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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 Kiev 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.

Vyacheslav Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR:

"The adviser to the German ambassador Hilger, when he handed the note, shed a tear."

Anastas Mikoyan, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee:

“Immediately, members of the Politburo gathered at Stalin’s. We decided that it was necessary to make a speech on the radio in connection with the outbreak of the war. Of course, they suggested that Stalin do it. But Stalin refused - let Molotov speak. Of course, this was a mistake. But Stalin was in such a depressed state that he did not know what to say to the people.

Lazar Kaganovich, member of the Politburo of the Central Committee:

“We gathered at Stalin's at night when Molotov received Schulenburg. Stalin gave each of us a task - to me for transport, to Mikoyan - for supplies.

Vasily Pronin, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Moscow City Council:

“On June 21, 1941, at ten o'clock in the evening, Shcherbakov, secretary of the Moscow Party Committee, was summoned to the Kremlin. We had barely sat down when, addressing us, Stalin said: “According to intelligence and defectors, German troops intend to attack our borders tonight. Apparently, the war begins. Do you have everything ready in urban air defense? Report!" We were released at about 3 am. Twenty minutes later we arrived at the house. They were waiting for us at the gate. “They called from the Central Committee of the party,” the person who met him said, “and they instructed me to convey: the war has begun and we must be on the spot.”

• Georgy Zhukov, Pavel Batov and Konstantin Rokossovsky
• RIA News

Georgy Zhukov, General of the Army:

“At 4:30 am, Timoshenko and I arrived at the Kremlin. All the summoned members of the Politburo were already assembled. Me and the people's commissar were invited to the office.

I.V. Stalin was pale and sat at the table, holding a pipe not stuffed with tobacco in his hands.

We reported the situation. J.V. Stalin said in bewilderment:

“Is this not a provocation of the German generals?”

“The Germans are bombing our cities in Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltics. What kind of provocation is this…” S.K. Timoshenko answered.

... After some time, V.M. Molotov quickly entered the office:

"The German government has declared war on us."

JV Stalin silently sank into a chair and thought deeply.

There was a long, painful pause."

Alexander Vasilevsky,major general:

"At 4 o'clock with minutes, we became aware from the operational bodies of the district headquarters about the bombing of our airfields and cities by German aircraft."

Konstantin Rokossovsky,lieutenant general:

“At about four in the morning on June 22, upon receiving a telephone message from the headquarters, I was forced to open a special secret operational package. The directive indicated: immediately put the corps on combat readiness and advance in the direction of Rovno, Lutsk, Kovel.

Ivan Bagramyan, Colonel:

“... The first strike of German aviation, although it turned out to be unexpected for the troops, did not at all cause panic. In a difficult situation, when everything that could burn was on fire, when barracks, houses, warehouses collapsed before our eyes, communications were interrupted, the commanders made every effort to maintain leadership of the troops. They firmly followed the combat regulations that became known to them after opening the packages they had stored.

Semyon Budyonny, Marshal:

“At 04:01 on June 22, 1941, Comrade Timoshenko, People's Commissar, called me and said that the Germans were bombing Sevastopol and should I report to Comrade Stalin about this? I told him that it was necessary to report immediately, but he said: “You call!” I immediately called and reported not only about Sevastopol, but also about Riga, which the Germans are also bombing. Tov. Stalin asked: "Where is the People's Commissar?" I answered: “Here, next to me” (I was already in the People’s Commissar’s office). Tov. Stalin ordered the phone to be handed over to him ...

Thus the war began!

• RIA News

Iosif 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!

Nikolai Osintsev, chief of staff of the division of the 188th anti-aircraft artillery regiment of the Red Army:

“On the 22nd, at 4 o’clock in the morning, we heard sounds: boom-boom-boom-boom. It turned out that it was German aircraft that unexpectedly flew into our airfields. Our planes did not even have time to change these airfields and all remained in their places. Almost all of them were destroyed."

Vasily Chelombitko, head of the 7th department of the Academy of Armored and Mechanized Troops:

“On June 22, our regiment stopped to rest in the forest. Suddenly we see planes flying, the commander announced a drill, but suddenly the planes began to bomb us. We understood that the war had begun. Here in the forest at 12 noon they listened to Comrade Molotov's speech on the radio and on the same day at noon received the first combat order of Chernyakhovsky about the division moving forward towards Siauliai.

Yakov Boyko, lieutenant:

“Today, i.e. 06/22/41, day off. While I was writing a letter to you, I suddenly hear on the radio that the brutal Nazi fascism bombed our cities ... But this will cost them dearly, and Hitler will no longer live in Berlin ... I now have only one in my soul hatred and the desire to destroy the enemy where he came from ... "

Pyotr Kotelnikov, defender of the Brest Fortress:

“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 men, rushed to extinguish the wares.

Timofei Dombrovsky, Red Army machine gunner:

“Airplanes poured fire on us from above, artillery - mortars, heavy, light guns - below, on the ground, and all at once! We lay down on the banks of the Bug, from where we saw everything that was happening on the opposite bank. Everyone immediately understood what was happening. The Germans attacked - war!

Cultural figures of the USSR

• All-Union Radio announcer Yuri Levitan

Yuri Levitan, announcer:

“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 aren’t you transmitting anything on the radio?”, “Enemy planes are over Kiev.” Women's crying, excitement: "Is it really 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 words “Moscow is speaking”, I feel that I can’t continue to speak - a lump in my throat got stuck. 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 ..."

Georgy Knyazev, Director of the Archives of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Leningrad:

V.M. Molotov's speech about the German attack on the Soviet Union was broadcast on the radio. The war began at 4 1/2 in the morning with an attack by German aircraft on Vitebsk, Kovno, Zhitomir, Kyiv, and Sevastopol. There are dead. The Soviet troops were ordered to repulse the enemy, to drive him out of our country. And my heart trembled. Here it is, the moment we were afraid to even think about. Ahead... Who knows what's ahead!

Nikolay Mordvinov, actor:

“Makarenko was rehearsing... Anorov bursts in without permission... and in an alarming, muffled voice says: “War against fascism, comrades!”

So, the most terrible front has opened!

Woe! Woe!”

Marina Tsvetaeva, poet:

Nikolai Punin, art historian:

“I remembered the first impressions of the war ... Molotov’s speech, which A.A. ran in with disheveled hair (grayed) in a black Chinese silk robe . (Anna Andreevna Akhmatova)».

Konstantin Simonov, poet:

“The fact that the war had already begun, I learned only at two o'clock in the afternoon. All morning on June 22, he wrote poetry and did not answer the phone. And when he came up, the first thing he heard was war.

Alexander Tvardovsky, poet:

"War with Germany. I'm going to Moscow."

Olga Bergolts, poet:

Russian emigrants

• Ivan Bunin
• RIA News

Ivan Bunin, writer:

"22nd of June. From a new page I am writing the continuation of this day - a great event - Germany this morning declared war on Russia - and the Finns and Romanians have already "invaded" its "limits".

