(1890-09-23)23 September 1890 Guxhagen, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died
1 February 1957(1957-02-01) (aged 66) Dresden, East Germany
Allegiance
German Empire (1910–1918) Weimar Republic (1918–1933) Nazi Germany (1933–1943) NKFD (1944–1945) East Germany (1953–1956)
Branch
Imperial German Army (1910–1918) Reichswehr (1918–1933) Wehrmacht (1933–1943) NKFD (1944–1945) National People's Army (1953–1956)
Years of service
1910–45 1953–56
Rank
Generalfeldmarschall
Commands held
Sixth Army
Battles/wars
World War I
France
The Balkans
World War II
Invasion of Poland
Battle of France
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Blue
Battle of Voronezh
Battle of Stalingrad (POW)
Awards
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
Alma mater
Marburg University
Spouse(s)
Constance Elena Rosetti-Solescu[1]
(m. 1912; died 1949)
Signature
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 – 1 February 1957) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (Field marshal) during World War II who is best known for his surrender of the German 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad (July 1942 to February 1943). The battle ended in disaster for the Wehrmacht when Soviet forces encircled the Germans within the city, leading to the ultimate death or capture of most of the 265,000-strong 6th Army, their Axis allies, and collaborators.
Paulus fought in World War I and saw action in France and the Balkans. He was considered a promising officer; by the time World War II broke out, he had been promoted to major general. Paulus took part in the invasions of Poland and the Low Countries, after which he was named deputy chief of the German Army General Staff. In that capacity, Paulus helped plan the invasion of the Soviet Union.
In 1942, Paulus was given command of the 6th Army despite his lack of field experience. He led the drive to Stalingrad but was cut off and surrounded in the subsequent Soviet counter-offensive. Adolf Hitler prohibited attempts to break out or capitulate, and the German defense was gradually worn down. Paulus surrendered in Stalingrad on 31 January 1943,[a] the same day on which he was informed of his promotion to field marshal by Hitler. Hitler expected Paulus to take his own life,[3] repeating to his staff that there was no precedent of a German field marshal being captured alive.
While in Soviet captivity during the war, Paulus became a vocal critic of the Nazi regime and joined the Soviet-sponsored National Committee for a Free Germany. In 1953, Paulus moved to East Germany, where he worked in military history research. He lived out the rest of his life in Dresden.
^Fraschka 2008, p. 8.
^Beevor 1998, p. 390.
^Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Shirer, digital page 1569
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Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 – 1 February 1957) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (Field marshal) during World War II who is best...
nephew of German World War II General FriedrichPaulus[dubious – discuss] and born in Vietnam.[dubious – discuss] Paulus met Gainsbourg in 1980 at L'Elysée...
also stressed that Paulus' men were in an untenable situation. Paulus requested permission to surrender, but Hitler rejected Paulus' request out of hand...
the offensive towards the Volga. Blau II: Sixth Army, commanded by FriedrichPaulus, would attack from Kharkov and move in parallel with Fourth Panzer...
break free and link with 22nd Panzer Division. That day German General FriedrichPaulus, commander of the Sixth Army, received reports that the Soviets were...
about Stalingrad, he played the part of General (later Field Marshal) FriedrichPaulus. In the 2004 film Downfall, he portrayed Werner Haase. In the 2008...
1943. In a cynical attempt to prevent the surrender, Hitler promoted FriedrichPaulus, commander of the 6th Army to Field Marshal because no German of that...
January 1943 during the Battle of Stalingrad,[verification needed] and FriedrichPaulus asked Hitler for an airplane to evacuate Raubal to Germany. Hitler...
eventually joined the BDO, the most prominent of them being Field-Marshal FriedrichPaulus, commander of the Sixth Army captured at the Battle of Stalingrad....
Reichenau to take his place. At his personal recommendation to Hitler, FriedrichPaulus, a protege of Reichenau's and former member of his command staff, was...
also acted as the translator at the interrogation of Field Marshal FriedrichPaulus a few weeks later. Dyatlenko was born in 1914 in the village of Kulichka...
January, Manstein urged Hitler to allow Paulus to surrender, but he refused. In spite of Hitler's wishes, Paulus surrendered with his remaining 91,000 soldiers...
launched on 19 November 1942, had trapped 250,000 troops of General FriedrichPaulus' German 6th Army and parts of General Hoth's 4th Panzer Army in Stalingrad...
König home, but König does not believe that Vassili is dead. General FriedrichPaulus takes König's dog tags to prevent Soviet propaganda from profiting...
Heeresgruppe Nord ("commander-in-chief of Army Group North"). Hitler promoted FriedrichPaulus, commander of the 6th Army at Stalingrad, to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall...
the Battle of Stalingrad ended with the surrender of Field Marshal FriedrichPaulus and the German 6th Army to the Soviets. At the Casablanca Conference...
Stalingrad, but it then failed to save the Sixth Army, commanded by FriedrichPaulus. The encirclement began as the Demyansk Offensive Operation, the first...
Paulus? Were they worse than Yakov?" Soviet Foreign Affairs Minister Vyacheslav Molotov also recounted that Stalin refused to swap his son for Paulus...
twice: to Erwin Rommel at the Second Battle of El Alamein (1942); to FriedrichPaulus at the Battle of Stalingrad (1942–3). The 32nd Armor Regiment of the...
activists Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, as well as German general FriedrichPaulus and Soviet general Andrey Vlasov. In an afterword, Vollmann admits...
Hermann Göring Hermann Hoth Hans-Valentin Hube Erich von Manstein FriedrichPaulus Wolfram von Richthofen Arthur Schmidt Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach...
Key West. May 23 – WWII: German forces of the 6th Army under General FriedrichPaulus and the 1st Panzer Army led by General Ewald von Kleist meet up at...
commander of the German Army at the Battle of Stalingrad, Field Marshall FriedrichPaulus, Chernova was badly wounded in her abdomen when the woman ahead of...
Erich von Manstein's Operation Winter Storm efforts to relieve General FriedrichPaulus' trapped Sixth Army still in Stalingrad. In February 1943, the XXXXVIII...