‘We Have Done the Right Thing’

Abstract

Three days after the attack on the Romanian positions on the Don, Soviet forces completed the encirclement of nearly 250,000 German soldiers in Stalingrad. All efforts at relief failed, and the last remnants of this force surrendered on 2 February 1943. In the meantime the whole German position in the Caucasus collapsed, and the armies which had advanced into the mountains and towards the oil fields there were forced into a desperate retreat, abandoning huge quantities of material. This was a military defeat unprecedented in German history. At the same time Rommel’s Afrikakorps was compelled to abandon Tripoli and to take up defensive positions in Tunisia. On 27 January the first American daylight bombing raid was made on Germany, and night after night German cities were targeted by British bombers. These military disasters were accompanied by significant diplomatic moves. On 17 December 1942 a Joint Allied Declaration was released in London, Washington, and Moscow. The British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden read the text to the House of Commons, including this statement:

The German authorities … are now carrying into effect Hitler’s oft repeated intention to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe. From all the occupied countries Jews are being transported, in conditions of appalling horror and brutality, to Eastern Europe … The above-mentioned Governments and the French National Committee condemn in the strongest possible terms this bestial policy of cold-blooded extermination.

Recent weeks have brought the most severe crisis of this war experienced thus far, really the first genuine crisis, unfortunately not only a crisis for the leadership and the system, but also for Germany. It is symbolized by the name of Stalingrad.

From the diary of Ulrich von Hassell, 14 February 1943.¹