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

“The advisor to the German ambassador, Hilger, shed tears when he handed over the note.”

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

“Immediately members of the Politburo gathered at Stalin’s. We decided that we should make a radio appearance in connection with the outbreak of the war. Of course, they suggested that Stalin do this. 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:

“At night we gathered at Stalin’s when Molotov received Schulenburg. Stalin gave each of us a task—me for transport, 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, the secretary of the Moscow Party Committee, Shcherbakov, and I were summoned to the Kremlin. We had barely sat down when, turning to us, Stalin said: “According to intelligence and defectors, German troops intend to attack our borders tonight. Apparently, a war is starting. Do you have everything ready in urban air defense? Report!" At about 3 o'clock in the morning we were released. About 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,” said the person who greeted us, “and instructed us to convey: the war has begun and we need to be on the spot.”

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

Georgy Zhukov, Army General:

“At 4:30 a.m. S.K. Timoshenko and I arrived at the Kremlin. All the summoned members of the Politburo were already assembled. The People's Commissar and I were invited into the office.

I.V. Stalin was pale and sat at the table, holding an unfilled tobacco pipe in his hands.

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

“Isn’t this a provocation of the German generals?”

“The Germans are bombing our cities in Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states. What a provocation this is...” replied S.K. Timoshenko.

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

"The German government has declared war on us."

JV Stalin silently sat down on a chair and thought deeply.

There was a long, painful pause.”

Alexander Vasilevsky,Major General:

“At 4:00 a.m. we learned from the operational authorities of the district headquarters about the bombing of our airfields and cities by German aviation.”

Konstantin Rokossovsky,Lieutenant General:

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

Ivan Bagramyan, Colonel:

“...The first strike of German aviation, although it was unexpected for the troops, did not at all cause panic. In a difficult situation, when everything that could burn was engulfed in flames, when barracks, residential buildings, warehouses were collapsing before our eyes, communications were interrupted, the commanders made every effort to maintain leadership of the troops. They firmly followed the combat instructions that became known to them after opening the packages they kept.”

Semyon Budyonny, Marshal:

“At 4:01 on June 22, 1941, Comrade Timoshenko called me and said that the Germans were bombing Sevastopol and should I report this to Comrade Stalin? I told him that I needed to report immediately, but he said: “You’re calling!” I immediately called and reported not only about Sevastopol, but also about Riga, which the Germans were also bombing. Comrade Stalin asked: “Where is the People’s Commissar?” I answered: “Here next to me” (I was already in the People’s Commissar’s office). Comrade Stalin ordered the phone to be handed over to him...

Thus began the war!”

• RIA News

Joseph Geibo, deputy regiment commander of the 46th IAP, Western Military District:

“...I felt a chill in my chest. In front of me are four twin-engine bombers with black crosses on the wings. I even bit my lip. But these are “Junkers”! German Ju-88 bombers! What to do?.. Another thought arose: “Today is Sunday, and the Germans don’t have training flights on Sundays.” So it's 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 attacked our airfields. Our planes did not even have time to change their 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 Forces:

“On June 22, our regiment stopped to rest in the forest. Suddenly we saw planes flying, the commander announced a drill, but suddenly the planes started bombing us. We realized that a war had begun. Here in the forest at 12 o’clock in the afternoon we listened to Comrade Molotov’s speech on the radio and on the same day at noon we received Chernyakhovsky’s first combat order for the division to move forward, towards Siauliai.”

Yakov Boyko, lieutenant:

“Today, that is. 06/22/41, day off. While I was writing a letter to you, I suddenly heard on the radio that the brutal Nazi fascism was bombing our cities... But this will cost them dearly, and Hitler will no longer live in Berlin... I have only one thing in my soul right now hatred and 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. It broke through the roof. I was stunned. I saw the wounded and killed and realized: this is no longer a training exercise, but a war. Most of the soldiers in our barracks died in the first seconds. I followed the adults and rushed to arms, but they didn’t give me a rifle. Then I, along with one of the Red Army soldiers, rushed to put out the fire at the clothing warehouse.”

Timofey Dombrovsky, Red Army machine gunner:

“Planes poured fire on us from above, artillery - mortars, heavy and light guns - below, on the ground, all at once! We lay down on the bank 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 are over the city,” they call from Kaunas: “The city is burning, why aren’t you broadcasting anything on the radio?”, “Enemy planes are over Kiev.” A woman’s crying, excitement: “Is it really war?”.. And then I remember - I turned on the microphone. In all cases, I remember that I was worried only internally, only internally worried. But here, when I uttered the words “Moscow speaks,” I feel that I can’t speak further - there’s a lump stuck in my throat. They’re already knocking from the control room: “Why are you silent? Continue!” He clenched his fists and continued: “Citizens and women of the Soviet Union...”

Georgy Knyazev, director of the Archive of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Leningrad:

V.M. Molotov’s speech about the attack on the Soviet Union by Germany was broadcast on the radio. The war began at 4 1/2 o'clock in the morning with an attack by German aircraft on Vitebsk, Kovno, Zhitomir, Kyiv, and Sevastopol. There are dead. Soviet troops were given the order to repel the enemy and 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!

Nikolai Mordvinov, actor:

“Makarenko’s rehearsal was going on... Anorov bursts in without permission... and in an alarming, dull voice announces: “War against fascism, comrades!”

So, the most terrible front has opened!

Woe! Woe!”

