June 21, 1941, 13:00. German troops receive the code signal "Dortmund", confirming that the invasion will begin the next day.
Commander of the 2nd Tank Group of Army Group Center Heinz Guderian writes in his diary: “Careful observation of the Russians convinced me that they did not suspect anything about our intentions. In the courtyard of the Brest fortress, which was visible from our observation points, they were changing the guards to the sounds of an orchestra. The coastal fortifications along the Western Bug were not occupied by Russian troops."21:00. Soldiers of the 90th border detachment of the Sokal commandant's office detained a German serviceman who crossed the border Bug River by swimming. The defector was sent to the detachment headquarters in the city of Vladimir-Volynsky.
23:00. German minelayers stationed in Finnish ports began to mine the exit from the Gulf of Finland. At the same time, Finnish submarines began laying mines off the coast of Estonia.
June 22, 1941, 0:30. The defector was taken to Vladimir-Volynsky. During interrogation, the soldier identified himself Alfred Liskov, soldiers of the 221st Regiment of the 15th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht. He said that at dawn on June 22, the German army would go on the offensive along the entire length of the Soviet-German border. The information was transferred to higher command.
At the same time, the transmission of Directive No. 1 of the People's Commissariat of Defense for parts of the western military districts began from Moscow. “During June 22-23, 1941, a surprise attack by the Germans is possible on the fronts of LVO, PribOVO, ZAPOVO, KOVO, OdVO. An attack may begin with provocative actions,” the directive said. “The task of our troops is not to succumb to any provocative actions that could cause major complications.”
The units were ordered to be put on combat readiness, to secretly occupy firing points of fortified areas on the state border, and to disperse aircraft to field airfields.
Bring the directive to military units before the start of hostilities fails, as a result of which the measures specified in it are not carried out.
Mobilization. Columns of fighters are moving to the front. Photo: RIA Novosti
“I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory”
1:00. The commandants of the sections of the 90th border detachment report to the head of the detachment, Major Bychkovsky: “nothing suspicious was noticed on the adjacent side, everything is calm.”
3:05 . A group of 14 German Ju-88 bombers drops 28 magnetic mines near the Kronstadt roadstead.
3:07. The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky, reports to the Chief of the General Staff, General Zhukov: “The fleet's air surveillance, warning and communications system reports the approach of a large number of unknown aircraft from the sea; The fleet is in full combat readiness."
3:10. The NKGB for the Lviv region transmits by telephone message to the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR the information obtained during the interrogation of the defector Alfred Liskov.
From the memoirs of the chief of the 90th border detachment, Major Bychkovsky: “Without finishing the interrogation of the soldier, I heard strong artillery fire in the direction of Ustilug (the first commandant’s office). I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory, which was immediately confirmed by the interrogated soldier. I immediately began to call the commandant by phone, but the connection was broken...”3:30. Chief of Staff of the Western District General Klimovsky reports on enemy air raids on the cities of Belarus: Brest, Grodno, Lida, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovichi and others.
3:33. The chief of staff of the Kyiv district, General Purkaev, reports on an air raid on the cities of Ukraine, including Kyiv.
3:40. Commander of the Baltic Military District General Kuznetsov reports on enemy air raids on Riga, Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas and other cities.
“The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike our ships was foiled."
3:42. Chief of the General Staff Zhukov is calling Stalin and reports the start of hostilities by Germany. Stalin orders Tymoshenko and Zhukov arrive at the Kremlin, where an emergency meeting of the Politburo is convened.
3:45. The 1st border outpost of the 86th August border detachment was attacked by an enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group. Outpost personnel under command Alexandra Sivacheva, having entered into battle, destroys the attackers.
4:00. The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky, reports to Zhukov: “The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike our ships was foiled. But there is destruction in Sevastopol.”4:05. The outposts of the 86th August Border Detachment, including the 1st Border Outpost of Senior Lieutenant Sivachev, come under heavy artillery fire, after which the German offensive begins. Border guards, deprived of communication with the command, engage in battle with superior enemy forces.
4:10. The Western and Baltic special military districts report the beginning of hostilities by German troops on the ground.
4:15. The Nazis open massive artillery fire on the Brest Fortress. As a result, warehouses were destroyed, communications were disrupted, and there were a large number of dead and wounded.
4:25. The 45th Wehrmacht Infantry Division begins an attack on the Brest Fortress.
Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. Residents of the capital on June 22, 1941, during the radio announcement of a government message about the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Photo: RIA Novosti
“Protecting not individual countries, but ensuring the security of Europe”
4:30. A meeting of Politburo members begins in the Kremlin. Stalin expresses doubt that what happened is the beginning of a war and does not exclude the possibility of a German provocation. People's Commissar of Defense Timoshenko and Zhukov insist: this is war.
4:55. In the Brest Fortress, the Nazis manage to capture almost half of the territory. Further progress was stopped by a sudden counterattack by the Red Army.
5:00. German Ambassador to the USSR Count von Schulenburg presented to the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR Molotov“Note from the German Foreign Office to the Soviet Government,” which states: “The German Government cannot remain indifferent to the serious threat on the eastern border, therefore the Fuehrer has ordered the German Armed Forces to ward off this threat by all means.” An hour after the actual start of hostilities, Germany de jure declares war on the Soviet Union.
5:30. On German radio, the Reich Minister of Propaganda Goebbels reads out the appeal Adolf Hitler to the German people in connection with the outbreak of war against the Soviet Union: “Now the hour has come when it is necessary to speak out against this conspiracy of the Jewish-Anglo-Saxon warmongers and also the Jewish rulers of the Bolshevik center in Moscow... In this moment“The greatest military action in terms of its length and volume that the world has ever seen is taking place... The task of this front is no longer to protect individual countries, but to ensure the security of Europe and thereby save everyone.”7:00. Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs Ribbentrop begins a press conference at which he announces the beginning of hostilities against the USSR: “The German army has invaded the territory of Bolshevik Russia!”
“The city is burning, why aren’t you broadcasting anything on the radio?”
7:15. Stalin approves a directive to repel the attack of Nazi Germany: “The troops with all their might and means attack enemy forces and destroy them in areas where they violated the Soviet border.” Transfer of “directive No. 2” due to saboteurs’ disruption of communication lines in the western districts. Moscow does not have a clear picture of what is happening in the combat zone.
9:30. It was decided that at noon, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov would address the Soviet people in connection with the outbreak of war.
10:00. From the speaker's memories Yuri Levitan: “They’re calling from Minsk: “Enemy planes are over the city,” they’re calling 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?..” However, no official messages are transmitted until 12:00 Moscow time on June 22.
10:30. From a report from the headquarters of the 45th German division about the battles on the territory of the Brest Fortress: “The Russians are resisting fiercely, especially behind our attacking companies. In the citadel, the enemy organized a defense with infantry units supported by 35-40 tanks and armored vehicles. Enemy sniper fire resulted in heavy casualties among officers and non-commissioned officers."11:00. The Baltic, Western and Kiev special military districts were transformed into the North-Western, Western and South-Western fronts.
“The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours"
12:00. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov reads out an appeal to the citizens of the Soviet Union: “Today at 4 o’clock in the morning, without making any claims against the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed us with their planes attacked our cities - Zhitomir, Kiev, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others, and more than two hundred people were killed and wounded. Raids by enemy planes and artillery shelling were also carried out from Romanian and Finnish territory... Now that the attack on the Soviet Union has already taken place, the Soviet government has given an order to our troops to repel the bandit attack and expel German troops from the territory of our homeland... The government calls on you, citizens and citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally our ranks even more closely around our glorious Bolshevik Party, around our Soviet government, around our great leader, Comrade Stalin.
Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours" .
12:30. Advanced German units break into the Belarusian city of Grodno.
13:00.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issues a decree “On the mobilization of those liable for military service...”
“Based on Article 49, paragraph “o” of the USSR Constitution, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR announces mobilization on the territory of the military districts - Leningrad, Baltic special, Western special, Kiev special, Odessa, Kharkov, Oryol, Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Ural, Siberian, Volga, North -Caucasian and Transcaucasian.
13:30. Chief of the General Staff General Zhukov flies to Kyiv as a representative of the newly created Headquarters of the Main Command on the Southwestern Front.
Photo: RIA Novosti
14:00. The Brest Fortress is completely surrounded by German troops. Soviet units blocked in the citadel continue to offer fierce resistance.
14:05. Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano states: “In view of the current situation, due to the fact that Germany declared war on the USSR, Italy, as an ally of Germany and as a member of the Tripartite Pact, also declares war on the Soviet Union from the moment German troops entered the Soviet territory».
14:10. The 1st border outpost of Alexander Sivachev has been fighting for more than 10 hours. The border guards, who had only small arms and grenades, destroyed up to 60 Nazis and burned three tanks. The wounded commander of the outpost continued to command the battle.
15:00. From the notes of the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal von Bock: “The question of whether the Russians are carrying out a systematic withdrawal remains open. There is now plenty of evidence both for and against this.
What is surprising is that nowhere is any significant work of their artillery visible. Heavy artillery fire is conducted only in the northwest of Grodno, where the VIII Army Corps is advancing. Apparently, our air Force have an overwhelming superiority over Russian aviation."Of the 485 border posts attacked, not a single one withdrew without orders.
16:00. After a 12-hour battle, the Nazis took the positions of the 1st border outpost. This became possible only after all the border guards who defended it died. The head of the outpost, Alexander Sivachev, was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.
The feat of the outpost of Senior Lieutenant Sivachev was one of hundreds committed by border guards in the first hours and days of the war. On June 22, 1941, the state border of the USSR from the Barents to the Black Sea was guarded by 666 border outposts, 485 of which were attacked on the very first day of the war. Not one of the 485 outposts attacked on June 22 withdrew without orders.
Hitler's command allotted 20 minutes to break the resistance of the border guards. 257 Soviet border posts held their defense from several hours to one day. More than one day - 20, more than two days - 16, more than three days - 20, more than four and five days - 43, from seven to nine days - 4, more than eleven days - 51, more than twelve days - 55, more than 15 days - 51 outpost. Forty-five outposts fought for up to two months.
Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The workers of Leningrad listen to a message about the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Photo: RIA Novosti
Of the 19,600 border guards who met the Nazis on June 22 in the direction of the main attack of Army Group Center, more than 16,000 died in the first days of the war.
