Report on June 22, 1941. Sad picture of the day

On June 22, 1941, at 4 a.m., Nazi Germany treacherously invaded the USSR without declaring war. This attack ended the chain of aggressive actions of Nazi Germany, which, thanks to the connivance and incitement of the Western powers, grossly violated the elementary norms of international law, resorted to predatory seizures and monstrous atrocities in the occupied countries.

In accordance with the Barbarossa plan, the fascist offensive began on a wide front by several groups in different directions. An army was stationed in the north "Norway", advancing on Murmansk and Kandalaksha; an army group was advancing from East Prussia to the Baltic states and Leningrad "North"; the most powerful army group "Center" had the goal of defeating the Red Army units in Belarus, capturing Vitebsk-Smolensk and taking Moscow on the move; army group "South" was concentrated from Lublin to the mouth of the Danube and led an attack on Kyiv - Donbass. The Nazis' plans boiled down to delivering a surprise attack in these directions, destroying border and military units, breaking through deep into the rear, and capturing Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv and the most important industrial centers in the southern regions of the country.

The German army command expected to end the war in 6-8 weeks.

190 enemy divisions, about 5.5 million soldiers, up to 50 thousand guns and mortars, 4,300 tanks, almost 5 thousand aircraft and about 200 warships were thrown into the offensive against the Soviet Union.

The war began in extremely favorable conditions for Germany. Before the attack on the USSR, Germany captured almost all of Western Europe, whose economy worked for the Nazis. Therefore, Germany had a powerful material and technical base.

Germany's military products were supplied by 6,500 largest enterprises in Western Europe. More than 3 million foreign workers were involved in the war industry. In Western European countries, the Nazis looted a lot of weapons, military equipment, trucks, carriages and locomotives. The military-economic resources of Germany and its allies significantly exceeded those of the USSR. Germany fully mobilized its army, as well as the armies of its allies. Most of the German army was concentrated near the borders of the Soviet Union. In addition, imperialist Japan threatened an attack from the East, which diverted a significant part of the Soviet Armed Forces to defend the country's eastern borders. In theses of the CPSU Central Committee "50 years of the Great October Socialist Revolution" An analysis of the reasons for the temporary failures of the Red Army in the initial period of the war is given. They are due to the fact that the Nazis used temporary advantages:

• militarization of the economy and all life in Germany;
• long preparation for a war of conquest and more than two years of experience in conducting military operations in the West;
• superiority in weapons and numbers of troops concentrated in advance in border zones.

They had the economic and military resources of almost all of Western Europe at their disposal. Miscalculations in determining the possible timing of Hitler's Germany's attack on our country and related omissions in preparation for repelling the first blows played a role. There was reliable information about the concentration of German troops near the borders of the USSR and Germany’s preparations for an attack on our country. However, the troops of the western military districts were not brought to a state of full combat readiness.

All these reasons put the Soviet country in a difficult situation. However, the enormous difficulties of the initial period of the war did not break the fighting spirit of the Red Army or shake the fortitude of the Soviet people. From the first days of the attack, it became clear that the plan for a lightning war had collapsed. Accustomed to easy victories over Western countries, whose governments treacherously surrendered their people to be torn to pieces by the occupiers, the Nazis met stubborn resistance from the Soviet Armed Forces, border guards and the entire Soviet people. The war lasted 1418 days. Groups of border guards fought bravely on the border. The garrison of the Brest Fortress covered itself with unfading glory. The defense of the fortress was led by Captain I. N. Zubachev, regimental commissar E. M. Fomin, Major P. M. Gavrilov and others. On June 22, 1941, at 4:25 a.m., fighter pilot I. I. Ivanov made the first ram. (In total, about 200 rams were carried out during the war). On June 26, the crew of Captain N.F. Gastello (A.A. Burdenyuk, G.N. Skorobogatiy, A.A. Kalinin) crashed into a column of enemy troops on a burning plane. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers from the first days of the war showed examples of courage and heroism.

lasted two months Battle of Smolensk. Born here near Smolensk soviet guard. The battle in the Smolensk region delayed the enemy's advance until mid-September 1941.
During the Battle of Smolensk, the Red Army thwarted the enemy's plans. The delay of the enemy offensive in the central direction was the first strategic success of the Soviet troops.

The Communist Party became the leading and directing force for the country's defense and preparation for the destruction of Hitler's troops. From the first days of the war, the party took emergency measures to organize resistance to the aggressor; a huge amount of work was carried out to reorganize all work on a military basis, turning the country into a single military camp.

“To wage a war for real,” wrote V.I. Lenin, “a strong, organized rear is needed. The best army, the people most devoted to the cause of the revolution will be immediately exterminated by the enemy if they are not sufficiently armed, supplied with food, and trained” (Lenin V.I. Poln. sobr. soch., vol. 35, p. 408).

These Leninist instructions formed the basis for organizing the fight against the enemy. On June 22, 1941, on behalf of the Soviet government, V. M. Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, spoke on the radio with a message about the “robbery” attack of Nazi Germany and a call to fight the enemy. On the same day, a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was adopted on the introduction of martial law on the European territory of the USSR, as well as a Decree on the mobilization of a number of ages in 14 military districts. On June 23, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution on the tasks of party and Soviet organizations in war conditions. On June 24, the Evacuation Council was formed, and on June 27, the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR “On the procedure for the removal and placement of human contingents and valuable property” determined the procedure for the evacuation of productive forces and the population to the eastern regions. In the directive of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated June 29, 1941, the most important tasks for mobilizing all forces and means to defeat the enemy were outlined to party and Soviet organizations in the front-line regions.

“...In the war imposed on us with fascist Germany,” this document said, “the question of life and death of the Soviet state is being decided, whether the peoples of the Soviet Union should be free or fall into enslavement.” The Central Committee and the Soviet government called for realizing the full depth of the danger, reorganizing all work on a war footing, organizing comprehensive assistance to the front, increasing the production of weapons, ammunition, tanks, aircraft in every possible way, and in the event of a forced withdrawal of the Red Army, removing all valuable property, and destroying what cannot be removed. , in enemy-occupied areas to organize partisan detachments. On July 3, the main provisions of the directive were outlined in a speech by J.V. Stalin on the radio. The directive determined the nature of the war, the degree of threat and danger, set the tasks of transforming the country into a single combat camp, comprehensively strengthening the Armed Forces, restructuring the work of the rear on a military scale, and mobilizing all forces to repel the enemy. On June 30, 1941, an emergency body was created to quickly mobilize all the country’s forces and resources to repel and defeat the enemy - State Defense Committee (GKO) led by I.V. Stalin. All power in the country, state, military and economic leadership was concentrated in the hands of the State Defense Committee. It united the activities of all state and military institutions, party, trade union and Komsomol organizations.

