Most viewers will know that a few days ago Colonel General Paulus was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. Hitler made this promotion on the assumption that Paulus would commit suicide something his Catholic faith forbid.
While the collapse of the 6th Army would had of course dominated all events on the 31 Jan 1943, being promoted to Field Marshal is a significant achievement.
I am interested in knowing if Paulus was ever presented with the actual rank slides of a Field Marshal (soviet photos and videos from his capture show him wearing his old Rank of COL.GEN.) I also am interested if Paulus wife or family back in Germany were ever presented with the traditional Field Marshal Baton which he would have been presented had he not been in the process of surrendering to the Soviets. Was his promotion only an attempted propaganda tool or did it have practical implications for Paulus after the war when he was repatriated to East Germany?