterday: why did we resist in a hopeless situation without ammunition or food? I answered him - an order! Whatever the situation, an order remains an order. We are soldiers! Discipline, order, obedience are the basis of the army. He agreed with me. And in general it’s funny, as if it was in my will to change anything.
By the way, the marshal leaves a wonderful impression. A cultured, educated person. He knows the situation very well. From Schleferer he was interested in the 29th regiment, from which no one was captured. He remembers even such little things.
Schmidt: Yes, fortune always has two sides.
Paulus: And the good thing is that you cannot predict your fate. If only I had known that I would be a field marshal and then a prisoner! In the theater, about such a play, I would say nonsense!
Starts to go to bed.
Morning. Paulus and Schmidt are still in bed. Adam enters. He had already shaved and put himself in perfect order. He extends his left hand and says: “Hail!”
Paulus: If you remember the Roman greeting, it means that you, Adam, have nothing against me. You don't have a weapon.
Adam and Schmidt laugh.
Schmidt: In Latin it sounds like “morituri tea salutam” (“those going to death greet you”).
Paulus: Just like us.
He takes out a cigarette and lights a cigarette.
Schmidt: Don’t smoke before meals, it’s harmful.
Paulus: Nothing, captivity is even more harmful.
Schmidt: We have to be patient.
They get up. Morning toilet, breakfast.
Major Ozeryansky 21 from the RO arrives to pick up Schmidt. He is called in for questioning.
Schmidt: Finally, they became interested in me (he was somewhat hurt that he had not been called earlier).
Schmidt leaves. Paulus and Adam lie down. They smoke and then sleep. Then they wait for lunch. A couple of hours later, Schmidt returns.
Schmidt: Everything is the same - why they resisted, did not agree to surrender, etc. It was very difficult to speak - a bad translator. She didn't understand me. She translated the questions in such a way that I did not understand her.
And finally, the question is my assessment of the operational art of the Russians and us. I, of course, refused to answer, saying that this was a question that could harm my homeland.
Any conversation on this topic after the war.
Paulus: That's right, I answered the same.
Schmidt: In general, I’m already tired of all this. How can they not understand that not a single German officer will go against his homeland.
Paulus: It’s simply tactless to pose such questions to us soldiers. Now no one will answer them.
Schmidt: And these pieces of propaganda are always not against the homeland, but for it, against the government, etc. I already noticed once that it was only the camels of 1918 that separated the government and the people.
Paulus: Propaganda remains propaganda! There is not even an objective course.
Schmidt: Is an objective interpretation of history even possible? Of course not. Take, for example, the question of the beginning of the war. Who started it? Who is guilty? Why? Who can answer this?
Adam: Only archives after many years.
Paulus: Soldiers were and will remain soldiers. They fight, fulfilling their duty, without thinking about the reasons, faithful to the oath. And the beginning and end of the war is the business of politicians, for whom the situation at the front prompts certain decisions.
Then the conversation turns to the history of Greece, Rome, etc. They talk about painting and archaeology. Adam talks about his participation in excavation expeditions. Schmidt, speaking about painting, authoritatively declares that German is the first in the world and the best artist in Germany is... Rembrandt 21 (allegedly because the Netherlands, Holland and Flanders are “old” German provinces).
This continues until dinner, after which they go to bed.
On the morning of February 5, I received orders to return back to the department due to redeployment. The stay with the generals is over.
Investigative officer of the KRO OO NKVD Donfront
Senior Lieutenant of State Security Tarabrin
Correct: Lieutenant Colonel P. Gapochko
AP RF, f. 52, on. 1, building 134, m. 23-33. Copy
During the Battle of Stalingrad, not only the generals mentioned in the text of the document were captured. As you know, from January 10 to February 2, 1943, the troops of the Don Front captured 24 generals, including Max Preffer - commander of the 4th Infantry Corps, von Seydlitz-Kurbach Walter, commander of the 51st Infantry Corps, Alfred Strezzius - commander of the 11th Infantry Corps, Erich Magnus - commander of the 389th Infantry Division, Otto Renoldi - chief of medical services of the 6th Army, Ulrich Vossol - chief of artillery of the 6th German Army, etc.
The document is interesting for its lively sketches, non-fictional judgments of captured German generals, captured over five days by the operative officer of the NKVD of the Don Front, senior lieutenant of state security E.A. Tarabrin.
1 Tarabrin Evgeniy Anatolyevich (1918-?) - colonel (19%). Since August 1941 - detective officer of the NKVD OO of the South-Western Stalingrad Don and Central Fronts. Since December 1942 - translator of the NKVD Organization of the Don Front. Since May 1943 - senior detective officer of the 2nd department of the 4th department of the Main Directorate of the Kyrgyz Republic "Smersh" of the Central Front. Since June 1946 - senior detective officer of the 1st department of Department 1-B
1st Main Directorate. From August 1947 - assistant to the head of the 2nd department of the 1st Directorate of the Information Committee under the USSR Council of Ministers. From December 1953 - deputy head of the sector of the 2nd Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. From August 1954 - senior assistant to the head of the 1st Main Directorate of the KGB under SM USSR. Since January 1955, he was enrolled in the active reserve of the 1st Main Directorate. From August 1956 - Head of the 2nd Department of the 1st Main Directorate of the KGB under the USSR Council of Ministers. From February 1963 - Deputy Head of Service No. 2.
By KGB order No. 237 on May 18, 1965, he was dismissed under Art. 59 p. “d” (for official inconsistency).