Pyotr Makhrov, lieutenant general:

“The day the Germans declared war on Russia, June 22, 1941, had such a strong effect on my whole being that the next day, on the 23rd (the 22nd was Sunday), I sent a registered letter to Bogomolov [the Soviet ambassador in France], asking him send me to Russia to be enrolled in the army, at least as a private.”

USSR citizens

• Residents of Leningrad listen to a message about the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union
• RIA News

Lydia Shablova:

“We were tearing shingles in the yard to cover the roof. The kitchen window was open and we heard the radio announce that the war had begun. Father froze. His hands dropped: “We will probably not finish the roof ...”.

Anastasia Nikitina-Arshinova:

“Early in the morning, a terrible roar woke me and the children. Shells and bombs burst, shrapnel screeched. I grabbed the children and ran barefoot into the street. We barely had time to grab some clothes with us. The street was terrified. Above the fortress (Brest) planes circled and dropped bombs on us. Women and children rushed around in a panic, trying to escape. In front of me lay the wife of one lieutenant and her son - both were killed by a bomb.

Anatoly Krivenko:

“We lived not far from the Arbat, in Bolshoy Afanasevsky Lane. There was no sun that day, the sky was covered with clouds. I was walking in the yard with the boys, we were chasing a rag ball. And then my mother jumped out of the entrance in one combination, barefoot, running and shouting: “Home! Tolya, go home immediately! War!"

Nina Shinkareva:

“We lived in a village in the Smolensk region. That day, my mother went to the neighboring village for eggs and butter, and when she returned, father and other men had already gone to war. On the same day, residents began to evacuate. A big car arrived, and my mother put on all the clothes that my sister and I had, so that in winter we also had something to wear.

Anatoly Vokrosh:

“We lived in the village of Pokrov, Moscow Region. On that day, the guys and I were going to the river to catch carp. Mother caught me on the street, told me to eat first. I went to the house and ate. When he began to spread honey on bread, Molotov's message about the beginning of the war was heard. After eating, I ran away with the boys to the river. We rushed about in the bushes, shouting: “The war has begun! Hooray! We will defeat everyone!" We had absolutely no idea what it all meant. The adults discussed the news, but I don't remember any panic or fear in the village. The villagers were doing their usual things, and on this day, and in the following cities, summer residents gathered.

Boris Vlasov:

“In June 1941, he arrived in Oryol, where he was assigned immediately after graduating from the Hydrometeorological Institute. On the night of June 22, I spent the night in a hotel, as I had not yet managed to transport my things to the allotted apartment. In the morning I heard some fuss, turmoil, and the alarm signal overslept. It was announced on the radio that an important government message would be broadcast at 12 o'clock. Then I realized that I overslept not a training, but a combat alarm - the war began.

Alexandra Komarnitskaya:

“I rested in a children's camp near Moscow. There, the camp leadership announced to us that the war with Germany had begun. Everyone—the counselors and the children—began to cry.”

Ninel Karpova:

“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!”.

Nikolay Chebykin:

“June 22 was Sunday. Such a sunny day! And my father and I dug a cellar for potatoes with shovels. About twelve o'clock. Somewhere at five minutes, my sister Shura opens the window and says: “The radio broadcasts:“ A very important government message will be transmitted now! Well, we put down the shovels and went to listen. It was Molotov. And he said that the German troops, treacherously, without declaring war, attacked our country. Crossed the state border. The Red Army is fighting hard. And he ended with the words: “Our cause is right! The enemy will be defeated! Victory will be ours!".

German generals

• RIA News

Guderian:

“On the fateful day of June 22, 1941, at 2:10 am, I went to the command post of the group and went up to the observation tower south of Bogukala. At 03:15 our artillery preparation began. At 3 o'clock 40 min. - the first raid of our dive bombers. At 04:15, the forward units of the 17th and 18th Panzer Divisions began to cross the Bug. At 6 hours 50 minutes at Kolodno, I crossed the Bug in an assault boat.

“On June 22, at three and a half hours, four corps of the tank group, with the support of artillery and aviation, which was part of the 8th aviation corps, crossed the state border. Bomber aircraft attacked enemy airfields, with the task of paralyzing the actions of his aircraft.

On the first day, the offensive proceeded completely according to plan.

Manstein:

“Already on this first day, we had to get acquainted with the methods by which the war was waged on the Soviet side. One of our reconnaissance patrols, cut off by the enemy, was later found by our troops, it was cut out and brutally mutilated. My adjutant and I traveled a lot in areas where enemy units could still be located, and we decided not to surrender alive into the hands of this enemy.

Blumentritt:

“The behavior of the Russians, even in the first battle, was strikingly different from the behavior of the Poles and allies who were defeated on the Western Front. Even being in the encirclement, the Russians staunchly defended themselves.

German soldiers and officers

• www.nationaalarchief.nl.

Erich Mende, Oberleutnant:

“My commander was twice my age, and he had already had to fight the Russians near Narva in 1917, when he was in the rank of lieutenant. “Here, in these endless expanses, we will find our death, like Napoleon ...” he did not hide his pessimism. “Mende, remember this hour, it marks the end of the old Germany.”

Johann Danzer, artilleryman:

“On the very first day, as soon as we went on the attack, one of ours shot himself with his own weapon. Clutching the rifle between his knees, he inserted the barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. Thus ended the war and all the horrors associated with it.

Alfred Dürwanger, lieutenant:

“When we entered into the first battle with the Russians, they clearly did not expect us, but they could not be called unprepared either. Enthusiasm (we have) was not in sight! Rather, everyone was seized by a sense of the grandeur of the forthcoming campaign. And then the question arose: where, at which settlement will this campaign end?!”

Hubert Becker, lieutenant:

“It was a hot summer day. We walked across the field, suspecting nothing. Suddenly, artillery fire fell upon us. That's how my baptism of fire happened - a strange feeling.

Helmut Pabst, non-commissioned officer

“The advance continues. We are constantly moving forward through enemy territory, we have to constantly change positions. I'm terribly thirsty. There is no time to swallow a piece. By 10 in the morning we were already experienced, fired upon fighters who had time to see a lot: positions abandoned by the enemy, tanks and vehicles wrecked and burned out, the first prisoners, the first killed Russians.

Rudolf Gshöpf, chaplain:

“This artillery preparation, gigantic in terms of power and coverage of the territory, was like an earthquake. Huge mushrooms of smoke were visible everywhere, instantly growing out of the ground. Since there was no talk of any return fire, it seemed to us that we had completely wiped this citadel off the face of the earth.

Hans Becker, tanker:

“On the Eastern Front, I met people who can be called a special race. Already the first attack turned into a battle not for life, but for death.