Marina Tsvetaeva, poet:

Nikolai Punin, art historian:

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

Konstantin Simonov, poet:

“I learned that the war had already begun only at two o’clock in the afternoon. The entire morning of June 22, he wrote poetry and did not answer the phone. And when I approached, the first thing I 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 entire being that the next day, the 23rd (the 22nd was Sunday), I sent a registered letter to Bogomolov [the Soviet ambassador to France], asking him send me to Russia to enlist in the army, at least as a private.”

Citizens of the USSR

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

Lidia Shablova:

“We were tearing up shingles in the yard to cover the roof. The kitchen window was open and we heard the radio announce that war had begun. The father froze. His hands gave up: “Apparently we won’t finish the roof anymore...”.

Anastasia Nikitina-Arshinova:

“Early in the morning, the children and I were awakened by a terrible roar. Shells and bombs exploded, shrapnel screamed. I grabbed the children and ran out into the street barefoot. We barely had time to grab some clothes with us. There was horror on the street. Above the fortress (Brest) Planes were circling and dropping bombs on us. Women and children rushed around in 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 Arbat, in Bolshoy Afanasyevsky Lane. There was no sun that day, the sky was overcast. I was walking in the yard with the boys, we were kicking a rag ball. And then my mother jumped out of the entrance in one slip, barefoot, running and shouting: “Home! Tolya, go home immediately! War!"

Nina Shinkareva:

“We lived in a village in the Smolensk region. That day, mom went to a neighboring village to get eggs and butter, and when she returned, dad and other men had already gone to war. On the same day, residents began to be evacuated. A big car arrived, and my mother put all the clothes on my sister and me, so that in winter we would also have something to wear.”

Anatoly Vokrosh:

“We lived in the village of Pokrov, Moscow region. That day, the guys and I were going to the river to catch crucian carp. My mother caught me on the street and told me to eat first. I went into 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 with the boys to the river. We ran around in the bushes, shouting: “The war has begun! Hooray! We will defeat everyone! We absolutely did not understand what this all meant. The adults discussed the news, but I don’t remember there was panic or fear in the village. The villagers were doing their usual things, and on this day and in the following cities, summer residents came.”

Boris Vlasov:

“In June 1941, I arrived in Orel, where I was assigned immediately after graduating from the Hydrometeorological Institute. On the night of June 22, I spent the night in a hotel, since I had not yet managed to transport my things to the allocated apartment. In the morning I heard some fuss and commotion, but I slept through the alarm. The radio announced that an important government message would be broadcast at 12 o'clock. Then I realized that I had slept through not a training alarm, but a combat alarm—the war had begun.”

Alexandra Komarnitskaya:

“I was vacationing in a children’s camp near Moscow. There the camp leadership announced to us that war with Germany had begun. Everyone—the counselors and the children—started crying.”

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 crowding there. I wasn’t upset, on the contrary, I was proud: my father will defend the Motherland... In general, people were not afraid. Yes, the women, of course, were upset and cried. But there was no panic. Everyone was confident that we would quickly defeat the Germans. The men said: “Yes, the Germans will flee from us!”

Nikolay Chebykin:

“June 22 was Sunday. Such a sunny day! And my father and I were digging a potato cellar with shovels. About twelve o'clock. About five minutes before, my sister Shura opens the window and says: “They are broadcasting on the radio: “A very important government message will now be transmitted!” Well, we put down our shovels and went to listen. It was Molotov who spoke. And he said that German troops treacherously attacked our country without declaring war. We crossed the state border. The Red Army is fighting hard. And he ended with the words: “Our cause is just! 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 a.m., I went to the group’s command post and climbed to the observation tower south of Bogukala. At 3:15 a.m. our artillery preparation began. At 3:40 a.m. - the first raid of our dive bombers. At 4:15 a.m. the forward units of the 17th and 18th tank divisions began crossing the Bug. At 6:50 a.m. near Kolodno I crossed the Bug in an assault boat.”

“On June 22, at three hours and minutes, four corps of a 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 went completely according to plan.”

Manstein:

“Already on this first day we had to become familiar 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, he was cut out and brutally mutilated. My adjutant and I traveled a lot to 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 when surrounded, the Russians steadfastly defended themselves.”

German soldiers and officers

• www.nationaalarchief.nl.

Erich Mende, Chief Lieutenant:

“My commander was twice my age, and he had already fought with the Russians near Narva in 1917, when he was a lieutenant. “Here, in these vast 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 our men shot himself with his own weapon. Clutching the rifle between his knees, he inserted the barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. This is how the war and all the horrors associated with it ended for him.”

Alfred Durwanger, Lieutenant:

“When we entered the first battle with the Russians, they clearly did not expect us, but they could not be called unprepared either. Enthusiasm (we have) there was no sign of it! Rather, everyone was overcome by a sense of the enormity of the upcoming campaign. And the question immediately arose: where, near what 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 on us. That’s how my baptism of fire happened - a strange feeling.”

Helmut Pabst, non-commissioned officer

“The offensive continues. We are constantly moving forward through enemy territory, and 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, shelled fighters who had seen a lot: positions abandoned by the enemy, damaged and burned tanks and vehicles, the first prisoners, the first killed Russians.”

Rudolf Gschöpf, chaplain:

“This artillery barrage, gigantic in its 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 could be called a special race. Already the first attack turned into a battle for life and death.”

Myths about the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, despite the serious time gap between the tragic date of June 22, 1941 and truth-seeking modernity, continue to live. In the first hours of the war, Stalin locked himself in the Near Dacha and drank uncontrollably. Sorge's "telegrams" were falsified. Before the war, there was a “fifth column” in the country’s leadership... Are there documents that can refute or confirm myths? The answer to these questions was offered to RG journalists in the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History. The first to speak about the beginning of the war was the director of RGASPI, Andrei Sorokin.

