For the first time, a summary of the high command of the Soviet army appears on the night radio news: “At dawn on June 22, 1941, the 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, the 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 Krystynopol directions did the enemy manage to achieve minor tactical successes and take the towns of Kalvaria, Stoyanuv and Tsekhanovets (the first two at 15 km and the last at 10 km from the border).

Enemy aviation attacked a number of our airfields and settlements, but everywhere they met with a decisive rebuff from our fighters and anti-aircraft artillery, which inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. We shot down 65 enemy planes.”

It is known that during the first day of the war, the Wehrmacht troops advanced along the entire border 50-60 km deep into the territory of the USSR.

The Main Military Council of the Red Army sent a directive to the troops, ordering from the morning of June 23 to deliver decisive counterattacks to enemy groups that had broken through into the territory of the USSR. For the most part, the implementation of these directives will only lead to even greater losses and worsen the situation of the units of the army that entered the war.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers a radio address in which he promises the USSR all the help that Great Britain can give: “Over the past 25 years, no one has been a more consistent opponent of communism than me. I won't take back a single word I said about him. But all this pales before the spectacle now unfolding. The past with its crimes, follies and tragedies disappears. ... I must announce the decision of His Majesty's Government, and I am sure that the great Dominions will agree to this decision in due time, for we must speak at once, without a single day of delay. I have to make a statement, but can you doubt what our policy will be? We have only one single unchanging goal. We are determined to destroy Hitler and all traces of the Nazi regime. Nothing can turn us away from it, nothing. We will never negotiate, we will never enter into negotiations with Hitler or with any of his gang. We will fight him on land, we will fight him at sea, we will fight him in the air until, with God's help, we rid the earth of his very shadow and free the peoples 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 from this that we will give Russia and the Russian people all the help we can. We will appeal to all our friends and allies in all parts of the world to adhere to the same course and to pursue it with the same staunchness and unswerving to the end, as we will do ...

This is not a class war, but a war that involves the entire British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, without distinction of race, creed or party. It is not for me to speak of the actions of the United States, but I will say that if Hitler imagines that his attack on Soviet Russia will cause the slightest discord in the aims or weaken the efforts of the great democracies that have decided to destroy him, he is profoundly mistaken. On the contrary, it will further strengthen and encourage our efforts to save humanity from its tyranny. It will strengthen, not weaken, our resolve and our capabilities.”

People's Commissar of Defense Semyon Timoshenko signs a directive on air strikes 100-150 km deep into Germany, orders the bombing of Koenigsberg and Danzig. These bombings did happen, but two days later, on June 24th.

The last visitors of Stalin left the Kremlin: Beria, Molotov and Voroshilov. On those days, no one else met with Stalin and there was practically no connection with him.

The documents recorded the first atrocities of the fascist troops in the newly occupied territory. The Germans, advancing, broke into the village of Albinga in the Klaipeda region of Lithuania. The soldiers robbed and burned all the houses. Residents - 42 people - were herded into a barn and locked up. During the day, the Nazis killed several people - they beat them to death or shot them. The next morning, the systematic destruction of people began. Groups of peasants were taken out of the barn and shot in cold blood. First all the men, then the turn came to women and children. Those who tried to escape into the forest were shot in the back.

Italy declares war on the USSR. More precisely, Foreign Minister Ciano informs the USSR Ambassador to Italy, Gorelkin, that war has been declared since 5.30 in the morning. “In view of the current situation, due to the fact that Germany has 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 the German troops enter Soviet territory, i.e. from 5.30 June 22. In fact, both Italian and Romanian units attacked the Soviet borders together with the German allies from the first minutes of the war.

People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Molotov speaks on Soviet radio about the beginning of the war. The Soviet government and its head comrade Stalin instructed me to make the following statement:

Today, at 4 o'clock in the morning, without presenting any claims against the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed our cities - Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sevastopol, Kaunas from their aircraft. and some others, more than two hundred people were killed and wounded. Enemy aircraft raids and artillery shelling were also carried out from Romanian and Finnish territory.

This unheard-of attack on our country is treachery unparalleled in the history of civilized peoples. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that a non-aggression pact was concluded between the USSR and Germany and the Soviet government fulfilled all the conditions of this pact in all good faith. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that during the entire period of the validity of this treaty the German government could never present a single claim against the USSR for the implementation of the treaty. All responsibility for this predatory attack on the Soviet Union falls entirely on the German fascist rulers... (full text of the speech) Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours."

So the whole country learned about the beginning of the war. It was in this speech, on the very first day, that the war was called Patriotic - a parallel was drawn with the Patriotic War of 1812. Almost immediately, reservists went to the recruiting stations - those liable for military service, who remained in reserve and did not serve in peacetime. Volunteer enrollment soon began.

An order came to the Baltic Military District to withdraw the national corps of the Red Army beyond the frontline zone, inland. Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian national corps were created a year before, by order of Stalin, after the occupation of the Baltic countries. Now these parts are not trusted.

German aviation inflicts crushing blows on the air bases of the USSR. During the first hours of the war, 1200 aircraft were destroyed at 66 bases, most of them - more than 800 - right on the ground. Therefore, many pilots survived and aviation was gradually restored, including through converted civil aircraft. At the same time, the first German aircraft was destroyed in an air battle in the first hour of the war. In total, the Germans lost about 300 aircraft on June 22 - the largest loss in a day in the entire war.

Stalin confirms the signing of decrees on the conduct of mobilization, the introduction of martial law in the European part of the USSR, the decree on military tribunals, and also on the formation of the Headquarters of the High Command. Mikhail Kalinin signs the decrees as chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. All those liable for military service born from 1905 to 1918 inclusive were subject to mobilization.

