vi- Forward to Victory! 1943-1945

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Stalin’s SSSR

session vi-Forward to Victory!; 1943-1945
!"!!#$ vi-%&"'"( ) &*+"("!; 1943-1945 ,

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

!!!" !#$%&'$
Stalin’s SSSR

session vi-Forward to Victory!; 1943-1945
!"!!#$ vi-%&"'"( ) &*+"("!; 1943-1945 ,

BENEATH THE BANNER OF LENIN-FORWARD FOR
THE MOTHERLAND, FOR OUR VICTORY!


this session’s major topics

• Introduction; The Supremo

• Kursk

• Teheran

• To the West!

• Poland’s Cruciﬁxion

• Yalta

• Revenge: To Berlin!


The Supremo
()*+,-'./
Verkhovnii


Operation Uranus [at Stalingrad] seemed to refresh Stalin who, observed
Khrushchev, started to act “like a real soldier,” considering himself “a great
military strategist.” He was never a general let alone a military genius but,
according to Zhukov, who knew better than anyone, this “outstanding
organizer...displayed his ability as Supremo starting with Stalingrad.” He
“mastered the technique of organizing front operations...and guided them with
skill, thoroughly understanding complicated strategic questions,” always
displaying his “natural intelligence...professional intuition” and a “tenacious
memory.” He was “many-sided and gifted” but had “no knowledge of all the
details.” Mikoyan was probably right when he summed up in his practical way
that Stalin “knew as much about military matters as a statesman should--but no
more.”

Monteﬁore, pp. 438-439


AND NOW
WE TRIUMPH!

Operation Uranus [at Stalingrad] seemed to refresh Stalin who, observed
Khrushchev, started to act “like a real soldier,” considering himself “a great
military strategist.” He was never a general let alone a military genius but,
according to Zhukov, who knew better than anyone, this “outstanding
organizer...displayed his ability as Supremo starting with Stalingrad.” He
“mastered the technique of organizing front operations...and guided them with
skill, thoroughly understanding complicated strategic questions,” always
displaying his “natural intelligence...professional intuition” and a “tenacious
memory.” He was “many-sided and gifted” but had “no knowledge of all the
details.” Mikoyan was probably right when he summed up in his practical way
that Stalin “knew as much about military matters as a statesman should--but no
more.”

Monteﬁore, pp. 438-439


Stalin’s “tells” (non-verbal “clues,” various warning signals)

• Stalin was always pacing up and down (neutral, not a “tell”)

• if the pipe was unlit (a bad omen)

• if he put it down (an explosion imminent)

• if he stroked his moustache with the stem of his pipe (he was pleased)

• his tempers were terrifying:”he virtually changed before one’s eyes,” wrote
Zhukov, “turning pale, a bitter expression in his eyes, his gaze heavy and
spiteful.” (major “tell”)


The atmosphere at the GKO (Government Defense Council)

War was the natural state of the Bolsheviks and they were
good at it. Terror and struggle, the ruling Bolshevik passions,
pervaded these meetings. Stalin liberally used fear but he
himself lived on his nerves: when the new Railways Commisar
arrived, Stalin simply said, “Transport is a matter of life and
death...Remember, failure to carry out...orders means the
Military Tribunal” at which the young man felt “a chill run down
my spine….” Seconds later the Commissar, “white as a sheet,”
was being shown out by Poskrebyshev who added, “See you
don’t slip up.”

Monteﬁore, p. 439


• like Stalin, a son of a shoemaker

• 1917-joined RSDLP (b)

• 1918-graduated training as a medical
assistant

• 1935-ofﬁce manager of the General
Secretary (Stalin), “gatekeeper”

• worked 16-18 hours a day!

PAS•KRO•BEE•SHUFF
1891-1965


Mikoyan was one of the chief workhorses,
overseeing the rear, rations, medical supplies,
ammunition, the merchant navy, food, fuel,
clothing for people and armies, while also
Commisar of Foreigh Trade negotiating Lend-
Lease with the Allies, a stupendous portfolio.

