When Nazi Generals Realized Stalingrad Was a Death Trap

In late November 1942, Soviet forces closed a ring around the German Sixth Army inside Stalingrad, trapping roughly a quarter of a million men. Senior German generals saw exactly what was about to happen and told Hitler directly that the army had to break out within days. Hitler refused, and the reason he gave for refusing came down to a single offhand answer from a Luftwaffe general who hadn't checked his own numbers before speaking. What followed was a chain of decisions, failed rescue attempts, and ignored warnings that played out over the next two months, each one narrowing the window for survival until there was no window left. By the time the last pocket surrendered in February 1943, the gap between how many went in and how many came home had become one of the most staggering figures of the entire war.