In war conditions, the restructuring of the entire economy on a war footing was of paramount importance. At the end of June it was approved “Mobilization national economic plan for the third quarter of 1941.”, and on August 16 “Military-economic plan for the IV quarter of 1941 and 1942 for the regions of the Volga region, the Urals, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and Central Asia" In just five months of 1941, over 1,360 large military enterprises were relocated and about 10 million people were evacuated. Even according to the admission of bourgeois experts evacuation of industry in the second half of 1941 and the beginning of 1942 and its deployment in the East should be considered among the most amazing feats of the peoples of the Soviet Union during the war. The evacuated Kramatorsk plant was launched 12 days after arriving at the site, Zaporozhye - after 20. By the end of 1941, the Urals were producing 62% of cast iron and 50% of steel. In scope and significance this was equal to the largest battles of wartime. The restructuring of the national economy on a war footing was completed by mid-1942.

The party carried out a lot of organizational work in the army. In accordance with the decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree on July 16, 1941 “On the reorganization of political propaganda bodies and the introduction of the institution of military commissars”. From July 16 in the Army, and from July 20 in the Navy, the institution of military commissars was introduced. During the second half of 1941, up to 1.5 million communists and more than 2 million Komsomol members were mobilized into the army (up to 40% of the total strength of the party was sent to the active army). Prominent party leaders L. I. Brezhnev, A. A. Zhdanov, A. S. Shcherbakov, M. A. Suslov and others were sent to party work in the active army.

On August 8, 1941, J.V. Stalin was appointed Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the USSR. In order to concentrate all the functions of managing military operations, the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was formed. Hundreds of thousands of communists and Komsomol members went to the front. About 300 thousand of the best representatives of the working class and intelligentsia of Moscow and Leningrad joined the ranks of the people's militia.

Meanwhile, the enemy stubbornly rushed towards Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Odessa, Sevastopol and other important industrial centers of the country. An important place in the plans of fascist Germany was occupied by the calculation of the international isolation of the USSR. However, from the first days of the war, an anti-Hitler coalition began to take shape. Already on June 22, 1941, the British government announced its support for the USSR in the fight against fascism, and on July 12 it signed an agreement on joint actions against fascist Germany. On August 2, 1941, US President F. Roosevelt announced economic support for the Soviet Union. On September 29, 1941, the conference of representatives of the three powers(USSR, USA and England), at which a plan for Anglo-American assistance in the fight against the enemy was developed. Hitler's plan to isolate the USSR internationally failed. On January 1, 1942, a declaration of 26 states was signed in Washington anti-Hitler coalition about using all the resources of these countries to fight against the German bloc. However, the Allies were in no hurry to provide effective assistance aimed at defeating fascism, trying to weaken the warring parties.

By October, the Nazi invaders, despite the heroic resistance of our troops, managed to approach Moscow from three sides, while simultaneously launching an offensive on the Don, in the Crimea, near Leningrad. Odessa and Sevastopol defended themselves heroically. On September 30, 1941, the German command launched the first, and in November - the second general offensive against Moscow. The Nazis managed to occupy Klin, Yakhroma, Naro-Fominsk, Istra and other cities in the Moscow region. Soviet troops conducted a heroic defense of the capital, showing examples of courage and heroism. The 316th Infantry Division of General Panfilov fought to the death in fierce battles. A partisan movement developed behind enemy lines. About 10 thousand partisans fought near Moscow alone. On December 5-6, 1941, Soviet troops launched a counteroffensive near Moscow. At the same time, offensive operations were launched on the Western, Kalinin and Southwestern fronts. The powerful offensive of Soviet troops in the winter of 1941/42 drove the Nazis back in a number of places to a distance of up to 400 km from the capital and was their first major defeat in the Second World War.

Main result Moscow battle was that the strategic initiative had been wrested from the hands of the enemy and the plan for a lightning war had failed. The defeat of the Germans near Moscow was a decisive turn in the military operations of the Red Army and had a great influence on the entire further course of the war.

By the spring of 1942, military production had been established in the eastern regions of the country. By the middle of the year, most of the evacuated enterprises were set up in new locations. The transition of the country's economy to a war footing was basically completed. In the deep rear - in Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, and the Urals - there were over 10 thousand industrial construction sites.

Instead of the men who went to the front, women and youth came to the machines. Despite very difficult living conditions, Soviet people worked selflessly to ensure victory at the front. We worked one and a half to two shifts to restore industry and supply the front with everything necessary. The All-Union Socialist Competition developed widely, the winners of which were awarded a challenge Red Banner of the State Defense Committee. Agricultural workers organized above-plan crops in 1942 for the defense fund. The collective farm peasantry supplied the front and rear with food and industrial raw materials.

The situation in the temporarily occupied areas of the country was extremely difficult. The Nazis plundered cities and villages and abused the civilian population. German officials were appointed at the enterprises to supervise the work. The best lands were selected for farms for German soldiers. In all occupied settlements, German garrisons were maintained at the expense of the population. However, the economic and social policies of the fascists, which they tried to implement in the occupied territories, immediately failed. Soviet people, brought up on the ideas of the Communist Party, believed in the victory of the Soviet country and did not succumb to Hitler’s provocations and demagoguery.

Winter offensive of the Red Army in 1941/42 dealt a powerful blow to Nazi Germany and its military machine, but Hitler’s army was still strong. Soviet troops fought stubborn defensive battles.

In this situation, the nationwide struggle of the Soviet people behind enemy lines, especially partisan movement.

Thousands of Soviet people joined partisan detachments. Guerrilla warfare developed widely in Ukraine, Belarus and the Smolensk region, Crimea and a number of other places. In cities and villages temporarily occupied by the enemy, underground party and Komsomol organizations operated. In accordance with the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated July 18, 1941. “On the organization of the fight in the rear of German troops” 3,500 partisan detachments and groups, 32 underground regional committees, 805 city and district party committees, 5,429 primary party organizations, 10 regional, 210 inter-district city and 45 thousand primary Komsomol organizations were created. To coordinate the actions of partisan detachments and underground groups with units of the Red Army, by decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on May 30, 1942, a central headquarters of the partisan movement. Headquarters for the leadership of the partisan movement were formed in Belarus, Ukraine and other republics and regions occupied by the enemy.

After the defeat near Moscow and the winter offensive of our troops, the Nazi command was preparing a new major offensive with the goal of capturing all the southern regions of the country (Crimea, North Caucasus, Don) right up to the Volga, capturing Stalingrad and separating Transcaucasia from the center of the country. This posed an extremely serious threat to our country.