Mikoyan worked from 10 a.m. until almost 5 a.m.,
napping at his ofﬁce.

Monteﬁore, pp. 441 & 435

Anastas Mikoyan
!"#$%#$ &'()#""*$+ ,+-'.#"
1895-1978


The “terror of the Party,” Beria, who behaved
like a villain in a ﬁlm noir, blossomed in
wartime, using the Gulag’s 1.7 million slave
labourers to build Stalin’s weapons and
railways. It is estimated that around 930,000
of these labourers perished during the war.
But his NKVD was the pillar of Stalin’s regime,
representing the supremacy of the Party over
the military.

Ibid.

Lavrenti Beria
in his NKVD Marshall’s uniform


“We could all remember 1937,” said Zhukov. If anything went wrong, [we] knew
“you’d end up in Beria’s hands and Beria was always present during my meetings
with Stalin.”

After General Voronov had twice defied him in front of Stalin, Beria was finally
allowed to arrest him. When Voronov did not appear at a meeting, Stalin casually
asked Beria:
“Is Voronov at your place?” Beria replied that he would be back in two days. The
generals are said to have coined a euphemism for these terrifying interludes:
“Going to have coffee with Beria.” His minions watched the soldiers on every
front...

Montefiore, p. 440 & pp. 441-442


Kursk


Russian infantrymen
in a prepared
Kursk defense with a WW I
Maxim machinegun


After victory at Stalingrad (Stalin’s City)
the Verkhovnii, once again, felt invincible,
just as he had after the battle for
Moscow in early 1942. “Those who
ignore the lessons of history…”


LENINGRAD

• 19 Feb-the front at the beginning of this
map is a solid black line

• Leningrad is still encircled and suffering

• but the Red Army has driven the Nazis
far back from Stalingrad and almost out of
the Northern Caucasus

NORTHERN
CAUCASUS


LENINGRAD




• to 18 March-the orange area indicates
what the Nazis were able to re-conquer

NORTHERN
CAUCASUS


LENINGRAD




• to 18 March-the orange area indicates KURSK

• thus creating a dangerous salient
around Kursk

NORTHERN
CAUCASUS


LENINGRAD




• to 18 March-the orange area indicates KURSK

• thus creating a dangerous salient
around Kursk

• and creating the conditions for
Operation Citadel, the battle for Kursk

• to 1 August-the green area shows the
initial gains made by the German Army in
their attempt for another Kesselschlacht
NORTHERN
CAUCASUS


At dawn on 5 July the Germans threw 900,000 men and 2,700
tanks into this colossal battle of machines in which fleets of metallic
giants clashed, helm to helm, barrel to barrel. By the 9th, the
Germans had reached their limit. On the 12th, Zhukov unleashed
the costly but highly successful counter-attack. The Battle of Kursk
was the climax of the Panzer era, the “mechanized equivalent of
“hand-to-hand combat,” which left a graveyard of 700 tanks and
burnt flesh. Agreeing to cancel Citadel, Hitler had lost his last
chance to win the war.
Montefiore, p. 452


badge of the
Waffen SS

New Tiger tanks were available for the ﬁrst time in
large numbers

Waffen SS units were optimistic, as was Hitler


the new Soviet T-34
was arguably even better. Note the sloped armor to send “incoming”
ricocheting off


PROKHOROVKA


battle of Prokhorovka--12 July 1943
“the greatest tank battle of all times”

• the Reds launched a counter offensive, hoping to
catch the Germans off balance

• “best described as a very costly tactical loss but
an operational draw for the Soviets”

• neither accomplished their missions that day

• losses a contentious subject:

Soviet-200(?) 822 (?) --probably 150-300

German-80(?) “hundreds, including ‘dozens’ of
Tigers” (?) --probably 70-80 “operational
reductions” short/long term
battleﬁeld monument


Red tank recovery vehicle towing a T-34 from the
Prokhorovka battleﬁeld


strategic outcomes

as series of Red Army operations lead to the crossing of the
Dnieper and the liberation of Kiev, autumn of 1943

a new pattern emerges--the initiative passes to the Soviets
Germans spend the rest of the war reacting to their moves

the Italian front drains resources from Ostfront

only the Soviets have the manpower, Lend-Lease, and industrial production to
recover fully

