On Sunday, June 22, 1941, at dawn, the troops of fascist Germany, without declaring war, suddenly attacked the entire western border of the Soviet Union and launched bombing air strikes on Soviet cities and military formations.
The Great Patriotic War began. She was expected, but still she came suddenly. And the point here is not a miscalculation or Stalin's distrust of intelligence data. During the pre-war months, different dates were given for the start of the war, for example, May 20, and this was reliable information, but due to the uprising in Yugoslavia, Hitler postponed the date of the attack on the USSR to a later date. There is another factor that is rarely mentioned. This is a successful disinformation campaign by German intelligence. So, the Germans spread rumors through all possible channels that the attack on the USSR would take place on June 22, but with the direction of the main attack in an area where it was obviously impossible. Thus, the date also looked like disinformation, so it was on this day that the attacks were least expected.
And in foreign textbooks, June 22, 1941 is presented as one of the current episodes of the Second World War, while in the textbooks of the Baltic States this date is considered positive, giving "hope for liberation".
Russia
§four. Invasion of the USSR. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War
At dawn on June 22, 1941, Nazi troops invaded the USSR. The Great Patriotic War began.
Germany and its allies (Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia) did not have an overwhelming advantage in manpower and equipment, and, according to the Barbarossa plan, they relied on the blitzkrieg ("lightning war") tactics on the surprise attack factor. The defeat of the USSR was supposed within two to three months by the forces of three army groups (Army Group North, advancing on Leningrad, Army Group Center, advancing on Moscow, and Army Group South, advancing on Kyiv).
In the first days of the war, the German army inflicted serious damage on the Soviet defense system: military headquarters were destroyed, the activities of communications services were paralyzed, and strategically important objects were captured. The German army was rapidly advancing deep into the USSR, and by July 10, Army Group Center (commander von Bock), having captured Belarus, approached Smolensk; Army Group "South" (commander von Rundstedt) captured the Right-Bank Ukraine; Army Group North (commander von Leeb) occupied part of the Baltic. The losses of the Red Army (including those who were surrounded) amounted to more than two million people. The current situation was catastrophic for the USSR. But the Soviet mobilization resources were very large, and by the beginning of July, 5 million people were drafted into the Red Army, which made it possible to close the gaps formed at the front.
V.L.Kheifets, L.S. Kheifets, K.M. Severinov. General history. Grade 9 Ed. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.S. Myasnikov. Moscow, publishing house "Ventana-Graf", 2013
Chapter XVII. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders
The perfidious attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR
Fulfilling the grandiose tasks of the Third Stalinist Five-Year Plan and steadily and firmly pursuing a policy of peace, the Soviet government, at the same time, did not for a moment forget about the possibility of a new "imperialist attack on our country. Comrade Stalin tirelessly called on the peoples of the Soviet Union to be in mobilization readiness. In February 1938 In his response to a letter from Komsomol member Ivanov, Comrade Stalin wrote: “Indeed, it would be ridiculous and stupid to turn a blind eye to the fact of a capitalist encirclement and think that our external enemies, for example, the Nazis, will not try, on occasion, to launch a military attack on the USSR.”
Comrade Stalin demanded the strengthening of the defense capability of our country. “It is necessary,” he wrote, “to strengthen and strengthen in every possible way our Red Army, Red Navy, Red Aviation, Osoaviakhim. It is necessary to keep our entire people in a state of mobilization readiness in the face of the danger of a military attack, so that no "accident" and no tricks of our external enemies could take us by surprise ... "
Comrade Stalin's warning alerted the Soviet people, made them more vigilantly follow the intrigues of the enemies and strengthen the Soviet army in every possible way.
The Soviet people understood that the German fascists, led by Hitler, were striving to unleash a new bloody war, with the help of which they hoped to win world domination. Hitler declared the Germans a "superior race" and all other peoples inferior, inferior races. With particular hatred, the Nazis treated the Slavic peoples and, first of all, the great Russian people, who more than once in their history came out to fight against the German aggressors.
The Nazis based their plan on the plan of a military attack and lightning defeat of Russia developed by General Hoffmann during the First World War. This plan provided for the concentration of huge armies on the western borders of our homeland, the capture of the vital centers of the country within a few weeks and the rapid advance deep into Russia, up to the Urals. Subsequently, this plan was supplemented and approved by the Nazi command and was called the Barbarossa plan.
The monstrous war machine of the Nazi imperialists began its movement in the Baltic States, Belorussia and the Ukraine, threatening the vital centers of the Soviet country.
Textbook "History of the USSR", 10th grade, K.V. Bazilevich, S.V. Bakhrushin, A.M. Pankratova, A.V. Foght, M., Uchpedgiz, 1952
Austria, Germany
Chapter "From the Russian Campaign to Complete Defeat"
After careful preparations that lasted for many months, on June 22, 1941, Germany launched a "war of total annihilation" against the Soviet Union. Its goal was to conquer a new living space for the Germanic Aryan race. The essence of the German plan was a lightning attack, called "Barbarossa". It was believed that under the rapid onslaught of a trained German military machine, Soviet troops would not be able to provide decent resistance. In a few months, the Nazi command seriously hoped to reach Moscow. It was assumed that the capture of the capital of the USSR would finally demoralize the enemy and the war would end in victory. However, after a series of impressive successes on the battlefields, after a few weeks, the Nazis were thrown back hundreds of kilometers from the Soviet capital.
Textbook "History" for grade 7, team of authors, Duden publishing house, 2013.
Holt McDougal. The World History.
For Senior High School, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub. Co., 2012
Hitler began planning an attack on his ally, the USSR, as early as the early summer of 1940. The Balkan countries of Southeast Europe played a key role in Hitler's invasion plan. Hitler wanted to create a foothold in Southeastern Europe to attack the USSR. He also wanted to be sure that the British would not interfere.
In order to prepare for the invasion, Hitler moved to expand his influence in the Balkans. By early 1941, by threatening to use force, he persuaded Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to join the Axis. Yugoslavia and Greece, ruled by pro-British governments, fought back. In early April 1941, Hitler invaded both countries. Yugoslavia fell after 11 days. Greece surrendered after 17 days.
Hitler attacks the Soviet Union. By establishing tight control over the Balkans, Hitler could carry out Operation Barbarossa, his plan to invade the USSR. Early on the morning of June 22, 1941, the roar of German tanks and the drone of aircraft marked the beginning of the invasion. The Soviet Union was not ready for this attack. Although he had the largest army in the world, the troops were neither well equipped nor well trained.
The invasion progressed week after week until the Germans penetrated 500 miles into the territory of the Soviet Union (804.67 kilometers. - Ed.). Retreating, the Soviet troops burned and destroyed everything in the way of the enemy. The Russians used such a scorched earth strategy against Napoleon.
Section 7. World War II
The attack on the Soviet Union (the so-called Barbarossa plan) was carried out on June 22, 1941. The German army, which numbered about three million soldiers, launched an offensive in three directions: in the north - on Leningrad, in the central part of the USSR - on Moscow and in the south - on the Crimea. The onslaught of the invaders was swift. Soon the Germans laid siege to Leningrad and Sevastopol, came close to Moscow. The Red Army suffered heavy losses, but the main goal of the Nazis - the capture of the capital of the Soviet Union - never materialized. The vast expanses and early Russian winter, with the fierce resistance of the Soviet troops and ordinary inhabitants of the country, thwarted the German plan for a blitzkrieg. In early December 1941, units of the Red Army under the command of General Zhukov launched a counteroffensive and drove the enemy troops back 200 kilometers from Moscow.
History textbook for the 8th grade of elementary school (Klett publishing house, 2011). Predrag Vajagić and Nenad Stošić.
Never before have our people treated the German invasion otherwise than with determination to defend their land, but when Molotov announced the German attack in a trembling voice, the Estonians felt everything but sympathy. On the contrary, many have hope. The population of Estonia enthusiastically welcomed the German soldiers as liberators.
Russian soldiers aroused dislike in the average Estonian. These people were poor, poorly dressed, extremely suspicious, and at the same time often very pretentious. The Germans were more familiar to the Estonians. They were cheerful and fond of music, from the places where they gathered, laughter and playing musical instruments could be heard.
Lauri Vakhtre. Textbook "Turning Moments in Estonian History".