This day will remain in the memory of our people not as an ordinary day of summer, but as the day of the beginning of the most terrible and bloody war in the history of the country and in world history.
Real photos of June 1941.

3. Hero of the defense of the Brest Fortress, commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Infantry Division, Major Pyotr Mikhailovich Gavrilov (1900 - 1979).

P.M. Gavrilov from June 22 to July 23, 1941 led the defense of the Eastern Fort of the Brest Fortress. He managed to rally around him all the surviving fighters and commanders of various units and subunits, close the most vulnerable places for the enemy to break through. Until June 30, the fort's garrison offered organized resistance, steadfastly repelling countless enemy attacks and preventing it from breaking into the fort. After the enemy used high-powered air bombs and destroyed part of the fort's buildings, the Germans managed to break into the fort and capture most of its defenders.

From the beginning of July, Major Gavrilov, with the surviving soldiers, switched to the tactics of sudden sorties and attacks on the enemy. On July 23, 1941, he was seriously wounded by a shell explosion in the casemate and was captured in an unconscious state. He spent the war years in the Nazi concentration camps of Hammelburg and Revensburg, having experienced all the horrors of captivity. Released by Soviet troops in May 1945 in the Mauthausen concentration camp. Passed a special check and was reinstated in military rank. But at the same time, he was expelled from the party due to the loss of his party card and being in captivity, which played a negative role in his future fate. Since the autumn of 1945, he was the head of the Soviet camp for Japanese prisoners of war in Siberia on the construction of the Abakan-Taishet railway. In June 1946 he was transferred to the reserve.

In 1955, he finally found a wife and son, with whom he parted under the bombs in the first hour of the war. In 1956, a book by S.S. Smirnov "Brest Fortress", based on factual material. This event had a favorable effect on the fate of Gavrilov. He was reinstated in the party and he was presented to the country's highest award.

On January 30, 1957, for the exemplary performance of military duty during the defense of the Brest Fortress in 1941 and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, Gavrilov Pyotr Mikhailovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

5. The city of Molotovsk at the hour of the declaration of war. Location: Molotovsk. Shooting time: 06/22/1941.

View of the Belomorsky Prospekt of Molotovsk (now Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Region) at the time of the declaration of war. In the distance, a crowd of people can be seen in front of the city's House of Soviets, where the first volunteers were enrolled. The photo was taken from house number 17 of Belomorsky Prospekt.

On Sunday morning, June 22, 1941, a Komsomol-youth cross was held in Molotovsk. At noon, V. Molotov made a speech in which he officially announced the treacherous German attack. The performance was repeated several times. Some time later, Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR were issued, announcing the mobilization of those liable for military service born in 1905-1918 in the Arkhangelsk military district and introducing martial law in the Arkhangelsk region. By evening, a mobilization point was deployed in Molotovsk. During the first three days of its work, in addition to those liable for military service, 318 volunteers arrived.

The city was founded just five years before the start of the war, but its contribution to the overall Victory was significant. Over 14 thousand Molotovites went to the front, over 3.5 thousand died on the battlefields. The 296th reserve ski regiment, the 13th separate ski brigade, and the 169th cadet rifle brigade were formed in the city. In Molotovsk, there was a strategic port for receiving Lend-Lease convoys. In the city, 741 thousand rubles were collected for the Arkhangelsk Collective Farmer tank column, 150 thousand rubles for the Molotov Rabochiy air squadron, 3350 thousand rubles for two cash and clothing lotteries, a loan was implemented for 17 thousand rubles, by February 1942 1740 thousand rubles were collected in cash and 2,600,000 bonds to the defense fund. By October 1, 1941, 9920 things were received from Molotovites to be sent to the front, sending gifts to the soldiers of the Red Army was massive. The city has three evacuation hospitals of the Karelian Front (No. 2522, 4870 and 4871). In the winter of 1942, a part of the staff of the Leningrad Lenin Komsomol Theater arrived in the city along the “road of life”, in total over 300 evacuees were received. Throughout the war, Molotov Plant No. 402 built large project 122A submarine hunters, completed the construction of M and C type submarines, repaired Soviet and foreign ships, fired 122,262 armor-piercing shells, 44,375 high-explosive bombs, 2,027 sets of sea trawls .

Source: Severodvinsk City Museum of Local Lore.

9. Senior nurse of the surgical department of the hospital of the Brest Fortress Praskovya Leontyevna Tkacheva with the wives and children of the commanders of the Red Army, surrounded by German soldiers. Shooting time: 06/25-26/1941.

11. Soviet amphibious tanks T-38, broken in the Brest Fortress. Location: Brest, Belarus, USSR. Shooting time: June-July 1941

On the front is a captive vehicle manufactured in 1937 with an armored hull and a turret manufactured by the Ordzhonikidze Podolsk plant. In the background is another T-38 tank. Tanks are located on the territory of the citadel next to the White Palace. The military equipment of the 75th separate reconnaissance battalion of the 6th rifle division of the 28th rifle corps of the 4th army of the Western Front was also located there, the armored vehicle fleet of which was located on the shore at the fork of the Mukhavets River.

12. German firing points in the Brest Fortress. 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.

14. Enrollment of volunteers in the Red Army in the Oktyabrsky district military registration and enlistment office in Moscow. Duty officer of the Oktyabrsky district military registration and enlistment office P.N. Gromov reads the statement of the volunteer M.M. Grigoriev.

Location of shooting: Moscow. Shooting time: 06/23/1941.

16. Soviet light tank BT-7, destroyed on June 23, 1941 during the battle in the Alytus area. Location: Lithuania, USSR. Shooting time: June-July 1941.

Vehicle from the 5th Panzer Division of the 3rd Mechanized Corps of the 11th Army of the North-Western Front. In the background is a destroyed German tank Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. E from the 7th Panzer Division of the 39th Motorized Corps of the 3rd Panzer Group of General Hoth.

19. Flight commander of the 145th Fighter Aviation Regiment Senior Lieutenant Viktor Petrovich Mironov (1918-1943) at the I-16 fighter.

V.P. Mironov in the Red Army since 1937. After graduating from the Borisoglebsky VAUL in 1939, he was sent to the 145th IAP. Member of the Soviet-Finnish war.

Member of the Great Patriotic War from the first days.
By September 1941, the flight commander of the 145th IAP, senior lieutenant Mironov, made 127 sorties, personally shot down 5 enemy aircraft in 25 air battles. Bombing and assault strikes caused great damage to enemy manpower and equipment.
On June 6, 1942 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Since November 1942 - as part of the 609th IAP, commander of the 2nd AE. Until February 1943, he made 356 sorties, shot down 10 enemy aircraft personally and 15 in a group.

20. Soldiers and commanders of the Red Army inspect the captured German tank Flammpanzer II. Shooting time: July-August 1941.

