SBS - Hitlers Warriors (1998) Part 5 Paulus The Defector

Since the early 1980s popular German TV journalist and presenter Guido Knopp has unearthed a wealth of new material about the leading figures of the Third Reich. Subsequent to the successful series “Hitler - A Profile” and “Hitler's Henchmen”, Guido Knopp and his team continue this significant television analysis of the Nazi period with a series of the six most important German generals. He has spoken to countless contemporaries and eyewitnesses, relatives and friends of these men, and has been given access to documents that until now have been kept under lock and key. In this series, Guido Knopp's reassessment of Germany's guilty past, turns to the careers of six key military leaders of the Third Reich, and their relationships with Hitler. Profiling these men, the series continues to pose the question as to why it all happened. Rommel, Canaris, Keitel, Paulus, Udet and Manstein. Six careers caught in the tangle of Nazi political intrigue and ultimate disaster. What led all these officers to put their military talents at the service of a murderous dictator? To what depth was their involvement in Hitler's crimes? To what limits did their obedience lead them?

Part 5 Paulus The Defector

Friedrich Paulus - a general fighting a losing battle. His name is inextricably linked to the devastating defeat at Stalingrad. As commander of the Sixth Army he had no chance in the encircled Volga city area against the superior strength of the Red Army. The situation of his more than 250,000 soldiers was hopeless. But all attempts failed to wring out from Hitler the order finally to evacuate the encircled area and break out with his troops westward. The dictator was firmly convinced to sacrifice rather the Sixth Army than to willingly surrender Stalingrad. To the entrapped he radioed a cynical thanks for their “contribution to save the Western World”. Paulus knew that his appointment to field marshal shortly before the encirclement was the order for suicide. But he did not fulfill the wish of his commander-in-chief. Paulus went into captivity. Only in the hour of defeat did he refuse to obey. In January 1943 Friedrich Paulus became the first German field-marshal ever to surrender on the battlefield. Having held Stalingrad for five months against all odds, he defied Hitler and led the remnants of Sixth Army into Russian captivity. He then worked for the Soviets, calling on Germany to surrender.

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