What do you think?
Rate this book
With Paulus at Stalingrad
This memoir from an aide to, and fellow POW of, General Friedrich Paulus documents a unique perspective on the horror of Stalingrad. Colonel Wilhelm Adam, senior ADC to General Paulus, commander of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad, wrote this compelling and controversial memoir describing the German defeat, his time as a prisoner of war with Paulus, and his conversion to communism. Now, for the first time, his German text has been translated into English. His account gives an intimate insight into events at the 6th Army headquarters during the advance to Stalingrad and the protracted and devastating battle for possession of the city. In vivid detail, he recalls the sharp personality clashes among the senior commanders and their intense disputes about tactics and strategy, but he also records the ordeal of the German troops trapped in the encirclement and his own role in the fighting. The extraordinary story he tells, fluently translated by Tony Le Tissier, offers a genuinely fresh perspective on the battle, and it reveals much about the prevailing attitudes and tense personal relationships of the commanders at Stalingrad and at Hitler’s headquarters. “Through his daily involvement with them, Wilhelm Adam is able to perfectly describe the characters involved, the tensions and despair amongst them and the pressure Paulus and his staff found themselves under as the Soviet pincers closed around the men of the abandoned 6th Army. The reader is presented with the hopeless situation faced by Paulus and his staff who, aware of the looming disaster from a very early stage are constantly denied the option of a withdrawal by Hitler and left to their catastrophic fate.”—Grossdeutschland Aufklarungsgruppe
473 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1965
33 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 21, 2019
I'd long been curious about what went through the mind of General Paulus as he went from loyal Wermacht General to disillusioned prisoner of war and finally embraced the DDR. Unable to find anything directly relating ton Paulus in English I went for these memories of his senior ADC translated by Tony le Tissier whose detailed books about the war on the Eastern Front I have read and highly recommend. With any autobiographical account there are going to be questions about the intent and purpose of the writer in writing and no doubt the conditions and times in which Wilhelm Adam wrote this book influenced what is included and how it is presented. However, aside from some slightly sycophantic phrases towards the end of the book where Adam praises the Soviet regime the text flows with a naturalness and an eye for accuracy and detail which gives the impression of an accurate account of events from his point of view.
The book begins with the advance on Stalingrad where already misgivings about Hitler's strategy are forming with frontline officers overruled by Hitler on the basis that in his opinion the Red Army was a defeated and spent force. Adam records the failure and refusal of officers, including Paulus, to disobey Hitler despite knowing that the failure to do so meant their own doom and destruction of their army. This unbending Prussian discipline no doubt aided the Red Army as much as General Winter. Adam's meticulous record of the gradual entrapment of the 6th Army provides a blow by blow account of its defeat at both the hands of its own commander in chief as well as the resurgent Red Army. His record of disputes and discussions among officers and men show that left to its own devices free of chain of command the 6th Army would have probably saved itself. The book details a victorious disciplined army as it gradually disintegrates and men are reduced to starved half maddened shadows. It is little surprise that the Red Army found Germans ready to change sides (many were probably once sympathetic to the German left and needed little encouragement to join the propaganda effort against the Nazi's). Adam details his own disillusionment with Nazism and the Wehrmacht and how the division between loyalist officers and those prepared to start afresh in the ranks of anti-fascism played out. He notes that Hitler's "unscrupulous power and war policies were only possible because his generals had served him faithfully, obeyed him blindly and actively assisted him", a charge Adam accepts as valid for his own conduct.
The book concludes with the emergence of the new socialist Germany in the form of the DDR and the fates of those who chose to embrace the attempt to build a new world and those who did not. Adam writes with glowing praise for the new state his words, perhaps understandably, lacking any of the critical incite which adds strength to the first part of the book. Still this is a gripping and important account by an actor who was right at the centre of history as it was made.
The book begins with the advance on Stalingrad where already misgivings about Hitler's strategy are forming with frontline officers overruled by Hitler on the basis that in his opinion the Red Army was a defeated and spent force. Adam records the failure and refusal of officers, including Paulus, to disobey Hitler despite knowing that the failure to do so meant their own doom and destruction of their army. This unbending Prussian discipline no doubt aided the Red Army as much as General Winter. Adam's meticulous record of the gradual entrapment of the 6th Army provides a blow by blow account of its defeat at both the hands of its own commander in chief as well as the resurgent Red Army. His record of disputes and discussions among officers and men show that left to its own devices free of chain of command the 6th Army would have probably saved itself. The book details a victorious disciplined army as it gradually disintegrates and men are reduced to starved half maddened shadows. It is little surprise that the Red Army found Germans ready to change sides (many were probably once sympathetic to the German left and needed little encouragement to join the propaganda effort against the Nazi's). Adam details his own disillusionment with Nazism and the Wehrmacht and how the division between loyalist officers and those prepared to start afresh in the ranks of anti-fascism played out. He notes that Hitler's "unscrupulous power and war policies were only possible because his generals had served him faithfully, obeyed him blindly and actively assisted him", a charge Adam accepts as valid for his own conduct.
