



Operation Barbarossa

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseWhen Vyacheslav Molotov, foreign minister of Russia, visited Berlin on 12 Nov 1940, he felt that the prior camaraderie experienced at the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was gone. Of course, he knew that he was not a welcomed guest for that he arrived in Berlin to urge Germany to hold up their end of the bargain. Until this point in the war, Russia had exported oil, grain, and raw materials to Germany as they had promised, but Germany had only been sporadically sending modern machinery and weapons to Moscow. Molotov probably felt the hostility slowly building up by the time he left Berlin on 14 Nov 1940.

ww2dbaseOn the surface, the seeking of Lebensraum (living space) by Adolf Hitler for the German people gave justification for the invasion eastwards; however, Hitler's personal vendetta against Josef Stalin and Communism had much to do with it as well. The German victories in the west had given Hitler confidence in his military forces, while the Soviet feeble record during the Winter War in Finland reinforced Hitler's belief that the Soviet military were no match for the Germans. The under-estimation of the Red Army was not unfounded. The Soviet military was, by in large, a peace time military at this time. Aircraft were parked in tight clusters, artillery pieces sat in bases without adequate transport or ammunition, and a lack of trained men made the revolutionary T-34 tank ineffective. However, a bulk of the Red Army, backed by mobile armor reserves, were present on the border with Germany; while Russia was in no shape to fight a war at this point, Stalin had his suspicions on Hitler. Massive amounts of German troops and equipment were brought to the German-Soviet border on the excuse that they were being maneuvered out of British air range. Meanwhile, Joseph Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry spread rumors aimed at confusing the outside world on German intensions; words were quickly spread that Berlin was seeing a mass mobilization because of a high-level meeting between Hitler and Stalin in the German capital and low-ranking officers were told to mention that many soldiers were being sent westward in preparation to invade Britain. The Luftwaffe coordinated with Goebbels as well, sending a few reconnaissance aircrafts over the coasts of Britain as if they were scouting suitable landing sites. While some of the deceptions were rather far-fetched, the Soviets seemingly bought at least some of them. To his own military commanders, Hitler justified a potential war with Russia as something of a preventive measure. Hitler believed that Russia, with her seemingly unlimited, though largely untapped, resources, must be taken down before Stalin gained the ability to wield those resources against Germany. Hitler gave three high-level orders to his commanders:

The commanders must educate their subordinates that the Russians might not respect a gentlemanly conduct of war, as seen in Finland; therefore, if necessary, German soldiers might have to fight likewise.

There must be no mercy given to the commissars , the political officers, in the Russian forces; they must be shot on sight because they were known to incite commoner uprisings against their enemies.

, the political officers, in the Russian forces; they must be shot on sight because they were known to incite commoner uprisings against their enemies. No Russians prisoners of war would be brought within German borders for fear of the spread of communist ideologies to the German people.

ww2dbaseOn the home front, the German government had long been boosting war morale ever since mid-1930s. While the victories in the Low Countries and France raised the fighting spirits of the men, Berlin further instilled the need for continued conquests to the German people. For example, the German government fixed the exchange rate between the Reichsmark and the conquered nation of France so that the German currency had great purchasing power. Soldiers with minimal pay now could afford luxuries in Paris; it was not rare to see soldiers coming back from France burdened with silk stockings and bottles of Chanel No. 5 perfume for their wives and girlfriends. Adolf Hitler molded public opinion so that the country would follow his orders into another war, a war with Russia, where the eventual Germany victory would mean even more luxuries following back into Germany.

