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
Stalingrad (Paris Métro) de la Villette a short distance away in the "Boulevard de la Villette" and named after it. In 1942, the two stations combined to form "Aubervilliers – Boulevard de la Villette". The line 5 opened its corresponding station on 12 October 1942 as part of its extension from Gare du Nord to Église de Pantin. In 1946, the section of the "Boulevard de la Villette" near the station was named the Place de Stalingrad in honour of the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad and the station's name was changed to "Stalingrad" at the same time. Nearby are the