17:00. Hitler's units manage to occupy the southwestern part of the Brest Fortress, the northeast remained under control Soviet troops. Stubborn battles for the fortress will continue for weeks.
“The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox Christians for the defense of the sacred borders of our Motherland”
18:00. The Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna, addresses the believers with a message: “Fascist robbers attacked our homeland. Trampling all kinds of agreements and promises, they suddenly fell upon us, and now the blood of peaceful citizens is already irrigating our native land... Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. She endured trials with him and was consoled by his successes. She will not abandon her people even now... The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox Christians for the defense of the sacred borders of our Motherland.”
19:00. From the notes of the Chief of the General Staff ground forces Wehrmacht Colonel General Franz Halder: “All armies, except the 11th Army of Army Group South in Romania, went on the offensive according to plan. The offensive of our troops, apparently, came as a complete tactical surprise to the enemy along the entire front. Border bridges across the Bug and other rivers were everywhere captured by our troops without a fight and in complete safety. The complete surprise of our offensive for the enemy is evidenced by the fact that the units were taken by surprise in a barracks arrangement, the planes were parked at airfields, covered with tarpaulins, and the advanced units, suddenly attacked by our troops, asked the command about what to do... The Air Force command reported, that today 850 enemy aircraft have been destroyed, including entire squadrons of bombers, which, having taken off without fighter cover, were attacked by our fighters and destroyed.”20:00. Directive No. 3 of the People's Commissariat of Defense was approved, ordering Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive with the task of defeating Hitler's troops on the territory of the USSR with further advance into enemy territory. The directive ordered the capture of the Polish city of Lublin by the end of June 24.
Great Patriotic War 1941-1945. June 22, 1941 Nurses provide assistance to the first wounded after a Nazi air raid near Chisinau. Photo: RIA Novosti
“We must provide Russia and the Russian people with all the help we can.”
21:00. Summary of the Red Army High Command for June 22: “At dawn on June 22, 1941, regular troops of the German army attacked our border units on the front from the Baltic to the Black Sea and were held back by them during the first half of the day. In the afternoon, German troops met with the advanced units of the field troops of the Red Army. After fierce fighting, the enemy was repulsed with heavy losses. Only in the Grodno and Kristinopol directions did the enemy manage to achieve minor tactical successes and occupy the towns of Kalwaria, Stoyanuv and Tsekhanovets (the first two are 15 km and the last 10 km from the border).
Enemy aircraft attacked a number of our airfields and settlements, but everywhere it met decisive resistance from our fighters and anti-aircraft artillery, which inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. We shot down 65 enemy aircraft.”
23:00. Message from the Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill to the British people in connection with the German attack on the USSR: “At 4 o'clock this morning Hitler attacked Russia. All his usual formalities of treachery were observed with scrupulous precision... suddenly, without a declaration of war, even without an ultimatum, German bombs fell from the sky on Russian cities, German troops violated Russian borders, and an hour later the German ambassador, who just the day before had generously lavished his assurances on the Russians in friendship and almost an alliance, paid a visit to the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs and declared that Russia and Germany were at war...
No one has been more staunchly opposed to communism over the past 25 years than I have been. I will not take back a single word that was said about him. But all this pales in comparison to the spectacle unfolding now.The past, with its crimes, follies and tragedies, recedes. I see Russian soldiers as they stand on the border of their native land and guard the fields that their fathers have plowed since time immemorial. I see them guarding their homes; their mothers and wives pray—oh, yes, because at such a time everyone prays for the safety of their loved ones, for the return of their breadwinner, patron, their protectors...
We must provide Russia and the Russian people with all the help we can. We must call on all our friends and allies in all parts of the world to pursue a similar course and pursue it as steadfastly and steadily as we will, to the very end.”
June 22 came to an end. There were still 1,417 days ahead of the worst war in human history.
The art of war is a science in which nothing succeeds except what has been calculated and thought out.
Napoleon
Plan Barbarossa is a plan for a German attack on the USSR, based on the principle of lightning war, blitzkrieg. The plan began to be developed in the summer of 1940, and on December 18, 1940, Hitler approved a plan according to which the war was to end in November 1941 at the latest.
Plan Barbarossa was named after Frederick Barbarossa, the 12th century emperor who became famous for his campaigns of conquest. This contained elements of symbolism, to which Hitler himself and his entourage paid so much attention. The plan received its name on January 31, 1941.
Number of troops to implement the plan
Germany was preparing 190 divisions to fight the war and 24 divisions as reserves. 19 tank and 14 motorized divisions were allocated for the war. The total number of troops that Germany sent to the USSR, according to various estimates, ranges from 5 to 5.5 million people.
The apparent superiority in USSR technology should not be taken into account especially, since by the beginning of the wars technical tanks and German aircraft were superior to Soviet ones, and the army itself was much more trained. Enough to remember Soviet-Finnish war 1939-1940, where the Red Army demonstrated weakness in literally everything.
Direction of the main attack
Barbarossa's plan determined 3 main directions for attack:
- Army Group "South". A blow to Moldova, Ukraine, Crimea and access to the Caucasus. Further movement to the line Astrakhan - Stalingrad (Volgograd).
- Army Group "Center". Line "Minsk - Smolensk - Moscow". Advance to Nizhny Novgorod, aligning the Volna - Northern Dvina line.
- Army Group "North". Attack on the Baltic states, Leningrad and further advance to Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. At the same time, the “Norway” army was supposed to fight in the north together with the Finnish army.
| SOUTH | CENTER | NORTH | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target | Ukraine, Crimea, access to the Caucasus | Minsk, Smolensk, Moscow | Baltic states, Leningrad, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk |
| Number | 57 divisions and 13 brigades | 50 divisions and 2 brigades | 29th Division + Army "Norway" |
| Commanding | Field Marshal von Rundstedt | Field Marshal von Bock | Field Marshal von Leeb |
| common goal | Get on line: Arkhangelsk – Volga – Astrakhan (Northern Dvina) |
||
Around the end of October 1941, the German command planned to reach the Volga - Northern Dvina line, thereby capturing the entire European part of the USSR. This was the plan for the lightning war. After the blitzkrieg, there should have been lands beyond the Urals, which, without the support of the center, would have quickly surrendered to the winner.
Until about mid-August 1941, the Germans believed that the war was going according to plan, but in September there were already entries in the diaries of officers that the Barbarossa plan had failed and the war would be lost. The best proof that Germany in August 1941 believed that there were only a few weeks left before the end of the war with the USSR was Goebbels’ speech. The Minister of Propaganda suggested that the Germans collect additional warm clothes for the needs of the army. The government decided that this step was not necessary, since there would be no war in the winter.
Implementation of the plan
The first three weeks of the war assured Hitler that everything was going according to plan. The army rapidly moved forward, winning victories, but the Soviet army suffered huge losses:
- 28 divisions out of 170 were put out of action.
- 70 divisions lost about 50% personnel.
- 72 divisions remained combat-ready (43% of those available at the start of the war).
Over the same 3 weeks, the average rate of advance of German troops deep into the country was 30 km per day.
By July 11, the Army Group “North” occupied almost the entire Baltic territory, providing access to Leningrad, the Army Group “Center” reached Smolensk, and the Army Group “South” reached Kiev. These were the latest achievements that were fully consistent with the plan of the German command. After this, failures began (still local, but already indicative). Nevertheless, the initiative in the war until the end of 1941 was on the side of Germany.
Germany's failures in the North
Army “North” occupied the Baltic states without any problems, especially since there was practically no partisan movement there. The next strategic point to be captured was Leningrad. Here it turned out that the Wehrmacht was beyond its strength. The city did not capitulate to the enemy and until the end of the war, despite all efforts, Germany was unable to capture it.
Army Failures Center
Army "Center" reached Smolensk without problems, but was stuck near the city until September 10. Smolensk resisted for almost a month. The German command demanded a decisive victory and the advancement of troops, since such a delay near the city, which was planned to be taken without large losses, was unacceptable and called into question the implementation of the Barbarossa plan. As a result, the Germans took Smolensk, but their troops were pretty battered.
Historians today assess the Battle of Smolensk as a tactical victory for Germany, but a strategic victory for Russia, since it was possible to stop the advance of troops towards Moscow, which allowed the capital to prepare for defense.
Complicated promotion German army the partisan movement of Belarus deep into the country.
Failures of the Army South
Army “South” reached Kyiv in 3.5 weeks and, like Army “Center” near Smolensk, was stuck in battle. Ultimately, it was possible to take the city due to the clear superiority of the army, but Kyiv held out almost until the end of September, which also hampered the advance of the German army, and made a significant contribution to the disruption of Barbarossa’s plan.
Map of the German advance plan
Above is a map showing the German command's offensive plan. The map shows: in green – the borders of the USSR, in red – the border to which Germany planned to reach, in blue – the deployment and plan for the advancement of German troops.
General state of affairs
- In the North, it was not possible to capture Leningrad and Murmansk. The advance of the troops stopped.
- It was with great difficulty that the Center managed to reach Moscow. At the time the German army reached the Soviet capital, it was already clear that no blitzkrieg had happened.
- In the South it was not possible to take Odessa and seize the Caucasus. By the end of September, Hitler's troops had just captured Kyiv and launched an attack on Kharkov and Donbass.
Why Germany's blitzkrieg failed
Germany's blitzkrieg failed because the Wehrmacht prepared the Barbarossa plan, as it later turned out, based on false intelligence data. Hitler admitted this by the end of 1941, saying that if he had known the real state of affairs in the USSR, he would not have started the war on June 22.
The tactics of lightning war were based on the fact that the country has one line of defense on the western border, all large army units are located on the western border, and aviation is located on the border. Since Hitler was confident that all Soviet troops were located on the border, this formed the basis of the blitzkrieg - to destroy the enemy army in the first weeks of the war, and then quickly move deeper into the country without encountering serious resistance.
In fact, there were several lines of defense, the army was not located with all its forces on the western border, there were reserves. Germany did not expect this, and by August 1941 it became clear that the lightning war had failed and Germany could not win the war. The fact that the Second World War lasted right up to 1945 only proves that the Germans fought in a very organized and brave manner. Thanks to the fact that they had the economy of the whole of Europe behind them (speaking of the war between Germany and the USSR, many for some reason forget that the German army included units from almost all European countries) they were able to fight successfully.
