Stalingrad was encircled. Zeitzler, his face flushed and haggard from lack of sleep, insisted that the Sixth Army must break out to the west. He deluged Hitler with data on all that the army lacked, both as regards to rations and fuel, so that it had become impossible to provide warm meals for the soldiers exposed to fierce cold in the snow-swept fields or the scanty shelter of ruins. Hitler remained calm, unmoved and deliberate, as if bent on showing that Zeitzler's agitation was a psychotic reaction in the face of danger. "The counterattack from the south that I have ordered will soon relieve Stalingrad. That will recoup the situation. We have been in such positions often before, you know. . . ." [Hitler argued] . . . Zeitzler disagreed, and Hitler let him talk without interrupting. The forces provided for the counterattack were too weak, Zeitzler said. . . . Hitler offered counter-arguments, but Zeitzler held to his view. Finally, after the discussion had gone on for more than half an hour, Hitler's patience snapped: "Stalingrad simply must be held. It must be; it is a key position. By breaking traffic on the Volga at that spot, we cause the Russians the greatest difficulties. . . ." That did not sound convincing; I had a feeling rather that Stalingrad was a symbol for him. –Inside the Third Reich, Albert Speer According to the passage, why did Adolf Hitler believe it was important to hold Stalingrad? He wanted to end the battle while it was still warm to avoid fighting in the Soviet winter. He believed that holding Stalingrad had come to represent victory for Germany. He believed winning the battle would cause the greatest difficulties for the USSR. He wanted to secure the Soviet Union to help defeat the Sixth Army.