Ribbentrop holds a press conference for German and foreign journalists, where he declares that the Fuhrer has decided to take measures to protect Germany from the Soviet threat.

In the Kremlin, Molotov and Stalin are working on a draft of Molotov's speech about the beginning of the war. At half past eight in the morning, Zhukov and Timoshenko arrive with a draft decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on general mobilization.

Goebbels speaks on German radio with a statement about the start of a military operation against the USSR. Among other things, he says: “At a time when Germany is at war with the Anglo-Saxons, the Soviet Union is not fulfilling its obligations, and the Fuhrer regards this as a stab in the back of the German people. Therefore, German troops have just crossed the border.”

The first wartime order appears, signed by Timoshenko but approved by Stalin. This order ordered the USSR Air Force to destroy all enemy aircraft and allowed aviation to cross the border for 100 km. The ground forces were ordered to stop the invasion and go on the offensive on all fronts, then move on to battles in enemy territory. This order, already little connected with what is happening on the border, the troops do not receive immediately and not all. Communication with the border zones is poorly established, periodically the General Staff loses control over what is happening. By this time, the Germans were bombing the airfields along with the planes that did not have time to take to the air. But, while many units, as before, according to Directive No. 1, do not succumb to provocations, disperse and disguise themselves, in some areas the troops go on the counteroffensive. So the 41st Rifle Division repulsed the attack, entered enemy territory for 3 km and stopped the movement of five Wehrmacht divisions. On June 22, the 5th Panzer Division did not allow the German Panzer Division of the Army Group North to pass near the city of Alytus, where the Neman crossing was located, the most important strategic point for the Germans to advance inland. Only on June 23 the Soviet division was defeated by an air raid.

In Berlin, Ribbentrop summons the USSR Ambassador to Germany Vladimir Dekanozov and the First Secretary of the Embassy Valentin Berezhkov and informs them of the outbreak of war: “The hostile attitude of the Soviet government and the concentration of Soviet troops on the eastern border of Germany, which poses a serious threat, forced the government of the Third Reich to take military countermeasures ". At the same time, having made an official statement, Ribbentrop catches up with Dekanozov on the threshold and quickly tells him: "Tell me in Moscow, I was against it." The ambassadors return to the Soviet residence. Communication with Moscow was cut off, the building was surrounded by SS units. All that remains for them is to destroy the documents. The German generals report to Hitler on the first successes.

Ambassador Schulenburg arrives in the Kremlin. He officially announces the beginning of the war between Germany and the USSR, repeating Ribbentrop's telegram word for word: “The USSR has concentrated all its troops on the German border in full combat readiness. Thus, the Soviet government has violated the treaties with Germany and intends to attack Germany from the rear, while she is fighting for her existence. The Führer therefore ordered the German armed forces to confront this threat with all the means at their disposal." Molotov returns to Stalin and retells his conversation, adding: "We didn't deserve this." Stalin pauses for a long time in his chair, then says: "The enemy will be defeated along the entire front line."

The Western and Baltic special districts reported on the start of hostilities by German troops on land. 4 million soldiers of Germany and allies invaded the border territory of the USSR. 3350 tanks, 7000 various guns and 2000 aircraft were involved in the battles.

However, Stalin, taking in 4.30 morning Zhukov and Timoshenko, still insists that Hitler, most likely, knows nothing about the start of the military operation. “We need to make contact with Berlin,” he says. Molotov summons Ambassador Schulenburg.

AT 04.15 the tragic defense of the Brest Fortress begins - one of the main outposts of the Western border of the USSR, a fortress where a year before a joint parade of Soviet and German troops took place in honor of the capture and partition of Poland. The troops occupying the fortress were completely unprepared for battle - among other things, in all the western border districts, at about 2 a.m., there was a break in communication, which was restored at about half past four in the morning. By the time the message about Directive No. 1, that is, about bringing the troops to combat readiness, reached the Brest Fortress, the German attack had already begun. At that moment, 8 rifle and 1 reconnaissance battalions, 3 artillery battalions and several other detachments were stationed in the fortress at that moment, about 11 thousand people in total, as well as 300 military families. And although according to all instructions, in the event of hostilities, the detachments were supposed to go beyond the territory of the Brest Fortress and conduct military operations around Brest, they failed to break through the boundaries of the fortress. But they did not cede the fortress to the German troops either. The siege of the Brest Fortress continued until the end of July 1941. As a result, more than 6,000 soldiers and their families were taken prisoner, and the same number died.

At 3.40 in the morning, People's Commissar of Defense Tymoshenko orders Chief of the General Staff Zhukov to call Stalin at Bliznaya Dacha to inform him of the beginning of aggression from Germany. Zhukov hardly forced the officer on duty to wake Stalin up. He listened to Zhukov and ordered him to come to the Kremlin together with Timoshenko, having previously called Poskrebyshev to convene the Politburo. By this time, Riga, Vindava, Libau, Siauliai, Kaunas, Vilnius, Grodno, Lida, Volkovysk, Brest, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovichi, Bobruisk, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sevastopol and many other cities, railway junctions, airfields, military -Naval bases of the USSR.

The commander of the Baltic district, General Kuznetsov, reported on the raid on Kaunas and other cities.

The chief of staff of the Kyiv district, General Purkaev, reported on an air raid on the cities of Ukraine.

The chief of staff of the Western District, General Klimovskikh, reported on an enemy air raid on the cities of Belarus.

AT 03.15 The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Oktyabrsky, called Zhukov and said that German aircraft were bombing Sevastopol. Hanging up the phone, Oktyabrsky said that “in Moscow they don’t believe that Sevastopol is being bombed,” but gave the order to return artillery fire. The commander of the navy, Admiral Kuznetsov, after receiving Declaration No. 1, not only put the fleet on alert, but also ordered to engage in hostilities. Therefore, the fleet suffered on June 22 less than all other branches of the armed forces. Reports begin to arrive with a difference of two or three minutes. All of them are about the bombing of cities, including Minsk and Kyiv.