Bulgaria
Chapter 2: The Globalization of Conflict (1941-1942)
Attack on the USSR (June 1941). On June 22, 1941, Hitler launched a major offensive against the USSR. Starting the conquest of new territories in the east, the Fuhrer put into practice the theory of "living space", proclaimed in the book "My Struggle" ("Mein Kampf"). On the other hand, the termination of the German-Soviet pact again made it possible for the Nazi regime to present itself as a fighter against communism in Europe: the aggression against the USSR was presented by German propaganda as a crusade against Bolshevism in order to exterminate the "Jewish Marxists".
However, this new blitzkrieg developed into a long and exhausting war. Shaken by the surprise attack, bled dry by Stalin's repressions and ill-prepared, the Soviet army was quickly driven back. In a few weeks, the German armies occupied one million square kilometers and reached the outskirts of Leningrad and Moscow. But the fierce Soviet resistance and the rapid arrival of the Russian winter stopped the German offensive: the Wehrmacht could not defeat the enemy on the move in one campaign. In the spring of 1942, a new offensive was required.
Long before the attack on the USSR, the German military-political leadership was developing plans for an attack on the USSR and the development of the territory and the use of its natural, material and human resources. The future war was planned by the German command as a war of annihilation. On December 18, 1940, Hitler signed Directive 21, known as Plan Barbarossa. In accordance with this plan, Army Group North was to advance on Leningrad, Army Group Center - through Belarus to Moscow, Army Group South - to Kyiv.
The plan of "blitzkrieg" against the USSR
The German command expected to approach Moscow before August 15, to end the war against the USSR and create a defensive line against "Asian Russia" by October 1, 1941, to reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line by the winter of 1941.
On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began with the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Mobilization was announced in the USSR. Voluntary entry into the Red Army acquired a mass character. Popular militia became widespread. Fighter battalions and self-defense groups were created in the front line to protect important national economic facilities. The evacuation of people and property began from the territories threatened by the occupation.
Military operations were led by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, created on June 23, 1941. The rate was headed by I. Stalin. Italy
June 22, 1941
Giardina, G. Sabbatucci, V. Vidotto, Manuale di Storia. L "eta`contemporanea. History textbook for the 5th grade of high school. Bari, Laterza. Textbook for the 11th grade of high school "Our New History", Dar Aun Publishing House, 2008
With the German attack on the Soviet Union in the early summer of 1941, a new phase of the war began. The widest front was opened in the east of Europe. Great Britain was no longer forced to fight alone. The ideological confrontation was simplified and radicalized with the termination of the anomalous agreement between Nazism and the Soviet regime. The international communist movement, which after August 1939 adopted an ambiguous position of condemnation of "opposing imperialisms", revised it in favor of allying with democracy and fighting fascism.
That the USSR was the main target of Hitler's expansionist intentions was no mystery to anyone, including the Soviet people. However, Stalin believed that Hitler would never attack Russia without ending the war with Britain. So when, on 22 June 1941, the German offensive (code-named "Barbarossa") began on a 1,600-kilometer front, from the Baltic to the Black Sea, the Russians were unprepared, and this lack of readiness, exacerbated by the fact that the 1937 purge had deprived the Red the army of its best military leaders, made the task of the aggressor easier at first.
The offensive, which also included the Italian Expeditionary Force sent in great haste by Mussolini, who dreamed of participating in a crusade against the Bolsheviks, continued throughout the summer: in the north through the Baltics, in the south through Ukraine in order to reach the oil regions in the Caucasus .
In the literature about the Second World War, the idea that Hitler did not defeat the USSR only because he did not have time to take Moscow before winter is a red thread. And he did not have time to do this because he made the invasion too late. For some reason, he waited until the end of June, instead of attacking in the spring. Moreover, the initial date of the attack seemed to be scheduled for May 15, 1941. That is, it turns out that Hitler lost precious time due to some whim or bewilderment? Or were there objective reasons that forced him to postpone the implementation of the Barbarossa plan?
First of all, let's clarify where it came from that Hitler set the date for the invasion of the USSR on May 15th. This date has only one source: the directive of the Wehrmacht High Command No. 21, otherwise the Barbarossa plan, signed by the Fuhrer on December 18, 1940. It reads: “I will give the order on the strategic deployment of the armed forces against the Soviet Union, if necessary, eight weeks before the scheduled date for the start of operations. Preparations requiring a longer time, if they have not yet begun, should begin now and be completed by 15.5.41.
It does not follow from this that May 15 was already scheduled as the date of the attack. By this date, the transfer of Wehrmacht troops to areas from where their strategic deployment for operations against the USSR could begin was only to be completed. The appointment of a start date for the operation is the subject of a special order. From the same text it follows that this order should have been given no later than eight weeks before the scheduled date of the invasion. That is, if this deadline was May 15, then the order should have been received no later than March 20, 1941. As you know, there was no such order.
Of course, Hitler was interested in attacking the USSR as soon as possible, and the Barbarossa plan clearly indicates this: "The German armed forces must be ready to defeat Soviet Russia in a fleeting campaign." May 15 was the target date. As early as April 3rd, the OKH issued an order that called for the postponement of Operation Barbarossa "by at least four weeks." The delay was motivated by the need for a military operation in the Balkans. On April 30, after the completion of the occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece, the new order for the first time named a specific date for the attack - June 22, and it was held. On June 17, the troops of Germany and its allies received the Dortmund code signal to advance to their original positions.
So, the reason for the delay seems to be beyond doubt, since the Germans themselves named it. However, some historians doubt the truth of this official version.
According to some mystically minded people, Hitler specifically timed the attack on the USSR to the day when the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated "The Day of All Saints Who Shone in the Russian Land." Considering that Hitler considered the campaign against the USSR as “a fight against godless Bolshevism”, and that the German administration everywhere opened churches in the occupied regions that had previously been closed by the Bolsheviks, this “version” should be discarded as an absurd myth. Let's consider more serious explanations.
According to such authors as V. Suvorov (Rezun) and M. Solonin, Hitler undertook the invasion at the most favorable moment in order to preempt the Soviet troops, who themselves were preparing to attack Germany. On July 6, 1941, Stalin allegedly appointed the start of the Red Army's campaign in Europe. Hitler, knowing this, chose the time to defeat the Soviet troops, concentrated near the borders and completely unprepared for defense, with a sudden blow. Therefore, he postponed the attack until June 22, in order to act for sure.
However, this version does not yet find direct documentary evidence. The problem for her is not even the secrecy of the most important Soviet archival documents of the pre-war period. In all German documents, there are absolutely no indications that the preparation of German troops for the invasion of the USSR was carried out depending on the information about the supposedly impending Soviet invasion and in order to forestall it. All the data available today indicate that Nazi Germany was preparing an attack on the USSR, completely regardless of what the Soviet leadership was doing.
English historian A.J.P. Taylor wrote back in the 70s of the last century: “Subsequently, it was believed that the implementation of the Barbarossa plan ... was ... postponed due to events in Yugoslavia ... This is a legend invented by German generals to justify their defeat in Russia and, in fact, on nothing founded. Only 15 out of 150 [more precisely, out of 153 -I WOULD. ] German divisions intended for the first strike were diverted to the Balkans. It's hardly a big loss. The plans for mobilization in Germany for the Eastern Front were not completed by May 15 ... due to a lack of supplies, especially vehicles ... The delay may even have been opportune, since after the spring snowmelt, the ground dried up by mid-June.
One more thought can be added to this. The factor of strategic surprise would certainly have been used by Germany to a greater extent if the invasion had been undertaken in the month of May. At this time, Stalin would have considered the German army the least capable of striking, since its ground operation in the Balkans had just ended, and it had yet to capture Crete.
Therefore, the hypothesis that the Wehrmacht missed a convenient time to defeat the USSR only for purely technical reasons (difficulties in concentrating the material part), and not because of the sudden need to conduct an operation in the Balkans (carried out by very limited forces), deserves serious attention.
Original taken from Soviet childhood on June 22, 1941
Here - German troops cross the border of the USSR. Reptiles. They will bring us a myriad of grief and misfortune. But they themselves do not yet know what they will receive in full. It will not be France for them ... Today I will remember my grandfather
These photographs have one thing in common: they were taken in the first hours and days of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Source: http://www.lionblog.net/obszee/1146058318-22-iyunya-1941-goda.html
Here it is - the beginning of the war.
