Battle of Stalingrad on Soviet records, over 10,000 German soldiers continued to resist in isolated groups within the city for the next month. Some have presumed that they were motivated by a belief that fighting on was better than a slow death in Soviet captivity. Brown University historian Omer Bartov claims they were motivated by National Socialism. He studied 11,237 letters sent by soldiers inside of Stalingrad between 20 December 1942 and 16 January 1943 to their families in Germany. Almost every letter expressed belief in Germany's ultimate victory and their willingness to fight and die at Stalingrad to achieve that victory. Bartov
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