Soldiers and commanders of the Red Army inspect the captured Flammpanzer II flamethrower tank in the Western direction. On the fender is the installation of smoke grenade launchers. By June 22, 1941, the 100th and 101st flamethrower tank battalions of the Wehrmacht were equipped with Flammpanzer II flamethrower tanks.

22. Hero of the Soviet Union Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Petrovich Galkin (02/12/1917 - 07/21/1942).

Born at the mine Kochkar of the Chelyabinsk region, in a working class family. He graduated from the workers' faculty, worked as a locksmith. Since 1936 in the ranks of the Red Army. In 1937 he graduated from the Voroshilovgrad Military Aviation Pilot School. Member of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939 - 1940. Made 82 sorties. In May 1940 he was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

Since 1941, Lieutenant M.P. Galkin has been in the army. He fought on the Southern, Southwestern and Volkhov fronts. Until August 1941, he served in the 4th IAP, flying I-153 and I-16. In early August 1941, on the Crimean Isthmus, he was seriously wounded in one of the air battles. By August 1941, the commander of the 4th Fighter Aviation Regiment (20th Mixed Aviation Division, 9th Army, Southern Front), Lieutenant M.P. Galkin, made 58 sorties, conducted 18 air battles, shot down 5 enemy aircraft.

From February to July 1942 he fought in the 283rd IAP, where he flew the Yak-7. In January 1942 he was sent to Novosibirsk for instructor work. On March 27, 1942, for courage and military prowess shown in battles with enemies, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. From June 1942 he fought on the Volkhov Front in the 283rd IAP, where he flew the Yak-7. Won a few more victories.

On July 21, 1942, he died in an air battle in the Kirishi area. He was buried in a mass grave in the urban-type settlement of Budogoshch, Kirishsky District, Leningrad Region.
Awarded with orders: Lenin, Red Banner, Red Star. A street and a secondary school in the city of Plast, Chelyabinsk Region, are named after him. In the city of Plast, on the Alley of Heroes and the urban-type settlement of Budogoshch, a bust was erected.

23. Soviet heavy tank KV-2 from the 6th tank regiment of the 3rd tank division of the 1st mechanized corps of the North-Western Front, shot down on July 5, 1941 in the battle for the city of Ostrov. Location: Pskov region. Shooting time: June-August 1941.

Vehicle produced in June 1941, serial number B-4754. The surviving write-off certificates for the KV-2 tank No. 4754 stated the following: “The tank was hit - the caterpillar was killed, which fell off. The projectile pierced the side armor of the transmission and damaged the control rods and side clutches, the movement of the tank was impossible. Since the wrecked and burning tanks clogged the roadway of the bridge, the withdrawal was impossible due to the wrecked control of the tank and the caterpillars that fell down, and the tank was not able to turn around. The battalion commander gave the order to get out of the tank, while he himself remained in the vehicle to disable the tank. The further fate of Captain Rusanov is still not known, the rest of the crew returned to the unit. The battlefield was immediately occupied by the enemy and the evacuation of the remaining vehicle from the battlefield became impossible.

Tank crew: vehicle commander Captain Rusanov, driver Zhivoglyadov, gun commander Osipov, radio operator Volchkov, loader Khantsevich.

24. The commander of the 1st squadron of the 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Black Sea Fleet Air Force Mikhail Vasilievich Avdeev (09/15/1913 - 06/22/1979) next to his Yak-1 fighter. Shooting time: 1942.

From June 1941 he took part in the battles of the Great Patriotic War. He fought throughout the war in the 8th Fighter Aviation Regiment, which in April 1942 was renamed the 6th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment. At first he was deputy squadron commander, from January 1942 he became squadron commander, and from April 1943 to November 1944 he commanded a regiment. By June 1942, Mikhail Avdeev made more than three hundred sorties, shot down 9 enemy aircraft in 63 air battles, and also inflicted significant damage on enemy troops with assault strikes.

By Decree No. 858 of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 14, 1942, for the exemplary performance of the combat missions of the command on the front of the struggle against the Nazi invaders and the courage and heroism of the guards shown, Captain Avdeev Mikhail Vasilievich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the medal " Golden Star".

25. An abandoned Soviet tracked tractor STZ-5-NATI blown up in the forest. Behind the tractor is an abandoned heavy tank KV-2, issued in May - June 1941 from one of the tank divisions of the 7th mechanized corps of the Western Front.

Location: Belarus, USSR
Shooting time: summer 1941.

26. Squadron commander of the 788th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment Captain Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kozlov (1917 - 2005).

In June-September 1941 N.A. Kozlov is the deputy commander of an air squadron of the 162nd Fighter Aviation Regiment. He fought on the Western (June 1941) and Bryansk (August-September 1941) fronts. Participated in defensive battles in Belarus and in the Bryansk direction. On September 24, 1941, a German Yu-88 bomber was shot down by a ramming attack from his MiG-3 fighter. During the ramming, he was seriously wounded in the left leg, landed by parachute. Until December 1941, he was treated in a hospital in the city of Ulyanovsk.

In February-July 1942 - deputy commander of an air squadron of the 439th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment, in July-September 1942 - commander of an air squadron of the 788th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. Fought as part of the Stalingrad Air Defense Region (April-September 1942). He provided air cover for military facilities in the cities of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), participated in the Battle of Stalingrad. On May 25, 1942, near the city of Morozovsk (Rostov Region), he made a second ramming, shooting down a German Yu-88 bomber. He made an emergency landing on his MiG-3 fighter and was slightly injured. He spent several days in a hospital in Stalingrad.

In October 1942 - September 1943 - commander of an air squadron of the 910th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. He fought as part of the Voronezh-Borisoglebsk (October 1942 - June 1943) and Voronezh (June-July 1943) air defense regions, the Western Front of Air Defense (July-September 1943). Provided air cover for railway junctions in the Voronezh region, participated in the Battle of Kursk.

For courage and heroism shown in battles with the Nazi invaders, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 14, 1943, Captain Nikolai Aleksandrovich Kozlov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

From August 1943 - commander of the 907th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. He fought in the Western (August 1943 - April 1944) and Northern (April-October 1944) air defense fronts. He carried out air cover for front-line communications during the battle for the Dnieper, the liberation of the Right-Bank Ukraine, the Korsun-Shevchenko, Belorussian and Berlin operations.

In total, during the war he made 520 sorties on I-16, MiG-3, Yak-1, Yak-7B and La-5 fighters, in 127 air battles shot down 19 personally and as part of a group of 3 enemy aircraft.

27. Soviet tanks KV-2 and T-34, stuck while crossing the Maidansky stream. Location: Lviv region, Ukraine. Shooting time: 06/25/1941.

A heavy tank KV-2 and a medium tank T-34 model 1940 with an L-11 cannon from, presumably, the 16th tank regiment of the 8th tank division of the 4th mechanized corps of the Red Army, stuck and then knocked out on June 23, 1941 during time to overcome the creek Maidan. Tanks were fighting near the village of Stary Maidan, Radekhovsky district, Lviv region of Ukraine.