By the summer of 1942, the international situation had changed, characterized by the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition. In May - June 1942, agreements were concluded between the USSR, England and the USA on an alliance in the war against Germany and on post-war cooperation. In particular, an agreement was reached on the opening in 1942 in Europe second front against Germany, which would significantly speed up the defeat of fascism. But the Allies delayed its opening in every possible way. Taking advantage of this, the fascist command transferred divisions from the Western Front to the Eastern Front. By the spring of 1942, Hitler's army had 237 divisions, massive aviation, tanks, artillery and other types of equipment for a new offensive.

Intensified Leningrad blockade, exposed to artillery fire almost daily. In May, the Kerch Strait was captured. On July 3, the Supreme Command gave the order to the heroic defenders of Sevastopol to leave the city after a 250-day defense, since it was not possible to hold Crimea. As a result of the defeat of Soviet troops in the region of Kharkov and the Don, the enemy reached the Volga. The Stalingrad Front, created in July, took on powerful enemy attacks. Retreating with heavy fighting, our troops inflicted enormous damage on the enemy. In parallel, there was a fascist offensive in the North Caucasus, where Stavropol, Krasnodar, and Maykop were occupied. In the Mozdok area, the Nazi offensive was suspended.

The main battles took place on the Volga. The enemy sought to capture Stalingrad at any cost. The heroic defense of the city was one of the brightest pages of the Patriotic War. The working class, women, old people, teenagers - the entire population rose to defend Stalingrad. Despite the mortal danger, workers at the tractor plant sent tanks to the front lines every day. In September, battles broke out in the city for every street, for every house.

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June 22, 1941. 1st day of war

The day before, June 21, at 1 p.m. German troops received the pre-arranged signal "Dortmund". It meant that the Barbarossa offensive would begin the next day at 3:30 am.

On June 21, a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks was held, after which an order (directive No. 1) of the USSR NGO was issued and transmitted to the western military districts on the night of June 22: “During June 22-23, 1941, a surprise attack by the Germans on the fronts is possible LVO, PribOVO, ZAPOVO, KOVO, OdVO... The task of our troops is not to succumb to any provocative actions... At the same time, the troops of the Leningrad, Baltic, Western, Kyiv and Odessa military districts should be in full combat readiness to meet a possible surprise attack from the Germans or their allies.”

On the night of June 21–22, German saboteurs began operating on the territory of the USSR in the border zone, violating communication lines.

At 3 o'clock. 30 min. along the entire Western border of the USSR, the Germans began artillery and aviation preparations, after which German ground forces invaded the territory of the USSR. 15 minutes before, at 3 o'clock. 15 minutes, the Romanian Air Force launched air strikes on the border areas of the USSR.

At 4 o'clock. 10 min. The Western and Baltic special districts reported the start of hostilities by German troops on the ground sectors of the districts.

At 5:30 a.m. German Ambassador to the USSR Schulenburg handed over to the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov a declaration of war. The same statement was made in Berlin to the USSR Ambassador to Germany Dekanozov.

At 7 o'clock. 15 minutes. Directive No. 2 was issued, signed by Timoshenko, Malenkov and Zhukov: “On June 22, 1941, at 04:00 am, German aviation, without any reason, raided our airfields and cities along the western border and bombed them.
At the same time, in different places, German troops opened artillery fire and crossed our border... The troops should attack enemy forces with all their might and means and destroy them in areas where they violated the Soviet border.”

The Western border military districts of the USSR were transformed into fronts: the Baltic Special - into the North-Western Front, the Western Special - into the Western, the Kiev Special - into the South-Western.

Beginning of the defense of the Liepaja naval base.

In the evening, Directive No. 3 of the USSR NGO was issued, signed by Timoshenko, Malenkov, Zhukov, ordering the fronts to destroy the enemy with powerful counterattacks, “without regard to the state border.”

The offensive of the German troops took the enemy by surprise... we easily managed to capture bridges over water obstacles everywhere and break through the border line of fortifications to the full depth... After the initial "tetanus" caused by the surprise of the attack, the enemy moved on to active actions... Our advancing divisions were everywhere where the enemy tried to render resistance, threw it back and advanced with battle an average of 10-12 km! Thus, the way is open for moving connections.

June 23, 1941. 2nd day of war

• 2nd day of defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 2nd day of defense of the Liepaja naval base.
• 2nd day of border battles.

June 24, 1941. 3rd day of war

• 3rd day of defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 3rd day of defense of the Liepaja naval base.
• 3rd day of border battles.
• 2nd day of counterattacks by the Red Army on the Siauliai and Grodno directions.
• 2nd day of the tank battle in the Lutsk - Brody - Rivne area.

The Leningrad Military District was transformed into the Northern Front.

June 25, 1941. 4th day of war

• 4th day of defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 4th day of defense of the Liepaja naval base.
• 4th day of Border battles.
• 3rd, last, day of counterattacks of the Red Army in the Siauliai and Grodno directions.
• 3rd day of the tank battle in the Lutsk - Brody - Rivne area.

The air forces of the Northern Front and the aviation units of the Northern and Red Banner Baltic Fleets simultaneously attacked 19 Finnish airfields, where fascist German and Finnish aviation units were concentrated to operate against our targets. Having carried out about 250 sorties, Soviet pilots destroyed many enemy aircraft and other military equipment at airfields that day.

The Odessa Military District was transformed into the Southern Front.

On June 25, enemy mobile units developed an offensive in the Vilna and Baranovichi directions...

The enemy’s attempts to break through in the Brodsky and Lvov directions are met with strong opposition...

On the Bessarabian sector of the front, the Red Army troops firmly hold their positions...

An assessment of the situation in the morning generally confirms the conclusion that the Russians decided to conduct decisive battles in the border zone and were retreating only in certain sectors of the front, where they were forced to do so by the strong onslaught of our advancing troops.

June 26, 1941. 5th day of war

• 5th day of defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 5th day of defense of the Liepaja naval base.
• 5th day of Border battles.
• 4th day of the tank battle in the Lutsk - Brody - Rivne area.

During June 26, in the Minsk direction, our troops fought with infiltrated enemy tank units.

The fighting continues.

In the Lutsk direction, large and fierce tank battles are taking place throughout the day, with a clear advantage on the side of our troops...

Army Group South is slowly moving forward, unfortunately suffering significant losses. The enemy operating against Army Group South exhibits firm and energetic leadership...

On the front of Army Group Center, operations are progressing successfully. In the Slonim area, enemy resistance was broken...

Army Group North, encircling individual enemy groups, continues to systematically advance east.

June 27, 1941. 6th day of war

• 6th day of defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 6th and last day of defense of the Liepaja naval base.
• 6th day of Border battles.
• 5th day of the tank battle in the Lutsk - Brody - Rivne area.
• 2nd day of defense of the naval base on the Hanko Peninsula.