The first volleys of German artillery are heard. The next 45 minutes, the invasion goes along the entire border. The most powerful artillery shelling, the bombing of cities, then the border crossing by ground forces began. Bridges over almost everything, large and small, the rivers on the border are captured. Border outposts were destroyed, some of them even before the start of the operation by special sabotage groups.

German Ambassador to the USSR Schulenburg receives a secret telegram from German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop with a detailed explanation of what he should say when reporting the outbreak of war to the Soviet government. The telegram begins with the words: “I ask you to immediately inform Mr. Molotov that you have an urgent message for him and that you would therefore like to visit him immediately. Then please make the following statement to Mr. Molotov. The telegram accuses the Comintern of subversive activities, the Soviet government of supporting the Comintern, speaks of the Bolshevization of Europe, the conclusion of a Soviet-Yugoslav treaty of friendship and cooperation, and the accumulation of troops on the border with Germany.

Georgy Zhukov, Chief of the General Staff, reports to Stalin on Liskov's report. Stalin calls him and People's Commissar of Defense Semyon Timoshenko to the Kremlin. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov joins them. Stalin refuses to believe in the report and claims that the defector did not appear by chance. But Zhukov and Timoshenko insist. They have in their hands a prepared directive on bringing the troops to combat readiness. Stalin says: “Too early. Don't give in to provocations." At the same time, on June 16, there was a report from Berlin: "All the military measures of Germany to prepare an armed uprising against the USSR are completely completed and a strike can be expected at any time." Stalin asked for confirmation, but the war started earlier. By one in the morning, Zhukov and Timoshenko managed to convince Stalin to issue Directive No. 1. It contained an order to put the troops on alert, but at the same time not to succumb to provocations and "do not carry out any other events without special orders." It was this directive that eventually became the main order for the first half of the day on June 22. As a result, many parts of the Soviet army did not resist the Wehrmacht until the moment of a direct attack on them. Stalin approves, and Timoshenko signs the declaration. Stalin leaves for a nearby dacha in Kuntsevo.

Passenger train "Berlin-Moscow" passes through the border near Brest. Trains with food and industrial goods are moving in the opposite direction - providing supplies, according to agreements between countries. At the same time, Soviet border guards detained soldiers who were supposed to capture the bridges: across the Narew River, railway on the Bialystok-Chizhov road and automobile on the Bialystok-Belsk highway.

Border guards detained a defector from the German side, a carpenter from Kolberg Alfred Liskov, who left the location of his unit and swam across the Bug. He reported that around 4 am the German army would go on the offensive. The interpreter was not immediately found, so his message was transferred to the main headquarters of Georgy Zhukov only around midnight. Alfred Liskov became the hero of the beginning of the war, they wrote about him in the newspapers, he became an active figure in the Comintern, then he was allegedly shot by the NKVD in 1942. He was the third defector that day to announce the start of a military operation.

The German ambassador to the USSR, Count Schulenburg, was protested about the numerous violations of the state border of the USSR by German aircraft. The conversation between Molotov and Schulenburg is going on in a strange way. Molotov asks questions about planes crossing the border, Schulenburg in response says that Soviet planes also find themselves on foreign territory regularly. Molotov asks several questions about the complications of Soviet-German relations. Schulenburg says that he is completely unaware, since nothing is reported to him from Berlin. Finally, to the question about the recalled employees of the German embassy (by June 21, part of the embassy workers returned to Germany), Schulenburg answers that these are all insignificant figures who are not part of the main diplomatic corps.

According to a number of sources, it was at this time that Adolf Hitler signed an order for the immediate activation of the Barbarossa plan, according to which the USSR should be occupied within the next 2-3 months. By this time, 190 German divisions were drawn to the border. At the same time, the USSR formally has an advantage: although there are 170 divisions on the border, there are three times as many tanks and one and a half as many aircraft. All the invasion armies of the Wehrmacht, which by that time had been drawn to the border of the USSR, received an order to start the operation as early as 13.00 Berlin time.

From that moment, German troops begin to move to their original positions along the border. On the night of June 22, they should launch an offensive in three general directions: North (Leningrad), Center (Moscow) and South (Kiev). A lightning-fast defeat of the main forces of the Red Army was planned west of the Dnieper and Zapadnaya Dvina rivers, in the future it was planned to capture Moscow, Leningrad and Donbass, followed by access to the Arkhangelsk-Volga-Astrakhan line. The German generals under the leadership of Paulus had been developing Operation Barbarossa since July 21, 1940. The operation plan was fully prepared and approved by the directive of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht No. 21 of December 18, 1940.

In 1941, Germany treacherously attacked the Soviet Union. The Barbarossa plan came into effect - a plan for a lightning war against the USSR, which, according to the plans of the military-political leadership of Germany, was supposed to lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union within 8-10 weeks. Having unleashed a war against the USSR, the Nazis put forward a version about the Red Army's allegedly preparing an invasion of Europe in 1941, about the threat of Germany, which, in order to protect its country and other Western European countries, was forced to start a pre-emptive "preventive" war against the Soviet Union. The explanation of war as a preventive measure was first given by Hitler in front of the generals of the Wehrmacht on the day of the attack on our country. He said that “the moment has now come when the expected policy is not only a sin, but a crime that violates the interests of the German people. And, consequently, all of Europe. Now about 150 Russian divisions are on our border. For a number of weeks there have been continuous violations of this border, not only on our territory, but also in the Far North of Europe, and in Romania. Soviet pilots amused themselves by not recognizing the border, apparently in order to prove to us in this way that they consider themselves the masters of these territories. On the night of June 18, Russian patrols again penetrated German territory and were pushed back only after a long skirmish. This was also stated in Hitler's appeal "To the soldiers of the Eastern Front", read out on the night of June 22, 1941 to the personnel of the Wehrmacht. In it, military actions against the Soviet Union were allegedly motivated by "Russian offensive intentions."