Germany will never again launch a major eastern offensive


long term results
the loss further convinces Hitler of the incompetence of his General
Staff

he continues his interference in military matters, by the war’s end he
is involved in tactical decisions

Stalin moves in the opposite direction, he sees Stavka’s planning
justified on the battlefield, steps back from operational planning, only
rarely overrules military decisions

predictable results ensue for both sides:

German Army moves from loss to loss as Hitler “micromanages”

Soviet Army gains freedom and becomes more and more fluid


Teheran, 28 Nov-1 Dec1943


age 64 age 61
age 69

Teheran, 28 Nov-1 Dec1943


Stalin’s first flights

• for the first meeting of the Big Three he reluctantly took to the air

• he had declined to fly to the earlier Cairo Conference, 22-27 November 1943

• 26-27 Nov--he travelled to Baku by rail and then chose among the four
transport planes the one whose pilot was the most experienced

• the transports were guarded by twenty-seven fighter aircraft

• extremely uneasy, he “was terrified when the plane hit an air pocket”

• after the return flight, he would never take to the air again


the small Soviet delegation; only
outside the Soviet Molotov, Voroshilov, & Beria, 12
legation, Teheran security and translators


two against one

the new friends


two against one

• both, for their own reasons, chose to treat
Churchill as “odd man out”

• Stalin, fearing that the “capitalists” would try
to gang up on him, invited FDR to stay at
the Soviet legation “for security reasons.” It
made some sense as the American legation
was several miles out of town and the
narrow streets were hard to guard. Naturally,
FDR’s rooms were “bugged”

• FDR expected to charm “Uncle Joe” as he
had so many others. He let Stalin know that
he was no friend of the British Empire. He
thought India “was ripe for a revolution ‘from
the bottom’ like Russia, [he] was as ill-
the new friends informed about Leninism as he was about
the untouchables.”


At 4:00 p.m. the Big Three gathered around the specially constructed table in a
big hall….

“In our hands,” declaimed Churchill, “we have the future of mankind.” Stalin
completed this…”History has spoiled us,” he said. “She’s given us very great
power and very great opportunities...Let’s begin our work.”

Monteﬁore, p. 467


Chief of the Imperial General Staff, at his desk, 1942

From the ﬁrst moment of the conference, [Field Marshal Alan Brooke, Churchill’s top
advisor] convinced himself that Stalin had ‘a military brain of the very highest calibre.
Never once in any of his statements did he make any strategic error, nor did he ever
fail to appreciate all the implications of a situation with a quick and unerring eye.’ By
contrast Brooke characteristically thought Marshal Voroshilov had ‘nothing in the
shape of strategic vision.’

Andrew Roberts, Masters and Commanders; How Four Titans Won the War in the West,
1941-1945. 2009. pp. 443-444


the agenda

• the Second Front-- Churchill preferred “the soft underbelly,” a Balkan approach, using
troops already in Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean

• FDR was already committed to the Channel. He winked at Stalin, “the start of his
gauche ﬂirtation that greatly enhanced the Marshal’s position as arbiter…”

• FDR proposed an international organization, the future United Nations

• the Western generals met with Voroshilov about the Channel operation. Stalin pressed
for the earliest possible date certain

• FDR said he couldn’t discuss Poland because of the upcoming election.”The
subordination of the fate of the country for which the war was fought to American
machine politics can only have encouraged Stalin’s plans for a tame Poland.”


the agenda

• the ﬁnal agreement promised that Overlord (the Channel) and Anvil (the invasion of
Southern France) would be the top priority of 1944 and would occur no later than May

• Stalin promised to launch a major offensive at the same time to prevent Hitler from
shifting forces westward

• Poland would be shifted westward to please Stalin. Her eastern border would be the
Curzon Line of 1920. Her western border the Oder-Neisse at Germany’s expense

• there would be a United Nations Organization, details to follow

• agreement was reached on Iranian post-war independence


Churchill’s contemporaneous memo
of a conversation with Voroshilov


atmospherics

• Beria’s handsome son Sergo was one of those who briefed Stalin on the
bugging reports. Stalin was amazed that the Americans didn’t realize he was
eavesdropping on them. He was gratiﬁed that FDR seemed charmed by him.

