GERMAN DEFEAT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25134, 27 January 1943, Page 3

GERMAN DEFEAT

STALINGRAD BATTLE SIGNIFICANT ADMISSIONS (Rec. 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 25. The Berlin radio military spokesman, General Dietmar, admitted that the situation in the Stalingrad area had become considerably more serious because of the bitter new assaults against the northern and western sectors. “ The enemy has ■ broken in at a new point on the western front with strong forces,” he said. “There is a rolling mass of fire of indescribable violence.” “ Our Sixth Army at Stalingrad has won immortal honour in the heroic, sacrificial struggle against great superiority,” states a German High Command communique. “Formations of Rumanians are fighting shoulder to shoulder with their German comrades to the last man, and are fully sharing the glory.” Reassuring the People Further admissions, combined with attempted reassurances, were made by General Dietmar giving “an interim balance sheet.” He declared that it was his duty to inform the German people of the extent of the defeat suffered in Russia, adding, “ But can anyone believe that the Wehrmacht, after three years of victories, will perish from one defeat? During the campaigns of Frederick the Great the Germans were far more seriously defeated than they have been now, and yet they were finally victorious. "The Russian offensive met with considerable success at first in Southern Russia. The situation at Stalingrad and in the Don bend for a time was most serious, and it still causes anxiety, but it is not catastrophic. This is largely due to the Stalingrad troops, who, after encirclement, resisted for weeks, warding off heavier calamities and enabling German counter-measures which are now becoming effective. “We would render no service to the German nation by attempting to deny that the position in the Stalingrad area and the Don basin has become very serious indeed. The battles there are of a fierceness beyond imagination. Every single soldier in this region knows what fate may be meted out to him in this battle with our backs against the wall, a battle in which we are cut off from all ground communication and are being attacked by a vastly superior enemy. There is no retreat, no breaking off the siege; but the only alternatives are holding out or going down. Serious Position in Russia " Severe sacrifices have been made, but the still greater sacrifices now being made will not be in vain. Had we abandoned Stalingrad, the roads leading south and west would have been laid open to the Russians, and the superiority of their forces surging in these directions would havq been overwhelming. Actually the battle at Stalingrad for some time shut the gate to Rostov. One sector of the Don after another has had to be abandoned owing to the weight of the Russian massed attacks, and the situation in the Northern Caucasus is similar. While it is not yet possible to say how things will develop we may be certain that the Russians will not be satisfied with the ground they have already occupied.” Asserting that Leningrad has not been relieved, General Dietmar claimed that the Russians aimed to confuse the Germans by drawing reserves hither and thither, but the Germans were not to be lured into weakening important positions. He added that it was not possible to see how things would develop. The Russians certainly would not be content with their territorial gains, but must press on with their offensives. Thus the enemy was wearing himself out in sustained operations which would open great new strategic possibilities to the German High Command. “By steadiness in a catastrophe greater than any we have had to bear.” he concluded, “we must march victorious against a world of enemies.”