Officially, this version was launched on June 22, 1941 in the statement of the German ambassador F. Schulenburg, handed over to the Soviet government, and in the memorandum handed over by I. Ribbentrop on the same day to the Soviet ambassador in Berlin V. Dekanozov - already after the German troops invaded the Soviet territory. Schulenburg's statement claimed that while Germany faithfully observed the Soviet-German non-aggression pact, Russia repeatedly violated it. The USSR waged "sabotage, terrorism, and espionage" against Germany, "opposed German attempts to establish a stable order in Europe." The Soviet Union entered into an agreement with England "in order to attack German troops in Romania and Bulgaria", concentrating "all available Russian armed forces on a long front from the Baltic to the Black Sea", the USSR "created a threat to the Reich." Therefore, the Fuhrer "ordered the German armed forces to repel this threat with all the means at their disposal." The memorandum of the German government, handed to Dekanozov, said: “The hostile behavior of the Soviet government towards Germany and the serious danger manifested in the movement of Russian troops to the German eastern border is forcing the Reich to retaliate.” The accusation of the Soviet Union of aggressiveness, of the intention to "blow up Germany from within" was contained in Hitler's appeal to the German people, read out on the morning of June 22 by Goebbels on the radio.

Thus, the Nazi leaders, trying to justify fascist aggression, argued that they were forced to take the path of a "preventive" war against the USSR, since it was allegedly preparing to attack Germany, to stab her in the back. The version of a “preemptive” strike is trying to remove from German fascism the responsibility for unleashing the war, leading to the assertion that the USSR was guilty of starting it, because, as follows from its judgments, the Wehrmacht took actions that were supposedly offensive only in the military sense, and in the political sense - quite justified. In a broader sense, according to some domestic historians, this issue also affects the problem of Nazi Germany's responsibility for World War II.

In a statement by the Soviet government in connection with the German attack on the USSR, these "justifications" for fascist aggression were qualified as a policy of "retroactively concocting accusatory material about the Soviet Union's non-compliance with the Soviet-German pact."

Domestic historians, revealing the origins of the version of the “preventive” war, emphasize that a similar point of view: “Germany’s war against the USSR is only the prevention of a preparing strike by the Red Army” was expressed by other leaders of the Third Reich close to Hitler: Rudolf Hess, Heydrich, General - Colonel A. Jodl and others. These statements were picked up by the propaganda department of J. Goebbels and for a long time were used to deceive the German people and the peoples of other countries; the idea of ​​a "preventive" war was intensively introduced into the minds of people. Under the influence of this and pre-war propaganda, many Germans, both at the front and in the rear, considered the war just, indicated in the report of the security service on July 7, 1941, "an absolutely necessary defensive measure" .

Hitler himself at a meeting on July 21, 1941 stated: “there are no signs of the USSR speaking out against us”

Domestic historians who reject the far-fetched false statements of the Nazis also rely on the fact that the version of a preventive attack - the most convenient way to justify aggression - was essentially rejected by none other than Hitler himself. At a meeting on July 21, 1941, he, characterizing Stalin's intentions, stated that "there are no signs of a speech (USSR. – M.F.) is not against us.” We emphasize that it was at this meeting that Field Marshal W. Brauchitsch received Hitler's instructions to begin developing a plan for attacking the USSR.

Let us mention another very important statement by Hitler, in which he concentratedly characterized the fundamental motives for his decision to start a war against the USSR - it is given in the work of the German historian J. Tauber. On February 15, 1945 (the end of the war was already approaching), Hitler returned to the topic of war. “The most difficult decision of this war was the order to attack Russia,” he said. There was no longer any hope of ending the war in the West by landing on the English Isles. The war could go on without end; war, the prospects for participation in which the Americans were growing ... Time - again and again time! – more and more worked against us. The only way to force England to peace was to destroy the Red Army and deprive the British of the hope of opposing us on the continent with an equivalent enemy.

Let us note that there is not a single word about the threat of an attack by the Soviet Union on Germany, about a stab in the back, and about other arguments to justify a "preventive" attack on the USSR.

Goebbels: "Preventive war is the most reliable and convenient war, if we take into account that the enemy must still be attacked"

Let's also read the notes of the Minister of Propaganda of the Third Reich J. Goebbels. On June 16, 1941, he wrote in his diary: “The Führer declares that we must achieve victory, whether we are right or wrong. We must achieve victory by any means, otherwise the German people will be wiped off the face of the earth. On July 9, in an atmosphere of euphoria from the victories of the Wehrmacht, he writes: “Preventive war is the most reliable and convenient war, if we take into account that the enemy must still be attacked at the first opportunity. This was the case with respect to Bolshevism. Now we will beat him until destruction. As they say, comments are superfluous here.

