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did von paulos 'change sides' in captivity?

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by Elkstone (U3836042) on Thursday, 29th September 2011

  after the war he was part of the new communist east german regime. So during his captivity did he 'change sides' willingly or was he presurred? Only a small number of his men who surrendered at stalingrad returned. Was he that important to the russians? They refused to do a pow swap with him and stalin's son offered by the germans.

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by PaulRyckier (U1753522) on Thursday, 29th September 2011

  Elkstone,
  
  from a brief search on internet I found:
  
  
  Note the difference between the two URLs...
  In the first they say:
  Paulus was finally released in November 1953, but was "only allowed" (my emphasis) to reside in communist East Germany at Dresden.
  In the second they say:
  From 1953 to 1956, he lived in Dresden, East Germany, where he worked as the civilian chief of the East German Military History Research Institute.
  
  Kind regards,
  
  Paul.

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by CASSEROLEON (U11049737) on Friday, 30th September 2011

  Elkstone
  
  I think we should not necessarily see everything from too much of a simple Western point of view..
  
  "Changing sides" after the war often meant accepting changed circumstances.. French Communists in 1939-41 had taken their orders from Moscow, but once Hitler attacked the USSR they joined the resistance and people like De Gaulle were prepared to consider them as French patriots first, given the terrible destruction and the need to rebuild France.
  
  As Ernst Roehm after all reminded Hitler that National Socialism was both of those things.
  
  Moreover if he was released in 1953 this was still not "after the war"-- the USSR did not declare the 2WW over until 2 years later- a point that it is now easier to forget than it was at the time.
  
  Cass

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