• Stalin put on the charm for his two “opposite numbers.” But he treated his
subordinates “like dogs.”--Br. interpreter Hugh Lunghi

• Churchill presented Stalin with a ceremonial sword from King George VI to
commemorate the victory of Stalingrad. When Voroshilov dropped its scabbard
with a clatter, Stalin humiliated him

• Stalin joked about executing 50,000 German ofﬁcers to eradicate militarism.
FDR and his son Elliot made light of it. Churchill stormed out in disgust and
had to be charmed back by Stalin, “I was only joking!”


Leahy
Brooke

Voroshilov

the farewell group picture with military chiefs behind them


To the West!


To the West!

NA ZAPAD !

THE FRONT DRAWS NEARER

The way to Stalingrad was through
Kiev, then the Russians in 10 months
have reversed matters, now the way
to Breslau is through Kiev

Soviet propaganda leaﬂet


Soviet superiority in materiel and personnel

beginning in 1941, Stalin orders defense manufacturing moved east
of the Urals. After the U.S. enters the war, we supply vast amounts of
equipment and supplies to the USSR.

he demands ruthless human sacriﬁces, both on the battleﬁeld and in
the factories, of his more numerous population ( 197 vs 60 million
Germans)

at great cost, this capacity starts turning out superior war equipment

we’ve already seen the T-34 tanks

now we’ll let the Shturmovik IL-2 aircraft stand for many other such
weapons systems


development of the 0#1*2,-&3 (Shturmovik)

• throughout the mid-1930s, Soviet aircraft designers worked to
develop an anti-tank attack aircraft like the Ju-87 Stuka

• ﬁrst prototypes were ﬂown in 1939

• wartime production was slow until Stalin started cracking heads


YOU HAVE LET DOWN OUR COUNTRY AND OUR
RED ARMY. YOU HAVE NOT MANUFACTURED IL-2S
UNTIL NOW. THE IL-2 AIRCRAFT ARE NECESSARY
FOR OUR RED ARMY NOW, LIKE AIR, LIKE BREAD.
SHENKMAN FACTORY PRODUCES ONE IL-2 A DAY
AND TRETIAKOV BUILDS ONE OR TWO MIG-3S
DAILY. IT IS A MOCKERY OF OUR COUNTRY AND
THE RED ARMY. I ASK YOU NOT TO TRY THE
GOVERNMENT'S PATIENCE, AND DEMAND THAT
YOU MANUFACTURE MORE ILS. I WARN YOU FOR
THE LAST TIME. STALIN.


development of the 0#1*2,-&3 (Shturmovik)

• throughout the mid-1930s, Soviet aircraft designers worked to
develop an anti-tank attack aircraft like the Ju-87 Stuka

• first prototypes were flown in 1939

• wartime production was slow until Stalin started cracking heads

• the first massive use came during Uranus, the Stalingrad
encirclement

• by late 1944, they dominated the skies and were the scourge of
the German panzers


When I was working on my book Red Phoenix, I did
interview a number of German pilots who told me of
the overwhelming numbers of Soviet a/c [aircraft]
(supplemented with USA Lend Lease). At the
[Smithsonian] Museum, I just turned in the
restoration package for our Il-2 Shturmovik, one of
a handful of survivors of a production effort of over
30,000 warplanes of this type.

