breakout - did any german soldiers make to their own lines

I've only read this fact (or could it be a piece of fiction) once, that Paulus gave out an order before the mass surrender of german troops in stalingrad; that groups of german soldiers could be allowed to break out without fear of being regarded as deserters. Apparently it was recorded that one german soldier actually made it back to german lines - scores of miles away; though unfortunatly he died from a solitary mortar round that hit the german defences he actually managed to get to. i would be grateful if anyone has any further infomation on this topic ' of groups of german soldiers breaking out of stalingrad and surviving'.

 

As far as I am aware from all the books I have read on Stalingrad, once the Soviet encirclement was complete and consolidated there were no successful attempts by groups of German soldiers surviving breakout attempts, and I'm struggling to recall even reading about a single soldier getting through. This may of happened during the very early days of the encirclement while the ring was still fluid but once the Soviets had consolidated their forces it was all but an impossible task, not just because of the Soviet troops but also because of the severe weather conditions & the weakened state of the German soldiers.

I will have a trawl through my books and list any references that I find.

 

I have found 1 reference to someone escaping. In Paul Carrell's 'Stalingrad' he states the following (pg 209)...

Many set out: staff officers with entire companies, like those from the headquarters of XI Korps & the 71st Infantry Division. Lts & Sgts set out with platoons under cover of night. Corporals & privates stalked out of the rubble in twos & threes or even alone. isolated groups were spotted in the steppe by pilots as late as mid-February. Then they lost track of them. Only one man, an NCO with a Flak Battery, Uffz Nieweg, is reported to have got through. But 48 hours after reaching safety he was killed by a stray mortar round at a dressing station of the 11th Panzer Division.

 

talk about bad luck, to get back to your own lines and then that to happen!

 

It says it was a stray mortar round - it doesn't say whether it was a stray Russian round or a stray German round! Judging by his luck I'd go for the latter!! I bet he was known as 'Lucky' Nieweg by his comrades

 

thanks:that's the one reference of anyone making it back to german lines i recall reading about.

 

I have around 8-10 books on Stalingrad and as far as I can find out, that is the only reference in any of them to someone making it out so how true it is I couldn't say.

 

Lucky Nieweg ! :2Xpray:

 

My friend Susannes Father was a Medical Sergeant attached to some unit at Stalingrad. According to Susanne, the only story from the war that she could ever get him to tell her-was of his attempt to break out of Stalingrad. His attempt started on or around January 31st and he with a few other men tried to make it in the direction of the relief attack and after several days-they were all captured. Susannes father spent the rest of the war in Soviet Gulags, and was not released untill sometime in 1955. Of the men he was with-all were lightly wounded) the Russians shot them all.

However, I do know of another German Vet who-served the entire war on the Eastern Front as an Artillery Officer-but who did not serve at Stalingrad-and when Germany capitulated-took six months of making his own way back to Germany and in the area where his Parents still lived. This is the man who gave me the only momento he had left from the war-which I still have-which was his Frozen Meat Medal. That medal had been his most prized possession all these years. Bedo also has the distinction of never having surrendered as well as never signing anything to the effect. This gets me to thinking at how many others shares that distinction-excluding those who flooded to other COuntries liks escaped war criminals and such.

 

I've never read of any that made it from Stalingrad - but I suppose it would be possible. The relief attempt made it to within 30 miles very briefly before retreating.

 

Possible for strong healthy men, but the survivors of Paulus army were too weak . They were both starving and freezing . In the film Stalingrad those who tried to walk away, ended up frozen to death .

Some did escape however, but with the medical Ju-52s , they were mostly wounded or officers.

 

I also read of the example of the guy who go through but unluckily caught a mortar round. Frankly it sounds too much like an urban legend of a sorts that would have made its way through the ranks in early 1943 before Kurks but after Stalingrad. Its the story in which an claim is made but the supposed survivor dies so there is no way to verify it because the guy is dead, its the equivalent of a "friend of a friend" tale in which you will never find the actual friends friend who told the story who it happened to.

I have to agree, with the condition the men were in I just can't see someone walking some 50 to 60 miles to his own lines in such cold.