The version of a "preventive" war was rejected at the Nuremberg trials of the main war criminals in 1945-1946. Thus, the former head of the German press and broadcasting, G. Fritsche, stated in his testimony that he organized a wide campaign of anti-Soviet propaganda, trying to convince the public that “we only anticipated the attack of the Soviet Union ... The next task of German propaganda was to constantly emphasize that not Germany, but the Soviet Union, is responsible for this war, although there were no grounds for accusing the USSR of preparing an attack on Germany. And a number of German generals who testified at the trial did not deny this. Even Paulus, who was the developer of the Barbarossa plan, admitted that "no facts came into our field of view indicating that the Soviet Union was preparing for an attack." Field Marshal von Rundstedt stated: “In March 1941, I had no idea about the allegedly carried out (by the USSR. – M.F.) military preparations. He and other generals in Hitler's briefing were surprised to hear that "the Russians are arming quite heavily and are now deploying troops to attack us." According to General von Brauchitsch, during a visit to the 17th Army in June 1941, he became convinced that the grouping of the Red Army forces had a pronounced defensive character.

Map of Operation Barbarossa

“On June 22, 1941,” the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal notes, “without a declaration of war, Germany invaded Soviet territory in accordance with pre-prepared plans. The evidence presented to the tribunal confirms that Germany had elaborate plans to crush the USSR as a political and military force in order to clear the way for expansion to the East in accordance with her aspirations ... Plans for the economic exploitation of the USSR, mass deportation of the population, the murder of commissars and political leaders are part of a carefully crafted plan that began on 22 June without any warning or legal justification. It was clear aggression."

The thesis about the preemptiveness of the attack, as G. Kumanev and E. Shklyar rightly note, was always included in the official explanations of their actions by the Nazi Reich. However, the plan for the invasion of Austria was developed 4 months before the Anschluss, Czechoslovakia - 11 months before its occupation, Poland - 5 months before the outbreak of hostilities, the Soviet Union - almost a year before the attack. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that these countries were ready to make compromises and concessions in order not to give Germany a pretext for aggression.

The version of a "preventive" war is completely untenable; fascist Germany carried out unprovoked perfidious aggression. A. Utkin believes that "in general, the historiographic stars of the first magnitude in this matter agree that in June 1941, not a preventive war was launched, but the realization of Hitler's true intentions, which were ideologically motivated, began."

The inconsistency of the Nazi thesis about a "preventive" war has been quite thoroughly and in detail proved in many works of Russian historians. The facts they cited, based on archival and other sources, testify that the Soviet state did not plan any aggressive actions, not intending to attack anyone. Most Russian authors convincingly show that the thesis of Germany's "preventive" war against the Soviet Union aims to distort the socio-political essence of the Soviet people's war against Nazi Germany, its just, liberating character. At the same time, they rely on documents that have long become known, indisputably testifying to the barbaric, merciless nature of Germany's war against the USSR, the essence of which can be described in two words: conquer and destroy.

Hitler: “Our task in Russia is to destroy the state. It's about fighting to annihilate."

This requirement of cruelty to the population permeates the orders of the German command. So, Colonel General E. Gepner demanded: “The war against Russia ... This is a long-standing struggle of the Germans against the Slavs, the protection of European culture from the Muscovite-Asian invasion, a rebuff to Bolshevism. This struggle must have the goal of turning today's Russia into ruins, and therefore it must be waged with unheard-of cruelty.

In 1991, the German mass audience was presented with the exhibition “War of Annihilation. Crimes of the Wehrmacht in 1941-1944. Documentary exhibition. She demonstrated that on the basis of these orders a war of annihilation was waged against the USSR. The exhibition catalog convincingly shows that the Wehrmacht is responsible for waging a war in the East in 1941-1944, "contrary to international law", for the extermination of millions of people.

For actions against enemy civilians committed by Wehrmacht soldiers and civilians, - stated in the decree of Hitler as Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht of May 13, 1941 on military proceedings in the war with the Soviet Union, - there will be no mandatory prosecution, even if the act is a war crime or misdemeanor . This decree legitimized draconian measures against the Soviet population, essentially considering the war with the Soviet Union as fundamentally different from all other "military campaigns" undertaken in 1939, notes the German historian J. Foerster. It should be considered, he wrote, “as a struggle of the Germans against the Slavs” with the aim of “destroying present-day Russia.”

Hitler: "We don't need either tsarist or Soviet, no Russia"

Specifying long-term plans, Hitler said: “It should be quite clear that from these areas (captured lands. – M.F.) will never leave. According to the Fuhrer, they represent a "huge pie" that had to be "mastered." Three criteria were set for an occupied country: first, to take possession; secondly, manage; third, exploit. For the sake of this, “we will apply all necessary measures: executions, evictions, etc.” . He put it in monosyllables: "We do not need either tsarist or Soviet, no Russia."

Goering: “20 to 30 million people will die of starvation in Russia. It’s good that this will happen: after all, some peoples need to be reduced”

And what will happen to the Russians and other peoples of the country? Let us turn to the general plan "Ost" and to the documents relating to this plan. The plan itself was discovered in the German Federal Archives only at the end of the 80s of the last century. And it became available in digital form only in December 2009 . A document compiled by Dr. Wetzel, head of the colonization of the First Main Political Directorate of the Rosenberg Ministry, dated April 1942, states: “It is not only about the destruction of the state centered in Moscow. The point is most likely to defeat the Russians as a people ... from a biological, especially from a racial-biological point of view ... ". Here is another excerpt from the documents that have become known: “The destruction of the biological strength of the Eastern peoples through a negative demographic policy ... Its goal is to change in the future the quantitative ratio between alien peoples and Germans in favor of the latter and thus reduce the difficulties that arise when dominating them.” Pitying subhumans, Hitler believed, makes no sense. “This year, 20 to 30 million people will die of starvation in Russia. It may even be good that this will happen: after all, some peoples need to be reduced, ”Goering said in an interview with Ciano in November 1941, echoing Hitler’s thoughts. In total, no more than 15-30 million people should remain on the territory of Russia, in his opinion. The rest, let them move to the east or die - as they please. Assessing the goals of the entire political leadership of Germany, the German historian O. Klöde writes that “not only Bolshevism, but also the Russian nation was subject to destruction ... And in the case of the Slavs in general, Hitler advocated the destruction of not only a different worldview, but also a foreign people.”

