How was Field Marshal Paulus treated when he returned to Germany after spending 10 years in Soviet custody, for surrendering in the Battle of Stalingrad?

 After his surrender at Stalingrad and 10 years in Soviet custody, Field Marshal Paulus returned to East Germany, a communist state controlled by the Soviet Union. Given his later cooperation with the Soviets, he was probably treated okay.

At first, Paulus didn't want to work with the Soviets. But after Hitler's assassination attempt failed, Paulus changed his mind. He then criticized Hitler and made propaganda broadcasts for the Soviets. Some Germans likely saw him as a traitor, but others understood his decision.

Hitler had basically sacrificed Paulus and his army by refusing to let them retreat from Stalingrad or surrender. He even promoted Paulus to Field Marshal, knowing that no German Field Marshal had ever surrendered, hinting that he should kill himself. Paulus, a Catholic, refused to commit suicide for Hitler, reportedly saying he wouldn't do "this Bohemian corporal the favor". His surrender enraged Hitler, who believed Paulus could have been a hero.

You May Also Like:

Fought World War II for 29 years after the war had ended.

On December 1944, Japanese Soldier Hiroo Onoda received orders to serve as an intelligence officer and spy on the enemy’s island of Lubang in the Philippines. He successfully survived until American forces took over his territory. There he fled the scene and went deep into the Philippine jungle with his few remaining companions.

Leaflets were dropped on him and newspapers published accounts of his situation. Recordings from his family were broadcasted to tell him they loved him, but Onoda disregarded them all as enemy propaganda.

The surviving Japanese soldiers lived in the jungle and seized anything edible they found in the area, leading to deadly conflicts with locals. Eventually, those who had been with Onoda either left or perished, leaving him entirely alone with his companion Kinshichi Kozuka until Kozuka was killed in 1972.

But as long as Onoda wouldn’t receive a direct order from a superior, nothing could be done to convince him the war was over.

So, in 1974, after a Japanese explorer named Norio Suzuki tracked Onoda down and found his commander, Major Taniguchi traveled to the island with a specific task — to read him his official discharge orders and tell him the mission is over!

Onoda emerged from the jungle wearing his battle-worn uniform, having long since lost all notion that he might be going back into battle. He performed a salute and handed over his sword.

It was 1945 when the world’s great wars came to an end. Hiroo Onoda needed his former commander to conclude his own conflict twenty-nine years later in 1974

Writer: Faisal (Matthew Anthony)