Shooting time: 06/22/1941
Soviet border guards on patrol. The photograph is interesting because it was taken for a newspaper at one of the outposts on the western border of the USSR on June 20, 1941, that is, two days before the war.
Shooting time: 06/20/1941
The first day of the war in Przemysl (today - the Polish city of Przemysl) and the first dead invaders on Soviet soil (soldiers of the 101st light infantry division). The city was occupied by German troops on June 22, but the next morning it was liberated by the Red Army and border guards and held until June 27.
Shooting time: 06/22/1941
June 22, 1941 near the bridge over the San River near the town of Yaroslav. At that time, the San River was the border between German-occupied Poland and the USSR.
Shooting time: 06/22/1941
The first Soviet prisoners of war, under the supervision of German soldiers, head west along the bridge over the San River near the city of Yaroslav.
Shooting time: 06/22/1941
After the failure of the sudden capture of the Brest Fortress, the Germans had to dig in. The photo was taken on the North or South Island.
Shooting time: 06/22/1941
Battle of the German strike units in the Brest area.
Shooting time: June 1941
A column of Soviet prisoners crossed the San River along the sapper bridge. Among the prisoners, there are noticeable not only the military, but also people in civilian clothes: the Germans detained and captured all men of military age so that they could not be recruited into the enemy army. District of the city of Yaroslav, June 1941.
Shooting time: June 1941
Sapper bridge over the San River near the city of Yaroslav, on which German troops are transported.
Shooting time: June 1941
German soldiers are photographed on a Soviet T-34-76 tank, model 1940, abandoned in Lvov.
Location: Lviv, Ukraine, USSR
Shooting time: 30.06. 1941
German soldiers inspect a T-34-76 tank, model 1940, stuck in a field and abandoned.
Shooting time: June 1941
Captured Soviet female soldiers in Nevel (now the Nevelsky district of the Pskov region).
Shooting time: 07/26/1941
German infantry passes by broken Soviet vehicles.
Shooting time: June 1941
The Germans are inspecting Soviet T-34-76 tanks stuck in a water meadow. Floodplain of the Drut River, near Tolochin, Vitebsk region.
Shooting time: July 1941
Start of the German Junkers Yu-87 dive bombers from a field airfield in the USSR.
Shooting time: summer 1941
Red Army soldiers surrender to the soldiers of the SS troops.
Shooting time: June 1941
Destroyed by Soviet artillery, the German light tank Pz.Kpfw. II Ausf. C.
German soldiers next to a burning Soviet village.
Shooting time: June 1941
German soldier during the battle in the Brest Fortress.
Shooting time: June-July 1941
A rally at the Leningrad plant named after Kirov about the beginning of the war.
Shooting time: June 1941
Location: Leningrad
Residents of Leningrad near the window of LenTASS "Latest News" (Socialist street, house 14 - Pravda printing house).
Shooting time: July 1941
Location: Leningrad
Aerial photograph of the Smolensk-1 airfield taken by German air reconnaissance. An airfield with hangars and runways is marked in the upper left of the image. Other strategic objects are also marked in the image: barracks (bottom left, marked "B"), large bridges, anti-aircraft artillery batteries (vertical line with a circle).
Shooting time: 06/23/1941
Location: Smolensk
Red Army soldiers examine a wrecked German tank Pz 35 (t) (LT vz.35) of Czech production from the 6th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht. Neighborhood of the city of Raseiniai (Lithuanian SSR).
Shooting time: June 1941
Soviet refugees walk past an abandoned BT-7A tank.
Shooting time: June 1941
German soldiers examine a burning Soviet tank T-34-76 of the 1940 model.
Shooting time: June-August 1941
The Germans on the march at the beginning of the invasion of the USSR.
Shooting time: June 1941
Soviet field airfield, captured by the Germans. One can see an I-16 fighter shot down or dismantled on the ground, a Po-2 biplane and another I-16 in the background. A picture from a passing German car. Smolensk region, summer 1941.
Shooting time: July 1941
Artillerymen of the 29th motorized division of the Wehrmacht from an ambush shot Soviet tanks into the side from a 50-mm PaK 38 cannon. The closest, on the left, is the T-34 tank. Belarus, 1941.
Shooting time: summer 1941
German soldiers ride along the street along the destroyed houses on the outskirts of Smolensk.
Shooting time: July 1941
Location: Smolensk
At the captured airfield of Minsk, German soldiers are examining an SB bomber (or its training version of the CSS, since the nose of the aircraft is visible, which differs from the glazed nose of the SB). Early July 1941.
I-15 and I-153 Chaika fighters are visible behind.
Shooting time: July 1941
Soviet 203-mm howitzer B-4 (model 1931), captured by the Germans. The barrel of the gun, which was transported separately, is missing. 1941, presumably Belarus. German photo.
Shooting time: 1941
The city of Demidov, Smolensk region in the early days of the occupation. July 1941.
Shooting time: July 1941
Destroyed Soviet tank T-26. On the tower, under the hatch cover, a burnt tanker is visible.
Shooting time: summer 1941
Surrendering Soviet soldiers go to the rear of the Germans. Summer 1941. The picture was apparently taken from the back of a truck in a German convoy on the road.
Shooting time: summer 1941
A lot of broken Soviet aircraft: I-153 Chaika fighters (to the left). In the background is a U-2 and a twin-engine SB bomber. The airfield of Minsk, captured by German troops (in the foreground - a German soldier). Early July 1941.
Shooting time: July 1941
A lot of broken Soviet Chaika I-153 fighters. Minsk airport. Early July 1941.
Shooting time: July 1941
German collection point for Soviet captured equipment and weapons. On the left are Soviet 45 mm anti-tank guns, then a large number of Maxim machine guns and DP-27 light machine guns, on the right - 82 mm mortars. Summer 1941.
Shooting time: summer 1941
Dead Soviet soldiers at the captured trenches. This is probably the very beginning of the war, the summer of 1941: the soldier in the foreground is wearing a pre-war SSH-36 helmet, later such helmets were extremely rare in the Red Army and mainly in the Far East. It can also be seen that a belt has been removed from him - apparently, the work of the German soldiers who captured these positions.
Shooting time: summer 1941
A German soldier is knocking at the house of local residents. City of Yartsevo, Smolensk region, early July 1941.
Shooting time: July 1941
The Germans inspect the wrecked Soviet light tanks. In the foreground - BT-7, the far left - BT-5 (characteristic cabin of the tank driver), in the center of the road - T-26. Smolensk region, summer 1941
Shooting time: summer 1941
Soviet artillery wagon with a gun. A shell or air bomb exploded right in front of the horses. Neighborhood of the city of Yartsevo, Smolensk region. August 1941.
Shooting time: summer 1941
Grave of a Soviet soldier. The inscription on the tablet in German reads: "Here rests an unknown Russian soldier." Perhaps the fallen soldier was buried by his own, so at the bottom of the tablet you can make out the word "Here ..." in Russian. For some reason, the Germans made the inscription in their own language. The photo is German, the shooting location is presumably the Smolensk region, August 1941.
Shooting time: summer 1941
German armored personnel carrier, German soldiers on it and local residents in Belarus.
Shooting time: June 1941
Ukrainians welcome the Germans in Western Ukraine.
Shooting time: summer 1941
The advancing units of the Wehrmacht in Belarus. The picture was taken from a car window. June 1941
Shooting time: June 1941
German soldiers in captured Soviet positions. A Soviet 45mm cannon is visible in the foreground, and a Soviet T-34 tank of the 1940 model is visible in the background.
Shooting time: 1941
German soldiers are approaching the freshly knocked out Soviet BT-2 tanks.
Shooting time: June-July 1941
Smoke break crews tractor tractors "Stalinets". The photo is dated in the summer of 41
Shooting time: summer 1941
Soviet female volunteers are sent to the front. Summer 1941.
Shooting time: 1941
Soviet girl-rank-and-file among prisoners of war.
Shooting time: summer 1941
The machine-gun crew of the German rangers fires from the MG-34 machine gun. Summer 1941, Army Group North. In the background, the calculation covers the StuG III self-propelled guns.
Shooting time: summer 1941
The German column passes the village in the Smolensk region.
Shooting time: July 1941
Wehrmacht soldiers are watching the burning village. The territory of the USSR, the date of the picture is approximately the summer of 1941.
