PAULUS Friedrich Wilhelm von (Paulus)

Paulus, Friedrich Wilhelm von (Paulus), (1890-1957), General-Field Marshal (1943) Germanic army. Born September 23, 1890 in Breytenau, Hesse-Nessau. He studied at the University of Munich, but not finished it, came in 1910 in the 111 th Infantry Regiment "Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm. In 1911 received the first officer's rank. Participated in the 1-st world war, mainly in staff positions. After the war, served as head of security department of the Reichswehr (1919-20), Adjutant 14 th Infantry Regiment (1920-22), then passing the secret training of officers of the General Staff, he held various positions in the Ministry of the Reichswehr. In 1934, Paulus was appointed commander of the 3rd Motorized Battalion, who later became one of the first tank unit in Germany. In 1935-39 chief of staff of the tank troops, then chief of staff, 4-Army. In 1940 he was awarded the rank of Lieutenant-General. During the French campaign chief of staff, Army 6. From September 1940 to January 1942 1 st Chief Quartermaster-General Staff of the Army.

He was one of the main developers of the plan "Barbarossa". Since 30 December 1941 to February 1, 1943 Paulus was the commander of the 6 th Army, advancing on Stalingrad. When his army was threatened with complete encirclement, Paulus tried to convince Hitler of the need for a temporary retreat and then proposed a plan to break out of encirclement. Fuhrer rejected it by answering: "I think the situation favorable. My decision to remain unchanged. 6-Army will stand, where there is. I will not go to the Volga. January 31, 1943, the day when Hitler promoted him to General Field Marshal Paulus, with all his staff and the remains of 6 th Army surrendered to Soviet troops. By this time, surrounded by the army Paulus has already lost about 100 thousand. killed and wounded, and attempts to Tank Corps Manstein break the encirclement failed. The defeat at Stalingrad was a turning point in the 2-nd World War. Germany was declared a mourning.
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. While in Soviet captivity, . Paulus in 1944 joined the anti-Nazi League of German officers, . and then to the National Committee 'Free Germany ", . which carried out anti-Nazi agitation and propaganda among the prisoners of war, . and at the front, . urging fellow countrymen to turn their weapons against Hitler,
. As a result, in Germany was arrested Paulus family.

At the Nuremberg trials Paulus acted as a witness by the Soviet accusation, but until 1953 he was in captivity. After his release he settled in Vost. Germany, in Dresden, where he worked as inspector of police. Paulus died Feb. 1, 1957 in Dresden.