28. German soldiers are considering a Soviet KV-2 tank stuck in the Maidansky stream. Location: Lviv region, Ukraine. Shooting time: 23-29.06.1941

Heavy tank KV-2 from, presumably, the 16th Tank Regiment of the 8th Tank Division of the 4th Mechanized Corps of the Red Army, stuck and then shot down on June 23, 1941 while crossing the Maidansky stream. Tanks were fighting near the village of Stary Maidan, Radekhovsky district, Lviv region of Ukraine. It can be seen that the car was under fire from anti-tank artillery.

29. Flight commander of the 2nd Guards Aviation Regiment of the Air Force of the Northern Fleet, Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Pavlovich Pokrovsky (1918 - 1998).

V.P. Pokrovsky participated in the Great Patriotic War from June 1941, first as part of the 72nd mixed, from October 1941 - as part of the 78th fighter regiment of the Northern Fleet, and then again the 72nd mixed (then 2nd guards mixed) air regiment. On December 26, 1942, while protecting an allied convoy, he shot down a German fighter, but he himself was shot down. He jumped out by parachute and was rescued from the waters of the Kola Bay by Allied sailors. By May 1943 V.P. Pokrovsky made 350 sorties, conducted 60 air battles, personally shot down 13 aircraft and 6 enemy aircraft in the group.

For the exemplary performance of command assignments on the front of the fight against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 24, 1943, Captain Pokrovsky Vladimir Pavlovich was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

Since the summer of 1943 - the commander of a training squadron at the courses for commanders of the Air Force of the Navy.

30. A German soldier poses on a T-34 tank knocked out on a road near Dubno

Tank T-34 tank with a cannon L-11 issued in October 1940. Serial number 682-35. The tank belonged to the 12th Panzer Division of the 8th Mechanized Corps of the 26th Army of the Southwestern Front. Shot down in the Dubno area, possibly the southeastern entrance to Dubno. According to the inscription on the starboard side, the tank was hit by soldiers of the 111th Infantry Division and the Hermann Goering Regiment. Presumably, the tank was hit on June 29, 1941.

31. Soviet T-34 tank, shot down on the road near Dubno.

Soviet medium tank T-34 with an L-11 cannon, produced in October 1940, shot down near the road near the southeastern entrance to Dubno. The serial number of the tank is 682-35. The vehicle belonged to the 12th Panzer Division of the 8th Mechanized Corps of the 26th Army of the Southwestern Front. According to the autograph on the starboard side, the tank was shot down by soldiers of the 111th Infantry Division and the Hermann Goering Regiment. The tank may have been hit on 29 June 1941. In the background, on the right in the picture, a wrecked T-26 tank is visible. From this angle, another wrecked T-26 tank is visible. The same car from a different angle with the dead tanker.

32. A Soviet T-34 tank knocked out on the road and a dead Soviet tanker

A Soviet T-34 tank knocked out on the road and a dead Soviet tanker next to it. Tank T-34 tank with a cannon L-11 issued in October 1940. Serial number 682-35. The tank belonged to the 12th Panzer Division of the 8th Mechanized Corps of the 26th Army of the Southwestern Front. Shot down in the Dubno area, possibly the southeastern entrance to Dubno. According to the autograph on the starboard side, shot down by soldiers of the 111th Infantry Division and the Hermann Goering Regiment. The tank may have been hit on 29 June 1941. In the middle of the road lies the driver's hatch.

33. Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot of the 3rd squadron of the 158th air defense fighter regiment, junior lieutenant Mikhail Petrovich Zhukov (1917-1943) poses for a photograph at his I-16 fighter.

M.P. Zhukov has been in the regiment since October 1940. He made his first sortie on June 22, 1941. On June 29, 1941, in his third sortie, he destroyed a Junkers Yu-88 bomber with a ramming attack.

He fought in the skies of Leningrad, escorted transport aircraft, covered the ports on Lake Ladoga, the Volkhov hydroelectric power station. Was injured. At the end of 1941 he mastered the P-40E fighter.

January 12, 1943 M.P. Zhukov (by that time a senior lieutenant, flight commander of the 158th IAP) died in an air battle near the village of Moscow Dubrovka. In total, he made 286 sorties, conducted 66 air battles, shot down 9 enemy aircraft personally and 5 in a group.

34. Leningraders on October 25th Avenue (now Nevsky Prospekt) at the boarded-up showcase of the Eliseevsky Store (the official name is Grocery Store No. 1 Central).

On the boards are placed "Windows TASS", which first appeared in Leningrad in the windows of the grocery store on June 24, 1941.

35. Hero of the Soviet Union Captain Alexei Nikolaevich Katrich (1917 - 2004).

A.N. Katrich graduated from the Chuguev Military Aviation Pilot School in 1938. He served in the Air Force as a pilot of a fighter aviation regiment (in the Moscow Military District). Member of the Great Patriotic War: in June 1941 - June 1942 - pilot, deputy commander and commander of an air squadron of the 27th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Moscow Air Defense Zone). Participated in the defense of Moscow, the defense of the city and rear communications of the Western Front from enemy bomber raids. On August 11, 1941, in an air battle, a Dornier Do-215 reconnaissance aircraft of the enemy was shot down by a ram at an altitude of 9,000 meters, after which it landed safely at its airfield.

For courage and heroism shown in battles, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 28, 1941, Lieutenant Aleksey Nikolaevich Katrich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

In June 1942 - October 1943 Katrich was the commander of an air squadron of the 12th Guards Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. Fought as part of the Moscow and Western air defense fronts. Participated in the defense of Moscow and the rear communications of the Western Front from enemy bomber raids. In total, during the war he made 258 sorties on MiG-3, Yak-1 and Yak-9 fighters, in 27 air battles he personally shot down 5 and as part of a group of 9 enemy aircraft (M.Yu. Bykov in his studies indicates 5 personal and 7 group victories). In November 1943 - January 1946 - navigator of the 12th Guards Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment, until 1944 he was on combat duty in the air defense system of the city of Moscow.
Captain-Lieutenant Gurin commanded the destroyer "Gremyashchiy" on sea voyages to escort and guard convoys, raid operations on ports and enemy communications. Under his command, the destroyer completed 21 combat missions in 1941 and more than 30 in 1942. The crew of the destroyer carried out 6 artillery fires at the enemy troops on the coast, 4 minefields, participated in escorting 26 convoys, sank the German submarine U-585 (March 30, 1942, the Kildin Island area), together with a group of Soviet and British ships repulsed the attack of a group of German destroyers on the convoy guarded by them (one enemy destroyer was sunk in this battle), shot down 6 German aircraft.