Shooting time: summer 1941
A Red Army soldier near a captured Czech-made German light tank LT vz.38 (designated Pz.Kpfw.38(t) in the Wehrmacht). About 600 of these tanks took part in military operations against the USSR, which were used in battles until mid-1942.
Shooting time: summer 1941
SS soldiers at the destroyed bunker on the "Stalin Line". The defensive structures located on the "old" (as of 1939) border of the USSR were mothballed, however, after the invasion of German troops, some fortified areas were used by the Red Army for defense.
Shooting time: 1941
Soviet railway station after the German bombardment, on the tracks there is an echelon with BT tanks.
German columns pass by a cart with a Red Army soldier, who had previously come under fire.
The dead Soviet tankers and tank landing soldiers at the gates of the border outpost. Tank - T-26.
Shooting time: June 1941
Refugees in the Pskov region.
Shooting time: July 1941
German soldiers finish off a wounded Soviet sniper.
Shooting time: summer 1941
The dead Soviet soldiers, as well as civilians - women and children. The bodies are dumped in a roadside ditch, like household garbage; dense columns of German troops are calmly moving past along the road.
Shooting time: summer 1941
A cart with the bodies of dead Red Army soldiers.
Soviet symbols in the captured city of Kobrin (Brest region, Belarus) - the T-26 tank and the monument to V.I. Lenin.
Shooting time: summer 1941
A column of German troops. Ukraine, July 1941.
Shooting time: July 1941
Red Army soldiers inspect a German fighter Bf.109F2 (from Squadron 3/JG3) hit by anti-aircraft fire and made an emergency landing. West of Kyiv, July 1941
Shooting time: July 1941
The banner of the 132nd NKVD escort battalion captured by the Germans. Photo from the personal album of one of the Wehrmacht soldiers.
"Brest Fortress. The defense was held for two months by border guards and the 132nd separate battalion of escort troops of the NKVD of the USSR. The city of Brest was hastily abandoned by the Red Army at 8:00 am on 06/22/1941 after a battle with enemy infantry that had crossed the Bug River in boats. In Soviet times, everyone remembered the inscription of one of the defenders of the Brest Fortress: “I am dying, but I do not give up! Farewell Motherland! 20.VII.41”, but few people knew that it was made on the wall of the barracks of the 132nd separate battalion of escort troops of the NKVD of the USSR.”
A slow river flows at dawn.
Sleep creeps, trying to close the eyelids.
Fog washed away nearby haystacks ...
Stop this moment forever!
Seconds fly like bullets into eternity,
While the light of the rocket is bleeding on the coast.
Another moment will pass - and the projectile
Will overwhelm a sixth of the planet with war.
The outpost was raised by an explosion at the gate.
The crushing of heels on the washed steps.
Dew trail. Coastal break.
Alien oars foam our water.
An obedient hand will send a cartridge,
Fury will hit the trilinear on the shoulder.
... He took the fight, and for him the river
So forever the border remained.
In the victorious May, the path lay from here,
Crowned with unfading fireworks,
And he was the first to make a breakthrough into this distance
A soldier who fought for three minutes.
VL / Articles / Interesting
How it was: what Hitler really faced on June 22, 1941 (part 1)
22-06-2016, 08:44
On June 22, 1941, at 4 o'clock in the morning, Germany treacherously, without declaring war, attacked the Soviet Union and, starting to bomb our cities with peacefully sleeping children, immediately declared itself to be a criminal force that did not have a human face. The most bloody war in the entire history of the existence of the Russian state began.
Our fight with Europe was deadly. On June 22, 1941, German troops launched an offensive against the USSR in three directions: east (Army Group Center) to Moscow, southeast (Army Group South) to Kyiv and northeast (Army Group North) to Leningrad . In addition, the German army "Norway" was advancing in the direction of Murmansk.
Together with the German armies, the armies of Italy, Romania, Hungary, Finland and volunteer formations from Croatia, Slovakia, Spain, Holland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and other European countries advanced on the USSR.
On June 22, 1941, 5.5 million soldiers and officers of Nazi Germany and its satellites crossed the border of the USSR and invaded our land, but in terms of the number of troops, the armed forces of Germany alone exceeded the Armed Forces of the USSR by 1.6 times, namely: 8.5 million people in the Wehrmacht and a little over 5 million people in the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army. Together with the Allied armies, Germany had at least 11 million trained, armed soldiers and officers on June 22, 1941, and could very quickly make up for the losses of its army and strengthen its troops.
And if the number of only German troops exceeded the number of Soviet troops by 1.6 times, then together with the troops of the European allies it exceeded the number of Soviet troops by at least 2.2 times. Such a monstrously huge force opposed the Red Army.
The industry of Europe united by it worked for Germany with a population of about 400 million people, which was almost 2 times the population of the USSR, which had 195 million people.
At the beginning of the war, the Red Army, compared with the troops of Germany and its allies that attacked the USSR, had 19,800 units more guns and mortars, 86 units more warships of the main classes, and the Red Army outnumbered the attacking enemy in the number of machine guns. Small arms, guns of all calibers and mortars, in terms of combat characteristics, not only were not inferior, but in many cases even surpassed German weapons.
As for the armored forces and aviation, our army had them in numbers that far exceeded the number of units of this equipment that the enemy had at the beginning of the war. But the bulk of our tanks and aircraft compared to the German ones were weapons of the "old generation", obsolete. Tanks for the most part were only with bulletproof armor. A considerable percentage were also defective aircraft and tanks to be written off.
At the same time, it should be noted that before the start of the war, the Red Army received 595 KB heavy tanks and 1,225 T-34 medium tanks, as well as 3,719 new types of aircraft: Yak-1, LaGG-3, MiG-3 fighters, Il- 4 (DB-ZF), Pe-8 (TB-7), Pe-2, Il-2 attack aircraft. Basically, we designed and produced the specified new, expensive and science-intensive equipment in the period from the beginning of 1939 to the middle of 1941, that is, for the most part during the validity of the non-aggression pact concluded in 1939 - the "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact".
It was the presence of a large number of weapons that allowed us to survive and win. For, despite the huge losses of weapons in the initial period of the war, we still had a sufficient amount of weapons to resist during the retreat and for the offensive near Moscow.
It must be said that in 1941 the German army did not have equipment similar to our heavy KB tanks, armored attack aircraft IL-2 and rocket artillery, such as BM-13 ("Katyusha"), capable of hitting targets at a distance of more than eight kilometers.
Due to the poor work of Soviet intelligence, our army did not know the direction of the main attacks planned by the enemy. Therefore, the Germans had the opportunity to create a multiple superiority of military forces in the breakthrough areas and break through our defenses.
The capabilities of Soviet intelligence are greatly exaggerated in order to belittle the military merits and technical achievements of the USSR. Our troops retreated under the onslaught of superior enemy forces. Parts of the Red Army had to either withdraw quickly to avoid encirclement, or fight in encirclement. And it was not so easy to withdraw the troops, because in many cases the mobility of the German mechanized formations that had broken through our defenses exceeded the mobility of our troops.
Of course, not all groupings of Soviet troops were capable of mobile German formations. The main part of the German infantry advanced on foot, as our troops basically retreated, which allowed many units of the Red Army to retreat to new lines of defense.
The encircled covering troops held back the advance of the Nazi hordes to the last opportunity, and the units retreating in battles, uniting with the troops of the 2nd echelon, significantly slowed down the advance of the German armies.
In order to stop the German armies that had broken through the border, large reserves were needed, equipped with mobile formations that could quickly approach the breakthrough site and push the enemy back. We did not have such reserves, since the country had no economic opportunities to maintain an 11 millionth army in peacetime.
It is unfair to blame the government of the USSR for such a development of events. Despite the desperate resistance to industrialization on the part of certain forces within the country, our government and our people have done everything they could to create and equip an army. It was impossible to do more in the time allotted to the Soviet Union.
Our intelligence, of course, was not up to par. But it's only in the movies that scouts get blueprints for planes and atomic bombs. In real life, such drawings will take far from one railway car. Our intelligence did not have the opportunity to receive the Barbarossa plan in 1941. But even knowing the direction of the main blows, we would have to retreat before the monstrous force of the enemy. But in this case we would have less losses.