Andrey Sorokin: Myths appear when historians or publicists cannot avoid the temptation to work selectively with historical documents. History with this approach takes on a very distorted appearance. And the archive is the doctor of this distorted historical memory. However, we see from the document use sheets that society is not very interested in historical sources. Take a look, for example, at this folder from Zhdanov’s personal collection, which directly relates to the much-talked-about topic of the Siege of Leningrad. And here you go, the usage sheet. Only entry: January 28, 2014. And that was done by your humble servant. And the documents were declassified 16 years ago.

Meanwhile, inside is an unknown project for the construction of a railway on the ice of Lake Ladoga, an analytical note on the struggle for communications during the blockade with statistical tables, with maps, diagrams and forecasts of freezing of the lake made by specialists of the Baltic Fleet. And besides Zhdanov, seventy years ago no one touched these documents!

There is a version that Stalin was so shocked by the start of the war that he did not lead the state for several days, locked himself in the Blizhnaya dacha in Kuntsevo and drank. Do archival sources confirm it?

Yuri Sigachev, chief specialist of RGASPI: Here is a document - an excerpt for June 21-28, 1941 from the Notebooks (journals) of records of persons received by Stalin in the Kremlin. It has long been clear to serious historians: Khrushchev’s version that Stalin was in shock for a week or a month (Nikita Sergeevich called this period differently) does not stand up to criticism.

Here is a folder in which all visits from July 27, 1940 to October 14, 1941 are neatly recorded. This is a complete array of records of Stalin's duty secretaries.

But there is no smoke without fire. After the capture of Minsk by the Wehrmacht, on June 28, Stalin, along with Molotov and Mikoyan at the General Staff, scolded Zhukov for not having contact with the troops. And the leader throws out (known from Mikoyan’s memoirs): “Lenin left us such a state, but we pro...lied it.” Then he slams the car door in anger and drives off to the Near Dacha.

So, we can say with certainty that Joseph Vissarionovich did not lead the country for about a day and a half.

Andrei Sorokin introduced RG journalists to the journals of the persons received by Stalin in the Kremlin on June 22, 1941. Photo: Olesya Kurpyaeva/RG

When it was? When was the country left without a head?

Yuri Sigachev: One and a half days - June 29 and 30. The owner, as his comrades called him, did not call anyone to his place. And on the 30th, on the initiative of Molotov and Beria, members of the Politburo went to the Near Dacha and there, as Mikoyan writes, they found Stalin at a loss. According to Mikoyan, the leader decided that they wanted to remove him. Which, however, is unlikely: Molotov was subordinated to the steely will of the future leader back in 1917, during the days of the October Revolution, and everyone else was in Stalin’s fist.

On this day, the State Defense Committee is created at the dacha. Here is the original document. Judging by it, the situation was as follows. The Owner, gathering his strength, demanded the necessary text from the “regular clerk” Malenkov. He sat down at the edge of the dining table and began scribbling in a notebook with a red pencil. Then they began to discuss what had been written and make amendments. They decided to indicate that the decree should be signed not only by Stalin on behalf of the Central Committee and the Council of People's Commissars - it should also be signed for the absent decorative president of the country, Kalinin. The place where the document was adopted, of course, was the Kremlin. We decided to admit that a state of emergency had developed. They noted that the enemy's attack was treacherous. Malenkov immediately made these and other minor corrections into the text with a simple pencil. Stalin also had a hand: he inserted the words “all citizens” into the third paragraph, and instead of the word “economic” he wrote “Komsomol.” Also indicative is Molotov’s edit, who replaces the word “country” with a blue pencil with the word “motherland”.

Photo: Olesya Kurpyaeva/RG

Andrey Sorokin: You look at these unpresentable pages with extremely important text and understand whether the country was ready for war or not. As the head of a government agency, I keep in my safe a number of guidelines and instructions that must be followed in the event of various types of emergencies. It is quite obvious, when we hold a document in our hands, hastily written by hand, that the senior management did not have such instructions, such an “operation manual” in the event of the outbreak of hostilities.

Yuri Sigachev: The creation of GKO, the decision about which was written down literally on the knee, was the result of a day and a half shock. Malenkov sketched this text somewhere on the corner of the table in the small dining room of the nearby dacha. All this happened without stenographers or assistants. Most likely, Malenkov then dictated the resolution to the editorial office of Pravda over the phone. No wonder Molotov said about him that “Malenkov is our telephone operator.” The typewritten version was clearly made later. The next copy was a text about the creation of the State Defense Committee in the newspaper Pravda.

A fragment of a written conversation between the leader and the commander of one of the divisions. The telegraph operator, who was supposed to convey this remark, read: “Yesterday you deceived me twice about the bridge at the Svir station. Tell me, finally, who has the bridge now - the enemy or us? Do you want to eliminate the enemy at the bridge or do you prefer to leave it to the enemy? Who are you, finally, a friend of the Soviet regime or an enemy? Stalin." Photo: Olesya Kurpyaeva/RG

While we are talking about “shock” a week later, after “at four o’clock in the morning, treacherously, without a declaration of war...”. What did management do on June 22? Why did Molotov speak on the radio and not the “first person”?

Yuri Sigachev: One version is that Stalin’s laryngitis worsened, so he could not perform. But this is a completely different story, it should not be confused with the “shock” after the surrender of Minsk.

On June 22 at 3.15 Zhukov called the Near Dacha in Kuntsevo and reported that the bombing had begun. Stalin gave the command to Poskrebyshev to assemble not only a narrow composition of the Politburo from those who were in Moscow, but also the military. And they gathered in the leader’s Kremlin office. This is clearly recorded in the Notebooks (journals) of records of persons accepted by Stalin.

