Stalingrad is a 1993 German anti-war film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier. It follows a platoon of German Army soldiers transferred to the Eastern Front of World War II, where they find themselves fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad. The film is the second German movie to portray the Battle of Stalingrad. It was predated by the 1959 Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben (Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever?). Plot In August 1942, German soldiers enjoy leave in Cervo, Liguria, Italy, after fighting at the First Battle of El Alamein, where Unteroffizier Manfred "Rollo" Rohleder and Obergefreiter Fritz Reiser are introduced to Leutnant Hans von Witzland, their new platoon commander. Their unit is promptly sent to the Eastern Front to fight in the Battle of Stalingrad. Witzland's platoon joins a company commanded by Hauptmann Hermann Musk. Musk leads an assault on a factory, which results in heavy casualties. Later, Witzland requests a ceasefire with the Soviets so both sides can collect their wounded, which they agree to. Müller (called "HGM" to distinguish him from other Müllers) breaks the ceasefire, much to the anger of Witzland and Reiser; the latter angrily assaults him. Witzland's platoon is surrounded in a decrepit building. During a Soviet attack, Witzland, Reiser, Rollo, Emigholtz, and "GeGe" Müller go down to secure the sewers. Witzland gets separated from the others and captures a female Soviet soldier named Irina; she offers to lead him to safety, but instead pushes him into the water and escapes. His men rescue him, and Emigholtz is found severely wounded by an explosive trap, his right leg hastily having to be amputated by the men; they take him to a crowded aid station, where they grab a doctor at gunpoint to treat Emigholtz, who nonetheless dies. They are then arrested by Hauptmann Haller, who has previously clashed with Witzland regarding the treatment of Soviet prisoners. They are assigned to a penal battalion, disarming land mines. Four weeks later, a brutal winter has set in and the Soviets have surrounded the German Sixth Army. Hauptmann Musk thus reassigns the penal battalion—which includes disgraced fellow officer Otto—to combat duty, after the men threaten to mutiny unless their crimes are pardoned. Witzland's platoon defends a position from a Soviet tank column, and emerge victorious after a bloody battle. Hauptmann Haller later orders von Witzland and his men to execute some unarmed civilians, much to their