September 11, 2023 SABATON - Stalingrad #ww2 #sovietunion #Wehrmacht #germany ss

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Unsung Witnesses of the Battle of Stalingrad
As many as half a million civilians remained in Stalingrad when the Germans approached in the late summer of 1942. Those who survived the initial onslaught and did not manage to flee, had to eke out a living on a battleground ravaged by incessant bombardment and street fighting. An overwhelming majority of them were women and children.

Stalin’s insistence that the enemy should never take the city was indeed reflected in official propaganda, and the authorities attempted to dissuade those trying to leave. At a party meeting on July 20, following the leader’s stern order to keep the city’s industry going, a decision was made to counter “defeatist” and “evacuation moods” among Stalingraders. There were instances when residents were not allowed to leave, having been refused evacuation papers. Factory workers who tried to get out without permission risked prosecution as deserters under tough labour laws. Workers could only go with their factories, and in some cases, they had to leave their families behind. Furthermore, on July 28, the troops heard the infamous “Not one step back” order, which was effectively extended to civilians. To prevent fleeing servicemen from crossing the Volga, city authorities set up checkpoints to verify papers, including those of townspeople. Since the remaining Stalingrad factories continued to produce armaments for the front, workers were treated as mobilised soldiers and had to stay on the shopfloor. So did medics, policemen, construction engineers and service technicians. In some cases, their families stayed with them in the city.
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/unsung-witnesses-battle-stalingrad