Andrey Sorokin: At 5.45 in the duty officer’s diary we see the first entry that a number of comrades are entering Stalin’s Kremlin office. These are Molotov, Beria, Timoshenko, Mehlis, Zhukov. Molotov left at 12.05, Beria at 9.20. Timoshenko, the People's Commissar of Defense, left at 8.30 along with Mehlis and Zhukov. Malenkov comes in later, at 7.30. The entire list on June 22 consists of 29 visitors, some of whom come to Stalin’s office several times. These are Molotov, and Beria, and Zhukov, and Mikoyan, and Kaganovich, and Vyshinsky, and the People's Commissar of the Navy Kuznetsov.

The last entry, number 29, indicates that Beria entered Stalin at 16.25 and left 20 minutes later.

Then Stalin allowed himself to rest for a while. He rests for half a day. The following entry is dated June 23rd. At 3.20 in the morning Molotov and Voroshilov came to him, five minutes later Beria and others.

That is, the country's leadership was almost in panic... And yet, with what degree of confidence can we say that the attack on the Soviet Union was a surprise for us? Are there “Sorge telegrams” in the archives, where the intelligence officer gives the exact date of the start of the war?

Yuri Sigachev: They are stored in RGASPI. By the way, along with Stalin’s famous resolution to Merkulov’s report: “Shouldn’t we send your source to the f... mother!” The fact is that Stalin received information through different channels: through diplomatic, military intelligence, and the NKVD...

Andrey Sorokin: This resolution was imposed on the most precise of all the warnings that Stalin received regarding the outbreak of war. But you need to see the context. The top leadership of the USSR receives many signals, which name different dates for the start of the war. Some of them had already expired by June 22. Of course, in a certain sense, Stalin was disoriented. But if so many signals indicate that hostilities are about to begin within a fairly short period of time, in my opinion, it is the duty of any leader to take some preventive steps. But we see that these steps were not taken. Someone undertakes something at their own peril and risk. For example, the People's Commissar of the Navy Kuznetsov puts parts of the Baltic and Black Sea fleets on alert with his own decision, despite the fact that he has direct orders from Stalin not to do this, to avoid provocations, not to move...

Here are interesting documents that shed light on the state of government at the beginning of the war. For example, putting up ticker tape. In the documents of the Council of People's Commissars and Lenin's personal fund during the civil war, we will see exactly the same. These are recordings of direct wire conversations between the commander-in-chief and front commanders. They communicate by telegraph, not by telephone or radio. You can imagine how efficient such communication is! Look: Stalin’s note, which then turns into text, and the telegraph operator works with it. Then the leader passes the note to his assistant. He, probably Poskrebyshev, calls the officer on duty, the officer on duty runs to the telegraph operator, the telegraph operator sends it and patiently waits for an answer... And so the Supreme Commander-in-Chief “talks” not only with the commanders of the fronts, but also with the armies and divisions. Without adequate results from conversations with the high command, Stalin is forced to descend to the level of tactical formations. And this also characterizes the state of troop control and the degree of disorganization.

Or another example. Stalin talks with the commander of the military group to break the blockade and informs him that Moscow has decided to reassign it. The army commander replies: “...I have very poor communication with Leningrad... It would be better if the General Staff coordinated our actions.” Stalin: “But the General Staff has less connection with the Lening Front than you.” And this also relates to the question of the level of preparation for war and the state of technical means of communication, about the depth of the abyss on the edge of which our country found itself in the fall of 1941. There are a lot of documents that depict such an extremely difficult situation. Including those relating to discipline in the ranks of the Red Army. We must remember the four million Soviet prisoners of war in the first period of the war, reports of surrender, and numerous violations of military discipline. In the documents relating to the defense of Leningrad, I found a wonderful report from the second secretary of the regional committee, sent by Zhdanov to inspect one of the sectors of the front. It reports: the rifle division (number such and such), without an order, “on the night of the 20th to 21st, withdrew to the deep rear... 70 km from the front line... this is a record that history does not know... an investigation is underway ". But, for example, in Molotov’s personal collection we find a translation of a draft report by the commander of the 2nd Tank Army of the Wehrmacht, Colonel General Guderian, with a “brief assessment of the Russian armed forces”, “the combat capability of the Russian army”. The characteristics of the top and middle command personnel are overwhelmingly positive: “In terms of personal qualities, almost always brave...”, he speaks worse about the lower command personnel. His assessments relate to both moral-volitional qualities and tactical and operational skills, capabilities, and abilities. Highly appreciating the ability and readiness of the Russians to resist, he specially notes the Russian infantry: “Almost always stubborn in defense, skilled in night and forest battles, trained in insidious fighting techniques, very skillful in using terrain, camouflage and building field fortifications, unpretentious...

On the eve of the war, there were rumors about a certain “fifth column” in the country’s leadership, about sabotage and betrayal in the army...

Yuri Sigachev: When you read the documents of the NKVD, you need to understand where there are military-fascist conspiracies constructed by the department’s employees, and where the truth is. Both before the war and during the war until 1943, they continued to arrest people based on testimony from 1937-38. On May 15, 1941, a Junkers transport vehicle crossed the border, but our air defense did not respond. The head of the air defense department, Stern, the deputy people's commissar of defense, Rychagov, and many others were arrested. On June 24, the wife of Hero of the Soviet Union Pavel Rychagov, the famous pilot Maria Nesterenko, was arrested. Right at the airport...