Von Hardesty,
Aerospace Museum
Smithsonian Institution,
e-Mail to JBP, 17 April 2008


Ostfront 1944


Soviet Spring Offensive--4 March-12 May

Soviet gains during their winter
offensive leave them well positioned for
the new assault

the Ukraine was the focus of the
Spring Offensive

the Red Army drove from the Dnieper
to the Bug to the Dniester Rivers

10 April--with the fall of Odessa it
became impossible to supply the
German forces in the Crimea

DEATH 10 May--Sevastopol is evacuated by
TO THE GERMAN FASCIST
ROBBER! sea

ON THE JOYOUS DAY OF FREEDOM FROM THE YOKE OF THE
GERMAN DESTROYERS THE FIRST WORDS OF BOUNDLESS
GRATITUDE AND LOVE OF THE LIBERATED SOVIET PEOPLE
ARE TO OUR FRIEND AND FATHER COMRADE STALIN--THE
ORGANIZER OF OUR STRUGGLE FOR THE FREEDOM AND
INDEPENDENCE OF OUR MOTHERLAND


Operation Bagration
Soviet Summer Offensive
opens 22 June--
the third anniversary


Operation Bagration
Soviet Summer Offensive
opens 22 June--
the third anniversary

STRIKE GERMAN BEASTS!
TO DESTROY THE HITLERITE ARMY--IT’S POSSIBLE & NECESSARY


Nazi POWs from the Fourth Army are marched through Moscow
17 July 1944


Poland’s Cruciﬁxion


Katyn, 1939-1940--intensiﬁcation of Poland’s hatred for Russia


5 March 1940
NARODNII KOMISSARIAT
abbreviation for Central
VNUTRENNIX DEL
(NKVD) Committee, All-Union
Communist Party
(bolshevik)
(to) tovarish STALIN

J Sta
lin
K Vor
oshilo
v
V Molo
tov
A Mik
oyan

(copies to)
T. (for tovarish, comrade)
Kalinin
T. Kaganovich

Beria’s request for
approval of the
Katyn massacres


Symbol of the Polish Home Army

Kotwica (anchor)

PW has a double signiﬁcation:
1) Polska Walczaca (Poland ﬁghts)
2) Powstanie Warszawskie (Warsaw Uprising)
1 August-2 October 1944


The Soviet summer
offensive, forces two of
Hitler’s allies, Rumania and
Bulgaria, out of the war. By
August the Red Army
reaches central Poland


Operation Bagration brings Soviet forces to the outskirts of Warsaw by August, 1944

the Polish Home Army begins an uprising to assist in driving out Nazi forces and to win a place
at the peace table as not merely the passive recipient of Russian aid. Free Polish leaders were
aware of Stalin’s Lublin Committee


Powstanie Warszawskie (Warsaw Uprising)

• part of a nationwide rebellion, Operation Storm

• initially the Poles seized substantial areas of the city

• 16 Sept-Soviet forces reach a point a few hundred meters
from Polish positions across the Vistula

• they made no further gains during the Uprising

• Polish: about 16,000 KIA, 6,000 WIA--150-200,000
civilians die, mostly from mass murder by German troops

• German: over 16,000 KIA, 9,000 WIA
Positions held by the Polish
Home Army on Day 4 of the
• Jan 1945- when Soviets entered, 85% of the city in ruins uprising


unequal conﬂict

initially the Poles had 45,000
soldiers (only 23,000 armed
and combat ready) the
German Warsaw garrison,
11,000

ultimately, the Germans
deployed 90,000 combat
hardened forces to crush the
Poles

here, the Dirlewanger brigade
employs the Thor siege mortar
which they had used to
capture Sevastopol


Thor’s target


soldiers of the Armia Krajowa


Instead of coming to their aid as the
Poles expect, the Red Army waits for
63 days while the Germans butcher
the less well armed Poles.

Now the way is clear for the Soviet
puppets, the Lublin Committee, to be
the post-war communist government
of Poland.


Today, a less sinister, less “Cold War”
explanation is offered:

The Red Army was exhausted by their
offensive,
they hadn’t asked for the uprising.

“We report.
You decide!”


