After the defeat and death of the 6th Paulus Army in Stalingrad, the German command made titanic efforts to regain the lost strategic initiative. At the beginning of 1943, additional troops were urgently transferred to the Eastern Front, including one of the best Waffen-SS formations - the 2nd SS Panzer-Grenadier Division "Das Reich" ("SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Das Reich").