German press on defeat at Stalingrad

STRATEGIC WITHDRAWAL

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this is not a matter of victory or defeat but the ebb and flow of war

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Sounds like milesspeak.

Hitler gave a boastful speech on November 8, 1942 in which he declared that Stalingrad was in German hands, requiring only some minor mop up acton to eliminate the last few pockets of Russian resistance.

Now that's a helluva corner to paint yourself into when, scarcely a month later, Sixth Army was trapped in an iron Russian vise and being strangled to death.

As an advertising writer--a commercial propagandist--I understand the thankless task laid before the newspaper's writers. I imagine they downed many gallons of coffee and burned zillions of braincells trying to find the words that would prepare the public for the bad news--without getting themselves tossed into a concentration camp for writing defeatist material.

These articles, rich in euphemisms and cover language, show just how difficult it can be to twist the truth.

Between December, 1942 and February, 1943, the newspaper inches its readers along, the reports become gradually more and more desperate. At the same time, the strategic soundness of abandoning Sixth Army, along with the themes of heroism and sacrifice, are elevated to the point where, the authors claim, these considerations far outweigh any loss of life and material.

Of course, anyone who looked at a map could see otherwise. And I imagine many Germans saw here writing of a different kind--the writing on the wall that heralded the inevitable defeat of Germany.

Not as sad as how the German press currently covers the Muslim invasion of Germany

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I guess Bagdhad Bob was German

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Vienna Hans?