Did Barbarossa's plan fail?
I propose to evaluate the Barbarossa plan according to 2 criteria: global and local. Global(reference point - the Great Patriotic War) - the plan was thwarted, since the lightning war did not work out, the German troops were bogged down in battles. Local(landmark – intelligence data) – the plan was carried out. The German command drew up the Barbarossa plan based on the assumption that the USSR had 170 divisions on the country’s border and there were no additional echelons of defense. There are no reserves or reinforcements. The army was preparing for this. In 3 weeks, 28 Soviet divisions were completely destroyed, and in 70, approximately 50% of the personnel and equipment were disabled. At this stage, the blitzkrieg worked and, in the absence of reinforcements from the USSR, gave the desired results. But it turned out that the Soviet command had reserves, not all troops were located on the border, mobilization brought high-quality soldiers into the army, there were additional lines of defense, the “charm” of which Germany felt near Smolensk and Kiev.
Therefore, the failure of the Barbarossa plan should be considered as a huge strategic mistake of German intelligence, led by Wilhelm Canaris. Today, some historians connect this man with English agents, but there is no evidence of this. But if we assume that this is really the case, then it becomes clear why Canaris palmed Hitler off with the absolute lie that the USSR was not ready for war and all the troops were located on the border.
In the early morning of June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. The German attack on the USSR came as a complete surprise to the Soviet government. No one expected such treachery from Hitler. The command of the Red Army did everything to avoid giving rise to aggression. There was a strict order among the troops not to give in to provocations.
In March 1941, anti-aircraft gunners of the coastal artillery of the Baltic Fleet opened fire on German intruder aircraft. For this, the fleet leadership almost went under execution. After this incident, cartridges and shells were confiscated from the leading regiments and divisions. The locks on the artillery pieces were removed and put into storage. All border bridges have been cleared. For attempting to shoot at German military aircraft, the perpetrators faced a military tribunal.
And then suddenly the war began. But the draconian order of provocation tied the officers and soldiers hand and foot. For example, you are the commander of an aviation regiment. German planes are bombing your airfield. But you don't know if other airfields are being bombed. If they knew, then it is clear that a war has begun. But you are not allowed to know this. You see only your airfield and only your burning planes.
And each of the millions of officers and soldiers could see only a tiny piece of what was happening. What is this? Provocation? Or is it no longer a provocation? You start shooting, and then it turns out that only in your area the enemy took provocative actions. And what awaits you? Tribunal and execution.
After the outbreak of hostilities on the border, Stalin and the top commanders of the Red Army gathered in his office. Molotov came in and announced that the German government had declared war. The directive ordering the start of retaliatory military action was written only at 7:15 am. After that, it was encrypted and sent to military districts.
Meanwhile, airfields were burning, people were dying soviet soldiers. German tanks crossed the state border, and a powerful large-scale offensive by the fascist army began. Communications in the Red Army were disrupted. Therefore, the directive simply could not reach many headquarters. All this can be summed up in one phrase - loss of control. There is nothing worse in wartime.
Following the first directive, the second directive went to the troops. She ordered a counterattack to begin. Those who received it were forced not to defend, but to attack. This only made the situation worse, as the planes were on fire, the tanks were on fire, the artillery pieces were on fire, and their shells were lying in warehouses. The personnel also had no ammunition. All of them were also in warehouses. And how to carry out counterattacks?
Captured Red Army soldiers and German soldiers
As a result of all this, in 2 weeks of fighting, the entire personnel of the Red Army was destroyed. Some of the personnel died, and the rest were captured. The enemy captured a huge number of tanks, guns and ammunition. All captured equipment was repaired, repainted and launched into battle under German banners. Many ex soviet tanks We went through the entire war with crosses on the towers. And the former Soviet artillery fired at the advancing Red Army troops.
But why did the disaster happen? How did it happen that the German attack came as a complete surprise to Stalin and his entourage? Maybe Soviet intelligence did not work well and overlooked the unprecedented concentration of German troops near the border? No, I didn’t miss it. Soviet intelligence officers knew the location of the divisions, their numbers, and weapons. However, no measures were taken. And why? We'll figure this out now.
Why did Germany attack the USSR unexpectedly?
Comrade Stalin understood that war with Germany could not be avoided, so he prepared for it extremely seriously. Very great attention the leader devoted personnel. He changed them gradually, step by step. Moreover, he was guided by some of his own principles. But the most remarkable thing is that Joseph Vissarionovich ordered that undesirable people be shot. Soviet intelligence did not escape bloody repressions.
All its leaders were eliminated one after another. These are Stigga, Nikonov, Berzin, Unshlikht, Proskurov. Aralov spent several years under investigation with the use of physical force.
Here is a description of Oskar Ansonovich for Stiggu, written at the end of 1934: “In his work he is proactive, disciplined, hardworking. He has a firm and decisive character. He implements outlined plans and orders with persistence and perseverance. He reads a lot, engages in self-education.” The characteristic is good, but it did not save the scout. As Vysotsky sang: “They took the useful one out, hands behind his back, and threw him into a black crater with a flourish.”
An abandoned Soviet T-26 tank reached Moscow as part of German troops
It goes without saying that when a leader was liquidated, his first deputies, deputies, advisers, assistants, and heads of departments and departments were also subject to liquidation. When department heads were eliminated, a shadow of suspicion fell on the operational officers and the agents they led. Therefore, the destruction of the leader entailed the destruction of the entire intelligence network.
This could have affected the fruitful work of such a serious department as the Intelligence Agency. Of course it could, and it did. The only thing Stalin achieved was to prevent any conspiracy against himself and the Politburo. No one planted a briefcase with a bomb on the leader, unlike Hitler, who limited himself to only one night of long knives. And Joseph Vissarionovich had as many such nights as there were days in a year.
Work on replacing personnel was carried out constantly. It is quite possible that the intelligence service was finally staffed by real masters of their craft. These people thought professionally, and considered their enemies to be exactly the same professionals as themselves. To this we can add high ideological principles, party modesty and personal devotion to the leader of the people.
A few words about Richard Sorg
The work of military intelligence in 1940-1941 can be examined using the example of Richard Sorge. This man was once personally recruited by Yan Berzin. And the work of Ramsay (operational pseudonym Sorge) was supervised by Solomon Uritsky. Both of these intelligence officers were liquidated at the end of August 1938 after severe torture. After this, German resident Gorev and Finnish woman Aina Kuusinen were arrested. Shanghai resident Karl Rimm was summoned to leave and was eliminated. Sorge's wife Ekaterina Maksimova was arrested. She admitted to having connections with enemy intelligence and was eliminated.
And then in January 1940, Ramsay received an encrypted message from Moscow: “Dear friend, you work hard and are tired. Come, relax. We look forward to seeing you in Moscow.” To which the glorious Soviet intelligence officer replies: “With great gratitude I accept your greetings and wishes regarding vacation. But, unfortunately, I cannot come on vacation. This will reduce the flow of important information.”
But the bosses from the Intelligence Directorate are not appeased. They again send an encrypted message: “God bless the work, Ramsay. You can’t change it all anyway. Come, relax. You’ll go to the sea, sunbathe on the beach, drink vodka.” And our scout again answers: “I can’t come. There are a lot of interesting and important work". And he answered: “Come, Ramsay, come.”
But Richard never heeded the entreaties of his leaders from Moscow. He did not leave Japan and did not go to Russia, because he knew perfectly well what awaited him there. And what awaited him was Lubyansky's deliverance, torture and death. But from the point of view of the communists, this meant that the intelligence officer refused to return to the USSR. He was registered as a malicious defector. Could Comrade Stalin trust such a person? Naturally not.
The legendary Soviet T-34 tanks went to the Germans in the first days of the war and fought in German tank divisions
But you need to know the leader of the peoples. He cannot be denied intelligence, prudence and restraint. If Ramsay had sent a message supported by facts, he would have been believed. However, Richard Sorge had no evidence regarding the German attack on the USSR. Yes, he sent a message to Moscow that the war would begin on June 22, 1941. But such messages also came from other intelligence officers. However, they were not confirmed by ironclad facts and evidence. All this information was based only on rumors. Who takes rumors seriously?
It should be noted here that Ramsay’s main target was not Germany, but Japan. He was faced with the task of preventing the Japanese army from starting a war against the USSR. And Richard managed to do this brilliantly. In the fall of 1941, Sorge informed Stalin that Japan would not start a war against the Soviet Union. And the leader believed this unconditionally. Dozens of divisions were removed from the Far Eastern border and thrown near Moscow.
Where does such faith come from for a malicious defector? And the whole point is that the intelligence officer provided not rumors, but evidence. He named the state against which Japan was preparing a surprise attack. All this was confirmed by facts. That is why Ramsay’s encryption was treated with complete confidence.
Now let’s imagine that in January 1940, Richard Sorge would have left for Moscow, naively believing his bosses from the Intelligence Directorate. And who would then be involved in preventing a Japanese attack on the Soviet Union? Who would have informed Stalin that the Japanese militarists would not violate the Soviet border? Or maybe the leader of the people had dozens of intelligence officers in Tokyo? However, only Sorge became a Hero of the Soviet Union. Therefore, there was no one except him. And how should we then treat Comrade Stalin’s personnel policy?
Why did Stalin believe that Germany was not ready for war?
In December 1940, the leadership Soviet intelligence informed the Politburo that Hitler had decided to fight on 2 fronts. That is, he was going to attack the Soviet Union without ending the war in the West. This issue was thoroughly discussed, and Joseph Vissarionovich ordered the intelligence officers to organize their work in such a way as to know for sure whether Germany was really preparing for war or was simply bluffing.
After this, military intelligence began to carefully monitor a number of aspects that made up the military preparations of the German army. And Stalin received messages every week that military preparations had not yet begun.
On June 21, 1941, a Politburo meeting took place. It discussed the issue of the enormous concentration of German troops on the western border of the USSR. The numbers of all German divisions, the names of their commanders and locations were given. Almost everything was known, including the name of Operation Barbarossa, the time it began and many other military secrets. At the same time, the head of the Intelligence Directorate reported that preparations for war had not yet begun. Without this, combat operations cannot be carried out. And 12 hours after the end of the Politburo meeting, the German attack on the USSR became a reality.
