(1/12) Battlefield The Battle for Stalingrad Episode 9 (GDH)
SUBSCRIBE TO EXCELLENT WORLD WAR II VIDEOS UPDATED WEEKLY The battle of Stalingrad was the largest single battle in human history. It raged for 199 days. Numbers of casualties are difficult to compile due to the vast scope of the battle and the fact that the Soviet government did not allow estimates to be made, for fear the cost would be shown to be too high. In its initial phases, the Germans inflicted heavy casualties on Soviet formations; but the Soviet encirclement by punching through the German flank, mainly held by Romanian troops, effectively besieged the remainder of German Sixth Army, which had taken heavy casualties in street fighting prior to this. At different times the Germans had held up to 90% of the city, yet the Soviet soldiers and officers fought on fiercely. Some elements of the German Fourth Panzer Army also suffered casualties in operations around Stalingrad during the Soviet counter offensive. Various scholars have estimated the Axis suffered 850000 casualties of all types (wounded, killed, captured…etc) among all branches of the German armed forces and its allies, many of which were POWs who died in Soviet captivity between 1943 and 1955: 400000 Germans, 200000 Romanians, 130000 Italians, and 120000 Hungarians were killed, wounded or captured. Of all of the German POWs taken at Stalingrad, only 5000 returned to Germany in 1955. All of the rest of the POWs died in Soviet captivity . The Germans were also harsh on Russian POWs. In addition, as many …