The book concludes with the emergence of the new socialist Germany in the form of the DDR and the fates of those who chose to embrace the attempt to build a new world and those who did not. Adam writes with glowing praise for the new state his words, perhaps understandably, lacking any of the critical incite which adds strength to the first part of the book. Still this is a gripping and important account by an actor who was right at the centre of history as it was made.
July 16, 2017
With Paulus at Stalingrad
One of the biggest mistakes military mistakes during the Second World War, was when Hitler decided to turn against his Ally and war enabler the Soviet Union. Many mistakes from spreading the invading forces to thin, not having the correct equipment or clothing and not taking in to account the mistakes of previous invaders where Russia and the weather is concerned.
In the north towards St Petersburg, or as it was Leningrad, where starving Russians still managed to hold the Germans at bay, encircled and dying the Germans never took the city. Trying to take Moscow, and like Napoleon being turned around, but one of the biggest battles was for Stalingrad. The Russians would fight to death to protect the city given their leader’s name at all costs, and they were not afraid to fight for every house on every street to protect that city.
General Friedrich Paulus had been tasked by Hitler to take the city at all cost, the price was clearly to high as the German Army was encircled and Paulus was captured by the Russians, the day he heard he had been promoted to Field Marshall. Hitler believed that Paulus was do the honourable thing and commit suicide rather than fall in to the hands of the Russians, he was wrong.
This account, is a from the pen of Paulus’ ADC at the time Colonel Wilhelm Adam who was his side throughout the war and into captivity and eventually release in to the East German Army. Written by Adam after the death of Paulus and his retirement from the East German Army we are given an eyewitness account of the battle. It is a rare insight in to the battle from those who were directing it, the problems they had and the perceptions of those in command, all the way up to Hitler.
For lovers of history who want an inside track and a German viewpoint on the battle, this is an ideal book that gives you a view often overlooked here in the West. Not only that we see their captivity, the turning on the German High Command and what happened after the war. This really is a fascinating account from someone who was there that scholars and the general reader will refer to for many years.
This is a brilliant eyewitness account of one of the bloodiest, stupidest battles that the German’s undertook during the Second World War.
One of the biggest mistakes military mistakes during the Second World War, was when Hitler decided to turn against his Ally and war enabler the Soviet Union. Many mistakes from spreading the invading forces to thin, not having the correct equipment or clothing and not taking in to account the mistakes of previous invaders where Russia and the weather is concerned.
In the north towards St Petersburg, or as it was Leningrad, where starving Russians still managed to hold the Germans at bay, encircled and dying the Germans never took the city. Trying to take Moscow, and like Napoleon being turned around, but one of the biggest battles was for Stalingrad. The Russians would fight to death to protect the city given their leader’s name at all costs, and they were not afraid to fight for every house on every street to protect that city.
General Friedrich Paulus had been tasked by Hitler to take the city at all cost, the price was clearly to high as the German Army was encircled and Paulus was captured by the Russians, the day he heard he had been promoted to Field Marshall. Hitler believed that Paulus was do the honourable thing and commit suicide rather than fall in to the hands of the Russians, he was wrong.
This account, is a from the pen of Paulus’ ADC at the time Colonel Wilhelm Adam who was his side throughout the war and into captivity and eventually release in to the East German Army. Written by Adam after the death of Paulus and his retirement from the East German Army we are given an eyewitness account of the battle. It is a rare insight in to the battle from those who were directing it, the problems they had and the perceptions of those in command, all the way up to Hitler.
For lovers of history who want an inside track and a German viewpoint on the battle, this is an ideal book that gives you a view often overlooked here in the West. Not only that we see their captivity, the turning on the German High Command and what happened after the war. This really is a fascinating account from someone who was there that scholars and the general reader will refer to for many years.
This is a brilliant eyewitness account of one of the bloodiest, stupidest battles that the German’s undertook during the Second World War.
February 16, 2025
Battle of Stalingrad was one of the main turning points of World War II. The supposedly invincible German Wehrmacht, which had been rolling over the Soviet Russia finally losing steam and began ceding momentum to the Soviet Army. In Stalingrad progress was calculated not by the kilometers taken, but by vicious close quarter fighting, sometime house to house, that was epitomized by the anecdote that, “we had taken the living room but the enemy is still holding the kitchen.” While in the end German Army succeeded in capturing the city, they were, in turn, was besieged by the Soviet Army.
Thus, we follow the author, a Colonel that works as Aide de Camp to General (later Field Marshal) Friedrich Paulus, who often being described as one of the greatest losers in military history for letting his troops being besieged at Stalingrad without trying to sally out from the encirclement, doing nothing while the iron ring became smaller and smaller while the soldiers were dying either from enemy bullets or the lack of proper supply exacerbated by Russian winter. The author attributed Paulus’ curious decision due to the Prussian military tradition of ‘unpolitical’ absolute obedience, to higher order, in this case, Hitler’s stupid order of holding on to Stalingrad even as it cannot be properly supplied, a decision taken by Hitler after hearing Goering’s siren promise of supplying Stalingrad by air, an increasingly idiotic effort as Soviet Army tighten their encirclement of Paulus’ Army.