And how should we then treat military intelligence, which did not see the obvious and misled the leaders of the Soviet state? But the whole point is that the intelligence officers reported only the truth to Stalin. Hitler really did not prepare for war against the Soviet Union.
Joseph Vissarionovich did not believe the documents, considering them a fake and a provocation. Therefore, key indicators were found that determined Hitler's preparation for war. The most important indicator is rams. All residents in Germany were ordered to keep an eye on the sheep.
Information on the number of sheep in Europe was collected and carefully processed. The scouts identified the main centers of their cultivation and slaughtering centers. Residents received information about lamb prices in the markets of European cities 2 times a day.
The second indicator is dirty rags and oily paper that remains after cleaning the weapon.. There were many German troops in Europe, and the soldiers cleaned their weapons every day. The rags and paper used were burned or buried in the ground. But this rule was not always observed. So the scouts had the opportunity to obtain used rags in large quantities. The oiled rags were transported to the USSR, where they were carefully examined by experts.
As a third indicator, kerosene lamps, kerosene gases, kerosene stoves, lanterns and lighters were transported across the border. They were also carefully examined by experts. There were other indicators that were mined in large quantities.
Stalin and the leaders of military intelligence rightly believed that a war against the USSR needed a very serious preparation. The most important element sheepskin coats were ready for combat. About 6 million of them were required. That's why the scouts kept an eye on the sheep.
As soon as Hitler decides to attack the Soviet Union, his General Staff will give the order to prepare the operation. Consequently, mass slaughter of sheep will begin. This will have an immediate impact on the European market. Prices for lamb meat will go down, and prices for lamb skins will soar up.
Soviet intelligence believed that for the war with the USSR, the German army should use a completely different type of lubricating oil for its weapons. Standard German gun oil froze in the cold, which could lead to weapon failure. Therefore, the scouts waited for the Wehrmacht to change the type of oil for cleaning weapons. But the collected rags indicated that the Germans continued to use their usual oil. And this proved that the German troops were not ready for war.
Soviet experts carefully monitored German motor fuel. In the cold, ordinary fuel decomposed into non-combustible fractions. Therefore, the General Staff had to give an order for the production of other fuel that would not decompose in the cold. Scouts transported samples of liquid fuel across the border in lanterns, lighters, and Primus stoves. But tests showed that there was nothing new. German troops used their usual fuel.
There were other aspects that were under the careful control of intelligence officers. Any deviation from the norm should have been a warning signal. But Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa without any preparation. Why he did this is a mystery to this day. German troops were created for war in Western Europe, but nothing was done to prepare the army for war in Russia.
That is why Stalin did not consider the German troops ready for war. His opinion was shared by all the intelligence officers. They did everything possible to uncover preparations for the invasion. But there was no preparation. There was only a huge concentration of German troops near the Soviet border. But there was not a single division ready for combat on the territory of the Soviet Union.
So was the new cohort of intelligence officers, who replaced the old cadres, to blame for failing to predict Germany’s attack on the USSR? It seems that the liquidated comrades would have behaved in exactly the same way. They would look for signs of preparation for hostilities, but they would not be able to find anything. Since it is impossible to detect what is not there.
Alexander Semashko
Chapter 24
Early in the morning of June 22, on the streets of Berlin, the Fuhrer's address to the people was broadcast over loudspeakers and special editions of newspapers were sold. Although people were stunned by the attack on an ally, most Germans felt a sense of relief. Few people could understand the very fact of concluding an agreement with the Reds. Goebbels took up explanatory work. The propaganda chief immediately began to give instructions to his subordinates: “Now that the Fuhrer has exposed the betrayal of the Bolshevik rulers, National Socialism and, therefore, the German people are returning to the principles that inspired them - to the struggle against plutocracy and Bolshevism.” The Fuehrer, he added, was confident that the Russian campaign would be over in four months. “But I tell you: it will end in eight weeks,” Goebbels said arrogantly.
He repeated this forecast at a reception at the Ministry of Propaganda. Turning to movie star Olga Chekhova, the niece of the great Russian writer, he said: “We have an expert on Russia here. Do you think we will be in Moscow for Christmas? Annoyed by his impudence, the actress coldly replied: “You know, Russia is a lawless country. Even Napoleon was forced to leave there.” From surprise, Goebbels was speechless. Ten minutes later, his adjutant approached the actress: “I think, madam, you are ready to leave. The car is waiting."
Stalin was at a loss. In a few hours, Soviet aviation lost 1,200 aircraft, and the defense was disorganized. Refusing to believe the seriousness of the first reports coming from the combat area, Stalin ordered the Red Army not to enter German territory and the air force to limit its operations to the border strip. He was convinced that the Nazi attack was just an unfortunate mistake and that the war could be stopped through diplomatic means, and therefore he left open radio communication with the German Foreign Ministry and asked Japan to mediate in resolving political and economic differences between Germany and the Soviet Union.
The Soviet ambassador to England had no such illusions. Maisky visited Foreign Minister Eden and directly asked whether the British government was going to relax its war efforts and perhaps listen to Hitler’s “peace offensive.” Eden answered with a categorical “no.” In the evening, Churchill confirmed this in a passionate address to the country: “We are determined to destroy Hitler and all traces of the Nazi regime. We will never negotiate with Hitler or any of his clique." Churchill promised to provide all possible assistance to the USSR.
President Roosevelt condemned Stalin's dictatorial policies and his thirst for territorial acquisitions. But he was wary of Hitler and had no hesitation in endorsing the State Department's claim that aiding communism was in the interests of American security.
The Pope took a different position. Although he did not speak out directly about Germany's aggressive actions, he made it clear that he supported the Nazi struggle against Bolshevism, describing it as "noble courage in defense of the foundations of Christian culture." And a number of German bishops, as expected, openly supported the attack on the USSR. One church official called it a “European crusade,” a mission similar to the exploits of the Teutonic Knights. He called on Catholics to fight for “victory that will allow Europe to breathe freely again and open up a new future for all countries.”
Literally a day later, Germans’ interest in the war began to decline. Citizens went about their daily business as if this was just another of Hitler's military campaigns. At 12.30 on June 23, the Fuhrer and his retinue left the capital. The train took him to the "Wolf's Lair", a new headquarters in the forest a few kilometers from Rastenburg in East Prussia. When upon arrival at the place everyone began to settle down in wooden houses and concrete bunkers, confidence in a quick victory reigned at the Fuhrer's headquarters. However, Hitler was overcome by mixed feelings. “We just have to push the door and the rotten building will collapse,” he told Jodl. But he soon remarked to the adjutant: “At the beginning of every campaign you push the door to dark room. Nobody knows what awaits you inside."
The first victories seemed to justify the most optimistic hopes. In two days, a huge number of prisoners of war were captured. Everywhere, German tanks broke through Soviet defenses. There seemed to be no organized enemy resistance. No further details were provided in the first week. But on Sunday, June 29, ten special messages personally approved by Hitler were read out on the radio at one-hour intervals. Goebbels objected to excessive doses of information, but Hitler thought it was a brilliant idea. When Otto Dietrich reported the dissatisfaction of people who were forced to sit in front of radios all Sunday afternoon, Hitler replied that he knew the way of thinking and emotions of the masses better than all intellectuals combined.
Column of captured Red Army soldiers. Minsk, 1941
The troops advanced rapidly. By June 29, almost half a million Red Army soldiers had surrendered. Halder wrote in his diary on July 3: “It would not be an exaggeration to say that the campaign against Russia was won in fourteen days.” The Fuhrer was sure that the Soviets were finished. “How fortunate,” he enthused, “that we destroyed Soviet tank power and aviation at the very beginning.” Many Western military experts shared this assessment, and the Pentagon debated when the Red Army would be finished: in a month or less.
The leading German units were followed by four Einsatzgruppen SS units of three thousand men each. Their task was to ensure the security of the operational zone, in other words, to repress the civilian population in order to suppress their resistance to the occupiers. This was a special kind of police, subordinate directly to Reinhard Heydrich. "Troops special purpose“They had to grab not only active Bolsheviks, but also all Jews, as well as gypsies, “Asian subhumans” and “parasites” - the insane and hopelessly ill.
To carry out mass murders, Heydrich and Himmler personally selected officers. They included a Protestant priest and doctor, an opera singer and a lawyer. It was difficult to imagine that they were suitable for such work. But these people lived up to the hopes of their bosses and, despite remorse, became skilled executioners.
Most of the victims were Jews. They had no idea about Hitler's program of "racial cleansing": little was reported in the Soviet press about the anti-Semitic atrocities of the Germans. Therefore, many Jews became easy prey for the Einsatzgruppen.
The extermination of Jews was carried out with cold calculation. The work of SS units rarely encountered resistance. “Oddly enough, the condemned allow themselves to be shot calmly,” one commander reported. “This applies to both Jews and non-Jews.”
Heydrich's most serious problem was mental disorders among the SS men. Some of them suffered nervous shocks, went on a drinking binge, and suffered from gastrointestinal diseases. And there were those who carried out their task with excessive zeal and sadistically beat the arrested, violating Himmler’s order that the liquidation must be carried out “humanely.”
Himmler himself witnessed more than once the demoralizing effect of daily killings. During his summer trip to Minsk, he asked the commander of the Einsatzgruppe to shoot one hundred arrestees in his presence. When the squad of soldiers raised their rifles, the SS chief noticed one blond-haired young prisoner with blue eyes, who seemed to him a typical Aryan. Himmler asked if he was a Jew. Yes, a Jew, he answered. “And the parents are Jews?” Himmler continued to interrogate. “Yes,” replied the condemned man. “But maybe one of the ancestors was not a Jew?” - the chief executioner did not back down. Hearing a negative answer, he stamped his foot: “In that case, I can’t help…”
Shots rang out. Himmler stared at the ground and nervously shifted from foot to foot. A second salvo was heard. Looking up, he saw that the two women were still writhing on the ground. “Don’t torture these women!” he shouted. “Finish them off, quickly!” Accompanying Himmler, SS Obergruppenführer von Bach-Zelewski, commander of the “special forces” in Central Russia, asked the chief to look at the firing squad. “They are already finished people. Who are we raising? Neurotics or brutes!
Himmler ordered everyone to gather and made a speech. Your work is disgusting, he said, but no one should feel remorse: soldiers are obliged to unquestioningly carry out any order. He alone bears responsibility before God and the Fuhrer. Everyone, of course, noticed that this bloody work was very unpleasant for him, it shook him to the core. But he also obeys the higher law, fulfilling his duty.