In October 1942 A.I. Gurin was appointed commander of the 2nd division of the destroyer brigade of the Northern Fleet. From September 1944 to October 1945 he commanded the 1st division of the destroyers of the Northern Fleet squadron. During the Petsamo-Kirkines operation, he personally led the division in carrying out combat missions for artillery support of two amphibious assault forces and during the offensive of the forces of the Karelian Front along the coast of the Barents Sea. Captain 1st rank (09/01/1944).

Destroyer division under the command of Captain 1st Rank Gurin A.I. escorted allied convoys, performed tasks to support the positions of our troops, fired at bases and searched for enemy ships and convoys. By May 1945 A.I. Gurin made over 100 different combat exits to the sea, passed 79,370 nautical miles.

The title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal to Captain 1st Rank Gurin Anton Iosifovich was awarded by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 8, 1945.

38. A group of Red Army soldiers who died on June 29-30, 1941 during a battle with units of the German 29th Infantry Division near the village of Ozernitsa, north of the Zelva-Slonim highway. Location: Slonimsky district, Belarus, USSR. Shooting time: 29-30.06.1941.

A destroyed T-34 tank from the 6th mechanized corps is visible in the background. In this battle, the headquarters of the 6th mechanized corps was ambushed.

39. Sergeant Gavriil Ivanovich Zalozny (born in 1901, right) at the Maxim machine gun. Shooting time: 1941.

Gavriil Ivanovich Zalozny was drafted into the Red Army on June 26, 1941. Fought on the Western and Southwestern fronts. September 23, 1941 was shell-shocked and taken prisoner. Released in February 1944 and enrolled in the 230th reserve regiment, since July 1944 - commander of the Maxim machine gun crew of the 12th shock assault rifle battalion of the 1st shock assault rifle regiment of the 53rd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front . Then he served in the 310th Guards Rifle Regiment.

40. Sanitary instructor of the 369th separate battalion of the marine corps chief foreman E.I. Mikhailov near Kerch

Sanitary instructor of the 369th separate battalion of the marine corps of the Danube military flotilla chief foreman Ekaterina Illarionovna Mikhailova (Dyomina) (b. 1925).

In the Red Army since June 1941 (added two years to her 15 years). In the battles near Gzhatsk, she was seriously wounded in the leg. She was treated in hospitals in the Urals and in Baku. After recovering from January 1942, she served on the military hospital ship Krasnaya Moskva, which ferried the wounded from Stalingrad to Krasnovodsk. There she was awarded the rank of chief foreman, for exemplary service she was awarded the badge "Excellent Worker of the Navy". Among the volunteers, she was enrolled as a sanitary instructor in the 369th separate battalion of the Marine Corps. The battalion was part of the Azov and then the Danube military flotillas. With this battalion, which later received the honorary name "Kerch Red Banner", Mikhailova fought through the waters and shores of the Caucasus and Crimea, the Azov and Black Seas, the Dniester and the Danube, with a liberation mission - through the land of Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Austria. Together with the soldiers of the battalion, she entered the battle, repulsed enemy counterattacks, carried the wounded from the battlefield, and provided them with first aid. She was wounded three times.

On August 22, 1944, when crossing the Dniester estuary as part of the landing force, Chief Petty Officer E.I. Mikhailova was one of the first to reach the shore, rendered first aid to seventeen seriously wounded sailors, suppressed the fire of a heavy machine gun, threw grenades at the bunker and destroyed more than ten Nazis. December 4, 1944 E.I. Mikhailova, in a landing operation to capture the port of Prahovo and the fortress of Ilok (Yugoslavia), being wounded, continued to provide medical assistance to the soldiers and, saving their lives, exterminated 5 enemy soldiers from a machine gun. After recovery, she returned to duty. As part of the 369th Marine Battalion, she fought for the Imperial Bridge in the Austrian capital of Vienna. Here she celebrated the Victory on May 9, 1945.

E.I. Mikhailova is the only woman who served in the intelligence of the Marine Corps. She was awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, Orders of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees, medals, including the Medal for Courage and the Florence Nightingale Medal.

To the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, chief foreman E.I. Mikhailova was presented in August and December 1944, but the award did not take place.
By decree of the President of the USSR of May 5, 1990, Demina (Mikhailova) Ekaterina Illarionovna was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 11608).

22 JUNE 1941 OF THE YEAR - THE BEGINNING OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

On June 22, 1941, at 4 am, without declaring war, Nazi Germany and its allies attacked the Soviet Union. The beginning of the Great Patriotic War fell not just on Sunday. It was a church holiday of All Saints who shone in the Russian land.

Parts of the Red Army were attacked by German troops along the entire length of the border. Riga, Vindava, Libau, Siauliai, Kaunas, Vilnius, Grodno, Lida, Volkovysk, Brest, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovichi, Bobruisk, Zhytomyr, Kiev, Sevastopol and many other cities, railway junctions, airfields, naval bases of the USSR were bombed , artillery shelling of border fortifications and areas of deployment of Soviet troops near the border from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians was carried out. The Great Patriotic War began.

Then no one knew that it would go down in the history of mankind as the most bloody. No one guessed that the Soviet people would have to go through inhuman trials, go through and win. Rid the world of fascism, showing everyone that the spirit of a Red Army soldier cannot be broken by the invaders. No one could have imagined that the names of the hero cities would become known to the whole world, that Stalingrad would become a symbol of the resilience of our people, Leningrad a symbol of courage, Brest a symbol of courage. That, on a par with male warriors, old men, women and children will heroically defend the earth from the fascist plague.

1418 days and nights of war.

Over 26 million human lives...

These photographs have one thing in common: they were taken in the first hours and days of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

On the eve of the war

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.

German air raid

The first to take the blow were the border guards and the fighters of the cover units. They not only defended, but also went on the counterattack. For a whole month, the garrison of the Brest Fortress fought in the rear of the Germans. Even after the enemy managed to capture the fortress, some of its defenders continued to resist. The last of them was captured by the Germans in the summer of 1942.

The picture was taken on June 24, 1941.

During the first 8 hours of the war, Soviet aviation lost 1,200 aircraft, of which about 900 were lost on the ground (66 airfields were bombed). The Western Special Military District suffered the greatest losses - 738 aircraft (528 on the ground). Having learned about such losses, the head of the Air Force of the district, Major General Kopets I.I. shot himself.

On the morning of June 22, Moscow radio broadcast the usual Sunday programs and peaceful music. Soviet citizens learned about the beginning of the war only at noon, when Vyacheslav Molotov spoke on the radio. He reported: "Today, at 4 o'clock in the morning, without presenting any claims against the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country."

1941 poster

On the same day, a decree was published by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the mobilization of those liable for military service born in 1905-1918 on the territory of all military districts. Hundreds of thousands of men and women received summons, appeared at the military registration and enlistment offices, and then went to the front in trains.