ww2dbaseAgainst the stern recommendation against fighting a two-front war by his military commanders, Operation Barbarossa was launched on 22 Jun 1941; artillery pieces opened fire at 0330 hours, and the troops crossed the border at 0445 hours. Surprise was achieved; the stunned Soviet forces did not expect Hitler to betray the non-aggression treaty of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, at least not this early. The German Army Group North advanced on the northern front marching toward Leningrad, Army Group Center marched east through Byelarus toward Moscow, and Army Group South was tasked to conquer Ukraine and onto the oil-rich Caucasus. The three armies combined 2.6 million men. The other European Axis nations also contributed to the attack. Romanians joined in with General Ritter von Schobert's Eleventh Army, which was a part of Army Group South. In the north, the Finns also invaded Russia on the say day, though under a different operation code name, Operation Silver Fox (please see the article for Operation Silver Fox); Operation Silver Fox was often considered the start of the Continuation War between Finland and Russia. Italy, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia each all contributed small expeditionary forces, though these troops were not all welcomed. Italian officers, for example, were noted by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel as "far too old and made a sorry sight, and could only have had a bad effect on the value of such dubious auxiliaries. The Hungarian troops, though fierce fighters, were looked down upon by the German troops as an army that lacked discipline; many Hungarian units were known to mercilessly plunder conquered villages and towns.

ww2dbaseThe immediate result of the invasion was encouraging to the leaders in Berlin. Everywhere the Soviet troops either crumbled in surprise, unable to coordinate any kind of defenses due to lack of communications, or simply overrun by the fast-moving German tactics. The few Soviet mechanized and armor units were soon heavily damaged by German dive bombers. Within three months, great Soviet satellite republic cities fell under German control.

ww2dbaseFall of Brest

22 Jun-29 Jul 1941

ww2dbaseThe city of Brest in Belarus was among the targets for the initial phase of Operation Barbarossa. German troops attacked the city on 22 Jun 1941 of Brest after heavy bombing and shelling on the previous day. The German 45th Infantry Division moved in expecting a quick resolution, but instead met fierce cover fire while the remaining Soviet troops fled to the north of the city. German troops did not gain complete control of the city until end of Jul. Reserves for Barbarossa were called in to replace the unexpected casualties, something that the German commanders were not planning on doing until later in the campaign.

ww2dbaseIn the months after German occupation, the Jewish community in Brest was systematically persecuted.

ww2dbaseFall of Minsk

24-28 Jun 1941

ww2dbaseOn 24 Jun 1941, the German Luftwaffe sent three waves of 47 aircraft each to bomb Minsk, the capital of the Soviet satellite republic of Byelorussia. Minsk was a city poorly prepared for an air raid, and the situation was made worse with the immediate destruction of water systems from the bombing. Fires raged uncontrollably, turning the city into an inferno. When the German troops entered the city four days later after most of the fires subsided, they found a city in ruins. Later studies estimated that more than 80% of the city was destroyed in the bombings.

ww2dbaseBattle of Lutsk

25-29 Jun 1941

ww2dbaseNear Lutsk, a battlefield of the First World War, Soviet tanks attacked the 1st German Panzer Group which had advanced so fast that it had become detached with its infantry escorts. Soviet tanks moved in two pincers, one column from the north and the other from the south, hitting the German tanks by surprise. The Germans caused serious casualties among the Soviets, though despite the tactical victory they had lost strategically. The German offensive was stopped to defend against the Soviet counteroffensive, which allowed Kiev the much needed time to organize its defenses.

ww2dbaseBessarabia

Jul 1941

ww2dbaseBessarabia, in present day Moldova, had been a contested region that had changed hands several times since the beginning of the 1800s. Friendly with the Romanians since the 1850s, the region finally joined Romania at the end of WW1. On 26 Jun 1940, as agreed upon in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Soviet troops occupied Bessarabia and northern Bukovina. Many of the 3.75 million Romanians were subjected to deportation to work camps in Siberia and Kazakhstan; those who resisted were executed. The 93,000 Germans living in the region were given the option (which almost all took in fear of Russian oppression) to return to Germany or German-occupied Poland. When Operation Barbarossa was launched, Ion Antonescu of Romania made sure to contribute troops to the German Army Group South to recapture Bessarabia. The Soviet troops were unable to withstand the initial offensive, and employed scorched earth tactics as they retreated. Anything the Soviets could carry, including heavy machinery and other industrial goods, were transported to Russia by rail. Romanian troops declared the region liberated by the end of Jul 1941.