During the day, our troops in the Shauliai, Vilna and Baranovichi directions continued to retreat to positions prepared for defense, stopping for battle at intermediate lines...
Along the entire section of the front from Przemysl to the Black Sea, our troops firmly hold the state border.

June 28, 1941. 7th day of war

• 7th day of defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 7th day of Border battles.
• 6th day of the tank battle in the Lutsk - Brody - Rivne area.
• 3rd day of defense of the naval base on the Hanko Peninsula.

...In the Lutsk direction, a major tank battle unfolded during the day, in which up to 4,000 tanks took part on both sides. The tank battle continues.
In the Lvov region there are stubborn, intense battles with the enemy, during which our troops inflict a significant defeat on him...

June 29, 1941. 8th day of war

• 8th day of defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 8th, last day of the Border Battles.
• 7th, last day of the tank battle in the Lutsk - Brody - Rivne area.
• 4th day of defense of the naval base on the Hanko Peninsula.

German and Finnish troops went on the offensive in the Murmansk direction.

A strategic defensive operation began in the Arctic and Karelia.

On June 29, Finnish-German troops went on the offensive along the entire front from the Barents Sea to the Gulf of Finland...

In the Vilna-Dvina direction, attempts by enemy mobile units to influence the flanks and rear of our troops, retreating to new positions as a result of battles in the Siauliai, Keidany, Panevezh, Kaunas area, were not successful...
In the Lutsk direction, the battle of large tank masses continues...

The Germans pursued the goal of disrupting the deployment of our troops in a few days and capturing Kyiv and Smolensk with a lightning strike within a week. However... our troops still managed to turn around, and the so-called lightning strike on Kyiv and Smolensk was thwarted...

Heavy fighting is still ongoing on the Army Group South front. On the right flank of the 1st Panzer Group, the 8th Russian Tank Corps was deeply wedged into our position... This penetration of the enemy obviously caused great confusion in our rear in the area between Brody and Dubno... Separate groups are also operating in the rear of the 1st Panzer Group enemy with tanks, which even advance over considerable distances... The situation in the Dubno area is very tense...

In the center of the Army Group Center zone, our completely mixed divisions are making every effort not to let the enemy, who is desperately fighting his way in all directions, out of the inner ring of encirclement...

On the front of Army Group North, our troops systematically continue their offensive in the planned directions towards the Western Dvina. All available crossings were captured by our troops... Only part of the enemy troops managed to escape from the threat of encirclement in the eastern direction through the lake region between Dvinsk and Minsk to Polotsk.

June 30, 1941. 9th day of war

• 9th day of defense of the Brest Fortress.
• 5th day of defense of the naval base on the Hanko Peninsula.
• 2nd day of the strategic defensive operation in the Arctic and Karelia.

The formation of the people's militia began in Leningrad.

All power in the USSR passes to the newly formed State Defense Committee (GKO) consisting of: Stalin (chairman), Molotov (deputy chairman), Beria, Voroshilov, Malenkov.

In the Vilna-Dvina direction, our troops are fighting fierce battles with enemy motorized units...
In the Minsk and Baranovichi directions, our troops are fighting stubborn battles with the superior forces of the enemy’s mobile forces, delaying their advance at intermediate lines...

In general, operations continue to develop successfully on the fronts of all army groups. Only on the front of Army Group "Center" did part of the encircled enemy group break through between Minsk and Slonim through the front of Guderian's tank group... On the front of Army Group "North" the enemy launched a counterattack in the Riga area and penetrated our position... An increase in enemy aviation activity was noted in front of the front Army Group "South" and in front of the Romanian front... On the enemy side there are already completely outdated types of four-engine aircraft.

Sources

• 1941 - M.: MF "Democracy", 1998
• History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union 1941-1945. Volume 2. - M.: Voenizdat, 1961
• Franz Halder. War diary. 1941-1942. - M.: AST, 2003
• Zhukov G.K. Memories and reflections. 1985. In 3 volumes.
• Isaev A.V. From Dubno to Rostov. - M.: AST; Transitbook, 2004

On Sunday, June 22, 1941, at dawn, the troops of Nazi Germany, without declaring war, suddenly attacked the entire western border of the Soviet Union and bombed Soviet cities and military formations.

The Great Patriotic War began. They were waiting for her, but still she came suddenly. And the point here is not a miscalculation or Stalin’s distrust of intelligence data. During the pre-war months, different dates for the start of the war were given, for example May 20, and this was reliable information, but due to the uprising in Yugoslavia, Hitler postponed the date of the attack on the USSR to a later date. There is another factor that is extremely rarely mentioned. This is a successful disinformation campaign by German intelligence. Thus, the Germans spread rumors through all possible channels that the attack on the USSR would take place on June 22, but with the main attack directed in an area where this was obviously impossible. Thus, the date also looked like misinformation, so it was on this day that the attack was least expected.
And in foreign textbooks, June 22, 1941 is presented as one of the current episodes of the Second World War, while in the textbooks of the Baltic states this date is considered positive, giving “hope for liberation.”

Russia

§4. Invasion of the USSR. Beginning of the Great Patriotic War
At dawn on June 22, 1941, Hitler's troops invaded the USSR. The Great Patriotic War began.
Germany and its allies (Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia) did not have an overwhelming advantage in manpower and equipment and, according to the Barbarossa plan, relied mainly on the surprise attack factor, the tactics of blitzkrieg (“lightning war”). The defeat of the USSR was planned within two to three months by the forces of three army groups (Army Group North, advancing on Leningrad, Army Group Center, advancing on Moscow, and Army Group South, advancing on Kyiv).
In the first days of the war, the German army caused serious damage to the Soviet defense system: military headquarters were destroyed, the activities of communications services were paralyzed, and strategically important objects were captured. The German army was rapidly advancing deep into the USSR, and by July 10, Army Group Center (commander von Bock), having captured Belarus, approached Smolensk; Army Group South (commander von Rundstedt) captured Right Bank Ukraine; Army Group North (commander von Leeb) occupied part of the Baltic states. The losses of the Red Army (including those who were surrounded) amounted to more than two million people. The current situation was catastrophic for the USSR. But Soviet mobilization resources were very large, and by the beginning of July 5 million people had been drafted into the Red Army, which made it possible to close the gaps that had formed at the front.

V.L.Kheifets, L.S. Kheifets, K.M. Severinov. General history. 9th grade. Ed. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.S. Myasnikov. Moscow, Ventana-Graf Publishing House, 2013.

