Sixty Years Ago ...
Operation:
Barbarossa
Death
on the Eastern Front
Dateline:
European Theater,
Soviet Union
by Jennifer King and Timothy Rollins
Reflections on World War II
A
Special Note to Our Readers: With activities on the Pacific
front keeping our troops as busy as they were, there was also activity in the
European theater going on at the same time. In addition to the Japanese, there
was also Hitler and Mussolini to deal with at the same time, hence an "Axis
of Evil" existed even back then, even if the names and faces were different.
The fact of the matter then (and even now) remains that their goal and objective
is to deny freedom and basic human rights by placing as many people under their
collective thumb as humanly possible.
With Adolf Hitler never really one to keep his word, he gambled by thinking he could invade the Soviet Union - BIG mistake there, folks! Completely underestimating the tenacity of the Russian people, the Germans received it from all sides and soon learned the folly of Hitler's decision. Although initially dismissive of intelligence warnings by both the Americans and the British, Stalin later accepted help from both and the Soviets were successful in turning back the tide of and breaking the back of the German Army.
Lastly, it should be noted that it was on this date 60 years ago today - February 9, 1942, that the United States went on "War Time", when clocks were advanced one hour so as to conserve electricity. - Jennifer and Tim
In
June, 1941, Adolph Hitler (left) made perhaps the greatest strategic error of
the War. On June 22nd, 1941, Hitler without warning broke the Molotov-Ribbentrop
Pact and invaded the Soviet Union.
Hitler had been planning to invade the USSR from the outset. He considered Communist aggression a direct threat to Germany, and he viewed the Slavic people as ethnically inferior to the “purer” Germans from the Reich proper. He was also convinced that Bolshevism was somehow directed by “Jewry“.
The success of the Blitzkrieg style of warfare throughout Europe had convinced Hitler that he could make quick work of the disorganized Soviet Army, which had recently suffered an ignominious loss to much smaller forces in Finland. Josef Stalin had also contributed to the weakness of the Red Army, for he had systematically purged most of the senior officers during the years 1937-1938. By the autumn of 1938, three out of five Red Army marshals were dead, along with thirteen out of fifteen commanders, 110 out of 195 divisional commanders and 186 out of 406 brigadiers. Administrative and politico-military appointees were likewise massacred in large numbers. Hitler was well aware of this and also of the demoralizing effect that the purges would have on remaining Red Army forces.
Indeed,
when the invasion was launched, Hitler was convinced that he would conquer Leningrad,
Moscow and the Ukraine within eight weeks. German soldiers even wore their summer
uniforms, a blunder of arrogance that would cost them dearly later, when the
dark green uniforms were nicely silhouetted against the winter snow. During
the initial onslaught, the Blitzkrieg indeed made impressive gains across
the Eastern Front. Stalin, despite being warned by both American and British
intelligence, simply dismissed all reports of troops massing on the eastern
border. He seemed initially paralyzed by the attack, making no public appearances
and issuing no orders during the first week. Within hours of the invasion, however,
both America and Britain had offered their support. Stalin’s acceptance came
as a surprise to Hitler, who had determined that the Communist nation - the
only one at that time in the world - would fight alone. Churchill (right) however,
explained the unlikely alliance by remarking that “if Hitler invaded Hell, he
would go to the House of Commons to say a kind word about the devil.”
Realizing
that no nation on its own could defeat the mighty German Reich, America and
Britain committed themselves to aid for the beleaguered Russians. Stalin (left)
for his part, rallied the Russian people behind the great cause of “Saving Mother
Russia.” Hitler - earlier, (30 March 1941) had made another strategic error
when he issued the so-called “Commissar Edict” to his generals. At that time,
Hitler declared that, “The war against Russia….cannot be conducted in a knightly
fashion. The struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have
to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. The
commissars are the bearers of ideologies directly opposed to National Socialism.
Therefore, the commissars will be liquidated. German soldiers guilty of breaking
international law….will be excused. Russia has not participated in the Hague
Convention and therefore has no rights under it.” (Actually, Russia had tentatively
tried to get involved in the Hague Convention, but never succeeded.)
Nevertheless, Nazi soldiers, who had been indoctrinated with anti-Bolshevik rhetoric since birth, were thus given free license to slaughter Russians at will. This was a fatal mistake, for it galvanized the troops to fight and the civilians to resist. German troops were, at first, welcomed as liberators by Russian citizens weary of Communist oppression. They soon, however, discovered that the SS Gangs who followed the troops were brutal thugs who raped and murdered at will. Resistance hardened, and as the Nazis moved further into Russia, partisan guerrilla groups sprung up behind them.
As the Arctic winter crept up, the causalities grew. Another problem facing the Germans was the incredible size of Russia, and the lack of infrastructure. Soldiers were marched huge distances, and supply lines began to stretch - making them vulnerable to attack. Stalin also motivated the Russians in several ways, allowing religion to creep back into their lives, and returning privileges not seen since the Revolution. The film Alexander Nevsky, depicting the triumph of Russians over Teutonic knights in 1410, was shown to almost all Russians, inspiring them to heightened feats of patriotism.
In early November 1941, Stalin decided to move the Red Army in Siberia to the Front. It was a risky move, as the Japanese were on the move in the Pacific and he didn’t know where they were headed. Had Japan invaded the now-defenseless Siberia, history might have been changed. Nevertheless, the move allowed Stalin to throw one hundred divisions against the German lines near Moscow on 6 December 1941. The German lines dissolved, and thousands of German soldiers were taken prisoner.
On 19 December, Hitler alarmed his command by taking direct control of the forces. He adamantly refused to pull back through one of the harshest winters in memory, prompting Stalin to declare that his ally, “General Winter” had arrived. The Germans suffered through the winter, and when they resumed their offensive in early March, 1942 they had casualties of over one million. In Leningrad, which had been besieged since 30 August 1941, desperate citizens were driven to eating dogs, cats, hair oil and Vaseline. Close to a million would die there before some relief supplies could be ferried over a now-frozen Lake Ladoga in early January, 1942.
Invading Russia was, in hindsight, a huge mistake by Hitler. It would break the back of the German Army and would, eventually, force them into agonizing retreat. Hitler’s apparent hatred for “Jewish Bolshevism” would render him deaf to the pleas of his own command - who warned him, often, not to repeat Napoleon’s blunder by provoking the vast Russian bear. ***
© 2002 Jennifer King and Timothy Rollins
COPYRIGHT © 2002 BY THE AMERICAN PARTISAN. All writers retain rights to their work.
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