![]() ![]() The combined German and Soviet casualties amounted to nearly two million. All this time the Germans and their allies were locked in a savage hand-to-hand struggle fought in ruined streets and shattered buildings that were reduced to rubble. The battle began on 23 August 1942 and only ended on 2 February 1943. By comparison the British victory in the Battle of El Alamein was a puny affair. The Battle of Stalingrad was where that the might of the Wehrmacht was finally halted after a bloody slogging match for control of the city of Stalingrad (now called Volgograd) in the south west of the Soviet Union. In 1946, a Russian filmmaker made a three-hour film depicting a fictionalized version of the Battle of Stalingrad.Today markers the 79th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, with the surrender of German troops, a key turning point in the Second World War, where about 800,000 German and Axis troops were either killed or captured, including the entire German Sixth Army and its commander-in-chief – a shattering blow to Hitler. Eventually the German forces surrendered. ![]() They attacked from the front and rear, surrounding the German army in the city, leaving them cut off from reinforcements. The Soviet army responded with a two-pronged attack. Their attack began using air raids and continued on the ground. Germany believed it was important to take the city. Stalingrad was an important industrial city in construction of armaments and transport down the Volga River. Nearly 2.2 million in personnel combined of both sides fought in the battle and nearly half were lost (there were significant civilian casualties in the battle). This was the largest confrontation in World War II and the largest battle of all time. ![]() ![]() Source: Bundesarchiv via Wikimedia Commons ![]()
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