That's a Red Army soldier that was frozen to death after sadistic tortures in the ruined city. Feb. 1943
When i was a kid,26 years ago,I worked for a German guy who fought at Stalingrad. He had several stories but my favorite was when he was crossing a bridge buy hanging under it on the girders and going hand over hand. When a patrol of Russians came along and set up camp right under him and his bridge. So henry spent the night hanging above the Russians. He was too afraid to relieve himself,even in his pants for fear of dripping on the Russians below. The next morning when he got down as he walked away he ran face to face with a Russian soldier. They both screamed,both dropped the weapons and since my friend Henry speaks Russian they talked awhile and then both allowed the other to leave unharmed. Soon after this Henry deserted the German army and walked back to Germany , steeling food and cloths as he made his way home. I asked him why he deserted and he said because he realized Hitler was evil,the war was wrong and the war was lost. He said for him it began in the Hitler youth and took a few years of real war to make him realize what they where doing was wrong,so he left. A really good man,and great story teller,I'm glad he made it through and in 1955 moved to Michigan
With respect, wouldn't it be near to impossible to desert from the Wehrmacht on the Ostfront? The Feld Polizei would be everywhere. And then, walk all the way beck to Germany? That seems highly unlikely.
