Good stamps. 1943-44 was a turning point in the WW2. The Soviets launched a counter-offensive on 19 November and encircled the German armies, who were trapped in Stalingrad on 23 November. Göring assured Hitler that the 6th Army could be supplied by air, but this turned out not to be possible. Hitler's refusal to allow a retreat led to the deaths of 200,000 German and Romanian soldiers; of those who surrendered on 31 January 1943, only 6,000 survivors returned to Germany after the war. Soviet forces continued to push the invaders westward after the failed the German offensive at the Battle of Kursk, and by the end of 1943 the Germans had lost most of their territorial gains in the east.