Rosenberg received orders from Hitler to develop a scheme for governing the eastern territories. The Reich Minister wanted to introduce limited self-government here. Since the Führer had previously agreed to the establishment of “weak socialist states” in the conquered lands of Russia, Rosenberg optimistically believed that Hitler approved in principle his plan, which was to be discussed at a special meeting in the Wolf’s Lair on July 16. “We must not inform the world of our intentions,” Hitler said. – The main thing is that we ourselves know what we want. We will take all necessary measures that we deem necessary - executions, resettlement and the like. Basically, we have to cut the giant pie according to our needs in order to firstly dominate, secondly manage and thirdly exploit. The Russians began to wage guerrilla warfare behind the front line. Such actions give us the right to exterminate anyone who opposes us.” Rosenberg's plans for "weak socialist states" collapsed like a house of cards.
What a tragedy, he thought, that Hitler retained the false image of the Slavs that he had formed in his youth in Vienna on the basis of incendiary pamphlets that portrayed the Slavs as a lazy, primitive, hopelessly second-class race. Hitler's complete misunderstanding of the structure of the Soviet Union would also turn into a disaster. Ukrainians and other nationalities under the yoke of the Great Russians were potential allies of the “Third Reich” and could become a bulwark in the fight against Bolshevism if treated properly. But Bormann and Goering convinced the Fuhrer that these were enemies who could only be controlled with the help of a whip.
In the early summer of 1941, Hitler fell ill. The stomach cramps returned again. His body was undermined by an excessive dose of drugs: 120-150 anti-gas tablets per week, as well as a dozen injections of the powerful drug Ultraseptil. Then the Fuhrer began to suffer from dysentery, a common disease in the swampy area where the Wolf's Lair was located. He suffered from diarrhea and nausea, and alternately felt feverish and sweaty... During a heated argument with Ribbentrop at the end of July, Hitler suffered a heart attack. The Foreign Minister, who was anti-Barbarossa from the very beginning, could not restrain himself and began to loudly express his disapproval eastern policy Fuhrer. Hitler turned pale and tried to object, but stopped mid-sentence, grabbed his heart and collapsed into a chair. Everyone fell silent in fear. “Don’t talk to me anymore,” Hitler finally said.
Dr. Morel was so alarmed that he sent the Fuhrer's cardiogram to the director of the Heart Institute, Professor Karl Weber. He did not know that the patient was the Fuhrer himself. The diagnosis was disappointing: rapidly progressing coronary sclerosis, practically incurable heart disease. Morel probably did not tell Hitler about this; on the contrary, he said that the Fuhrer’s heart was in excellent condition.
Hitler fell ill in the midst of a conflict with his military leaders. He ordered the attack on Moscow to be stopped, taking away the most powerful armored formations from Army Group Center. One of them was sent to the north for the operation to capture Leningrad, the other to the south to facilitate the capture of Ukraine. In Hitler's opinion, these two areas were more important than Moscow. Leningrad, this large industrial center, was considered a symbol of the Bolshevik revolution. Ukraine was the country's breadbasket, and Crimea was the unsinkable Soviet aircraft carrier for raids on the Ploiesti oil region in Romania. It could also be used as a springboard for a breakthrough to the Caucasus.
Hitler's illness gave Brauchitsch and Halder the opportunity to make adjustments to the Fuhrer's strategy. Only in mid-August, when Hitler felt better, did he fully realize what was going on behind his back: neither his directives nor Halder’s plan were implemented, a certain compromise was being carried out. To clarify the situation, on August 21, Hitler issued an unambiguous order: “The most important goal to be achieved by winter is not Moscow, but Crimea.” The attack on Moscow, according to the Fuhrer, cannot begin until Leningrad is isolated and the enemy’s 5th Army in the south is defeated. The order was followed within hours by a lengthy memorandum on how to conduct the war. It accused unnamed commanders of being motivated by “selfish desires” and “despotic tendencies.” The army command was characterized as a bunch of empty heads, "ossified in outdated theories."
“A dark day for the army!” Engel wrote in his diary. “Unbearable!” Halder echoed him. - Unheard of! This is the limit! On August 22, he had a long conversation with Brauchitsch about the Fuhrer’s “unacceptable” interference in army affairs. The result of this conversation was a proposal to both of them to resign. But the depressed, sick field marshal refused to follow the advice of the chief of the general staff. Moreover, he did everything to suppress the “rebellion” at his headquarters, assuring Halder that the Fuhrer had personally promised: as soon as victory was ensured in Ukraine, all forces would rush to Moscow. The "riot", if you can call it that, ended on a note of dull grumbling.
This crisis faded into the background when Mussolini's well-publicized trip to the front took place. The Duce intended to convince Hitler that it was necessary to increase the size of the Italian expeditionary force. The Roman dictator wanted in this way to get his share of the glory in the destruction of communism. But he was in bad shape and could not argue with Hitler. The recent death of his son in a plane crash greatly traumatized Mussolini.
Hitler met the Duce at a small station not far from his headquarters and did not allow him to open his mouth for almost the entire day. The Fuhrer talked continuously about the impending victory in the East, about the stupidity of France and the malicious machinations of the Jewish clique surrounding Roosevelt. When the guest finally mentioned that he wanted to send more troops to the Eastern Front, Hitler changed the topic of conversation. His protracted monologue continued for several more days, and Mussolini was so tired of tirades about the glory and exploits of Germany that he tried to turn the conversation to the victories of Ancient Rome...
Later, near Uman in the Ukraine, they inspected an Italian division, and as feathered helmeted Bersaglieri raced by on motorcycles shouting “Il Duce!”, Mussolini beamed. But after dinner, Hitler left his guest and went to military units. The Duce felt insulted and on the way back he decided to “repay” the unceremonious owner. He went into the pilot's cabin and had a long conversation with Hitler's pilot Baur. He was touched by the attention of the distinguished guest and allowed him to sit at the controls of the plane. Hitler was shocked.
The results of the visit upset Mussolini. He was worried that the war in the East was going to be long and bloody. The Duce's depression turned to rage when he learned that Ribbentrop did not want to publish a joint communique about his visit. This time Hitler gave in to Mussolini and put Ribbentrop in his place. The Duce perked up. He summoned his ambassador in Berlin, Dino Alfieri, and gave him instructions on how to publicize his trip to ? front. “Don’t forget to mention,” the vain Duce emphasized, “that for a significant part of the journey I myself piloted the Fuhrer’s four-engine plane!”
In The Wolf's Lair, Hitler reconsidered his strategy, concluding that the time had come to launch an offensive on Moscow. Over a cup of tea, he told his secretaries and adjutants: “In a few weeks we will be in Moscow. There is no doubt about it. I will wipe this damned city off the face of the earth and build an artificial lake in its place. The name “Moscow” will disappear forever.” On September 5, he told Halder: “Start the offensive on the Central Front in eight to nine days.” His statements were recorded by Werner Koeppen, Rosenberg’s liaison at the Fuhrer’s headquarters. From the beginning of July this year, at the request of his boss, he quietly recorded Hitler's table conversations. Koeppen furtively made notes on table napkins, and in the evening, in privacy, he wrote down those parts of the conversation that he remembered well. The original and a copy of the recording were sent to Berlin by courier.
Köppen did not know that there was another chronicler at the table. Shortly after his arrival at the Wolf's Lair, Bormann suggested to his adjutant Heinrich Heim that he discreetly record everything the Fuhrer said. Heim took detailed notes on cards he held on his lap.
The records of Heim and Köppen provide a rare insight into the mechanism of events that unfolded on Eastern Front.
Hitler assured his listeners that the seizure of Russian space would ensure Germany's world domination. “Then Europe will become an impregnable fortress. Such prospects will open up that the majority of Western democrats will believe in new order. At present, the most important thing is to conquer “living space”. After that it will all be a matter of organization.” The Slavs, according to him, are born slaves who feel the need for a master, and the role of Germany in Russia will be the same as England in India. "Like England, we will rule this empire with a handful of men."
He talked at length about his plans to make Ukraine the breadbasket of Europe and to make the conquered peoples happy with scarves and glass beads, and then admitted that while everyone else dreams of international conference to ensure peace, he prefers to wage war for another ten years, but not to lose the fruits of victory.
The capture of Kyiv three days later caused jubilation in the Wolf's Lair. This means, Hitler predicted, the rapid conquest of all of Ukraine and justifies his insistence on delivering the main blow in a southern direction. At lunch on September 21, the Fuhrer beamed as he reported the capture of 145,000 Red Army soldiers in the vicinity of Kyiv. The Soviet Union, Hitler argued, was on the verge of collapse.
During lunch on September 25, he started talking about how dangerous these “subhumans from the east” were; Europe will not be calm until these Asians are pushed beyond the Urals. “They are brutes, and neither Bolshevism nor tsarism has anything to do with it, they are brutes by nature.” In the evening, Hitler continued to rant around the table, extolling the virtues of war and comparing a soldier's first battle with a woman's first sexual experience, since both are an act of aggression. “In war, a young man becomes a man. If I myself had not been tempered by this experience, I would not have been able to take on such a grandiose mission as building an empire.”
Table conversations concerned almost exclusively the war in the East. There was no active action on the other front - in North Africa. British attempts to push Rommel back failed, and by early autumn there was a lull in the desert. Neither side was ready to attack. Hitler's energy and the might of the Wehrmacht were focused on a general offensive against Moscow, but Field Marshal von Bock warned that the timing was bad. Why not survive the winter in fortified positions? Hitler responded with a kind of allegory: “Before I became chancellor, I thought that General base“This is a dog that must be held tightly by the collar so that it does not attack anyone it sees.” But, the Fuhrer continued, this “dog” turned out to be far from ferocious. He was against rearmament, the occupation of the Rhineland, the invasion of Austria and Czechoslovakia, and even the seizure of Poland. “It is I who have to set this beast,” Hitler concluded.
He insisted on a massive attack on Moscow, and the operation was under code name Typhoon began on the last day of September. Its goal was to destroy Soviet forces on the central front using tank pincers.
The Soviet high command was taken by surprise. In the first 24 hours, Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group advanced 80 kilometers. Infantry rushed into the gap, suppressing isolated pockets of resistance.