Chapter XVII. The Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders
The treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR
While fulfilling the grandiose tasks of Stalin's third five-year plan and steadily and firmly pursuing a policy of peace, the Soviet government did not for a minute forget about the possibility of a new "attack by the imperialists on our country. Comrade Stalin tirelessly called on the peoples of the Soviet Union to be in mobilization readiness. In February 1938 in his response to a letter from Komsomol member Ivanov, Comrade Stalin wrote: “Indeed, it would be ridiculous and stupid to turn a blind eye to the fact of capitalist encirclement and think that our external enemies, for example, the fascists, will not try to carry out a military attack on the USSR on occasion.”
Comrade Stalin demanded strengthening the defense capability of our country. “We need,” he wrote, “to strengthen and strengthen our Red Army, Red Navy, Red Aviation, and Osoaviakhim in every possible way. It is necessary to keep our entire people in a state of mobilization readiness in the face of the danger of a military attack, so that no “accident” and no tricks of our external enemies can take us by surprise...”
Comrade Stalin's warning alerted the Soviet people, forced them to more vigilantly monitor the machinations of their enemies and strengthen the Soviet army in every possible way.
The Soviet people understood that the German fascists, led by Hitler, were seeking to unleash a new bloody war, with the help of which they hoped to conquer world domination. Hitler declared the Germans to be the “superior race” and all other peoples to be inferior, inferior races. The Nazis treated the Slavic peoples with particular hatred and, first of all, the great Russian people, who more than once in their history fought against the German aggressors.
The Nazis based their plan on the plan for a military attack and lightning defeat of Russia developed by General Hoffmann during the First World War. This plan provided for the concentration of huge armies on the western borders of our homeland, the capture of the vital centers of the country within a few weeks and a rapid advance deep into Russia, right up to the Urals. Subsequently, this plan was supplemented and approved by the Nazi command and was called the “Barbarossa” plan.
The monstrous war machine of the Hitlerite imperialists began its movement in the Baltic states, Belarus and Ukraine, threatening the vital centers of the Soviet country.

Textbook “History of the USSR”, 10th grade, K.V. Bazilevich, S.V. Bakhrushin, A.M. Pankratova, A.V. Fokht, M., Uchpedgiz, 1952

Austria, Germany

Chapter “From the Russian Campaign to Complete Defeat”
After careful preparation that lasted many months, on June 22, 1941, Germany began a “war of total annihilation” against the Soviet Union. Its goal was to conquer a new living space for the German Aryan race. The essence of the German plan was a lightning attack, called Barbarossa. It was believed that under the rapid onslaught of the trained German military machine, Soviet troops would not be able to provide worthy resistance. Within a few months, the Nazi command seriously expected to reach Moscow. It was assumed that the capture of the capital of the USSR would completely demoralize the enemy and the war would end in victory. However, after a series of impressive successes on the battlefields, within a few weeks the Nazis were driven back hundreds of kilometers from the Soviet capital.

Textbook “History” for grade 7, team of authors, Duden publishing house, 2013.

Holt McDougal. The World History.
For Senior High School, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub. Co., 2012

Hitler began planning an attack on his ally the USSR in the early summer of 1940. The Balkan countries of Southeastern Europe played a key role in Hitler's invasion plan. Hitler wanted to create a bridgehead in Southeastern Europe for an attack on the USSR. He also wanted to be sure that the British would not interfere.
In preparation for the invasion, Hitler moved to expand his influence in the Balkans. By early 1941, by threat of force, he persuaded Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to join the Axis powers. Yugoslavia and Greece, ruled by pro-British governments, resisted. In early April 1941, Hitler invaded both countries. Yugoslavia fell 11 days later. Greece surrendered after 17 days.
Hitler attacks the Soviet Union. By establishing tight control over the Balkans, Hitler could carry out Operation Barbarossa, his plan to invade the USSR. Early on the morning of June 22, 1941, the roar of German tanks and the drone of airplanes signaled the beginning of the invasion. The Soviet Union was not prepared for this attack. Although he had the largest army in the world, the troops were neither well equipped nor well trained.
The invasion progressed week after week until the Germans were 500 miles (804.67 kilometers) inside the Soviet Union. Retreating, Soviet troops burned and destroyed everything in the enemy's path. The Russians used this scorched earth strategy against Napoleon.

Section 7. World War II
The attack on the Soviet Union (the so-called Barbarossa plan) was carried out on June 22, 1941. The German army, which numbered about three million soldiers, launched an offensive in three directions: in the north - towards Leningrad, in the central part of the USSR - towards Moscow and in the south - towards Crimea. The onslaught of the invaders was swift. Soon the Germans besieged Leningrad and Sevastopol and came close to Moscow. The Red Army suffered heavy losses, but the main goal of the Nazis - the capture of the capital of the Soviet Union - was never realized. Vast spaces and the early Russian winter, with fierce resistance from Soviet troops and ordinary residents of the country, thwarted the German plan for a lightning war. At the beginning of December 1941, units of the Red Army under the command of General Zhukov launched a counteroffensive and pushed the enemy troops back 200 kilometers from Moscow.

History textbook for the 8th grade of primary school (Klett publishing house, 2011). Predrag Vajagić and Nenad Stošić.

Never before had our people reacted to a German invasion except with determination to defend their land, but when Molotov, in a trembling voice, reported the German attack, the Estonians felt everything but sympathy. On the contrary, many have hope. The population of Estonia enthusiastically welcomed the German soldiers as liberators.
Russian soldiers aroused hostility among the average Estonian. These people were poor, poorly dressed, extremely suspicious, and at the same time often very pretentious. The Germans were more familiar to the Estonians. They were cheerful and passionate about music; laughter and playing musical instruments could be heard from the places where they gathered.

Lauri Vakhtre. Textbook “Turning moments in Estonian history.”

Bulgaria

Chapter 2. Globalization of the conflict (1941–1942)
Attack on the USSR (June 1941). On June 22, 1941, Hitler launched a major offensive against the USSR. Having begun the conquest of new territories in the east, the Fuhrer put into practice the theory of “living space”, proclaimed in the book “My Struggle” (“Mein Kampf”). On the other hand, the termination of the German-Soviet Pact again made it possible for the Nazi regime to present itself as a fighter against communism in Europe: aggression against the USSR was presented by German propaganda as a crusade against Bolshevism with the aim of exterminating “Jewish Marxists.”
However, this new blitzkrieg developed into a long and exhausting war. Shocked by the surprise attack, drained of blood by Stalin's repressions and ill-prepared, the Soviet army was quickly driven back. In a few weeks, German armies occupied one million square kilometers and reached the outskirts of Leningrad and Moscow. But fierce Soviet resistance and the rapid arrival of the Russian winter stopped the German offensive: the Wehrmacht was unable to defeat the enemy in one campaign. In the spring of 1942, a new offensive was required.