According to all theoretical calculations, the USSR should have lost this war, but we won it, because we knew how to work and fight like no one else on earth. Hitler conquered Europe, except for Poland, in an effort to unite and subordinate to the will of Germany. And he sought to exterminate us both in battles, and the civilian population, and our prisoners of war. About the war against the USSR, Hitler said: "We are talking about a war of extermination."
But everything did not go as planned for Hitler: the Russians left more than half of the troops far from the border, announced mobilization after the start of the war, as a result of which they had people to recruit new divisions, took military factories to the East, did not lose heart, but fought steadfastly for every inch of land. The German General Staff was horrified by Germany's losses in men and equipment.
The losses of our retreating army in 1941, of course, were greater than the German ones. The German army created a new organizational structure, including tanks, motorized infantry, artillery, engineering units and communications units, which made it possible not only to break through the enemy’s defenses, but also to develop it in depth, breaking away from the bulk of its troops for tens of kilometers. The proportions of all military branches were carefully calculated by the Germans and tested in battles in Europe. With such a structure, tank formations became a strategic means of struggle.
We needed time to create such troops from newly manufactured equipment. In the summer of 1941, we had neither the experience of creating and using such formations, nor the number of trucks needed to transport infantry. Created on the eve of the war, our mechanized corps were much less perfect than the German ones.
The General Staff of Germany gave the plan of attack on the USSR the name "Barbarossa" after the German emperor of terrifying cruelty. On June 29, 1941, Hitler declared: "In four weeks we will be in Moscow, and it will be plowed up."
Not a single German general spoke in his forecasts about the capture of Moscow later than August. For everyone, August was the deadline for the capture of Moscow, and October - the territory of the USSR to the Urals along the line Arkhangelsk - Astrakhan.
The US military believed that Germany would be occupied in the war with the Russians from one to three months, and the British military - from three to six weeks. They made such predictions, because they knew well the force of the blow that Germany brought down on the USSR. How long we will hold out in the war with Germany, the West estimated by itself.
The German government was so sure of a quick victory that it did not even consider it necessary to spend money on warm winter uniforms for the army.
Enemy troops advanced from the Barents to the Black Seas on a front stretching over 2,000 thousand kilometers.
Germany counted on a blitzkrieg, that is, a lightning strike on our armed forces and their destruction as a result of this lightning strike. The location of 57% of Soviet troops in the 2nd and 3rd echelons initially contributed to the disruption of the Germans' calculation for a blitzkrieg. And in combination with the resilience of our troops in the 1st defense echelon, it completely disrupted the German calculation for a blitzkrieg.
And what kind of blitzkrieg can we talk about if the Germans in the summer of 1941 could not even destroy our aircraft. From the first day of the war, the Luftwaffe paid a huge price for the desire to destroy our aircraft on the airfields and in the air.
From 1940 to 1946, the People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry of the USSR, A. I. Shakhurin wrote: “During the period from June 22 to July 5, 1941, the German Air Force lost 807 aircraft of all types, and for the period from July 6 to 19, another 477 aircraft. A third of the German air force, which they had before the attack on our country, was destroyed.
Thus, only for the first month of fighting in the period from 22.06. By July 19, 1941, Germany lost 1284 aircraft, and in less than five months of fighting - 5180 aircraft. Surprisingly, only a few people in the whole of large Russia know today about our glorious victories in the most unfortunate period of the war for us.
So who and with what weapons destroyed these 1284 Luftwaffe aircraft in the first month of the war? These aircraft were destroyed by our pilots and anti-aircraft gunners in the same way that our artillerymen destroyed enemy tanks, because the Red Army had anti-tank guns, aircraft and anti-aircraft guns.
And in October 1941, the Red Army had enough weapons to hold the front. At this time, the defense of Moscow was carried out at the limit of human strength. Only Soviet, Russian people could fight like that. I. V. Stalin deserves a good word, back in July 1941 he organized the construction of concrete pillboxes, bunkers, anti-tank barriers and other protective military construction structures, fortified areas (Urov) on the outskirts of Moscow, who managed to provide weapons, ammunition, food and uniforms fighting army.
The Germans were stopped near Moscow, first of all, because even in the autumn of 1941, our men fighting the enemy had weapons to shoot down planes, burn tanks and mix enemy infantry with the ground.
On November 29, 1941, our troops liberated Rostov-on-Don in the south, and Tikhvin was liberated in the north on December 9. Having pinned down the southern and northern groupings of German troops, our command created favorable conditions for the offensive of the Red Army near Moscow.
It was not the Siberian divisions that made it possible for our troops to go on the offensive near Moscow, but the reserve armies created by the Stavka and brought up to Moscow before our troops went on the offensive. A. M. Vasilevsky recalled: “A major event was the completion of the preparation of regular and extraordinary reserve formations. At the turn of Vytegra - Rybinsk - Gorky - Saratov - Stalingrad - Astrakhan, a new strategic line was being created for the Red Army. Here, on the basis of the decision of the GKO, adopted on October 5, ten reserve armies were formed. Creating them throughout the entire battle of Moscow was one of the main and daily concerns of the Central Committee of the Party, the State Defense Committee and the Headquarters. We, the leaders of the General Staff, daily, when reporting to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on the situation on the fronts, reported in detail on the progress in the creation of these formations. It can be said without exaggeration: in the outcome of the Battle of Moscow, the fact that the party and the Soviet people promptly formed, armed, trained and deployed new armies under the capital was of decisive importance.
The battle near Moscow can be divided into two parts: defensive from September 30 to December 5, 1941 and offensive from December 5 to April 20, 1942.
And if in June 1941 German troops suddenly attacked us, then in December 1941 near Moscow our Soviet troops suddenly attacked the Germans. Despite the deep snow and frost, our army successfully advanced. Panic broke out in the German army. Only the intervention of Hitler prevented the complete defeat of the German troops.
The monstrous force of Europe, faced with the Russian force, could not overcome us and, under the blows of the Soviet troops, fled back to the West. In 1941, our great-grandfathers and grandfathers defended the right to life and, meeting the New Year 1942, proclaimed toasts to the Victory.
In 1942, our troops continued to advance. The Moscow and Tula regions, many districts of the Kalinin, Smolensk, Ryazan and Oryol regions were liberated. Losses in manpower only of the Army Group Center, which until recently stood near Moscow for the period from January 1 to March 30, 1942, amounted to over 333 thousand people.
But the enemy was still strong. By May 1942, the fascist German army had 6.2 million people and weapons superior to the Red Army. Our army numbered 5.1 million people. without air defense troops and the Navy.
Thus, in the summer of 1942, against our ground forces, Germany and its allies had 1.1 million more soldiers and officers. Germany and its allies maintained superiority in the number of troops from the first day of the war until 1943. In the summer of 1942, 217 enemy divisions and 20 enemy brigades operated on the Soviet-German front, that is, about 80% of all German ground forces.
In connection with this circumstance, the Headquarters did not transfer troops from the Western to the South-Western direction. This decision was correct, as was the decision to deploy strategic reserves in the area of Tula, Voronezh, Stalingrad and Saratov.
Most of our forces and means were concentrated not in the south-western, but in the western direction. Ultimately, this distribution of forces led to the defeat of the German, or rather European, army, and in this regard, it is inappropriate to talk about the incorrect distribution of our troops by the summer of 1942. It was thanks to this distribution of troops that we were able in November to gather forces near Stalingrad sufficient to defeat the enemy, and were able to replenish our troops in defensive battles.
In the summer of 1942, we could not hold the defense for a long time against the German troops, which were superior to us in forces and means, and were forced to retreat under the threat of encirclement.
It was not yet possible to compensate for the missing number of artillery, aviation and other types of weapons, since the evacuated enterprises were just beginning to operate at full capacity, and the military industry of Europe still surpassed the military industry of the Soviet Union.
German troops continued their offensive along the western (right) bank of the Don and sought, by all means, to reach the large bend of the river. Soviet troops retreated to natural lines where they could gain a foothold.
By mid-July, the enemy captured Valuiki, Rossosh, Boguchar, Kantemirovka, Millerovo. Before him opened the eastern road - to Stalingrad and the south - to the Caucasus.
The battle of Stalingrad is divided into two periods: defensive from July 17 to November 18 and offensive, culminating in the liquidation of a huge enemy group, from November 19, 1942 to February 02, 1943.
