„I tried at that time to relieve the Sixth Army, of which I was supreme commander, above Paulus, by counterattacks – but it was not possible. I gave the order finally for the Sixth Army to break out, but then Paulus said it was too late and not possible. Hitler did not want the Sixth Army to break out at any time, but to fight to the last man. I believe that Hitler said if the Sixth Army tried to break out, it would be their death.“

— Erich von Manstein

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„If Paulus's army had capitulated before the end, the Russians would have had the advantage of withdrawing forces against Paulus and against the southern front, where I had only two Romanian armies. Therefore, the resistance of the Sixth German Army, even to the death of the last man, was necessary.“
— Erich von Manstein
„These two armies, the dark and the light, the armies of life and of death, collide eternally.“
— Nikos Kazantzakis
„You can't run an army without profanity; and it has to be eloquent profanity. An army without profanity couldn't fight its way out of a piss-soaked paper bag.“
— George S. Patton