Monument to the Uprising

notice the bullet scars
this bank was one of the last centers of resistance
the kotwica continues to be a nationalist symbol

age 67

Yalta age 70 age 65


Marshall
Brooke
Arnold
Portal
Leahy
Cunningham

age 67 Friday, 9 Feb 1945

Yalta age 70 age 65
courtyard of the
Livadia Palace


1944-Preparing for the peace settlement
• immediately after Teheran, as the Red Army approached the pre-war Polish
border, a dispute began between London and Moscow over governance there

• the Polish government-in-exile (the London Poles) recognized by Stalin until the
1943 discovery of Katyn

• the Lublin Committee-(formally proclaimed 21 July 1944) Stalin’s “tool” for
administering the reconquered Polish territories

• June 1944-the British propose dividing the Balkans into zones of occupation
on a percentage basis

• Rumania, Bulgaria & Hungary--80% Soviet, 20% British; Greece-- 100% British; and
Yugoslavia--50%, 50%

• Oct 1944-the Big Three agree on this formula in Moscow


in no shape for a 50 K ride in cold weather in a jeep


differing views on FDR’s fitness

• hindsight focused on this issue after:

• the public shock of his death two months later

• the Cold War search for blame as to why Eastern Europe was “sold out” at Yalta

• opinions varied:

• Lord Ismay of the British Imperial General Staff thought he was “more than half gaga”

• Adm Cunningham: “The President, who is undoubtedly in bad shape and finding difficulty in
concentrating...does not appear to know what he is talking about”


differing views on FDR’s ﬁtness

• opinions varied:

• Gen Marshall: “[FDR] looked very, very tired”

• Cordell Hull: “The President looked dreadful when he was wheeled into the room--
sagging jaw, drooping shoulders. He appeared almost oblivious of his surroundings
and of his guests. After several strong martinis, however, he seemed to come to
life.”

• Stewart Crawford: “half dead with grey sunken cheeks and little spark of vitality.”

• Nonetheless, Admiral Land: that Roosevelt was not so ill at Yalta as the photos there
might suggest, but was merely “having trouble with his dentures”, which had
“affected his speech and caused his face to fall unduly.”


a conference site at the
Livadia Palace


The Polish Question


The Polish Question

Oder River Stettin

Neisse River
Breslau


The Polish Question & Occupation Zones

Berlin


It is hard to be naive and cynical at the same time, but
Roosevelt was both when it came to Stalin and the fate of
the Poles. ‘Of one thing I am certain, he told the Polish
Prime Minister-in-exile Stanis!aw Miko!ajczyk,‘Stalin is
not an imperialist.’ To the former American Ambassador to
France, William C. Bullitt, he also said: ‘I have a hunch
that Stalin doesn’t want anything other than security for
his country, and I think that if I give him everything I
possibly can and ask for nothing in return, noblesse oblige,
he won’t try to annex anything and will work for a world
of democracy and peace.’ To the British minister Richard
Law in late December 1944, the President said that ‘he
was not afraid of Communism as such. There are many
varieties of Communism and not all of them are
necessarily harmful.’
Roberts, p. 557


Major agreements

• priority was Germany’s “unconditional surrender.” After the war there would be
four occupation zones

• Germany would undergo demilitarization and denaziﬁcation

• German reparations would be partly in the form of forced labor to repair the
damage Germany had inﬂicted

• Poland’s Provisional Government which had been installed by the USSR would
be reorganized “on a broader democratic basis”

• Poland’s eastern border would follow the Curzon Line and Poland would
receive compensation in the West from Germany


Major agreements

• Poland’s eastern border would follow the Curzon Line and Poland would
receive compensation in the West from Germany

• Churchill alone pressed for free elections there. Stalin agreed, but never
honored his promise.