Andrey Sorokin: Complementing this picture, let us remember that on June 23, according to the testimony of military personnel who were repressed back in 1937-1938. Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Kirill Meretskov was arrested on charges of conspiracy and espionage. And then, as we know, he was released and ended the war with the rank of marshal. Here is an interesting folder from Stalin’s personal fund. And in it is a document marked “important” in characteristic Stalinist handwriting. What does he think is important? Top secret certificate with a list of arrested generals. This is a multi-page list. Well, for example: “Fyodor Sergeevich Ivanov, lieutenant general. He admitted that, being dissatisfied with his removal from a command post, he began to conduct anti-Soviet agitation among his circle...” Which one? “That the failures of the Red Army are the result of the allegedly incorrect policy of the party and the Soviet government on issues of national defense and collectivization of agriculture. He expressed anti-Soviet views and slandered.”

And further. Shirmacher Alexander Genrikhovich, Major General. Gapich Nikolai Ivanovich, major general, former head of the Red Army Communications Directorate. Alekseev Ivan Ivanovich, Major General. Potaturchev Andrey Gerasimovich, Major General, Samoilov Konstantin Ivanovich, Rear Admiral, former head of naval educational institutions of the Navy, etc. The issue of the “fifth column” and all kinds of spies is not only important, it is one of the key ones. Even if we agree with the premise of some of the most active propagandists of the idea that a “fifth column” existed and had to be destroyed, we must admit that the efforts of the top leadership in this regard were ineffective.

Do you mean collaboration?

Andrey Sorokin: In terms of its scale, our country was not very different from other European countries...

Historians give the figure - about a million people

Andrey Sorokin: This figure requires verification, since serious study of this phenomenon is just beginning. It is necessary to distinguish between passive and active collaboration. It is difficult to blame 70 million people who found themselves in occupied territory against their will for collaborating, albeit indirectly, with the occupiers. Although, if the peasants continue to plow, sow, and harvest their crops, the occupation authorities alienate them for their benefit. Is it possible to say that they are working for the enemy? Even if under duress. Another thing is policemen, members of the Russian Liberation Army or OUN-UPA in Ukraine or similar formations in the Baltic states.

The advance of the Wehrmacht and the retreat of the Red Army was so rapid that they did not have time to organize the evacuation. For example, materials on the Leningrad siege testify to the sluggishness of the city’s leadership. Back in August 1941, Stalin asked Zhdanov: “Why don’t you evacuate the population?” In mid-January 1942, Mikoyan wrote to the main person in Leningrad: “...vehicles going for food... are little used for evacuating... the population. It is necessary to strengthen the evacuation in order to relieve Leningrad of excess eaters.” Only after this does active evacuation begin - in the twenties of January, when the hungry November, December, January have already passed...

And Leningrad was not the only city where people were starving...

Andrey Sorokin: Food cards have existed in the country since July 1941. From Mikoyan's correspondence with Stalin we learn about famine in the army. The Main Quartermaster Directorate of the Red Army urgently resolves the issue of providing food to military units and hospitals located in the Kirov region; in the same January 1942, a critical situation developed with food and fodder on the Karelian and Kalinin fronts, where “there are cases of death from exhaustion ". I was holding in my hands a letter from the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Estonia, who complains to the center about the state of food in the Estonian rifle division: “People are very exhausted, there is nothing to feed...”.

You own the terrible truth about the war. It’s not easy to go to the 70th anniversary of the Victory with such a burden and remain a patriot...

Andrey Sorokin: In my opinion, patriotism does not in any way contradict knowledge of the difficult and difficult pages of the history of one’s country. Moreover, normal, real, practically effective patriotism can only be like this. If we do not know our mistakes, if we do not analyze them, this cannot be called patriotism. Because in the future this will lead us to repeating these mistakes on a completely different scale. We need to learn lessons from our history. By the way, Hegel’s widespread maxim: “History teaches that it teaches nothing” was challenged a hundred years ago by Vasily Klyuchevsky, who wrote in his diaries: “It is not the flowers’ fault that the blind man does not see them.” It seems to me that this is the exact formula that we should all keep in mind when starting a conversation about history and its difficult issues. We are not living from scratch. Almost everything we deal with was in history before us. And the fact that the war was so difficult, so monstrous, so cruel does not interfere with my patriotism; I am really proud of this Victory. Yes, it is difficult for me to reconcile my consciousness with those mistakes that could not have happened. And there could have been fewer casualties.

The war was not sudden

Eduard Agabekov, 86 years old: – In 1941, I was 16 years old. The news of the war found me in Baku. I learned about its beginning from friends. It didn't come as a surprise to me. After all, we read the reports and expected something similar. I really wanted to go, I longed to defend my homeland, but I was only 16, and therefore I became a student at the combined arms infantry school. And then I was drafted to aviation school, after which I worked as a mechanic. I worked for them at the front throughout the war.

The daughter knew that her father would not return

– I was only 5 years old, but I remember it as it is now. We lived in Kushva, all the men immediately began to be drafted, including my dad. Dad hugged mom, they both cried, kissed... I remember how I grabbed him by the tarpaulin boots and shouted: “Dad, don’t leave!” They will kill you there, they will kill you!” When he got on the train, my mother took me in her arms, we were both sobbing, she whispered through her tears: “Wave to dad...” What the hell, I was sobbing so much, I couldn’t move my hand. We never saw him, our breadwinner, again.

