Particularly merciless was the fighting on and around Mamayev Kurgan, a prominent hill above the city.
The Germans pushed forward against the hill, taking heavy casualties.
They finally captured the hill and subsequently the railway station on 14 September 1942.
By the end of the following day, 10,000 men of the Soviet army had perished.
The hill changed hands several times.
The defenders held out until 26 January 1943, when the counterattacking Soviet forces relieved them.
The battle of the city ended one week later with an utter German defeat.
In the following spring the hill would still remain black, as no grass grew on its scorched soil.
The hill s formerly steep slopes had been flattened in months of intense shelling and bombardment.
Even today, it is possible to find fragments of bone and metal still buried deep throughout the hill.
At the time of its construction, it was the tallest sculpture in the world.
