Battle of Stalingrad but Paulus – ordered not to surrender by Hitler – did not respond. The German High Command informed Paulus, "Every day that the army holds out longer helps the whole front and draws away the Russian divisions from it." The Germans inside the pocket retreated from the suburbs of Stalingrad to the city itself. The loss of the two airfields, at Pitomnik on 16 January 1943 and Gumrak on the night of 21/22 January, meant an end to air supplies and to the evacuation of the wounded. The third and last serviceable runway was at the Stalingradskaya flight school, which
Last Letters from Stalingrad Last Letters from Stalingrad Last Letters from Stalingrad (German: "Letzte Briefe aus Stalingrad") is an anthology of letters from German soldiers who took part in the Battle for Stalingrad during World War II. Originally published in West Germany in 1950, the book was translated into many languages (into English by Anthony G. Powell in 1956), and has been issued in numerous editions. The German High Command wished to gauge the morale of the troops of the encircled 6th Army, so they allowed the soldiers to write and send the letters which became the basis for "Last Letters from Stalingrad". The