Friedrich Paulus did not have time to celebrate the awarding of the rank of field marshal to him, the highest in the Third Reich. The newly made field marshal, with the remnants of his army, ingloriously surrendered to the Soviet troops. The name of the German military leader is closely connected with the development of a plan for war with the USSR and with the victory of the Soviet Army at Stalingrad.
From the biography of Friedrich Paulus
The future German military leader was born on September 23, 1890 in Breitenau (Germany). His father served as an accountant in Kassel prison. After completing his schooling, Friedrich intended to become a cadet in the Kaiser's fleet. However, he entered the University of Marburg, where he studied law. But Paulus did not complete his training here: he became a cadet in an infantry regiment. In the summer of 1911, Friedrich received the rank of lieutenant.
In July 1912 Paulus started a family. Helena-Constance Rosetti-Solescu became his wife. However, a military career was always more important for Frederick than his personal life.
Military career of Paulus
The regiment, where Paulus served, began the imperialist war in France. During the war, Frederick served as a headquarters officer in mountain infantry units in France, Macedonia and Serbia. Paulus completed the First World War with the rank of captain.
Before Hitler came to power, Paulus served in various positions. In 1935, he became the head of a motorized regiment, and a year later was appointed chief of staff in a group of tank forces.
In 1938, Colonel Friedrich Paulus is promoted to Chief of Staff of the Motorized Corps, commanded by General Guderian. A year later, Paulus was promoted to Major General and headed the headquarters of the 10th Army.
With the outbreak of World War II, the army, where Paulus was the chief of staff, was stationed in Poland, and then in Belgium and the Netherlands. The numbering of the military unit has changed: the 10th army became the 6th.
In 1940-1941, Paulus was directly involved in the development of a plan for an attack on the Soviet Union. At this time, Paulus was already deputy chief of the general staff of the Hitlerite army.
The inglorious end to the career of Friedrich Paulus
In the winter of 1942, Paulus became the head of the 6th Army, which was operating at that time on the eastern German front. Subsequently, this army entered the Don Army Group, whose goal was the southern sector of the front.
Since September 1942, Paulus's army took part in the battle for Stalingrad. Here the forces of the Nazis were surrounded by Soviet troops. The Hitlerite command was unable to arrange the supply of the encircled army with food, ammunition and fuel.
At the beginning of February 1943, the 6th Army ceased to exist as a combat unit. The remnants of it, together with the commander, surrendered. Shortly before this, Hitler in a radiogram told Paulus that he was promoted to field marshal. This rank was the highest in the German army. However, this did not affect the outcome of the military operation.
In Soviet captivity, Field Marshal Paulus criticized the Fuhrer's policies. In 1944 he became a member of the anti-fascist organization of German officers and soldiers. Subsequently, Friedrich Paulus was a witness at the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis.
Paulus became a free man only in 1953. In recent years, he served in the police department of the GDR. The former Nazi military leader passed away on February 1, 1957.