Hitler was so confident of victory that he took his special train to Berlin. The next day he gave a speech at the Sports Palace. Hitler began to list the enemy's losses: two and a half million prisoners of war, 22 thousand artillery pieces destroyed or captured, 18 thousand tanks, about 15 thousand aircraft. The numbers were impressive. German soldiers have advanced a thousand kilometers, over 25 thousand kilometers of destroyed railways in the occupied territory have been put back into operation, and most of them have already been transferred to the German, narrower gauge. At the same time, the Fuhrer expressed concern. The war in the East, he emphasized, is a war of ideologies, so all the best elements in Germany must unite and become a monolith. “Only then can we hope that Providence will be with us. Almighty God never helped the lazy. It doesn’t help a coward either,” Hitler concluded. He ended his speech with the words: “The enemy is already defeated and will never rise again.” The hall exploded with thunderous applause,
By evening, a message was transmitted that Guderian's tankers had taken Oryol.
The next day, Hitler returned to the Wolf's Lair, and all the inhabitants of the Fuhrer's headquarters noticed that at dinner he was especially good mood. The dinner conversation on October 6 focused on Czechoslovakia, where underground activity had intensified. And for this, according to the Fuhrer, the Jews were to blame: this is the source through which enemy propaganda is spread. A decision was immediately made to deport the Jews “far to the East.”
On this day, Guderian took Bryansk and completed the encirclement of its defenders. Soviet armies. Two days later, reports from the front reported that the Red Army could be “basically considered defeated.” Inspired by the impending capture of Moscow, Hitler ordered that not a single German soldier enter the capital. “The city,” he said, “will be destroyed and completely wiped off the face of the earth.”
On October 9, German newspapers reported a great victory - the encirclement of two Soviet fronts. The mood of the Germans rose sharply. The previously tense faces were now beaming. In restaurants and beer halls, people stood up in Nazi salutes as “Horst Wessel” and “Germany First” played on the radio. Rumors spread in the capital that Moscow had fallen.
On the same day, Field Marshal von Reichenau, the first general to defect to the Nazis, issued an order to the 6th Army to strengthen measures to combat the partisans. It said that there was no ordinary war going on, but a mortal struggle between German culture and the Jewish-Bolshevik system. “Therefore, the soldier must fully understand the need for cruel but fair measures against Jewish subhumans.” The same orders were issued by Rundstedt, Manstein and other military leaders.
Hitler's announcement that the Red Army had been defeated and victory was assured was not just propaganda to boost morale in the country. He believed what he said, unlike his more pragmatic propaganda chief. On October 14, Goebbels began his speech to the Propaganda Ministry with an optimistic statement: “Militarily, the war has already been won. Everything that remains to be done is predominantly political in nature, both at home and abroad.” Then he began to contradict himself, warning that the German people must be prepared to continue the war in the East for another ten years. Therefore, the task of the German press is to strengthen the resilience of the nation.
Meanwhile, reports indicated that the diplomatic corps had moved from Moscow to Kuibyshev. The evacuation of high-ranking party leaders and secret service employees from the capital began.
In Berlin, in the corridors of the Foreign Ministry on Wilhelmstrasse, they said that Stalin asked for peace through the Bulgarian Tsar Boris. Fritz Hesse asked Ribbentrop if this was true, and he big secret told him that Hitler rejected this proposal because he was confident of imminent victory. Most military leaders shared his optimism. For example, Jodl had no doubt that the Soviets had used up their last reserves.
The demoralized Stalin finally began to come to his senses. Appearing in the Kremlin, he asked the chairman of the Moscow Council: “Will we defend Moscow?” And, without waiting for an answer, he declared a state of siege. Violations of law and order were to be severely punished. All spies, saboteurs and provocateurs were to be shot on the spot. These brutal measures raised the morale of Muscovites.
The Soviet troops defending Moscow held firm, and the advance of the German tank wedges, which approached the capital at a distance of sixty kilometers, slowed down. Then the weather changed suddenly. The autumn rains began, and powerful German T-4 tanks got stuck in the mud, while the more maneuverable Soviet T-34s were not afraid of off-road conditions.
Hitler's most significant victories in the last two years were achieved through massive tank attacks supported by air power. But now the powerful equipment was skidding in a sea of mud, and poor visibility forced the Luftwaffe to remain on the ground. There was no more mobility or firepower, and the lightning war that Hitler had relied on fizzled out. Most military leaders believed that main reason failures - Hitler’s refusal to launch an offensive a month earlier. If the Fuhrer had followed their advice, the generals argued, Moscow would have been taken and the Red Army destroyed.
At the end of October the rain gave way to snow. The offensive stopped. The situation became so desperate that the architect Giesler was ordered to interrupt his work on the reconstruction of German cities. All workers, engineers, Construction Materials and equipment were transferred to the East for laying highways, repair of railway tracks, construction of stations and locomotive depots.
Hitler seemed to remain confident that victory was imminent. On the eve of his departure to Munich to celebrate the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch, he enlivened the dinner with jokes and memories...
During these hours in Moscow, his personal enemy spoke at a ceremonial meeting on the occasion of the anniversary of the revolution in the spacious lobby of the Mayakovskaya metro station. Stalin admitted that the losses on the battlefield amounted to almost 1,700,000 people. But the Nazis' claim that the Soviet regime was collapsing had no basis, he said. On the contrary, the Soviet rear is today more solid than ever... While the Germans are fighting with the support of numerous allies - Finns, Romanians, Italians and Hungarians, Russia faces a difficult task: not a single English or American soldier is yet able to help her. Stalin appealed to Russian national pride, mentioning in this regard the names of Plekhanov and Lenin, Belinsky and Chernyshevsky, Pushkin and Tolstoy, Gorky and Chekhov, Glinka and Tchaikovsky, Sechenov and Pavlov, Suvorov and Kutuzov. The German invaders want a war to exterminate the peoples of the Soviet Union. If they want a war of extermination, they will get it, Stalin concluded.
The next morning, November 7, Stalin gave a speech to the troops on Red Square. Artillery cannonade could be heard here, and Soviet fighter patrols roared in the sky. “How can you doubt that such a people will defeat the German invaders,” Stalin addressed the troops. - Whoever threatened the long-suffering Russian land! Teutonic knights, Tatars, Poles, Napoleon... The current enemy will face the same fate - he will be defeated. And let the images of our great ancestors inspire you to do this: Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Minin and Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov.”
On November 8, Hitler arrived in Munich. He spoke at a meeting of the Reichsleiter and Gauleiter, then made a speech in the Levenbräukeller beer hall, in which, among other things, President Roosevelt warned that if American ships will begin to fire at German ships, they will pay for it. Hitler spoke threatening words, but in reality he was alarmed. The eastern campaign has reached a dead end.
The next day, Hitler reminded his entourage about the fate of Napoleon's army in Russia. But Field Marshal von Bock was optimistic. He called for the offensive to continue. The field marshal was supported by Brauchitsch and Halder.
When the Japanese ambassador to Germany, General Oshima, who periodically paid visits to Hitler, appeared at the Wolf's Lair, he complained that winter had come much earlier than his meteorologist had predicted. Then the Fuhrer expressed doubt that Moscow would be captured this year.
The cold has intensified. Hitler at one time forbade quartermaster services to stockpile winter clothing; and the soldiers were freezing. On November 21, Guderian called Halder and reported that his troops had “reached the limit of their endurance.” He intends to visit von Bock and ask the field marshal to change the orders just issued, because he “does not see the possibility of their implementation.” But the field marshal, under direct pressure from the Fuhrer, never wanted to heed Guderian’s requests and ordered the attacks to be resumed. After little progress, the troops were again exhausted. Arriving at the forward command post, von Bock ordered a new attack on November 24. It was stopped by a snowstorm and fanatical Russian resistance.
Five days later the crisis broke out in the south. Field Marshal von Rundstedt was forced to leave Rostov, captured only a week ago. An angry Hitler ordered Rundstedt by telegraph to remain in his positions. The army group commander replied that his troops were not able to do this. If they do not retreat, they will be destroyed. The field marshal demanded that the order be canceled and warned that otherwise he would be forced to resign. The latter especially angered the Fuhrer, and he immediately informed the commander of the army group that he was granting his request. In Rundstedt's place, he appointed one of the oldest military leaders, Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau, and he himself flew to Mariupol to understand the situation on the spot. Hitler called his old comrade, the commander of the SS division Sepp Dietrich and, to his disappointment, learned that he was completely I agree with Rundstedt in his assessment of the current situation.
Having given Reichenau the order to hold, he called Rundstedt. He was already packing his things to go home, and believed that the Fuhrer wanted to apologize to him. But Hitler did not even think about doing this. He began to scold the field marshal, saying that in the future he would not tolerate resignations. “I myself, for example, am not able to go to the Almighty and tell him: “That’s enough, that’s enough,” I’m tired of taking responsibility alone,” Hitler said irritably.
The news of the surrender of Rostov caused a gloomy mood in Berlin. But the failure in the south was soon overshadowed by the emerging disaster on the Central Front. The general offensive against Moscow ran out of steam. Although one army reconnaissance unit reached the outskirts of Moscow in early December and even saw the Kremlin towers, it was quickly scattered by tanks and militia units. Field Marshal von Bock, suffering from stomach pains, admitted to Brauchitsch by telephone that the troops were physically exhausted. On December 3, von Bock called Halder and told him that he intended to go on the defensive.
The next day the thermometer dropped to minus 31 degrees. Tanks could only be started by warming up the engines. The cold disabled the telescopic sights. The soldiers did not have winter clothes or woolen socks. On December 5, the temperature dropped another five degrees. Guderian not only stopped the offensive, but also began to retreat to more convenient defensive positions.
On the same day, the commander of the Soviet Central Front, General Georgy Zhukov, launched a massive counteroffensive with 100 divisions along a three-hundred-kilometer front. This combined attack of infantry, tanks and aircraft took the Germans by surprise, and Hitler not only lost Moscow, but also faced the threat of repeating the fate of Napoleon in the snowy expanses of Russia. The German High Command was gripped by horror and despair. The commander-in-chief of the ground forces, von Brauchitsch, ill and depressed, announced his desire to resign.
Hitler was close to despair. In the First World War, Russian infantry fought poorly, now they were fighting to the death. The dejected Fuhrer admitted to Jodl on December 6 that “victory will no longer be achieved.”