This photo was taken shortly before the war. Dina Belykh in a white bow sits on her mother’s lap. Dina Nikolaevna Belykh saw her father for the last time 70 years ago, June 22, 1941

At night they waited for summons

Lidiya Shablova, 85 years old: – We were tearing up shingles in the yard to cover the roof. The kitchen window was open and we heard the radio announce that war had begun. The father froze. His hands gave up: “Apparently, we won’t finish the roof anymore...” From that day on, we waited for the summons every night. My father was taken away in October.

In June 1941, Lidia Shablova was 15 years old

Maria Makarovna Karlashova learned that Germany had attacked the Soviet Union only a day after the start of the war.
– We were in the Far East. At that time I was a counselor at a pioneer camp,” recalls Maria Makarovna. - There was a fire. The first shift ended. In the morning, the head of the camp woke us up and told us that the war had begun. Life was quickly rebuilt on a war footing. They dug fortifications and made preparations. We expected a war to break out with China or Japan. And we have a border strip - 60 km from the border. But the children - 400 people - were brought to us on the second shift. And in August the same number of children arrived.

Last good night

Klavdiya Bazilevich, 80 years old: – When they announced war on the radio, I felt bad. The neighbor told her mother: “Look at Klava, she’s turned pale!” Everyone was silent at dinner. That night was the last time I slept peacefully, because the next day they started bombing us.


Klava Bazilevich was 10 years old in 1941

There was a feeling of some caution

The war overtook Dmitry Savelyev in Novokuznetsk: “We gathered at the poles with loudspeakers. We listened carefully to Molotov’s speech. Many felt a certain sense of wariness. After this, the streets began to empty, and after a while food disappeared from the stores. They were not bought up - the supply was simply reduced... People were not afraid, but rather focused, doing everything the government told them. There was such mobilization for labor. They worked unquestioningly, discipline became stricter. We started studying late, finished early, and spent all our free time working in the fields.

Rumors spread throughout the village that the war would be long.

When the war began, 17-year-old Zufar Gilmanov was the eldest man in the family - his father died young. – I lived in the village of Bekeyevo, which is located in Bashkortostan. We didn’t have a radio at home, so I learned about the beginning of the war at the shop (central store), where all the villagers were invited. After the announcer’s words, everyone was shocked; the news was very unexpected. The panic began. Almost everyone ran to the store to stock up on matches and salt. Conversations began about who would be taken and who would not be taken to war. People were afraid because rumors spread very quickly throughout the village that the war would be long. As a result, almost everyone was taken to war. I was afraid that they would take me too. I was worried not for myself, but for my two brothers and sisters. We were left orphans - I was the eldest. I had to feed my family. As a result, they didn’t take me, a disabled person with a broken arm. He worked as a bookkeeper throughout the war.

Mom covered with her body

In June 1941, 16-year-old Alevtina Kotik lived with her parents and younger brother in Lithuania.

“The bombing began at four o’clock in the morning. I woke up from hitting my head on the bed - the ground was shaking from falling bombs. I ran to my parents. Dad said: “The war has begun. We need to get out of here!” We didn’t know who the war started with, we didn’t think about it, it was just very scary. Dad was a military man, and therefore he was able to call a car for us, which took us to the train station. They only took clothes with them. All furniture and household utensils remained. First we traveled on a freight train. I remember how my mother covered me and my brother with her body, then we boarded a passenger train. We learned that there was a war with Germany around 12 noon from people we met. Near the city of Siauliai we saw a large number of wounded, stretchers, and doctors. Our path lay in the Moldavian USSR, where we were based before arriving in Moscow.

And the first day of the war was the last time we saw dad alive. He died at the front.

Everyone was confident of victory

The war found ten-year-old Ninel Karpova in Kharovsk, the regional center of the Vologda region:
“We listened to the announcement of the beginning of the war from the loudspeaker at the House of Defense. There were a lot of people crowding there.

I was not upset, on the contrary, I was proud: my father will defend the Motherland. After all, he was a military man. In addition, he and his mother submitted a report to be taken to the front (mother was a doctor). Therefore, I had to stay for the winter to study with my grandparents, which I was very happy about. But mom was not hired, and dad was appointed head of a military school for training junior officers.

In general, people were not afraid. Yes, the women, of course, were upset and cried. But there was no panic. Everyone was confident that we would quickly defeat the Germans. The men said: “Yes, the Germans will flee from us!”

Ninel Karpova

And in addition

The subway has become a refuge

On the first day of the Great Patriotic War, the Moscow metro was turned into a bomb shelter.

Plank floors were laid on the tracks in the tunnels. 4,600 trestle beds and 3,800 cribs were delivered to 20 stations. Toilets were equipped and drinking fountains were installed. In the fall of 1941 alone, more than 500 thousand people a day found refuge there.

217 children were born underground in 1941.
There were 21 medical posts in the subway. 70 thousand people turned there for help in 1941. Film screenings and performances by propaganda teams were held at the stations, and libraries were open. The sale of milk and white bread for children was organized.

The shelter had its own regime

When the threat of bombing became a daily occurrence, the metro was switched to an operating mode in which from 18:00 trains were stopped and Muscovites walked inside.

The townspeople were so accustomed to this regime that an hour and a half before six in the evening, a line of people with suitcases and bundles lined up in front of the metro doors, wanting to take refuge in a safe place.

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

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

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

At that time, no one knew that it would go down in human history as the bloodiest. No one guessed that the Soviet people would have to go through inhuman tests, pass and win. To 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 fortitude of our people, Leningrad - a symbol of courage, Brest - a symbol of courage. That, along 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 bear the blow were the border guards and the soldiers of the covering units. They not only defended themselves, but also launched counterattacks. For a whole month, the garrison of the Brest Fortress fought in the German rear. 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 photo 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 district air force, 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 start 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 to the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country.”

