Operation Barbarossa, which launched the German invasion into the Soviet Union during World War II, proved to be one of the pivotal mistakes that led to Nazi Germany’s ultimate defeat.
The Germans had launched their invasion in the summer of 1941, and by the winter of that year it had become clear how colossal of a mistake the invasion had been. William E. Hiestand takes the reader on an in-depth journey, not into the invasion, but what happened once the German Sixth Army found themselves deep in Soviet territory, specifically Stalingrad.
“Stalingrad Airlift 1942–43: The Luftwaffe’s Broken Promise to Sixth Army” is an insightful breakdown of what went wrong with the promises made by the German High Command to the Sixth Army. After Adolf Hitler’s command to the army to “stand fast” in Stalingrad, Hiestand explains what the Germans planned to do in order to make the stand last. He also explains with precise and necessary details how those plans unraveled and resulted in a disaster for the Sixth Army, the Luftwaffe, the war in the east, and the Nazi war machine as a whole….