For the past two years, Hitler had carefully avoided confrontation with the United States. Convinced that this country was in the grip of a “Jewish clique” that not only dominated Washington but also controlled the press, radio and cinema, he exercised extreme restraint in the face of massive American aid to England. Although Hitler had a very low opinion of Americans as soldiers, he recognized the industrial power of the United States and sought to keep its overseas rival from directly participating in the war.
American military equipment flowed into the British Isles in a continuous stream, but Hitler, trying to avoid incidents, forbade attacks on US warships and merchant ships. However, on June 23, 1941, President Roosevelt authorized the acting. Secretary of State Sumner Welles to make a statement that Hitler must be stopped at any cost, even if this means helping another totalitarian country. Roosevelt unfroze up to $40 million in Soviet assets and then declared that the provisions of the Neutrality Act did not apply to the Soviet Union. The port of Vladivostok remained open to American ships. Two weeks later, on July 7, American troops arrived in Iceland to replace the British landing force that had previously landed on the island.
Alarmed by these events, Hitler told the Japanese Ambassador Oshima in mid-July: the current situation changes his previous opinion that Japan should restrain England and strive for American neutrality. “The United States and England will always be our enemies,” he said. “Such an understanding should be the basis of our foreign policy.” “We must destroy them together,” the Fuhrer added. As a bait, he proposed that Japan help “capitalize the property” of the defeated Soviet Union and occupy its Far Eastern territories.
Tokyo reacted to these proposals with restraint. The Japanese had already decided not to attack Russia from the east, but to move south into Indochina, which they soon captured without a fight. The latter caused a negative reaction from the United States, which, in retaliation for this aggression, froze Japanese assets in America, thereby depriving Japan of its main source of oil. Japanese leaders perceived this move as an attempt to disarm the empire and prevent Japan from taking its “rightful” place as Asian leader.
A month later, Roosevelt met with Churchill off the coast of Newfoundland and signed the Atlantic Charter outlining the goals of England and the United States in the war. Its language not only left no doubt that Roosevelt was an unwavering opponent of Hitler, but also ironically disappointed Hitler's opponents in Germany, since the document did not clearly distinguish between Nazis and anti-Nazis. The latter considered the charter an unofficial declaration of war against all Germans. They were especially offended by the paragraph that spoke of the need to disarm Germany after the war.
Hitler's hopes of avoiding a confrontation with the United States were dashed on the last day of October when the American destroyer Reuben James, escorting a convoy 600 miles west of Iceland, was sunk by a German torpedo, killing 101 Americans. In response, the United States expropriated the French liner Normandy, loaded it with 400 aircraft and sent it to Murmansk. A wave of anti-German protests swept across America, and on November 7, the Lend-Lease Administration was ordered to do everything to provide military and economic assistance to the Soviet Union. A billion dollars were allocated for this.
The next day, November 8, Hitler gave a belligerent speech in Munich, in which he justified the sinking of the Reuben James and condemned Roosevelt's order to “shoot at German ships as soon as they are seen,” but at the same time emphasized that he himself had ordered the German ships not to fire on American ships except in self-defense. This speech was supposed to demonstrate to the whole world that the Fuhrer was seeking to avoid war with the United States.
Nevertheless, Hitler's position towards the United States became tougher, and this was reflected in Ribbentrop's behavior. On November 28, he invited General Oshima and expressed the wish that Japan declare war on the United States and England. The Japanese ambassador expressed surprise at this proposal. Ribbentrop promised that if Japan went to war with America, Germany would support it.
This information was greeted by the Japanese General Staff with a sigh of relief. The Japanese fleet was already sailing to Pearl Harbor. On the last day of November, Oshima was instructed to immediately inform Hitler and Ribbentrop that the British and Americans were planning to send military forces into East Asia, but this would be rebuffed, which could lead to war between Japan and the Anglo-Saxon countries. On December 5, the German-Japanese Treaty was signed, under which Germany promised to join Japan in the war against the United States.
In The Wolf's Lair, Otto Dietrich was the first to learn about Japan's attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor on December 7. He hurried to Hitler's bunker, who at that moment was reading depressing reports from the Eastern Front. When Dietrich announced that he had important news, the Fuhrer looked at Dietrich warily, believing that he had brought something far from joyful. But when Dietrich read out the message he had received, Hitler beamed, grabbed the paper from him and, without a coat or cap, hurried to Keitel’s bunker. The Fuhrer solemnly declared: “We cannot lose the war. Now we have a partner who has never been defeated in three thousand years.”
Desperate reports from the Eastern Front prompted Hitler to issue a new directive on December 8th. "Severe winter conditions, it said, “and, as a consequence, difficulties in supplying troops force us to immediately stop all major offensive operations and go on the defensive." Having instructed Halder to draw up more specific instructions, he went to Berlin to personally deal with the resolution of the problem associated with Pearl Harbor. Relief over Japan's attack on the US naval base has turned to concern. Pearl Harbor freed Stalin from fear of attack from the east, and he could now direct almost all of his forces from Asia against Germany, transferring them to the west.
One of the first to visit the Fuhrer in Berlin was Ribbentrop, who reported that Ambassador Oshima was asking for an immediate declaration of war on America. Ribbentrop considered it necessary to warn that he did not consider Germany obliged to do this, since, according to the Tripartite Pact, it must help its ally only in the event of a direct attack on Japan. But Hitler did not agree with this. “If we don't side with Japan,” he said, “the pact will be politically dead. But this is not the main reason. The main thing is that America is already shooting at our ships. Thus, she has already created a situation of war.”
There were also more compelling arguments in favor of the decision to declare war on the United States: the assistance received from Japan significantly exceeded the possible losses associated with America's entry into the war. From a propaganda point of view, the acquisition of such strong ally, like Japan, should have significantly raised the spirit of the people after the failures in Russia. In addition, Hitler pursued ideological goals. Why not make 1941 the beginning of an all-out war against international Marxism (Russia) and international capital (America), the two hotbeds of international Jewry?
On December 11, Hitler spoke at a meeting of the Reichstag. “We always strike first,” he said. Roosevelt is as “crazy” as Woodrow Wilson. “First he provokes war, then he falsifies the causes, then he takes on the mantle of Christian hypocrisy and slowly but surely leads humanity to war...” Identifying international Jewry with Bolshevik Russia and the Roosevelt regime, Hitler declared war on the United States. This decision of the Fuhrer was met with wild jubilation. Boss operational management I listened to the speech more with anxiety than with satisfaction. As soon as Jodl left the opera house, he called his deputy, General Warlimont, at the Wolf's Lair. Having learned that he had listened to the Fuhrer’s speech. Jodl ordered to forecast possible US stocks on Far East and in Europe and prepare options for Germany's response.
But soon the situation on the Eastern Front became sharply complicated. The German retreat from Moscow threatened to turn into a stampede. Area west of the capital and the outskirts of Tula became a cemetery for enemy guns, vehicles and tanks. The Russians regained the confidence they had lost in the first months of the war in victory. The Soviets publicly announced the failure of Hitler's attempt to encircle Moscow, and two days later the Politburo ordered major government agencies to return to the capital.
Brauchitsch wanted to continue the withdrawal of troops, but Hitler, to the horror of the generals, canceled his order: “Stand firm, not a step back!” The commander of the Central Front, Field Marshal von Bock, suffering from a stomach illness, reported that he could no longer carry out his duties. He was replaced by Field Marshal Günther von Kluge. The next day, December 19, Brauchitsch, who had just suffered a heart attack, plucked up his courage and argued privately with Hitler for two hours. He came out pale and shocked.
“I’m going home,” he told Keitel. - He fired me. I can not do it anymore.
“What will happen now?” asked Keitel.
– I don’t know, ask yourself.
A few hours later, Keitel was summoned to Hitler. The Fuhrer read him a short order, from which it followed that he was taking command of the ground forces, inextricably linking the fate of Germany with his own. “The task of the commander-in-chief is to prepare the army in the National Socialist spirit, and I do not know a single general who can take on such responsibility. For this reason I took command of the army."
In fact, Hitler led troops before, allowing the military to take the blame for all failures. Now he became the official commander-in-chief and had to be personally responsible for everything that happened.
Attack of Hitler's Germany on the USSR began at 4 a.m. on June 22, 1941, when German military aircraft launched the first strikes on a number of Soviet cities and strategic military and infrastructure facilities. Having attacked the USSR, Germany unilaterally broke the non-aggression pact between the countries, concluded two years earlier for a period of 10 years.
Prerequisites and preparation for the attack
In mid-1939, the USSR changed the course of its foreign policy: the collapse of the idea of “collective security” and the deadlock in negotiations with Great Britain and France forced Moscow to move closer to Nazi Germany. On August 23, the head of the German Foreign Ministry, J. von Ribbentrop, arrived in Moscow. On the same day, the parties signed a Non-Aggression Pact for a period of ten years, and in addition to it, a secret protocol that stipulated the delimitation of the spheres of interests of both states in Eastern Europe. Eight days after the treaty was signed, Germany attacked Poland and World War II began.
The rapid victories of German troops in Europe caused concern in Moscow. The first deterioration in Soviet-German relations occurred in August-September 1940, and was caused by Germany providing foreign policy guarantees to Romania after it was forced to cede Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the USSR (this was stipulated in the secret protocol). In September, Germany sent troops to Finland. By this time German command For more than a month, a plan for a lightning war (“blitzkrieg”) against the Soviet Union had been developed.
In the spring of 1941, relations between Moscow and Berlin deteriorated sharply again: not even a day had passed since the signing of the Soviet-Yugoslav friendship treaty when German troops invaded Yugoslavia. The USSR did not react to this, as well as to the attack on Greece. After the defeat of Greece and Yugoslavia, German troops began to concentrate near the borders of the USSR. Since the spring of 1941, Moscow received information from various sources about the threat of an attack from Germany. Thus, at the end of March, a letter to Stalin warning that the Germans were transferring tank divisions from Romania to southern Poland was sent by British Prime Minister W. Churchill. A number of Soviet intelligence officers and diplomats reported on Germany's intention to attack the USSR - Schulze-Boysen and Harnack from Germany, R. Sorge from Japan. However, some of their colleagues reported the opposite, so Moscow was in no hurry to draw conclusions. According to G.K. Zhukov, Stalin was confident that Hitler would not fight on two fronts and would not start a war with the USSR until the end of the war in the West. His point of view was shared by the head of the intelligence department, General F.I. Golikov: on March 20, 1941, he presented Stalin with a report in which he concluded that all data about the inevitability of the imminent outbreak of the Soviet-German war “must be regarded as disinformation coming from the British and even, maybe German intelligence."
