Battle of Stalingrad of January 1943, though positive media reports had stopped in the weeks before the announcement. Stalingrad marked the first time that the Nazi government publicly acknowledged a failure in its war effort. On 31 January, regular programmes on German state radio were replaced by a broadcast of the somber Adagio movement from Anton Bruckner's Seventh Symphony, followed by the announcement of the defeat at Stalingrad. On 18 February, Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels gave the famous "Sportpalast" speech in Berlin, encouraging the Germans to accept a total war that would claim all resources and efforts from the entire population. Based
Stalingrad Madonna infant Jesus close to her cheek. On the right border are the words "Licht, Leben, Liebe" ("Light, Life, Love"), from the Gospel of John. On the left, Reuber wrote "Weihnachten im Kessel 1942" ("Christmas at the Siege 1942") and at the bottom "Festung Stalingrad" ("Fortress Stalingrad"). "Kessel" ("Cauldron"), is the German term for an encircled military area, and Fortress Stalingrad was the label for the encircled army promoted in the Nazi press. The picture was drawn by Lieutenant Kurt Reuber, a German staff physician and Protestant pastor, in December 1942 during the Battle of Stalingrad. Reuber wrote: I wondered for