About this episode
"In the blazing city, we do not suffer cowards..." - Vasily Chuikov.This episode marks the penultimate episode of our series tracing Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's 1941 invasion of the USSR.Join us as we follow Marshal Friedrich Paulus and the Wehrmacht 6th Army to their fateful end at Stalingrad. Through poignant handwritten letters, we'll delve into how frontline soldiers grappled with their mortality and the erosion of their faith in Nazi propaganda.Throughout the episode, we explore the ingenious and brutal strategies employed by Marshall Vasily Chuikov to maintain order amidst the chaos.In the desperate streets of Stalingrad, Rattenkrieg, or 'war of the rats,' emerged as a brutal form of close-quarters urban combat, marked by intense, chaotic skirmishes within the sprawling ruins of the city.As the tide turns against the Wehrmacht, we witness the Nazi High Command's struggle against Adolf Hitler's insistence on a symbolic last stand.The Battle of Stalingrad, often deemed the deadliest in history, holds a profound place in Russian pride today. Tune in to learn why.⚡Help support the show on Patreon check out our supporting reels on Instagram, and receive email updates whenever a new episode drops by joining our mailing list.⚡CHAPTERS:
00:00-Introduction
03:37-Main Characters Recap
06:30-Episode Start
12:18-Chuikov's Innovations
21:09-Wermacht on brink of victory
29:48-Luftwaffe Bombing Run
35:24-Red Army heroism
40:30-Wermacht dug in for winter
49:38-Operation Uranus begins
📓SOURCES:
Barbarossa Through Soviet Eyes: The First Twenty-Four Hours by Artem Drabkin, Alexei Isaev, Christopher Summerville
Stalingrad by Antony Beevor
Russia at War, 1941–1945: A History by Alexander Werth
Blood red snow by by Günter K. Koschorrek
Through the Maelstrom: A Red Army Soldier's War on the Eastern Front by Boris Gorbachevsky
The forgotten soldiers by Guy Sajer
Until the Eyes Shut: Memories of a machine gunner on the Eastern Front by Andreas Hartinger
Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy by Dmitri Volkogonov
Marshall of Victory: Memoirs of Giorgy Zhukov
Blitzed: Drugs In The Third Reich by Norman Ohler
The Diary of Wehrmacht Soldier William Hoffman
Various accounts: IREMEMBER.RU
German Propaganda Archive: Joseph Goebbels: 1933-1945 (calvin.edu)
Barbaros
