February 1943

Eastern Front

There is heavy fighting in the Tractor Factory as Strecker's XI Corps is pounded by the Don Front. Over 4,000 men are killed or wounded as the Red Army launches concentrated tank and infantry attacks, supported by massive arty fire.

The main part of the Don Front is moving to the west to join the line fighting the Germans in the Ukraine. Voronezh Front begins its new attacks toward Kursk and Kharkov, 3rd Tank Army taking Svatovo as it crossed the Oskol near Valuyki. The tank army runs into elements of the II SS Panzer Corps north of Kupyansk and is involved in heavy fighting.

Southwest Front attacks with its 6th Army and 1st Guards Army. Popov crosses the Donets with his IV Guards Tank Corps and captures Kramatorsk, while X Tank Corps moves up to support. Elements of 1st Guards crosses the Northern Donets west of Krasny Liman, forcing the Germans back to Barvenkovo. Other units enter Lisichansk but are halted by the 19th Panzer Division.

Hitler's headquarters issues the official communiqué on the defeat at Stalingrad:

'The Battle for Stalingrad has ended. True to its oath to its last breath, 6th Army, under the exemplary leadership of Field Marshal Paulus, has succumbed to the overwhelming strength of the enemy and to unfavorable circumstances. The enemy's two demands for capitulation are proudly rejected. The last battle was fought under a swastika flag from the highest ruin in Stalingrad.'