The bloodiest battle in human history ended 83 years ago today...

The Battle of Stalingrad.

This six-month nightmare (July 1942–February 1943) between Nazi Germany and its allies versus the Soviet Union ended 83 years ago today when the survivors of the German Sixth Army surrendered to the Red Army. Total casualties are estimated at between 1.8 and 2.5 million (killed, wounded, missing, or captured on both sides combined). Soviet military losses alone exceeded 1.1 million, with around 40,000 civilian deaths from bombing, starvation, and fighting. Axis forces (mainly German, plus Romanian, Italian, and Hungarian troops) suffered roughly 800,000 casualties, including over 91,000 who surrendered—most of whom never returned home.

The city itself was annihilated. Intense Luftwaffe bombings starting in August 1942, followed by relentless artillery and close-quarters combat, reduced Stalingrad (now Volgograd) to ruins. Up to 90–99% of its buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged, turning a major industrial center into a vast wasteland of rubble where soldiers fought room-by-room, floor-by-floor, and even over single buildings like Pavlov's House or the Grain Elevator.

The scale of destruction and loss of life was staggering: freezing winters, starvation, disease, and non-stop urban warfare made it a symbol of total war's horror. Stalingrad broke the German advance on the Eastern Front and marked the beginning of the end for the Nazis in the East.