Poster from 1941

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

The mobilization capabilities of the Soviet system, multiplied during the Great Patriotic War by the patriotism and sacrifice of the people, played an important role in organizing resistance 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 joined the active army. In just a week since the start of the war, over 5 million people were mobilized.

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

The fascist troops met stubborn resistance in battles near Minsk, Smolensk, Vladimir-Volynsky, Przemysl, Lutsk, Dubno, Rivne, Mogilev, etc.And yet, in the first three weeks of the war, the Red Army troops abandoned Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, a significant part of Ukraine and Moldova. Six days after the start of the war, Minsk fell. 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 was, of course, 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 battles were going on “somewhere there, in the west,” and the reports flashed cities, the location of which many could hardly imagine, it seemed that the war was still far away. Smolensk is not just the name of a city, this word meant a lot. Firstly, it is already more than 400 km from the border, and secondly, it is only 360 km to Moscow. And thirdly, unlike all those Vilno, Grodno and Molodechno, Smolensk is an ancient purely Russian city.

The stubborn resistance of the Red Army in the summer of 1941 thwarted 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 fleet base - Polyarny. Although in Ukraine in October - November the enemy captured the Donbass, captured Rostov, and broke into the Crimea, yet here, too, his troops were fettered by the defense of Sevastopol. Formations of Army Group South were unable to 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. Bryansk and Vyazma fell. On October 10, G.K. was appointed commander of the Western Front. Zhukov. On October 19, Moscow was declared under siege. In bloody battles, the Red Army still managed to stop the enemy. Having strengthened Army Group Center, the German command resumed its attack on Moscow in mid-November. Overcoming the resistance of the Western, Kalinin and right wing of the Southwestern fronts, 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) and approached Kashira. At this point the German offensive fizzled out. The bloodless Army Group Center was forced to go on the defensive, which was also facilitated by the successful offensive operations of Soviet troops near Tikhvin (November 10 - December 30) and Rostov (November 17 - December 2). On December 6, the Red Army counteroffensive began. , as a result of which the enemy was thrown back 100 - 250 km from Moscow. Kaluga, Kalinin (Tver), Maloyaroslavets and others were liberated.

On guard of the Moscow sky. Autumn 1941

The victory near Moscow had enormous strategic, moral and 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 “blitzkrieg” plans were still thwarted. 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. The Soviet Union began to be looked upon 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 offensives on other fronts. However, it was not possible to consolidate the success, primarily due to the dispersal of forces and resources along a front of enormous length.

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

Hundreds of thousands of our compatriots ended up in more than 14 thousand concentration camps, prisons, and ghettos scattered throughout Europe. The scale of the tragedy is evidenced by dispassionate figures: in Russia alone, the fascist occupiers shot, strangled 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 stubborn battles, the Nazis failed to solve their main task - to break into the Transcaucasus to seize the oil reserves of Baku. At the end of September, the offensive of fascist troops in the Caucasus was stopped.

To contain the enemy onslaught in the eastern direction, the Stalingrad Front was created under the command of Marshal S.K. Tymoshenko. On July 17, 1942, the enemy under the command of General von Paulus struck 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 were fought literally for every inch of land, for every house. Both sides suffered colossal 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 their launching a counteroffensive at Stalingrad and thereby mark the beginning of 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, a special ministry for the affairs of the occupied regions was even created, headed by A. Rosenberg. Political supervision was carried out by the SS and police services. Locally, the occupiers formed the so-called self-government - city and district councils, and the positions of elders were introduced in villages. People who were dissatisfied with Soviet power were invited to cooperate. 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, mainly young people, were also sent to forced labor in Germany, where they were called “ostarbeiter” and were used as cheap labor. In total, 6 million people were kidnapped during the war years. More than 6.5 million people were killed due to hunger and epidemics in the occupied territory, more than 11 million Soviet citizens were shot in camps and at their places of residence.

November 19, 1942 Soviet troops moved to counter-offensive at Stalingrad (Operation Uranus). The forces of the Red Army surrounded 22 divisions and 160 separate units of the Wehrmacht (about 330 thousand people). Hitler's command formed Army Group Don, consisting of 30 divisions, and tried to break through the encirclement. However, this attempt was unsuccessful. In December, our troops, having defeated this group, launched an attack on Rostov (Operation Saturn). By the beginning of February 1943, our troops eliminated a group of fascist troops that found themselves in a ring. 91 thousand people were taken prisoner, led by the commander of the 6th German Army, General 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 Nazi Germany was significantly undermined.

The defeat at Stalingrad caused a deep political crisis in Germany. It declared three days of mourning. The morale of German soldiers fell, defeatist sentiments gripped wide sections of the population, who trusted the Fuhrer less and less.

The victory of the Soviet troops at Stalingrad marked the beginning of a radical change in the course of the Second World War. The strategic initiative finally passed into the hands of the Soviet Armed Forces.

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

The Wehrmacht command planned summer 1943 conduct a major strategic offensive operation in the Kursk salient area (Operation Citadel) , defeat the Soviet troops here, and then strike in the rear of the Southwestern Front (Operation Panther) and subsequently, building on the success, again create a threat to Moscow. For this purpose, up to 50 divisions were concentrated in the Kursk Bulge area, including 19 tank and motorized divisions, and other units - a total of over 900 thousand people. This group 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 World War II took place.