The mobilization capabilities of the Soviet system, multiplied during the years of the Great Patriotic War by the patriotism and sacrifice of the people, played an important role in organizing a rebuff to the enemy, especially at the initial stage of the war. The call "Everything for the front, everything for victory!" was accepted by all the people. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens voluntarily went into the army. In just a week since the beginning of the war, more than 5 million people were mobilized.

The line between peace and war was invisible, and people did not immediately perceive the change of reality. It seemed to many that this was just some kind of masquerade, a misunderstanding, and soon everything would be resolved.

The fascist troops met stubborn resistance in the battles near Minsk, Smolensk, Vladimir-Volynsky, Przemysl, Lutsk, Dubno, Rovno, Mogilev and others.And yet, in the first three weeks of the war, the troops of the Red Army left Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, a significant part of Ukraine and Moldova. Minsk fell six days after the start of the war. The German army advanced in various directions from 350 to 600 km. The Red Army lost almost 800 thousand people.

The turning point in the perception of the war by the inhabitants of the Soviet Union, of course, was August 14. It was then that the whole country suddenly learned that The Germans occupied Smolensk . It really was a bolt from the blue. While the fighting was going on "somewhere out there, in the west," and cities flashed in the reports, the location of which many could imagine with great difficulty, it seemed that the war was still far away anyway. Smolensk is not just the name of the city, this word meant a lot. Firstly, it is already more than 400 km from the border, and secondly, only 360 km from Moscow. And thirdly, unlike Vilna, Grodno and Molodechno, Smolensk is an ancient purely Russian city.

The stubborn resistance of the Red Army in the summer of 1941 frustrated Hitler's plans. The Nazis failed to quickly take either Moscow or Leningrad, and in September the long defense of Leningrad began. In the Arctic, Soviet troops, in cooperation with the Northern Fleet, defended Murmansk and the main base of the fleet - Polyarny. Although in Ukraine in October-November the enemy captured the Donbass, captured Rostov, and broke into the Crimea, nevertheless, here, too, his troops were fettered by the defense of Sevastopol. The formations of the Army Group "South" could not reach the rear of the Soviet troops remaining in the lower reaches of the Don through the Kerch Strait.

Minsk 1941. Execution of Soviet prisoners of war

September 30th within Operation Typhoon the Germans started general attack on Moscow . Its beginning was unfavorable for the Soviet troops. Pali Bryansk and Vyazma. On October 10, G.K. was appointed commander of the Western Front. Zhukov. On October 19, Moscow was declared under a state of siege. In bloody battles, the Red Army still managed to stop the enemy. Having strengthened the Army Group Center, the German command resumed the attack on Moscow in mid-November. Overcoming the resistance of the Western, Kalinin and right wing of the South-Western fronts, the enemy strike groups bypassed the city from the north and south and by the end of the month reached the Moscow-Volga canal (25-30 km from the capital), approached Kashira. On this, the German offensive bogged down. The bloodless Army Group Center was forced to go on the defensive, which was also facilitated by the successful offensive operations of the Soviet troops near Tikhvin (November 10 - December 30) and Rostov (November 17 - December 2). On December 6, the counteroffensive of the Red Army began. , as a result of which the enemy was driven back from Moscow by 100 - 250 km. Kaluga, Kalinin (Tver), Maloyaroslavets and others were liberated.

On guard of the Moscow sky. Autumn 1941

The victory near Moscow was of great strategic and moral-political significance, since it was the first since the beginning of the war. The immediate threat to Moscow was eliminated.

Although, as a result of the summer-autumn campaign, our army retreated 850-1200 km inland, and the most important economic regions fell into the hands of the aggressor, the plans for the "blitzkrieg" were nevertheless frustrated. The Nazi leadership faced the inevitable prospect of a protracted war. The victory near Moscow also changed the balance of power in the international arena. They began to look at the Soviet Union as the decisive factor in the Second World War. Japan was forced to refrain from attacking the USSR.

In winter, units of the Red Army carried out an offensive on other fronts. However, it was not possible to consolidate the success, primarily because of the dispersal of forces and means along a front of enormous length.

During the offensive of the German troops in May 1942, the Crimean Front was defeated on the Kerch Peninsula in 10 days. May 15 had to leave Kerch, and July 4, 1942 after a hard defense fell Sevastopol. The enemy completely took possession of the Crimea. In July - August, Rostov, Stavropol and Novorossiysk were captured. Stubborn battles were fought in the central part of the Caucasus Range.

Hundreds of thousands of our compatriots found themselves in more than 14 thousand concentration camps, prisons, ghettos scattered throughout Europe. Dispassionate figures testify to the scale of the tragedy: only on the territory of Russia, the fascist invaders shot, choked in gas chambers, burned, and hanged 1.7 million. people (including 600 thousand children). In total, about 5 million Soviet citizens died in concentration camps.

But, despite the stubborn battles, the Nazis failed to solve their main task - to break through into the Transcaucasus to master the oil reserves of Baku. At the end of September, the offensive of the fascist troops in the Caucasus was stopped.

To contain the enemy onslaught in the east, the Stalingrad Front was created under the command of Marshal S.K. Timoshenko. On July 17, 1942, the enemy under the command of General von Paulus delivered a powerful blow on the Stalingrad front. In August, the Nazis broke through to the Volga in stubborn battles. From the beginning of September 1942, the heroic defense of Stalingrad began. The battles went on literally for every inch of land, for every house. Both sides suffered huge losses. By mid-November, the Nazis were forced to stop the offensive. The heroic resistance of the Soviet troops made it possible to create favorable conditions for them to launch a counteroffensive near Stalingrad and thereby initiate a radical change in the course of the war.

By November 1942, almost 40% of the population was under German occupation. The regions captured by the Germans were subject to military and civil administration. In Germany, even a special ministry for the affairs of the occupied regions was created, headed by A. Rosenberg. Political supervision was in charge of the SS and police services. On the ground, the occupiers formed the so-called self-government - city and district councils, in the villages the posts of elders were introduced. Persons dissatisfied with the Soviet government were involved in cooperation. All residents of the occupied territories, regardless of age, were required to work. In addition to participating in the construction of roads and defensive structures, they were forced to clear minefields. The civilian population, mostly young people, was also sent to forced labor in Germany, where they were called "Ostarbeiter" and used as cheap labor. In total, 6 million people were hijacked during the war years. From hunger and epidemics in the occupied territory, more than 6.5 million people were destroyed, more than 11 million Soviet citizens were shot in camps and at their places of residence.

November 19, 1942 Soviet troops moved into counteroffensive at Stalingrad (Operation Uranus). The forces of the Red Army surrounded 22 divisions and 160 separate units of the Wehrmacht (about 330 thousand people). The Nazi command formed the Don Army Group, consisting of 30 divisions, and tried to break through the encirclement. However, this attempt was not successful. In December, our troops, having defeated this grouping, launched an offensive against Rostov (Operation Saturn). By the beginning of February 1943, our troops liquidated the grouping of fascist troops caught in the ring. 91 thousand people were taken prisoner, led by the commander of the 6th German Army, Field Marshal von Paulus. Behind 6.5 months of the Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943) Germany and its allies lost up to 1.5 million people, as well as a huge amount of equipment. The military power of fascist Germany was significantly undermined.