The defensive operation began on the distant approaches to Stalingrad. From July 17, the forward detachments of the 62nd and 64th armies offered fierce resistance to the enemy at the turn of the Chir and Tsymla rivers for 6 days.
The troops of Germany and its allies could not take Stalingrad.
The offensive of our troops began on November 19, 1942. The troops of the Southwestern and Don Fronts went on the offensive. This day went down in our history as Artillery Day. On November 20, 1942, the troops of the Stalingrad Front went on the offensive. On November 23, the troops of the Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts united in the Kalach-on-Don, Sovetsky area, closing the encirclement of German troops. The Headquarters and our General Staff calculated everything very well, tying Paulus's army hand and foot with a great distance from our advancing troops, the 62nd Army, located in Stalingrad, and the offensive of the troops of the Don Front.
New Year's Eve 1943 was celebrated by our courageous soldiers and officers, just like New Year's Eve 1942, by the victors.
A huge contribution to the organization of the victory at Stalingrad was made by the Headquarters and the General Staff, headed by A. M. Vasilevsky.
During the Battle of Stalingrad, which lasted 200 days and nights, Germany and its allies lost ¼ of the forces operating at that time on the Soviet-German front. “The total losses of enemy troops in the region of the Don, Volga, Stalingrad amounted to 1.5 million people, up to 3500 tanks and assault guns, 12 thousand guns and mortars, up to 3 thousand aircraft and a large number of other equipment. Such losses of forces and means had a catastrophic effect on the general strategic situation and shook the entire military machine of Nazi Germany to its foundations, ”wrote G.K. Zhukov.
During the two winter months of 1942-1943, the defeated German army was driven back to the positions from which it had begun the offensive in the summer of 1942. This great victory for our troops gave additional strength to both the fighters and the home front workers.
The troops of Germany and their allies were also defeated near Leningrad. On January 18, 1943, the troops of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts united, the ring of the blockade of Leningrad was broken.
A narrow corridor 8-11 kilometers wide, adjacent to the southern coast of Lake Ladoga, was cleared of the enemy and connected Leningrad with the country. Long-distance trains began to run from Leningrad to Vladivostok.
Hitler was going to take Leningrad in 4 weeks by July 21, 1941 and send the liberated troops to storm Moscow, but he could not take the city by January 1944 either. Hitler ordered the proposals to surrender the city to the German troops not to accept and wipe the city off the face of the earth, but in fact, the German divisions stationed near Leningrad were wiped off the face of the earth by the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. Hitler stated that Leningrad would be the first major city captured by the Germans in the Soviet Union and spared no effort to capture it, but did not take into account that he was fighting not in Europe, but in Soviet Russia. I did not take into account the courage of the Leningraders and the strength of our weapons.
The victorious conclusion of the Battle of Stalingrad and the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad became possible not only thanks to the stamina and courage of the soldiers and commanders of the Red Army, the ingenuity of our soldiers and the knowledge of our military leaders, but, above all, thanks to the heroic work of the rear.
To be continued...
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22nd of June. Ordinary Sunday. More than 200 million citizens are planning how to spend their day off: go on a visit, take their children to the zoo, someone is in a hurry to play football, someone is on a date. Soon they will become heroes and victims of the war, killed and wounded, soldiers and refugees, blockade runners and prisoners of concentration camps, partisans, prisoners of war, orphans, and invalids. Winners and veterans of the Great Patriotic War. But none of them know about it yet.
In 1941 The Soviet Union stood quite firmly on its feet - industrialization and collectivization bore fruit, industry developed - out of ten tractors produced in the world, four were Soviet-made. Dneproges and Magnitogorsk have been built, the army is being re-equipped - the famous T-34 tank, Yak-1, MIG-3 fighters, Il-2 attack aircraft, Pe-2 bomber have already entered service with the Red Army. The situation in the world is turbulent, but the Soviet people are sure that "the armor is strong and our tanks are fast." In addition, two years ago, after three-hour talks in Moscow, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR Molotov and German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop signed a 10-year non-aggression pact.
After the abnormally cold winter of 1940-1941. A rather warm summer has come to Moscow. Amusements operate in the Gorky Park, football matches are held at the Dynamo stadium. The Mosfilm film studio is preparing the main premiere of the summer of 1941 - the editing of the lyrical comedy Hearts of Four, which will be released only in 1945, has just been completed here. Starring the favorite of Joseph Stalin and all Soviet moviegoers, actress Valentina Serova.
June, 1941 Astrakhan. Near the village of Liney
1941 Astrakhan. On the Caspian Sea
July 1, 1940 A scene from the film "My Love" directed by Vladimir Korsh-Sablin. In the center, actress Lidia Smirnova as Shurochka
April, 1941 Peasant greets the first Soviet tractor
July 12, 1940 Residents of Uzbekistan work on the construction of a section of the Great Fergana Canal
August 9, 1940 Byelorussian SSR. Collective farmers of the village of Tonezh, Turovsky district, Polesye region, for a walk after a hard day's work
May 05, 1941 Kliment Voroshilov, Mikhail Kalinin, Anastas Mikoyan, Andrey Andreev, Alexander Shcherbakov, Georgy Malenkov, Semyon Timoshenko, Georgy Zhukov, Andrey Eremenko, Semyon Budyonny, Nikolai Bulganin, Lazar Kaganovich and others in the presidium of the ceremonial meeting dedicated to graduation commanders who graduated from military academies. Joseph Stalin speaking
June 1, 1940. Classes in civil defense in the village of Dikanka. Ukraine, Poltava region
In the spring and summer of 1941, exercises of the Soviet military began to be carried out more and more often on the western borders of the USSR. War is already in full swing in Europe. Rumors reach the Soviet leadership that Germany could attack at any moment. But such messages are often ignored, since a non-aggression pact was signed just recently.
August 20, 1940 Villagers talking to tankmen during military exercises
"Higher, higher and higher
We strive for the flight of our birds,
And breathes in every propeller
The tranquility of our borders."
Soviet song, better known as "March of the Aviators"
June 1, 1941. An I-16 fighter is suspended under the wing of a TB-3 aircraft, under the wing of which a high-explosive bomb weighing 250 kg
September 28, 1939 People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop shake hands after the signing of the joint Soviet-German treaty "On Friendship and Borders"
Field Marshal V. Keitel, Colonel General V. von Brauchitsch, A. Hitler, Colonel General F. Halder (left to right in the foreground) near the table with a map during a meeting of the General Staff. In 1940, Adolf Hitler signed the main directive number 21, codenamed "Barbarossa"
On June 17, 1941, V.N. Merkulov sent an intelligence message received by the NKGB of the USSR from Berlin to I.V. Stalin and V.M. Molotov:
“A source working at the headquarters of the German aviation reports:
1. All German military measures to prepare for an armed uprising against the USSR have been completely completed, and a strike can be expected at any time.
2. In the circles of the aviation headquarters, the TASS message of June 6 was perceived very ironically. They emphasize that this statement cannot have any meaning ... "
There is a resolution (regarding 2 points): “To Comrade Merkulov. You can send your "source" from the headquarters of the German aviation to the fucking mother. This is not a "source", but a disinformer. I. Stalin»
July 1, 1940. Marshal Semyon Timoshenko (right), General of the Army Georgy Zhukov (left) and General of the Army Kirill Meretskov (2nd from left) during an exercise in the 99th Rifle Division of the Kyiv Special Military District
June 21, 21:00
At the site of the Sokal commandant's office, a German soldier, Corporal Alfred Liskof, was detained after swimming across the Bug River.
From the testimony of the head of the 90th border detachment, Major Bychkovsky:“Due to the fact that the translators in the detachment are weak, I called a German teacher from the city ... and Liskof repeated the same thing again, that is, that the Germans were preparing to attack the USSR at dawn on June 22, 1941 ... Without finishing the interrogation of the soldier, he heard in the direction Ustilug (first commandant's office) strong artillery fire. I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory, which was immediately confirmed by the interrogated soldier. I immediately began to call the commandant by phone, but the connection was broken.
21:30
In Moscow, a conversation took place between People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov and German Ambassador Schulenburg. Molotov protested in connection with the numerous violations of the borders of the USSR by German aircraft. Schulenburg evaded answering.