On July 5, 1943, a massive offensive of Soviet troops began. Within 5 - 7 days, our troops, stubbornly defending, stopped the enemy, who had penetrated 10 - 35 km behind the front line, and launched a counter-offensive. It has begun July 12 in the Prokhorovka area , Where The largest oncoming tank battle in the history of war took place (with the participation of up to 1,200 tanks on both sides). In August 1943, our troops captured Orel and Belgorod. In honor of this victory, a salute of 12 artillery salvoes was fired for the first time in Moscow. 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, Soviet troops began to liberate Belarus. From that moment on, our command maintained the strategic initiative until the end of the war. From November 1942 to December 1943, the Soviet Army advanced westward by 500 - 1300 km, liberating about 50% of the enemy-occupied territory. 218 enemy divisions were defeated. During this period, partisan formations, in whose ranks up to 250 thousand people fought, caused great damage to the enemy.

The 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” took place 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.

In 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, crossed the English Channel and Pas de- Calais, began the largest war in years airborne Normandy 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), Western Ukraine (July 13 - August 29) and 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 Soviet troops in the southern direction in the fall of 1944 helped the Bulgarian, Hungarian, Yugoslav and Czechoslovak peoples in their liberation from fascism.

As a result of military operations in 1944, the state border of the USSR, treacherously violated by Germany in June 1941, was restored along the entire length from the Barents to the Black Sea. The Nazis were expelled from Romania, Bulgaria, and most areas 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 bloc of fascist states was falling apart, the anti-Hitler coalition was strengthening, 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 Soviet Union played a decisive role in defeating the enemy at the final stage. Thanks to the titanic efforts of the entire people, the technical equipment and armament of the army and navy of the USSR reached its 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 with forces on ten fronts, the Soviet Army decisively defeated the main enemy forces. During the East Prussian, Vistula-Oder, West Carpathian and completion of the Budapest operations, Soviet troops created the conditions for further attacks in Pomerania and Silesia, and then for an attack on Berlin. Almost all of Poland and Czechoslovakia, as well as 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 by 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. Attempts by the new German government, which was headed by Grand Admiral K. Doenitz on May 1, 1945 after the suicide of A. Hitler, to achieve a separate peace with the USA and Great Britain failed.

May 9, 1945 at 0:43 a.m. 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 war hero, Marshal G.K. Zhukov, from Germany - Field Marshal Keitel. On the same day, the remnants of the last large enemy group on the territory of Czechoslovakia in the Prague region were defeated. City Liberation Day - May 9 became Victory Day of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. The news of the Victory spread throughout the world with lightning speed. The Soviet people, who suffered the greatest losses, greeted it with popular rejoicing. Truly, it was a great holiday “with tears in our eyes.”

In Moscow, on Victory Day, a festive fireworks display of a thousand guns was fired.

Great Patriotic War 1941-1945

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

On the night of June 22, the USSR Ambassador to Germany Dekanozov was summoned to the German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, whose translator, Eric Sommer, became the man through whose mouth Germany declared war on the USSR in Russian.
A memorandum from the German government was read aloud, with many border incidents, border violations, air and ground, and so on.

It is worth making a digression and noting that Soviet planes violated the border more than once.

In the historical literature one can find the opinion that Ribbentrop, before summoning Dekanozov, thoroughly “accepted for courage.” But Eric Sommer refutes these allegations: “This is complete nonsense. Ribbentrop was simply worried, but controlled himself. Dekanozov listened to the reading of the memorandum in silence. Together with my immediate superior, Dr. Strack, I watched Dekanozov’s face turn red and his fists clench nervously. The only thing Dekanozov said was “I’m very sorry.” Then he and his translator (Berezhkov) headed for the exit.”

It is still unclear why the Soviet government hid this fact for a long time and spread the myth that Germany attacked without declaring war. This was probably done for propaganda purposes - to give Germany the image of a vile enemy, and, on the contrary, to idealize the USSR.

Molotov: “...Between two and three in the morning they called from Schulenburg to my secretariat, and from my secretariat to Poskrebyshev, that the German Ambassador Schulenburg wanted to see the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov. Well, then I went upstairs from Stalin’s office, we were in the same house, but in different areas. My office faced the corner directly onto Ivan the Great. Members of the Politburo stayed with Stalin, and I went to my place to receive Schulenburg - it took two or three minutes to walk... I received Schulenburg AT HALF-THIRTY or THREE IN THE NIGHT , I think, NOT LATER THAN THREE HOURS. The German ambassador handed over the note at the same time as the attack. They had everything agreed upon, and, apparently, the ambassador had instructions: to appear at such and such an hour, he knew when it would begin..."

(F. Chuev. Molotov. Semi-sovereign ruler. - M.: Olma-Press, 2000)

"...4. June 22, 3 hours 30 minutes: the beginning of the offensive of the ground forces and the flight of aviation across the border. If meteorological conditions delay the departure of aviation, then the ground forces will begin the offensive on their own.
On behalf of:
Halder..."
(Order of the Commander-in-Chief of the German Ground Forces on setting a date for the attack on the Soviet Union. June 10, 1941

Moscow time in the summer of 1941 was 1 hour ahead of Central European time. What does it mean? This means that there was no treacherous attack. The Soviet Union learned about everything half an hour to an hour before the Germans attacked. Moreover, I learned it both in Germany and in Moscow."

Dmitrij Chmelnizki:

“The note from the German government to the Soviet government dated June 22, 1941 has long been published, and the tale of a German attack on the USSR without a declaration of war is still popular.

The Soviet government pretended (and always continued to pretend) that there was no declaration of war, because the Note of the German government listed irrefutable signs that the USSR was preparing to attack Germany. Plus, they talked about the contents of the secret protocols to the 1939 pact, the terms of which the USSR violated. Stalin could not discuss this topic.

And so do his successors. And for the current bosses it is also unbearable."