In the face of the growing threat of conflict, Stalin took formal leadership of the government: on May 6, 1941, he took over as chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. The day before, he spoke in the Kremlin at a reception in honor of graduates of military academies, in particular, saying that it was time for the country to move “from defense to offense.” On May 15, 1941, People's Commissar of Defense S.K. Timoshenko and the newly appointed Chief of the General Staff G.K. Zhukov presented to Stalin “Considerations on the strategic deployment plan armed forces Soviet Union in case of war with Germany and its allies." It was assumed that the Red Army would strike the enemy at a time when the enemy armies were in the process of deployment. According to Zhukov, Stalin did not want to hear about a preventive strike on German troops. Fearing a provocation that could give Germany a pretext for attack, Stalin forbade opening fire on German reconnaissance aircraft, which had increasingly crossed the Soviet border since the spring of 1941. He was convinced that, by exercising extreme caution, the USSR would avoid war or at least delay it until a more favorable moment.
On June 14, 1941, by order of the Soviet government, TASS published a statement in which it was stated that rumors about Germany’s intention to break the non-aggression pact and start a war against the USSR were devoid of any basis, and the transfer of German troops from the Balkans to eastern Germany was probably associated with other motives . On June 17, 1941, Stalin was informed that the Soviet intelligence officer Schulze-Boysen, an employee of the German aviation headquarters, said: “All German military measures to prepare an armed attack against the USSR are completely completed, and a strike can be expected at any time.” The Soviet leader imposed a resolution in which he called Schulze-Boysen a disinformer and advised him to be sent to hell.
On the evening of June 21, 1941, a message was received in Moscow: a sergeant major of the German army, a convinced communist, crossed the Soviet-Romanian border at the risk of his life and reported that the offensive would begin in the morning. The information was urgently transferred to Stalin, and he gathered the military and members of the Politburo. People's Commissar of Defense S.K. Timoshenko and Chief of the General Staff G.K. Zhukov, according to the latter, asked Stalin to accept a directive to put troops on combat readiness, but he doubted it, suggesting that the Germans could have planted the defector officer on purpose in order to provoke a conflict. Instead of the directive proposed by Tymoshenko and Zhukov, the head of state ordered another, short directive, indicating that the attack could begin with a provocation of German units. On June 22 at 0:30 am this order was transmitted to the military districts. At three o'clock in the morning everyone gathered at Stalin's left.
Start of hostilities
Early in the morning of June 22, 1941, German aviation, with a sudden attack on airfields, destroyed a significant part of Soviet aviation in the western districts. The bombing of Kyiv, Riga, Smolensk, Murmansk, Sevastopol and many other cities began. In a declaration read out on the radio that day, Hitler said that Moscow allegedly “treacherously violated” the treaty of friendship with Germany because it concentrated troops against it and violated German borders. Therefore, the Führer said, he decided “to oppose the Judeo-Anglo-Saxon warmongers and their assistants, as well as the Jews from the Moscow Bolshevik center” in the name of “the cause of peace” and “the security of Europe.”
The offensive was carried out according to the previously developed Barbarossa plan. As in previous military campaigns, the Germans hoped to use the tactics of “lightning war” (“blitzkrieg”): the defeat of the USSR was supposed to take only eight to ten weeks and be completed before Germany ended the war with Great Britain. Planning to end the war before winter, the German command did not even bother to prepare winter uniforms. The German armies, consisting of three groups, were to attack Leningrad, Moscow and Kyiv, having previously encircled and destroyed enemy troops in the western part of the USSR. The army groups were led by experienced military leaders: Army Group North was commanded by Field Marshal von Leeb, Army Group Center by Field Marshal von Bock, Army Group South by Field Marshal von Rundstedt. Each army group was assigned its own air fleet and tank army; the Center group had two of them. The ultimate goal of Operation Barbarossa was to reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line. Job industrial enterprises, located east of this line - in the Urals, Kazakhstan and Siberia - the Germans hoped to paralyze with the help of air strikes.
Giving instructions to the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, Hitler emphasized that the war with the USSR should become a “conflict of two worldviews.” He demanded a “war of extermination”: “bearers of the state political idea and political leaders” were ordered not to be captured and shot on the spot, which was contrary to international law. Anyone who offered resistance was ordered to be shot.
By the time the war began, 190 divisions of Germany and its allies were concentrated near the Soviet borders, of which 153 were German. They included more than 90% of the armored forces of the German army. The total number of armed forces of Germany and its allies intended to attack the USSR was 5.5 million people. They had at their disposal more than 47 thousand guns and mortars, 4,300 tanks and assault guns, and about 6 thousand combat aircraft. They were opposed by the forces of five Soviet border military districts (at the beginning of the war they were deployed on five fronts). In total, there were over 4.8 million people in the Red Army, who had 76.5 thousand guns and mortars, 22.6 thousand tanks, and approximately 20 thousand aircraft. However, in the border districts of the above there were only 2.9 million soldiers, 32.9 thousand guns and mortars, 14.2 thousand tanks and more than 9 thousand aircraft.
After 4 o'clock in the morning, Stalin was awakened by a phone call from Zhukov - he said that the war with Germany had begun. At 4:30 am, Tymoshenko and Zhukov again met with the head of state. Meanwhile, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V.M. Molotov, on Stalin's instructions, went to a meeting with the German Ambassador V. von der Schulenburg. Until Molotov returned, Stalin refused to order counterattacks against enemy units. The conversation between Molotov and Schulenburg began at 5:30 am. On instructions from the German government, the ambassador read out a note with the following content: “In view of the further intolerable threat created for the German eastern border as a result of the massive concentration and training of all the armed forces of the Red Army, the German government considers itself forced to take military countermeasures.” The head of the NKID tried in vain to dispute what the ambassador said and convince him of the innocence of the USSR. Already at 5 hours 45 minutes, Molotov was in Stalin’s office along with L. P. Beria, L. Z. Mehlis, as well as Timoshenko and Zhukov. Stalin agreed to give a directive to destroy the enemy, but emphasized that Soviet units should not violate the German border anywhere. At 7:15 a.m. the corresponding directive was sent to the troops.
Stalin's entourage believed that it was he who should speak on the radio with an appeal to the population, but he refused, and Molotov did it instead. In his address, the head of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs announced the beginning of the war, noted that German aggression was to blame, and expressed confidence in the victory of the USSR. At the end of his speech, he uttered the famous words: “Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours!" In order to prevent possible doubts and rumors about the silence of Stalin himself, Molotov added several references to him in the original text of the address.
On the evening of June 22, British Prime Minister W. Churchill spoke on the radio. He stated that in the current situation, his anti-communist views are receding into the background, and the West must provide “Russia and the Russian people” with all the help it can. On June 24, F. Roosevelt, President of the United States, made a similar statement in support of the USSR.
Retreat of the Red Army
In total, on the first day of the war alone, the USSR lost at least 1,200 aircraft (according to German data - more than 1.5 thousand). Many nodes and lines of communication were rendered unusable - because of this, the General Staff lost contact with the troops. Due to the inability to fulfill the demands of the center, the commander of the aviation of the Western Front, I. I. Kopets, shot himself. On June 22, at 21:15, the General Staff sent a new directive to the troops with instructions to immediately launch a counteroffensive, “disregarding the border,” to encircle and destroy the main enemy forces within two days and to capture the areas of the cities of Suwalki and Lublin by the end of June 24. But the Soviet units failed not only to go on the offensive, but also to create a continuous defensive front. The Germans had a tactical advantage on all fronts. Despite the enormous efforts and sacrifices and the colossal enthusiasm of the soldiers, the Soviet troops failed to stop the enemy’s advance. Already on June 28, the Germans entered Minsk. Due to the loss of communication and panic at the fronts, the army became almost uncontrollable.
Stalin was in a state of shock for the first 10 days of the war. He often interfered in the course of events, summoning Timoshenko and Zhukov to the Kremlin several times. On June 28, after the surrender of Minsk, the head of state went to his dacha and for three days - from June 28 to 30 - stayed there continuously, not answering calls and not inviting anyone to his place. Only on the third day his closest associates came to him and persuaded him to return to work. On July 1, Stalin arrived in the Kremlin and on the same day became the head of the newly formed State Committee defense (GKO) - an emergency governing body that received full power in the state. In addition to Stalin, the GKO included V. M. Molotov, K. E. Voroshilov, G. M. Malenkov, L. P. Beria. Later, the composition of the committee changed several times. Ten days later, Stalin also headed the Supreme Command Headquarters.
To rectify the situation, Stalin ordered to send Marshals B.M. Shaposhnikov and G.I. Kulik to the Western Front, but the former fell ill, and the latter himself was surrounded and had difficulty getting out, disguised as a peasant. Stalin decided to shift responsibility for failures on the fronts to the local military command. The commander of the Western Front, Army General D. G. Pavlov, and several other military leaders were arrested and sent to a military tribunal. They were accused of an “anti-Soviet conspiracy”, of deliberately “opening the front to Germany”, and then of cowardice and alarmism, after which they were shot. In 1956, they were all rehabilitated.
By the beginning of July 1941, the armies of Germany and its allies occupied most of the Baltic states, Western Ukraine and Belarus, and approached Smolensk and Kyiv. Army Group Center advanced the deepest into Soviet territory. The German command and Hitler believed that the main enemy forces had been defeated and the end of the war was near. Now Hitler was wondering how to quickly complete the defeat of the USSR: continue to advance on Moscow or encircle Soviet troops in Ukraine or Leningrad.
The version of Hitler's "preventive strike"
In the early 1990s, V. B. Rezun, a former Soviet intelligence officer who fled to the West, published several books under the pseudonym Viktor Suvorov, in which he claimed that Moscow planned to be the first to strike Germany, and Hitler, having started the war, only forestalled an attack by Soviet troops. Rezun was later supported by some Russian historians. However, an analysis of all available sources shows that if Stalin was going to strike first, it would be in a more favorable situation. At the end of June and beginning of July 1941, he sought to delay the war with Germany and was not ready for an offensive.