Plan for a “lightning war” against the USSR
The German command expected to approach Moscow by August 15, to end the war against the USSR and create a defensive line against “Asian Russia” by October 1, 1941, and to reach the Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan line by the winter of 1941.
On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began with the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Mobilization was announced in the USSR. Voluntary participation in the Red Army became widespread. The people's militia became widespread. In the front-line zone, fighter battalions and self-defense groups were created to protect important national economic facilities. The evacuation of people and material assets began from territories threatened by occupation.
The military operations were led by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, created on June 23, 1941. The headquarters was headed by J. Stalin. Italy
June 22, 1941
Giardina, G. Sabbatucci, V. Vidotto, Manuale di Storia. L "eta`contemporanea. History textbook for graduating 5th grade of high school. Bari, Laterza. Textbook for 11th grade of high school "Our New History", Dar Aun Publishing House, 2008.
With the German attack on the Soviet Union in the early summer of 1941, a new phase of the war began. A broad front opened in eastern Europe. Britain was no longer forced to fight alone. The ideological confrontation was simplified and radicalized with the end of the anomalous agreement between Nazism and the Soviet regime. The international communist movement, which after August 1939 took an ambiguous position of condemning “opposing imperialisms,” revised it in favor of an alliance with democracy and the fight against fascism.
The fact that the USSR represented the main target of Hitler's expansionist intentions was not a mystery to anyone, including the Soviet people. However, Stalin believed that Hitler would never attack Russia without ending the war with Great Britain. So when the German offensive (codenamed Barbarossa) began on June 22, 1941, along a 1,600-kilometer front from the Baltic to the Black Sea, the Russians were unprepared, a lack of preparedness reinforced by the fact that the 1937 purge had deprived the Red Army of the army of its best military leaders, initially made the task of the aggressor easier.
The offensive, which also included the Italian expeditionary force, which was sent in great haste by Mussolini, who dreamed of participating in a crusade against the Bolsheviks, continued throughout the summer: in the north through the Baltic states, in the south through Ukraine, with the aim of reaching the oil regions of the Caucasus .

Two trains passed towards each other across the border with Germany in Brest. A train with wheat and coal thundered towards the Reich - the USSR continued to fulfill the clauses of the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement on the supply of raw materials. And from Germany a fast train from Berlin to Moscow rushed by. There were almost no passengers in it.

In the Red Army units located along the border with Germany, only the guards did not sleep. Almost half of the officers were not on the ground. The day before they were given leave until the evening of Sunday, June 22.

Defector at the outpost

On the very bank of the Western Bug in the town of Sokalsk, at a Soviet border post, a car from a neighboring town is waiting. There is no German translator at the outpost, but one is needed very urgently. They had already sent to Sokalsk for a German teacher from a local school, but he went fishing.

At nine in the evening on June 21, a border guard patrol detained a German corporal. He was soaked to the skin. He demanded that he be taken to the commander. The corporal introduced himself as Alfred Liskov, said that he was a communist, that he knew the time when the Germans were planning to attack the Soviet Union. The head of the border post, Major Bychkovsky, did not understand German well, and he did not believe in the attack, but he decided to quickly take Liskov to Vladimir-Volynsk, where there was definitely an interpreter.

Interrogation of Liskov

By half past midnight, a truck with a German defector, Major Bychkovsky and two soldiers drove into the courtyard of the commandant's office. The translator was woken up.

“I am Alfred Liskov, corporal of the 115th Wehrmacht Infantry Division. I am 30 years old, I am a communist. A carpenter by profession. I have two children and a wife in the town of Kolberg in Prussia. I swam across the Bug to inform the Soviet commanders about the impending attack by the German army.”

“Units of the Wehrmacht on the evening of Saturday June 21 received orders to prepare for the offensive. It starts at 4 am today. The offensive will go along the entire front. Artillery preparation will begin at half past four.”

Major Bychkovsky contacts the district commander by phone. He conveys everything that Liskov said. The commander doesn't believe it. Then Bychkovsky calls the army commander over the commander’s head. He also listens to the major skeptically, but passes on his report to Moscow.

Trouble in the General Staff

Liskov's report is transferred to the Chief of the General Staff Georgy Zhukov. Zhukov wakes up People's Commissar of Defense Timoshenko, who comes to the General Staff. They are trying to find Stalin.

German sabotage detachments and assault infantry detachments are being pulled up to the bridges over the Bug. They have orders to seize bridges and crossings by half past two in the morning and prevent the Soviet border guards from destroying them.

Stalin is found at the Blizhnaya dacha in Kuntsevo. The leader is sleeping. The NKGB officer who received the call from Zhukov refuses to wake Stalin. They persuade him for about half an hour.

Rising and performing

A wake-up call began in the German units stationed along the border with the USSR. The soldiers put on their ammunition and form marching columns to move into attack positions.

Stalin was finally awakened. He listened to Zhukov and said that “this Liskov of yours did not appear by chance.” He ordered Zhukov and Timoshenko to go to the Kremlin. Then he demanded that Poskrebyshev’s personal secretary summon People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov to the Kremlin. Stalin quickly gets ready and goes to the Kremlin.

German sabotage detachments and grenadiers quietly seize almost all crossings across the Bug and other rivers along the border along the entire front line from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Just as quietly, six border posts are being destroyed in the Bialystok area. The personnel were partially killed with melee weapons, and partially captured.

First salvos

Corporal Liskov and Major Bychkovsky return to the outpost. The German teacher has returned from fishing and is summoned to Bychkovsky. The teacher again translates Liskov’s words to the major. Bychkovsky asks: “Where exactly will the artillery strike be delivered and at what time?” Liskov begins to answer, at that moment the roar of guns is heard from the west. The glass in the outpost headquarters is rattling and cracking.

Bombers and fighters take off from Luftwaffe field airfields and fly towards the USSR.

Zhukov and Timoshenko convince Stalin to accept a directive on active counteraction to the Wehrmacht in the event of the outbreak of hostilities. Stalin refuses. As a result, Directive No. 1 is adopted. Units of the Red Army must not succumb to provocations and avoid direct clashes with the enemy until further notice.

German Ambassador to the USSR Schulenburg receives a telegram from Reich Foreign Minister Ribbentrop. Instructions in the telegram. Schulenburg must convey to Molotov that Germany, in order to ensure the security of the Reich and the violation of the 1939 treaty by the Soviet Union, is forced to begin active military actions. Essentially, this is a declaration of war.

First bombings

German He-111 and Ju-87 bombers bomb Kyiv, Minsk, Kaunas, Riga, Vilnius, Tallinn, Soviet airfields and the location of Red Army units.

