European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 01, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Captured germans in tattered uniforms stumble past ruins of Stalingrad the russian infantry begins the offensive that finally lifted the siege world War ii turned lit a bitter russian Winter 5o years ago by Deborah Seward the associated Pressa a boy Vyacheslav Novichkov played in the ruins of Stalingrad where his Grandfather had fought and died in the Snow and ice of that merciless Winter half a Century ago. At school Novichkov Learned about such heroes of the Battle As Young Mikhail a Nikkha who threw himself in the path of a German tank to Stop it. Then As the years passed he tired of stories of the struggle for the russian City now called Volgograd. I was fed up with War said Novichkov who became a private businessman with the fall of communism. It was time to Start living  eighteen months ago he created the reconciliation fund an Independent foundation to work with germans in restoring cemeteries and monuments and preserving artefacts of the Pivotal european Battle of world War ii. One project is to establish two cemeteries for German dead outside the City. For Germany the capitulation at Stalingrad on Jan. 31, 1943, was a catastrophe. The soviet Union saw the outcome As proof that it was Superior to nazi Germany. For decades the communist party anchored its Power and prestige on the defeat of fascism. Thousands of movies and books glorified the soviet role in world War ii especially the Battle of Stalingrad. Kremlin leaders wore their medals often and stressed the sacrifices made in repelling the germans. In recent years however the demise of soviet communism and its monolithic View of history has caused Many russians to rethink the War. Even some who fought in that historic Battle Are ready for a degree of Friendship with the former enemy. How we feel about Germany is changing in a fundamental Way said Gen. Teodor Pekarsky 70, director of Volgograd s main War memorial Complex. Time has passed. The wounds Are Healing. I can t say we Are going to hug and kiss but the people who were Loyal to fascism Aren t guilty. They were lied to by their leaders just like we  Adolf Hitler was determined to have Stalingrad a major port for priceless Oil. Josef Stalin was just As determined to keep the City which was called tsar Tsyn before he had it renamed in 1925.German forces surged across the parched russian Plains toward Stalingrad in Midsummer 1942. On aug. 23, their bombers began pounding the City relentlessly. The Volga was aflame with leaking fuel and burning ships. Stalin was so certain of Victory that he forbade the evacuation of Stalingrad. Thousands of civilians were trapped and Many died. Bombs and fire demolished the old wooden buildings in the Center of the 800-year-old City. ". The invaders entered Stalingrad on sept. 13, but the soviet army regrouped As the autumn Frost came. It launched a counteroffensive nov. 19, encircling the germans and their romanian  weather set in. Heavy snows temperatures of minus 22 degrees fahrenheit and vicious winds were deadly enemies to the germans who lacked food clothing fuel and arms in the harshest Winter most had Ever seen. Soviet propaganda posters urged them to surrender but Hitler had ordered his army to fight to the last Man. Some of the fiercest hand to hand fighting of the War occurred in the last Days of Stalingrad. The Bones of combatants still being unearthed often Are intertwined. Field marshal Friedrich Paulus surrendered Jan. 31 in the basement of Stalingrad s main department store. The German Advance to the East had been stopped. This Battle was significant not j just for Russia not just for the former soviet Union but for All of Europe and the whole world because it became Clear Here that fascism would not win said Pekarsky. Pekarsky has a Chest full of medals a Tongue full of tales and the task of overseeing the memorial Center at Mamayev Kurgan a strategic Hill that was coveted by both armies. An enormous statue of Mother Russia a fierce featured woman with a great sword in her raised hand towers Over the Volga from the top of the Center. Unlike Many other events in world War ii Pekarsky said Stalingrad was not seriously file Mother Russia at the War memorial. Affected by soviet rewriting of history except for the number of soviet dead he said about 1.2 million soviet civilians and soldiers perished during the Battle for Stalingrad but the figure was kept secret throughout the soviet Era. Whether it s a lot or a Little is not something to be judged Pekarsky said. Some say we could have lost fewer people but maybe if we had lost fewer people we would not have been  some of the dead Are buried at Mamayev Kurgan. Each year tens of thousands of russians visit the site 1 i Miles from the Center of the City which became Volgograd in 1961. Patriotism runs deep among russians Young and old. Despite increasing poverty that has accompanied political and economic changes they remain fiercely proud of their country. Vitaly