German POWs from Stalingrad..

German POWs from Stalingrad, this time high rank officers like Generals, Colonels and Captains. Two of them wear the '43er reversible winter parka and winter camouflage trousers.

 

Well, at least they get to be inside a house in the warm it seems, instead of the lower ranks who started their long march to Siberia meanwhile...

 

any notable names amongst them? kai..

 

I´ve seen the pic before but cannot recall any names, unfortunately

 

Ive seen both pics before and the bald guy far left of 1st pic is a General as well as at least one other in the pic. I cant remember their names. I also knew the name of the well-dressed office next to the bald guy-as he was mentioned in a couple of books about Stalingrad-but I cant think of which books hes mentioned in? BTW, his uniform is a tailer made uniform and I do remember reading that the maker of his uniform was the one who also made them for Paulus.

 

The man on the right hand side of the photo is Lt Gerhard Philipp Humbert. I knew him. He shared a lot about Stalingrad with me. I visited him in Feb 1996, then went onto Volgagrad. It was a memorable time. Philipp died in 1999. I have since then met other members of his family, and visited his grave in Konigswinter. I have two copies of this photo. One given to me by Philipp, and the other one purchased at the Museum in Volgagrad - which is certainly worth seeing. I have the names of the other offices and the story of the photo too.

 

Welcome to the Forum, Paul - and many thanks for adding a great detail to this thread !

 

Thanks for that, and welcome to the forums too Paul.

 

Welcome Paul, would love to hear about your friend, Lt Humbert.

 

Heartwarming to hear your story Paul. Nicely done!

Does anyone have (other) pointers to survival stories subsequent to Stalingrad?
- I tend to focus on aviation history websites. So don't know where best to start.

Tnx

 

Thankyou everyone for your feedback comments. I'm happy to chat more about this photo, and Philipp Humbert.

So, in the photo there are 6 captured German Officers.

From left to right we have General Korfes. Commander of 295 Inf Division. Colonel Dissel 1a 295 Inf Division. General Pfeffer 4th Army Corps. General Seydlitz 6th Army Corps. Colonel Crome 4th Panzer Army. Lt Humbert 4th Panzer Army.

The photo was taken on January 31st 1943, at General Chuikov's HQ - or at least the place where he chose to interview the German Officers. Philipp said . Philipp was taken in first, and Chuikov asked if he was General Seydlitz?. Philipp says he thinks Chuikov may have asked this question as he (Philipp) was wearing a good quailty fur collared coat (a gift from his Father). Anyway, when Philipp was asked to state his name, he announced he was Lt Humbert. Philipp said the Russian guard who took him into see Chuikov immediately realised the error, and to save a bit of face, interpreted the name and rank of this German Officer as Lt Colonel Humbert. "I was given a promotion!" Philipp told me, chuckling. Apparently Chuikov was furious with the error, and threw Philipp out of the room, before interviewing the other German Officers.

Philipp also mentioned that just prior to the photo being taken the Russians offered them food. Philipp said they refused the food, as they did not want a photo of them eating/appearing to be well looked after etc being used for propaganda purposes.

Philipp did say the German Officers found it disturbing and puzzling that the Socialist system treated the Officers better than the lower German ranks. Not long after the surrender Philipp and other Officers were taken to Beketovka and they were appalled at the site of the state of the lower ranks.

Anyway, what ever we think of those times, and the battle in particular, the whole episode was a terrible event, and I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have been like to be there. I did get a minute glimpse of the battle, when I was in Volgagrad in February 1996. On Red Army Day, I witnessed a fireworks display from my Intourist Hotel window. The sound and sight of the fireworks buzzing over the city's sky gave me a very brief idea of what it may have been like during Stalingrad.

Paul Innes.