Corporal Liskov was sent under escort to Lvov. From there he should be taken to Kyiv, and then to Moscow. Major Bychkovsky commands the defense of the border post.

Violated the order and saved the fleet

The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Oktyabrsky, having received Directive No. 1, decided not to carry out the order. He ordered the preparation of all available artillery to repel the air raid. At 4.12 German bombers appeared over Sevastopol. The fleet was withdrawn from the harbor and fought off the raids with heavy fire. Not a single warship was sunk. In Sevastopol itself, residential buildings and warehouses were damaged.

Brest Fortress

Wehrmacht grenadiers storm the Brest Fortress. With the first attack they occupy almost half of the fortress, but the border guards counterattack and knock the Germans out of new positions. German divisions bypass the fortress and continue to advance deep into the USSR.

Declaration of war

Schulenburg arrives in the Kremlin and delivers a note declaring war to Molotov. “The USSR concentrated all its troops on the German border in full combat readiness. Thus, the Soviet government has violated treaties with Germany and intends to attack the Reich from the rear while it fights for its existence. The Fuehrer ordered the German armed forces to counter this threat with all means at their disposal."

Molotov conveys Schulenburg's note to Stalin. Stalin is silent. Molotov mutters: “We don’t deserve this.”

Several fighter planes that miraculously survived the bombing take off from a field airfield of the Soviet Air Force in Moldova. In the sky they come across a flight of new Su-2 bombers. One of the fighters mistakes them for Germans and attacks. The bomber squadron commander's Su-2 was shot down and another bomber was damaged. The fighter lands at the airfield, the commander of the IAP (fighter aviation regiment) runs towards the pilot, and as he runs he pulls a pistol out of his holster. For shooting down his “bomber,” the pilot will be shot right on the spot, but at that moment German Ju-87s dive onto the airfield. The air regiment commander's head is torn off by a bomb explosion. The pilot manages to escape execution. His name is Alexander Pokryshkin.

Order to counterattack

Stalin demands from Timoshenko and Zhukov to draw up Directive No. 2. Red Army units were ordered to attack German troops along the entire front line.

Near the Lithuanian town of Alytus, German advanced units run into the well-prepared defense of the Red Army. The Wehrmacht's advance in this area was stopped. There is a battle going on.

Goebbels at the microphone

At nine in the morning Moscow time and seven in Berlin time, the chief propagandist of the Reich, Joseph Goebbels, begins his daily radio program. In it he talks about the beginning of the war with the Bolsheviks. He explains it by saying that “the Reds provoked our troops, regularly invaded the territory of the Reich and were preparing for war.” In Berlin and other German cities, people gather in squares and discuss the news.

Stalin is silent at the Politburo meeting. They expect decisions and orders from him, but he brushes them off. He sits down with Molotov to write the text of an appeal to the Soviet people.

Rumors about war are spreading around Moscow, but there is no confirmation. There is nothing on the radio about the German attack.

Beginning of the retreat

German troops approach Grodno. The Red Army is retreating. The remnants of the Soviet infantry division try to gain a foothold in the city, but two powerful air raids destroy most of the soldiers. The rest retreat.

Counterattack

Directive No. 2 reaches some parts of the Red Army from Moscow. They are trying to launch a counterattack. They attack without preparation, without support from the flanks, without knowing exactly which side the enemy is on. Several divisions are surrounded, several are completely destroyed. Communication with the army commander and military districts has been disrupted. There is no communication between neighboring parts.

Appeal to the Soviet people

At noon, the voice of People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov sounded from all the country's loudspeakers and radio outlets. Stalin refused to read the appeal. Residents of the USSR learned about the beginning of the war with Germany.

German troops entered Grodno and, without stopping, move on

Calling up reservists

Recruitment centers are opening at military registration and enlistment offices, and the recruitment of reservists begins. All men born between 1905 and 1918 are subject to conscription. In Moscow, Leningrad and other cities, queues form at military registration and enlistment offices.

The Luftwaffe is again bombing Minsk, Kyiv, Sevastopol, Kaunas, the Hanko naval base, and dozens of cities in Ukraine and Belarus.

The center of Minsk is almost completely destroyed.

The Germans were left without water

The advanced units of the Wehrmacht had covered more than 25-30 kilometers since early morning. The soldiers are exhausted. Field kitchens cannot keep up with the avant-garde. The infantrymen's canteens ran out of water. In most parts the losses are small. The Germans are advancing along the roads, the Red Army is retreating through forests and rough terrain.

Ran out of goals

German bomber pilots report that they have nothing to bomb. Soviet airfields, barracks, arsenals, concentrations of armored vehicles and other military facilities were destroyed. Pilots receive permission to hunt for individual units of equipment and manpower.

Soviet border guards in the Sokal area launch a counteroffensive and push the Germans back beyond the Bug. But the losses are so great that the border guards and the infantry attached to them have to retreat again.

Corporal Liskov flies to Moscow

Alfred Liskov is taken to one of the field airfields near Lvov. Almost on the last surviving plane he is taken to Moscow.

Reference:

Alfred Liskov will speak to workers and soldiers in Moscow, Leningrad, and other cities of the USSR. He will write leaflets calling on German soldiers to surrender. In August 1941 he would join the leadership of the Comintern. In September, he had a personal quarrel with Georgi Dimitrov, the future leader of post-war Bulgaria. In October he will go with the Comintern on evacuation to Bashkiria. In December 1941 he would be arrested, presumably following Dimitrov’s denunciation. He will be accused of spying for Germany, anti-Semitism and treason. In February 1942, Liskov would be shot in one of the NKVD camps in Bashkiria.

Stalin leaves for his dacha

Joseph Stalin leaves the Kremlin. Members of the Politburo are told that the leader has gone to the Near Dacha and has been ordered not to let anyone in to see him.

Soviet planes attack Finland

The Finnish army has not taken any active action since the morning. But Soviet aviation (new Su-2 bombers) began to bomb Finnish cities and ports, and artillery on Hanko Island began to shell Finnish territory.

At five in the evening the Finns repulsed the last attack of the day by the Soviet Air Force. Finnish losses - about 1,500 civilians killed and wounded, about 300 military personnel killed. USSR losses - 65 bombers and fighters shot down.

Encounter battles

Soviet divisions continue to launch counterattacks. But these throws are scattered and poorly organized. There is no coordination between parts. As a result, personnel losses reach 90% in some divisions.

A German grenadier goes to a just knocked out Soviet tank and a killed Red Army tankman (outskirts of Grodno).

The first prisoner of war camps

By evening, there were several tens of thousands of Soviet prisoners in the Bialystok-Brest area alone. The German soldiers and officers did not know what to do with them. They have no orders in this regard, and the field police, which are engaged in escorting prisoners, cannot keep up with the vanguard of the army. Officers make local decisions. Some leave the Red Army soldiers to simply sit on the roadsides without any security. Others assign two or three infantrymen to the prisoners. Still others simply shoot those who surrender.