Shamayev who attends a military Academy in Saratov about 250 Miles North of Volgograd walked through a serpentine arrangement of soldiers Graves. My Grandfather fought Here the 20year-old Cadet said quietly. It s one of the most sacred places in our country. I would never hesitate to fight for Russia. It would be my duty and an  some German survivors will be visiting the Battle site for the first time during the 50th anniversary commemoration. New exhibits in Volgograd museums include a display of letters from German servicemen that were never delivered to their families. The soviets recovered the postal bags after the War and have since shared them with the German and russian people. How wretched and hopeless it All is Here pvt. Bruno k. Wrote to his family on new year s eve 1942. If a Miracle does t happen soon. I la go Down Here. I am without Hope and i beg you not to cry too much when you get the news i am no  said another i m hunkered Down with someone who s 22 years old. The Young Guy cried All Christmas eve like a Little baby. I Tell you we All had tears in our eyes when we heard there won t be any More letters from  at first we were afraid to show these letters said Laura Petrova chief archivist at the Battle of Stalingrad museum. We thought nobody would come. But there were Many visitors. Now it is possible to show that not Only we suffered but the other Side  russian soldiers used any defense available to hold Back the German attackers. German soldiers argue among themselves in a scene from the film "Stalingrad.1. Germans recall misery with anger and sadness Wils mater some of the 230,000 German soldiers who died during the Battle and in prison Camps sprawl in the Snow. S4s.-ap by Kevin Costelloe the associated press fifty years ago a 20-year-old German Soldier who was half starved exhausted and numb from the cold collapsed while standing guard at Stalingrad. In the swirling Snow an officer kicked pvt. Karl Heinz Mueller and barked do you know i can execute you Mueller. Looked up and said go ahead. I be really got nothing to  he recalled the icy hell of Stalingrad during a German television program about the crushing defeat that halted Adolf Hitler s Advance into the soviet Union that was broadcast just before Christmas. More than 230,000 German soldiers died at Stalingrad or in prison Camps afterwards. It was a Long awaited catastrophe said Isa Vermehren 74, a roman Catholic nun who was a critic of the nazis. While she hoped it would cause Hitler to change his War policies she recalled naturally we were also afraid of the consequences of a Retreat and a  during the siege a Day s food ration. For Many German soldiers soon became Only four Sykes of bread and horse meat soup with a Little Grain. Even that dwindled and there was Little Winter clothing. Fuel and ammunition started to run out. You can t order the Stalingrad soldiers to fight until the last round of ammunition because they no longer have the last round of ammunition Field marshal Erich von Manstein told his nazi Bosses near the end. His plea and numerous others fell on deaf ears. From the Start Hitler was fanatical about capturing the City named for his Archenemy Josef Stalin. Hitler refused to let the soldiers Retreat and regroup insisting they stand or fall at Stalingrad. A huge Rescue Effort collapsed just before Christmas. Experts say at least 146,000 germans were killed by the soviet army sickness or the Winter. Thousand of wounded Lay on the freezing ground waiting in vain for medical attention. Despite Hitler s orders the germans surrendered on Jan. 31,1943. Some 91,000 hobbling starving wounded German prisoners were herded off to soviet Camps. Only 6,000 lived to see Germany again. In addition to casualties on the ground the germans lost nearly 500 planes and More than 1,000 of their Best pilots in efforts to Supply the trapped soldiers by Airlift. The German Media have been marking the 50lh anniversary of the siege with critical looks at Hitler s strategy. Stalingrad an anti War movie by Well known director Joseph Vilsmeier opened in German Heaters in Early january. Plain and simple the Battle of Stalingrad stands for the total Absurdity futility and irrationality of world War ii which was started by Hitler s Germany Vilsmeier said. Der Spiegel the German news Magazine blamed the Stalingrad catastrophe on Hitler s orders and the cowardice of his generals showed by obeying them. Germany s Adf television network in connection with its pre Christmas broadcast searched for the addressees of 300 letters written by German soldiers in Stalingrad but never delivered that wound up in soviet archives in one month the network received More than 35,000 Telephone Calls and 12,000 written queries. For our Young colleagues the Calls were often a moving encounter with the history of another German generation said Guido Knopp who directed the project. They had t realized before How horribly world War ii had gripped the Fate of millions of  18 the stars and stripes the stars and stripes 19 monday february 1, 1993 i