re: German press on defeat at Stalingrad

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.