Page 6 - GC-May-June-2023

The sobering 80th anniversary of two major

World War II turning points for Germany

by Martin Ederer end of the corridor open, became a nine in early March 1943 began to
orld War II specialists key objective. A German-held Stal- turn the tide. Rommel was pulled
often identify major ingrad was to prevent Soviet forces from the North African campaign.
Wturning points of the from crossing the Volga from the In May the German-Italian lines
war. Often the only reason why East and cutting off German forces surrendered after the Battles of Tu-
historians consider events to be advancing south down the corridor nis and nearby Bizerta. The Allies
turning points is that we know how toward the Caucasus. Defeat of a took 105,000 Italian prisoners and
the story ends – a luxury usually city named for Stalin also had psy- 170,000 German prisoners. The
lacking for the people in the actual chological value. fact that more prisoners were taken
thick of the events. Two major General Friedrich Paulus’ Sixth here than in Stalingrad earned the
events in 1943, however, left no Army began to seize Stalingrad in Battle of Tunis the sardonic name
questions among those involved at mid-August. By mid-September, of “Tunisgrad.”
the time that these were turning German forces were in the city, but More men had died in Stalin-
points. so was Georgy Chuikov’s 62nd Ar- grad, but more prisoners had been
The first was the German defeat my – and they were not surrender- taken in North Africa. One of my
at Stalingrad, which ended in the ing. What followed was urban father’s cousins assigned to the Af-
destruction of Nazi Germany’s combat at its worst: street-to-street, rikakorps ended up a POW picking
Sixth Army in February 1943. The house-to-house, apartment-to- The centre of Stalingrad after liberation, February 1943. peanuts in the state of Georgia for
Battle of Stalingrad was the culmi- apartment, bombed out factory-to- the rest of the war – near where my
nation of renewed hopes for Ger- bombed out factory, sewer-to-sew- vation, disease, mistreatment (or all For most of the North African father was assigned in the U.S. Ar-
man victory in 1942 after winter er. campaign, Irwin Rommel’s Afrika- my. They only learned that many
four) as they got marched off to the
had stalled Germany’s 1941 inva- By the end of September, Pau- Gulag. If any ever made it home, it korps was most successful at mas- years later.
sion of the Soviet Union. Hitler lus’ troops were already exhausted. tering the environment and supply Both turning points were hugely
was often as late as the 1960s.
could afford to remain optimistic. Hitler demanded that they keep The second turning point – one limitations. Time and time again – and directly – significant for Ger-
German lines got bent up over the fighting. The battle became more Rommel snatched victory from the many. Stalingrad marked the end of
that fewer of us are familiar with –
1941-42 winter, but they had still savage and more desperate. On was the Battle of Tunis in North Allies by escaping them to fight confident German offensives on the
held. Moreover, German forces al- Nov. 11, Paulus launched a final again. Even with superior troop Eastern Front. German forces now
Africa that ended in May 1943. The
ready had control of 45% of the offensive. It failed. Then winter set whole North African theatre was strength and U.S. equipment pour- faced retreat and regroup. The easy
Soviet Union’s population and had in. Once the Volga froze, the Sovi- ing in to the British in 1942, the victories had ended. In North Afri-
mainly the work of Germany at-
seized vast Soviet resources. ets could simply walk their rein- tempting to shore up failing Italian British still couldn’t deliver the de- ca, Germany was simply defeated.
For 1942 Hitler decided that forcements across the frozen river. cisive blow against Rommel. Then That campaign had closed in favor
forces there. For all sides this was a
Army Groups North (Leningrad) By this time the Germans were desert campaign of maneuver, strat- after U.S. forces landed in late of the Allies. As bad as that was,
and Center (Moscow) were to hold starving and freezing to death. Ger- 1942, the Allies – U.S. to the west defeat in North Africa also num-
egy, position and above all, inade-
their positions. The major offensive man supply shipments became in- quate equipment and supply. In of Rommel, the British to the east – bered the days of Italy as a member
was for Army Group South to pro- adequate and intermittent. Hitler still struggled to close the Allied of the Axis, which became even
many ways it was the ultimate
ceed through the Caucasus toward ordered Paulus to hang on until Jan. chess game – except that it cost real vise on him. worse news for Germany by the end
the rich Caspian Sea oil fields. With 30 if he wanted to be promoted to Finally Allied victory at Mede- of 1943.
lives.
those kinds of resources, the Ger- Field Marshal. Paulus ordered his
man war machine could mop up the troops to fight on.
rest at leisure. The plan was to ad- In January the Soviets seized
vance through the Don-Donets cor- the last German airstrip. Then they Fruhlingfest celebrated as part
ridor southward toward the Baku unleashed a 7000-artillery piece
oil fields. bombardment on German posi- of 90th year of Edelweiss Buffalo
Prudence dictated that German tions. Paulus and 24 German gener-
forces hold that corridor open to als finally surrendered on Jan. 30 –
prevent Soviet counterattacks from after he had been promoted. Paulus
the East and to maintain an escape became the first German field mar-
route. The Fourth Panzer army was shal to surrender. The last German
to hold the northern end of the cor- stragglers surrendered on Feb. 2.
ridor, and the Sixth army was to The final tally: 50,000 Soviets dead
anchor the southern end. Occupa- – 147,000 Germans dead – 110,000
tion of Stalingrad, though not the Germans taken prisoner. Many of
only choice for holding the south the prisoners died of injuries, star-

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than 1.2 million participants each musical group that is also known as
spring events, it was added that year, Frühlingsfest makes its name "Buffalo's Big German Band."
Bavarian Springfest is taking place as the largest spring festival in Eu- "Everyone is looking forward to
April 22 at St. Mary Ukrainian rope. the warmer weather, and the ap-
Church Hall in Rochester, from 6- German American Musicians proaching Oktoberfest season in
11 p.m. James Smith said he ex- Inc. longtime band member Herbert Buffalo!" said Schmidt.
pects that event to present a fun Schmidt III was also on hand to For details on SG Edelweiss
event to the public, to go along with enjoy the event with his family, and Buffalo, visit www.facebook.
the March 25 Fruhlingfest. said he looks forward to a busy com/SgtvEdelweissBuffalo/ or
"The food, music and unity of spring/summer schedule for the http://www. Edelweissbuffalo.
those involved make this and up- com/.
coming events something to be-
hold," said Smith.
Edelweiss Buffalo secretaries
Judy Marquardt and Betty Broder-
ick worked the admission desk at
the event, and said they were happy
events like this have returned to
WNY post-COVID, with Mar-
quardt adding, "It's so great to see
people out having a good time."
The Auslanders have performed
at WNY-area events such as vari-
ous Oktoberfest celebrations for
nearly 50 years.
“Frühlingsfest”, is translated as
spring festival. An annual family-
friendly celebration of the spring
season, Frühlingsfest takes place in
cities all over Germany, such as
München and Stuttgart. With more