The Bishop's Weekly Column from the Parish Bulletin

OUR LADY OF FATIMA

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Stalingrad 1943

June 2, 2008

Paulus at Stalingrad January 31, 1943\
(Surrender now and it's just a matter of time for the rest of us....)

Almost three months ago I ran a column about the Vatican's Spring offensive. I likened this campaign to Hitler's "Operation Barbarossa" (the ill-fated invasion of the Soviet Union which began on June 22, 1941). A number of people were quite effusive in what they understood to be my favorable assessment of the latest offensive in the restoration of the Traditional Mass to the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. Just a few, especially when they had my code explained to them by myself personally, began to see that optimism was very far from what I intended by that column. In fact take a look at this graphic with which we began that column:

The key to understanding this graphic is not the offensive itself but where the war ended - deep into German territory - Berlin in fact ! By now in our time-line (then it was 1941) we are in January of 1943. Field Marshall von Reichenau who had begun the attack in the south died in an aircraft accident while being transported to a hospital after a heart attack in January 1942. The wikipedia article on the 6th German Army takes up the story:

"He was succeeded by his former chief of staff, General der Panzertruppen Friedrich Paulus. Paulus led the 6th Army to a major victory at the Second Battle of Kharkov during the spring of 1942. This victory sealed the 6th Army's destiny because it was selected by the OKH for the attack on Stalingrad. The 6th Army failed to obtain a quick victory; winter came and with it Operation Uranus -- the massive attack of Soviet forces on the flanks of the German corridor between the Don and Volga rivers in November 22-23. The 6th Army was isolated and a major relief operation, (Operation Wintergewitter), which eventually failed, was undertaken by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein. Paulus was promoted by Hitler to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall on January 31, 1943 ostensibly in part because until that day no German Field Marshal had ever surrendered. In other words, Adolf Hitler expected Paulus to commit suicide, but Paulus soon surrendered to the Soviet Forces, contrary to orders by his political chief. The remaining forces of the 6th Army, under the independent command of General Karl Strecker, surrendered three days after in the Tractor Factory, at the north of Stalingrad. Although that was not the definitive end of the 6th Army on this occasion, it was one of the worst military disasters in German history. For the first time, an entire German field army had been completely destroyed."

A Stalingrad moment in the latest ecclesial offensive might just have occurred, that is the "Field Marshall" has laid down his weapons and he "invites" other "brothers" of the "6th Army" to do so as well. Now Paulus lived out his days in Communist East Germany as something of a hero for having severely criticized Hitler in the waning days of the war, the troops who surrendered with him were decimated! A capitulation at this stage of the "war" seems not to be propitious for all involved and I doubt the "Field Marshall" of today will live out his days as comfortably as Paulus did, once this "Führer" is taken from us.

+TF

P.S. One important feature for party members in 1943, was that those who had their wits about them were no longer convinced of the "final victory" even if Josef Göbbels was still trying to talk them into believing in "Total War" !