Those who remained alive were waiting for an unenviable account. In one of his table talks, Hitler said: “The peoples conquered by us must first of all serve our economic interests. The Slavs were created to work for the Germans, and nothing else. Our goal is to place one hundred million Germans in the places where they currently live. The German authorities should be housed in the best buildings, and the governors should live in palaces. Around provincial centers within a radius of 30-40 kilometers there will be belts of beautiful German villages connected by centers and good roads. On the other side of this belt there will be another world. Let the Russians live there, as they are used to. We will take only the best of their lands. Let the Slavic aborigines tinker in the swamp... Limit everything as much as possible! No printed publications ... No compulsory schooling ... ".

On the territory of the USSR, it was planned to create four Reichskommissariats - German provinces. Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv and a number of other cities were to be wiped off the face of the earth. In the "Military folder", which is one of the most detailed documents in which the program for the exploitation of the territory of the USSR was outlined, the goal of turning the Soviet Union into a kind of German colony was formulated in a completely naked form. At the same time, the attitude towards starvation of the majority of the population was constantly emphasized.

The defeat of the Soviet Union was seen as a decisive prerequisite for establishing complete dominance over the European continent and at the same time as the starting point for gaining world domination. The German historian A. Hilgruber notes: "The Eastern campaign occupied a decisive place in the overall military concept of the Nazis", with the "successful completion of the Eastern War" they hoped to gain freedom of action "to implement their worldwide strategy". The famous German historian G.A. Jacobsen described Hitler's goals as follows: “He (Hitler. – M.F.) firmly decided to dismember Russia, mercilessly exploit and despotically oppress the “Eastern subhumans”, and also use the country for the Great German population. After the invasion of the Soviet state and the occupation of a number of territories, the Nazis began to carry out a program of genocide against the “race of subhumans” - the Russian nation.

All of the above quite convincingly reveals the main goals of the military-political leadership of Germany in the war with the Soviet Union. They testify to the groundlessness of the allegations about the war between Hitler and Stalin, National Socialism and European Bolshevism, hammered into the heads of the Germans by Goebbels and his assistants and who today found like-minded people in Russia. A victory in the war by fascist Germany would not lead to the destruction of totalitarianism, as some neoliberal historians claim, but to the dismemberment of the country, the destruction of tens of millions of people and the transformation of the survivors into servants of German colonists.

Attempts to distort the nature of war today are becoming more and more cruel, evil, aggressive

An informed reader may ask whether it was worth it in such detail, in detail to disclose the goals of fascist Germany in the war against the USSR, documentary sources that are well known to the absolute majority of people who are not subject to a feeling of unkind attitude towards their people, towards their Fatherland. Apparently, it should have, since it is precisely this aspect of the war - the most important and determining its character - that in recent years has been increasingly disappearing from television screens, being hushed up on the radio; almost nothing is reported about the barbaric plans of fascism in books about the Great Patriotic War, in a number of textbooks for schools and universities. On the eve of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, attempts to distort the nature of the war, the desire to lay responsibility on the USSR almost for its start "become more and more cruel, evil, aggressive." What has become undesirable is removed from school textbooks, as M.V. Demurin (Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Envoy of the II Class), is the most important position of the Great Patriotic War: "the most important thing is that the Russian people fought [the battle] not for the sake of glory, but for the sake of life." Unfortunately, the collapse of the USSR released and gave rise to forces that are interested in revising the origins and course of the Great Patriotic War. And today, 70 years after our victory over Germany, it is extremely important to comprehensively disclose the plans and goals of Nazi Germany in relation to the USSR and its people, as well as the far-reaching calculations of German fascism. They leave no room for any claims of "preventive" war on Hitler's part. The fate of not only the Soviet people, but also the peoples of the whole world depended on the outcome of the struggle of the Soviet state with fascist Germany.

The war on the part of the Soviet Union had a fundamentally different character. For the peoples of the USSR, the armed struggle against Germany and its allies became the Great Patriotic War for the national independence of their state, for the freedom and honor of their Motherland. In this war, the Soviet people set themselves the goal of helping the peoples of other countries to free themselves from the Nazi yoke, to save a dead civilization from fascist barbarism.

All attempts, consciously or as a result of a one-sided view generated by the insufficient scientific qualifications of the authors, to rewrite and correct the past, to contribute to the distorted picture of the Great Patriotic War, are ultimately futile, no matter how they are in tune with one or another political situation.

Fiction about the war must be countered with the truth of history

Of course, the most important condition for this is the need to overcome the underestimation of the positions of the falsifiers, a resolute, offensive struggle against the distortion of the essence of the character of the Great Patriotic War. It is necessary to oppose the truth of history, based on documentary sources, to the widespread and continuing to increase fictions about the war, to deeply reveal the victories of the Soviet troops in the grandiose battles on the Soviet-German front.

“They don’t suspect anything about 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 did not suspect anything about our intentions. In the courtyard of the fortress of Brest, which was visible from our observation posts, to the sounds of the orchestra, they were holding guards. 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 soldier who had crossed the border river Bug by swimming. The defector was sent to the headquarters of the detachment in the city of Vladimir-Volynsky.

23:00. German minelayers, who were in Finnish ports, began to mine the way out of 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 serviceman of the 221st regiment of the 15th Wehrmacht infantry division. He reported 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 has been passed on to the higher command.

At the same time, the transfer of directive No. 1 of the People's Commissariat of Defense for parts of the western military districts begins from Moscow. “During June 22-23, 1941, a sudden attack by the Germans on the fronts of the LVO, PribOVO, ZapOVO, KOVO, OdVO is possible. The 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 placed on combat readiness, covertly occupy the firing points of fortified areas on the state border, and aviation was dispersed over field airfields.