2 Nesterov Vsevolod Viktorovich (1922-?) - senior lieutenant (1943). Since January 1943, he was a reserve detective officer of the NKVD OO of the Don Front, then the Smersh ROC of the Central Front. Since September 1943 - operational officer of the Smersh ROC of the 4th Artillery Corps of the Central Front. Since April 1944 - detective officer of the Smersh ROC of the Belorussian Front. Since August 1945 - operational officer of the Smersh ROC of the 4th Artillery Corps of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany. Since April 1946 - operational officer of the Smersh ROC of the 12th artillery division of the 1st Rykovsky Military District, then the Moscow Military District.
By order of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 366 of August 24, 1946, he was dismissed at his personal request and transferred to the register of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
3 Schmidt Arthur (1895-?) - Lieutenant General. Chief of Staff of the 6th Army.
4 Adam Wilhelm (?-?) - adjutant of F. Paulus, colonel.
5 Bezymensky Lev Aleksandrovich, born in 1920, captain (1945). In the Red Army from August 1941, he began serving as a private in the 6th reserve engineering regiment, then a cadet in the military translator courses of the Red Army (Orsk) and the Military Institute of Foreign Languages (Stavropol). Since May 1942 - at the front, officer of the 394th separate special-purpose radio division (Southwestern Front). In January 1943, he was transferred to the intelligence department of the Don Front headquarters, where he served as a translator, senior front translator, and deputy head of the information department. Subsequently, he served in the intelligence departments of the headquarters of the Central, Belarusian, 1st Belorussian Fronts, and the intelligence department of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. In October 1946 he was demobilized. Afterwards he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University (1948). Worked for the magazine “New Time”. Author of a number of books, candidate of historical sciences. Professor at the Academy of Military Sciences. Awarded 6 orders and 22 medals of the USSR.
6 Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (1896-1968) - Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944 1945). In September 1942 - January 1943 he commanded the Don Front.
7 Voronov Nikolai Nikolaevich (1899-1968) - chief marshal of artillery (1944), Hero of the Soviet Union (1965) From July 1941 - chief of artillery of the Red Army, at the same time from September 1941 - deputy people's commissar of defense of the USSR, representative of the Supreme High Command headquarters at Stalingrad from March 1943 - commander of the artillery of the Red Army.
8 Mikhail Sergeevich Malinin (1899-1960) - Army General (1953), Hero of the Soviet Union (1945). In the Red Army since 1919. Since 1940 - chief of staff of the 7th MK. During the war - chief of staff of the 7th MK on the Western Front, the 16th Army (1941 -1942), Bryansk, Don, Central, Belorussian and 1st Belorussian fronts (1942-1945). Later - on staff work in the Soviet Army.
9 The commander of the 64th Army since August 1942 was Mikhail Stepanovich Shumilov (1895-1975) - Colonel General (1943), Hero of the Soviet Union (1943). The 64th Army, together with the 62nd Army, heroically defended Stalingrad. In April 1943 - May 1945 - commander of the 7th Guards Army. After the war, he held command positions in the Soviet Army.
10 Apparently, the press published data not only about the trophies of the 6th Army, but also about a number of other armies. In particular, the 4th German tank, 3rd and 4th Romanian, 8th Italian armies.
11 Most likely, the chief of staff of the 6th Army A. Schmidt is referring to the period when the counteroffensive in the Stalingrad direction of troops of three fronts began. South-Western, Don and Stalingrad and the encirclement of the 6th Army and part of the 4th Tank Army was completed.
12 Reichenau Walter von (1884-1942) - Field Marshal General (1940). Commanded the 6th Army in 1939-1941. Since December 1941 - commander of Army Group South on the Soviet-German front. Died of a heart attack.
13 Bush Ernst Von (1885-1945) - Field Marshal General (1943). In 1941, he commanded the 16th Army on the Soviet-German front. In 1943-1944. - Commander of the Army Group "Center".
14 Daniels Alexander Von (1891-?) - Lieutenant General (1942), commander of the 376th division.
15 Drebber Moritz Von (1892-?) - Major General of Infantry (1943), commander of the 297th Infantry Division.
16 Hans Wultz (1893-?) - Major General of Artillery (1942).
17 Dimitriu - commander of the 2nd Romanian Infantry Division, major general.
18 Apparently, we are talking about Dimitar Popescu, general, commander of the 5th Cavalry Division.
19 Ilya Vasilievich Vinogradov (1906-1978) - Lieutenant General (1968) (see Vol. 2 of this collection, document No. 961).
20 Heitz (Heitz) Walter (1878-?) - Colonel General (1943).
21 Ozeryansky Evsey (Evgeniy) (1911-?), colonel (1944). In the Red Army from December 1933 to March 1937 and from August 10, 1939. In June 1941 - battalion commissar, senior instructor of the organizational training department of the political department of the Kyiv Special Military District. From July 1, 1941 - in the same position in the political department of the Southwestern Front. From November 22, 1941 - head of the organizational department of the political department of the 21st Army; from December 1941 - deputy chief of the political department of the 21st Army. On April 14, 1942, he was transferred to the position of military commissar - deputy chief for political affairs of the intelligence department of the headquarters of the South-Western, then until the end of the Great Patriotic War - the Don Central, 1st Belorussian fronts. In the post-war years - on political work in the Carpathian and Odessa military districts.
Transferred to the reserve on March 19, 1958. Awarded three Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, the Red Star, and other orders and medals.
22 Rembrandt Harmensz van Ryn (1606-1669) - Dutch painter, draftsman, etcher.