From the memoirs of Corporal Hans Teuchler:“At 22 o’clock we were lined up and the order of the Fuhrer was read out. Finally, they told us directly why we are here. Not at all for a rush to Persia to punish the British with the permission of the Russians. And not in order to lull the vigilance of the British, and then quickly transfer troops to the English Channel and land in England. No. We - soldiers of the Great Reich - are waiting for a war with the Soviet Union itself. But there is no such force that could hold back the movement of our armies. For the Russians it will be a real war, for us it will be just a victory. We will pray for her."
June 22, 00:30
Directive No. 1 was sent to the districts, containing an order to covertly occupy firing points on the border, not to succumb to provocations and put the troops on alert.
From the memoirs of the German General Heinz Guderian:“On the fateful day of June 22 at 2:10 in the morning, I went to the command post of the group ...
At 03:15 our artillery preparation began.
At 0340 hours - the first raid of our dive bombers.
At 4:15 a.m., the crossing over the Bug began.
03:07
The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Oktyabrsky, called the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, Georgy Zhukov, and said that a large number of unknown aircraft were approaching from the sea; The fleet is in full combat readiness. The admiral offered to meet them with fleet air defense fire. He was instructed: "Act and report to your people's commissar."
03:30
Chief of Staff of the Western District, Major General Vladimir Klimovskikh, reported on a German air raid on the cities of Belarus. Three minutes later, the chief of staff of the Kyiv district, General Purkaev, reported on an air raid on the cities of Ukraine. At 03:40, the commander of the Baltic District, General Kuznetsov, reported a raid on Kaunas and other cities.
From the memoirs of I. I. Geibo, deputy regiment commander of the 46th IAP, ZapVO:“... My chest went cold. In front of me are four twin-engine bombers with black crosses on their wings. I even bit my lip. Why, these are Junkers! German Ju-88 bombers! What to do? .. Another thought arose: "Today is Sunday, and on Sundays the Germans do not have training flights." So it's a war? Yes, war!
03:40
People's Commissar of Defense Timoshenko asks Zhukov to report to Stalin about the start of hostilities. Stalin responded by ordering all members of the Politburo to gather in the Kremlin. At this point, Brest, Grodno, Lida, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovich, Bobruisk, Volkovysk, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Sevastopol, Riga, Vindava, Libava, Siauliai, Kaunas, Vilnius and many other cities were bombed.
From the memoirs of Alevtina Kotik, born in 1925 (Lithuania):“I woke up from the fact that I hit my head on the bed - the ground shook from falling bombs. I ran to my parents. Dad said: “The war has begun. We have to get out of here!” We did not know with whom the war started, we did not think about it, it was just very scary. Dad was a military man, and therefore he was able to call a car for us, which took us to the railway station. They took only clothes with them. All furniture and household utensils remained. At first we rode on a freight train. I remember how my mother covered me and my brother with her body, then they transferred to a passenger train. The fact that the war with Germany, they learned somewhere around 12 noon from people they met. Near the city of Siauliai, we saw a large number of wounded, stretchers, doctors.
At the same time, the Belostok-Minsk battle began, as a result of which the main forces of the Soviet Western Front were surrounded and defeated. German troops captured a significant part of Belarus and advanced to a depth of over 300 km. On the part of the Soviet Union in the Bialystok and Minsk “boilers”, 11 rifle, 2 cavalry, 6 tank and 4 motorized divisions were destroyed, 3 commanders and 2 commanders were killed, 2 commanders and 6 division commanders were captured, another 1 corps commander and 2 commanders divisions were missing.
04:10
The Western and Baltic Special Districts reported on the start of hostilities by German troops on land.
04:12
German bombers appeared over Sevastopol. The enemy raid was repulsed, and an attempt to strike at the ships was thwarted, but residential buildings and warehouses were damaged in the city.
From the memoirs of Sevastopol Anatoly Marsanov:“I was then only five years old ... The only thing that remains in my memory: on the night of June 22, parachutes appeared in the sky. It became light, I remember, the whole city was illuminated, everyone was running, so joyful ... They shouted: “Paratroopers! Paratroopers!”… They don't know that these are mines. And they both gasped - one in the bay, the other - down the street below us, they killed so many people!
04:15
The defense of the Brest Fortress began. By the first attack, by 04:55, the Germans occupied almost half of the fortress.
From the memoirs of the defender of the Brest Fortress Pyotr Kotelnikov, born in 1929:“In the morning we were awakened by a strong blow. Broke the roof. I was stunned. I saw the wounded and the dead, I realized: this is no longer an exercise, but a war. Most of the soldiers of our barracks died in the first seconds. Following the adults, I rushed to the weapon, but they did not give me rifles. Then I, with one of the Red Army soldiers, rushed to extinguish the clothing warehouse. Then he moved with the soldiers to the cellars of the barracks of the neighboring 333rd Infantry Regiment ... We helped the wounded, brought them ammunition, food, water. Through the western wing at night they made their way to the river to draw water, and returned back.
05:00
Moscow time, Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs Joachim von Ribbentrop summoned Soviet diplomats to his office. When they arrived, he informed them of the start of the war. The last thing he said to the ambassadors was: "Tell Moscow that I was against the attack." After that, telephones did not work in the embassy, and the building itself was surrounded by SS detachments.
5:30
Schulenburg officially informed Molotov about the beginning of the war between Germany and the USSR, reading out a note: “Bolshevik Moscow is ready to stab in the back of National Socialist Germany, which is fighting for existence. The German government cannot be indifferent to the serious threat on the eastern border. Therefore, the Fuhrer gave the order to the German armed forces to ward off this threat with all their might and means ... "
From the memoirs of Molotov:"The adviser to the German ambassador Hilger, when he handed the note, shed a tear."
From Hilger's memoirs:“He gave vent to his indignation by declaring that Germany had attacked a country with which it had a non-aggression pact. This has no precedent in history. The reason given by the German side is an empty pretext ... Molotov concluded his angry speech with the words: “We did not give any grounds for this.”
07:15
Directive No. 2 was issued, ordering the troops of the USSR to destroy enemy forces in areas of violation of the border, destroy enemy aircraft, and also “bomb Koenigsberg and Memel” (modern Kaliningrad and Klaipeda). The USSR Air Force was allowed to go "to the depth of German territory up to 100-150 km." At the same time, the first counterattack of the Soviet troops took place near the Lithuanian town of Alytus.
09:00
At 7:00 Berlin time, Reich Minister of Public Education and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels read out on the radio Adolf Hitler's appeal to the German people in connection with the outbreak of war against the Soviet Union: “... Today I decided again to put the fate and future of the German Reich and our people into the hands of our soldier. May the Lord help us in this struggle!
09:30
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Mikhail Kalinin signed a number of decrees, including the decree on the introduction of martial law, on the formation of the Headquarters of the High Command, on military tribunals and on general mobilization, to which all those liable for military service from 1905 to 1918 were born.
10:00
German bombers raided Kyiv and its suburbs. The railway station, the Bolshevik plant, an aircraft plant, power plants, military airfields, and residential buildings were bombed. According to official data, 25 people died as a result of the bombing, according to unofficial data, there were many more victims. However, peaceful life continued in the capital of Ukraine for several more days. Only the opening of the stadium, scheduled for June 22, was canceled; on this day, the football match Dynamo (Kyiv) - CSKA was supposed to take place here.
12:15
Molotov made a speech on the radio about the beginning of the war, where he first called it patriotic. Also in this speech, for the first time, the phrase that became the main slogan of the war is heard: “Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours".
From Molotov's address:“This unprecedented attack on our country is an unparalleled treachery in the history of civilized peoples... This war was imposed on us not by the German people, not by the German workers, peasants and intelligentsia, whose suffering we understand well, but by a clique of bloodthirsty fascist rulers of Germany who enslaved the French, Czechs , Poles, Serbs, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Greece and other peoples ... This is not the first time our people have to deal with an attacking arrogant enemy. At one time, our people responded to Napoleon's campaign in Russia with a Patriotic War, and Napoleon was defeated and came to his own collapse. The same will happen to the arrogant Hitler, who has announced a new campaign against our country. The Red Army and all our people will again wage a victorious patriotic war for the Motherland, for honor, for freedom.
