This building is a reminder of six months of daily bombing raids by the German Luftwaffe. There was one prolonged period where the city sustained upwards of 2000 raids each day. The end of the campaign saw an entire city of buildings that looked like this one, or worse. This is the only one left standing, part of a museum dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad. The city's remaining buildings were either rebuilt, if possible, or torn down completely and new ones built in their place. Ironically, there is inscription on the side of the building, German surnames or something, which suggests the building was constructed by German expatriates prior to the war. Unfortunately I couldn't find anybody to ask, but the conjecture is at least intriguing enough, and there were German settlers living in Stalingrad prior to the war.