It is not possible to bring the directive to the military units before the start of hostilities, as a result of which the measures indicated 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 raid.

3:07. The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky, reports to the Chief of the General Staff, General Zhukov: “The VNOS [air surveillance, warning and communications] system of the fleet reports on the approach from the sea of ​​a large number of unknown aircraft; The fleet is on full alert.

ten past three. The UNKGB in the Lvov region transmits by telephone 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 a 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 air raids 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.

"Enemy raid repulsed. An attempt to strike our ships has been thwarted."

3:42. Chief of the General Staff Zhukov calls Stalin and reports the start of hostilities by Germany. Stalin orders Timoshenko and Zhukov to arrive at the Kremlin, where an emergency meeting of the Politburo is being convened.

3:45. The 1st frontier post of the 86th Augustow border detachment was attacked by an enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group. The personnel of the outpost under the command of Alexander Sivachev, having entered 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 has been thwarted. But there is destruction in Sevastopol.”

4:05. The outposts of the 86th August Frontier Detachment, including the 1st Frontier Post of Senior Lieutenant Sivachev, are subjected to heavy artillery fire, after which the German offensive begins. The 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 start of hostilities by German troops on land.

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 Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht begins an attack on the Brest Fortress.

"Defending not individual countries, but ensuring the security of Europe"

4:30. A meeting of members of the Politburo begins in the Kremlin. Stalin expresses doubt that what happened is the beginning of the war and does not exclude the version 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 of the German Foreign Ministry to the Soviet Government", which says: "The German government cannot be indifferent to a serious threat on the eastern border, so the Fuhrer gave the order to the German armed forces by all means ward off this threat. An hour after the actual start of hostilities, Germany de jure declares war on the Soviet Union.

5:30. On the German radio, Reich Minister of Propaganda Goebbels read out 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 oppose this conspiracy of Jewish-Anglo-Saxon warmongers and also Jewish rulers of the Bolshevik center in Moscow ... At the moment the greatest in terms of its length and volume of the performance of troops, which the world has ever seen ... The task of this front is no longer the defense of individual countries, but the security of Europe and thereby the salvation of all.

7:00. Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs 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 on fire, why aren’t you broadcasting anything on the radio?”

7:15. Stalin approves the directive on repulsing the attack of Nazi Germany: "The troops will attack the enemy forces with all their strength and means and destroy them in areas where they have violated the Soviet border." The transfer of "Directive No. 2" due to the violation by saboteurs of the communication lines in the western districts. Moscow does not have a clear picture of what is happening in the war zone.

9:30. It was decided that at noon Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, would address the Soviet people in connection with the outbreak of war.

10:00. From the memoirs of announcer Yuri Levitan: “They call from Minsk: “Enemy planes over the city”, they call from Kaunas: “The city is on fire, why are you not transmitting anything on the radio?”, “Enemy planes are over Kyiv.” Women's crying, excitement: "Is it really a war? .." However, no official messages are transmitted until 12:00 Moscow time on June 22.

10:30. From the report of the headquarters of the 45th German division on the battles on the territory of the Brest Fortress: “The Russians are fiercely resisting, especially behind our attacking companies. In the citadel, the enemy organized defense by infantry units supported by 35-40 tanks and armored vehicles. The fire of enemy snipers led to heavy losses among officers and non-commissioned officers.

11:00. The Baltic, Western and Kyiv special military districts were transformed into the Northwestern, Western and Southwestern fronts.

“The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours"

12:00. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov read out an appeal to the citizens of the Soviet Union: "Today at 4 o'clock in the morning, without presenting any claims against the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed from our cities - Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others - with their own planes, more than two hundred people were killed and wounded. Enemy aircraft raids 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 piratical attack and drive the German troops from the territory of our homeland ... The government calls on you, citizens and citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally their ranks still more closely around our glorious Bolshevik Party, around our Soviet government, around our great leader Comrade Stalin.

Our cause is right. 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 ..."

“On the basis of Article 49 of paragraph “o” of the Constitution of the USSR, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR announces mobilization on the territory of the military districts - Leningrad, Special Baltic, 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. Consider June 23, 1941 as the first day of mobilization. Despite the fact that June 23 is named the first day of mobilization, recruiting offices at the military registration and enlistment offices begin to work by the middle of the day on June 22.

13:30. The Chief of the General Staff, General Zhukov, flies to Kyiv as a representative of the newly created Headquarters of the High 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 blockaded 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 has 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 enter Soviet territory.”

14:10. The 1st frontier post 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 head 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 planned withdrawal is still open. There is now ample evidence both for and against this.

It is surprising that nowhere is any significant work of their artillery visible. Strong artillery fire is conducted only in the north-west of Grodno, where the VIII Army Corps is advancing. Apparently, our air force has an overwhelming superiority over Russian aviation.

Of the 485 frontier posts attacked, none retreated without an order.

16:00. After a 12-hour battle, the Nazis occupy the positions of the 1st frontier post. 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 class.

The feat of the outpost of Senior Lieutenant Sivachev became one of the hundreds accomplished by the border guards in the first hours and days of the war. The state border of the USSR from the Barents to the Black Sea on June 22, 1941 was guarded by 666 border outposts, 485 of them were attacked on the very first day of the war. None of the 485 outposts attacked on June 22 withdrew without orders.

The Nazi command took 20 minutes to break the resistance of the border guards. 257 Soviet frontier posts held the 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 outposts. Up to two months, 45 outposts fought.

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 another week.

