Paulus Friedrich - one of the field marshals of Nazi Germany. The commander conducted a huge number of operations against various countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. He commanded troops in the fatal battle for the Reich at Stalingrad.
His life began in the theaters of the First World War and ended in socialist Germany, where he preached the ideas of anti-fascism.
Youth
Paulus Friedrich was born on September 23, 1890 in a family of accountants. He studied diligently at the gymnasium. From childhood, his father instilled in him scrupulousness and protectionism. Friedrich showed good academic achievements. He was very concerned about his position in society and the opinion of other people about him. After graduating from high school, he began to listen to lectures on jurisprudence. But Paulus Friedrich never became a lawyer: he signed up for the army. There he served as a Fanen Juncker. In military service, he established himself as an executive officer. He fit perfectly into the position of a staff member, unquestioningly carried out all the orders of his superiors and showed ingenuity.
His friends introduced Elena Rosetti, she was an aristocrat with Romanian roots. Paulus Friedrich married her in 1912. It was the wife who began to train the future field marshalbehavior required in high society. By attending various events, Friedrich made the necessary contacts.
Friedrich Paulus: biography. Participation in World War I
The First World War Paulus started in France. He was not a combat commander and practically did not visit the front line, spending most of his time at headquarters. The Paulus regiment also visited the Balkans. He was not particularly zealous, but ashamedly did all the work assigned to him, so he rose to the rank of captain by 1918.
After the war he continued his military career. He held leadership positions in various formations of the armed forces of the Weimar Republic. With the advent of Hitler to power, Paulus Friedrich entered the social circle of the highest figures of the National Socialist Party. He was not an ideological Nazi, but his obsession with career advancement spurred him to make the necessary contacts. The wife was a member of the elite society of the Nazi Party due to her noble origin. Some sources report that Paulus Friedrich was very complex due to the lack of the prefix "von" (designation of the nobility in Germany) to his surname.
In the political aspect, Paulus did not excel.
He was not an ideological Nazi, but his knowledge of military affairs allowed him to take the post of major general by the beginning of the war.
Beginning of World War II
Paulus started a new big war in Poland. In 1939, the Wehrmacht invaded Polish territories, it was there that they met the first serious resistance,therefore, the victory over the many times inferior Poland was regarded as grandiose in Germany.
Paulus also participated in the Belgian and Dutch campaigns. The occupation of these countries did not require significant efforts.
Since the summer of 1940, he has been directly involved in the development of a war plan against the USSR. At the same time, he mainly works in the General Staff and does not travel to the front line. But everything changed in 1942: W alter Reichenau dies in winter, being an ideological Nazi and an ardent admirer of Hitler, he had great respect among the NSDAP. Until his death, Reichenau commanded the 6th Army. It was his place that Paulus Friedrich took.
With the new formation, the German lieutenant general advanced on Oboyan.
There he repelled the counteroffensive of the Red Army, was presented to several awards. While Paulus's teacher Guderian, on his own initiative, launched an attack on Moscow, Friedrich unquestioningly carried out Hitler's orders.
Battle of Stalingrad
In the fall, the 6th Army reached the Volga, where one of the most significant battles in history was to unfold. Paulus personally developed operations to capture Stalingrad. Quickly enough, Hitler paid special attention to this sector of the front. What mattered was not only the oil that the Reich would have received after the fall of Stalingrad, but also the propaganda fact of taking the city, which bore the name of Stalin himself.
Several times Paulus addressed Hitler personally with a demand to withdraw troops. But the Fuhrer assured that he would transfer reinforcements tosoon. At the end of January, the entire Nazi 6th Army was surrounded. The commander of the 6th Army, Paulus, f altered and handed over to the Soviet leadership a request for surrender. After his capture, the NKVD forced Friedrich to join the Union of German Soldiers and Officers. This organization recorded an appeal to the German people with a call to take power away from Hitler. After the war, the former Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus stayed on the territory of the USSR until the mid-1950s.
After that, he was allowed to return to Germany, where he worked closely with the socialist leadership of the GDR.