• Citizens of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia were to be handed over to their
respective countries regardless of their consent

• Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan within 90 days after the defeat of
Germany

• Nazi war criminals were to be hunted down and brought to justice


the United Nations Organization (UNO)

• 1943-the idea emerged in declarations signed at conferences in Moscow and Teheran

• Aug-Oct 1944-the Dumbarton Oaks Conference (Wash DC) of France, the Republic of
China, UK, USA, and USSR, made preliminary plans

• Feb 1945- at Yalta, it was agreed that membership would be open to nations that had
joined the Allies by 1 March 1945

• Stalin initially held out for separate delegations in the General Assembly for each republic

• 25 April-the UN Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco to draft
a charter for the organization

• 24 Oct 1945- 51 original members signed its “birth certiﬁcate,” the Charter of the UNO


The Charge of the Light Brigade

Although Balaklava mattered much to men like Churchill and Brooke
who had grown up with Tennyson’s poem, the Prime Minister
complained that the local Russian guides had shown ‘no sort of
feeling’ there. ‘Either they thought they had won the battle or they
had never heard of it.’

‘I wish you could have seen Sir Alan Brooke, with a school history
book in one hand, explaining the battle of Balaclava to an audience
of ﬁeld marshals. We stood on a little ridge on the end of that
famous battleﬁeld where the Charge of the Light Brigade took place.
All around us were the twisted remains of German anti-tank guns.’

Roberts, p. 553


All that Yalta did was to recognize the facts of life as
they existed and were being brought about....The
only way we could have in any way influenced that
in a different way was not to have put our main
effort into France or the Low Countries but to put it
into the Balkans….It might have meant that
Bulgaria, Rumania, and possibly others of those
Eastern European countries that are now
Communist-dominated would have other types of
control at present. But...it would also mean that all
of Germany and probably a good portion of the
Low Countries, Belgium, Holland and even France, General John Hull, Vice Chief of
Staff,in an oral interview at the
might have Soviet influence over them rather than Army War College, Carlisle, PA,
1974
Western influence. To me there was no choice to
make.


The fascist vulture has learned,
that we’re not a lamb!


ND
NEM Y’S LA !
TO THE E O VICTORY
DT
FO R W AR


LET’S GO TO BERLIN !

Strike to the heart


the death of Berlin


Soviet Katyusha rockets
mounted on a Studebaker Lend-Lease truck. By war’s end
10,000 launchers are produced


“Stalin’s organs”
in action


Stalin’s Winter Offensive, 17 January 1945

• with massive superiority, the Red
Army drives all before it

• civilians clog the roads

• German forces, stripped for the
Ardennes Offensive, fall back

• Königsberg and Posen, encircled,
hold out


As rumors of the approach of Soviet forces reach German
civilians, they ﬂee on foot

Goebbels has no need to exaggerate the infamies which vengeful Red soldiers inﬂict


A Google Earth view of the terrain


with the fall of the Seelow heights the road to Berlin
lay open
• 16-19 April--the Soviet offensive begins with the
biggest artillery barrage of the war

• 2.5 million men, 6,250 tanks, 7,500 aircraft,
41,600 artillery pieces and mortars, 3,255 truck-
mounted Katyusha launchers & 95,383 motor
vehicles

• German trenches atop the Seelower Höhe were
evacuated before the opening barrage

• 143 searchlights were supposed to blind the
defenders as the Reds crossed the river under
ﬁre. Actually, they were counterproductive

Allied propaganda sheet to
demoralize the Germans • ﬁnally, after four days, numbers prevailed


Soviet victory monument

the end game

• a race is encouraged between Zhukov’s generals,
Konev and Chuikov, to see who can enter Berlin
ﬁrst. This adds to the unnecessary loss of
Russian as well as German life

• a terrible slaughter of German soldiers and
civilians occurs on the narrow roads of the pine
forests south of Berlin

• Hitler continues to micromanage from the
Führerbunker beneath the Reichschancellery

• 20 April-by Hitler’s last birthday, Berlin is invested


the U-bahn stations were cautiously emptied

WE SET IN PLACE
IN BERLIN
THE BANNER OF
VICTORY!


Victory in the war...turned Stalin into the embodiment of patriotism,
world power and a radiant future for the country. And such was his
despotic authority that innumerable people lived their lives on the
assumption that they had to accept the political structures and the
ofﬁcial ideology. Many millions of course hated him in the 1930s and
continued to detest him to the end of his days. But supporters of one
kind or another certainly existed widely among people in the USSR.

Service, p. 602


vi- Forward to Victory! 1943-1945

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