Beyond the Limits of Endurance

I just finished reading Enemy at the Gates: The Battle of Stalingrad.  It was an inspired piece of historical writing.  The Battle of Stalingrad was the most brutal event in the history of warfare.  Beyond the facts of the battle itself where both sides suffered incalculable losses of men and material, the postscript was even worse.

It is estimated that the Axis forces suffered 850,000 casualties (killed, wounded or captured) while the Russians endured 1,129,619 casualties of which 478,000 were killed.  In addition, anywhere from 25,000 – 40,000 Russian civilians, residents of the besieged city, were also killed.

Following the defeat of the Axis forces (German, Italian, Romanian and Hungarian) at Stalingrad in early 1943, the prisoners were  force-marched under horrific conditions to camps in Siberia and the far Eastern provinces with little food or warm clothing during the brutal Russian winter.

Tormented by their Russian captors, some Axis prisoners resorted to the most unspeakable survival tactics.