The Ruins Of Victory

On Stalingrad, Teheran and South Lebanon

In the rubble of Stalingrad, amidst smoking ruins, the poles of shattered structures, and fumes rising from a hundred fires, speaking of Soviet victory must have sounded absurd. The stench of thousands upon thousands of rotting corpses filled the air. In early 1943, the Soviet Union lay in ruins, while German cities remained largely intact. In Hamburg, people bathed and enjoyed rare sunlight. In Berlin, the crème de la crème of German society moved between operas, musicals, and museums. Germany still occupied half of the Soviet Union and most of Europe. Millions of Soviet citizens were already dead.

So what victory?

That Germany failed to take one city? That it was forced to retreat? That Hitler did not achieve his declared goal of taking Moscow? Surely, if one zoomed out and looked at the whole picture, this could hardly be called a victory.

And yet Stalingrad was not only a victory—it was the turning point of the war. It was there that momentum changed. It was out of that apocalyptic m…