The defeat at Stalingrad caused a deep political crisis in Germany. It was declared three days of mourning. The morale of the German soldiers fell, defeatist sentiments swept over the general population, which less and less believed the Fuhrer.

The victory of the Soviet troops near Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical turning point in the course of World War II. The strategic initiative finally passed into the hands of the Soviet Armed Forces.

In January-February 1943, the Red Army was conducting an offensive on all fronts. In the Caucasian direction, Soviet troops advanced by the summer of 1943 by 500-600 km. In January 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was broken.

The command of the Wehrmacht planned summer 1943 conduct a major strategic offensive operation in the area of ​​the Kursk salient (Operation Citadel) , defeat the Soviet troops here, and then strike at the rear of the Southwestern Front (Operation Panther) and subsequently, building on success, again create a threat to Moscow. To this end, up to 50 divisions were concentrated in the area of ​​the Kursk Bulge, including 19 tank and motorized divisions, and other units - a total of over 900 thousand people. This grouping was opposed by the troops of the Central and Voronezh fronts, which had 1.3 million people. During the Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle of the Second World War took place.

On July 5, 1943, a massive offensive of the Soviet troops began. Within 5 - 7 days, our troops, stubbornly defending themselves, stopped the enemy, who had penetrated 10 - 35 km beyond the front line, and launched a counteroffensive. It started July 12 near Prokhorovka , Where the largest oncoming tank battle in the history of wars (with the participation of up to 1,200 tanks on both sides) took place. In August 1943, our troops captured Orel and Belgorod. In honor of this victory in Moscow, a salute was fired for the first time with 12 artillery volleys. Continuing the offensive, our troops inflicted a crushing defeat on the Nazis.

In September, Left-bank Ukraine and Donbass were liberated. On November 6, formations of the 1st Ukrainian Front entered Kyiv.

Having thrown the enemy back 200-300 km from Moscow, the Soviet troops set about liberating Belarus. From that moment on, our command held the strategic initiative until the end of the war. From November 1942 to December 1943, the Soviet Army advanced 500-1300 km westward, freeing about 50% of the territory occupied by the enemy. 218 enemy divisions were destroyed. During this period, partisan formations inflicted great damage on the enemy, in the ranks of which up to 250 thousand people fought.

Significant successes of the Soviet troops in 1943 intensified diplomatic and military-political cooperation between the USSR, the USA and Great Britain. On November 28 - December 1, 1943, the Tehran Conference of the "Big Three" was held with the participation of I. Stalin (USSR), W. Churchill (Great Britain) and F. Roosevelt (USA). The leaders of the leading powers of the anti-Hitler coalition determined the timing of the opening of a second front in Europe (the landing operation "Overlord" was scheduled for May 1944).

Tehran Conference of the "Big Three" with the participation of I. Stalin (USSR), W. Churchill (Great Britain) and F. Roosevelt (USA).

In the spring of 1944 Crimea was cleared of the enemy.

Under these favorable conditions, the Western Allies, after two years of preparation, opened a second front in Europe in northern France. June 6, 1944 the combined Anglo-American forces (General D. Eisenhower), numbering over 2.8 million people, up to 11 thousand combat aircraft, over 12 thousand combat and 41 thousand transport ships, having crossed the English Channel and the Pas de Calais, started the biggest war in years landing Norman operation ("Overlord") and entered Paris in August.

Continuing to develop the strategic initiative, in the summer of 1944, Soviet troops launched a powerful offensive in Karelia (June 10 - August 9), Belarus (June 23 - August 29), in Western Ukraine (July 13 - August 29) and in Moldova (June 20 - 29 August).

During Belarusian operation (code name "Bagration") Army Group Center was defeated, Soviet troops liberated Belarus, Latvia, part of Lithuania, eastern Poland and reached the border with East Prussia.

The victories of the Soviet troops in the southern direction in the autumn of 1944 helped the Bulgarian, Hungarian, Yugoslav and Czechoslovak peoples in their liberation from fascism.

As a result of the hostilities of 1944, the state border of the USSR, treacherously violated by Germany in June 1941, was restored along its entire length from the Barents to the Black Sea. The Nazis were expelled from Romania, Bulgaria, from most regions of Poland and Hungary. In these countries, pro-German regimes were overthrown, and patriotic forces came to power. The Soviet Army entered the territory of Czechoslovakia.

While the block of fascist states was falling apart, the anti-Hitler coalition was growing stronger, as evidenced by the success of the Crimean (Yalta) conference of the leaders of the USSR, the United States and Great Britain (from February 4 to 11, 1945).

But still the decisive role in defeating the enemy at the final stage was played by the Soviet Union. Thanks to the titanic efforts of all the people, the technical equipment and armament of the army and navy of the USSR reached the highest level by the beginning of 1945. In January - early April 1945, as a result of a powerful strategic offensive on the entire Soviet-German front, the Soviet Army decisively defeated the main enemy forces with the forces of ten fronts. During the East Prussian, Vistula-Oder, West Carpathian and the completion of the Budapest operations, Soviet troops created the conditions for further strikes in Pomerania and Silesia, and then for an attack on Berlin. Almost all of Poland and Czechoslovakia, the entire territory of Hungary were liberated.

The capture of the capital of the Third Reich and the final defeat of fascism was carried out during Berlin operation (April 16 - May 8, 1945).

April 30 in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery Hitler committed suicide .

On the morning of May 1, over the Reichstag, sergeants M.A. Egorov and M.V. Kantaria was hoisted the Red Banner as a symbol of the Victory of the Soviet people. On May 2, Soviet troops completely captured the city. The attempts of the new German government, which on May 1, 1945, after the suicide of A. Hitler, was headed by Grand Admiral K. Doenitz, to achieve a separate peace with the USA and Great Britain failed.

May 9, 1945 at 0043 In the Berlin suburb of Karlshorst, the Act of Unconditional Surrender of the Armed Forces of Nazi Germany was signed. On behalf of the Soviet side, this historical document was signed by the hero of the war, Marshal G.K. Zhukov, from Germany - Field Marshal Keitel. On the same day, the remnants of the last large enemy grouping on the territory of Czechoslovakia in the Prague region were defeated. City Liberation Day - May 9 - became the Day of Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. The news of the Victory spread like lightning all over the world. The Soviet people, who suffered the greatest losses, greeted her with popular rejoicing. Truly, it was a great holiday "with tears in the eyes."

In Moscow, on Victory Day, a festive salute was fired from a thousand guns.

Great Patriotic War 1941-1945

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

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

§4. 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 Kiev).
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 .