By seven in the evening, by order of the commander of Army Group Center, von Bock, executions were prohibited. The surrendered Red Army soldiers are lined up and sent to the western bank of the Bug. There they are collected in fields hastily fenced with barbed wire. On one such field there can be up to 5 thousand prisoners. They are not really protected or fed. The wounded do not receive medical care. Many Red Army soldiers flee from such camps on the first night.

Churchill calls for support for the USSR

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the nation on the BBC.

“The Nazi regime has the worst features of communism. “He has no foundations or principles other than greed and the desire for racial domination. In its cruelty and furious aggressiveness it surpasses all forms of human depravity. Over the past 25 years, no one has been a more consistent opponent of communism than me. I won't take back a single word I said about him. But all this pales in comparison to the spectacle now unfolding. The past with its crimes, follies and tragedies disappears.

I see Russian soldiers standing on the threshold of their native land, guarding the fields that their fathers have cultivated since time immemorial.

I see them guarding their homes, where their mothers and wives pray - yes, for there are times when all pray - for the safety of their loved ones, for the return of their breadwinner, their protector and support.

I see tens of thousands of Russian villages, where livelihoods are torn from the ground with such difficulty, but where primordial human joys exist, where girls laugh and children play.

I see the vile Nazi war machine approaching all this with its dapper, spur-clanging Prussian officers, with its skilled agents who have just pacified and tied a dozen countries hand and foot.

I also see the gray, trained, obedient mass of the fierce Hun soldiers, advancing like clouds of crawling locusts.

We have only one unchanging goal. We are determined to destroy Hitler and all traces of the Nazi regime. Nothing can turn us away from this, nothing. We will never come to an agreement, we will never enter into negotiations with Hitler or with anyone from his gang. We will fight him on land, we will fight him by sea, we will fight him in the air, until, with God's help, we have rid the earth of his very shadow and freed the nations from his yoke. Any person or state that fights against Nazism will receive our help. Any person or state that goes with Hitler is our enemy...

This is our policy, this is our statement. It follows that we will provide Russia and the Russian people with all the help we can...”

Preparing for a counteroffensive

There is no connection between divisions and military districts, there is no connection between the armies and Moscow. General Pavlov, commander of the Western Front, gives orders to the few units he can reach. They were all ordered to prepare early in the morning to go on the offensive and drive the Germans out of the territory of the USSR.

On the bombed airfields of the Red Army lie the skeletons of burnt-out aircraft. In total, 1,489 vehicles were destroyed on earth during this long day. Another 385 in the air. A little more than 400 aircraft remained of the Soviet military aviation stationed at the border.

The commander of the Air Force of the Western Special Military District, Ivan Kopec, having received a summary of the losses for the day, escorted the adjutant out of his office, wrote a letter home and shot himself.

Nine divisions of the Red Army are surrounded. It is impossible to calculate personnel losses. On June 22, in some areas, the Wehrmacht advanced 60-120 kilometers deep into Soviet territory.

The radio repeats the appeal of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov to the Soviet people. After the broadcast, the first front-line report comes. Its general meaning: the German offensive was stopped, the enemy lost several thousand soldiers and officers, hundreds of tanks and aircraft. The Red Army successfully launched a counteroffensive.

Stalin does not get in touch. None of the Politburo members dare to go to his Near Dacha.

The advanced units of the Wehrmacht were finally brought food and water. There is a thick layer of dust on the soldiers. They look with curiosity at damaged and abandoned Soviet armored vehicles.

Columns of captured Red Army soldiers are being transported to the western bank of the Bug. There are about 50 thousand of them.

The short summer night takes its toll and darkness thickens over the former border.

MENSBY

4.6

In the direction of the main attacks of the Nazis, 257 Soviet border posts held the defense from several hours to one day. The remaining border posts held out from two days to two months. Of the 485 border posts attacked, not a single one withdrew without orders. The story of a day that changed the lives of tens of millions of people forever.

"They suspect nothing of our intentions"

June 21, 1941, 13:00. German troops receive the code signal "Dortmund", confirming that the invasion will begin the next day.

The commander of the 2nd Panzer Group of Army Group Center, Heinz Guderian, writes in his diary: “Careful observation of the Russians convinced me that they were unaware of 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 as Alfred Liskov, a soldier 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.

It is not possible to convey the directive to military units before the start of hostilities, as a result of which the measures specified in it are not carried out.

“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 VNOS [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 head 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. The Chief of Staff of the Western District, General Klimovskikh, reports on an enemy air raid 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. The commander of the Baltic Military District, General Kuznetsov, reports on enemy air raids on Riga, Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas and other cities.

German soldiers cross the state border of the USSR.

“The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike our ships was foiled."

3:42. Chief of the General Staff Zhukov calls Stalin and reports the start of hostilities by Germany. Stalin orders Timoshenko and Zhukov to 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. The outpost personnel under the command of Alexander Sivachev, entering the battle, destroy 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.

“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. The German Ambassador to the USSR, Count von Schulenburg, presents the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, Molotov, with a “Note from the German Foreign Ministry to the Soviet Government,” which states: “The German Government cannot remain indifferent to a serious threat on the eastern border, so the Fuhrer has given the order to the German Armed Forces by all means.” avert this threat." An hour after the actual start of hostilities, Germany de jure declares war on the Soviet Union.

5:30. On German radio, Reich Minister of Propaganda Goebbels reads Adolf Hitler’s appeal 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 Jewish-Anglo-Saxon warmongers and also the Jewish rulers of the Bolshevik center in Moscow... At the 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 Foreign Minister Ribbentrop begins a press conference at which he announces the start 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 memoirs of announcer Yuri Levitan: “They are calling from Minsk: “Enemy planes are over the city,” they are calling from Kaunas: “The city is burning, why don’t you broadcast 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 our cities - Zhitomir, Kyiv, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others - with their planes, 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 predatory 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, Kyiv special, Odessa, Kharkov, Oryol, Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Ural, Siberian, Volga, North -Caucasian and Transcaucasian.

Those liable for military service who were born from 1905 to 1918 inclusive are subject to mobilization. The first day of mobilization is June 23, 1941.” Despite the fact that the first day of mobilization is June 23, recruiting stations at military registration and enlistment offices begin to operate by the middle of the day on June 22.

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.

"Italy also declares war on the Soviet Union"

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 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 retreat 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 has 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.

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 the control of 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 of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, 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 stationed 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.

“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 populated areas, but everywhere they 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. Appeal from British Prime Minister 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 preservation 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.