68 Years Ago-- The Limit of German Expansion

The German Sixth Army surrendered at Stalingrad. 90,000 Fascist soldiers were marched into captivity in the Soviet Gulags. The Nazis had proclaimed that the rules of civilized handling of prisoners of war did not apply to their war against the USSR. The Soviets were more than happy to treat Fascist soldiers as harshly as they treated their own convicts. Regardless, the number of Fascist soldiers captured was almost insignificant compared to the numbers of soldiers who were killed on both sides during the battle.

In November of 1942, Soviet forces encircled the Nazi forces who were besieging the city and the besiegers became the besieged. The Germans from the outside tried to lift the encirclement but were readily defeated. The Germans trapped inside never attempted to break out on their own. They sat there and slowly starved as the Red Army squeezed the German area of control ever smaller and smaller.

The German surrender marked what is now regarded as the turning point of the Great Patriotic War. Over two years of hard fighting remained, but the onrushing tide of German expansion was stopped.