ww2dbaseBattle of Smolensk

10 Jul-10 Sep 1941

ww2dbaseOn 10 Jul, the German Army Group Centre began encircling the Soviet city of Smolensk. Soviet generals Georgi Zhukov, Timoshenko, Kuznetsov, and Yeryomenko led the defending forces. By 15 Jul, the Germans pushed the poorly-equipped Soviet units to the Dneiper river. The Soviet troops blew out the bridges as they retreated into the city to rendezvous with the Soviet 16th Army which had just arrived. On 16 Jul, German forces reached the borders of Smolensk, but Soviet counterattacks were strong and frequent.

ww2dbaseThe recently unveiled Katyusha rocket launchers saw combat near Smolensk. The three truck-driven multiple-rocket launchers were effective weapons that created a wide attack area and demoralized the German troops, who were convinced that, after the many minor counterattacks, the great Soviet counteroffensive must had taken place. "Stalin's Organs", as the German troops called the Katyusha, were of simple designs. Parallel racks of rails held the 82mm or 132mm rockets in place, while folding frame structure underneath raised the racks to a firing angle. When used in saturation bombardment, the Katyusha was one of the most demoralizing weapons in the Soviet arsenal (though rather ironically these proud Soviet weapons were sometimes found mounted on US-built Studebaker trucks).

ww2dbaseBitter fighting continued as Soviet troops fought fiercely to defend the city. Despite several minor achievements in defeating German advances, the biggest accomplishment was delaying the German war plans by holding Army Group Centre at Smolensk. The Soviet troops held on to the city for nearly another month before surrendering on 13 Aug 1941.

ww2dbaseAccording to German reports, casualties reached 250,000 during the Battle of Smolensk. The Soviet defenders paid a dear price for the resistance as well; the majority of the city lay in ruins as the German victors occupied her.

ww2dbaseIn 1985, Smolensk was awarded the title Hero City for the fierce resistance.

ww2dbaseBattle of Kiev

15 Aug-19 Sep 1941

ww2dbaseIn mid-Aug 1941, Army Group Center under the command of Gerd von Rundstedt surrounded the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. When the city fell, 665,000 Soviet troops were captured.

ww2dbaseThe Ukrainian people had been living under Russian oppression, and the German conquerors could have moved in as liberators and could have won a stern ally against Russia, but the anti-Semetic and anti-Slavic Nazi German philosophy prevented this from happening. The conquerors swept through the rest of Ukraine arresting priests, closing newspaper publishing houses, and enslaved the population. Hermann Göring even went as far as suggesting all Ukrainian men should be killed, and the SS men be sent in to re-populate the land with German blood. Erich Koch was appointed as the German governor of Ukraine, carrying out the plans Göring and other Nazi leaders had in mind for Ukraine. Kharkov, for example, had its population deported en masse; in a single month, the population of Kharkov was reduced from 700,000 to 350,000, with most of them relocated west as forced laborers.

ww2dbaseWhile Kharkov suffered dearly, the most notorious event of the Holocaust in Ukraine was the Massacre of Babi Yar, a ravine outside of Kiev. Between 29 and 30 Sep 1941, military governor of the region Major General Friedrich-Georg Eberhardt, SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich Jeckeln, SS-Brigadefuhrer Dr. Otto Rasch, Paul Blobel, and other Nazi officers rounded up Jews at the ravine and mowed them down with machine gun fire. 33,771 were killed during the two days, and their bodies were burned and buried at the bottom of the ravine. Their valuables were taken and given to the occupation administration of the city of Kiev or to local ethnic Germans. Babi Yar would continue to be the site of mass executions through the entire period of occupation; it was estimated that after the Massacre of Babi Yar, 40,000 to 100,000 more people were killed at the ravine.

ww2dbaseEpilogue

ww2dbaseThe German forces, though behind schedule, were now ready to strike the three primary objectives of the campaign: Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad. With these three cities captured or destroyed, Hitler thought the Russian government would surely collapse. "We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down", he said.

ww2dbaseSources:

Wilhelm Keitel, In the Service of the Reich

William Manchester, The Arms of Krupp

Anthony Read and David Fisher, The Fall of Berlin

William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Wikipedia



Last Major Update: Jan 2007

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