"The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox for the defense of the sacred borders of our Motherland"

18:00. The Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna, addresses the faithful with a message: “Fascist robbers have attacked our homeland. Trampling all sorts of treaties 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. Together with him, she carried trials, and consoled herself with his successes. She will not leave her people even now… The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox to defend 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 the armies, except for the 11th Army of the Army Group South in Romania, went on the offensive according to plan. The offensive of our troops, apparently, was a complete tactical surprise for the enemy on the entire front. The border bridges across the Bug and other rivers have been 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 the barracks, the planes stood at the airfields, covered with tarpaulins, and the advanced units, suddenly attacked by our troops, asked the command what to do ... The Air Force command reported, that today 850 enemy aircraft have been destroyed, including entire squadrons of bombers, which, having taken to the air 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 the Soviet troops to go on the counteroffensive with the task of defeating the Nazi troops on the territory of the USSR with further advance into the territory of the enemy. The directive prescribed by the end of June 24 to capture the Polish city of Lublin.

"We must give Russia and the Russian people all the help we can"

21:00. Summary of the High Command of the Red Army for June 22: “At dawn on June 22, 1941, the 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, the 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 Krystynopol directions did the enemy manage to achieve minor tactical successes and occupy the towns of Kalvaria, Stoyanuv and Tsekhanovets (the first two at 15 km and the last at 10 km from the border).

Enemy aviation attacked a number of our airfields and settlements, but everywhere they met with a decisive rebuff from our fighters and anti-aircraft artillery, which inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. We shot down 65 enemy planes."

23:00. Appeal of 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 generously lavished his assurances to 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 in a state of war ...

No one has been a more staunch opponent of communism over the past 25 years than I have been. I will not take back a single word said about him. But all this pales before the spectacle unfolding now.

The past, with its crimes, follies and tragedies, recedes. I see Russian soldiers standing on the border of their native land and guarding the fields that their fathers have plowed since time immemorial. I see how they guard 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 the breadwinner, patron, their protectors ...

We must give Russia and the Russian people all the help we can. We must call on all our friends and allies in all parts of the world to follow a similar course and pursue it as steadfastly and steadily as we will, to the very end.

June 22 has come to an end. Ahead were another 1417 days of the most terrible war in the history of mankind.

22 June 1941 of the year

- the beginning of the Great Patriotic War

On June 22, 1941, at 4 am, without declaring war, Nazi Germany and its allies attacked the Soviet Union. Parts of the Red Army were attacked by German troops along the entire length of the border. Riga, Vindava, Libava, Siauliai, Kaunas, Vilnius, Grodno, Lida, Volkovysk, Brest, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovichi, Bobruisk, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Sevastopol and many other cities, railway junctions, airfields, naval bases of the USSR were bombed , artillery shelling of border fortifications and areas of deployment of Soviet troops near the border from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians was carried out. The Great Patriotic War began.

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

1418 days and nights of war.

Over 26 million human lives...

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

On the eve of the war

Soviet border guards on patrol. The photograph is interesting because it was taken for a newspaper at one of the outposts on the western border of the USSR on June 20, 1941, that is, two days before the war.

German air raid

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

The picture was taken on June 24, 1941.

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

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

1941 poster

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

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

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

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

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

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

Minsk 1941. Execution of Soviet prisoners of war

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

On guard of the Moscow sky. Autumn 1941

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On April 30, Hitler committed suicide in the Reich Chancellery bunker.

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

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

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

Great Patriotic War 1941-1945

Material prepared by Sergey Shulyak

Information from the site hram-troicy.prihod.ru

The first summary of the Great Patriotic War
SUMMARY OF THE HIGH COMMAND OF THE RED ARMY for 22.VI. - 1941
At dawn on June 22, 1941, the 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, the 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 KRYSTYNOPOLS directions did the enemy manage to achieve minor tactical successes and occupy the towns of KALVARIYA, STOJANOW and TSEKHANOVEC (the first two at 15 km and the last at 10 km from the border).
Enemy aviation attacked a number of our airfields and settlements, but everywhere they met with a decisive rebuff from our fighters and anti-aircraft artillery, which inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. We shot down 65 enemy planes. from RIA Novosti funds

23:00 (GMT). Winston Churchill's speech on BBC radio
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on June 22 at 23:00 GMT made a statement in connection with the aggression of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union.
"... The Nazi regime has the worst features of communism," in particular, he said on the air of the BBC radio station. no one has been a more consistent opponent of communism than I have been in the last 25 years. I will not take back a single word I have said about it. But all this pales before 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 everyone prays - 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 the means of subsistence are torn from the ground with such difficulty, but where there are primordial human joys, where girls laugh and children play.
I see how the vile Nazi war machine is approaching all this, with its dapper, rattling Prussian officers, with its skillful agents, who have just pacified and tied hand and foot a dozen countries.
I also see a gray, well-drilled, obedient mass of ferocious Hun soldiers advancing like swarms of creeping locusts.
I see German bombers and fighters in the sky, still scarred from the wounds inflicted by the British, rejoicing that they have found what they think is easier and surer prey.
Behind all this noise and thunder, I see a bunch of villains who are planning, organizing and bringing this avalanche of disasters to humanity ... I must announce the decision of His Majesty's Government, and I am sure that the great dominions will agree with this decision in due time, for we should speak out immediately, without a single day of delay. I have to make a statement, but can you doubt what our policy will be?
We have only one single unchanging goal. We are determined to destroy Hitler and all traces of the Nazi regime. Nothing can turn us away from it, nothing. We will never negotiate, we will never enter into negotiations with Hitler or with any of his gang. We will fight him on land, we will fight him at sea, we will fight him in the air until, with God's help, we rid the earth of his very shadow and free the peoples 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 from this that we will give Russia and the Russian people all the help that we can ... "