Today In History- Jack Humphries

         On October 4^th 1942 Joseph Stalin sent a telegraph to the miserable city of Stalingrad Russia. Stalin’s ultimatum,  “Stalingrad must not be taken by the enemy”, highlighted the importance of the small town. Why was this miniscule town so important to important to the proud dictator Stalin? Well, over the course of World War II in the streets of Stalingrad over 2 million men met an untimely death. Hitler’s blind bid at taking Stalingrad is claimed to have broken the Nazi war progress. At what cost was this battle won for though? Even though the Nazis lost 850,000, a crippling loss of men, the Soviet Republic lost 1,150,000 men. Over the course of 8 months the lives of millions would be taken by the whimsical will of war, leading to a realization and a promise. As young Russian men died by the train and truckload, the gruesome horrors of industrial warfare became evident. One man on a machine gun could kill as many enemy soldiers as he wanted. Every new wave of enemies was ripe for the kill, and as merciless officers drove their men forward, their men died in droves. The final horror was given to those unfortunate enough to escape the enemy fire; on arriving back to their “friendly” lines in retreat, their own officers would give the orders to execute the miserable “cowards”. Out of these war nightmares came a beaten down but determined Russian army, and after watching so many of their comrades die at the hands of German bullets, Russian forces had a score to settle. Through this determination to make the Germans pay came the success Stalin had advocated for. It is frightening to find out that the atrocities of Stalingrad occurred not but 62 years ago. The inspiring fact that good prevailed in the end balances out my fear of the past, and what astounds me are the very real bonds that connect us to our past. On this day in history the words of Joseph Stalin encouraged the deaths of thousands and denied the Nazi attempts at world domintation.