The working people of Leningrad listen to the message about the attack of fascist Germany on the Soviet Union
From the memoirs of Dmitry Savelyev, Novokuznetsk: “We gathered at the poles with loudspeakers. We listened carefully to Molotov's speech. For many, there was a feeling of some kind of wariness. After that, the streets began to empty, after a while food disappeared from the shops. They weren’t bought up – just the supply was reduced… People weren’t scared, but rather focused, doing everything the government told them to do.”
After some time, the text of Molotov's speech was repeated by the famous announcer Yuri Levitan. Thanks to his soulful voice and the fact that Levitan read the front-line reports of the Soviet Information Bureau throughout the war, there is an opinion that it was he who was the first to read the message about the beginning of the war on the radio. Even marshals Zhukov and Rokossovsky thought so, as they wrote about in their memoirs.
Moscow. Announcer Yuri Levitan during filming in the studio
From the memoirs of announcer Yuri Levitan:“When we, the announcers, were called to the radio early in the morning, the calls had already begun to ring out. They call from Minsk: “Enemy planes over the city”, they call from Kaunas: “The city is on fire, why are you not transmitting anything on the radio?”, “Enemy planes are over Kyiv.” Women's crying, excitement - "is it really a war"? .. And now I remember - I turned on the microphone. In all cases, I remember myself that I only worried internally, only experienced internally. But here, when I uttered the word “Moscow is speaking”, I feel that I can’t continue to speak - a lump stuck in my throat. They are already knocking from the control room - “Why are you silent? Go on! He clenched his fists and continued: "Citizens and citizens of the Soviet Union ..."
Stalin delivered a speech to the Soviet people only on July 3, 12 days after the start of the war. Historians are still arguing why he was silent for so long. Here is how Vyacheslav Molotov explained this fact:“Why me and not Stalin? He didn't want to go first. It is necessary that there be a clearer picture, what tone and what approach ... He said that he would wait a few days and speak when the situation on the fronts cleared up.
And here is what Marshal Zhukov wrote about this:"AND. V. Stalin was a strong-willed man and, as they say, "not from a cowardly dozen." Confused, I saw him only once. It was at dawn on June 22, 1941, when Nazi Germany attacked our country. During the first day, he could not really pull himself together and firmly direct events. The shock produced on I. V. Stalin by the attack of the enemy was so strong that his voice even dropped, and his orders for organizing armed struggle did not always correspond to the situation.
From a speech by Stalin on the radio on July 3, 1941:“The war with fascist Germany cannot be considered an ordinary war ... Our war for the freedom of our Fatherland will merge with the struggle of the peoples of Europe and America for their independence, for democratic freedoms.”
12:30
At the same time, German troops entered Grodno. A few minutes later, the bombardment of Minsk, Kyiv, Sevastopol and other cities began again.
From the memoirs of Ninel Karpova, born in 1931 (Kharovsk, Vologda region):“We listened to the message about the beginning of the war from the loudspeaker at the House of Defense. There were a lot of people there. I was not upset, on the contrary, I became proud: my father will defend the Motherland ... In general, people were not afraid. Yes, women, of course, were upset, crying. But there was no panic. Everyone was sure that we would quickly defeat the Germans. The men said: "Yes, the Germans will drape from us!"
Recruiting stations were opened in the military registration and enlistment offices. Queues lined up in Moscow, Leningrad and other cities.
From the memoirs of Dina Belykh, born in 1936 (Kushva, Sverdlovsk region):“All men immediately began to call, including my dad. Dad hugged mom, they both cried, kissed ... I remember how I grabbed him by the tarpaulin boots and shouted: “Daddy, don’t go! They'll kill you there, they'll kill you!" When he got on the train, my mother took me in her arms, we both sobbed, she whispered through her tears: “Wave to dad ...” What is there, I sobbed so much, I could not move my hand. We never saw him again, our breadwinner."
Calculations and experience of the mobilization carried out showed that in order to transfer the army and navy to wartime, 4.9 million people were required to be called up. However, when mobilization was announced, 14 ages of conscripts were called up, the total number of which was about 10 million people, that is, almost 5.1 million people more than what was required.
The first day of mobilization in the Red Army. Volunteers in the Oktyabrsky military registration and enlistment office
The conscription of such a mass of people was not caused by military necessity and introduced disorganization into the national economy and anxiety among the masses. Without realizing this, Marshal of the Soviet Union G. I. Kulik suggested that the government additionally call on older ages (1895 - 1904), the total number of which was 6.8 million people.
13:15
To capture the Brest Fortress, the Germans brought into action new forces of the 133rd Infantry Regiment on the Southern and Western Islands, but this "did not bring changes in the situation." The Brest Fortress continued to hold the line. Fritz Schlieper's 45th Infantry Division was thrown into this sector of the front. It was decided that only infantry would take the Brest Fortress - without tanks. No more than eight hours were allotted for the capture of the fortress.
From a report to the headquarters of the 45th Infantry Division Fritz Schlieper:“The Russians are fiercely resisting, especially behind our attacking companies. In the Citadel, the enemy organized defense with infantry units supported by 35-40 tanks and armored vehicles. The fire of Russian snipers led to heavy losses among officers and non-commissioned officers.
14:30
Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano told the Soviet ambassador in Rome, Gorelkin, that Italy had declared war on the USSR "from the moment German troops entered Soviet territory."
From Ciano's diaries:“He perceives my message with rather great indifference, but this is in his nature. The message is very short, without unnecessary words. The conversation lasted two minutes.
15:00
The pilots of the German bombers reported that they had nothing more to bomb, all airfields, barracks and concentrations of armored vehicles were destroyed.
From the memoirs of Air Marshal, Hero of the Soviet Union G.V. Zimina:“On June 22, 1941, large groups of fascist bombers attacked 66 of our airfields, on which the main aviation forces of the western border districts were based. First of all, airfields were subjected to air strikes, on which aviation regiments were based, armed with aircraft of new designs ... As a result of attacks on airfields and in fierce air battles, the enemy managed to destroy up to 1,200 aircraft, including 800 at airfields.
16:30
Stalin left the Kremlin for the Near Dacha. Until the end of the day, even members of the Politburo are not allowed to see the leader.
From the memoirs of Politburo member Nikita Khrushchev:
“Beria told the following: when the war began, members of the Politburo gathered at Stalin's. I don’t know, all or only a certain group, which most often met with Stalin. Stalin was morally completely depressed and made the following statement: “The war has begun, it is developing catastrophically. Lenin left us the proletarian Soviet state, and we pissed it off.” Literally said so.
“I,” he says, “refuse leadership,” and left. He left, got into the car and drove to a nearby dacha.
Some historians, referring to the memories of other participants in the events, argue that this conversation took place a day later. But the fact that in the first days of the war Stalin was confused and did not know how to act is confirmed by many witnesses.
18:30
The commander of the 4th Army, Ludwig Kubler, gives the order to "pull his own forces" at the Brest Fortress. This is one of the first orders for the retreat of German troops.
19:00
The commander of Army Group Center, General Fedor von Bock, gives the order to stop the execution of Soviet prisoners of war. After that, they were kept in hastily fenced fields with barbed wire. This is how the first camps for prisoners of war appeared.
From the notes of SS Brigadeführer G. Keppler, commander of the "Der Fuhrer" regiment from the SS division "Das Reich":“In the hands of our regiment were rich trophies and a large number of prisoners, among whom were many civilians, even women and girls, the Russians forced them to defend themselves with weapons in their hands, and they bravely fought along with the Red Army.”
23:00
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered a radio address in which he stated that England "will give Russia and the Russian people all the help it can."
Winston Churchill's speech on the air of the BBC radio station:“Over the past 25 years, no one has been a more consistent opponent of communism than me. I won't take back a single word I said about him. But all this pales before the spectacle now unfolding. The past with its crimes, follies and tragedies is disappearing... I see Russian soldiers standing on the threshold of their native land, guarding the fields that their fathers have cultivated since time immemorial... I see how the vile Nazi war machine is approaching all this.
23:50
The Main Military Council of the Red Army sent out Directive No. 3, ordering June 23 to launch counterattacks against enemy groups.
Text: Information Center of the Kommersant Publishing House, Tatiana Mishanina, Artem Galustyan
Video: Dmitry Shelkovnikov, Alexey Koshel
A photo: TASS, RIA Novosti, Ogonyok, Dmitry Kuchev
Design, programming and layout: Anton Zhukov, Alexey Shabrov
Kim Voronin
Commissioning Editor: Artem Galustyan