The events of Stalingrad and in particular convinced many germans that the war could not be won. The soviets also known as the red army in towns around Stalingrad had started to cut of Germanys forces to and from Caucasus, in return the German forces were forced to withdraw, allowing the Russians the get the upper hand on Germany and ruining there plans of cutting off access to the oil reserves and factories. .
Hitler wasn't able to accept defeat in Stalingrad nor would he allow his men to surrender. Despite having Paulus be promoted to Field Marshall by Hitler (Hitler then reminded that no officer of a similar rank had ever surrendered or been taken alive) Hitler said "Surrender is forbidden. 6 Army will hold their positions to the last man and the last round and by their heroic endurance will make an unforgettable contribution towards the establishment of a defensive front and the salvation of the Western world."General Paulus disobeyed Hitlers commands agreeing to surrendered on January 31st, he was shortly after followed by 24 the generals and the remainder of the Axis forces followed in his footsteps on February 2nd. During this event the soviet union was under the reign of Joseph Stalin, The German army wasn't gonna be spared any mercy (Stalin wasn't known as to look after his own people and now war prisoners under Stalins care). The German war prisoners were compelled on death marches or they were put to work on repairing/rebuilding Stalingrad, most or many of them weakened by starvation, illness and wounds, 75,000 German prisoners of war perished inside three months of their initial surrender. In an attempt to cut the death rates that were talking up, the Soviets left alone the death march and left the rest of the war prisoners on transports, however this did nothing in helping and the count of survivors decreased again from roughly 35,000 men to around 17,000. All of the 110,000 men captured there was about 5,000 of them that ever returned to their hometowns with was now a divided Germany in 1955, this was a full 13 years following the Battle of Stalingrad had ended.
