In the context of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, when Soviet armies made contact in Kalach in November 1942, the German soldiers who had been fighting to capture the city of Stalingrad found themselves without the ability to respond: their already precarious logistical situation worsened exponentially. Little by little, the new defenders began losing territories, suffering defeats in local skirmishes, and running out of food and supplies. Their survival began to depend on what could be brought in by air. All of this, combined with the intense cold, the thick blanket of snow covering the city, and diseases caused by poor sanitary conditions, overcrowding, and malnutrition, caused the German 6th Army to gradually collapse. In these conditions, the situation for the wounded and sick became tragic. The medical posts were insufficient to treat them all, and many died due to a lack of personnel and means to treat infections and injuries that would have been minor under other circumstances. While a few managed to be evacuated, many ended up piled alongside the frozen corpses of their comrades, waiting for death.

On the cold afternoon of February 2, 1943, generals Konstantin Rokossovsky and Nikolai Voronov sent a communiqué to Moscow indicating that they had defeated the German army and that military operations in the Stalingrad region were immediately halted. Generally, and aside from a few minor actions, it had been a quiet day for the Soviet troops, as indicated by Nikolai Krylov, Chief of Staff of the 62nd Army. On that day, another 40,000 prisoners were added to the 50,000 captured during the previous two days, immediately after Paulus announced the surrender. They took whatever they could find to keep warm, as if they had a faint premonition of what they were about to face. The large number of captives gathered forced Soviet forces to organize a prisoner camp in Beketovka starting on February 3. That same day, the last Luftwaffe flight over Stalingrad took place. A He-111 flew over the city's skies, trying to find German soldiers who had escaped the encirclement to drop supplies to them. However, it failed to detect any survivors.

In total, after the surrender of the German 6th Army in February 1943, around 91,000 German soldiers were captured by the Red Army. Due to constant attacks by Soviet forces and the broken promises of Nazi authorities to supply the besieged troops with food and ammunition by air, the prisoners were captured in a deplorable state: many were already on the verge of death due to starvation, extreme cold, and wounds. Long columns of prisoners were then formed, forced to march like sleepwalkers to the nearest villages under the despicable February sun that hid behind the snow. Although accounts from the event's protagonists vary according to their rank, physical condition, and the suffering they endured at the hands of Soviet tribunals, the hours following the end of the battle appear to be the same for all: immediately after the surrender of the 6th Army, the soldiers were disarmed, their personal belongings confiscated, and the long marches toward distant and unknown towns began.
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'Catalyst' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'Goliath' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'The Long Dark' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'Discovery' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'Emergent' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'Rise Above' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'This Too Shall Pass' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'Chasing Daylight' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'Vanguard' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'Ignis' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'The Vision' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'The Spaces Between' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'Ascension' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'The Call' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

'Terminus' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au