After the surrender in Stalingrad, the author, Field Marshal Paulus and others were taken to various POW camps in Soviet Russia, where they were gradually converted to the Soviet cause, at some point forming committees calling for liberation of Germany from the fascist grip. After the author was released from captivity, he wholeheartedly works for East Germany, where he reunited with Paulus and collaborated together in writing works about their experiences in Volga until the Field Marshal drew its final breath. In the end, I thank the author for trying to set straight the reputation of Paulus, whom he described as a humane man, who did undo his predecessor more brutal policies in persecuting the invasion of the Soviet Union, who in trying to uphold his principle ended up sacrificing men under his command needlessly. Furthermore it was due to his lack of experience as field commander that the catastrophe happened at the first place. I really want to know the whole debacle from Paulus’ own point of view.
Thus, we follow the author, a Colonel that works as Aide de Camp to General (later Field Marshal) Friedrich Paulus, who often being described as one of the greatest losers in military history for letting his troops being besieged at Stalingrad without trying to sally out from the encirclement, doing nothing while the iron ring became smaller and smaller while the soldiers were dying either from enemy bullets or the lack of proper supply exacerbated by Russian winter. The author attributed Paulus’ curious decision due to the Prussian military tradition of ‘unpolitical’ absolute obedience, to higher order, in this case, Hitler’s stupid order of holding on to Stalingrad even as it cannot be properly supplied, a decision taken by Hitler after hearing Goering’s siren promise of supplying Stalingrad by air, an increasingly idiotic effort as Soviet Army tighten their encirclement of Paulus’ Army.
After the surrender in Stalingrad, the author, Field Marshal Paulus and others were taken to various POW camps in Soviet Russia, where they were gradually converted to the Soviet cause, at some point forming committees calling for liberation of Germany from the fascist grip. After the author was released from captivity, he wholeheartedly works for East Germany, where he reunited with Paulus and collaborated together in writing works about their experiences in Volga until the Field Marshal drew its final breath. In the end, I thank the author for trying to set straight the reputation of Paulus, whom he described as a humane man, who did undo his predecessor more brutal policies in persecuting the invasion of the Soviet Union, who in trying to uphold his principle ended up sacrificing men under his command needlessly. Furthermore it was due to his lack of experience as field commander that the catastrophe happened at the first place. I really want to know the whole debacle from Paulus’ own point of view.
December 24, 2022
Stalingrad and its aftermath as viewed by a senior officer
The author was an aide to General Paulus during the Battle of Stalingrad and accompanied him into captivity. Good overview of the battle and how and why the Sixth Army was destroyed. While in captivity, the author, along with Paulus, turned against Hitler and the war and embraced socialism. That part of the book drags a bit and employs language common in Soviet times. If the latter part were written today, I suspect that the political views would be expressed quite differently. The book is well worth reading.
The author was an aide to General Paulus during the Battle of Stalingrad and accompanied him into captivity. Good overview of the battle and how and why the Sixth Army was destroyed. While in captivity, the author, along with Paulus, turned against Hitler and the war and embraced socialism. That part of the book drags a bit and employs language common in Soviet times. If the latter part were written today, I suspect that the political views would be expressed quite differently. The book is well worth reading.
October 20, 2020
Naively turned into and cooperated with Soviets. While Germans suffered extreme hardships at Stalingrad, with Hunger, illness, Febrile seizure, despite help of Russian nurses and medics.
Yet, allies suffered in other moments of this conflict with Soviets going to serve for Germany after being captured. (Although that part of memories is not in these book).
Yet, allies suffered in other moments of this conflict with Soviets going to serve for Germany after being captured. (Although that part of memories is not in these book).
April 28, 2021
Somber
Should be read by anyone who is interested in the politics of East Germany and the conversion of the German Generals after Stalingrad.
Should be read by anyone who is interested in the politics of East Germany and the conversion of the German Generals after Stalingrad.
October 25, 2021
This is not a very creative fairy tale. The text itself, while not very scholastic, is still boring. And the data, well, ha-ha.
July 22, 2022
Very insightful
Rare look at the battle of Stalingrad from the high command of 6th Army and Field Marshal Paulus. Along with the years spent in captivity.
Rare look at the battle of Stalingrad from the high command of 6th Army and Field Marshal Paulus. Along with the years spent in captivity.
May 5, 2021
This is a very good read and worthwhile addition to the Stalingrad collection, Adam was Paulus Adjudant throughout the Stalingrad battle, he provides some unique insights into the sate of mind and the operational working of Paulus. At times it makes for frustrating reading considering the sheer number of people whose lives where sacrificed and where better decision making in particular around capitulation might have eased a considerable amount of suffering and loss of life (benefit of hindsight).
I read this was a controversial book - I am not sure why, its a fascinating insight and well put together.
I read this was a controversial book - I am not sure why, its a fascinating insight and well put together.
January 1, 2017
It was somewhat interesting but I somehow was not captivated by it despite being an aficionado of WWII memoirs.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews