Miracle

in the
Western war
East
correspondents report
1941–1945
4 Miracle in the East. Western war correspondents report.
1941–1945.

By Dmitry Fedorov.

With acknowledgement of support from Daria Karpukhina in various

stages of the work and from Igor Nogaev in processing of The Times
articles.

Design by Andrey Nikulin.

This book is a part of the multimedia grant project named «The Return
of Stolen Meanings. The Truth about the Great Patriotic War in English
and American press from 1941 to 1945», prepared by the Foundation
for Historical Outlook and sponsored by the Presidential Foundation for
Cultural Initiatives.

This edition represents a collection of materials published in media outlets in Great Britain, the USA and
Canada from 1941 to 1945 and dedicated to the events of the Great Patriotic War between the USSR and
Germany. The book includes publications from the world’s leading newspapers and magazines of the time;
such as: the The Times, The New York Times, The Evening Star; weeklies like Time, Newsweek and Life
and many others. Foreign correspondents working in the USSR, military analysts of allied countries and
prominent international observers in their articles tell about the events of the war on the Soviet-German
frontline. Among the authors cited in the book are dozens of laureates of international and state awards in
the field of journalism.
CONTENT 5

Foreword.
Introduction.
Chapter I. Prelude to the Storm.
Chapter II. Intrusion.
Chapter III. What are the Chances?
Chapter IV. Russia’s Great War Machine Starts Rolling.
Chapter V. A Capital at War: No Strangers to Hardships.
Chapter VI. The Scorched Earth. What makes the Russians fight as they do?
Chapter VII. Chapter VI. New Global Landscape Emerge.
Chapter VIII. Chapter VIII. Battle for Moscow.
Chapter IX. 1942: Rocky Road to Stalingrad.
Chapter Х. Vespers in Moscow.
Chapter ХI. City of Steel.
Chapter ХII. Glad to meet you, Mr.Stalin!
Chapter ХIII. Victory is a fighting word! Barrage of 1943.
Chapter XIV. Fearless Women of Russia.
Chapter ХV. Tragedies and Heroism of Leningrad.
Chapter XVI. Invisible Army of Russia.
Chapter XVII. Liberation of Europe.
Chapter XVIII. Comrades in Epaulettes.
Chapter XIX. Yalta and beyond.
Chapter ХX. Marshall of the Great Victory.
Chapter ХХI. Epilogue: The War is Over.
6

Author’s foreword.
May 30th 2024 was the final day of work on this book. It was exactly the day when
the Elysee Palace officially announced that Russian delegation would not be invited
to the 80-th anniversary of D-Day. At the same time, the guest list of this celebration
included official representatives of today’s Ukraine — the country where outspoken
Nazi collaborators have been honored with the status of national heroes. And there
is nothing strange in it, given that the current president of the French Republic in his
speeches has repeatedly demonstrated his admiration for the personality of Marshal
Pétain, the person who headed the collaborationist “Vichy regime” created by Hitler.
This happens at the same time as a number of European NGOs calls for criminal
prosecution of any reporter of the Russian state media working abroad. Not only
Russian journalism is being canceled these days, but also Russian culture and history.
The pages of Russia’s history that symbolize the ideas of its national unity and
statehood are the main targets for cancellation techniques. And these are exactly
the same pages that not so long ago were globally associated solely with the struggle
between good and absolute evil — the genocidal ideology of Nazism. However, back
in 2019, the European Parliament adopted a resolution which held the Soviet Union
and Hitler’s Germany equally responsible for the outbreak of World War II . This
was done in disregard to the obvious historical fact that Hitler’s military aggression
started with invasion of Czechoslovakia and annexing part of its territory. This was
mandated by the Munich Agreement of the countries, whose governments today,
presenting themselves as the leaders of modern Europe, are undertaking every
possible effort to erase the Soviet Union from the history of the Second World War.
The fewer are the instruments left for Russia to preserve the historical truth
about the role of the Soviet Union in military defeat of Nazism, the greater becomes
the importance of the voices of British and American frontline correspondents of
World War II, who told their audiences day by day a story of how the Soviet people
marched to the Victory and of the price they paid for it.
This is not the first time for the Foundation for Historical Outlook to address this
topic. Our book “The City of Steel. The Failure of Hitler’s Costliest Gamble. 1942-
1943” has been published eleven years ago. It gave an opportunity to see the Battle
of Stalingrad through the eyes of British and American newspapers.
Our multimedia project “The Returning of Stolen Meanings. The Truth About
the Great Patriotic War in the Anglo-American press, 1941 - 1945” is supported
by the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives. An integral part of it is the
edition “Miracle in the East”. It is a collection of wartime media publications with
rather complex internal structure. One can start reading it fom any page. Newspaper
articles complimented with recordings of radio programs will take a reader to 7
amazingly interesting, heroic historical period. This would be vivid and extremely
useful experience.
At the same time the content of the book was carefully selected and structured
in order to present the articles in strict timeline so that they would chronologically
reflect the main events that took place at the frontlines: the first months after the
invasion, the defense of Moscow, the severity of the summer of 1942, the Battles
of Stalingrad and Kursk, liberation of Europe and others. At the same time the book
contains publications that reveal the factors that ensured the Great Victory. And these
factors are the reflection of many dimensions of heroic deeds and sacrifices of the
Soviet people, seen through the prism of the vision of a western war correspondent
— a courageous Anglo-American intellectual.
These articles tell about the bravery of Red Army soldiers and fighters of the
“invisible” partisan army, about the Soviet commanders’ talent for military leadership
, about the self-sacrificial labor of Soviet women who undertook all the men’s work in
all country’s industries. А reader may also find here publications about the iron will of
I.V.Stalin who managed to consolidate the Soviet people, about Russians’ profound
Christian mind-set, that turned out to be no less important in achieving the Great
Victory. Allied aid, without which the price of theVictory for the USSR would have
been enormously higher, was also not to be forgotten.
Compiling this edition, the author also tried to structure its content in such a way
that each chapter could serve as a helpful set of sources for the preparation of an
academic article or a student’s diploma.
Therefore, the book presents publications of newspapers and magazines that
differ in their format, editorial policies and target audience.
A serious book, just like a serious person, must have a vocation... This edition is
not an exception and has a very special one. Getting acquainted with the provided
articles and radio programs, a reader would have an opportunity to follow day by day
the creative search of the best journalists of 1940-es for the answer to the question
that concerned them greatly, the question which is still relevant nowadays. It sounds
a chiming tone in almost every article: How and why has the Soviet Union played a
decisive role in the defeat of Hitler’s Germany?
A modern reader will certainly find it difficult to read such publications without
understanding of some important aspects. How exactly the treacherous aggression
of the United Europe of 1941 against the Soviet Union looked like? What exactly were
the goals, that Germany and its satellites pursued in violation of the non-aggression
pact? What was the strategic plot when, in the early morning of June 22, 1941, the
motorized hordes from Germany, Finland and Romania crossed the border of the
USSR, and thousands lined up at recruiting stations to be sent to the Soviet-German
frontline as volunteers in a dosen of other countries? Which European nations fully
supported Hitler’s aggression against the USSR? Which countries had maintained
formal neutrality status, and how different has such “neutrality” been, for example,
in the cases of Sweden, Turkey, Switzerland or Iran?
8 A reader may find it useful to read certain publications of American columnists
about the Soviet fifth column, the Nazi’s “Ukrainian project”, the “national liberation
movements” acting on the outskirts of the USSR that rose up to became Hitler’s
vassals. Some Western military observers considered these forces no less important
actors in the aggression against the USSR than, for example, Italy or Hungary. It
is also extremely important for modern audience to understand who, when and
why supported the Soviet Union. What was the reason for the announcement of
London’s unconditional support for Moscow as early as June 22, 1941, and why were
the comments of official Berlin so sarcastic in this regard? Why didn’t Japan violate
the non-aggression pact signed with the USSR? What was the reason for the long
months of discussion about the provision of even minimal aid to the USSR within the
American political establishment?
Readers will have the chance to find answers to these questions themselves. To
provide them with such an opportunity the edition includes the most interesting
opinions of military analysts and international columnists of mid-1941 not only from
Washington or London, but also from foreign correspondents who had accreditation
in Berlin, Tokyo, Rome or the city of Helsingfors.
In the spotlight of these publications is an attempt to analyze the goals and
challenges posed by Axis powers, the forecasts of Soviet’s ability to resist aggression,
the coverage of bloody massacres and Jewish pogroms in the Baltic republics,
“controlled leaks” from Capitol Hill and reviews of Tokyo newspapers.
The attention was also paid to the process of formation of the new system of
international relations that began in the late summer of 1941, which later was called
the Yalta-Potsdam system and has existed up to our days.
It sounds quite surprising today, but in August 1941 American columnists put the
first All-Slavic radio meeting, that marked the beginning of Stalin’s policy of uniting
the Slavic peoples in opposition first to Hitler’s Germany, and later to the NATO, on
a par with the signing of the Atlantic Charter, which happened at the same moment.
The Balkan issue has not been disregarded in this book as well.
The above-mentioned issues are treated in the first chapters of the book. The rest
of the edition tells the story of how the Soviet people, against all the possible odds,
withstood the pressure of Hitler’s aggression and consistently marched towards the
day when the Soviet soldiers raised the banner of the Victory over the Reichstag; to
the day when Russian Marshal Georgy Zhukov, recognized by the Anglo-American
press as the best commander in the history of wars, together with his combat
colleagues from the Allied Powers, accepted the surrender of Germany.
In order to achieve maximum objectivity, an extremely wide range of periodicals
was used in the compilation of this book. Today, almost everything that has ever
been printed can be found on the Internet. Tens of thousands of digitized newspaper
pages, many hours of old time radio broadcast records were used in this work. The
members of our team also paid great attention to the British press, especially The
Times publications and B.B.C. radio programs.
Nevertheless, the focus in the selection of material has been placed precisely on
the publications of American daily newspapers and weeklies. There is a reason for 9
such decision. World War II turned out to become a unique period in the history of
U.S. when an unprecedented reassessment of certain values had taken place. Thus,
according to polls carried out by The Fortune magazine in the spring of 1940, the
vast majority of Americans had such a negative attitude towards the USSR that they
were ready to equate it with Nazi Germany. However, similar polls conducted in 1943
showed that more than 80 percent of Americans referred to the Soviet Union as
America’s primary and key partner in both the war against the Axis powers and in
building a postwar global order. American reporters of that time repeatedly wrote
about the amazing closeness of the mindsets of the people of the United States and
Russia. Our country had been the subject of thematic issues of illustrated weeklies
published in millions of copies. In American academic periodicals of those years one
can find publications devoted to certain questions of Soviet history, that have never
found the reflection they deserve even in our own historiography.
Publications of all leading Anglo-American news agencies of that time —Associated
Press, United Press, Reuters — were widely used in this book.Their correspondents
worked in the USSR from the very first days of the war and constantly traveled to
the battlefront. In the most difficult year of 1942 they visited besieged Leningrad,
witnessed smoking ruins of Stalingrad in February 1943 and liberated Minsk, Kiev
and Odessa; they have seen Katyn Forest and the mountains of human bodies in
Majdanek. They interviewed privates and marshals of the Red Army, German POW
and residents of Odessa, liberated from Romanian occupation.
The edition includes publications of American periodicals aimed at broad variety
of target audiences. A reader will find a number of articles from The New York
Times and Los Angeles Times, which at that time urged for cooperation with the
USSR most srongly. These newspapers still reflect vibrant atmosphere of the liberal-
minded urban areas of the West and East coasts. As a sort of counterbalance, we
used a number of publications with completely different ideological charge taken
from The Chicago Tribune, the mouthpiece of at that time extremely conservative
Midwest. Of considerable interest are the in-depth analytical articles of The
Christian Science Monitor, which is still being published in Boston, MA, the university
capital of America and the historic center of intellectual and academic life of the
country. Of course, we didn’t leave aside The Washington Post, the voice of the
federal bureaucracy, and, for sure, of the “deep state” with its “controlled leaks”
from the Capitol Hill and the White House. The book contains many articles of The
Evening Star — an unfortunately little-known nowadays, but extremely popular and
influential newspaper in those years. It was home for such famous columnists as
Dorothy Thompson and Constantine Brown.
Publications from The Boston Globe, The New York Herald Tribune, and a number
of other periodicals, including “segregated” at that time African American press,
represented in the USSR by renowned war correspondent Homer Smith, were used
in the book. One cannot imagine world press without the American weeklies such as
LIFE, TIME or Newsweek, with their colorful illustrations and op-eds reaching widest
10 audience. It was at the turn of the 30s and 40s when this format gained enormous
popularity among American readers. During the war years they published editorials
full of such level of respect and admiration for the heroism of the Soviet people that
they might have competed in that with Moscow newspapers.
Unfortunately, for almost eighty years the editorial policy of Time Inc. during WWII
years was considered as solely determined by the personal position of its founder
Henry Luce, who allegedly received a kind of “order” from F.D. Roosevelt for a series
of “pro-Soviet” publications. There is no exact answer whether it is true, not true,
or partially true. But, it is obvious that the Office of War Information, established
in 1942, did worked closely with certain newspaper moguls and movie producers.
Their task-list included the formation of a positive image of the Soviet Union in
American public opinion. This was done to promote the so-called “Four Policemen”
ideology - the future model of the post-war global order, which was based on the
foundation of the United Nations with permanent membership of the Soviet Union
in the Security Council — the main cause of the last years of F.D. Roosevelt’s life. In
order to eliminate speculation about certain bias in the selection of materials, in
addition to Time essays and articles from LIFE we included a number of publications
from their closest competitor, Newsweek, owned by Averell Harriman at the time.
This major industrial tycoon and diplomat, who served in 1945 as U.S. Ambassador
to Moscow after the death of F.D. Roosevelt, set a world record for the speed of
transatlantic flight on the B-24 Liberator bomber plane used by him as an analog of
modern personal business jets with only one goal — to get to the Oval Office to meet
the new President and to convince him of the USSR’s ambitions for world domination
as quickly as possible. He was definitely not a friend of Moscow. But this was also the
time when the press was independent.
In addition, the book includes publications from such America’s leading literature
and art weeklies as The Saturday Evening Post, Colliers and This Week Magazine.
The book is illustrated with audio materials. The reader will have the opportunity
to listen to the epochal speech of W. Churchill delivered on June 22, 1941 and his
explanation of the essence of the Atlantic Charter, and a very emotional interview
to the B.B.C., given by the Soviet Ambassador to Great Britain Ivan Maisky on the
occasion of shipment of the first batch of British tanks to the Soviet Union. Among
the presented audio recordings is one of F.D.Roosevelt’s last speeches — an account
of his visit to the Yalta conference.
А reader will hear the voice of the American war correspondent, famous writer
Erskine Caldwell, who witnessed the invasion of the USSR from very fist day — a story
about the progress of mobilization in the beginning of the war, about the transfer of
Soviet military enterprises beyond the Urals mountain ridge, about the strength of
the Russian spirit.
The book includes the speech of the famous frontline correspondent of Colliers
Magazine Quentin Reynolds after his returning from the Soviet Union on the self-
speaking subject: “ The Russians are our kind of people!”. Besides that, our collection
includes radio reports of American and British correspondents on the Battle of
Moscow, from Stalingrad, from the the Elbe river, where Soviet troops had met 11
Americans, and, of course, from the ruins of defeated Berlin.
The book also includes an unexpected discovery — a radio drama called “The
Last Days of Sevastopol” produced by NBC in 1943, written in the besieged city
by the frontline correspondent of Soviet newspaper “Pravda”. Once wired to the
United States, it became the only radio play in the world history whose script was
transmitted by cable via encrypted military channels.
We live at the time of information warfare and hybrid wars, in the era of so called
“post-truth”. Nowadays in international conflicts media is used mainly as a weapon
aimed at demoralizing the opposing side by using the most filthiest technologies to
manipulate the mass consciousness.
The main role of media during World War II was completely different. The entire
units of US Army personnel in Africa, in Europe, all over the vast Pacific Theater of
Operations gathered together to listen to radio programs like Soldiers of Press or War
Telescope. From the broadcasts they learned that the advance of the Allied forces
deep into France after landing in Normandy has been supported by the Russian
operation with a code name Bagration, during which the Red Army units at the cost of
enormous losses not only crushed the Wehrmacht, but also pulled the best German
reserves eastwards. All of it made Allied servicemen stronger and more confident in
their success in further smashing Nazis in the advance of Operation Overlord.
Wives and mothers of American servicemen, working as welders in Henry Kaiser’s
shipyards, learned about the labor heroism of Soviet women from the illustrated
weeklies, and then huge transport vessels of the Liberty series were launched even
faster, sometimes in an unthinkable record of 4 days and 16 hours after laying.
As part of the northern convoys, these ships delivered to the Soviet Union
everything that was vitally important for the victory over the common enemy —
airplanes, cars, machinery ... All of this was bringing the end of the war closer and
reduced the casualties of Allied powers, so more men returned back home from
Stalingrad, from the shores of the Channel, from the Solomon islands.
Most likely the memory of the horrors and losses of World War II prevented the
Cold War from escalating into World War III in the twentieth century.
The meaning of this book is to convey to contemporaries the message of the
frontline correspondents of World War II. The victory over Hitler’s Germany is the
result, witnessed and precisely documented by war correspondents. It is the result
of the joint heroism of the peoples, of their unprecedented common sacrifice, of
their capacity to overcome ideological disagreements, and of cooperation based on
the principles of equality and mutual respect. Such experience had no analogues in
world history.
Without cherishing and respecting the historical truth and memory of this
experience, the world’s leading powers will never be able to unite once again in
confronting and overcoming of the global existential challenges facing humankind.
12

CHAPTER I control over the troops dispersed along

PRELUDE TO THE STORM the country’s frontiers.
The campaign developed at a pace
which amazed the world. Within a
The Times, May 8, 1945 fortnight all western Poland was lost and
Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: the Polish army, so far as it was still in being,
had withdrawn behind Warsaw, already
Long Road to Victory closely invested. On September 17th the
On September 1, 1939, German implications of the Russo-German pact
armour crossed the Polish frontier and began to be revealed. Russian troops
German aeroplanes attacked Warsaw. entered Poland from the east and a few
Ten days earlier the signature of a days later the stricken country suffered
Russo-German non-aggression pact1 its fourth partition. By the middle of
had proclaimed the imminence of war October organized resistance in Poland
and the Germans had now completed had been crushed. Thereafter, for more
their preparations for its outbreak. than 18 months, the war in the east was
They had perfected a new method of to be conducted mainly under diplomatic
warfare, later to be known as Blitzkrieg, forms.
by a development of the tactics which
had finally overcome the static defense FALL OF FRANCE
systems of the last war. They now put In the opening days of the war a British
into execution their plan for overrunning Expeditionary Force which eventually
Poland in a mechanized offensive of amounted to 10 divisions crossed the
hitherto unknown mobility. The air Channel, Lord Gort2 was in command.
arm led the way, attacking the enemy’s The Armies took up their positions on
centres of communication, scattering their prepared lines. The world waited.
his columns on their way to their Nothing happened. Both sides armed,
concentration points and blinding him the Germans more rapidly because their
by rendering his airfields unserviceable. war industries were in full operation.
Tanks formed the spearhead of the Germany matured her plans. Britain and
ground attack. They were followed by France faced an unreal present and a
convoys of motor transport conveying menacing future; and America talked of
infantry and guns. Thrusting into Poland “phoney” war. The weakest point in the
from north, west, and south, these German front was the long line of sea
forces converged on Warsaw before the communications with Narvik and the
Polish High Command could establish North Swedish iron fields. It was secured
against British sea power by the German Churchill took office on May 10th, a day 13
rise of sheltered Norwegian waters. In of momentous events in Europe. Happily
February the British, impatient of this for Britain the hour had produced the
abuse of Norwegian neutrality, broke in man.
to rescue British prisoners from a German
ship. On April 9th Germany decided THE MIRACLE OF DUNKIRK
that neutrality had served its purpose On the same day the Germans opened
and invaded Denmark and Norway. The the campaign intended, according to
Danes yielded, the Norwegians fought Hitler, to settle the course of history
on and Anglo-French Army went to their for 1,000 years. Holland and Belgium
aid. Imperfectly trained, inadequately were invaded simultaneously on what
munitioned, and lacking air cover, it was appeared to be an expanded version
forced to retire on its bases, from which of the old Schlieften plan4. The allies
it was later withdrawn. During this brief hastened to the support of Germany’s
campaign the Germans revealed two victims the British to fill the gap between
more of their secret weapons — the one the Belgians and the French, the French to
military, the other political. The almost act as the link between the Belgians and
simultaneous seizure of all the key points the Dutch. The Germans did not interfere
in Southern and Western Norway was with these movements. Their main blow
made possible by the employment of was to be struck elsewhere. Realizing that
parachute troops, and the formation of motorized forces need not be held up
the country’s puppet government after its by different country, they traversed the
conquest was entrusted to a Norwegian Ardennes crossed the Meuse between
traitor, one Quisling3, who “by merit Sedan and Namur, and sent armoured
raised to that bad eminence,” was to divisions, with effective air support, on
give his name to the whole contemptible their race to the Channel ports. In the
breed of which he was the first notorious closing days of May the Germans secured
example. both Boulogne and Calais, and split the
The unhappy issue of the Norwegian allied forces in two. The position of the
campaign had immediate and decisive British in the North was now critical.
political repercussions in Britain. At Holland had capitulated on May 15th,
the close of a debate in the House of and Belgium on May 28th. The seaway
Commons a division was challenged. to England was accessible only through
The strong opposition vote decided Mr. Dunkirk. Through this narrow gap there
Chamberlain to resign. After consulting were safely evacuated in less than a week
the Opposition leaders the retiring Prime some 330,000 men nearly two-thirds of
Minister advised the King to send for Mr. them British. But all their equipment was
Churchill. Labour, which had hitherto lost.
held aloof from office, entered the While these events were moving
new Government representative of all towards their climax the French Prime
parties in the State. Its core was a small Minister, M. Reynaud, sought to remedy
war Cabinet with Mr. Churchill as Prime an almost desperate situation by making
Minister and Minister of Defence. Mr. two appointments, of which one proved
14 futile and the other disastrous. Dismissing frontier. The facilities for submarine
General Gamelin, he entrusted the French warfare thus provided were promptly
command to General Weygand, who had strengthened by the occupation of the
been Foch’s Chief of Staff. To strengthen Channel Islands. Two days later the
his Cabinet he recalled Marshal Pétain armistice with Italy — Mussolini had
from his Madrid Embassy and gave him found in opportune to declare war when
the past of Vice-Premier. the Germans forced the Somme barrier —
Unable to stem the German rush drew France’s teeth in the Mediterranean
to the coast, Weygand reformed his by binding her to demilitarize Toulon, her
armies behind the Somme and the Aisne African ports, and a considerable stretch
and a small British Expeditionary Force of her African territory.
was landed in their support. It was too It remained for Pétain to complete
late, and on June 14th the Germans the destruction of the Third Republic.
entered Paris, which had been declared President Lebrun transferred his
an open city. From Bordeaux whither constitutional powers to Pétain, who
it had withdrawn, the French Cabinet at once proclaimed himself Chief of
requested the British Government to the French State. As such he formed a
release it from its obligation not to make Government in which his evil genius,
a separate peace. To this the British Pierre Laval, was given the key post of
Government — the Coalition Ministry Foreign Minister and thus placed in
which Mr. Churchill had formed a month charge of future negotiations with the
before — was prepared to consent if the Germans.
French fleet first sailed to safety in British But though France had fallen, there
ports. But the British proposal went were still Frenchmen. Before the
farther. It offered the union of the two armistice was signed, General de Gaulle
States in a common citizenship if France had issued his first call for continued
would fight on. The French Cabinet resistance. When all seemed lost he
rejected this proposal. M. Reynaud, crossed to London, where on June 28 the
who had favoured it, resigned and the British Government recognized him as a
octogenarian Pétain took his place to Leader of the Free French. Before August
become the central figure in the most he has won most of French Equatorial
humiliating episode in French history. Africa had rallied to his standard, the
Pétain’s first act was to ask the Cross of Lorraine, but late in September
Germans for terms, and on June 22 an his movement received the first check
armistice was signed at Compiegne. It through his failure to gain Dakar. Nearly
divided France into two zones, the one five years were to elapse before the
occupied, the other unoccupied, which patriot and soldier who had organized
were roughly equal in area but were so new French forces in England and in the
designed as to give the Germans every French colonies and had fostered the
military and economic advantage. The resistance movement in Metropolitan
Germans occupied the whole of northern France was to re-enter Paris as the living
France down to the Loire valley as well as symbol of his country’s resurgence.
the entire Atlantic coast to the Spanish
PRELUDE TO RUSSIAN WAR driving the Italians out of Albania. And 15
After the conquest of Poland the aim on April 27th announced in words which
of Russian policy, with a view of German symbolized the condition of Europe,
intentions that events were to confirm that the swastika was floating over the
in full, was to control the buffer zone Acropolis.
lying between the new German lines and
Russian territory proper. Her first step was WAR IN THE AIR
the absorption of the three Baltic States The R.A.F.5 at once took the offensive
under the form of mutual assistance pacts with raids on the German naval bases and
—Estonia before September was out, at the end of September the first serious
Latvia and Lithuania early in October. Only air fight took place over Helgoland6. But
Finland proved recalcitrant and resisted the clash of arms in the air developed
by force the Russian claim to control slowly, and for some months the R.A.F.’s
both the land and the sea approaches to main contacts with the enemy arose out
Leningrad. At first the Finnish resistance of Coastal Command’s cooperation with
was brilliantly successful. Gradually, the Navy in keeping the seas clear. During
however, the main Finnish position, the this period, however, the leaflet war
so-called Mannerheim line guarding on Germany was giving R.A.F. bombers
south-eastern Finland, was broken up invaluable experience in night flying.
by Russian artillery, and by mid March, Not till May 1940, did German bombs
1940, there was again an apparent peace dropped in Kent and on Middleborough
in Eastern Europe. give hints of what was to be full. The
It lasted until the following October, Battle of Britain opened on August 8th. It
when Italian troops invaded Greece and lasted for a month and was then gradually
soon showed themselves increasingly merged in the Battle of London, familiarly
unable to make headway against their known as the Blitz. The original aim of
plucky and determined enemy. For the the Luftwaffe was to prepare the way for
moment, the Germans were content to the invading German armies by depriving
watch events in Eastern Europe, but in the the R.A.F. of the airfields in South-Eastern
spring of 1941 they developed elaborate England from which its lighters could
plans, political and military, which take off. This battle reached its height
included aid to their embarrassed ally. on August 15, when 182 German aircraft
Bulgaria and Romania passed voluntarily were destroyed in an attack on Croydon
into the German orbit the latter after aerodrome. Damage was done to other
the loss of Bessarabia and the Bukovina fields and some were temporarily put out
to Russia and Yugoslavia would have of service in attacks which reached their
followed their example had her people second climax on September 15th with
not revolted against their Government. 185 German aircraft, destroyed, but the
After a few tense days the Germans soil of England was kept inviolate by a
struck on April 6th sweeping aside the few hundred young men flying machines
main Yugoslav forces, they penetrated inferior to the enemy’s in numbers but
the Monastir gap, occupied Sulonika, superb in design. It was to these days
turned upon the Greek army which was that Mr. Churchill referred in his famous
18
19
20 phrase: Never in the field of human to maintain it. In September, 1940, the
conflict was so much owed by so many to transfer of 50 American destroyers to
so few.” the British flag in connection with the
Defeated in its cooperation with the lease of bases in the Atlantic and the
military the Luftwaffe fell back on its Caribbean eased the strain on escort
second function — that of terrorizing vessels, and in the following spring the
civilians. The first daylight attack on American Lease-Lend Act — first fruits
Central London took place on August 24th, of President Roosevelt’s re-election to a
the first all-night attack two nights later. third term of office — ensured the flow
Early in September the Blitz began. At its of goods. In home waters large defensive
height it was maintained for nearly 610 minefields were laid and the new German
consecutive nights, Buckingham Palace device of the magnetic mine countered
was damaged on September 11th, and by “degaussing” apparatus. There was
on the same night an unexploded bomb, little surface fighting. After the invasion
happily removed in time, threatened of Norway the Navy forced its way to
St. Paul’s. The great incendiary attack Narvik in two brilliant engagements.
on the City took place on the night of Later it covered the evacuation of the
December 29, 1940, and the Blitz is allied troops from Namsos and Narvik at
considered to have ended with the attack the cost of the loss of the aircraft-carrier
of May 10, 1941, which destroyed the Glorious, and took its great and gallant
House of Commons and damaged the share in the operations off Dunkirk. In the
Abbey. Before this date the Luftwaffe had outer oceans three British cruisers sought
again changed its tactics. In its attempt and found the German battleship Admiral
to hamper British war production it Graf Spee and with magnificent audacity
had launched its attacks on Coventry, forced her into the River Plate. When she
Birmingham, and Liverpool, and in the came out she scuttled herself by Hitler’s
hope of neutralizing the British command order. This was in December, 1939, and
of the sea it had bombed Plymouth, South not till early in 1941 were German surface
Hampton, and Portsmouth. Meanwhile ships again active. The Scharnhorst and
the R.A.F. still gathering its strength, had the Gneisenau broke out in February and
begun the daylight sweeps over France were eventually driven to shelter in Brest,
and the night attacks on German cities where they became targets for the R.A.F.,
which were later to exercise so profound and on the night of May 21th Bismarck
an influence on the course of the war. sailed out of Bergen. Three days later,
when brought to action between Iceland
WAR AT SEA and Greenland, she sank the Hood and
On the first night of the war a Damaged the Prince of Wales, but while
German submarine sank the Athenia making for a French Atlantic port she was
and opened what became the Battle attacked by aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm.
of the Atlantic. The conflict was intense Her rudder and propellers were damaged
and prolonged, but the Atlantic lifeline by air attack, and next day, May 27th, the
was maintained. Though still neutral Navy closed its net on her and sent her to
the United States showed its concern the bottom.
 Meanwhile Italy’s entry into the achieved nothing beyond the occupation 21
war in June 1940, had transformed the of British Somaliland. Early in December,
naval situation in the Mediterranean. It three months after Marshal Graziani7
was essential that the powerful French had began his lumbering advance cross
fleet should not fall into enemy hands. the Egyptian desert, Sir Archibald Wavell
The French vessels at Alexandria were struck back with the imperial forces under
successfully neutralized, but he admiral his command. The Italian Army broke and
commanding the powerful quadroon surrendered, and the offensive, whose
at Mers et Kebir rejected the proposals original objective was Tobruk, swept
made to him and on July 3th the British on until on February 6, 1941, Australian
reluctantly opened fire. A French troops entered Benghazi.
battleship was blown up, two more In mid-January British, Dominion,
were driven ashore, fourth with some Indian, and East and West African forces
destroyers escaped to Toulon. Four advanced from the Sudan and Kenya into
months later, on November 11th, the Eritrea, Abyssinia, and Somaliland and in
command of the Eastern Mediterranean four months destroyed Italy’s East African
was secured when the Fleet Air Arm Empire. Keren, The Eritrean mountain
crippled the Italian fleet as it lay at anchor fortress, fell on March 27th. Thereafter
in Taranto harbour. Not till the end of the events moved swiftly. On May 5th, live
following March did the Italian fleet again years after Mussolini had proclaimed
put to sea. Ordered by the Germans to his Empire in the Piazza Venezia, Haile
break British communications with Crete Selassie8 reentered his capital, and a
and Greece, it was brought to action fortnight later the Italian Viceroy, the Duke
off Cape Matapan and driven back to of Aosta, was a prisoner in British hands.
its home ports after serious losses, But The last remnants of Italy’s Ethiopian
the Germans had now taken over the empire vanished with the surrender of
Mediterranean war, and before launching Gondar on November 27th, 1941.
their attack on Russia they safeguarded Even before General Wavell9 launched
their southern flank by using air power his attack, British aid had been sent to
against sea power. In the summer of Greece. In the spring of 1941 the German
1941 British naval strength in the Eastern menace to the Balkans compelled further
Mediterranean was weakening and diversions of strength. A few days before
Maltese heroism was already enduring the German onslaught on Yugoslavia
the grim ordeal of an air siege. the German Africa Corps under Rommel
showed its strength in Africa and compelled
IN THE MEDITERRANNEAN the evacuation of Benghazi. A series of
The last six months of 1940 were full rearguard actions followed as General
of peril to Britain’s position as an imperial Wavell retreated, leaving a strong garrison
Power. Italian armies in Africa threatened in Tobruk to withstand a historic siege. The
Egypt, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, and, full scope of the German plan of campaign
with the Italian Navy still in being, British was now revealed. It proposed to combine
supplies and reinforcements had to be the German forces in Libya and Greece as
sent round the Cape. Actually the Italians elements in a common offensive to secure
22 command of the Eastern Mediterranean made unprecedented concessions to Hitler.
There were many reasons for the unexpected
and safeguard the southern flank of shift in the Soviet Union’s foreign policy, and
the armies soon to be launched against you have to understand the complicated
Russia. Accordingly, on May 20th strong background. We should start with the foundation
German airborne forces were dropped of the Versailles-Washington system that was
in Crete. The attacks of German bombers established after WWI. Many historians agree that
inequality was the foundational principle of the
had compelled withdrawal of the British world order that existed between the two wars.
fighters and the garrison had to light The so-called Great Powers, i.e. Britain, France
without cover. The Navy, though sustaining and the US, sought to secure their dominance
heavy losses, prevented an invasion by sea by targeting and undermining the positions of
but more troops were dropped from the potential rivals. Germany’s rights were limited,
it was demilitarized and had to pay humiliating
air and after 11 days’ heavy fighting all reparations. The Ottoman Empire and Austria–
Crete passed into German hands. Hungary faced division of their territories, while
The stage was now set for the attack Soviet Russia experienced international isolation.
on Russia. A few uneasy weeks slipped Along our western border there was now
by during which German and Russian a “cordon” consisting of the countries that had
emerged on the rubble of the Russian Empire, and
forces gathered all along the line from the many of the new states had nationalist regimes.
Baltic to the Black Sea. It may well be that Poland with Józef Piłsudski at the helm, the largest
the resistance in Greece and Yugoslavia of these countries, gained Russia’s territories in
imposed a fatal delay upon the German western Belarus and western Ukraine in 1921. By
concentration. Not till June 22 did Hitler, the end of the 1920s, forced Polonization of the
local population had spiraled into blatant state
satisfied that he could better Napoleon’s terrorism. The situation in the neighboring Baltic
example, give the order to march on region was no better.
Moscow. Great Britain and France revealed their true
feelings towards “Europe’s back-door entryway”
(Endnotes) in the 1925 Locarno Treaties. Fearing the growing
rapport between the Weimar Republic and the
1 On August 24, 1939, Nazi Germany and Soviet Union, the guarantors of the Treaty of
the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact Versailles moved to make a distinction between
in Moscow. The news came as a bolt from the Germany’s western borders that could never be
blue. Thousands of Soviet people wrote letters disputed, and eastern borders, where Germany
to central and local newspapers, expressing their was given significant leeway. In other words, it
anger and dismay, as the Soviet Union and the was decided that Germany’s rising revanchism
Third Reich were mortal enemies. should not be suppressed but rather “properly”
In the late 1930s, the USSR was the only channeled eastwards. Thus, it is not surprising
European nation whose soldiers and officers that when the Nazis rose to power in Germany,
fought face to face with Nazi Germany and its the calls to “conquer more living space in the East
satellites. Undeclared wars were raging in Spain, and unmercifully Germanize it” became the focal
where the Soviet government supported the point of the Third Reich’s foreign policy.
Republicans, China, which was on the defensive When some power seeks to rule the world,
against Japan’s aggression, and Mongolia, where whatever their pronounced goals might be, it will
a large-scale offensive started on August 20, 1939, inevitably lead humanity to a tragedy.
near the Khalkhyn Gol River – only three days Driven by the ambition to destroy the USSR
before the signing of the treaty. and simply out of cowardice, Britain and France
Driven by the ambition to destroy the USSR made unprecedented concessions to Hitler.
and simply out of cowardice, Britain and France The policy of appeasement made it easier
for the Nazis to create a capable army, have a
convenient training camp in Spain, and recapture In March 1939, Europe was shaken by 23
demilitarized Rhineland in 1936. yet another diplomatic crisis. Despite all the
The appetite of the aggressor, unaccustomed assurances given to Britain and France in
to resistance, only grew with time. In March Munich, Hitler occupied the Czech Republic and
1938, Hitler, with the connivance of Britain and proclaimed Slovakia a protectorate of the German
France, concluded an Anschluss of Austria and Reich. Building on this success, Hitler annexed
started the Sudetenland Crisis that ended with the Memel territory in Lithuania and delivered an
the shameful Munich Betrayal. On September ultimatum to Romania and Poland. The prospect
12, right before his meeting with the Führer, of a new great war breaking out in Europe was
the leader of the British ‘appeasers’ Neville now clear to all.
Chamberlain proclaimed that Britain and Germany Having found themselves under tremendous
were “the two pillars of European peace and public pressure, London and Paris condemned
buttresses against communism.” After that came Germany and recalled their ambassadors from
the division of sovereign Czechoslovakia, whose Berlin. The entirety of March 1939 was marked by
representatives, for the record, were not even intense international discussions and consultations
invited to the negotiating table. – this time, with full involvement of the Soviet
“What happened in Munich was the end of Union. In response to British proposals, the Soviet
Bolshevism in Europe, the end of any political government put forward an initiative to negotiate
influence of Russia on our continent,” Italian a new Anglo-Franco-Soviet mutual assistance
dictator Mussolini said in triumph. It became treaty, and as an appendix to it a tripartite
clear that abstract matters like international law military convention. Thus, on April 17, 1939, at
would not stop the fascist aggressors and their the precipice of war, the Soviet-British-French
supporters. The Soviet Union found itself in a truly talks started in Moscow – a desperate last-minute
difficult situation and had to urgently adjust its attempt to forge an anti-Hitler coalition, doomed to
foreign policy priorities. fail. It is symbolic that just days before the launch
It should be noted that ever since the Nazis of the talks, on April 11, 1939, the German General
came to power in Germany, the USSR pursued a Staff adopted the infamous Fall Weiss plan, which
policy of collective European security. In 1934, involved a surprise attack on Poland.
the Soviet government supported the proposal To this day, historians argue as to what caused
of French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou to the Anglo-Franco-Soviet initiative to fail. First
sign the Eastern Pact that would bring together of all, it is noteworthy that neither the British
all countries of Eastern and Central Europe, nor the French leader wanted to meet with
including the USSR and Germany. For reasons Stalin personally. Former British Prime Minister
that became obvious later, Hitler categorically David Lloyd George described it this way: “Mr.
refused to enter into such treaty. Ironically, it Chamberlain negotiated directly with Hitler... He
was Poland that strongly supported Germany. and Lord Halifax paid a visit to Rome... But whom
The blatant anti-Soviet attitude of the “colonels’ did they send to Russia? They have not even sent
regime” had been pushing Poland towards Hitler’s an ordinary minister. No, they sent a clerk from
sphere of influence for a long time. Germany foreign office. It is an insult.”
encouraged them at first, even gave Poland part Documents, some of which were obtained
of Czechoslovakia in 1938, and then dangled by Soviet intelligence, show that London did not
Soviet Ukraine with Black Sea access in front of even attempt to negotiate with Moscow. Unlike
them. At least this is what was mentioned during the French, who were well aware of the threat to
the meeting of Germany’s foreign minister, their national security, the British still saw Hitler
Joachim von Ribbentrop, with the head of the as an unruly ally who needed to be ‘tamed’ by
Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jozef Beck, in invoking a hypothetical alliance with the Russians.
January 1939 in Warsaw – Soviet intelligence It is also clear that the ‘appeasers’ did not mind
operatives were able to obtain the recording of negotiating a new Munich Agreement, now with
that conversation. Poland as its target. Up until August 1939, Soviet
The central tenet of history holds that one intelligence was regularly informing the country’s
should never assess past events exclusively from a leadership on communications of that nature
present day viewpoint. between London and Berlin.
24 In July, Latvia and Estonia announced their reasoning behind the treaty was national security
refusal to accept Soviet guarantees and entered – by that time, no one actually believed in lasting
into non-aggression treaties with Germany. peace with the aggressor.
Thus, the entire Baltic region was turned into a The signing of the Soviet-German Non-
springboard for Germany’s invasion of the USSR. Aggression Pact was completely ignored by
Realizing the imminent threat, the Soviet Union Warsaw, but strongly condemned by Tokyo. The
suggested abandoning political consultations developments at Khalkhin-Gol didn’t benefit
and moving directly to military talks. Stalling for the aggressor, which made Germany’s betrayal
time, British and French diplomats chose the a particularly painful blow to Emperor Hirohito.
longest travel route to Moscow possible: first to Five days later, the entire anti-Soviet government
Leningrad by sea, and then to Moscow by train. of Kiichiro Hiranuma resigned. Once again, the
Furthermore, upon their arrival, it turned out Japanese could see that Hitler was a man driven
that General Joseph Doumenc, the lead French by political opportunism and expediency. In fact,
delegate, was only authorized to discuss and some historians believe that this very lesson kept
negotiate, while British Admiral Reginald Drax Japan from attacking the USSR in the fall of 1941.
came to Moscow with no powers whatsoever. A week later, on September 1, 1939, the
The deciding factor, or rather the final Second World War broke out in Europe. This
straw, were the disagreements regarding the was the single largest failure of the British and
Red Army’s passage through the territory of French governments, diplomacies and intelligence
Poland. Poland, still in denial about its situation, services. In an effort to protect themselves and
emphatically refused to allow the Soviet troops push Germany to attack the Soviet Union, the
to pass through. Even pressure from Paris could ‘appeasers’ fell victim to their own schemes.
not change Warsaw’s position. “It will be Poles, “I must admit that the Soviet Union was clever
not Germans, who will charge deep into Germany in its foreign policy,” said Finnish leader Karl
in the very first days of the war!” responded Mannerheim, who, it should be noted, was never
Poland’s ambassador Juliusz Łukasiewicz boldly a big fan of the Soviet political system.
to every attempt at persuading him. Later, seeing Further events confirmed that, had it rejected
off the Western military delegations, Marshal Ribbentrop’s proposals, the Soviet Union could
Kliment Voroshilov said to Admiral Drax bitterly, have found itself in a significantly worse situation
“So does this mean we should have conquered – militarily and politically. Having overestimated its
Poland first, in order to offer them our help? Or importance in the eyes of its senior ‘partners’, Poland
maybe we should have gotten down on our knees ultimately received no actual help from Britain or
and begged the Poles to let us save them?” As we France. Just two weeks into the war, it ceased to
know now, history itself answered this rhetorical exist as an independent state, and the promises
question. given by Western leaders resulted in diplomatic
After this, events started to unfold at a asylum for the Polish government-in-exile.
lightning pace. Seeing no promise or progress Despite Hitler’s insistent demands, Soviet
in the consultations with London and Paris, the forces had not crossed over to Poland’s territory
Soviet leadership reaffirmed its readiness for until the Polish Army stopped resisting and the
direct talks with Germany. And on August 23, government of the Polish Republic evacuated.
1939, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Third On September 17, 1939, the first Red Army units
Reich Joachim von Ribbentrop arrived in Moscow crossed the Soviet-Polish border. Commander-in-
with an urgent visit. German diplomacy made Chief of Poland’s armed forces Marshal Edward
unprecedented concessions in order to secure Rydz-Smigly took a rational approach and ordered
Soviet neutrality ahead of the Poland campaign. his troops not to engage.
The draft treaty was approved on the same day, Making rapid advances, the Red Army reached
and signed in the Kremlin the following night. the old borders of the Russian Empire in five days
This tactical agreement with Hitler allowed the (let me remind you, only 18 years had passed
coalition of Anglo-French ‘appeasers’ and the since these former Russian territories became
axis powers to be split, bought the Soviet Union part of Poland under the Treaty of Riga). The
a couple more years of peace and helped push effects of forced Polonization were felt throughout
the border with Germany westwards. The main the region, and Red Army soldiers were often
welcomed as liberators, while anti-Polish guerilla 2 Field Marshal John Standish Surtees 25
units were spontaneously formed in some areas. Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort (10
One of the most significant episodes in the July 1886 – 31 March 1946) was a senior British
liberation movement was the Skidel Revolt in Army officer. As a young officer during the First
western Belarus. As a result of this uprising, a World War, he was decorated with the Victoria
major Polish contingent was basically paralyzed. Cross for his actions during the Battle of the Canal
It is important to note that Soviet military du Nord. During the 1930s he served as Chief of
presence both in Poland and later in the Baltics the Imperial General Staff. He is best known for
prevented large-scale pogroms that were often commanding the British Expeditionary Force that
initiated by local Nazi thugs who attacked Jews was sent to France in the first year of the Second
even before their German masters got there. We World War, only to be evacuated from Dunkirk the
must take all these factors into account as we following year. Gort later served as Governor of
assess the Soviet Union’s foreign policy during Gibraltar and Malta, and High Commissioner for
that period. Palestine and Transjordan.
The new Soviet-German border was implicitly
recognized at the international level. Winston 3 Quisling Vidkun Abraham Lauritz
Churchill stated in his address, “That the Russian Jonssønuisling (18 July 1887 – 24 October 1945)
armies should stand on this line was clearly was a Norwegian military officer, politician
necessitated for the safety of Russia against the and Nazi collaborator who nominally headed
Nazi menace.” Paris also gave its implicit consent the government of Norway during the country›s
to the territorial changes. occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II.
And the Soviet government used diplomatic In 1933, Quisling left the Farmers’ Party and
channels to inform Britain and France that “the founded the fascist Nasjonal Samling (National
current demarcation line is not to be considered Gathering). Although he gained some popularity
an official state border between Germany and after his attacks on the political left, his party
the USSR”, and the future of Poland “will depend failed to win any seats in the Storting, and by
on many factors and opposing forces that are 1940, it was still little more than peripheral.
impossible to take into account at this point.” On 9 April 1940, with the German invasion
As we know, the beginning of the Great of Norway in progress, he attempted to seize
Patriotic War ended up being the main factor. In power in the world›s first radio-broadcast coup
1941-1944, Polish national units were formed and d’état but failed since the Germans sought to
armed behind the Soviet frontlines. Soldiers of the convince the recognized Norwegian government to
First Polish Army fought shoulder to shoulder with legitimize the German occupation, as had been
Red Army troops liberating their homeland from done in Denmark during the simultaneous
the Nazis. Over 600,000 Red Army soldiers gave invasion there, instead of recognizing Quisling. On
their lives fighting in Poland. Together with their 1 February 1942, he formed a second government,
brothers in arms they liberated the prisoners of approved by the Germans, and served as minister
Auschwitz, Majdanek, Treblinka... president and headed the Norwegian state
Let me give you one more detail: after the administration jointly with the German civilian
victory over Nazi Germany, it was the Soviet Union administrator, Josef Terboven. His pro-Nazi puppet
that made sure that major industrially developed government, known as the Quisling regime, was
territories like Silesia, East Prussia, and Pomerania, dominated by ministers from Nasjonal Samling.
would become part of Poland. Through the efforts The collaborationist government participated in
of Soviet diplomacy, the Polish Republic expanded Germany›s war efforts, and sent Jews out of the
by almost a quarter. So our Polish partners should country to concentration camps in occupied Poland
look for the right role models in their past – I (General Government).
doubt that Polish nationalists, whose only deed Quisling was put on trial during
was to flee the country in grave danger, deserve the legal purge in Norway after World
to be commemorated. (From the article of Sergey War II. He was found guilty of charges
Naryshkin, chairman of the Russian Historical Society including embezzlement, murder and high
and head of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency SVR) treason against the Norwegian state, and was
sentenced to death.
26 4 The Schlieffen Plan is a name given Army in Eritrea-Abyssinia, western Egypt and
after the First World War to German war plans, eastern Libya during Operation Compass in
due to the influence of Field Marshal Alfred von December 1940, only to be defeated by Erwin
Schlieffen and his thinking on an invasion of Rommel’s Panzer Army Africa in the Western
France and Belgium, which began on 4 August Desert in April 1941. He served as Commander-in-
1914. Schlieffen was Chief of the General Staff of Chief, India, from July 1941 until June 1943 (apart
the German Army from 1891 to 1906. In 1905 from a brief tour as Commander of American-
and 1906, Schlieffen devised an army deployment British-Dutch-Australian Command) and then
plan for a decisive (war-winning) offensive against served as Viceroy of India until his retirement in
the French Third Republic. German forces were February 1947.
to invade France through the Netherlands and
Belgium rather than across the common border.

5 The Royal Air Force (RAF) is

the air and space force of the United
Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown
Dependencies

6 The islands are located in

the Heligoland Bight (part of the German Bight)
in the southeastern corner of the North Sea.
They are the only German islands not in the
vicinity of the mainland. They lie approximately
69 kilometers (43 miles) by sea from Cuxhaven at
the mouth of the River Elbe. During a visit to
the islands, August Heinrich Hoffmann von
Fallersleben wrote the lyrics to «Deutschlandlied”,
which became the national anthem of Germany.

7 Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of

Neghelli (11 August 1882 – 11 January 1955), was
a prominent Italian military officer in the Kingdom
of Italy’s Royal Army, primarily noted for his
campaigns in Africa before and during World War
II. A dedicated fascist and prominent member
of the National Fascist Party, he was a key figure
in the Italian military during the reign of Victor
Emmanuel III.

8 Haile Selassie I (23 July 1892 – 27

August 1975) was the Emperor of Ethiopia from
1930 to 1974.

9 Field Marshal Archibald Percival

Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, (5 May 1883 – 24 May
1950) was a senior officer of the British Army. He
served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley
Campaign and the First World War, during which
he was wounded in the Second Battle of Ypres.
In the Second World War he served initially as
Commander-in-Chief Middle East, in which role
he led British forces to victory over the Italian
 27

CHAPTER II said: “The Russian fire is not enough to

THE INVASION hold up our infantry. [Chatter of machine
guns; bombs falling.] Light machine guns
Time Magazine, are now going forward. The bunker over
there still answers. It is not made of
June 30, 1941 concrete, but of logs. The Russians are
How long for Russia? coming forward now [staccato of rifles]
but naturally they are stopped. Again
A German crouched behind a tree we see our infantry going ahead. . . .
peering across at the Russians. He was The bunker is ours. Apparently the first
in uniform, but he had no gun. He was Russian prisoners are in our hands. . . .”
talking excitedly into a field telephone, Thus, with every detail worked out,
but he was not communicating with even to the designation of the trees
headquarters. behind which broadcasters should
He was one of Herr Dr. Goebbels’ crouch, the veteran German Army took
propaganda boys, selling the home on its hugest job. Though bigger potential
folks another war. His voice was elated, armies (10,000,000 Russians, 9,000,000
but it was also as genteel as if he were Germans) had never fought on a bigger
describing the tennis matches at the Red- potential front, the weathered Germans
White Club in Berlin. “It is a fine summer began fighting Russia just as they had
morning,” he said, “and the action here is opened against all the other opponents,
wonderful.” with apparent calm, with obvious savvy.
He told how the German machine They opened with blows which had
had swept into action at 3:05 a.m., the become familiar even to the civilians of
planes going forward to wake the enemy the world. The airmen executed “rolling
to death, then the pioneers creeping attacks” on Russian concentrations,
forward to do little engineering tricks, matériel dumps, communications. Other
then the full German mechanized weight, bombers Blitzed cities. The tricks and
noisy, swift, flaming, reaching out to the gadgets were all used: fog screens,
crush and sear the great unknown weight pontoons, tanks, parachutes, flares,
across the way. flamethrowers, motorcycles, tommy
At this moment the unit he was guns. Pioneers exploded casemates with
covering somewhere along the 3,000- experienced precision. Engineers built
mile front was about to storm a section bridges where they were needed. Infantry
of Russian defenses—tank traps, advanced fluidly.
blockhouses, barracks. The announcer
28 ASSOCIATED PRESS, JUNE 23, 1941 continent for a common purpose, to
NAZIS PREPARED FOR A YEAR eliminate once and for all the common
BEFORE ATTACK ON RUSSIA danger,” the German spokesman said.
“The extent of this feeling of solidarity
Germany’s invasion of Russia marked and purpose is surprising to us. Germany
the end of an even year of preparation is proud of its leadership in this crusade
which began when France signed and proud of the response of these states
capitulation terms, well-informed sources to the call of the hour.”
asserted today. A German High Command war bulletin
These sources said more than 100 asserted that the first five days of the
divisions were kept constantly along the struggle proved “that Soviet Russian
Russian-German border established in armies had been ready to attack central
Poland and that extensive road building was Europe.”
undertaken on the German side to expedite This, it said, was apparent from the
the movement of troops in that area. disposition of Red Army forces on frontier
German military experts, it was lines “unsuitable for defensive purposes”
declared, knew that until they captured at the outset of the eastern battle.
a certain amount of Russian rolling stock The communiqué, issued again “from
the Russian railways would be completely the Führer’s headquarters” and still
useless, since they purposely were built without specific detail on the situation,
on a wider gauge than Germany’s. asserted that the Germans encountered
Even during the Yugoslav campaign, “masses of Russian troops ready for
these sources continued, more than half attack” when the drive into Russia began.
the German army was kept at the Russian
border in Poland. Germany assured Los Angeles Times,
herself access to both flanks of the Russian June 22, 1941
defense of Ukraine by the occupation of
Rumania and later by the concentration of
Italy declares war on Russia;
large units in Finland, they said. Calls it Crusade
There were substantial, but Oil, Wheat for Long War-
unconfirmed, reports that Germany had Are Other Objectives.
built extensive fortifications along the
Russian border in Poland and that these Italy declared war on the Soviet Union
were partially matched on the Russian side. today, following Germany’s lead in what
Italians called at once a “crusade of
ASSOCIATED PRESS, JUNE 23, 1941 liberation” against bolshevism and a drive
EUROPE UPRISING? for supplies of wheat and oil for a long
struggle against Britain and the United
Continental Europe was described by States.
an authorized German spokesman today How, if at all, Italy would participate
as being in a “spontaneous uprising” actively was not learned, but some
against Soviet Russia. observers said it was almost certain that
“It is an historic coalition of the Premier Mussolini would want at least
symbolic representation of Italian airmen UNITED PRESS, JUNE 23. 1941 29
on the Russian front. Italians indicated Finns Battle Reds by Side
the Russian front was too far from the of Germans
Mediterranean for their troops to join the Troops Fighting Under Hitler
Germans in battle. Leadership, President Ryti
The likeliest points of belligerent Broadcasts to People
contact between Italy and Russia were
at sea. It might become Italy’s task President Risto Ryti2 announced to the
to cooperate with the Germans in an Finnish people tonight that their armed forces
attempt to block the western entrance have taken up the battle against Russia “for
of the Dardanelles against passage of the liberty of the fatherland” side by side with
Russian ships. the German troops under “their genial leader,
A statement handed to the foreign Reichschancellor Adolf Hitler.”
press sought to give the war the character The announcement that Finnish troops
of a united European struggle against actually are fighting Russia for the second
bolshevism and against Russia, Britain, time within two years followed Russian
and the United States. Adolf Hitler’s air raids on Helsinki and other cities.
war decision was said to be “the logical Until the President’s nationwide
consequence of proposals and a policy of broadcast, Finnish policy in the new
healthy European reconstruction.” war had been based on a statement by
Virginio Gayda1, chief editorial Premier Johan Rangall that “Finland has
spokesman for Fascism, wrote that the been attacked and will defend herself
drive into Russia was to gain food for with all means.”
Europe to counter the allied blockade. He Ryti said Finnish troops had taken up
charged that the United States wants to the battle against the Red army to protect
starve all Europe. “our living space, our people, the faith of
News that Italy had taken on another our fathers and our free social order.”
belligerent fell quietly on Rome in the “The armed forces of the greater
middle of a stuffy summer day, with German empire under the command
the exception of blackouts, minor of their genial leader, Reichschancellor
transportation annoyances, and food Adolf Hitler, now wage a successful
restrictions, Rome has never seemed like battle beside us against the Soviet Union
a wartime capital. forces,” as he announced. “Pressure from
The Italian government informed the the East is always threatening us!” Ryati
Russian ambassador, Nicolai Gorelchin, said in explaining Finland’s decision.
that a state of war existed between Italy
and his nation as from 5:30 a. m. today. ASSOCIATED PRESS, JUNE 22. 1941
Fascists declared unofficially also that
the Russian campaign would result in GENERAL ANTONESCU CALLS
bringing Spain into the axis lineup of all FOR “HOLY WAR’ ON REDS.
Europe, implying Portugal too would have General Ion Antonescu 3sent Rumania’s
to come into the German-Italian camp army against Soviet Russia today as a full
eventually. fledged ally of Germany, ordering his
30 troops to recapture Rumanian soil and ASSOCIATED PRESS, JUNE 27. 1941
“free your oppressed brothers from the CROATIA: READY!
Red yoke of bolshevism.”
The general’s order of the day to Croatiа is “ready at any time to fight
Rumanian forces told them the hour had to the last soldier for the country that
struck for a holy war to erase the stain of freed her – Germany!” Dr. Ante Pavelitch,
disgrace from Rumania’s people and to Poglavnik4, or Führer, of the new Croatian
fight for the rights of the church. Government, declared.
“FREE YOUR BROTHERS” He did not say, however, whether the
“Free your oppressed brothers from Nation carved out of fallen Yugoslavia
the Red yoke of bolshevism.” he exhorted. immediately would take up battle
“Bring old Bessarabia and the woods of positions beside Nazi troops fighting
Bukovina, your fields and meadows, back the Russians, as have the soldiers of
into the fatherland. another state which the Reich staked to
“Soldiers, you will fight shoulder to its existence – Slovakia.
shoulder and heart to heart with the
strongest military force on earth. You ASSOCIATED PRESS, JUNE 27. 1941
will fight for the soil of Moldavia and HUNGARY: WAR!
for justice in the world. Be worthy of the
honor which history, the army of the Great Premier Laszlo de Bardossy 5told
Reich, and its extraordinary leader, Adolf Parliament today that “Hungary is at
Hitler, have given you. Fight to avenge war with Russia” and will pay back
injustice. Our people, our king and your attacks made upon its territory by the
general demand this of you.” Soviet Air Force!”.
The announcement was received
CROSS RUSSIAN FRONTIER enthusiastically by the House. Members
Advices to London from axis and axis of the Hungarian Nazi Party immediately
influenced sources said the Rumanian army demanded that five Social Democrat
already has smashed across the frontier of deputies be excluded from Parliament.
soviet Russia on the southern flank.
Reuters, British news agency, said the Chicago Tribune Press Service.
Rome radio announced that Rumanian June 23, 1941
forces had crossed the Prut river at 3
a. m. Sunday and said Rumanians had
Russian Chiefs Slain as Baltic
occupied the town of Bolgard, across the Nations Revolt
Bessarabian border in Russia. By Donald Day6
Reuters said one of General Jon
Antonescu’s first steps was to assume A declaration of Lithuanian
power of a Generalissimo in Rumania independence was broadcast today from
and relinquish his civil role of premier to the Kaunas radio station. The station was
his nephew, Mihail Antonescu, minister captured by German parachute troops and
without portfolio in the Bucharest cabinet. Lithuanian soldiers who were recruited
from thousands of refugees who had
crossed the East Prussian frontier fleeing detachments contacted Soviet forces near 31
from the reign of Red terror inaugurated Tukums.
by Russia. Estonians Join War.
Other German parachutists have Another powerful column containing
landed at various points in both Latvia two regiments of Estonian volunteers
and Estonia, where Germany’s declaration who have been organized as an armored
of war against bolshevism was the signal division are included in the Invading force,
for uprisings among local populations. but they will not enter action until Riga has
Pogroms were reported at Mariampol and been captured and the fight to free Estonia
other Lithuanian towns where many soviet begins.
officials and Jews were killed. The former Only two of Latvia’s four radio stations
governments of both Lithuania and Latvia continued communist broadcasts. They
had given refuge to 20,000 Jews from were the Madona and Riga stations. The
Austria, Czecho-Slovakia, and Germany. Libau and Kuldiga stations have been
Many of these refugees were accused seized by invading forces.
of being revolutionaries. During the Latvia’s farmers, armed with weapons
Bolshevik occupation of the Baltic states, dropped from German planes, attacked
they were accomplices of Soviet officials Russian garrisons.
who arrived from Russia, according to Civil war also grips Estonia, where the
Lithuanians. Estonians, operating in the districts of
The Kaunas radio broadcast an Narva, Tartu, and Pechori, have cut off the
announcement of the Lithuanian army retreat of Russian forces which occupied
staff head said it was collaborating with their country.
the German army staff there. Small bands of men, Estonian home
From the Koenigsberg [East Prussia] guards have been concentrating their
station I heard a voice making a speech attacks wherever possible upon the
in Lettish. Listeners identified the speaker portable radio stations of the Red army.
as Karl Ulmanis, former Latvian president Many Russian divisions are isolated,
who was deposed by Moscow. Swedish because all telephone and telegraph lines
reports a year ago said he had been killed of the Baltic states were severed. Sunday
by political assassins. The speaker told the night at many points, especially in the
Latvians that within a few days they would forested areas where farmers ambushed
be freed “from their Bolshevik oppressors.” and massacred Soviet repair detachments.
HELSINGFORS, Finland, June 24.
Revolts against bolshevik rule spread Los Angeles Times, July 26, 1941
today in three Baltic states — Lithuania,
Estonia, and Latvia. Civil warfare raged as Sweden Gives Nazis transit to
the German army pressed forward in its Finland
invasion of Russian territory.
A division of Letts, organized and The Swedish government announced
trained by the Germans, is advancing thru tonight that it had agreed to permit the
Latvia toward Riga, the capital, having passage of a German force of not more
captured Kuldiga last night. Advance than one division across its territory
36 from Norway to Finland. The Germans Hitler’s plan to blitz the Soviet bear. Their
will travel by the Swedish railways. The main jobs will be to foment dissension in
government said its action was taken the rear, thereby cracking from within
after consulting parliament. the resistance to German onslaught and
A communiqué said, however, that organizing sabotage in factories and
“Sweden will firmly pursue her efforts to railway lines. In conquered areas they will
maintain her liberty and independence be used for setting up puppet independent
and to stay outside warlike conflicts.’ governments.
The following communique was issued The Nazis hoped to bring about mass
after a secret meeting of the Riksdag uprisings in the three recently absorbed
(parliament).”In the situation which has Baltic countries — Lithuania, Latvia, and
arisen through war breaking out between Estonia.
Germany and the U. S. S. R., Sweden will In fact, almost before the first gun of
firmly pursue her efforts to maintain her the German-Soviet war was fired, Berlin
liberty and independence and to stay and Nazi news channels elsewhere were
outside warlike conflicts. feeding the news – hungry foreign press
“The new situation has, however with reports of revolts in these countries,
confronted us with certain specific probably straight from Dr. Goebbels’ files,
questions. Thus both from the Finnish complete with the names of the purported
and the German side a demand has been leaders.
made for permission to transport a force Later when this copy had run out and
not exceeding on division on Swedish there was no action to justify the reports,
railways from Norway to Finland. The Berlin officially disowned the story but their
government, after consulting the Riksdag outfielders kept the play going a little longer.
has agreed to this taking place in a form This by no means implies that there
compatible with Swedish sovereignty! is not plenty of latent opposition to the
Spokesmen of the foreign office when Soviets in these small countries, so recently
asked about other questions said there deprived of their independence. But
was no discussion of any but practical despite the Nazi plans there is reason to
questions, believe Hitler is finding that this Russian
anti-Russian feeling will not flow in Nazi
Christian Science Monitor, channels. Take Lithuania, its principal cities
June 26, 1941 of Kaunas and Vilna have a Jewish majority
of approximately 80 per cent who are not
Hitler Plan to Defeat Soviet: likely to favor pro-Nazi putsches. While the
“Trojan Horse’ Behind Front” Lithuanian peasants have little affection
By Edmund Stevens7 and Emlin Williams for the Soviet, they dislike the Germans far
more.
Revolutions and fifth column plats
made to sap Russian war effort from CHERISH NO ILLUSIONS
within. In Riga and Tallin, in the late fall
Russian Quislings and fifth-column of 1939, it was the almost universal
organizations have big assignments in consensus of opinion among the Letts
and Estonians that Russian rule at its was Hitler’s fifth-column effectively 37
worst was preferable to Nazi rule at its “liquidated.”
best. These people have been living too
close to Germany for too many years TACTICS IN POLAND
to cherish any illusions about Hitler as After the tactics the Germans
an emancipator. They realize that there employed in their portion of Occupied
is only one thing worse than being Poland, it was unlikely that the Polish
conquered by Hitler: to be liberated by population that was taken by Russia, for
him. all their dislike of their new rulers, would
Even the Finns, with all their pent- provide material for German fifth-column
up feeling against the Soviets and with organizers.
a German Army in their midst to push By process of elimination, this leaves
them on, hesitated before taking the the Western Ukraine as the one important
final plunge, knowing full well for whose border area where the Germans, despite
benefit they would be fighting. all their efforts, might rustle up some
The fifth-column element that Hitler substantial fifth-column support.
clearly hoped to rely on were the hundred- Ukrainian nationalists were equally
odd thousand “Baltische Deutsch, embittered against the Poles and the
“those descendants of the German Russians, as their autonomous movement
crusading knights that had preserved was subject to violent persecution
their nationality on these foreign shores on either side of the old Soviet-Polish
for seven centuries and remained docile border. Because of this, they easily fell for
tools of the fatherland. the bait of German propagandists many
But “it takes a thief to catch a thief.” years ago. Almost since the inception of
The Soviet leaders were well aware of the Nazi Regime in Germany, Ukrainian
these possibilities and in their original nationalists have received German
agreement with Germany over spheres support of their political agitation in
of influence in eastern Europe, they behalf of an independent “Greater
stipulated that these Germans must be Ukraine.”
called “home to the Reich.” Under German aegis the various
The amazing mass transplantation conflicting groups among the Ukrainian
of the Baltic Germans in October, 1939, nationalists, gradually have been brought
thus acquires special significance in into a single organization of the Ukrainian
retrospect. Of course the Nazis, while nationalists variously known as the OUN
forced to comply with the Soviet request, or UNO. Old enemies like Gen. Pavel
tried to leave a sprinkling behind. These Skoropadsky, whom the German Army
the Soviets proceeded to sweep up with installed as Ukrainian Hetman or king
an iron broom when they finally annexed in 1918, and Col. Andrei Melnyk, who
the Baltic States outright. Every remaining as Simeon Petlioura’s Chief of Staff,
German was summarily arrested in dethroned General Skoropadsky, have
the first three weeks of July 1940 and now joined hands with the various
everyone who could speak German was remnants of the apocryphal “green” and
called on to account for himself. Thus “white” armies of the Russian civil war.
38 For 23 years since his hasty departure the Sub-Carpathian Ukraine. Here with
from Kiev, General Skoropadsky has led the recently arrived German Consul
an obscure existence in Berlin. General, Colonel Melynk unfurled the
Ukrainian blue and yellow flag with its
NAZIS RECOGNIZED VALUE trident insignia — a black trident on a
The Nazis early recognized his potential blue and yellow background — and began
value and added him to their political recruiting his “Ukrainian National Army.”
menagerie. He and his pictures have The purpose of this army was in the
now been dusted off and are reported words of Hitler’s Dr. Alfred Rosenberg
circulating in German-controlled areas of — himself a former Russian citizen —
Polish Ukraine. to “liberate the Nordic bastion of the
Assisting General Skoropadsky is Ukraine from Mongoloid Russia.”
General Pavlenko, former champion of This was in the days of the initial
the short-lived Ukrainian nationalist Rada, German pressure on Poland after
a more leftist political group, General Munich. For reasons hard to determine,
Pavlenko, who lived in Prague for the past Hitler then abandoned his plans for the
10 years in extreme poverty, appears to “Sub-Carpathian Ukraine” and allowed
be leading the field as candidate for the Hungary to annex it. Colonel Melnyk
job of Ukrainian Quisling — his services was left holding the bag. He re-emerged,
to Germany in the past war are the best however, somewhat tarnished, after the
qualification — Colonel Melnyk might German invasion of Poland.
prove to be a serious rival. At one time, Colonel Melnyk’s present job appears
in fact, he seemed to be the German to be chiefly that of contact man between
favorite, but unsavory publicity has the various local organizational centers, and
damaged his chances. the headquarters for the whole movement
In the days after Munich the which has been transferred to Rome.
Russian-speaking western province of Colonel Melnyk is also the link with
Czechoslovakia-Ruthenia — renamed the Russian emigré groups whom Hitler
Sub-Carpathian Ukraine by none less has recruited to help him, particularly
than Hitler himself, seemed destined for the Russian National Committee with
the role of Prussia or Piedmont in the headquarters in Warsaw, Poland.
unification of “Greater Ukraine.” Colonel
Melnyk, who for 18 years had lived UKRAINIANS FAVOURED
quietly in Lemberg, Poland, administering In those areas of occupied Poland with
property of the Orthodox Church, an Ukranian population, the Germans
suddenly left his retirement and toured have gone out of their way to recruit
Europe, visiting his old friends in the popular sympathy. The Ukrainians have
various capitals. been subject to none of the restrictions
and discriminations imposed on their
UKRAINIAN ARMY RECRUITRED Polish and Jewish neighbors. While
Afterwards, instead of returning Polish institutions of learning were
to Lemberg8, he took up residence in closed, including universities, a Ukrainian
Chust, newly proclaimed the Capital of university and numerous Ukrainian
high schools have been opened by the German Prince Louis Ferdinand who, 39
the Germans. The importance of this through his marriage into the Russian
may be realized by recalling that Polish Imperial family a few years ago, unites
suppression of Ukrainian schools was the Hohenzollerns and Romanoffs. Should
one of the sorest issues of these people’s it suit his purpose, Hitler certainly would
lives in the past. In other respects the not hesitate to do this, even though Prince
Ukrainians receive much of the same Louis Ferdinand’s sympathies were hardly
treatment as the members of the German Nazi before the outbreak of this war.
minority groups — special jobs, including Hitler certainly will allow “destruction
service on the police force are open to of Bolshevism” to be interpreted for
them. They have their own clubs, hotels, the benefit of any possible ex-Czarist
restaurants, etc., from which Poles supporters as “Romanoff restoration”
and Jews are excluded. Hitler’s efforts even though it will be by Hitler’s grace.
to woo the Russian emigrés have met Among such Czarist adventurers
with less success than in the case of the is General Biskupsky and Adjutant
Ukrainians. For most of these Russians, Chouhoutoff, former colonel of the
though opposed to Bolshevism, consider Russian Imperial Guard. General
themselves patriots and are opposed to Biskupsky was acquainted with Alfred
any scheme to carve up their country for Rosenberg during the latter’s student
Germany’s benefit. This applies, with few days at St. Petersburg during the World
exceptions, to the leadership and rank War. After the Bolshevik revolution,
and file of the Russian Military Union, the General Biskupsky settled in Munich in
Czarist officer organization, including such 1920 where a close friendship developed.
figures as General Denikin, commander Mr. Rosenberg never has denied that
of the White armies in the south. General Biskupsky was his mentor and
Hitler’s Russian support is drawn Hitler’s in Russian revolutionary tactics
almost entirely from the extreme Right and propaganda.
Wing, from the violently reactionary anti- During the chaotic first year of Nazi rule,
semitic “Supreme Monarchist Council.” General Biskupsky was imprisoned by Ernst
These include: officers of the former Röhm, Storm Troop head, as a reactionary
Imperial Army who lived in Paris and who, despite the protests of Mr. Rosenberg
since the Nazi occupation, have received and Hitler’s displeasure. This was because
preferential treatment, have different General Biskupsky criticized the Nazi
ideas regarding the future of Russia. Some Regime as a “robber state,” according
see it as a Nazi monarchy with a Russian to a German imprisoned with him. But
flavor or Communist modification, but are General Biskupsky has long been won over
willing to welcome Hitler as a temporary to Hitlerism through which he hopes the
emancipator. Russia of yesterday will be restored.

RESTORATION POSSIBLE ECCLESIASTICAL AID

It is not inconceivable that he might Hitler also has not neglected possible
play with the idea of the restoration of aid from ecclesiastical circles and had
the Russian monarchy in the person of cleverly benefitted from sharp divisions
40 between the two parties of the Russian While the existence of a widespread latent
Orthodox Church-in-exile. A leader of one opposition to the Bolsheviks is undeniable
section is Metropolitan Anastasius, now among the Russians themselves, it appears
living at Carlovci in Serbia. Even before unlikely that many of these disgruntled
the outbreak of war, he published an elements will throw in their lot with the Nazis.
open letter to Hitler in which he declared: When fighting a foreign invader internal
“You are our Führer.” politics become a side issue.
To this Section, Hitler has granted a Just as in the days of the Romanoffs.
cathedral and educational institution Napoleon had the whole of the Russian
and confidently hopes to use the Russian people to contend with, so Hitler may
Church in both Germany and occupied find himself, to his surprise and chagrin,
territory as a means of conquering the faced by an entire nation.
Ukraine.
Inside Russia, the Soviets have gone to ASSOCIATED PRESS, MADRID,
extreme lengths in seeking to eradicate JUNE 23, 1941
possible material for Nazi fifth-column
activity.
Global Reaction: Pro….
Wherever areas of German Et Contra.
settlement existed like the Volga German Cabinet of Spain Meets on sending
Republic or the German districts of troops against reds
the Ukraine, vigorous steps have been The Spanish cabinet held an urgent
taken to cut off all possible links with cabinet meeting tonight without announcing
the fatherland and nip any signs of Nazi decision on whether a voluntary Spanish
sympathy in the bud. Time was when expeditionary force would aid Germany
the Hitler-sponsored “Brothers in Need” against the Russians. A communiqué said
organization in Germany sent parcels merely that the session will be continued
and money to these scattered German further, indicating the ministries have not
communities by mail and Nazi organizers reached a decision. Alexander W. Weddell,
and agitators found ways of smuggling the American ambassador, requested
themselves and their propaganda an urgent interview with Generalissimo
material into the country. Francisco Franco.
Since the days of the purge of 1936- A spokesman made it clear that Spain,
38, however, most of the underground if she fought, would not be fighting to aid
channels have been sealed and the anyone but rather against the country
German communities have been subject “we fought for three years in the civil war.”
to a regime of intense police scrutiny He added that enlistment offices “might”
while offending villages have been broken be established later here and throughout
up or else deported wholesale to Siberia. the country to handle the applications of
This ruthless and inhuman method has those wanting to fight the Russians.
served its purpose and today there are no A foreign ministry spokesman said that
longer compact German-speaking groups he was “not authorized” to say whether
with a cultural life of their own anywhere or not volunteers would be9.
in Russia.
Chicago Tribune Press Service, attitude was dominated by self-interested 41
June 22, 1941 calculations.
Germany’s blow at communism
cheers French RED ARMY DISPARAGED
French sources also reechoed the
Chance to Lighten Own Burden idea that Germany is placing itself in the
Also Seen vanguard as European leader and that as,
German troops raise a bulwark against
The German war on Russia brought the orient, they destroy that “element of
smiles today to most French faces. dissension in Europe which bolshevism
There were apparently two reasons. represented.”10
First, the German attack against Russia French commentators suggested that
is considered less an offensive than a a reverse for the Russian armies, which
reaction of the “new Europeanism” they do not regard highly, would possibly
against bolshevism. Communism has lead to disintegration of the Soviet Union
been branded a serious menace in France and the detachment of its many republics
for months. Perhaps 15,000 persons from Moscow. On the other hand, French
are held in detention camps or jails for military critics discuss Russia’s chances
communist activities, and Chief of State cautiously because of the enormous
Petain only recently appealed to the spaces over which an attacking army
French to beware of communism. must operate.

EXPECT OWN BURDEN TO SHRINK Chicago Daily Tribune, June 23, 1941
Second, the French believe the
occupation of France may be lightened Drive on Russia is applauded by
thru the withdrawal of German troops to catholic paper
fight Russia.
French unofficial sources believe Catholic spokesmen today rejoiced
German possession of the Ukraine, over the German attack against what the
Russian granary, against which the Nazi Catholic newspaper Avvenire called “The
army is supposed here to be aimed, Anticipation of the Anti-Christ.”
would benefit all Europe since it would The Avvenire, it was pointed out, is
put the Ukraine’s wheat and oil into the not a Vatican newspaper.
hands of the Germans. “Two years of intimate suffering
French spokesmen stressed that the between idealistic imperatives and the
German blow at Russia represented compromises of reality have finally
“Europe’s will to get rid of the baneful ended,” the Avvenire goes on. “We are
influence of the Soviets.” above all believers. We believe and hope
It was said unofficially that Russia that the anti-bolshevist drive is the sign
never was inspired by any real desire to of predestination and the protection of
collaborate, much less to work sincerely for evidence. England and the United States
European reconstruction. Furthermore, can no longer make men believe in the
according to the same sources, the soviet good faith of those who fight for Russia.”
42 The Times, June 23, 1941 hope that this will bring Russia nearer
Full British Aid To Russia to our way of thought, to some form of
democratic freedom,” he said.
Prime Ministers’s declaration Predicting that the next peace treaty
of British Policy will be drawn up “not in Versailles but in
Washington,” Col. Wedgwood asserted
The Prime Minister broadcast last that England is “through” with the
night a declaration of British policy in the responsibility of solving the problems
new situation created by the German war of Europe which she has done for the
on Russia. past 300 years “We’ve had enough of it.
He promised Russia that every possible It’s time we passed on the baby to the
help would be given her steadfastly to Americans.”
the end; announced that she had already The only end of this war in “union
been offered technical and economic aid; between America and Great Britain,”
foreshadowed ever-increasing day and he declared, with other democracies
night bombing of Germany; and repeated eventually joining in the “union” for the
that Britain would never parley with “preservation of world peace.”
Hitler or his gang.
Chicago Tribune. June 23, 1941
Audiofile: 1941-06-22_BBC_Winston_ The President aligns America
Churchill_Germany_Invades_Russia
Заголовок- with Red Russia
Winston Churchill broadcast on Soviet
German War President Roosevelt today aligned
the United States with Russia against
The New York Times, Germany in the extension of the war in
June 25, 1941 Europe. Whether material American
aid will be furnished Russia, however,
Averting of British Defeat Seen was not clear. In a conference with
in Attack on Russia Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles11,
the President said that if he were asked
The Nazi attack on Russia probably will about the possibility of extending aid to
save Great Britain from defeat, Col. Josiah Soviet Russia under the lend-lease act he
C. Wedgwood, British M.P. said here would not know at this time what answer
today, predicting that Russians, “unlike to give.
other driven people,” will be able to fight This question, it was indicated, would
guerrilla warfare behind the lines and be decided when and if the, Russian
successfully hold out. government asks the assistance of the
The dean of the British Labor party United States.
told 75 members of the British Empire
Chamber of Commerce in the United
States that the greatest joy of his life
was to hear of the invasion of Russia. “I
ASSOCIATED PRESS, JUNE 25, The Nazi onslaught, it was further 43
1941, BERLIN stated, was another evidence that Hitler’s
NAZIS LINKEN STATESMANSHIP word was worthless; that a nonaggression
OF ROSEVELT TO STALIN’S pact simply provided Germany with an
opportunity if and when she desired to
The German press drew parallels attack the other party to the pact.
between democracy and Communism in Government officials remained tight-
comment today on President Roosevelt’s lipped over the question of whether the
offer of United States aid for Soviet United States would list Russia as a victim
Russia. “There is very little difference of aggression and extend her aid under
between the statesmanship of Roosevelt the Lease-Lend Act.
and Stalin,” declared the Boersen Zeitung. Two points of view on this question
“Plutocracy and Bolshevism come from were quickly discerned in Congressional
the same Jewish root,” the Berlin financial circles. One was that the United States
news paper added. “They are only two ought to forget Russia’s own record of
different methods of reaching the same betrayal and aggression and give her
antisocial objectives, President Roosevelt’s aid; the other was that the United States
promise to help Moscow has made this fact ought to remain aloof and regard the
clear before the eyes of the world.” Adolf Nazi-Soviet war as a dog-eat- dog contest.
Hitler’s Berlin news paper, Voelkischer
Beobachter, put its comment under a three Chicago Tribune ,
column headline saying: “Roosevelt Gives June 23, 1941
Blessing to Moscow- London Wedding.”
The United States President, who was
America Should Attack Nazis
going to save democracy, it said, “now Now, Correspondent Believes
steps out as a playmate of Bolshevist Time Ripe for Naval and Air Support
world revolutionist.” to Allies Before Russian Resources
“Even American armament makers” Taken, Expert Says
it added “evidently are prepared to bury By John T. Whitaker13
their enmity toward Communism.”
The Invasion of Russia may prove to be
The Washington Post, Germany’s decisive blunder leading on to
June 25, 1941 as bleak a chapter for Hitler as Napoleon’s
retreat from Moscow. But this will be true,
World Rule Declared Proved as in the opinion of military expert, only if
Nazi Aim Hitler’s enemies make it happen, to be
By Edward T. Folliard12 more precise, if the Americans choose
this moment to strike.
Germany’s attack on Russia ought to Underneath the worldwide jubilation,
prove beyond all doubt that Adolf Hitler welcoming a struggle between the two
plans domination over every country in most hated tyrannies of modern times,
the world — it was said yesterday in State there is the more somber judgment of
Department circles. those who foresee a German war machine
44 provided at last with oil, minerals and Los Angeles Times,
wheat necessary for the conquest of the June 26, 1941
entire world. Isms Declared in Death BattleS
Senator Wheeler Hits at American
WOULD BE STRONGER Program to Assist Russia
Germany’s generals believe, your
correspondent can reveal on good
authority, that they can knock out Russia Senator Wheeler14 (D.) Mont., tonight
in about one month. If their time table is asserted that with the spread of the war
right they would be ready for the conquest to Russia, the conflict had ceased to be
of Britain and the Western Hemisphere one between England and Germany but
while Britain is without an effective ally had become, instead, death struggle
and America is still debating. between the armed might of Nazism and
The moment has come for America Communism.”
to throw its destroyers into the battle of Contending that a Russian victory
the Atlantic, ferreting out submarines and would mean a “Communist in Europe.”
releasing British warships for service in Wheeler asked at an America First
the Mediterranean where Prime Minister outdoor rally: “Do you Americans want to
Churchill has little of his fleet left. send American money or American boys
The moment has come for America to to fight side by side with Joe Stalin in order
throw in the vanguard of its air force to to establish Communism throughout
provide that preponderance of bomber Europe and the world – anymore than
strength that will give Britain mastery over you want the international socialism of
the German skies while Reichsmarshal leaders of the English Labor Party or the
Herman Goering’s luftwaffe is occupied National Socialism of Hitler?”
with Russia’s inferior but enormous air
force. BOOS AND SHOUTS
That was not what “the American
PURPOSE OUTLINED people want,” asserted the Montanan
This is not a Nazi war against as he expressed the conviction that to
Communism. There is no essential remain a democracy the United States
difference between Nazism and “must remain free from foreign wars.”
Communism. From the crowd, estimated at 5500 by
This is a war of the German military Deputy Police Chief Michael J. Godfrey,
to gain raw materials needed for the came hoos and shouts of “no” at the
conquest of America and to destroy the mention of American help for Russia.
Russian war machine on Germany’s flank, “The war between Germany and Russia
as this correspondent revealed last week. has drastically altered the international
Heretofore, the German military have picture of only a few days ago,” he said,
always орposed war on two fronts. “it is no longer a war between England
and Germany. It is a death struggle
between the armed might of Nazism and
Communism.”
BUFFER TO RUSSIA persecution of religion, the invasion of 45
In invading Russia, Wheeler, said, Finland, and the vulture rôle Stalin played
Hitler “was playing the role written for in Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania.
him by cold and dispassionate English These will be made to seem the acts of
diplomats.” a ‘democracy’ preparing to fight Nazism.”
The British permitted and even
encouraged the rearming of Germany. TOKYO, ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Hitlerism was not checked in its infancy JUNE 23, 1941
because England saw Hitler as a buffer to
Russia.” Wheeler termed both Stalin and
NAZI MOVE PUTS TOKYO
Hitler “ruthless dictators.” LEADER INTO DILEMMA
“Only yesterday, Stalin’s godless JAPANESE PRESS TONE IS CAUTIOUS
Communism was the sworn brother of AS OFFICIALS CONFER
Hitler’s Nazism. Today they battle and Japan’s highest officials held important
tomorrow the doctrines of the victor will conferences today obviously on the
engulf. dilemma that confronted this nation
since Germany and Italy, its Axis partners,
Chicago Daily Tribune, went to war against Russia, Japan’s new
June 23, 1941 treaty friend.
Premier Prince Fumimaro Konoye met
Non-Interventionalists in with Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka
Congress assail alignment with who previously had conferred with
reds Emperor Hirohito, Matsuoka also talked
for an hour with Maj. Gen. Eugen Ott,
Noninterventionists in congress German Ambassador.
today denounced the Roosevelt An urgent conference of the cabinet
administration’s alignment of the United and military leaders was postponed for
States with soviet Russia in the extension six hours.
of the war in Europe. “It’s a case of dog The vernacular newspapers almost
eat dog,” said Senator Bennett Champ unanimously concluded that Japan’s
Clark [D., Mo.]. “Stalin is fully as bloody future course must be based on her own
handed a murderer as Hitler, and strength. One commentator said the
communism is certainly as inimical to our Japanese can now see how unreliable
ideals of government, life, and religion as international treaties are and that reliance
is Naziism.” must be put only upon the nation.
Senator Robert M. La Follette recalled Observers noted objective handling of
that some interventionists “have tried the news and the lack of speculation on
to smear with communism” those who the attitude of the Japanese government
would keep this country out of war. “Now in Japanese newspapers. Some neutral
the shoe is on the other foot,” he added. sources suggested a parallel in the Russian-
“In the next few weeks the American German conflict with the China affair, for
people will be told to forget the purges in Russia’s vast territory made possible the
Russia, the confiscation of property, the same scattered resistance as Chungking’s.
46 Some Japanese newspaper comment: an actual world-wide conflict. The first
Yomiuri Shimbun15 — “At present what concrete development, it said, might be
is watched with keen interest is the future the welding of Britain, the United States
attitude of Britain and the United States. and Russia into a solid front.
It is a question whether Britain will make The Japanese-Russian friendship
a start for peace with Germany, taking treaty, signed April 18, provides that
the opportunity to cooperate and pre- “should one of the contracting parties
sent a united front against the Soviets, become the object of hostilities on the
or whether in concert with the Kremlin it part of one or several third powers the
will continue the war. The United States, other contracting party will observe
however, has the initiative in continuance neutrality throughout the duration of the
of the anti-German war, and Britain conflict.”
herself cannot afford to decide on a Under the tripartite pact of September
peace. In any case, Japan will be affected, 27, 1940, Japan is pledged to help
and the empire should be cautious and Germany if either is “attacked by a power
not take the wrong course” at present not involved in the European
Asahi Shimbun — “Hitler has come to war.”
feel the necessity for making preparation The Russian Embassy yard was
for a long war instead of adhering to the guarded as usual by Japanese police.
tactics of carrying out landing assaults Inside the gates women and children
against the British Isles. It is advantageous talked in excited clusters.
to Germany to knock down the Soviet
before the United States participates.” The New York Times,
Hochi Shimbun — “Japan shouldn’t June 26, 1941
indulge in utilitarianism, but should
always keep in mind the international
Italian Admiral Urges Japan
facts and world peace, which are the Enter War Against Soviet
supreme conception of the imperial
diplomacy, strictly refraining from rash Japan today was urged to enter the
actions.” war against Soviet Russia and to forestall
The most significant fact to this empire, the United States by seizing Sakhalin and
was that pressure Britain and the United part of Kamchatka in an article by Admiral
States, thus seemingly had been removed Gino Ducci, one of Italy’s most important
from permitting the United States fleet to naval officers. Admiral Ducci is the
remain in the Pacific. president of the Committee of Admirals.
Japan was reliably reported to have Writing in the Giornale d’Italia,
tried unsuccessfully to intervene in the Admiral Ducci suggested American aid
German-Russian crisis, and the United first will take the form of sending planes
States was said to have been informed of from Alaska via the Aleutian Islands,
the Japanese efforts. and also naval vessels to Petropavlosk in
The semiofficial Domei news agency Kamchatka and even to Vladivostok. In
said the feeling in Tokyo was that the new that case, “the strategic situation of Japan
hostilities might well turn the war into which the pact of Moscow had bettered
would be gravely compromised,” he Among Legionnaires seeking a way 47
wrote. Concentration of American planes out of Syria with the idea of joining in
on the Manchzhurian frontier would force the war against Germany are former
the Japanese to send their troops and Spanish Republicans, who fled over
planes back to the north, he suggested. the Pyrenees into France when Gen.
Moreover, the industrial and military Francisco Franco unloosed his fascist
centers of Japan, herself, would be within forces against the Spanish republic.
easy reach and thus “the United States, The men were kept in vast concentration
without greatly compromising herself, camps in the South of France, but with
would regain the advantages she lost by the outbreak of European hostilities
the Moscow pact. many joined the Foreign Legion. Two
Admiral Ducci then presented the battalions of them were sent to Syria.
argument that the United States might Some of the Spaniards deserted into
enter the war suddenly and, ipso facto, Palestine where a company of them was
find itself allied to Russia against Japan. formed by the British. Both Russian and
Therefore, he went on, Tokyo should act Spanish Legionnaires fought against the
in the present moment, in contrast to Australians on the coastal road leading to
her passivity in the spring of 1940, when this capital. They underwent at Damour,
she failed to profit by Germany’s great south of here, an artillery barrage in
success. which the Australians and the Royal Navy
were estimated to have hurled 17,000
ASSOCIATED PRESS, JULY 24, 1941 shells before breaking through Beirut’s
WHITE RUSSIANS WOULD AID outer defenses.
REDS
The New York Times,
A number of White Russians, some of June 23, 1941
whom served the Czar and others who left
Russia as children when the Bolsheviks
Kerensky Urges Russians of all
took over, have asked the British to help creeds to aid nation
them get back to their homeland to help
the Red Army in its fight against Germany. Pessimistic of Russia’s chances with
“We never thought we’d want to fight Germany, Alexander Kerensky, once head
beside the Reds, but now that Russia of the invaded nation, urges Russians of
is in danger we’re all Russians,” one all political creeds to unite to save the
of them said. “We love our country as country.
only men who have been separated Kerensky, who 24 years ago helped
from their homeland 20 years, and are overthrow the Tsarist regime and briefly
always longing for it, can love a country.” headed the provisional government until
These men, strangely, are only 13 the Bolshevik revolution forced him to
days removed from fighting against flee, says his country is weak and Joseph
the British. They were part of the Stalin bankrupt.
French Army which opposed the Russia stands face to face with Hitler’s
British – de Gaullist invasion of Syria. panzer divisions,” he said yesterday,
48 “She cannot expect direct assistance ASSOCIATED PRESS, JUNE 24, 1941
from anyone. Nevertheless, we Russian Queen Wilhelmina Supports
patriots are grateful to Prime Minister Russia16
Churchill for his promise of giving the
Russian people whatever help may be Refugee Queen Wilhelmina of The
within the power of England.” Netherlands in a broadcast to her people
He said Russians were deprived of today said her government has decided
the fruits of victory in the last World War to fight by the side of the Russian people
by the “so-called revolutionary aims” despite its hatred of Bolshevism.
of Lenin, but that the country’s position “We may never forget,” she said, “that
today is “even more tragic.” we reject absolutely the principles and
“Stalin,” he declared, “is the victim of practices of Bolshevism, but we are full of
his own treacherous policy, both domestic compassion for the Russian people who
and foreign. Now Stalin is bankrupt. Now have to undergo such terrible ordeal.”
he must look for help from the same She “welcomed the British Empire’s
democracies and ‘plutocracies against statesmanship in the approach to the
whom he had conspired with Hitler, new conflict and asked the Dutch people
“However, this is not the time to be to fight the Nazi.
settling accounts with Stalin. The new
peril that ham now descended upon (Endnotes)
Russiа rеquires the unification of all
Russians who place the security and 1 Virginio Gayda (12 August 1885–
independence of their country above 14 March 1944) was prominent Italian
fascist journalist during Fascist Italy. Mussolini
everything else.” raised no public objection when Gayda warned
Communist party leaders in the against the likelihood of a swift victory one week
United States declared the homeland after start in June 1941 of the Axis invasion of
was “waging struggle for the cause of the Soviet Union. However, on 17 February 1943,
the freedom of all nations and asked Gayda provoked the second incident by stating
in Il Giornale d’Italia that the Axis powers had
Americans to give full support to the difficulties in the war of attrition. Since the Allies
Soviet Union, were understood to have more industrial power
A joint statement issued by William Z. than the Axis, that was seen as a tacit admission
Foster, party chairman, and Robert Minor, of a likely defeat. As a result, Gayda did not
acting party secretary, also called upon appear in Il Giornale d’Italia again until 23 March.
He was replaced as editor of Il Giornale d’Italia by
American workers to oppose all “those A. Bergamini after the fall of the fascist regime on
reactionaries of every stripe who seek in 25 July 1943.
any manner to aid Hitler’s attack against
the Soviet Union.” 2 Edmund William Stevens (22 July
1910, Denver – 24 May 1992, Moscow) was an
American journalist and documentary writer. He
Winston Churchill broadcast on Soviet won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting
German War (1950). Studied international law at Columbia
Audiofile University in New York. In 1934 he took a position
in the Moscow office of the Cunard Line shipping
company, while studying at Moscow University.
Stevens quickly learnt Russian and a year later Pavelić and the Ustaše persecuted many racial 49
took a job as a translator for a state publishing minorities and political opponents in the NDH
house that sold literature about the Soviet Union during the war, including Serbs, Jews, Romani,
abroad. He also began writing reports from and anti-fascists, becoming one of the key figures
the USSR for British newspapers such as The of the genocide of Serbs, the Porajmos and
Manchester Guardian and the Daily Herald. the Holocaust in the NDH
He maintained close contacts with the US
ambassador Joseph Davis. Stevens became a war 5 László Bárdossy de Bárdos (10
correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, December 1890–10 January 1946) was
which published his reports from the theatre of a Hungarian diplomat and politician who served
war in Western Europe and North Africa. In 1942, as Prime Minister of Hungary from April 1941 to
he returned to Moscow. Enjoying the special March 1942. He was one of the chief architects of
confidence of U.S. Ambassador Averell Harriman, Hungary›s involvement in World War II
Stevens was part of the American delegation
to the meeting between Stalin and Churchill as 6 Donald Satterlee Day (May 15, 1895–
a counsellor. On 21-22 January 1944, Stevens October 1, 1966) was a controversial American
participated in a trip from Moscow to the site reporter in northern Europe for the Chicago
of the Katyn massacre, which was organised Tribune in the 1920s and 1930s. As a broadcaster
by the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs for on German radio for several months during World
Western journalists. The delegation numbered 17 War II. Following the Allied victory in Europe,
people: eleven Americans, five Britons, and one he was twice arrested by U.S. authorities and
Frenchman. Stevens adhered to the Soviet version investigated for treason and espionage for Soviet
of the investigation. Union, but no charges were brought. According to
During the Stalinist era, in his reports from some unofficial data due to his position in eastern
Moscow, Stevens praised Stalin and called the Europe as a reporter for many years, Day was able
Soviet Union a democratic country. He defended to provide the U.S. government with tips about
the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In 1945, Stevens, Soviet espionage agents, which played a part in
along with Jerome Davis, John Hersey, Richard his charges being dropped.
Lauterbach, Edgar Snow, and Alexander Werth,
participated in a campaign by pro-Soviet 7 Edmund William Stevens (22 July
journalists against publisher and journalist William 1910, Denver – 24 May 1992, Moscow) was an
Lindsay White, who described Soviet society in his American journalist and documentary writer.
book. He won the Pulitzer Prize for International
Reporting (1950). Studied international law at
3 Ion Antonescu ( 14 June 1882 Columbia University in New York. In 1934 he took
– 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military a position in the Moscow office of the Cunard
officer and marshal who presided over two Line shipping company, while studying at Moscow
successive wartime dictatorships as Prime University. Stevens quickly learnt Russian and a
Minister and Conducător during most of World year later took a job as a translator for a state
War II. Having been responsible for facilitating the publishing house that sold literature about the
Holocaust in Romania, he was tried for war crimes Soviet Union abroad. He also began writing
and executed in 1946. reports from the USSR for British newspapers
such as The Manchester Guardian and the Daily
4 Ante Pavelić (14 July 1889 – Herald.He maintained close contacts with the
28 December 1959) was a Croatian US ambassador Joseph Davis. Stevens became
politician who founded and headed a war correspondent for the Christian Science
the fascist ultranationalist organization known Monitor, which published his reports from the
as the Ustaše in 1929 and served as dictator theatre of war in Western Europe and North
of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), Africa. In 1942, he returned to Moscow. Enjoying
a fascist puppet state built out of parts of the special confidence of U.S. Ambassador Averell
occupied Yugoslavia by the authorities of Nazi Harriman, Stevens was part of the American
Germany and Fascist Italy, from 1941 to 1945. delegation to the meeting between Stalin and
50 Churchill as a counsellor. On 21-22 January 1944, Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower that
Stevens participated in a trip from Moscow to the continued beyond those men’s presidencies.
site of the Katyn massacre, which was organised In addition to covering the presidency, Folliard
by the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs for also reported on many major news events
Western journalists. The delegation numbered 17 such as Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic
people: eleven Americans, five Britons, and one flight. During World War II, he reported
Frenchman. Stevens adhered to the Soviet version from European battlefronts and POW camps.He
of the investigation. During the Stalinist era, in his won several awards, including the 1947 Pulitzer
reports from Moscow, Stevens praised Stalin and Prize for Telegraphic Reporting (National) and
called the Soviet Union a democratic country. He the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was
defended the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In 1945, presented to him by President Richard M. Nixon.
Stevens, along with Jerome Davis, John Hersey,
Richard Lauterbach, Edgar Snow, and Alexander 13 John Thompson Whitaker (January
Werth, participated in a campaign by pro-Soviet 25, 1906 – September 11, 1946) was an
journalists against publisher and journalist William American writer and journalist who served as a
Lindsay White, who described Soviet society in his correspondent for several prominent newspapers
book. in different parts of the world. In mid-1939,
in connection with World War II, working for
8 Lviv is the largest city in western the Chicago Daily News and the New York Post. He
Ukraine, as well as the sixth-largest city in moved to Rome, from where he reported the war
Ukraine, with a population of 717,273 (2022 and the activities of the National Fascist Party. As
estimate). It serves as the administrative center a convinced democrat, his articles criticized the
of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion and is one of the atrocities of the regimes of Mussolini and Hitler.
main cultural centers of Ukraine. Lviv also hosts This made the fascist regime uncomfortable,
the administration of Lviv urban hromada. It and in 1941 he was ordered to leave Italy. At
was named after Leo I of Galicia, the eldest son the time of his expulsion from Mussolini’s
of Danil, King of Ruthenia. Italy, Time reported that Whitaker’s dispatches
were “displeasing” to the government. The Italian
9 For nearly three years, 45,000 Spanish government was reluctant to formally expel the
soldiers served under German command on the reporter on whom they had bestowed the Italian
Russian front War Cross five years earlier, and officials told
Whitaker they had “nothing personal” against
10 Frenchmen enrolled by force in the him and advised him, “You are not expelled, but
German army numbered around 150.000. you must leave.” Whitaker reportedly insisted on
Between18,000 to 22,000 fought voluntarily in being formally expelled.
the Waffen-SS.
14 Burton Kendall Wheeler (February
11 Benjamin Sumner Welles (October 14, 27, 1882 – January 6, 1975) was an attorney and
1892 – September 24, 1961) was an American an American politician of the Democratic Party
government official and diplomat. He was a in Montana, which he represented as a United
major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin States senator from 1923 until 1947. After the
D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of start of World War II in Europe, Wheeler opposed
State from 1936 to 1943, during Roosevelt›s aid to Britain or France or Soviet Union. On
presidency. October 17, 1941, Wheeler said: «I can›t conceive
of Japan being crazy enough to want to go to
12 Edward Thomas Folliard (May 14, war with us.» One month later, he added: «If we
1899 – November 25, 1976) was an American go to war with Japan, the only reason will be to
journalist. He spent most of his career at The help England.» Following Japan›s attack on Pearl
Washington Post, for which he covered the Harbor, Wheeler supported a declaration of war
White House from the presidency of Calvin saying, “The only thing now to do is to lick the hell
Coolidge to that of Lyndon B. Johnson. He out of them.”
had friendly relations with both Harry S.
 15 The Yomiuri Shimbun is 51
a Japanese newspaper published
in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other
major Japanese cities. It is one of the five
major newspapers in Japan; the other
four are The Asahi Shimbun, the Chunichi
Shimbun, the Mainichi Shimbun, and
the Nihon Keizai Shimbun/ It is headquartered
in Otemachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo

16 Wilhelmina ( Wilhelmina Helena

Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880–28 November
1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890
until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for
nearly 58 years, making her the longest-reigning
monarch in Dutch history, as well as the longest-
reigning female monarch outside the United
Kingdom. Her reign saw World War I, the Dutch
economic crisis of 1933 and World War II.
52

Chapter III: LIFE Magazine, July 7,1941

What are the Chances? Hitler Invades the Soviet Union
and adds to U.S defense the
Time Magazine, June 30, 1941 whole Red Army
How long for Russia?
On the second day of the summer
The initial success was familiar: Ten of 1941, Nazi Germany promoted
miles here & there the first day, minor Soviet Russia to the select company
breakthroughs at many points on the of its fighting enemies. By so doing, it
second. The initial taciturnity of the High temporarily increased the defenses of the
Command rang true: “Operations are U.S. by the whole Red Army, consisting of
proceeding satisfactorily and according to perhaps 140 infantry divisions, 33 cavalry
plan.” The initial preposterousness of such divisions, 10,000 tanks and 4,000 combat
German “unofficial sources” as D.N.B.1 planes. For Hitler’s treacherous attack on
was the same as ever: it was claimed that his Communist ally was a gigantic stroke
1,200 Russian planes were destroyed in of luck for hard-pressed Britain and the
the first two days. unprepared U. S.
How long would the Russians last? Hitler proposed to destroy the Red
Almost no one except the Russians was Army in a month. Even if the invasion
convinced that they could trounce the of all the Russia turns out to be longer
Germans. But if the Russians could put up and more expensive than he expects,
a long and bitter fight on their own soil, it may still give him the large industrial
if they could make Hitler pay far more production and raw materials.
than he thought he was going to have On this vast battlefield at least five
to pay, especially if they could prolong million men in German gray-green and
the war into one more winter, then they Russian khaki maneuvered. In the first
might give the Battle of Russia a glory dark week of battle, the Russians fought
commensurate with its size. hardest to defend the Ukraine in the
What were the chances of their doing south, and there in Bessarabia and Galicia
this? The Russian chances of holding out the Germans made slow going. In the
indefinitely were conditioned by timing; north, between the Pripet Marshes and
by geography; by the quantity and quality Lithuania, the Germans struck with all
of the opposing armies; by the quality of their might.
the opposing leaders. On these grounds Even educated Americans know very
their chances were not too bright. little about this greater Europe east of
53
54 Vienna, home of 200,000, 000 Poles, same three drove Rennenkampf off. But
Rumanians, Great Russians, White meanwhile the Russians had roundly
Russians, Finns, Ukrainians, Germans, defeated the rotten Austro- Hungarian
Hungarians and assorted Slavs, Mongols Army at Lemberg and the Germans went
and what not. Even less do Americans south to help their allies. For lack of
know the bloody story of huge, silent troops at critical times, Hoffman called
wars fought since the pre-dawn of history it the War of Lost Opportunities. But at
in these parts. Gorlice and Riga, the Germans began
The rampaging hordes of Scythians, to win, experimenting with infiltration
Avars, Goths, Huns, Slavs, Bulgars, Magyars tactics.
crawled endlessly up one another’s hacks. It was the German General Staff which
They were all swept aside by the Mongols helped on the Bolshevik Revolution by
of Genghis Khan. A thousand years ago rushing Lenin across Germany in a sealed
began the shifting feud between the train from Switzerland to the Russian
Teutons and the Russians. In 1410 the frontier in April 1917. Lenin offered the
Teutonic Knights were at last smashed by Germans peace and they made him pay
the Slavic Poles and Lithuanians. Headed for it with the brutal Treaty of Brest-
by the Romanovs, the Great Russians made Litovsk, which set up pup pet states in
themselves slowly the masters of half the the Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania,
known world and 188 obscure races. Latvia and Finland, and exacted a “non-
At Poltava in 1700 Czar Peter the Great indemnity of 300,000,000 gold rubles
smashed the famed Yellow, Blue and from the Bolsheviks. The Russians escaped
Green infantry of the Swedes. At Friedland from this treaty only because Britain, the
in 1807, Smolensk and Borodino in 1812, U.S. and France won the war. But in the
Napoleon smashed the Russians, but he 1918 breakdown of all the Russia, the
lost his army in the undisciplined march German Army swept ever eastward, until
home from burned Moscow. The Russians it stood along the banks of the Don River
tried to gobble the crumbling empire of and the Sea of Azov.
the Ottoman Turks and were opposed by Of that “unknown war” of 1914-17
the British and French at Balaklava and on the Eastern Front, Winston Churchill
Inkerman in the Crimea. At Plevna in 1877 once wrote: “In its scale, in its slaughter,
the Russians won an unprofitable victory in the exertions of the combatants, in
over the Turks. its military kaleidoscope, it far surpasses
But the greatest and costliest war by magnitude and intensity all similar
between the Germans and Russians human episodes, it is also the most
was that of 1914-18. On the remote mournful conflict of which there is record.
Eastern Front, such men as Hindenburg, All three empires, both sides, victors and
Ludendorff, Hoffman, Mackensen won vanquished, were ruined. Ten million
their laurels. The first three conspired to homes awaited the return of the warriors.
win the most complete victory of the war But all were defeated: all were stricken;
in its first month at Tannenberg destroying everything that they had given was given
the army of Samsonov, who committed in vain. The hideous injuries they inflicted
suicide. Then at the Masurian Lakes the and bore, the privations they endured, the
grand loyalties they exemplified, all were by the Nazis. Control of the ports of the 55
in vain. Nothing was gained by any. They west coast of the Black Sea is in their
floundered in the mud, they perished in hands. The British Army is engaged in
the snowdrifts, they starved in the frost. the Middle East, where Frenchmen are
Those that survived, the veterans of fighting Frenchmen, and the British are
countless battle-days, returned, whether blocked by a neutral Turkey in an advance
with the laurels of victory or tidings of northward from Syria.
disaster, to homes engulfed already in Thus Germany has both flanks
disaster.” protected, bases near, lines of
communication and supply safe and
Newsweek, June 30,1941 adequate, and all danger of stabs in
Germany’s Strategy the back removed. Hitler has complete
freedom of movement, choice of time
in the Attack on Russia and place, and is fortified by the element
by Maj. Gen. STEPHEN O. FUQUA, of surprise through initiative of action.
U.S.A . Retired2 An analysis based upon past German
plans, concentration of forces, and
The “great monolithic mass sprawled direction of air and ground attacks
over the top of the world from the Baltic launched at the beginning of the week,
to the Bering Sea,” as Trotsky3 described indicates the vast pattern of the Hitler
Russia, has been invaded. The appeasing invasion project as extending from the
bystander, Joseph Stalin, must now Arctic Ocean across the Black Sea to
marshal the entire economic, industrial, the Caucasus. For reference purposes
and military strength of the Soviet Union in this analysis, the three suitable areas
to battle against the German invader to for offensives will be referred to by
save those basic needs of Russia set forth the objective toward which they are
in the Lenin creed – ”Peace-Bread- Land.” launched.
Since the Greek campaign4, Hitler
evidently has been sparring for position, BALTIC STATES LENINGRAD AREA
politically, economically, and strategically, This region can be attacked in
in preparation for the launching of the a two pronged drive. The very first
long-prepared plan of the German High announcement after the war started was
Command for war against Russia. that the troops operating against the
The German Army never launched Baltic States of Lithuania and Latvia had
a campaign under more favorable crossed the East Prussia frontier to tackle
conditions. The British have been driven the Red Army occupying these countries.
from the Balkans, and Turkey’s neutrality The first German objective is to gain
is guaranteed. The Italian Army is available the coast lines. The drive in the north
for pressing the British on the Libyan consists of a German-Finnish command.
frontier, and the main German Army is in The line of approach here for one column
a position of readiness for the Russian kill, is in the Arctic sector, while the main
with the armies of the border states from column moves from Finland against the
the Arctic to the Black Sea dominated Karelian Isthmus (partly Finnish before
56
the recent war with Russia). The objective offensive, if successful, would ultimately 57
of this effort is against Leningrad and carry the German troops to the Iran
the industrial area of Western Russia. frontier, from which position Hitler could
The spearhead of this column and the challenge the British Army in the Middle
one coming up from East Prussia are East.
designed to meet in the Estonia sector.
The ultimate objective of these moves The Washington Post,
with the push against Hango, the Soviet July 25 ,1941
naval base in Southwest Finland, is to
close the Baltic Sea to Russia. Success
Turkey Hears Of Nazi Plan
would give the Germans realization of To Split Soviet
their time-old dream to dominate the By Preston Grover5
shores of the Baltic. Such an achievement
would, among other benefits, permit a ISTANBUL, July 25 (delayed). – A detailed
much desired shift of some of the naval- report that Germany plans to partition
base activities of North Germany, now European Russia when and if she conquers
frequently bombed by the RAF, to the the U. S. S. R. up to the Urals Mountain
ports of the Eastern Baltic. Divide and then offer a “painless peace” to
the British Empire gained credence today
THE UKRAINE in pro-British circles who said it came from
The main force to attack this region an Axis diplomat.
probably is the German Army massed The diplomat, a representative of one
along the Rumanian and East German of the Axis satellites, was said to have
frontiers, aided by the Rumanians on their outlined the broad scheme in a private
own territory. The first objectives of the conference with an Allied official here.
Ukraine offensive will be the key regions The conference was said to have come
along the 275-mile line of Kiev to Odessa, during a stopover by the diplomat en
the latter of which is the anchor of the route home from his war advocated post
main Russian defense position along the at Moscow.
Dniester. This main drive for the Ukraine
may be expected to include a great sea NAZIS RULE UKRAINE
and air attack against the Russian Black From him, a pro-British source said,
Sea naval bases and the isolated fortress was gained Germany’s general plan for a
of Crimea. quick peace before United States interest
in the war becomes so deep as to make
CAUCASIAN AREA the envisaged peace impossible. The plan
This offensive, if Turkish territorial and subordinate factors in it were out-
integrity is to be respected, must be an lined as follows:
air and over-water expedition against the 1. Russia up to the Urals would fall
Batum-Baku oil region of Georgia. The dividend into two classifications: one
launching of this drive may be coincident to include the Ukraine under a German
with the push into the Ukraine or may governor and the other to be divided
await the initial result of this effort. This among Rumania, Turkey and Poland.
58 Rumania’s would be a strip along the It is no secret that Rosenberg is slated
Black Sea coast, including Odessa; Turkey to head this minutely organized machine
would get part of the Caucasus wherein with the title of Reichsminister for the
lie Turkish minorities, and Poland, to occupied eastern areas. His realm would
be reconstituted in some form not fully be the Baltic states, the Ukraine and
independent, would get back all the Russia proper.
territory Russia occupied in September, It would not include Poland, which
1939, and possibly more. is Reichsminister Hans Frank’8s domain,
2. Japan wants Russian territory from where he already is entrenched firmly as
Vladivostok westward to Lake Baikal. It governor general.
is not said definitely that she will get it. Many names have been bandied
Former Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka about in the German capital regarding
once pledged Japanese entrance into the personnel chosen by Rosenberg. The
the war (according to the outline of the following appear to be the men selected:
German plan), but Germany does not State secretary (in charge of
want her to fight now because of the administrative details) – Dr. Alfred Meyer9,
likelihood it would bring in the United gauleteir for the North Westphalian
States. district. Administrator for the Ukraine –
3. France not mentioned Herbert Backe10, state’s secretary in the
Reich’s agricultural ministry.
Washington Post, July 25, 1941 Administrator for the Baltic states
Nazis Ready To Take Over Red Heinrich Lohse11, gauleiter for Schleswig-
Holstein.
Industries Administrator for Russia proper- Erich
By Louis P. Lochner6 Koch12, gauleiter for East Prussia.

BERLIN, July 25. More than 1,000 Christian Science Monitor,

German administrative, industrial, July 14, 1941
engineering and business experts,
headed by the ideological leader Alfred
Self-sufficient areas are result
Rosenberg7, are waiting on Adolf of wide plans; break in Stalin
Hitler’s word of command to send them line13 would not be end.
swarming all over occupied Russia to By Edmund Stevens.
take a conquered country under German Special Correspondent of the
administration. Christian Science Monitor who has
Rosenberg already has a complete
covered the war en four major
ministry staff pledged to work under
his direction. Every Russian automobile battle including the Russo-Finnish
plant, airplane factory, chemical works campaign.
and engineering concern already has its
appointed German administrator who is If Hitler breaks through the Stalin line it
ready to move in when and if this territory will not mean the end of Soviet resistance.
is safely in German hands. Five economically self-sufficient Russias,
 59

each with its own natural resources, The building of centers of industry well
industry and agriculture have reached a out of enemy reach has been a major
stage of development where each might principle of Soviet economic planning
survive and feed and equip an army, from the outset. That is why the Union’s
though cut off from the rest of the country. center of gravity steadily shifts eastwards.
No cosmic affinity with Asia, but realistic
Only two of these areas that embracing considerations of military strategy have
the older industrial centers of north impelled the Kremlin leaders to gaze
and west Russia, including Moscow into the sunrise. Under the first and
and Leningrad, and the Don Basin – second five year plans industrial giants
Ukrainian region, lie in Europe. The rest like the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel
the Urals area, the Kuznetz Basin and the Plant and the Kuznetz Metal Works rose
Far Eastern Pacific area – are all in Asia. on the treeless eastern slopes of the
Even if he got to Moscow, the brown Urals or the bleak Siberian steppes, each
Napoleon would still be nearly a capable of producing more than the
thousand miles as the crow flies from the total Russian output of iron and steel
low-backed billowing Ural Mountains- before the industrialization program.
the geography book boundary between Originally designed to be greater than
Europe and Asia, which is now the the Gary steel mills, the Magnitogorsk
Soviets second line of industrial defense. project was eventually whittled down
60 to half its intended size, but even so it is As the rise of Nazi militarism increased
the Soviet Union’s number one producer the threat of invasion the Soviet push
of iron, a stupendous undertaking towards the east accelerated, but the
which has brought into being a boom strategy of Soviet economic defense first
city of 200.000 inhabitants. In 1938 took shape in the early months of 1939,
Magnitogorsk produced one and one half when the details of the third five-year
million metric tons of pig iron and one plan were announced two years late.
million seven hundred thousand tons
of steel – more than the combined total FIVE COMPLETE AREAS
production of Sweden, Czechoslovakia The chief feature of this strategy was
and Poland in a normal pre-war year. the subdivision of the Soviet Union’s
There are other iron and steel mills in industrial and economic map into
the Ural region, as well as copper and five self-sufficient units, each with its
aluminum mills, in operation and under own raw material sources, agriculture
construction, all of them industrial and industrial plant, equal to or
heavyweights. The Chelyabinsk tractor greater than a major European power.
plant, which produces two-thirds of The new plan stressed the development
Soviet tractors and tanks, is also in this of local fuel supplies and the location of
district. new industrial plants in the vicinity of
their raw material sources. Wherever
PLANES AND ARMS possible food was to be produced
There are, in addition, plants for locally. To encourage this laws were
the manufacture of airplanes and guns passed forbidding the shipment by rail
and shells of every caliber. Though of potatoes and other bulky edibles from
figures or details have been kept strictly one administrative district to another.
secret, the Russians have hinted that To take care of local climate conditions
these Ural plants alone could keep research workers in botany were
their troops armed and supplied. assigned to developing types of wheat,
Fifteen hundred miles to the east of potatoes and garden vegetables suited
the Urals is the Kuznetz Basin, in the to cultivation in the Far North and in arid
very heart of Siberia, the great eastern places. The immediate avowed objective
industrial center Lenin dreamed of. of this drive toward local autarchy was to
The Kuznetz Basin today produces nearly ease the strain on the overworked railway
one fifth the total coal mined in the lines- cement, lumber and other building
U.S.S.R., ranking next to the Don Basin. materials were placed on the forbidden
Most of its output is at present shipped list of goods that could not he shipped by
to the Urals, to Magnitogorsk, Nizhni Tagil rail from Siberia to European Russia-but
and the other plants. But there are also the fundamental reason was to enable
extensive deposits of iron, copper and each self-sufficient district to continue
manganese in the region and two big functioning and resisting in time of war, if
iron and steel mills are already in partial it were cut off from other districts.
operation, as well as a vast chemical
products plant and two rubber factories. DESCRIBED IN 1939
 The blueprints of Soviet economic output. It would also deprive them of 61
defense in the coming invasion were about one-quarter of their grain output.
presented more or less in detail by Premier Even with these staggering, losses the
Vyacheslav Molotov in March, 1939, at the remainder of the country would still be
Eighteenth Communist Party Congress, able to carry on. Of the three industrial
in his speech on the third five-year plan. areas in Asia, the Urals area is the richest
Never an exciting speaker, the dramatic and best developed. The Kuznetz has
implications of his theme were lost in made considerable progress and the Far
his dry, halting presentation. With few Eastern is still in the rudimentary stage.
exceptions, the outside world, including All areas produce enough grain to feed
the press, completely overlooked them. themselves and a surplus population.
After the sensational treason trials, five- More serious is the oil situation.
year plans had lost their news interest,
especially when Hitler’s march into PRINCIPAL OILFIELDS
Prague claimed undivided attention. The chief Soviet oilfields, at Baku, are
The principal weakness of Mr. Molotov’s 700 miles southeast of the Don. Both
plan lies in the gap between plan and they and the Grozny Fields north of them
fulfillment. There has not yet been are protected from overland invasion
sufficient time to develop self-sufficiency through Europe by the lofty and rugged
to the required level in all the areas. The Caucasus Mountains. Any effective attack
most developed are the older areas, those would have to come by sea or through
nearest the invader. A concerted effort in Turkey. After their occupation of Syria
recent years to stem the expansion of the the British are n a good position to assist
Moscow- Leningrad region by banning the defense of the Caucasian oilfields.
the construction of new enterprises, Although 90 percent of Soviet oil comes
does not reduce their importance in the from the Caucasus, the Third Five Year Plan
national balance sheet. calls for the development of a «Second
Baku» between the Volga and the Urals
DON BASIN IMORTANT where the reserves are supposed to be
Far more important is the Western the richest in the world. So far his district
Ukraine Don basin region. Here the produces about two million tons a year,
Krivoi Rog iron mines produce over although the plan called for eleven million
sixteen million metric tons of iron or tons by 1942, although refining facilities
a year – 59 per cent of the total for the for a greater amount already exist at
Soviet Union — while the blast furnaces Orsk, on the upper reaches of the Ural
in the same area produce nine million River, 160 miles south of Magnitogorsk.
tons of pig iron and eight and one-half The Emba basin oilfields east of the Ural
million tons of steel – over half the total River and Ishimbayevo fields in Bashkiria
Union output. The area’s production of close to Magnitogorsk produce about one
manganese amounts to one — third of million tons a year each. Oil reserves. have
the total manganese output. The loss been located at numerous points in Siberia,
of the Don Basin—Ukraine area would including the Kuznetz basin and farther
more than halve the Russians’ industrial east on Lake Baikal and on the Lena River.
62 There is also oil on the peninsula of Every factory worker is expected to
Kamchatka. This is the result of rather qualify for the Voroshiloff marksmanship
superficial surveying and additional tests badge which means that the wearer
are expected o reveal oil at many other can shoot as well as the former War
points. Commissar. Many citizens have also been
trained in more specialized branches
FAR EAST OPERATIONS of warfare – including flying, parachute
In the Soviet Far East, according to jumping and guerrilla tactics. Soviet
information available, are on the Lena River defense has thereby acquired a mass
and on Sakhalin island, which produces basis that extends far beyond the regular
slightly more than pre-war Poland. About Every Russian defense plan since the
half this source has been leased to Japan. days of Genghis Khan has assumed the
While the oil problem would present occupation of large tracts of territory by
serious difficulties if Baku were the invading force. Almost once a century
lost, considerable sources would for the last 600 years Moscow has been
still be available and on a long-term captured by a foreign foe by Tatars,
basis the problem could be solved. Lithuanians, Poles and French. Each time
The double-tracking of the trans- Siberian the Russians have managed to save a part
railway and the approaching completion of their army and after rallying elsewhere
of the Baikal-Amur line are expected to and raising new forces they have thrust
alleviate the transportation problem. the invader out.
While the plan for economic self-
sufficiency, like all Soviet planning, falls Evening Star, June 26, 1941
far short of the ideal contemplated in the This Changing World
prints, its partial successes should never
the less render continued Soviet resistance Russian ‘Retreat Strategy’ Declared
possible, even if Hitler does break the Useless; ‘Generals Mud and Rain’
present deadlock on the Stalin line. Can’t Stop Nazis
Hitler could only achieve complete victory By CONSTANTINE BROWN.
if he succeeded in annihilating the Russian
Army and in further preventing the In military quarters, it is believed, the
recruiting of new units from the country’s traditional strategy of the Russian general
inexhaustible manpower reserves. staff to withdraw deeply into the country
and lay waste to everything that might
WIDE MILITARY TRAINING be useful to the conqueror cannot work
This task is complicated by the fact in the present German-Russian war. The
that a very large proportion of the Soviet famous Russian generals, Mud, Snow,
population, including even women, has Rain and Devastation, who in the past
received military training. The civilian have defeated those who have tried to
defense organization «Osoaviakhim» conquer the vast country, are considered
has taught millions of members of both by modem strategists as shelved. They
sexes how to handle a rifle and a machine can do little to stop the Nazis’ mechanized
gun, as well as air-raid precaution. hordes.
 When Adolf Hitler made his general belief that the Germans have been 63
unprovoked attack against his erstwhile able to go through their opponents like a
partner, it was generally believed the knife through cheese—without important
Russian strategy would be to harass losses—is erroneous. Germany lost heavily
the advancing Germans and avoid at in the Polish, Western European and Balkan
any price a major battle between the campaigns. But, the general staff, once the
opposing armies. This cannot happen attack begins, does not care how many
because in modern warfare industry lives or how many machines are sacrificed
plays an overwhelming role. Most of the so long as the military objective is attained.
Russian industrial centers are situated The important surprise element cannot be
in the west. If they are lost the Russian fully taken advantage of unless it is followed
armies would not have more military up. In the Polish campaign, the German air
value than the Serbs or the Greeks. There force managed to surprise the Poles and
was manpower in the Balkans — more destroy part of their airforce within a few
fighting men than the Germans put hours after the beginning of the war. But
into action. But they were armed with even after the Poles were warned, the
rifles, hand grenades and machine guns Nazis came back to attack. This time they
and could not stop an enemy relying on were received with heavy fire. Hundreds
airplanes and tanks. of planes were lost in those ‘repeats,» but
that did not bother the general staff. They
MANPOWER IS NOT ENOUGH. have ample reserves and their factories
The day the Russians lose their work at full speed. Retreat Is Best Strategy.
industrial centers, where tanks, guns and News from the battlefront necessarily is
airplanes are being manufactured, or skimpy at present. There are no foreign
the regions whence they draw their raw observers anywhere and one has to rely
materials—many of them are situated exclusively on the communiques and
in the south — all they will have left is reports from Nazi and Soviet sources.
manpower. And this is of relatively little There is no question that the Germans
importance these days. During the last war, are attacking regardless of cost. The
the Russians had more than any of their hundreds of planes and tanks which are
antagonists. Yet they could never stem a being lost can be replaced without a day’s
determined German offensive because delay. The Russian’s, on the other hand,
of the German superiority in artillery and don’t have such complete replacement
infantry equipment. In the First World facilities. It would seem logical that their
War, artillery and adequately equipped strategy should be to retreat as they did
infantry were the determining factors in Napoleon’s day. But from the moment
in battle and their coordination was of they allow their industrial centers and the
utmost importance. The teamwork on the source of their raw material to fall into the
battlefield of today is between airplanes enemy’s hands, their power of resistance
and tanks. Besides the quality and speed will be seriously jeopardized. The
of these two modern weapons, a nation destruction of towns and villages, as was
must have ample replacement resources done to hamstring Napoleon, will be of
to repair the inevitable heavy loss. The little aid to the Russians this time. In fact,
64 the Germans are doing the job for them. Gorelchin communicated with the
If the Reich were in immediate, desperate Foreign Office on imminent departure
need for food, there is no question that of the Soviet diplomatic mission,
destruction of food stuffs would worry Russian diplomats and the lone Russian
the German high command. But the correspondent in Italy now are under
real sufferers would be the Russians house surveillance, The correspondent is
themselves. The only thing that can save expected to be treated as a diplomat in
the U. S. S. R. is the possibility that its army accordance with precedent.
can attain a stalemate until Russia’s new The authoritative Fascist editor Virginio
and potential allies can start an effective Gayda said the short summer nights in
bombing of Germany’s industrial centers Russia — «white nights» which are never
and thus weaken seriously the Reich’s completely dark would make war on that
industrial potential. long front «unusually intensive since
everything is visible and clear even from
Associated Press, June 23, afar throughout 24 hours.»
1941 Writing in Il Giornale d’Italia14, he
said one could not «see exactly in what
Italy Sees Early Russian manner and amount» American and
Collapse British aid could reach Russia considering
Nazi Forces Will Complete Campaign that supplies which the United States can
Before Il Duce’s Men Could Arrive, send to Britain «already are difficult.»
Rome Believes! The new Axis move against Russia,
An authoritative source indicated Gayda said, would reinforce the war in
today that Italy expected the German the Mediterranean.
army to produce another blitz campaign «Proofs will be seen soon,» he said.
against Russia which would end hostilities «The Mediterranean war will remain
before forces from Italy could arrive. essential to one of the first plans for
victory over England”.
The source said no arrangements
had been made for immediate Italian The New York Times, July 13,
military aid in the war against the Soviets 1941
which Italy formally entered yesterday.
Whether Italian troops would be sent,
Question of Time
he said, probably would depend upon By C. Brooks Peters reporting
developments. from Berlin
The Italian high command communiqué
made no mention of the Russian hostilities. Russia’s armed forces already have
Fascist newspapers, however, devoted been defeated and their final capitulation
columns to editorials explaining that the or annihilation is now but a question
battle against the Bolsheviks had long of time, in the opinion of authoritative
been in the cards. Russia was pictured as quarters in the Reich’s capital tonight.
having menaced Italy by her advances in In the double battle of Minsk and
the Balkans. Soviet Ambassador Nicolai Bialystok, the Germans assert, the enemy
lost his best troops and the most modern not much of the enemy forces will be 65
equipment in his entire arsenal with able to retire safely behind any natural
the reported break through the «vital geographical obstacles, such as the Volga
positions of the Stalin line on all fronts, or the Ural Mountains. All of which means
they say, all of European Russia now lies merely that in the German view victory
exposed to the assaults of the Reich’s against the Soviet forces, excepting for
motorized and tank divisions. the final cleaning-up operations, has
In the middle sector the Germans claim already been achieved.
to have trapped sizable enemy forces in a
pocket east of Vitebsk, and to the north, FRONT DELINATED
German tanks and motorized formations According to local circles the front at
are reported closing in on Leningrad, the present moment runs somewhat as
which for days has been referred to as follows:
Petersburg in the German press. In the South those forces operating at
Thus, with their drive reportedly far north as the Marshes are in advance
man leaders found it unnecessary this along the entire line of their attack.
afternoon to release any new Information The northern wing of these forces has
in their daily communiqué relative to advanced so successfully, it is believed
progress of the campaign in the east, it here, that they are close to Kiev, capital
was explained. of the Ukraine.
Emphasizing that the Stalin line North of the Pripet Marshes the
represented the last line of defense which Germans have made inroads into enemy
the Russians present in Europe, informed territory which has pushed them some
German quarters declare that there are 60 miles to the east of the Stalin Line
four phases of the invasion which are The Dnepr River has been crossed at
now obvious. many points and the thrusts of German
The first phase was the cracking of the motorized and tank units carried well
Red positions on the border. The second beyond the enemy’s last line of organized
comprised the twin battles between defense.
fixed German and Russian forces around
Bialystok and Minsk – in which two Soviet The Washington Post,
armies were reported wiped out. The July 25, 1941
third was the conquering of the Stalin
Line, these quarters continue.
Today and Tomorrow
Having broken that line, or lane of Russia, Then Latin America
enemy defenses, in all its most vital By Walter Lippmann
points, they add, what now remains is
merely the annihilation of those portions The extraordinary fury of the current
of the Russian armed forces which still Nazi propaganda against the United
find themselves west of the Volga – or in States is an interesting development.
European Russia. It indicates that there was something
Having disrupted the Russian railway wrong in the accounts of the plan of
system, the Germans are confident that which so much was heard from so many
66 German sources in the early days of the precipitated as suddenly as Hitler’s attack
Russian campaign. Hitler, it was said, on Russia. The Nazis would appear at
would conquer Russia and then propose Dakar, their submarines and raiders’
to make peace with Britain. Though this and aircraft would range the South
report was undoubtedly circulated by Atlantic, and rebellions would break out
German agents, and though many well- in the key places of South America, If the
informed persons took it very seriously, campaign was successful, the position of
there was always something about the Britain and the United States would be
tale which did not carry conviction. so compromised that a dictated peace,
It was that since Hitler must know that disguised perhaps as a negotiated peace,
he could never persuade Mr. Churchill or would perhaps have become a practical
Mr. Roosevelt to negotiate with him just possibility.
because he had defeated Russia, there There is really no doubt whatever
must be more to the plan than had been that this South American campaign is
disclosed. There must be something being prepared. The government, as
else Hitler meant to do which he hoped the President and Gen. Marshall16 and
would compel the British and American Secretary Welles have indicated, has
governments to negotiate. There are information which for good reasons, no
reasons for thinking that the outbursts of doubt, it is not yet prepared to disclose
violence by the Nazi propagandists are in in detail. But the sudden and exceptional
part preparation for the hidden plan and violence of the Nazi propaganda
in part an exhibition of rage because Berlin immediately following the Bolivian affair
realizes that the American Government is probably no mere coincidence. For
has not been caught napping. there is obviously more to the Bolivian
The real Nazi plan, it is now obvious, is affair than has yet been disclosed, much
not to let the west alone, defeat Russia, more than Berlin wished to have disclosed
and then propose peace: the real Nazi at this time.
plan, in addition to conquering Russia This whole business is one enterprise,
and stirring up trouble in the Pacific, is to extending from Berlin through Vichy,
use Admiral Darlan15 and Gen. Franco to Madrid and Lisbon to West Africa and
strike a tremendous blow at both Britain then to every capital in Latin America.
and America in the South Atlantic and in The enterprise is not fully organized
South America, The Vichy government is either in West Africa or in South America,
to prepare and provide the African base and the time to set it in motion is not
of operations. Gen. Franco is to carry the quite now while Russian resistance is
propaganda war into Spanish-speaking causing such a lot of trouble. North Africa
America. Conspiracies, already organized is not altogether under control and the
in South America, are to prepare pro-Nazi installations there, though they are being
and anti-American revolutions. made, are not completed. Obviously, the
At the proper moment, which would Bolivian affair went off too soon, and the
be when Germany is able to disengage explosion has probably uncovered much
forces from the Russian campaign, the that at this moment was to have remained
Battle of the South Atlantic would be hidden. Hence the ferocity of the Nazi
reaction about Bolivia at a moment when, 67
one would otherwise suppose, they had Time Magazine, September 22,
plenty of other things to excite them. It is 1941
extraordinary, for example, that they are World War: Napoleon to Hitler
more exercised about the uncovering of a
conspiracy in the Andes Mountains than Napoleon Bonaparte started for
about the bombing of German cities. Moscow on June 24, 1812. Adolf Hitler
The character of the Nazi attack on started on June 22, 1941. Napoleon,
the President is in itself strong evidence whose fastest unit was the horse, reached
that there is being prepared an attack Moscow on September 14. This week, on
via France-Spain-Portugal-West Africa September 14, Hitler, whose fastest unit
on South America. The Nazi propaganda is the plane, was fighting Russian counter-
is making tremendous play of the well- attacks some 200 miles from Moscow.
known and unconcealed fact that Mr. Napoleon stayed in Moscow for nearly
Roosevelt, like so many other American six weeks, suffered cold and defeat in the
Presidents, is a Mason. To those who frigid Russian winter, was back in Paris by
know something of the politics of Latin December 18. Later Napoleon said:
countries, the Nazi use of this particular
device of propaganda will be a certain «I made a mistake in attacking Russia.
sign that they are organizing a new I thought the whole world would be with
front from France and Spain to South me. Everybody turned against me. . . .
America against the United States. One shudders when one thinks of such
Their propaganda is obviously designed a mass as Russia that one cannot attack
to introduce a religious issue in South either from the side or from the rear. .
America which will disrupt that continent . . She overflows on you if you lose; she
and get the United States embroiled in retires into the middle of the ice banks if
dangerous factional issues. All these you win, and suddenly comes out again
things lie on the surface. They are like the head of the Hydra. ... It is not in
impressively confirmed by every piece of our province to attempt such a Herculean
information which comes from informed task, and I tried it stupidly. That I must
observers in South America and in admit.»
France, Spain, Portugal, and Africa. After
the President’s remarks in his recent Last week Adolf Hitler ordered the
message, and after the public testimony requisitioning of all skis, ski poles and
of Gen. Marshall and the statement of snowshoes in Germany, all furs suitable
Undersecretary Welles, there can be no for military wear.
doubt that the information in possession
of the Government would confirm what MBS commentator Wise Williams on
can readily be deduced in general terms fighting in Russia
from what is already publicly known. Audiofile
68 (Endnotes) He flew with a German bomber that cruised for
1 Deutsches Nachrichtenbüro hours off southeast England without drawing fire,
— official German News Agency under and was visiting a German factory when it was
Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda Joseph bombed by the British.
Goebbel DNB became an organ of the state
devoted to propaganda. 6 Ludwig “Louis” Paul Lochner (February
2 Stephen O. Fuqua (December 25, 22, 1887 – January 8, 1975) was an American
1874 – May 11, 1943) was a career officer in political activist, journalist, and author.
the United States Army. A veteran of the Spanish– During World War I, Lochner was a leading figure
American War, Philippine–American War, Pancho in the American and the international anti-war
Villa Expedition, and World War I, he attained movement. Later, he served for many years as
the rank of major general and was a recipient head of the Berlin bureau of Associated Press and
of the Army Distinguished Service Medal from was best remembered for his work there as
the United States, and the French Legion of a foreign correspondent. Lochner was awarded
Honor (Chevalier), and Croix de Guerre. After the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for correspondence
retiring, Fuqua resided in Biarritz, France for his wartime reporting from Nazi Germany.
before relocating to Manhattan. He authored In December 1941, Lochner was interned by
books on military topics and was a columnist the Nazis but was later released in a prisoner
for Newsweek magazine. In addition, at the start exchange.
of World War II, Fuqua provided frequent on air
analysis for radio news programs. 7 Alfred Ernst Rosenberg (12
January1892 – 16 October 1946) was a Baltic
3 Lev Davidovich Bronstein (7 German Nazi theorist and ideologue. Rosenberg
November 1879 – 21 August 1940), better known was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich
as Leon Trotsky was a Russian revolutionary, Eckart and he held several important posts
Soviet politician, journalist, and political in the Nazi government. He was the head of
theorist. He was a central figure in the 1905 the NSDAP Office of Foreign Affairs during
Revolution, October Revolution, Russian Civil the entire rule of Nazi Germany (1933–1945),
War, and the establishment of the Soviet Union. and led Amt Rosenberg («Rosenberg›s
Alongside Vladimir Lenin, Trotsky was widely bureau»), an official Nazi body for cultural
considered the most prominent Soviet figure policy and surveillance, between 1934 and 1945.
and was de facto second-in-command during During World War II, Rosenberg was the head
the early years of the Russian Soviet Republic. of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern
Ideologically a Marxist and a Leninist, his thought Territories (1941–1945). After the war, he was
and writings inspired a school of Marxism known convicted of crimes against peace; planning,
as Trotskyism. initiating and waging wars of aggression; war
crimes and crimes against humanity at
4 The Greek campaign, codenamed the Nuremberg trials in 1946. He was sentenced
‘Operation Marita’ by the Germans, to death by hanging and executed on 16 October
commenced on 6 April 1941, when the Germans 1946.
simultaneously attacked Greece through Bulgaria
and Yugoslavia in a pincer movement designed to 8 Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 –
encircle the Greek troops fighting the Italians on 16 October 1946) was a German politician, war
the Albanian front, as a result of Italy’s declaration criminal and lawyer who served as head of
of war on Greece on 28 October 1940. the General Government in German-occupied
Poland during the Second World War. After the
5 Preston Grover, who covered World German invasion of Poland in 1939, Frank was
War II in Germany, the Mediterranean and North appointed Governor-General of the occupied
Africa as a correspondent for The Associated Polish territories. During his tenure, he instituted a
Press, He was on British ships twice that were reign of terror against the civilian population and
divebombed and sunk in the Mediterranean. became directly involved in the mass murder of
Jews.[1] He engaged in the use of forced labor and
oversaw four of the extermination camps. Frank Ostland, during World War II. Reichskommissariat 69
remained head of the General Government Ostland comprised the states of Lithuania,
until its collapse in early 1945. During that time, Latvia, and Estonia, and parts of modern day
over 4 million people were murdered under his Belarus. On 6 May 1945, Lohse was unseated
jurisdiction. After the war, Frank was found guilty as Oberpräsident of Schleswig-Holstein (by the 5
of war crimes and crimes against humanity at May German surrender at Lüneburg Heath) and
the Nuremberg trials. He was sentenced to death shortly thereafter imprisoned by the British Army.
and executed by hanging in October 1946. (Germany itself surrendered on 7 May and was
disestablished on the evening of 8 May). Lohse
9 Gustav Alfred Julius Meyer] (5 October was sentenced in 1948 to 10 years in prison, but
1891 – 11 April 1945) was a Nazi Party official was released in 1951 due to illness. Two inquiries
and politician. He joined the Nazi Party in 1928 were launched by German prosecutors against
and was the Gauleiter of North Westphalia from him; the grant of a high-presidential pension, for
1931 to 1945, the Oberpräsident of which Lohse was fighting, was withdrawn under
the Province of Westphalia from 1938 to pressure from the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag.
1945 and the Reichsstatthalter of Lippe Lohse spent his twilight years in Mühlenbarbek,
and Schaumburg-Lippe from 1933 to where he died.
1945. By the time of his death at the end
of World War II in Europe, he was a State 12 Erich Koch (19 June 1896 – 12
Secretary and Deputy Reichsminister in November 1986) was a Gauleiter of the Nazi
the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Party (NSDAP) in East Prussia from 1 October 1928
Territories (Reichsministerium für die Besetzten until 1945. Between 1941 and 1945 he was Chief
Ostgebiete or Ostministerium). He represented of Civil Administration (Chef der Zivilverwaltung)
the ministry with Georg Leibbrandt in the of Bezirk Bialystok. During this period, he was
January 1942 Wannsee Conference, at which also the Reichskommissar in Reichskommissariat
the genocidal Final Solution to the Jewish Ukraine from September 1941 until August
Question was planned. Meyer committed suicide 1944 and in Reichskommissariat Ostland from
in April 1945. September 1944. After the Second World War,
Koch stood trial in Poland and was convicted
10 Herbert Friedrich Wilhelm Backe (1 in 1959 of war crimes and sentenced to death.
May 1896 – 6 April 1947) was a German The sentence was later commuted to life in
politician and SS Senior group leader (SS- prison and Koch died of natural causes in his cell
Obergruppenführer) in Nazi Germany who at the Barczewo prison on 12 November 1986.
served as State Secretary and Minister in
the Reich Ministry of Food and Agriculture. 13 Stalin Line was a line
He was a doctrinaire racial ideologue, a long- of fortifications along the western border of
time associate of Richard Walther Darré and the Soviet Union. Work on the system began
a personal friend of Reinhard Heydrich. He in the 1920s to protect the USSR against
developed and implemented the Operation attacks from the west. The line was made up
Hunger that envisioned death by starvation of of concrete bunkers and gun emplacements,
millions of Slavic and Jewish «useless eaters» somewhat similar to the Maginot Line, but
following Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion less elaborate. It was not a continuous line of
of the Soviet Union. He was arrested in 1945 at defense along the entire border, but rather a
the end of World War II and was due to be tried network of fortified districts, meant to channel
for war crimes at Nuremberg in the Ministries potential invaders along certain corridors.In the
Trial but he committed suicide in his prison cell in aftermath of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, with
1947. the westward expansion of the USSR in 1939 and
1940 into Poland, the Baltic and Bessarabia, the
11 Hinrich Lohse (2 September 1896 decision was made to abandon the line in favor
– 25 February 1964) was a German Nazi of constructing the Molotov Line further west,
Party politician and a convicted war criminal, best along the new border of the USSR. A number of
known for his rule of the Reichskommissariat Soviet generals felt that it would be better to keep
70 both lines and to have a defense in depth, but of Foreign Affairs, Minister of the Interior and
this conflicted with the pre-World War II Soviet Minister of National Defense, making him the de
military doctrine. Thus, the guns were removed, facto head of the Vichy government. In April 1942,
but were mostly in storage as the new line Darlan resigned his ministries to Pierre Laval at
construction began. The 1941 Axis invasion caught German insistence, but retained his position as
the Soviets with the new line unfinished Commander-in-Chief of the French Armed Forces.
and the Stalin Line largely abandoned and in Darlan was in Algiers when the Allies invaded
disrepair. Neither was of much use in stopping the French North Africa in November 1942. Allied
onslaught, though parts of the Stalin Line were commander Dwight D. Eisenhower struck a
manned in time and contributed to the defense of controversial deal with Darlan, recognizing him
the USSR. as High Commissioner of France for North and
Following World War II the line has not been West Africa. In return, Darlan ordered all French
maintained, in part, due to its wide dispersal forces in North Africa to cease resistance and
across the USSR. Unlike Western Europe, where cooperate with the Allies. Less than two months
similar fortifications were demolished for later, on 24 December, Darlan was assassinated
development and safety reasons, much of the by Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle, a 20-year-
line survived beyond the breakup of the USSR in old monarchist and anti-Vichyiste.
1991 due to being ignored. Today, the remains
of the Stalin Line fortifications are located 16 Major General Richard Jaquelin
in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine (plus possibly the Marshall (16 June 1895 – 3 August 1973) was
eastern parts of Moldova). a senior officer in the United States Army. He
served in the 1st Division during World War I and
14 Il Giornale d’Italia is an Italian online became the Chief of Staff of United States Army
newspaper. It was founded in Rome in 1901 Forces in the Pacific Theater of Operations by
by the prestigious liberal politicians Sidney the end of World War II. In 1945, with entry
Sonnino and Antonio Salandra, both of which into Japan after the surrender, Marshall
were part of the Liberal Constitutional Party. became Deputy Chief of Staff of SCAP (Supreme
The original paper ceased publication in 1976, Commander for the Allied Powers). On October
following a long decline in sales. It was later 10 he was ordered to Headquarters in Tokyo to
relaunched as the party organ of the Movimento take over as the Chief of Staff. On September
Pensionati Uomini Vivi and had a brief revival, 2, 1945 he accompanied MacArthur on board
only to cease publication again in 2006. The paper the USS Missouri for the signing of the surrender
was relaunched again, this time as an online treaty with the Japanese delegation.
publication, on 10 October 2012.

15 Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan (7

August 1881 – 24 December 1942) was a
French admiral and political figure. Born in Nérac,
Darlan graduated from the École navale in 1902
and quickly advanced through the ranks following
his service during World War I. He was promoted
to rear admiral in 1929, vice admiral in 1932,
lieutenant admiral in 1937 before finally being
made admiral and Chief of the Naval Staff in
1937. In 1939, Darlan was promoted to admiral
of the fleet, a rank created specifically for him.
Darlan was Commander-in-Chief of the French
Navy at the beginning of World War II. After
France’s armistice with Germany in June 1940,
Darlan served in Philippe Pétain’s Vichy regime as
Minister of Marine, and in February 1941 he took
over as Vice-President of the Council, Minister
 71

Chapter IV with diamonds, show their worth to the

Russia’s Great Machine Starts men who have never had any badge
Rolling but mud? Certainly the leaders would
not capitulate —there were still many
soldiers and much land to fall back upon.
Time Magazine, September 29, One heard that there were 4,000,000
1941 fresh soldiers near Moscow; it would take
175,000,000 Faces weeks, perhaps months, to engage them.
If the Red Armies were losing, perhaps
The faces of Russians were drawn last everyone would be given a chance to
week. Not only high cheekbones, not fight. But when? Comrade Stalin had
only the Slavic nose, not only whiskers just decreed that every able-bodied man
identified 175,000,000 Russian faces. between the ages of 16 and 50 years
Anxiety lined all those faces. It was not should go out each day after working
terror that made their lips tight, their hours to learn how to handle a rifle and
eyes tired; not despair, not resignation. It throw a grenade. It would take many
was the awful waiting. days before one man could learn the little
There was so much of importance in killing tricks which must be learned, many
abeyance that waiting for the little things weeks before 25,000,000 men could be
—for the factory whistle, for the streetcar, turned into anything like an effective
for Pravda1with its reassurances—had reserve.
become almost intolerable.
When would the glorious Red Armies The Evening Star, June 26, 1941
win? For years one had watched tanks Russia’s Great War Machine
clanking through the streets, and
outside the villages one had seen the
Starts Rolling Without a Hitch
parachutes pouring down like crazy
cotton snowflakes; one had accumulated Editor’s Note: Henry C. Cassidy2.
tremendous faith in this power. But this Associated Press chief of bureau, in
power had been pushed back, now, deep Moscow, gives the following First hand
into Russia, had been cut at Smolensk, report on Russian civilians under blitzkrieg
cupped at Leningrad, driven even beyond on the basis of unusual experience of war
the ancient Golden Gate of Kiev. reporter. Cassidy, a native Bostonian,
When would the generals make use member of the Paris staff when Germany
of clever strategies? When would the invaded France and saw the masses of
marshals, who wear gold stars studded civilians who clogged French roads in light.
72 The contrast he presents in the following crowds. Uniformed troops on leave
dispatch is the first eye-witness account lined up at railway stations to rejoin
of wartime Russia outside Moscow by an their regiments. Newly mobilized men
American newspaperman. marched in shirt-sleeves through the
From the Black Sea to Moscow streets. Army cars and trucks raced by.
through regions rarely seen by foreigners Houses were transformed into barracks.
recently, even in peacetime, I have Blue light bulbs (for black-out
watched from behind the Russian lines illumination) were produced for public
as the Soviet provinces went to war buildings, candles were distributed in
with Germany. The general impression hotel rooms and the Russian Riviera
was that the Soviet forces got off to a plunged that night into obscurity.
smooth start, mobilization was carried
out without any apparent hitch. The Chicago Sunday Tribune,
black-out was installed effectively. Trains July 27, 1941
were running promptly. Agriculture and
industry appeared to be working at top
Moscow to Сost Hitler Deadly
pitch. The Soviet countryside showed Writer Tells of Seeing Good Army in
two striking contrasts to France of a year Russia.
ago. BY CAPT. M. M. CORPENING.
First, there was no panicky rush of
refugees to tangle transport. In fact, I Observations and contacts that I
found it difficult for a civilian to move at made during three months’ travel in
all unless he had a real reason. Second, Russia and Germany last summer make
the people maintained complete Slavic the clash between these two countries
calmness and confidence. War nerves the most interesting phase of the
never reached these remote districts. European war.
The skies over central European Russia In dispatches from abroad I repeatedly
appeared to be under absolute Soviet stated that Russia had a better army than
control. Through the Ukraine I saw no the world believed. Although it is not so
German planes, not even the scouting well equipped, nor so smoothly working
craft such as penetrated deep into France as the German army, it deserves to be
in the early days of the war there. ranked among the big armies of the world.
The population stiffened suddenly and While it is scattered all over the country,
listened open-mouthed to a broadcast its strongholds are on the Manchurian
of Foreign Commissar Molotov’s speech border facing Japan and in the west facing
announcing the German attack. Germany.
The outbreak of fighting brought a Japan challenged the Reds for exercise
surge of patriotic emotion, Broadcasts in 1938 on the Manchurian front. The
of marching songs echoed through the Japs were chastised in these clashes. The
mountain valleys of the Caucasus after Germans are now trying them out in the
Molotov’s speech. Successive news west. Hitler will find Moscow, if captured,
broadcasts brought bursts of cheering an expensive conquest.
and hand-clapping from steadily growing Two popular prejudices causé
Americans to minimize the Red army: The handled. Most of the bombers were 73
murder of Russian officers in the purge four motored. Fighter craft and bombers
of March, 1938, and the poor’ showing greatly resembled our American models,
made against little Finland. Both may The Russians have also copied American
prove to be fallacies. How much military automobiles. The motorized and
talent was eliminated is unknown, but mechanized equipment appeared to be
there is certainly a lot left. modern and on a par with the Germans.
Close inspections were not permitted.
FINN TEST EXPLAINED. The precision with which the vehicles
The Russians did not take the Finnish moved and the snap and dress of the
war seriously. It was bad fighting soldiers were impressive. Only a trained
country, bitterly cold, and time made no military observer could determine which
difference. The troops sent to Finland at was the better exhibition the parade
first were mostly undisciplined reprobates troops in Moscow’s Red square or in
who were more or less given the choice Berlin’s Unter den Linden. The German
of execution at home or a chance with troops were more finished, the officers
death against the Finns. According to were better dressed, and the equipment
neutral sources in Moscow, Stalin finally showed better care.
got provoked and sent regular troops to Both officers and men in the Russian
the Finnish front one week after their army were young and physically fit. I did
arrival the Finnish peace commission not see a fat soldier in either Russia or
left for Moscow with instructions to sign Germany. As for dress of the soldiers and
capitulation terms. the fit of their uniforms, there was little
It was also reported in Moscow that difference between the Germans and
the generals executed were eliminated the Russians. In physique, maybe, the
more on account of their unwillingness Russians had the edge. I saw a battalion
to modernize their views according of troops detraining in a little town in
to Stalin’s ideas than for treasonable central Siberia. The men showed every
activities. evidence of being thoroughly trained.
Be this report true or not, no army They fell into formation, came to a
could have the training equipment, snappy attention, and marched away
snap and discipline of the Red army, like veterans of any first class army. Every
as observed by this reporter in Russia, man had full equipment and identical,
without military minds and ability in the well fitting uniforms. In addition, each
background. appeared to be less than 25 years old and
6 feet tall.
GOOD PLANES WELL FLOWN.
Russia introduced mass parachute SKI TROOPS WIORK IN EARNEST.
operations and mass plane flights 15 Ski troops were maneuvering as I
years ago. The planes I saw in Russia all passed thru Siberia. About 200 with full
the way from Manchouli to the western equipment were executing a military
border, both fighter and bomber, problem and seemed to be putting their
appeared to be modern and skillfully heart into the work. Overhead soared
74 airplanes apparently participating in the The Times, July 03, 1941
exercises. Several miles further along a Hard Hitting by Red Air Force
formation of new four-motored bombers
made good landings at an airport as the NEW FIGHTER IN USE
train went by.
The ground school work for Russian From Our Aeronautical
flyers is taught in an aviation college Correspondent
in Moscow. It resembles one of our
universities. The artillery, communication, Reports received in this country
and other service branches have similar indicate that the Soviet Air Force is putting
schools. In all arms of the service the up an extremely good fight against the
theoretical as well as the practical is Germans on all fronts. Although the
taught. The more proficient soldiers sudden attacks made by the Luftwaffe on
become officers. Russian airfields before any declaration
All Russians, as well as the ruling of war had been made undoubtedly led
communists, are proud of their army. to the destruction of many aircraft on
A peasant woman, in rags and looking the ground, the German claims should
actually hungry, was seen buying flowers not be accepted. They are believed to be
to throw at soldiers. as exaggerated as many of those made
The big handicap of the Russian forces, during the Battle of Britain last year.
of course, is the size of country they have The Russians are using a new fighter3,
to defend. which appears to be most effective,
though the general standard of their
NAZIS MEET OPPOSITION. fighters is not comparable with those of
How the armies on the whole of the enemy. The Soviet Air Force has shown
both Russia and Germany compare with itself to be well trained for cooperation
their show troops is little known outside with the Red Army and many of its attacks
these countries. The same can be said on German lines of communications have
of the respective quality and quantity brought excellent results. Much useful
of the military elements. Stalin started work has been done by a large force of
to arm Russia five years before Hitler six-engine heavy bombers.
came into power. There is no reason to The spirit of the Soviet pilots and
believe that he hasn’t continued. Now, crews is said to be high, and they are
for the first time, Hitler and his army fighting with great courage and tenacity.
have been opposed in the true military The Luftwaffe has lost a large number of
sense. Under both the soviet and Nazi machines and crews, particularly among
systems the same orders are issued the much-battered dive-bombers, the
to the troops: “Fight at the front or be Ju874.
killed at the rear.” The outcome will be
costly to the winner.
The Washington Post, outer defenses might be broken. Many 75
July 1, 1941 of the new strategic Factories designed
Stolid Muscovites Used to to keep the armed forces supplied with
tanks and planes and ammunition were
Hardship built 700 miles or more east of Moscow,
By Wade Werner5 Associated Press some of them behind the mountain
Staff Writer barrier of the Urals.
Near these mountains, too, Soviet
Factories Moved East engineers have been developing new
Many years ago Soviet leaders began oil fields and refineries to insure a fuel
preparing for the possibility chat their supply for the army.
outer defenses might be broken. Many In 1939, the output of these new
of the new strategic Factories designed fields already exceeded 2,000,000 tons,
to keep the armed forces supplied with according to Soviet statistics, but the
tanks and planes and ammunition were country still depends on Caucasian fields
built 700 miles or more east of Moscow, for more than 90 per cent of its oil. Some
some of them behind the mountain of the new refineries are not scheduled to
barrier of the Urals. go into production until next year.
Near these mountains, too, Soviet
engineers have been developing new Time Magazine, November 17,
oil fields and refineries to insure a fuel 1941
supply for the army.
In 1939, the output of these new The Great Trek
fields already exceeded 2,000,000 tons,
according to Soviet statistics, but the . . . There is only one means, Stalin
country still depends on Caucasian fields said, to reduce to zero the present
for more than 90 per cent of its oil. Some German superiority in tanks and thus
of the new refineries are not scheduled to radically improve the position of our
go into production until next year. armies. This method consists not only in
However, the Ukraine, which Hitler increasing several times the output of
apparently wants as the breadbasket of tanks in our country but also in sharply
his new order in Europe, happens to be increasing the output of anti-tank guns,
the chief breadbasket and coal and iron anti-tank aircraft, anti-tank rifles, anti-
area of Russia. tank grenades and trench mortars. . . .
An attempt to keep going after the So far Russia has lost only about one-
loss of the Ukraine and the Caucasian oil third of its pre-war industrial capacity.
fields, at a time when the new industrial The principal losses have been the
and oil producing areas of the interior still Leningrad area and the Ukraine. The
are in the early stages of development, Germans have nibbled at, and probably
therefore would mean heroic efforts and partly immobilized, Moscow’s industry.
desperately lean years ahead. Russia has not lost to the Germans a
Many years ago Soviet leaders began single irreplaceable unit of its incredible
preparing for the possibility chat their natural resources. These treasures lie be
76 yond Hitler’s present reach. The oil and He does not have to make intricate
manganese of the Caucasus are the only arrangements with railroad companies.
resources immediately threatened. He does not have to worry about labor
Russia has lost only about 7% of its laws or labor unions. He does not have
territory (which totals one-sixth of the any trouble finding enough workmen.
earth’s surface). Beyond the Volga, 350 He just orders so many workmen, asks
miles to the east of Hitler’s easternmost railroad authorities for the proper
advance, lies 85% of Russia; behind the number of trains, goes to work. U.S.
Urals, 75%. observers, reared in the legend of Russian
Speed. The new Russia becomes inefficiency, have found little of it in this
more powerful every day. A fortnight ago war.
foreign correspondents were taken to a Foresight. For the last decade Russia
plant near the Urals. In June, when the war has paid increasing attention to the
broke out, it was a relatively unimportant development of great new industrial
factory producing a few simple machines. areas. One straddles, and partly hides
On Aug. 3 a Leningrad factory shut down, behind, the Urals. Another is the Kuznetsk
dismantled its machinery, loaded it on flat Basin, next to Outer Mongolia. In the
cars and sent it east, along with most of its extreme south, centered at Tashkent,
skilled workers and executives. While the there is a less concentrated area, mainly
trains were on their way, a community of of light industries such as textiles.
wooden sheds was built around the Urals These areas include such great
plant. When the machines arrived they centers as Magnitogorsk, whose iron
were set up at once. Unskilled workers & steel combine is larger than any in
were hired from the locality. On Aug. 25 Europe. The Ural Freight Car Building
the new plant went into production. Works in Tagil produced 120,000 two-
“It is a strange thing,” wrote New York axle cars in 1939—as many as were
Times Correspondent C. L. Sulzberger, made elsewhere in all Russia. There
“to wander through this factory and see have been many conversions: the Tagil
hundreds of peasant women, each with a Car Works is now producing military
bright kerchief around her head, stamping vehicles; the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant
out and testing intricate machine parts. now makes tanks; factories in Novosibirsk
Men are doing the heaviest types of work mass-produce military-type skis. The
and dozens of young technical students in diversity is surprising: the auxiliary capital
their teens are employed as apprentices. produces carburetors, armatures, railway
The factory works day & night. The equipment, cinema apparatus, tractor
workers are on the job wartime hours— parts, tubes, leather goods, foodstuffs.
eleven a day, six days a week.” Fat Rump. Except for two shortages—
Efficiency. The U.S. would have had manganese and mercury—Russia’s great
a hard time moving such a plant so far rump is sufficiently stocked in all vital
so fast. That the Russians could do so is resources. The Kuznetsk Basin has five
because Red tape is not binding. times as great coal reserves as the Donets
A Soviet official who plans a plant Basin, now in German hands. Oil fields in
transfer does not have to worry about. the plains adjoining the Urals have been
developed to the point where they could harvester, combines, mostly manned by 77
partially compensate for the loss of Baku. women, move steadily northward from the
The area should not lack water power: on Caucasus and the shores of the Black Sea
the Angara River the biggest power dam in toward central Russia. By next week this
the world is being built. Even without the army of the harvest will have practically
good black earth of the Ukraine, Russia completed its “conquest” of the Ukraine
could be agriculturally self-sufficient. and will be advancing through the fields
This Russia could in time produce of middle Russia and then the bulk of this
the heavy necessities of war, probably year’s grain crop – according to Soviet
including airplanes. It would be hard put reports a bumper crop – will be largely
to it to produce precision instruments out of reach of Nazi steel fingers.
and delicate machines. It would have to In the original Nazi war plans capture
rely on Lend-Lease for such things. of the Soviet harvest was even more
Russians have had a great reputation important than capture of specified cities.
for industrial fallibility. They have been Hitler has been counting heavily on this
dismissed as Orientals, incapable of harvest to feed both his armies and the
understanding machines. But one set population of Germany and the occupied
of Orientals, the Chinese, withdrew in countries through the coming winter. The
the face of military reverses to China’s promissory notes of the Nazi New Order
mountains, and there succeeded in were to be paid in Russian grain.
pinning down 1,000,000 Japanese
soldiers for over two years. Even allowing KNOWN AS RUSSIAN BREADBASCKET
for Soviet weaknesses and failures, the Nearly half of the Soviet crop comes
Russians already possess an industrial from the rich areas of the Ukraine, known
setup that makes Chungking look pretty as Russia’s bread-basket. At the outset
primitive. of the German invasion of Russia most
forecasts were that Germany would first
Christian Science Monitor, attack the Ukraine. Instead the main Nazi
August 5, 1941 thrust developed against Moscow.
The apparent reason for this was that
Battle for Russian Harvest the Germans realized that if they advanced
Swings Away From Nazis on the Ukraine directly, vast areas under
By Edmund Stevens cultivation would be trampled down and
agriculture so disorganized for the time
With giant armies still locked in that it would be impossible to harvest
combat along the vast Eastern front, and save the remainder.
behind the lines the Russians appear Danger that the Soviets when faced
to be winning one of the most vital with disaster elsewhere on the front
contests of the war-the battle for this might attempt to destroy the grain in the
year’s harvest. fields was minimized by the fact that the
Here, too, the forces are mechanized. green grain did not burn easily.
Racing with time, day by day vast The Nazis expected that they could take
regiments of tank-like tractors and over the Ukraine breadbasket as a going
78 concern and save the crop for themselves them a leg on the overland route to the
if they cracked the Soviet regime by a quick rich Baku oil fields. But unless Soviet
frontal thrust on Moscow. resistance completely collapsed they
By the same token they would avoid would still find the Caucasus mountain
devastation of the great industrial region ranges extremely hard to negotiate.
of the Don Basin, with its giant blast Just as the Germans must admit failure
furnaces, aluminum plants, machine of their plan to capture Soviet industry
works, and other enterprises that would intact, so must they acknowledge defeat
fit in so nicely with Germany’s war in the Battle for the Harvest.
production, well out of range of British Once the crop is gathered it may be
bombers. shipped well away from the war zone
Today, fought to a standstill on to be added to the already considerable
the central front, the Germans have Soviet reserves. Or, if transportation is
apparently been forced to give up capture not available the grain may be destroyed
of Moscow as their first major objective. in consonance with the Soviet’s “scorched
Instead they are turning toward Kiev as earth” policy.
a consolation prize. While the capture An estimate of the staggering and far-
of Kiev would be of minor military reaching blow to Nazi economic plans
significance as compared to that of may be obtained by pointing out that
Moscow, they have not got so far to go last year’s Soviet grain crop amounted
and it would provide the home public to 4,430,000 bushels – more than one
with the long promised “brilliant victory.” fourth of the average yearly world
In aiming their new blow at the production. This year’s plan called for an
Ukrainian breadbasket the Nazis admit 8 per cent increase over last year’s crop.
the failure of the Moscow drive and with Loss of eastern Poland and part of White
it the collapse of their entire original Russia through the German advance has
blitzkrieg plan. No longer can they hope reduced the grain-producing area.
to “annihilate” the Red Army and Air Force In northern and central Russia the size
by a few swift direct smashing attacks, of the crop has been adversely affected
after which they could peacefully walk in by a late spring which put sowing three
and take possession of the Russian rear weeks behind schedule. However the
intact. Recent experience has taught the Soviet authorities insist these losses are
Germans that they cannot break Soviet more than made up for by unusually
resistance without destroying its economic favorable conditions not only in the
basis. The southern drive if it succeeds will Ukraine, but also in the Kuban or north
involve the destruction of those industries Caucasus and along the east bank of the
Germany counted on using for its own Volga where periodic droughts have often
future war needs. A rise in the cost of the caused crop failure in past years.
Soviet campaign is being followed by a The current harvest season is the
decline in the probable returns. second in succession when the Soviet fleet
The Germans may point out as a of 600,000 tractors and 300,000 harvester
compensating factor that the occupation combines is being operated and serviced
even of a devastated Ukraine would give almost entirely by women. Shortly after
the completion of the 1939 harvest, made the defensive line would extend from 79
tractor drivers, combine operatives, and Lake Ladoga to the Volga river east of
mechanics were among the first to be Leningrad and Moscow, continuing on the
mobilized when Soviet mechanized units west bank of the Volga to Astrakhan. The
clanged into Poland. At that time there Rumanian and Hungarian armies would
were already 100,000 qualified women be expected to help the Germans hold
drivers and mechanics trained for such a the line. The Information gave this picture
contingency. Thousands of others were of the strategy from that point on: In
hastily trained through the winter months. October, Turkey would be asked for free
The thought that women have played such passage of German troops for a campaign
an active part in foiling their plans should against British forces in the Middle east.
rankle the Nazi superman almost as deeply Japan would attack Russia in the Lake
as reverses on the battlefield. Baikal region of eastern Siberia if the
United States intervened actively on the
Chicago Daily Tribune, soviet side.
August 9, 1941.
SEEK 5 MILLION FUR COATS
AS BLITZ FAILS During the winter the Nazi air force
Army Seeks Five Million Fur Coats. would concentrate on destruction of
Russian industrial centers between
BERNE, SWITZERLAND, Information Moscow and the Urals. A stock of 5,000,000
reaching Berne from foreign military fur coats to clothe Ger man troops during
quarters in Berlin Indicated tonight that the winter already is being collected. Two
the German high command was forced months before the outbreak of the Russian
to revamp its Russian campaign to a long war the German army had 2,000,000 fur
term basis July 15 when it became evident coats which were obtained in Afghanistan,
that blitzkreig plans would fail. Turkey, and Iran. Sweden, Norway, and
This information was that Germany Germany are now being combed to supply
originally had planned to occupy the another 3,000,000.
Ukraine and take Leningrad within three The military sources reported that the
weeks, then seize Moscow, and reach slow advance of the German army had
Astrakhan, on the Caspian Sea 1.700 caused visible disappointment” among
miles east of Berlin, by the end of August the German an population, who were
more interested in the prospect of rapid
SET NEW TIMETABLE occupation of the Ukraine than in capture
The new time table calls for capture of of Smolensk, 230 miles southwest of
Leningrad and Moscow and an advance to Moscow, or Leningrad.
the Caucasus by the end of September, the
military sources said. If the Russian army Eraskine Caldwell speaks about first
is still in existence the Germans would six months of Soviet-German War
pursue it toward the Ural mountains then Audiofile
settle down on a defensive line.
According to the reported plan,
80 (Endnotes) bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed
by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935.
1 Pravda is a
The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937
Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was
with the Luftwaffe’s Condor Legion during
the official newspaper of the Central
the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 and served
Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet
the Axis in World War II from beginning to end
Union, when it was one of the most influential
(1939–1945).
papers in the country with a circulation of 11
million. The newspaper began publication
5 Werner, Oscar Emil was a reporter Los
on 5 May 1912 in the Russian Empire, but
Angeles Evening Herald, 1911. Reporter Prescott
was already extant abroad in January 1911. It
(Arizona) Evening Courier, 1920–1922. Worked
emerged as the leading government newspaper
with Associated Press, since 1922, successively
of the Soviet Union after the October Revolution.
editor on Los Angeles staff, state capitol
The newspaper was an organ of the Central
correspondent at Sacramento, Hollywood film
Committee of the CPSU between 1912 and 1991.
feature editor, feature editor in London, England.,
staff writer at Berlin, chief of bureau, Vienna
2 Cassidy Henry Clarence (1910–1988)
(covering February and July revolts, 1934). Staff
was an American journalist. He spent most of his
writer Berlin bureau, 1935–1937.Chief of Moscow
career as a foreign correspondent and bureau
bureau, 1938–1939. Baltic bureau, Copenhagen,
chief for the Associated Press, NBC and Radio
1939. Correspondent at front Russian-Finnish
Free Europe. Cassidy worked at various times in
War, January-March 1940. Ottawa, 1940-1941;
France, the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and the
Washington, 1941–1943.
United States, but he is best known for his World
War II reporting. He was awarded the French
Legion of Honour for his bravery as a frontline
correspondent. From 1940 to 1944 he was the
head of the Moscow bureau of the Associated
Press. He was respected by Stalin, who in 1942
twice answered the journalist’s questions in
writing. Stalin’s precise answers went down in the
history of diplomacy as an open message to the
heads of allied states. Following the results of his
work in wartime Moscow, H.Cassidy published a
book of memoirs ‘Moscow Diaries 1941–1943’.

3 The Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov
LaGG-3 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of World War
II. It was a refinement of the earlier LaGG-1 and
was one of the most modern aircraft available
to the Soviet Air Force at the time of Germany’s
invasion in 1941. Compared to its opponents
the LaGG-3 was underpowered and, despite
its wooden construction, overweight. It was
unpopular with Soviet pilots, but despite this, at
one point in the war, on average 12 LaGG-3s were
being completed daily and 6,528 had been built
in total when production switched to the Yak-3 in
1944. The LaGG-3 was steadily improved, forming
the basis for the more successful La-5 and La-7.

4 The Junkers Ju 87, popularly

known as the “Stuka”, is a German dive
 81

Chapter V When Napoleon crossed the Ilmen

A Capital at War: River in 1812 at the beginning of
No Strangers to Hardships his gamble it was June 24. Hitler’s
troops entered Soviet territory June
22.Napoleon’s soldiers entered Moscow
The Washington Post, September 24. They had to walk, and
July 1, 1941 Hitler’s men move on wings and wheels.
Supposing German troops actually arrive
Stolid Muscovites Used to at the gates of the Soviet capital about August
Hardship 1. What will happen then? Will the civilian
By Wade Werner Associated Press Staff population already have been evacuated?
Writer Will the Russians burn the city to keep it out
of Hitler’s grasp or as a taunting reminder of
Editor’s note: Wade Werner, who the fate of Napoleon? It can be assumed that
pictures here for The Washington Post most of Moscow’s population will remain on
special news service how Moscow the job as long as possible. Moscow is the
residents might react to Nazi raids, has capital, and has many important factories.
had unusual opportunity to judge the This, of course, is a far different war from
military and psychological factors on both the war of Napoleon’s day. It is possible
sides of the Russian-German conflict. He that Moscow might be laid in ruins by
was in Germany when Hitler first began to Nazi bombing squadrons long before any
make headway in his rise to power, later armored columns could penetrate within
was stationed in Moscow, and was in 100 miles of the city.
Finland when Soviet forces invaded that Moscow’s people, however, are no
country in 1939. strangers to hardship and danger. They
Now that Adolf Hitler has launched have seen worse than war: they have
Germany on the great gamble that seen bloody civil strife and famine and
wrecked Napoleon – an invasion of Russia- endured the nerve-gnawing of successive
what will happen in Moscow if his troops political purges.
enter that city which his predecessor also It would be most astonishing if these
entered only to see it go up in smoke? stolid inhabitants of a cruelly overcrowded
Will the Russians again burn Moscow city, with their background of endurance
to frustrate a would-be conqueror? through war revolution, civil war and
Will a conqueror, this time, too, find famine, suddenly should mill around in
his victorious armies stranded in the panic under the stress of this new war.
midst of a Russian winter? If the Soviet government should
82 decide to evacuate Moscow, it is safe to and houses; women in overalls working
assume that they would trudge away in side-by-side with men on excavating jobs.
the assigned direction with little more You see a company of Druzhenitsa1 swing
excitement than if they were parading down a broad new street girls in their
across Red Square on a big day of twenties wearing well cut khaki tunics,
ceremony. blue berets, blue skirts and black knee
If, under air bombardment, they do boots. They earn rifles with bayonets and
not put up as brave a show, in their own their officers have revolvers strapped to
way, as the inhabitants of indomitable old their Sam Browne belts. Not all women are
London, they will certainly surprise many in overalls smeared with mortar. There are
foreigners. They have a vast basic store striking evidences of the calm detachment
of courage, and a sense of humor that with which Russia fights.
functions under practically all conditions.
Win or lose, the common people of BALLET GOES ON
Russia are likely to take the hardships and You see the curtain fall on the finale of
terrors of war with as little panic and tragic Tschiakovsky’s Swan Lake performed for an
complaining as any population in Europe. audience of children and a little sun-tanned
If Hitler’s armies succeed in crippling girl in pig-tails runs down the aisle and
the Soviet military machine and Josef tosses a bouquet to the famous ballerina,
Stalin decides to call for a retreat into the Olga Lepeshinskaya2. It is a bouquet of only
deep interior of Russia, those who follow three drooping red carnations, but the
him will have need of their capacity to ballerina picks them up from the footlights
endure. as if they were the rarest orchids that ever
crossed the stage of the Metropolitan But,
United Press, September 15, hour by hour and day by day this war is
1941 a deadly serious business for the toiling
masses of the capital and its total character
A CAPITAL AT WAR impressed me from the hour I arrived from
Moscow Calm Amid two years of war in Britain. It is a total effort
Grim Routine that misses nothing behind the 2.000 mile
front from the Arctic coast to the Black Sea.
MOSCOW, UNITED PRESS, SEPTEMBER
15. This is Moscow, the heart of a vast GIRLS AT WAR
land now straining in a total effort to win a The Druzhenitsa company, for instance.
total war. No other nation in Adolf Hitler’s The principal duties of the girls in these
path has carried out such a thorough companies lie behind the lines as do the
mobilization of man-power; of technical duties of the British women auxiliary units.
skill and brains. Never In Spain or Britain They may also be used to earn wounded
did I get the Impact of such a total war from the battlefield and to perform other
effort. And that impression is being dangerous tasks at the front. In one of the
strengthened every day. Walk through the capital’s suburbs a company of popular
streets of the capital of the Soviets You (peoples’ guards made up of over-age or
see women brick-layers repairing buildings very young men marches past on its way to
strengthen fortifications behind the front and transform feudal Russia into a modern 83
lines. Building workers, wearing gas masks industrialized country.
while pushing wheelbarrows or climbing
ladders accustomed themselves to possible STRUGGLE STILL FRESH
future gas attacks. Truck loads of green- These years of blood and sweat and
capped frontier guards locking like the men sacrifice were fresh in the memory of
from Mars in gray gas masks roll past in Russians when Hitler attacked the Soviet
regular gas drill. The newspaper kiosk at the Union. Many of them had invested their
corner is selling pamphlets on use of hand entire lives in the effort to create a new
grenades. Boys and soldiers are pictured state. They would accept without question
throwing grenades from trenches and sacrifices which total war imposes in order
positions behind trees, lobbing bunches of to protect that investment. But it would
two or three grenades against tanks. The be wrong to picture this capital as a city
papers are full of articles on grimmer kinds in which war has obliterated all traces of
of war – rifle shooting and bayonet drill. normal life. I have been impressed by the
calm detachment in which Russia goes
SCHOOLS OPEN about is business It is as calm as a London
School opened as usual in Moscow, accustomed to the battering attacks of
but an article in the Teachers Gazette the Luftwaffe or as Madrid, which I saw
says: “The most important duty of our basking in the sun of the last summer of
schools this year is to educate the pupils to the Spanish Republic. Many children have
become strong soldiers and defenders of been evacuated to the countryside but
our fatherland. All our work this year must there are plenty of them left in Moscow.
be connected with the armed defense You see them everywhere, buying ice
of our country.” Older boys, it continues, cream sandwiches and pink lemonade
must learn to use rifles, grenades and from push cart vendors or chocolate bars
machine guns and become good skiers. from the corner kiosks. They help to give
Young Communist factory workers are the capital its appearance of normali
giving up their day of rest and contributing
their extra earn to the war fund. From The Evening Star, July 17, 1941
every of new records for production of Hitler Jokes Amuse Audience of
war materials by individual workers and
factories. The transition from peace to this
Workers At Moscow Circus
basis of total war was made more easy for Performance Closely Resembles
the Soviet Union than in other countries Those That Delight U. S. Citizens
which had to face Hitler’s armies. When By ERSKINE CALDWELL3
Hitler struck, the Soviets had already gone
thru more than a quarter of a century of MOSCOW, July 17.—Last night, together
war of one kind or another— the World with several thousand Moscow citizens, I
War, Civil War, foreign intervention, years went to the circus. The performance began
of unceasing vigilance against “capitalistic at 7:30 and ended two hours later, before
encirclement” and then the long, relentless dark. Unlike in times of patriotic upsurge
struggle to recover centuries of lost time in the United States of America, there was
84 no singing of the Internationale but the three donkeys that wouldn’t do anything
performance began with a poetic tribute he tried to make them do.
to the Red Army and Red Navy spoken by
one of the troupe. The circus was held in AUDIENCE OF WORKERS
the hippodrome in Gorky Central Park of Most of the audience was composed
Culture and Rest and, like all good circuses, of workers on their way home. There were
was under canvas. The only thing missed plenty of small boys, as there would be
by this American were the peanuts and at any circus performance at New York,
barkers. Otherwise the circus was like all or at El Paso, Tex. There were very few
circuses the world over, with plenty of Red Army men present, but a great many
sawdust, folding chairs, a ringmaster and men in civilian clothes. The topic of war
clowns. If I were asked to name one thing was touched upon three or four times
of International character in Moscow, I when jokes were told at the expense of
would name the circus. All the performers Hitler. Most of the jokes made their point
are citizens of one of the national republics on a play of words which are difficult to
but the acts are almost identical with those translate and also j not always readily
seen by citizens of Springfield, Mass., and understandable when taken out of the
Springfield, Ohio, beginning with tumblers Russian. The audience howled at every
and ending with a great ape eating dinner, reference to Hitler. I heard the best joke
reading a book and riding a bicycle. when the circus was over. The story was
that Mussolini was so tired and haggard j
BURKING MULE STARS from overwork and worry that his physician
The favorite comedian at any Soviet ordered him to go to Germany for the sake
circus is the Charlie Chaplintype clown. of his health and take a complete rest.
People always applaud him more than any When he returned a week later he was
other performer. One of the outstanding more tired and haggard looking than ever.
circus acts was a bucking mule that His physician asked what had happened
consistently defied the efforts of six to him in Germany. Mussolini said Hitler
amateur cowboys from the audience to wouldn’t lit him have any peace at all.
ride him. The mule not only bucked like a
broncho but was a past master at butting The Evening Star, July 22, 1941
like a goat. An adlib incident occurred last
night when Charlie, the great ape made
Writer Describes Moscow Raid
a pass at the waitress when she took his As ‘Comparatively Harmless’
dish away before he had finished eating By HENRY C. CASSIDY,
his soup. What followed wasn’t in the Associated Press War Correspondent
script and it brought the house down. The
topnotch act of skill was I performed by The German air force tried last night to
three aerial acrobats who did their stunts burn out Moscow as it burned out parts
from a small but real airplane that circled of London, but it failed. From sunset to
the arena suspended by a cable. This was dawn I watched a squad of Russian home
a really big time act for any I country. guards toss incendiary bombs of the roofs
Another laugh act was a ringmaster with and put out fires. The raid over, life surged
back through the city in the early morning been a withering attack, had been, in fact, 85
as though it were noon, when thousands a comparatively harmless raid.
take their midday stroll. The sirens whined
just-as the setting sun cast a glow in the The Russians Are Our Kind of People
sky. Then an ominous voice came over Audiofile
the loudspeakers warning everyone to
go to their shelters. I went to the ground-
floor apartment of my building which is (Endnotes)
headquarters of the House Committee. An 1 Soviet people volunteer militia
18-year-old boy, who had been watching
2 Olga Vasilyevna Lepeshinskaya (28
the roof, soon came into the room with his September  1916–20 December 2008) was
bare head soaking wet, and his red shirt a Soviet ballerina.. In the beginning of the Great
open at the throat, rubbing his fireproof Patriotic War Lepeshinskaya became a member
gloves. He said an incendiary bomb had of the Front brigade of the Bolshoi Theater.
landed on the roof, but that he threw it The brigade performed near the front lines, in
hospitals, in Moscow and in Saratov where the
into the courtyard. We were skeptical of Bolshoi was evacuated. Lepeshinskaya was a
his story at first, but found evidence in the member of the brigade until the end of World
burned out metal tube about a foot long. War II. In 1942, the Soviet Youth Anti-Fascist
Another watcher replaced him on the Committee was organized. Lepeshinskaya was its
roof. Small bombs were dropped all along Deputy chairperson.
the street, which is in a quiet residential 3 Caldwell Erskine Preston (1903–1987)
quarter far from central and Industrial was an American novelist, publicist and journalist.
quarters. But only one house was E. Caldwell, having changed many professions,
burned. The occupants dragged out their began his writing career in 1931, publishing a
belongings into the courtyard. As the raid collection of short stories, ‘American Land’. This
was followed by several novels, which were
continued through the night, watchers on repeatedly translated into Russian. In 1941, E.
the roofs replaced one another in relays. Caldwell prepared reports from the USSR for
The constantly changing group of 9 to 21 the magazine-weekly ‘Life’ and radio ‘CBS’ and a
persons kept filing in and out of the first number of other publications. In this capacity, he
floor apartment. The automatic telephone was in Moscow and covered the beginning of the
Great Patriotic War in his publications. On the basis
continued to function throughout the of the material collected during this trip in 1942
raid, and the workers kept in constant he published his journalistic books ‘Moscow under
touch with other nearby headquarters. fire’ and ‘Everything is thrown at Smolensk’, as well
At the start of the raid even the luminous as a novel about the partisan movement in the
dial on my wrist watch caused a flutter USSR ‘All Night Long’.
among the nervous watchers until it was
blacked out under my sleeve. But by the
end of the alarm a light was turned on in
the windowless room, and everyone was
excitedly telling of his experiences. The
drone of planes faded gradually as dawn
spread in the sky. Daylight’ showed that
what had i seemed in darkness to have
86

Chapter VI It is a defensive hatred, and the Red

The Scorched Earth. What Army is a defensive army, which has never
makes the Russians fight as yet been outstandingly successful on the
offensive and is now learning whether
they do? defense can be enough. It is to that hatred
that Moscow’s communiqués appeal,
The Red Army and Navy and the whole forever stressing the killing of Germans,
Soviet people must fight for every inch of the destruction of German tanks, guns,
Soviet soil, fight to the last drop of blood for planes. These communiqués sometimes
our towns and villages…onward, to victory! seem to be deliberately deceptive,
There must be diversionist groups for recounting the deaths of a few hundred
fighting enemy units, for spreading the Germans in battalion engagements,
partisan war everywhere, for blowing up and when great fronts are falling. But for
destroying roads and bridges and telephone the Russians it is not deception; it is
and telegraph wires; for setting fire to the feeding of the Russian conviction
forests, enemy stores and road convoys. In which a Moscow writer expressed to
the occupied areas intolerable conditions Correspondent-Author Maurice Hindus:
must be created for the enemy and his “The loss of territory is never much in
accomplices, who must be persecuted and Russian wars, so long as our armies make
destroyed at every step... it a graveyard for German soldiers.”
Whenever units of the Red Army are
forced to retreat, all railway rolling stock The Washington Post,
must be driven away. The enemy must not July 25, 1941
be left a single engine, or a single railway
truck, and not a pound of bread nor a pint
Nazis ‘Describe’ Furious Soviet
of oil…must drive away all their livestock, Charge Into Withering Artillery
hand their grain reserves to the State organs Associated Press reports from Berlin.
for evacuation to the rear... All valuable
property, whether grain, fuel or non-ferrous German soldier reporters at the front
metals, which cannot be evacuated, must be tonight told of vicious hand-to-hand
destroyed. fighting with Russian troops entrenched
JOSEPH STALIN in The Stalin Line and said that Red army
Address to the people on July 3th 1941 warriors were “stubborn unto death.”
Time Magazine, July 27, 1942 “Often they had to be slain in their
rifle pits,” one dispatch said in telling
of German infantry storming the Red
positions. Russian counterattacks also August 9, 1941. 87
were acknowledged and at times Nazi Advancing Finns find only Ruins
artillery was “firing point-blank at a in Wake of Reds
distance of 100 yards” against the BY LOUIS P. LOCHNER1.
charging soldiers of the Red Star.
In two villages in the Stalin Line region Five days I spent with the Finnish army
the Russians first attacked the Germans, have given me proof that the Red army
one soldier-reporter said. carries out to the letter Josef Stalin’s
“The artillery was hard pressed. Firing order to destroy everything of value on
point-blank at a distance of 100 to 150 retreat.
yards, the artillery was able to hold off Any abandoned village or town can
the Russians. be spotted long before we reach it by the
“Then the German infantry advanced... chimneys standing like so many sentinels
horrible close fighting developed in the amid scenes of desolation. A curious sight
early morning light. The attacking soldiers is the second story iron stoves left in,
in field gray and the Soviets, desperately midair hooked to the chimneys, when the
defending themselves, faced one another rest of the house has burned.
at two yards. “The Soviets suffered terrific
losses.” The Times, 26 September 1941
Then he described the difficulties in What makes the Russians fight
storming the Russian fortifications.
“Suited to the wooded hilly land and
as they do?
cleverly camouflaged with cut stalks of From a Russian Correspondent.
grain, trenches and machine-gun nests
dotted the terrain. One position was What makes the Russians fight as
connected with the other. Often there they do? Why, unlike other Europeans,
were four or five behind one another and do they destroy their own property,
full of Soviets. their own homes, burn their own forests
“A furious fire broke loose against the in a desperate attempt to beat the
storming Germans. The battalion broke invader? That is perhaps what puzzles
through the wood, but only after bloody the observer most about the war in
fighting. the East. Apparently the Germans are
“The Soviets resisted tenaciously. puzzled and surprised themselves, and
Stubbornly they stuck to their posts- not a little worried. They complain that
stubborn unto death. Even in the hopeless there is something different and uncanny
situation they kept their weapons and about the Russians; the Russians do not
often had to be slain in their rifle pits.” know the rules of the game and will not
Chicago Daily Tribune, play; the Russians fight and die fighting,
lose ground and lose machines, but still
fight. When and where is it going to end?
Tolstoy answered that in one of the greatest
books of all time, “War and Peace.” On
June 22, 1812, Napoleon declared war
88 on Russia and began his invasion with an defeat and Napoleon, having suffered
army of nearly 600,000 men, the greatest more than 25 per cent. casualties,
proportion of whom were Germans. dreaded the renewal of the conflict.
What arrogant gesture in the face of Kutuzov, fearful of sacrificing the whole of
destiny caused that other megalomaniac, his army, ordered the retreat, but insisted
Hitler, lo begin the invasion of Russia on that Borodino was a great victory, that the
the same date last June? On September beast had been mortally wounded and
7, less than 100 miles west of Moscow, could never recover. Before abandoning
Kutuzov decided to risk a decisive battle Moscow he cried, half in anguish, half in
at Borodino in a desperate attempt anger, “ I will make them eat horseflesh
to save the ancient capital. And what yet!” One can hear Marshals Timoshenko,
was the result when the Russians were Voroshilov, and Budyonny saying just that
outnumbered from the start and facing after the blood-bath they have given
an enemy who had beaten them before? Hitler’s armies at Smolensk, Odessa, and
This is how Tolstoy puts it: Napoleon was Kiev. Can one blame the Russians if to-
going through the painful experience of day they feel sure that, even if Odessa,
a gambler who, after a long run of luck, Moscow, and Leningrad should fall, Hitler
has calculated every chance and staked is still moving to his doom in Russia?
handfuls of gold – and then finds himself
beaten after all, just because he has MOSCOW IN THE SUN
played too elaborately. The troops and Little did Napoleon realize the destiny
commanders were the same as of old; in store for him as he admired the sight
his plans, were laid; his address short of Moscow glittering in the sun at his feet
and vigorous; he was sure of himself, on September 14. For the Russian nation
and of his experience, his genius, which had taken up arms against the invader
had ripened with years; the enemy in before even the Government had time
front was the same as at Austerlitz and to organize popular resistance. Bitterly
Friedland; he had counted on falling on Napoleon complains of the Russians
him tooth and nail and the stroke had for debasing the “noble art of war”;
failed as if by magic.... From all sides came just as the German Supreme Command
the cry for reinforcements, the news that is complaining about them today.
generals were killed or wounded, that But it is this very conception of war as a
the regiments were demoralized, that it noble art and the successful militarist as
was impossible to move the Russians... a great personage and all glorification of
today something strange was in the war that Tolstoy hates: The power which
air – the Russian advanced works, to decides the fate of nations is not inherent
be sure, had been taken by storm still, in conquerors, armies, or battles, but has
he felt it, and he knew that all his staff a quite different source. This is the very
felt it too.... Every face was gloomy... antithesis of Hitler’s “new order” and
he knew that it was a drawn game. the very faith which democracy is trying
At the end of the day, although the to vindicate. Russia never inherited that
Russians had lost half their army in killed glorification of the military art which was
and wounded, they still refused to admit the heritage of Western Europe from the
Greeks and the Romans. The Slavs were in intimate contact with man’s own 89
peaceful shepherds, husbandmen, and achievements and the beauty, wealth,
traders who suffered much at the hands and comfort accumulated by centuries of
of warlike neighbours and savage nomads effort. He realizes how long it has taken
sweeping over them with fire and sword to build them up and cannot imagine
because they happened to live on the life without them. Can one picture
main highways where moved the periodic Englishmen burning down Canterbury or
migrations of peoples from East to West. their Houses of Parliament? They would
While Western Europe applauded and fight for them until they lay in ruins, yes;
honoured its knights in shining armour but to set them alight or destroy them
and sang the praises of the brave and merely to impede the enemy or deny him
gallant soldiers who valiantly defended possession, that they would never do.
their castles and went far afield to And yet Kiev is just as ancient as
reduce other proud knights and conquer Canterbury and holds historic treasures
their peoples, the Russian Slavs learnt as dear to Russia. Yet the Russians have
to hate war because they were the not hesitated to destroy and burn it as
victims of the most savage and ruthless they did Moscow to thwart the invader.
warriors of all time, the Mongols of Why? Because the Russian’s horizon
Ghengis Khan and his successors. has not been hemmed in by a valuable
The Russians had no castles, no human heritage and effort which are the
handsome, armoured, tilting knights; product of a concentrated and crowded
war for them was not a contest of skill civilization. He has been primarily a
between generals and noblemen on nomad pioneer living with limitless and
whose failure or success depended natural horizons. It is not the product of
merely the transient allegiance to just human toil and art that has impressed
another knight or king. The Russians him, but the immensity and power of
learnt of war only through the invasion Nature. For centuries he strained every
of savage hordes who cut and burnt their effort to eke out a bare subsistence, and
way across the Russian land. From time only too often the fruits of his labour
immemorial war to the Russian was not were destroyed by hard Nature or cruel
a chivalrous and romantic pastime, but man and he moved on somewhere else
spelled only murder, destruction, rape, to start all over again. It was not the sort
and desolation. Is it any wonder they of environment and influence calculated
truly hate war and loathe the invader? to produce a high respect for material
property. The Russian, to whom the span
THROWING ALL IN of human existence seems relatively so
Perhaps Tolstoy does not make it unimportant and ineffectual, values even
clear also why the Russian has sufficient life cheaply, whereas his brooding spirit is
con – tempt for his own life as well as forever prodding for the ultimate truth,
the enemy’s, and for his own property, which interests and concerns him more
to sacrifice all in his attempt to destroy than practical, material achievement.
an invader. Western Europe is so small This has expressed itself in his
and crowded: the European is always institutions and his history. The Russian
90 was never the resigned slave that European released. Surely such people, and such a
history paints him. He accepted readily the land, must have a profound influence on
idea of theocracy which demanded that all the world; an influence which can bear the
classes surrender their free will and labour most fruitful results if it is associated with
to the service of a semi-divine order. For the tempering and mature influence of the
centuries the peasant was no more a serf Anglo-Saxon peoples. They have much in
than the noble who also served. Not till the common.
eighteenth century brought into Russia an
influx of Western ideas and German blood COMPLEMENTARY IDEALS
did the new cosmopolitan aristocracy The Anglo-Saxon, nurtured in his island
proceed to destroy all the ancient home, braving the vast unknown of the
obligations of service, grasp privileges, oceans has also been impressed by the
and attempt to enslave the people for power and mystery of Nature. But the
their own whim and pleasure. Only then varied and active life he has had to lead
did serfdom become abject slavery. has given him a more practical turn of
And the Russian people never took it mind. As an islander and a seafarer the
lying down. They were only too acutely Briton early learnt to be independent
aware of their changing status from that and to value that independence. He
of bonded servants of the State to that had to rely on his own endeavours,
of personal property of arbitrary masters; his adaptability, his resourcefulness.
and they resented the injustice of that While the Russian conceives of the world as
condition and tried to rebel against it. In a vast brotherhood where is no distinction
the final analysis this was the cause of all of race or class, the Anglo-Saxon insists that
social unrest in Russia since the end of no such brotherhood can come into being
the eighteenth century. The disruption unless every person is willing to respect the
of the ancient equitable balance of sacred individuality of his brother which
obligations and dependent privileges on distinguishes man from the herd and makes
which the Russian State had been built further human development possible. The
up, and the fact that “ no one class in individual consciousness and respect for
particular took to living for its own benefit life and property of the Anglo-Saxon must
alone,” as the historian Klyuchevsky2 complement the Russian ideals of mass
says, was the fundamental cause of the social justice before a happy equilibrium
revolutionary movement culminating between individual and social man can be
in the overthrow of the old regime. established. That is the great problem of
And the tremendous energy the nation tomorrow. And that is why it is so important
has since displayed in construction, as these great peoples should understand
in fighting the Hun, is due primarily to one another. Their world task and ideals
the overthrow of an alien caste and an are complementary and not opposed. In
artificial system which has chained the Russian fervour for social justice coupled
people. Today the Russians are acting with Anglo-Saxon balanced judgment and
not as devotees of the theory of Marxian patience lies one of the great hopes of
Communism but as a nation whose building a saner world after the war.
natural, pent-up genius has been suddenly
The New York Times, along the marching route of our panzers. 91
July 30, 1941 For hours before we had located it on our
Russians Don’t Fight ‘Fairly, map. Now it must still be ten kilometers
Germans Cry away, now only five, now just one more-
there it was, the village, there was the
BERLIN, JULY 30. The Germans continue first house and there, too, was the first
to insist that the Russians do not fight “fairly,” bucket-well. Down deep with the pail-up it
that they engage in strategems which are came with mire and mud. On to the next
“illegal” ‘and that they refuse to surrender well! It yielded only a brownish broth.
even when there is no possibility of escaping. The wells already had been drawn dry by our
Informed quarters asserted, for example, comrades. So once again we cannot wash
that Russian units have surrendered and ourselves tonight. Wash? Why for Heaven’s
marched as body toward the German sake, we haven’t the faintest Intention of
lines. When they arrived in the immediate washing. There isn’t water for that. All we
vicinity of the German troops the Russians want in to just dip our hands once, just to
suddenly dropped on the ground and from cool our burned brows and necks a bit.
somewhere in the middle of the group This morning we were to drive through
machine-gun and pistol fire was unleashed the city of “M” (obviously Minsk). We
on the unsuspecting Germans. In this and figured it out: There must be so and so
similar fashion, it is said here, “hundreds many hydrants, for drinking, for cooking,
and still hundreds of Germans have been for washing, for filling our field flasks.
killed. When we reached “M” we didn’t come
to “M,” for it is something that doesn’t
The Washington Post, exist anymore and you can’t come to it.
July 29, 1941 We reached “M” only according to our
maps. For “M” was in reality nothing
Driest of All Wars, Nazi but a bit of smouldering landscape. I say
Writer Finds Flask of Water, landscape because the chimneys which
Tea or Coffee Biggest Luxury remained standing between the wooden
on Russian Front, He Says; houses looked from afar like trees. The
Describes The Dried Up Wells, fleeing Soviet had with his artillery shot
Smoldering Pile of a City With “M” into the ground and burned it down
completely.
the German Army on the
Eastern Front. Time Magazine,
This war is the driest of all wars. That is September 07,1942
because it leads past too few water mains,
fewer than in Poland and fewer than in COME, GRANDSON,
France. Flap down your dust-coated eye- LET US CUT DOWN
lashes, comrade, and think back think of THE ORCHARD.
France: Wasn’t that then one vast water
fountain compared with this country. From a Russian correspondent of
Yesterday we passed a village as we rolled the London Times last week came this
92 typically Russian account of scorched- planning how nothing must be left for the
earth tactics in the Cossack country. enemy except a scorched waste. Such is
It is a sultry, stifling day. A burning the decision of the Kuban Cossacks, the
haze hovers over the dusty street glorious descendants of the Cossacks of
of the stanitsa [Cossack village] of Zaporozhye Sech, who also burned and
Starominskaya. Usually deserted at destroyed everything.
this hour, Starominskaya is filled with Later in the quiet village the sound
unaccustomed activity. Windows, of plane engines presaged parachutists.
doors and gates of all the cottages are The Cossacks dashed out from their huts,
flung wide open, and in each courtyard hastily arming themselves with shotguns,
stands a wagon to which a pair of sturdy sabers, axes and even fire irons, and ran
horses is harnessed. Villagers take only toward an assembly point. Scattering
the most essential belongings; the rest among the yards and orchards, concealing
will be buried under cover of darkness themselves behind fences and in ditches,
where the invaders will never discover they spied out the position of the enemy
it. The cattle were driven away several force and prepared to fall upon it. A report
days ago. All that is left is the poultry, was dispatched to the commander of the
which the children are now chasing in nearest Red Army unit. “Kill wherever you
the courtyards, while their mother, tears can and any way you can,” he ordered
streaming down her cheeks, cuts the through quick-footed youngsters, and the
throats of cocks and hens, bitterly cursing Cossacks began operations. A German
the cause of it all. As the column leaves, coming to a well for a drink was shot.
the night sky is illuminated by the glare of Another got a brick on his skull when he
burning villages and gunfire flashes. With went into an orchard without a helmet.
the baggage go the old men and women, “Mama, there are two Germans in our
mothers and small children, the sick and pigsty; they are breaking down the wall
crippled. The able-bodied will remain looking onto the street,” cried a 13-year-
behind and fight side by side with the Red old boy to his mother. The Cossack
Army troops. woman’s husband had been killed at
An old Cossack took up his ax and Rostov. She cautiously drew from under
called his 13-year-old grandson from the floor an old scimitar wrapped in
a neighboring house: “Come here, rags, drew it from its scabbard, tried its
grandson, and let us cut down the orchard edge and resolutely made for the door.
and smash the beehives.” Apple, pear and Creeping toward the pigsty, she stood
apricot trees laden with still unripe fruit crouching by the door awaiting a signal
fell one after another. “Pile it up in the from her son. The boy squeaked softly
street,” the old man said. “Let anybody like a mouse.
who wants take it, and what is left the The Cossack woman dashed into the
armored tractors will crush to pulp when pigsty. The curved scimitar swung twice in
they come by.” the air and the Germans dropped without
Tonight Red troops poured through a sound into the still liquid manure. She
en route to the front. The old man and had scarcely wiped the blood from the
all other Cossack cottagers retired, scimitar when the figure of a German
sergeant rose before her. There was a The Canadian Press, July 14, 93
short burst from an automatic rifle and 1941
the young woman fell silently to the floor Red ‘Freedom’ Radio Appeals
like a flowering apple tree cut to the for Crops
roots. With a cry of intolerable hatred,
the boy hurled a stone with all his might LONDON, JULY 14, 1941 A self-
at the German’s ruddy face. It struck him styled Russian “freedom” radio station,
in the eye, depriving him of sight, and it obviously German-controlled, has asked
was some time before he dispatched the Russian listeners not to destroy their
boy as he lay weeping over the body of crops, stores and factories, the British
his mother. When the Red Army regular Broadcasting Corporation reported.
troops reached the stanitsa, only about The BBC said this latest evidence of
a score of German parachute men still German concern at the Russian “scorched
survived. The rest had been annihilated earth” policy found an echo in German
by villagers. shortwave radiocasts, in which the
The battle drew nearer to the village announcer described the desolation left
of Kanevskaya. The villagers burned by the retreating Russians.
down their own cottages and destroyed
property accumulated by long years of
industry. The first German detachments (Endnotes)
arrived at the stanitsa. Sixty-year-old
Chepurko, collective-farm chairman, 1 Ludwig “Louis” Paul Lochner (February
22, 1887 – January 8, 1975) was an American
decided to start his own second front. political activist, journalist, and author.
He crawled, ax in hand, through stinging During World War I, Lochner was a leading figure
nettles, selected a tall, long-legged victim in the American and the international anti-war
and crawled toward him on his stomach. movement. Later, he served for many years as
Even Krupp’s steel did not save the head of the Berlin bureau of Associated Press and
was best remembered for his work there as
German from death. The grey-bearded a foreign correspondent. Lochner was awarded
Cossack threw himself on another the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for correspondence
German soldier. “Take that, in revenge for for his wartime reporting from Nazi Germany.
Kuban!” he cried, punctuating every blow In December 1941, Lochner was interned by
of the ax. Then he fell, struck by a German the Nazis but was later released in a prisoner
exchange.
bullet.
When the Red troops abandoned 2 Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky
Kanevskaya, the Cossack men and (28 January 1841 – 25 May 1911) was a
women retired, leaving nothing leading Russian Imperial historian of the
behind. With them went young men late imperial period. He also addressed the
contemporary Russian economy in his writings.
and girls with sabers dangling at their
sides and hand grenades stuck in their
belts, their heads adorned with steel
helmets picked up on the battlefield.
94

Chapter VII TERMS OF THE AGREEMENT

New Global Landscape The following announcement
Emerge was made in London yesterday on
an agreement for joint action by his
Majesty’s Government s In the United
THE TIMES, Kingdom and the Government of the
JULY 14,1941 U.S.S.R. in the war against e Germany:
His Majesty’s Government in the
AN ANGLO-RUSSIAN United Kingdom and the Government
AGREEMENT MUTUAL of U.S.S.R. have concluded the present
ASSISTANCE AGAINST agreement and declare as follows:
“HITLERITE GERMANY” NO 1. The two Governments mutually
SEPARATE PEACE OR ARMISTICE undertake to render each other
RAPID ESTABLISHMENT OF assistance and support of all kinds in the
present war against Hitlerite Germany.
COOPERATION 2. They further undertake that during
The British and Soviet Governments this war they will neither negotiate nor
have signed an agreement to give each conclude an armistice or treaty of peace
other all assistance and support during except by mutual agreement, “The
the war “against Hitlerite Germany,” contracting parties have agreed that
and to conclude no armistice or treaty this agreement enters into force as from
of peace except by mutual agreement. the moment of signature and is not
The Dominions, it is understood, have subject to ratification. It was concluded
been consulted over the terms of the on the evening of July 12, 1941, and
agreement and have expressed their was signed by authority of his Majesty’s
entire approval. Government in the United Kingdom
Our Diplomatic Correspondent, by Sir Stafford Cripps, his Majesty’s
commenting on the dispatch with which Ambassador, and by authority of the
the fullest cooperation between Great Government of the Union of Soviet
Britain and Russia has been organized, Socialist Republics by M. V. Molotov1,
says that the Russians are aware that Deputy President of the Council of
they have met only the first attack against the People’s Commissars and People’s
them. They are prepared to fight on, and Commissar for Foreign Affairs. The
have given proof of the strength of their agreement was concluded in English
resources and of the determination of and Russian.”
their leaders and their men.
CEREMONIAL SIGNING IN MOSCOW is therefore the logical and inevitable 95
Soon after 5 p.m. on Saturday (says outcome of the war-time policies of
a Reuters message from Moscow) both countries. It was Hitler alone, by
the British Ambassador, Sir Stafford his own act, who united these policies
Cripps2, the head of the British Military into a common front against aggression
Mission, Lieutenant-General F. N. Mason after all the long months of Anglo-Soviet
MacFarlane, and other leading members misunderstanding and disagreement.
of the Mission and of the Embassy Once the discussions were begun they
went to M.Molotov’s office, where they quickly led to complete accord. It would be
were met by M. Stalin, M. Molotov, M. hard to say which of the two Governments
Vishinsky, Vice-Commissar for Foreign made the first definite proposal, but it may
Affairs, M.Sobolev, Secretary-General of be remembered that Sir Stafford Cripps,
the Foreign Commissariat, and others. the British Ambassador in Moscow, did
After the ceremony of the signature, not see Mr. Stalin until last in Tuesday.
which was filmed, toasts were drunk No doubt the proposal was raised then.
and friendly conversation followed. M. Wednesday would give time for word
Stalin talked with several of the British to come to London. On Thursday the
who were present, including Lieutenant- Ambassador was received by Mr. Stalin
General Mason MacFarlane. The function again, and, as the agreement was actually
lasted an hour. signed on Saturday evening in Moscow,
Great Britain and Soviet Russia have the text must have been agreed upon at
now set down their war-time relations Thursday’s meeting, giving time for it to be
in a few simple words and have made received in London and for confirmation to
them clear to all the world. The text of be sent back to Moscow. Thus there was
an agreed declaration was broadcast by no negotiation in the sense of bargaining.
the two Governments simultaneously There was simply free and friendly
yesterday afternoon — 2 p.m. in London, discussion on the choice of words for a
3 p.m. in Moscow. document agreed upon in substance from
Already Great Britain and Russia had the beginning. Sir Stafford Cripps signed
promised each other help, and already the for Great Britain, and Mr. Molotov signed
leaders in each country had declared that for the Soviet Union as Deputy Chairman
they would never come to terms with the of the Council of People’s Commissars and
German Government. On the day that the as Commissar for Foreign Affairs.
Germans stormed over the Soviet frontier
M. Molotov declared that there could be AN UNUSUAL PHRASE
no peace before the defeat of Germany. The text is straightforward and self-
On the same evening Mr. Churchill said evident. In fact the only phrase at all
the same thing and added, “We shall give unusual is “Hitlerite Germany.” This
whatever help we can to Russia and to the phrase is used as a deliberate expression
Russian people.” Mr.Stalin on July 3rd. and of view. The two Governments recognize
Mr. Eden on July 5th, both emphasized how fully the present German leaders
the need for cooperation until victory is have organized the German people
won. The agreement published yesterday into their vast war machine (more fully
96 organized than the Kaiser’s or Bismarck’s); Five days later the Soviet military
they recognize, too, how deeply the mission arrived in London. No doubt
Nazi teaching has gone, especially the German propagandists will make
among the German youth; but they put the most of the new agreement in the
the responsibility of the war first and attempt to prove that the British have
foremost on those leaders and not on the shaken hands with Bolshevism America
people. There can be no peace, they say, and Spain are likely to be flooded with
with the present German Government. this tale. But it will be believed only by
Napoleon was led on to disaster in those predisposed to be taken in by it. In
the fond hope that Tsar Alexander would facing the evils of the worst aggression
sue for peace. He knew that only such that the world has known peoples count
a peace could save him. “There have far more than politics; and Hitler has now
been no discourtesies on either side,” united the British and Russian peoples
he used to say during the campaign”, against him.
“Alexander is still polite and will come to
peace eventually.” When Stalin on July 3 United Press, August 7, 1941
called Hitler and Ribbentrop “monsters U. S. Decision On Aid Lauded
and cannibals.” Hitler must have been
disabused of any such idea; and now
By Moscow
the present agreement must convince By Henry Shapiro3
him, and all Germans, that Russia has United Press Staff Writer
freely joined the Allied Governments
and the American Administration in their Moscow, August 7(UP) – Russia and
repeated declarations that Hitler can the United States have formed the basis
never have peace. Germany has made for cooperation in mutual defense and
the coalition world-wide. destruction of “bloodthirsty Hitlerism,
although an actual mutual assistance pact
QUICK DECISIONS has not been signed. Solomon A. Lozovsky4,
The agreement shows again how the official Soviet spokesman, said today.
quickly Russia has organized her Lozovsky’s praise of the new Soviet-
forces for resistance and how quickly American rapprochement was of the
Anglo-Russian cooperation has been same tone as laudatory editorials in the
established from scratch. The Germans Communist Party organ, Pravda, and
attacked on June 22 while the Soviet the government newspaper, Izvestia.
announcements still expressed disbelief “Even though a mutual assistance pact
in war and certainly before the Russian has not been signed, the United States has
armies were mobilized fully. The British decided to render economic assistance
military mission arrived within four against aggression and destruction of
days. By June 26 the Soviet Committee bloodthirsty Hitlerism,” Lozovsky said.
of State Defence had been set up. On
July 3 came M. Stalin’s call for unity and PUT BOTH IN A SAME CAMP
for guerrilla warfare inside the occupied Izvestia said the agreement “puts
territory. both great countries in the same camp
of democratic nations devoted to the ASSOCIATED PRESS, LONDON, 97
noble ideal of the destruction of German July 14, 1941
Fascism, the most perfidious and evil foe RED WAR SONG IS HEARD
of humanity, culture and civilization.” OVER BRITISH RADIO
The newspaper emphasized that the
agreement is a two-way proposition in The British Broadcasting Corporation
which the United States has promised introduced a martial musical note into
immediate fulfillment of Soviet war the new British-Russian agreement for
orders and prepared the way for their joint action against Germany by playing
speedy delivery, while Russia “possesses a Bolshevik battle song yesterday at the
immense resources of raw materials and start of its home news program.
can aid further development of various A recording of the “rousing military
branches of American Industry.” march and call to battle” was put on the
Pravda warned that Germany “will air ahead of the national anthems of
spare no effort to subjugate the American Allied countries which usually start the
continent.”It cited evidences of Nazi news radiocast. This song was radiocast
intrigue in the United States and South by the Moscow radio when Joseph Stalin
America and efforts of Germany to obtain spoke on July 3.
from the French government “bases in The BBC rendition appeared to wind
the Atlantic for preparation of an attack up the half serious, half humorous
on America.” discussion recently over whether the
“Internationale” should be played by
CONFIDENT OF VICTORY the BBC as a sign of British-Russian
The newspaper expressed full rapprochement.
confidence in a Soviet victory over Germany. But there still remained an element
Russian cooperation with another new of mystery about the musical honor
ally, Poland, has begun with the arrival accorded Russia. Neither the BBC nor the
of a Polish military mission in Moscow. Soviet Embassy were able to give the title
A Polish army is being formed among or words of the song tonight.
Polish prisoners captured in the Russians One London listener said the song
invasion of Poland, to fight Germany. was the “The Red Airman’s Song” a ditty
The mission headed by Gen. frequently sung by Leftists the world over.
Sigismond Szyszko-Boshuz5 arrived from The chorus of that song is:
London yesterday and was greeted
by representatives of the defense They fly higher and higher and higher,
commissariat, the navy commissariat, the Their emblem is the Soviet star
foreign commissariat, the British embassy And every propeller is roaring
and the British military mission. Defending the U. S. S. R.
98 The Evening Star, July 15, 1942 perilous 1,500-mile flight from London
War Makes English Second over Nazi territory to see one of the world’s
Most Popular Language in most inaccessible men, Joseph Stalin.
Moscow German Now a Dead Almost immediately rushed to the Kremlin
with Ambassador Laurence A.Steinhardt8,
Tongue; Nazis Leave Russian Hopkins conferred with the Red Premier
Capital and Foreign Commissar Vyacheslaff M.
By ERSKINE CALDWELL, Foreign Molotoff. Later, he told Russian and
Correspondent of The Star and PM foreign reporters that “anybody who
fights Hitler anywhere is on the right side,”
MOSCOW, July 15 – Asute from and that, on Mr. Roosevelt’s authority, he
the Germans themselves, the German had offered Stalin material aid against
language was the first thing to disappear Germany. In return, Hopkins reported,
from Moscow life as result of the war. the Stalin had promised to help destroy
Waiters, maids, porters, taxi drivers the Nazi regime and had given him a
and others who come in contact with note for Mr. Roosevelt. That evening,
foreigners were for the most part able to the former Secretary of Commerce
converse to some extent in German, but watched the seventh German air raid on
German now is a dead language as far as Moscow from the American Embassy’s
Moscow is concerned. balcony. The next day, he was amazed in
In leading hotels, all restaurants touring the city at how “insignificant” the
announcements were printed in German damage was. Later, he was again closeted
well as in Russian, but by mid afternoon of with Stalin for three hours, which
the first day of war, English broke out like “added to my confidence that Hitler will
a rash in every large hotel in town, Since lose.” Then, as mysteriously as he had
then English has become the second most arrived, Hopkins flew back to London.
popular language.
Meanwhile in Washington…
Newsweek, August 11, 1941 In Washington as well as in Moscow
New Soviet Status Spotlighted by the question of American aid to Russia
Surprise Visit of Hopkins was being discussed. President Roosevelt
On Wednesday of last week, as conferred with the Soviet Military Mission
afternoon shadows danced on the huge under Gen. Filip Golikoff9, which had
white painted walls of the Kremlin in arrived a week earlier to set up a Soviet
Moscow, a British plane circled overhead Purchasing Commission, and at his Friday
and slid gently into the Russian capital’s press conference permitted reporters to
airport. Out of the plane, hatless, stepped quote him directly in saying that the Red
Harry L. Hopkins6, in an unannounced visit Army’s resistance “is magnificent and
to the Soviet Union. Accompanied by Brig. frankly better than any military expert in
Gen. Joseph T. McNarney7 and Lt. John Germany thought it would be.” He added
R. Alison of the United States Army, the that American aid to Russia would be on
Lend-Lease Administrator and intimate a strictly cash basis, and that he could
of President Roosevelt had made the see no prospect of the U.S. S. R., which
has nearly $100,000,000 in cash in this the Pacific to Vladivostok, although Japan 99
country, getting Lend-Lease aid such as has threatened to intervene, and thence
is being sent to Britain. On the question by way of the Transsiberian railroad. Some
of aid to Britain, he conferred the same supplies might be sent all the way around
day with W. Averell Harriman10, who had Africa to the Middle East and thence north.
flown home from London after serving In either case, the United States would run
four months as Lend-Lease “expediter.” the risk of diverting material and shipping
The Washington and Moscow vitally needed by Britain to a more distant
conversations bore fruit on Monday when destination where they might be too little
the United States pledged to Russia full and too late.
economic assistance, priority on deliveries
of war materials, friendly consideration in Christian Science Monitor,
the placing of war orders, abolition of all August 15, 1941
export-control restrictions, and assistance
in providing shipping facilities. After an
Anglo-American Charter Raises
exchange of notes with Acting Secretary Europe’s Hope11
of State Sumner Welles renewing for By I. Emlyn Williams
one year the expiring U.S.-U.S.S.R. trade
agreement under which Russia last year To the Allied Governments here in
bought $86,943,000 worth of American London and German enslaved peoples
machinery, vehicles, metals, and other throughout the Continent yesterday’s
materials. In addition to their obvious historic pronouncement comes as a new
purpose of building Russian morale, ray of confident hope of British American
the Administration’s actions indicate its determination not only to destroy
conviction that the Soviet is a good risk Nazism, but to build a better future upon
and therefore deserves more than the the world-wide co-operation of all peace-
token aid originally talked about. For this loving peoples in economic, social, and
reason, Hopkins was sent to Moscow to defensive spheres, as well as political.
break down the wall of secrecy that has The situation is pithily put in historical
prevailed, to find out what the Russians contrast.
need, and to convince them that the For when Napoleon and Czar Alexander
United States will do everything possible met at Tilsit one of the Russian generals
to help even the Communists smash remarked, “The Emperors have shaken
Hitler. Thereupon Washington undertook hands, let Europe tremble.”
to convert promises into war materials. Today all under the Hitler you can
But the factors of distance and time still say, “The rulers of the democracies have
stand in the way of effective aid. Despite shaken hands. Let Europe hope.”
the Welles-Oumansky agreement, it will
be many weeks before the first trickle WORLD RECONSTRUCTION
of supplies reaches Moscow, except for For this present event is interpreted as
planes, which may be flown via either Alaska an indication that Britain and the United
and Siberia or Iceland. Most American aid States consider that the time has come to
would probably have to be shipped across look beyond victory, for the document of
100 British-American cooperation is in fact a some international system of security can
framework of world-wide reconstruction be evolved.
on a democratic basis.
Some of the eight points outlined by PROSPECTIVE NAZI PROPAGANDA
Prime Minister Churchill and President The Nazis who so successfully
Roosevelt have particular reference propagated among their own people the
to the Allied countries represented theory of attempts to classify Germany
here, especially those points which as a “second-class nation” and played up
place emphasis on the principle of self- Anglo-French refusal to disarm from 1933
determination as the future basis for until the time their own secret armaments
postwar Europe and the desire “to see were sufficiently strong, will undoubtedly
sovereign rights and self-government again utilize the present opportunity to
restored to those who have been forcibly upbraid the democracies for their “cynical
deprived of them.” hypocrisy and war-mongering.”
Here is a definite assertion that But the Nazis’ blatant acts of the past
Germany will not be allowed to keep five years must have long ago made even
any of its conquest won by aggression their own strongest supporters impervious
for Britain a reassertion, but now a clear to all arguments except that of force.
acceptance by the United States of co- The new proclamation is also seen as a
operation in the new peace. great propaganda weapon for use among
the peoples still under the Hitler yoke.
FREELY EXPRESSED WISHES The very fact of British-American co-
The Nations of Central and East Europe operation of this sort is itself especially
undoubtedly must have read carefully the striking to people who have so long been
second point which lays down that Britain accustomed to similar statements only
and the United States favor only territorial from the Axis powers that it is like the
changes in accord with “freely expressed dawn of a new era.
wishes of the peoples concerned.”
While examining this point they CONTRAST IN CONDITIONS
have recalled the great struggles over To Germans accustomed to think
minorities in their post-1919 existence as in terms of special dates it will not be
independent States. forgotten that August 15 1941, was quite
To these Nations it is a welcome different from the same date a year ago.
declaration that “pending establishment of Then Hitler was to have been in
a wider and permanent system of general London, and Britain stood almost alone.
security” disarmament of “Nations which Marshal Hermann Göring’s air force had
threaten or may threaten aggression attempted a mass attack on London but
outside their frontiers” is essential. lost 150 airplanes. Today they see two
For there has long lurked an uneasy great democracies taking the leadership
feeling lest the Anglo-Saxon world would, from out of their hands.
having won the military side of the war, Their manner of handling the
hesitate to apply further measures which pronouncement indicates both Berlin
alone can give that respite period in which and Rome’s dismay. Berlin declares: “It is
German victories that will give a lasting Christian Science Monitor, 101
foundation to Europe.” August 12, 1941
The Allied nations, inspired by this Soviet Seeks to Unite Slavs in
newest pronouncement, are doubly Stand Against Germany12
convinced that it is Allied victories that
will build that lasting future, especially as
they now assume that the United States Soviet Russia, in an effort to unite all
with all its moral and economic forces Slavs against Germany, has come forward
ready is prepared to play its part in world with a broad proposal of self-rule by
reconstruction. Slavonic peoples scattered over the face
If there is any hidden questioning of Europe and part of Asia.
regarding yesterday’s great event it is lest The Kremlin’s program, which contrasts
the United States and Britain may take sharply with the ancient doctrine of
too lightly their duties as guardians of Panslavism whereby Slavs would have a
order and peace. large measure of political solidarity, was
advanced at a current Moscow meeting
AMERICAN ACTION WATCHED of representatives of various Slav states.
Particularly necessary it is to state that “The hour has struck when the whole
this applies to the United States, since Slav world must unite for the earliest and
such a statement of ideals in the eyes of final destruction of German fascism,” said
so many Europeans recalls Wilson’s 14 a Soviet statement addressed to all Slavs.
points and brings up memories of Europe “We are uniting like equals with
abandoned to its own devices by the equals. We have a common purpose and
United States. a common goal-smashing Hitler’s armies
Over here press and radio reports and the destruction of Hitlerism.”
concerning Senate and House In advancing the Soviet program, it
deliberations on extension of the Selective said, however: “We have a common,
Service Act are carefully followed. passionate and all-embracing aspiration
For whatever the internal reasons that Slav as well as other peoples could
given for this minute majority of only one peacefully and freely develop within their
vote on what thousands here considered state systems.
a momentous issue their actions led in “We resolutely and firmly reject the
the direction of questioning whether very idea of Panslavism, as thoroughly
the United States fully appreciated the reactionary trend profoundly hostile
implications of the present war struggle. to the lofty purpose of the equality of
Britain and the United States, many peoples and national development of
Allied observers feel, do not always all states which was utilized by Russian
realize the influence of their actions Tsarism for its imperialistic aims.”
wherever democratic ideals are still The Soviet policy was enunciated at the
held up, especially that their totalitarian Moscow meeting by Alexei Tolstoi, author
opponents understand only actions. and grandson of novelist Count Leo Tolstoi
He spoke as a representative o Russia to
Russians, Ukrainians White Russians,
102 Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, reached between the Soviets and these
Slovenes, Bulgarians. Macedonians, Governments in London.
Carpathian: and Montenegrins. Leaders of Polish and Czechoslovak
[Panslavism, with which the Czars military missions already have arrived in
toyed and about which they did little, Moscow where they have issued appeals
went out of the window when the to their countrymen throughout Russia to
Bolsheviks seized power in Russia. enlist in the struggle against the common
This doctrine, that all Slavonic peoples enemy, Nazi Germany. In cases where, for
should have as large a measure as various reasons, their nationals cannot
possible of political solidarity, came to the take up arms, they are urged to do all
fore prominently in the 17th Century as possible to sabotage German efforts and
the result of the work of a Croat Catholic to co-operate fully with the Russians’
priest, Jurij Kirzanitch. “scorched-earth” policy.
Slav political unity had been broken It is impossible to state definitely
hundreds of years earlier by the Magyar how many Poles and Czechs there are
invasion of the Danubian plains in the in Russia, but the figure must run – into
9th Century. This introduced a wedge of some hundreds of thousands since it
Asiatic origin between East, West, and includes not only those resident there
South Slavs which has lasted to this day. after the World War but also those who
Russian Czars from Peter the Great on were taken prisoners by the Russians
down to Anne, Catherine II and Alexander during their advance into East Poland in
I always had the ideal of Panslavism September, 1939.
in view as an instrument of political
expansion, but in their diplomatic LIKELY TO CO-OPERATE
relations with Turkey, Austria and Prussia It appears certain that the Polish
there often were compromises which prisoners, whatever their feelings against
seriously restricted its realization. the Soviets, have stronger feelings against
The World War completely changed the Nazis and will co-operate in the new
the Slavonic question and the upheaval struggle. Their Commander-in-Chief will
in Russia put an end to that country’s be Gen. Wladislaw Anders13, distinguished
leadership in the matter. cavalry leader who fought first against the
Germans, then against the Russians in the
The Christian Science Monitor, fall of 1939, and who has been a Russian
August 7, 1941 prisoner of war until recently. He will be
supported by Gen. Szyszka Bohusz, former
Polish and Czech Troops commander of the Polish brigade which
Organize Legion in Russia fought in Norway, who has just arrived in
Moscow with the Polish military mission.
By J. Emlyn Williams Czechoslovakia now for the second
time establishes a legion in Russia.
LONDON, Organization of Polish and During the World War an organization
Czech military units under the Russian was formed from Czech and Slovak
High Command has followed agreements units which went over from the Austro-
Hungarian Army. These were organized The Christian Science Monitor, 103
by Thomas Garrigue Masaryk and later August 12, 1941
completed their famous trek across
Siberia to Vladivostok and thence around Turkey Watches Russia, Stiffens
the world and back to England. Stand on Axis
The number of Czechs in Russia – is By Derek Patmore14
doubtful, but it is known that a large
number settled in various parts, including Turkey is in the unenviable position
Siberia, during the 1930’s and that many of a country that is anxious to remain
Czech specialists found employment in neutral as the present world conflict
industrial centers. Czechoslovak settlers wages round its frontiers, but which fears
both in the Russian and Polish parts of that the consequences of victory, for
Volhynia also were numerous before either Germany on Russia, can seriously
September, 1939, and it is assumed affect its own vital interests.
that many were taken prisoners by the Turkey’s position is difficult lacking
Russians either when the Soviet advanced arms and seeing no hope of staving off the
against Poland, or were forced to retreat threatening German armies, it prudently
with the beginning of Germany’s attack made a pact with Germany. Then there
on Russia and the Soviets’ pursuance of was diplomatic tightrope walking since it
“the scorched earth” policy. Those Czechs appeared to be encircled by Axis powers
who volunteered for the Polish legion in in Crete and the Aegean Isles, troubled by
September, 1939, will, it is assumed, form Iran and Nazi-directed Syria, while north
the nucleus of the new unit and supply ward was Russia, with a still undecided
most of its officers. attitude.
Establishment of these legions Then the position changed as the
on Russian territory carries political British captured Syria, thus strengthening
significance. Just as in the World the southern frontier, while Iraq returned
War the exploits of the Czechoslovak to British control, and in Iran British and
Legionnaires did much to cerate an Allied Russian mutual interests were evolving a
opinion favorable to later recognition of common policy.
Czechoslovakia’s independence, so this
new example of Polish-Czechoslovak CHANGE IN ATTITUDE
determination to do all possible to help In the changed circumstances it is not
the Allies must win for both Governments surprising that Turkey is thinking in other
a greater appreciation of their viewpoint terms than when German-Italian forces
from Britain and Russia. threatened to overwhelm it, with Britain’s
The effect upon the large Polish and armies too distant, and Russia still toying
Czechoslovak communities throughout Germany.
the United States, in strengthening their For a while it can still be assumed
determination against German aggression that Turkey is prepared to resist militarily
and propaganda, also is noteworthy. any German attempt to send troops
across Turkish territory toward the
Caucasus. Turkey is also looking ahead
104 diplomatically and thinking in terms of Undoubtedly Russia has also desired
the possible effects of a victory for Russia a share of influence in the Balkans and
and its allies. How will such a victory affect Moscow has always considered certain
Turkey’s position in the Balkans and the strategic points as natural boundaries
Near Middle East? Will Turkey play there for the Soviet Union. For this reason it
a predominant role that considerations of seized Bessarabia from Rumania last year.
prestige demand? Moreover, Soviet diplomacy has worked
Here arises one of those issues hard to gain a foothold in Bulgaria, which
that appear in the midst of every war, has always been a pro-Russian country,
namely, what division of spoils will be despite its pro-Nazi Government.
made among the Allies? Practically
interpreted for Turkey, this means – UNITED BALKAN STATES
will Britain yield should Russia demand However, most enlightened statesmen
a predominant role in the sphere of now feel that a United States of Balkan
influence which Turkey considers vital countries, forming an economic and
to itself? Undoubtedly the result of political Balkan federation is the only
the Russo-German war will have far real solution to the Balkan problem. Two
reaching effects on the destinies of all powers, could keep such a confederation
Eastern European countries, and many in order the one Russia and the other
diplomats here are asking how far Russia Turkey. Both these countries are now allies
will be allowed to dominate the States of Britain, and one of the principal tasks
who have sided with Germany against of British diplomacy will be to find a way
Russia and will Rumania, Hungary, and of reconciling the vital interests of these
Bulgaria be left as independent States? two powers in the Balkans. Russia, locked
in the struggle with Hitler, is fully occupied
FUTURE OF BALKANS for the moment, but Turkey, although
The brilliant and courageous Soviet neutral, remains the strongest power with
resistance, which is upsetting all the Nazi Balkan interests outside of the war.
plans, is making the future of the Balkans The Turkish army, well-trained and
even more obscure. A proper settlement numbering nearly 2,000,000 when fully
of the Balkan problem is undoubtedly mobilized, may yet play an important role
one of the major problems of any future in aiding in pacifying the Balkans when
peace conference, and some permanent Nazi Germany begins to crumble, but its
solution must be found this time. statesmen remain suspicious of possible
The Balkan problem was started by future Soviet moves.
Bismarck at the Congress of Berlin in 1877, Such considerations concern the
when the Balkan powers, formerly under distant future, while at the moment
Turkish domination, were carved up to Russia’s desires are concentrated on
suit the imperialistic aims of Germany winning the war. Since defense of the
and Russia. Bismarck created unnatural Dardanelles is one of Russia’s as well as
frontiers in the Balkans, and these have Turkey’s interests, it is accepted here that
caused trouble and strife in the Balkans Russia is prepared to defend its entry into
ever since. the Black Sea.
 It is natural that Turkey should look great struggle put up by the Soviets against 105
askance at any possibility of later Russian Germany is an inspiration to India. The
domination in the Balkans and the Middle India League is an entirely unofficial body
East and that it should be anxious to dominated by extreme nationalists and
obtain guarantees on this matter. not enjoying the support of other Indian
Opinions in circles informed regarding groups. The British Government recently
Soviet policy continue to emphasize that reaffirmed its policy aiming at ultimate
Russia is not concerned with territorial Dominion status for India, but the Cabinet
aggression. They point to the Soviet- contends nothing resembling immediate
Polish treaty and Moscow’s most recent independence is possible because Indian
statements that Pan-Slav appeals to opinion itself has so far been incapable
fight the Nazis do not mean Pan-Slav of agreeing on a satisfactory basis of self-
domination, as in the old days. government.
Meanwhile Turkey continues its neutral
attitude, checking Germany where it Chicago Daily Tribune,
considers that country going too far. For August 29,1941
instance, it is holding up the German-
Turkish negotiations for a new trade treaty,
Iran Gives up after 4 days of
its attitude being due not merely to the token fighting British and
fact that Germany is demanding too much, Russians Begin Peaceful
but also because of the new situation due Occupation.
to British-Russian strengthened position
on its frontiers. The Iranian government bowed
to superior force today and, after
Christian Science Monitor, four days of token fighting against
August 12, 1941 British and Russian invaders, ordered
its army to cease all resistance.
Independence Now Asked For Britain and Russia, It was said here tonight,
Full India War Aid will start immediately improving rail and
road transportation across Iran to facilitate
LONDON, August 12. Immediate shipments of war supplies to soviet Russia
independence for India was demanded from the United States and Great Britain.
by a conference of religious, political A second strategic advantage won over
and pacifist bodies called in London Germany by the British-Russian allies
by the India League15. Pointing to the — complete control of the valuable
British Government’s recognition of the and productive Iranian oil fields —
independence of Syria, the India League probably will be protected by an
claims anti-Nazi forces in India can be fully International police force, it was said.
mobilized only by a similar gesture toward This force would patrol not only the
India. The peoples of India are anti-Hitler oil fields but Iran’s frontiers as well.
and anti-Fascist, but, says the League, With the collapse of Iranian resistance,
the battle of freedom can be fought only British and Russian forces continued
by nations that are themselves free. The peacefully the occupation started at
106 dawn Monday with blazing guns. There revolutionary organization in the Soviet
is no question of withdrawal of the Caucasus directed by Nazi agents in
allied forces until, among other things, Northern Iran and an attempt to excite
Moscow and London are certain that all Turkish aspirations for northward
Germans are ousted from the country. expansion at the expense of Moscow,
[A radio report from Ankara last night authoritative quarters said today.
said that an 8 point agreement was The Armenians were said to be receiving
being worked out. It was said joint funds from the German agents and
British-Russian forces would occupy small amounts of arms diverted from
all strategic points except Teheran, the Nazi shipments to the Iran Government.
capital; that Iran would retain police Military observers believed the primary
control; that a sizable loan would be reason for this German activity was to
forthcoming and that all Germans would attract “fifth-column” recruits, who would
be handed over to the occupying troops.] be assigned to protect the Baku oil fields
Premier Ali Furanghi, who issued the from the Russian “scorched earth” policy.
order today to the army to lay down Official quarters already have rejected
its arms, said in a statement to his Nazi suggestions that Turkey expand at the
parliament in Teheran that “We shall do expense of Soviet Russia, it was reported.
our utmost to maintain good relations Turkish opinion was said to be strongly
with the foreign powers, and especially opposed to territorial acquisitions which
our neighbors....” By this he meant might obligate the country to one or
Russia which lies on her north, and the other side of the European conflict.
Britain, whose Baluchistan lies on the The Turkish Government has been
east and who controls Iraq on the west”. informed that the Nazis have promised the
DRIVE DEEP INTO COUNTRY. dissident Armenians a greater Armenia
Prior to Iran’s putting aside its arms the to be formed after the Russian-German
British army had in three days driven 100 war. This new Armenia would include
miles into the country from the southwest some territory now Turkish, it was said.
and Russian forces pushing down from the Diplomatic dispatches from Iran indicate
north had captured the country’s second that several hundred Nazis are active in
city, Tabriz, and advanced elsewhere the Armenian campaign. Women and
nearly 200 miles. The British in their push children of German colonies in Iran have
won control of the oil fields which already been evacuated, it was reported, and
were British owned and operated. certain German legation files have been
sent back to Berlin by way of Turkey.
Associated Press. July 23, 1941 Armenian irregulars pursuing refugees
Nazis Stir Up Revolution from British-occupied Syria were reported
July 22 to have clashed with Turkish
In Armenia Against Soviet troops three days ago near the juncture
of the Turkish Syrian - Iraqi frontiers an
ANKARA, Turkey (Delayed) German undisclosed number of casualties resulted.
strategy in the Middle East has British sources here said the Armenians
brought about a national Armenian presumably were armed by the Vichy
French forces during the Syrian conflict first to last it was an outstanding model of 107
and turned to banditry in the temporary how best to conduct negotiations in war-
chaos preceding complete occupation by time.
the British. The Russians helped by stating some
Turks Down Nazis Turkish aircraft weeks ago exactly how many tanks
guns today and to have plunged and aeroplanes and how much war
into the sea off the Gulf of Enos. material they would need to maintain a
Turkish anti-aircraft batteries shot down a stubborn front. The British and American
German plane apparently reconnoitering Governments immediately took fresh
near the Thrace border with Greece stock of their available resources.
and Bulgaria, the NBC correspondent When Lord Beaverbrook17 and Mr.
in Ankara reported tonight. The three Harriman met in London they knew
German crew members were killed. precisely what each country could do; and
they found that by great efforts now and
The Times, October 2, 1941 in the future they could together almost
FULL SUPPORT FOR wholly meet the Russian estimates. Each
of the two Governments knew what these
THE RUSSIANS demands would mean for their countries
WIDE SCOPE OF MOSCOW far harder work, far greater production,
DECISIONS and a cutting down of civilian supplies.
PLANS FOR SPEEDY DELIVERIES But they knew also how vitally important
OF SUPPLIES it is to maintain the eastern Allied front.
GUARANTEED MONTHLY The German losses are already huge
and with British and American help they
QUOTAS can be made infinitely greater. It was in
By the swift decisions of the Moscow that spirit, and with that knowledge,
conference16 large monthly deliveries of that Lord Beaverbrook and Mr. Harriman
arms and war materials will go to Russia went to Moscow, where because of the
from Great Britain and the United States. extensive preparations the outstanding
Much has already been sent; supplies problems were severely practical. By
in far greater volume will now flow to what ways could the materials already
Russia. These supplies and the ways and promised reach Russia most quickly?
means of sending them are essential to And what materials did Russia need most
the plan for helping Russia to maintain urgently? These problems have now been
her resistance. settled. Great Britain and America have
guaranteed heavy monthly quotas.
A MODEL WAR CONFERENCE
HOW THE RUSSIANS HELPED ENCOURAGING FACTS
From Our Diplomatic Correspondent The British people, as well as the
Russians, would be much encouraged
Great Britain has already welcomed if it were possible to publish details of
the speedy and effective conclusion of the the great amount of raw material which
Three-Power Conference in Moscow From had already reached Russia even before
108 the conference met and while it was doing all they can to strengthen the bridge
sitting. Thanks to preparatory work in the to the Caucasus and to Russia beyond.
Ministry of Economic Warfare there were The Trans-Iranian railway is to be
no delays. Similarly the British people, as much improved, and the concluding
well as the Americans, would set their stages should now have been reached in
teeth even more firmly if it were possible the negotiations for an alliance between
— which it is not — to say how many Great Britain and the Soviet Union on
tanks and aeroplanes have now been the one side and Iran on the other.
promised each month for Russia. Great Joint Anglo-Soviet representations have
needs require a great response. been made to Afghanistan, where the
Briefly, the Moscow Conference laid Germans are maintaining a precarious
a plan for winning the war by keeping and still mischievous foothold. The
the eastern front open and firm while welcome conclusion of the negotiations
Germany is hammered elsewhere. The far between Turkey and Germany, which
harder lack now arises of fulfilling the plan. leave Germany without Turkish chrome,
For one thing, the Battle of the Atlantic is likely to be followed by still warmer
will have to be decisively won if more understanding between Turkey and Great
warships and merchantmen are to be Britain, for we much appreciate the stand
released for the Mediterranean and for of our partner in the Treaty of Mutual
the routes to Russia. Again, Great Britain Defence.
has promised a substantial share of her
monthly production of aeroplanes to VISITING MISSIONS IMPRESSED
the eastern front. America is also giving AVOIDANCE OF RED TAPE
a substantial share of hers. Still greater As announced yesterday at the end
production, still greater transference of the Three-Power Conference, the
from civilian supplies of various kinds is United States and Great Britain have
therefore needed for aeroplanes to be agreed to furnish the Soviet Union with
used ever more effectively in the West, virtually all the war materials which the
the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Kremlin considers necessary to facilitate
the defeat of Hitler’s armies on the
WELLS OF CONTENTION eastern front. Naturally discretion is
In the Middle East the Allied hold necessary concerning the actual goods
becomes stronger each day. The great and quantities which will be furnished
Bastion of Oil — the Caucasus, Iran, and as the result of these talks, but it can be
Iraq is in our hands; but it will be more and said that they include large amounts of
more fiercely challenged by the Germans, munitions, arms, and machinery tools, as
who in their need for oil (although it is not well as certain raw materials.
yet urgent) are already plundering Italian One of the most important results of
stocks. Since the days when Isaac dwelt the meeting has been to reaffirm to Great
in the Land of Gerar, wells of all kinds Britain and America the determination
have rightly been called Esek. Contention of the Soviet to fight this war through
and the Middle Eastern oil wells are no to the end and by the end is meant the
exception. For that reason the Allies are destruction of Nazi Germany. Any wild
talk abroad about Moscow’s keeping the illustrates what is in fact going on 109
door open for peace may be emphatically between Great Britain and the United
discounted as long as M.Stalin is at the States now under the Lease and Lend
head of this Government. Another result Act. Rubber, tin, and other vital products
has been to inspire confidence in the are reaching this country, as facilities
English-speaking world over Russia’s permit, by arrangement with the British
ability to keep up the struggle and to resist Government.
the furious attacks of the Wehrmacht. It would be the part of wisdom
The visiting missions were greatly to take Russia in under the wings of
impressed with the moderation of the the Lease and Lend Act, as the most
Russian requirements, a fact which would effective method of implementing the
apparently demonstrate the success with American side of the agreement; but
which the country’s economy has been here it is obvious that difficulties will be
able to withstand and absorb the shock of met. Advances have been made to the
the initial German impact. This modesty Russians by the Reconstruction Finance
in the Russian requests was one of the Corporation, and Mr. Jesse Jones, who
chief contributing factors to the swiftness is not only Secretary of Commerce but
with which the meetings were able to Federal Loan. Administrator, has publicly
conclude their work. expressed the view that Russia should”
To this factor may be added the careful get the benefits” of the Lease and Lend
preliminary preparations in London and Act. This is the opinion of leading Senators
Washington, the continual willingness also; but there is a group in Congress
of M.Stalin to cut through red-tape and which will seek to insert in the pending
to discuss hard facts at any hour with $5,895,000,000 appropriation for the
Mr. Harriman and Lord Beaverbrook, Lease and Lend programme a provision
and the insistence of the heads of the expressly forbidding that any part shall be
visiting missions and of M. Molotov that used for the benefit of the Russians.
the delegates should keep their noses to The issue must be met and it seems
the grindstone until the task was finished. likely that it will be given precedence
As a result the work has been done, and over that other, and also contentious,
done completely and successfully, far question – the revision or repeal of the
ahead of schedule. Neutrality Act. It may be remembered
All the parties concerned agree that that on one occasion the President himself
this meeting can be considered to have denied “plans” existed to include Russia
been extremely successful. The U.S.S.R. in the operation of the Act, but much has
will help out American and British happened since then and there is not the
manufacturers by placing at their disposal slightest doubt that the Administration is
large amounts of certain raw materials ready, if not to initiate, at least to throw
which they lack, but which can be found the weight of its support to such an action.
in plenty here. As matters stand discretionary authority is
The Anglo-American agreement with vested in the President, who could name
Russia, with its exchange of military the Soviet Union as a country whose
supplies for Russian raw materials, defence is “vital” to the defence of the
110 United States; and it is precisely this that party backing. He was appointed a member of
the War Cabinet, with the jobs of Lord Privy
the opponents of his policy will seek to Seal and Leader of the House of Commons, and
prevent. was considered for a short period after his return
The British Ambassador, Lord Halifax, from Moscow as a rival to Churchill in his hold on
who returned to Washington last night, the country.
today visited the White House for a
3 Henry Shapiro (1907-1991)-American
conference with Mr. Roosevelt. journalist of Jewish origin. After studying Russian,
Romanian, German and French languages and
law at Harvard University, in 1933 he travelled to
(Endnotes) the USSR for postgraduate studies at the Faculty
1 Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich of Law of Moscow State University. However,
Molotov (Skryabin; 9 March 1890 – 8 November instead G. Shapiro took the position of Moscow
1986) was a Russian and later Soviet politician and correspondent of the news agency ‘Reuters’
diplomat, an Old Bolshevik, and a leading figure in parallel with the British newspaper ‘London
in the Soviet government from the 1920s onward. Morning Post’. In 1937 he moved to the second
He served as Chairman of the Council of People’s most important news agency in the world ‘United
Commissars from 1930 to 1941 and as Minister Press’ and continued to head its Moscow bureau
of Foreign Affairs from 1939 to 1949 and from until 1973. He covered the trials of the late 30s,
1953 to 1956. He is considered to be one of the Soviet-German military and political co-operation
greatest diplomats in history. in 1939-41, worked as a war correspondent,
including on the front line during the Battle
2 Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April of Stalingrad. He was personally acquainted
1889 – 21 April 1952) was a British Labour with N.S.Khrushchov. G.Shapiro’s information
Party politician and diplomat. A wealthy lawyer about Stalin’s death, transmitted through the
by background, he first entered Parliament at channels of ‘United Press’ was more than a day
a by-election in 1931, and was one of a handful ahead of the official message. He was the hero
of Labour frontbenchers to retain his seat at the of many anecdotes circulating in the journalistic
general election that autumn. He became a environment of the USSR in the 1960-70s.
leading spokesman for the left-wing and co-
operation in a Popular Front with Communists 4 Solomon Abramovich Lozovsky (1878–
before 1939, in which year he was expelled from 1952) was a prominent Communist
the Labour Party. During this time he became and Bolshevik revolutionary, a high-ranking
intimately involved with Krishna Menon and official in the Soviet government, including as
the India League. When Winston Churchill formed a Presidium member of the All-Union Central
his wartime coalition government in 1940 he Council of Soviet Trade Unions, a Central
appointed Cripps Ambassador to the Soviet Committee member of the Communist Party, a
Union in the view that Cripps, who had Marxist member of the Supreme Soviet, a deputy people’s
sympathies, could negotiate with Joseph commissar for foreign affairs and the head of the
Stalin who had a nonaggression pact with Nazi Soviet Information Bureau (Sovinformburo).
Germany through the Molotov–Ribbentrop
Pact. When Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in 5 Zygmunt Piotr Bohusz-Szyszko (1893–
June 1941, Cripps became a key figure in forging 1982) was a Polish general. During World War
an alliance between the western powers and the I he served in the Imperial Russian army. In
Soviet Union. 1940, he was Commanding Officer of the Polish
In 1942, Cripps returned to Britain and Independent Highland Brigade (Samodzielna
made a broadcast about the Soviet war effort. Brygada Strzelcow Podhalanskich) during
The popular response was phenomenal, and the Battle of Narvik in the Norwegian campaign.
Cripps rapidly became one of the most popular The forces under his command succeeded in
politicians in the country, despite having no capturing the Ankenes peninsula during May
1940. In 1941–1942 — Head of Polish Military
Mission in Moscow. In 1941–1943 — Chief of 9 Filipp Ivanovich Golikov (July 30, 1900 111
Staff of Polish Forces in Soviet Union. In 1942 — – July 29, 1980) was a Soviet military commander.
General Officer Commanding 5th Division, Soviet As chief of the GRU (Main Intelligence
Union. 1943–1945 — Deputy General Officer Directorate), he is best known for failing to take
Commanding II Polish Corps, Italy seriously the abundant intelligence about Nazi
Germany›s plans for an invasion of the Soviet
6 Harold “Harry” Lloyd Hopkins (August Union in June 1941, either because he did not
17, 1890 – January 29, 1946) was an American believe them or because Joseph Stalin did not
statesman, public administrator, and presidential want to hear them. He served in subsequent
advisor. A trusted deputy to President Franklin campaigns and was promoted to the rank
Delano Roosevelt, Hopkins directed New of Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1961.
Deal relief programs before serving as the
eighth United States secretary of commerce from 10 William Averell Harriman (November
1938 to 1940 and as Roosevelt›s chief foreign 15, 1891 – July 26, 1986), better known as Averell
policy advisor and liaison to Allied leaders Harriman, was an American Democratic politician,
during World War II. During his career, businessman, and diplomat. He founded Brown
Hopkins supervised the New York Temporary Brothers Harriman & Co., served as Secretary
Emergency Relief Administration, the Federal of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman,
Emergency Relief Administration, the Civil and was the 48th governor of New York, as
Works Administration, and the Works Progress well as a candidate for the Democratic Party
Administration, which he built into the largest nomination for president in 1952 and 1956.
employer in the United States. He later oversaw Beginning in the spring of 1941, Harriman served
the $50 billion Lend-Lease program of military President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a special envoy
aid to the Allies and, as Roosevelt›s personal to Europe and helped coordinate the Lend-
envoy, played a pivotal role in shaping the alliance Lease program. In August 1941, Harriman was
between the United States and the United present at the Atlantic Conference meeting
Kingdom. between FDR and Winston Churchill in Placentia
Hopkins was the top American official Bay, which yielded the Atlantic Charter He served
assigned to dealing with Soviet officials during as the US Ambassador to the Soviet Union from
World War II. He liaised with Soviet officials from 1943 to 1946.
the middle ranks to the very highest, including
Stalin. 11 The Atlantic Charter was a joint
declaration issued during World War II by the
7 Joseph Taggart McNarney (August United States and Great Britain that set out a
28, 1893 – February 1, 1972) was a four- vision for the postwar world. First announced
star general in the United States Army and on August 14, 1941, a group of 26 Allied nations
in the United States Air Force, who served as eventually pledged their support by January 1942.
Military Governor of occupied Germany. Among its major points were a nation’s right to
choose its own government, the easing of trade
8 Laurence Adolph Steinhardt (October restrictions and a plea for postwar disarmament.
6, 1892 – March 28, 1950) was an American The document is considered one of the first key
economist, lawyer, and senior diplomat of the steps toward the establishment of the United
United States Department of State who served Nations in 1945.
as U.S. Ambassador to six countries. He served
as U.S. First Minister to Sweden (1933–1937), 12 After the outbreak of war, the Central
U.S. Ambassador to Peru (1937–1939), U.S. Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of
Ambassador to the Soviet Union (1939–1941), Bolsheviks decided to launch the campaign “Slavs
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey (1942–1945), U.S. United in the Fight against German Fascism”. For
Ambassador to Czechoslovakia (1945–1948) and this purpose, in the first days of August in Moscow
United States Ambassador to Canada (1948– it was decided to hold a mass rally, at which a
1950). proclamation to all Slavic peoples would be adopted,
broadcast by the USSR Radio in all languages during
112 the decade. The All-Slavic radio meeting was held in under British command. Here, Anders formed and
the studio of the Radio Committee for two days. On led the Polish II Corps, while continuing to agitate
10 August 1941 it was opened by the writer Alexey for the release of Polish nationals still in the Soviet
Nikolaevich Tolstoy. He emphasized the need to Union
unite the Slavic peoples to fight Hitlerism and said
that freedom is not brought on a golden platter, it is 14 Derek Coventry Patmore (1908 – 1972)
taken with weapons in hand. “And those who think was a British writer. He was the great grandson of
to somehow survive this time, to become humble the poet Coventry Patmore. He worked as a war
and inconspicuous, are cruelly mistaken. The humble correspondent in the Balkans and the Middle East,
will be crushed by the fascist boot like bugs with writing for the News Chronicle, the Daily Mail and
their legs tucked up.” The main goal of the rally, as Christian Science Monitor.
emphasized by its participants, was to unite the
Slavic peoples in order to destroy German fascist 15 The India League was an England-based
oppression. In the Proclamation to all oppressed organization established by Krishna Menon in
Slavic peoples of the world on behalf of the First 1928. It campaigned for the full independence
All-Slavic Rally in Moscow it was said: “We have one and self-governance of British India. It has
task and one goal - the defeat of Hitler’s armies and been described as “the principal organization
the destruction of Hitlerism”. The Moscow radio promoting Indian nationalism in pre-war Britain”
broadcast the speeches of the participants of the
rally and their address in many languages, and the 16 The First Moscow Conference - Held
call to resist the enemy was heard in all corners of from 29 September to 1 October 1941, the
the Soviet Union and in many countries of the world. first conference of the Anti-Hitler Coalition, in
which the Soviet Union participated, essentially
13 Władysław Albert Anders (11 August completed the process of coalition formation. The
1892 – 12 May 1970) was a general in the Polish conference was attended by representatives of
Army and later in life a politician and prominent the Soviet Union, the British Empire, as well as the
member of the Polish government-in-exile in United States, which, despite some contradictions
London. Anders commanded the Nowogródzka between their governments managed to
Cavalry Brigade during the German invasion of successfully agree to start supplying food and
Poland in September 1939 and was immediately other material aid to the Soviet Union under
called into action, taking part in the Battle of Mława. the Lend-Lease program in the amount of 545
After the collapse of the Polish Northern Front the thousand dollars, as well as to provide a loan for
brigade withdrew towards Warsaw, and also fought military needs in the amount of 1 billion dollars.
heavy battles against the Germans around Mińsk
Mazowiecki and in the second phase of the Battle of 17 William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron
Tomaszów Lubelski. After the launch of Operation Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964),
Barbarossa and the signing of the Sikorski-Maisky generally known as Lord Beaverbrook («Max»
agreement, Anders was released by the Soviets with to his close circle), was a Canadian-British
the aim of forming a Polish Army to fight against newspaper publisher and backstage politician
the Germans alongside the Red Army. Continued who was an influential figure in British media
friction with the Soviets over political issues as and politics of the first half of the 20th century.
well as shortages of weapons, food and clothing, His base of power was the largest circulation
led to the eventual evacuation of Anders’ men – newspaper in the world, the Daily Express, which
known as Anders’ Army – together with a sizeable appealed to the conservative working class with
contingent of Polish civilians who had been deported intensely patriotic news and editorials. During
to the USSR from Poland, via the Persian the Second World War, he played a major role
Corridor into Iran, Iraq, and finally into Mandatory in mobilizing industrial resources as Winston
Palestine. The evacuation, which took place in Churchill’s Minister of Aircraft Production.
March 1942, was based on the British-Soviet-Polish
understanding. The soldiers involved were evacuated
from the Soviet Union and made their way through
Iran to British-ruled Palestine, where they passed
 113

Chapter VIII trapped in two encirclements at Bryansk

Battle for Moscow1 and Vyazma, and faced inescapable
Time Magazine, annihilation.
-The southern Armies of Marshal
October 20, 1941 Semion Budenny3 were routed. All that
remained to block the German drive in
Moscow’s Fate, Not Man’s the south was the strain on the Germans’
The biggest battle in the biggest own human endurance and the speed of
campaign in the biggest war in the their machines.
history of man was joined last week. -The best of Marshal Klimenti
Voroshilov’s northern defenders were
The Germans thought, prematurely, locked in Leningrad.
that they had won all three. “The From these facts, said Dr. Dietrich, one
campaign in the East is decided,” said could make sweeping deductions: “The
Hitler’s Little Sir Echo as he set about military decision has already fallen. The
explaining to the foreign press how and rest of the operations will take the course
why Hitler thought they had won. Hitler’s we wish them to. For all military purposes
Little Sir Echo is his Press Chief, Dr. Otto Soviet Russia is done with.”
Dietrich2. As he stood in the palatial But was it so easily done with? What
auditorium of the Propaganda Ministry, would the German soldiers say who had
in front of a Russian map three times yet to shed blood to accomplish this
his own height, the suave, bright-faced supposedly accomplished fact? What
unraveler of the Führer’s tongue was of Leningrad? What of Odessa? What
more suave and bright-faced than ever. of Marshal Budenny’s remnants, who
First, by way of mental disarmament, would certainly not ask to be captured?
he put his professional reputation up What of the thousands of untamed miles
for ransom. “I have never misled you on and millions of untamed men beyond
the Western Front campaign,” he said. “I Moscow? What of the wall of the Urals?
pledge my good name for the genuineness What of the Russian Armies beyond the
of this information.” wall?
Claims. His information was a series And what of hatred? What of the
of assurances with which he personally years of trying to organize this mass
had just flown from Adolf Hitler’s of resentment? Was this not Serbia a
headquarters in Russia: thousand fold?
-The last intact Russian Armies, those How much, then, could the Germans
of Marshal Semion Timoshenko, were say last week with truth?
114 Facts. They could say they had this week Joseph Stalin’s Government was
launched the biggest pitched battle preparing to move, possibly to Stalingrad.
ever fought. Acting on the fundamental So much the Germans could say; no
Clausewitz4 dictum, “Concentrate the more. It takes one to start a fight, but
maximum of forces in the direction of it takes two to make an end of fighting.
the main blow,” the Germans had drawn There was no apparent disposition in
forces from both southern and northern Moscow last week to call a halt. Said
fronts. They had thrown into this great Soviet Spokesman Solomon ‘ A. Lozovsky:
push toward Moscow more than two- “The possibility of destroying the Soviet
thirds of their entire infantry forces in Union is absurd. We are confident of
Russia, three-quarters of their Panzer success because it is impossible to
forces. Altogether the Germans were destroy the U.S.S.R., Britain and the
using some 1,700,000 infantrymen, United States. The Germans are dizzy
450,000 motorized troops, 14,000 tanks. with temporary successes. No single
The Germans could say with truth battle can finish this war. We . . . have no
that this time they commanded doubt as to the ultimate outcome.”
numerical superiority. They had tricked There was a world of difference –
the Russians into sending important and there might be a long, weary time –
reinforcements to the Ukraine, so that between the immediate decision of which
now the most optimistic figure possible the Germans were so confident and the
for Marshal Timoshenko’s central forces ultimate outcome as to which the Russians
was 1,800,000 men to the Germans’ had no doubt.
2,150,000.
The Blitzkrieg is godless war; God Newsweek, October 6, 1941
does not necessarily aid the side with the
biggest battalions. Materiel and strategy The Russian Front After Three
count for much. The Germans could Months
honestly say last week that they had long by Maj. Gen. STEPHEN O.
had air superiority and now for the first FUQUA, U.S.A. Retired
time clearly had tank superiority.
They could also say they were marching Three months, the period set by
on Moscow. A Berlin spokesman said last many as the time required by the Hitler
week: “No city is the objective of our schedule to hoist the Swastika over
operations. If Moscow should fall within the Kremlin, have passed; yet the Red
the range of them, that would make Army fights on from the Arctic Ocean
no difference to us. We aim to catch, to the Black Sea. In retrospect, it is of
surround and destroy the enemy armies interest to note the basic reason for
wherever they may be.” Just the same, the strong and generally unexpected
the Germans could not help remembering Russian resistance to the invader. The
what a difference the fall of Paris made, whole Soviet industrial, political, and
knowing what the fall of Berlin would economic structure was of a pattern
mean to themselves. Last week the city designed for war with Germany, and the
itself was not immediately threatened; Russians had never engaged in battle so
well prepared for defensive operations. The fall of Leningrad would give the 115
The Red Army was well trained, and in Germans a great material victory over
numbers, guns, tanks, and planes it the Soviets, including the loss to them
was the equal of the Army of the Reich. of the Baltic Fleet, the industrial region
After three months of war, the areas of of this sector, and large numbers of
Leningrad, Moscow, and the Ukraine men and quantities of equipment.
remain the foremost German targets Besides, there would be a moral victory
for gaining the main objective – the for the Nazis in conquering the home
destruction of the Red Army. However, city of Communism, which bears the
the strategical lines and tactical methods name of the leader of the revolution.
for approaching these intermediate In addition, the German Army, released
objectives have shifted in accordance from the siege, would be literally sitting
with new military estimates of the right on top of the Soviet capital. In fact,
situation, imposed by the normal and should the Germans succeed in taking
expected kaleidoscopic changes that Leningrad in the north and Kharkov in
emerge from behind the proverbial fog the Ukraine, then from those two cities
of war. Under the original plan of the they may be expected to launch against
German High Command, the forces Moscow the greatest pincers movement
operating north of the Pripet Marshes ever attempted. And it is this project
were aimed at Leningrad and Moscow, that now makes the German Army, at
while those to the south of this land the end of a three months’ campaign,
barrier were directed into the Ukraine. indifferent toward the Smolensk area
This plan called for the drive on Moscow, and the Napoleonic route to Moscow.
in the first instance, to constitute the The German offensive south of the
main attack. Success here would sever Pripet Marshes, directed against the
Russia in two parts, much as Sherman’s grain and industrial areas of the Ukraine,
march to the sea5 did to the Confederacy. has carried its vanguard to the rich
Besides, it would place the German Army basin of the Donets, with a spear-head
of the center in a position to support threatening Kharkov, the great rail
either the thrust against Leningrad junction and industrial city of this vital
or the drive into the Ukraine. But the region. Farther south, at the beginning
movement on Moscow slowed down, of this week the battle for the Crimea
and the Germans shifted their main effort was under way. This, for the Germans,
to the Ukraine. Later, at the expense of is a fight for the Russian naval base at
the operations in the Smolensk area, Sevastopol and mastery of the Black Sea.
the drive on Leningrad was intensified, Although at the end of three months of
probably to hasten cutting of the rail war the Red Army is hard pressed, Russian
routes to the Arctic ports to halt supplies resistance is by no means crushed.
from Britain and the United States. Additional man power is available and,
The Leningrad offensive aimed at the if vitally needed equipment can be
occupation of the little Baltic states, gotten to the Soviets, the defense lines
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, now of the Don, the Volga, and even back
gained, and the capture of Leningrad. as far as the Urals should hold them
120 in good stead for a long defensive war. winter, with streams beginning to freeze
The future movement of the German and plains coated with snow.
Armies of the Ukraine is clear. Either
before or after the operations against HIGH OFFICIALS REMAIN.
Moscow, this great war machine will While Red Army battled the Germans
drive hard and fast for the northern on the approaches to Moscow, the highest
and eastern shores of the Black Sea, members of the Soviet government
with the oil fields of the Caucasus as remained in the capital. Premier Stalin
the main objective. And there, it is with his chief aides drafted in the Kremlin
equally definite, the Hitler hordes will the series of decrees in which the
be challenged by Wavell’s new army. But steadily-stiffening defense of Moscow
that is a future story. was organized, including the declaration
of a state of siege. Behind the front lines
The Evening Star, over a vast territory preparations went
October 22, 1941 forward simultaneously for prosecution
of a long war. Columns of reserves moved
Russian Hinterland, In Grip of west to enter the lines while eastward
Winter, out of the danger zone, rolled women,
Girds for Long War children, the aged, and all other persons
Rivers to Begin Freeze, Snow not participating actively in defense.
Coats Plains; Railway communication continued
to function but more slowly under the
Soviets Are Determined greatly-increased volume of traffic as
By HENRY C. CASSIDY. thousands of persons and huge amounts
Associated Press War Correspondent. of factory machines and other equipment
were being transported. Russian planes
K U I B Y S H E V. ( D e l a y e d ) . — W i t h also plied the air steadily without evidence
Premier Stalin’s government holding of unusually effective interference by the
the fort behind the red-towered walls German Air Force. Myriads of cities and
of the Kremlin the despite grave danger towns behind the lines bustled with the
hanging over Moscow, the Soviet Union influx of new life.
is pursuing relentlessly the course of
the war against Germany. I have seen CASE ADMITTEDLY SERIOUS.
unmistakable evidences of Russian The military situation at the approaches
determination to carry on the struggle, of Moscow’ was acknowledged to be
come what may. The constant shuffle dangerous, with bitter fighting raging
of reserves westward and civilians in the district of Mozhaisk, west of
eastward, high morale, unbroken Moscow, and other sectors northwest
communications and adequate food and southwest of the capital. On the
supplies all are coupled by observers southern front also, where the Germans
as indications of preparations for a long were pushing with Italian, Rumanian and
and continuing war. The vast trackless Hungarian support. In the direction of
hinterland virtually is in the grip of Taganrog after the Russians evacuated
Odessa, the Soviet position appeared armies, these forces can be employed in a 121
serious. The Germans claimed the fall of coordinated offensive against a common
Taganrog Sunday. The third major point objective.
of peril is Leningrad, where the Germans In the Leningrad sector, the German
and Finns hammered incessantly at the pressure has lessened, either from losses
approaches of Russia’s second city. But sustained in storming the fortified area or
deep within the Soviet Union life surged as a result of the Russian counteroffensive.
forward at a quickened pace and Russians But more probably this lack of an all-out
said they remained confident of the effort in the siege operations is due to a
eventual outcome of the war. One factor change in the master plan resulting from
seen as contributing to the maintenance the successes in the Ukraine.
of morale was the supply of food, which On the central front, where originally
appeared adequate in the provinces. In the major attack was pointed at Moscow,
one town I visited, a restaurant produced the Germans were probably slowed down
soup, fresh eggs, veal, rice and tea for a by what Hitler called, in his speech of last
large party on short notice. week, the “gigantic preparations” of the
Russians. Specifically, the slowing down of
Newsweek, October 13, 1941 this German drive was due in the main not
All Roads Lead to Moscow only to the Russian counterattacks but to
the ineffectiveness of the small spearhead
by Maj. Gen. STEPHEN O. FUQUA, drives of the German mechanized forces
U.S.A. Retired in their encircling tactics. This type of
tank employment, used so successfully
Both the hidden and exposed moves on in Norway, the Low Countries, and
the chessboard of war indicated, several France, failed in this region principally
days before Hitler’s announcement of because the Russian forces and partisans
the launching of “an operation of gigantic (guerrillas) were able to overpower these
proportions,” that a great new German small and widely separated detachments.
drive was in the making. There were two In the Ukraine, profiting by the lessons
general plans open to the German High of the failure on the central front of the
Command, after completing the drive into small spearhead drives, the Germans
the Donets Basin: one southward toward pushed the offensive against Kiev and
the Caucasus, and the other northward in then through the Ukraine with a number
the triangle Kharkov-Leningrad-Moscow. of large self-contained mechanized
In the original German three-pronged units, operating on wide areas in the
offensive initiated against the regions of greatest pincers movement they had ever
Leningrad, Moscow, and the Ukraine, a attempted.
certain independence of movement was This pincer movement, trapping the
necessary until the Pripet Marshes had Russians behind Kiev, succeeded on
been passed. Now that a line of inter- a tremendous scale possibly greater
communication and supply has been than the Germans expected. Marshal
established east of the marshes linking Budenny’s armies were almost destroyed.
the Ukraine, Smolensk, and Leningrad And the Germans consequently now are
122 able to shift their main effort back on is setting in, and Moscow is now easier
Moscow, rather than try the more difficult prey to stalk than the distant oil fields
winter attack on the Caucasus. lying beyond the snowbound mountains
Unless the German Army besieging of the Caucasus and the difficult wintry
Leningrad is made free, the great waters of the Black Sea.
encircling maneuver to pinch off Moscow
must be initiated from the south. Here the Time Magazine,
Army of the Ukraine, rehabilitated and November 17, 1941
reorganized, flushed with victory, already
has its van in motion beyond Poltava.
The Voice of Russia
Never before in this campaign has the
Red Army been in such a disadvantageous Joseph Stalin said in Moscow’s Red
and dangerous strategically position. Square: “Another few months, another
With the Ukraine in German hands, the half year, one year maybe, and Hitlerite
Russian forces engaged in local counter- Germany must burst under the weight of
movements could be flanked from her own crimes.”
the south and the Soviet Armies, from “By not flinching,” said Winston
Kharkov to Leningrad, flanked in echelon Churchill, “we came through the dark and
and forced to fight without being able to perilous passage and now once again are
support each other. masters of our own destiny.”
The Germans can strike north or south. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek6 said:
But a movement to the south beyond the “This is a very important time in our
Crimea would not only greatly lengthen united struggle.”
the German front and call for more General Charles de Gaulle said: “We
troops and more planes, but would be have now reached the precise moment
initiating a campaign out of geographical when the tide of victory is on the point
cooperative reach of the central and of turning.”
northern forces. Besides, a thrust toward Even when Germans spoke, they
the Caucasus at this time would, in effect, spoke defensively.
open a second front, with a dangerous Optimism has a great appetite, and
extension of communicating and supply is likely to feed so happily and so fast on
lines. morsels like these that nothing ever comes
The oil-fields goal lies behind the of it but the gas pains of bad morale. But
Caucasus Mountains, a barrier similar to last week the world was offered food for
the Pyrenees, with railways skirting the optimism which was solid food, stuff for
sea ends of the range and with difficult bone and muscle.
routes over the passes. Therefore, any It was a speech made over the Moscow
land expedition in that direction must radio by a voice which was high-pitched
be coordinated with a supply route over and soft. The voice was unemotional but
the Black Sea. To attain this passage, the it evoked the greatest human emotions,
Crimea must be occupied, Sevastopol not only pity and fear, but pride and
reduced, and the Russian Fleet in these willingness to die. The radio gave the
waters destroyed or captured. But winter voice a hollow quality. Behind the voice
 Comrades! Twenty-four years have 123
passed since the victory of the October
Social Revolution and the establishment
of the Soviet system. He went on to speak
of Russia at war.

The Times, November 26, 1941

THE THREAT TO MOSCOW
The fighting in Russia has reached a
climax even fiercer than those which have
gone before. The broad hints recently
dropped by the enemy to the effect that
he was withdrawing troops from the
increasingly bleak weather of the central
front obviously indicated the possibility
of a feint; and our allies have certainly
not been taken unawares by a renewed
assault, on Leningrad a well as Moscow,
a in which more troops than ever are
being flung into the fray. Evidently a
supreme effort is to be made to capture
one or both of the great cities before
the last sands of the season run out. The
there was a hum which probably was a prizes of success, over and above the
German air raid but sounded like doom. purely military damage that might be
The voice was Joseph Stalin’s. It said inflicted on the defence, are two. First,
that Russia would fight on until Hitler the ever more urgent problem of finding
was defeated. The thing which made winter quarters for millions of men in the
this statement new, the thing that made snowbound north and centre of Russia
this speech one of the most important in full winter might be solved by lodging
declarations of World War II, was this: great numbers of them in Moscow and
Stalin’s words were demonstrably honest Leningrad themselves. Secondly, the
words. They checked with the facts. immense propaganda value of such a
There remained little question but victory, necessary as it has long been
that Russia would last out the winter, for the consolation of civilian Germany,
would fight hard next year, would go on which has been alternately inflated with
resisting somehow from some mountain glowing promises and sickened with
Chungking. The laggard democracies hope deferred, would be still further
would have more precious time to gird for increased by its use to dazzle the eyes of
the job of beating Hitler. It would be an the accomplices and satellites bidden to
awesome job, but now it could be done. Berlin. It is no doubt also in HITLER’S mind
Joseph Stalin began his speech simply: that the loss of the cities would impair
124 yet found one; but it has to be recognized
that the Russians speak in graver terms
of their situation than they have used for
several weeks. Although the few miles
that a determined offensive nearly always
gains in this campaign, even against the
stoutest resistance, becomes a serious
matter now that the line of battle is so
close to the city, all the experience of
the past five months lends substance
to the hope that this onslaught, like its
predecessors, will spend itself and fall
short of its objective. Some aid may be
lent to the magnificent Russian defence
by the British offensive in Libya if the
Germans are compelled to divert part
of their now strained aerial resources
in order to make good their serious
deficiency on that front.
There is a further possibility of relief of
the pressure on Moscow by the exigencies
of the southern battle, although the shift
of the main centre of interest northward
has been accompanied by a lack of
the resolution or even break the spirit of authoritative news from that region.
the Soviet defence; but in England, having The fall of Rostov will be a heavy blow,
learnt to trust the unshakable fortitude of but one that the Russian Command has
our allies, we may spare ourselves any undoubtedly discounted, and as far as
apprehension of that kind. possible anticipated; from the German
On the main section of the front, staff’s point of view it is certainly far
against Moscow itself, the onslaught behind its scheduled time. The German
is formidable. A pincers attack of the claim to have crossed the Don has yet
familiar tactical shape, its lines running to be confirmed. So has the remarkable
through Klin and Volokolamsk, has made announcement from an unofficial source
dangerous progress on the north-west. in the Russian Press that our allies have
To the south very heavy pressure has struck back to the north-west of the town
been brought to bear through the great and advanced as much as sixty miles. Such
vortex of Tula and across the railway line a stroke, outflanking the spearhead of the
that serves the town. Lesser offensive German advance, would constitute an
movements are going on all along the extremely dangerous threat; even if the
front, where the enemy is all the time new turns out to be much exaggerated, the
feeling for a weak spot in the defence. Russian counter-offensive in this region
Nothing in the news suggests that he has is certainly vigorous, gives impressive
proof of sustained fighting power, and that the Russian equipment was not 125
should bring strategic aid as well as only as good as anything anywhere in
encouragement to the armies defending the world, but that in some instances no
the capital. On this southern front, nation anywhere could match their stuff
where the enemy’s reach has been most (equipment for blood transfusions and
strained, the law of diminishing returns, for serums).
which in the long run governs the fate of Are the Russians mechanically
all his offensives, may be expected to be ignorant? Their workmen can handle
most effective; and the descent of winter mechanical equipment as well as any U.S.
on lines of communication hundreds of mechanic—thanks to the universities and
miles long suggests the probable mode of trade schools of Russia, where the lazy,
its operation. incompetent or dull pay high tuition, the
brilliant pay little or nothing.
Time Magazine, What about the Urals? The Russians
October 27, 1941 have moved enormous amounts of
industrial equipment behind the Ural
Russia Will Hold Out Mountains, out of reach of the Nazis.
Much of the machinery from the Dnieper
The pessimists who went to Moscow River industrial area has been hauled out
for Franklin Roosevelt last month in freight cars.
returned last week as optimists. In the Censorship? Any news out of Russia
mission headed by slick, handsome is what the Russians want the world
William Averell Harriman were men of to know. Their censorship makes the
all types but of one stripe: all were eagle- German censors look like children playing
eyed, fact-minded men; some of them with paper dolls.
were first-rate U.S. production experts. Airplane production? If U.S. airplane
One & all had a preconceived picture of production (now at the rate of almost
Soviet Russia as a sorry, ignorant, grubby 25,000 planes a year) is considered barely
wasteland. The mission reported to the fair, the Russian rating is comparatively
President at Hyde Park at the end of a very, very good.
week in which catastrophes approached. What do the Russians want? Not
Instead of coming as expected messengers much, militarily. About a billion dollars’
of disaster, they arrived as heralds of worth of airplanes, tanks, machine tools.
hope. Their collective prediction: Moscow What should the U.S. do? When it is
will not fall. politically possible, sign a real agreement
What would Stalin do? Long ago or treaty of alliance with Great Britain
he had made his decision: keep on and Russia.
fighting. Conditions in Russia? The Russians? They are very short people,
technical experts were amazed to the look something like potatoes, and are not
point of wonder. Example: the U.S. afraid of anyone in the world—on their
and British Red Cross delegations, own soil.
which accompanied the mission, went It only remained to be seen whether
through Moscow hospitals, reported the mission to Moscow had got the facts
126 or been properly bamboozled. If Russia The Germans had advanced on Rostov in
is indeed as good as the missionaries a narrow column, the left flank of which was
thought, then Hitler’s armies must be still insufficiently secured. Marshal Timoshenko
better than the U.S. already thinks. drove down on the flank, then hit it head-
on and sent it running. Before long the
Time Magazine, December 8, Russians claimed that the Germans’ 14th
1941 and 16th Tank Divisions, 60th Motorized
Division and two SS “Viking” Divisions
First Victory had been pursued to Taganrog, 40 miles
west of Rostov; that they were running for
After many a negative, Russia had Mariupol, 65 miles farther west.
its first positive victory last week. In this maneuver Marshal Timoshenko
Russia’s best general, Marshal Semion had used a familiar Nazi technique. He
Timoshenko, retook Rostov-on-Don and had allowed the enemy to advance until
for the first time made the Germans get it overreached itself, had then struck. He
their tails up and churn their shanks in had not, however, followed through with
the general direction of Berlin. the complementary Nazi technique —
The victory was not great: the encircling and annihilating the imprudent
Russians only pursued Germans, instead force. The Germans, though humiliated,
of catching large numbers of them. They were at liberty to turn around, as
went only 60 miles, with 600 to go. There promised, and see that international
was no guarantee that the Germans law is more carefully observed by the
would not bounce right back. But it was population of Rostov.
a victory; it was tangible in geographic
terms; it was admitted by the German Time Magazine December 8,
High Command; and it set a precedent 1941
worthy of emulation.
What made this victory particularly Death on the Approaches
enjoyable to the Russians and their
allies was the pomposity with which the When the Germans launched their
Germans had announced the capture second supposedly final attack on Moscow
of Rostov a fortnight ago. “Door to the a fortnight ago Berlin military spokesmen
Caucasus,” they had gravely said, as if called it a “do-or-die” drive. It was planned
already lubricating their tanks with the oil and commanded by Field Marshal Fedor
of Baku. Their admission of withdrawal von Bock7, who because he loves to
was equally grandiloquent: “Occupation lecture his men on the glory of dying for
troops of Rostov, in compliance with the Fatherland, is called der Sterber (the
orders, are evacuating the central part Dier). By this week many a German had
of the city in order to make the most died before Moscow, and the Dier was still
thorough preparations for necessary doing. But the city still stood.
measures against the population which, To Marshal von Bock, losses do not
contrary to international law, participated greatly matter; certainly they do not
in fighting at the rear of German troops.” matter as much as final success.
 Fedor von Bock may eventually The city is itself a super-deathtrap. Big 127
succeed in taking Moscow. But this week cities, and especially capital cities, are
it appeared that he would have to make the index of a defender’s ferocity. Madrid
at least one more try before he even showed for 30 months that the Loyalists
surrounded the city. Subduing it would meant business. Warsaw was Poland’s
be still another matter. small core of guts. Oslo was the keyhole
Russians, growing confident on their of Norway, and in it the key turned pretty
first major successes, began to say that if easily. Paris fell without a whimper, and
Moscow held out a few weeks longer, the so, soon afterward, did France. The
turning point of the whole war against Germans threatened last week, 32 weeks
Germany would have been reached. after Yugoslavia was supposedly licked,
The approaches to Moscow make a to flatten Belgrade. Of all the capitals,
first-class military cemetery. The land Moscow looms as the most formidable.
is mostly flat, some of it gently rolling. It is huge: it covers 117 square miles.
To the northwest there are numerous It is a maze of irregularly traced, winding
swamps, now partly frozen. To the streets. It is remarkably self-sufficient.
north there are great, patchy forests, Its industry, 14% of all Russia’s, is doing
which even in winter are good cover all it can for defense. Its water supply is
because they consist mostly of pine so far safe: the great Uchinsk Reservoir,
and spruce. All around is a network of 16 miles north of the city, the older
rivers—Volga, Moskva, Oka, Sherna, Mytischi mineral springs system, ten
Protva, Ugra, Ruza, Yauza—which are miles northeast, and the Rublievo river-
now mostly frozen. water system, ten miles west, are all still
This terrain is decorated with superb out of the enemy’s reach. Its sources of
internal communications, which favor electrical power lie farther afield, but
the defender. Moscow is the focus of ten they are well scattered and, so far, only
radiating railroads, and even though the slightly hampered.
Germans have cut six of those roads, the But Moscow’s greatest death-dealing
stumps are still available for throwing weapon is its life.
troops into this or that sector of the The people of the Moscow area number
front. There are, besides, eleven trunk more than 8,000,000. They constitute an
highways and numberless small roads unprecedented labor army, which can be,
running north, west and south from the and has been, rushed to every threatened
city. Moscow teems with busses, trucks sector, there to construct cement fortlets,
and cars available for urgent transport. dig bunkers, repair breaches and sow
Polka-dotting this area is a formidable mines as prodigally as wheat.
system of prepared defenses. There are Muscovites are human; they are
no Russian lines, as such, before Moscow. acquainted with fear. But they and the
The fortifications are in depth, and they regular Army around them are just
run from the present line of action right as determined as the defenders of
to the city. They consist of everything Leningrad, and all are apt to pay heed to
from tiny land mines to monstrous forts the command which their Government
three stories deep. gave them last week:
128 “To retreat one more step is a crime officially began in the Moscow area last
none shall forgive. Stop the enemy. Beat week. Until mid-April the ground will now
him out of his positions. This is an order be under a blanket of snow, the earth
which is not to be broken.” helpfully hard. To Marshal von Bock’s
The equipment against which Marshal men winter will be grim, but not deadly.
von Bock stakes his men’s lives is, for the The average temperature for January, the
outside world, incapable of measurement. coldest month, is 14° F.
But this much is certain: the Russians, In the winter of 1812 Napoleon
relying on promises made by U.S. and retreated from Moscow, but in the winter
British missions to Moscow, are not of 1941 Fedor von Bock expects to take
stinting. They are throwing everything the city. This is partly because Fedor von
into the fight. This is a great gamble, can Bock is driven by a furious determination
pay off only if the democracies really shared by every German officer all the
deliver. way up to Adolf Hitler; it is partly because
Russia’s most immediate need is der Sterber is disdainful of hard ships.
for tanks. The Beaverbrook-Harriman Holy Fire of Küstrin. Fedor von
mission was pressed for quick delivery Bock looks like a man dying of some
of tanks above all, even if it meant mysterious internal combustion. He is
sacrificing planes. Of airplanes, Russia gaunt, and his eyes have the baleful stare
needs heavy bombers most. Machine of windows in a bombed-out house. He
tools, unfortunately the rarest and most is a competent general—in Russia he has
complicated gadgets, are badly needed. been Germany’s best—and besides, he
Russia asked the U.S. for more than believes, with aggressive religiousness, in
30,000 tons of steel a month, especially dying if necessary for the soil and honor
for 5,000 tons a month of rare superhard of Prussia.
tool steel;* for between 5,000 and 10,000 Fedor was son of a major general,
tons a month of aluminum; considerable grandson of a general. He was born
quantities of nickel. The U.S. had to turn 61 years ago in ancient Küstrin, where
down a request for magnesium. Britain Frederick the Great was imprisoned by
was asked for large supplies of rubber his father so that he would learn “the
and jute. meaning of Prussianism.” At cadet schools
That the democracies may deliver young Fedor showed by his unbreakable
was twice hinted last week. From Bandar spirit that he already understood
Shahpur8 on the Persian Gulf came something of that meaning. By 1910 he
pictures of a ship landing goods bearing had talked his way into the right to wear
U.S. labels. The Russians announced red stripes down his trouser legs—the
that the first shipment of British tanks badge of a general staffer. He had begun
had gone into action on the Moscow making speeches with the refrain: “Our
front. The tanks were painted white, as profession should always be crowned by
camouflage against the snow. a heroic death for the Emperor and the
The weather which required this Fatherland.”
camouflage was steadily worsening. In Fedor von Bock’s cosmos, the
According to almanac reckoning, winter Fatherland remained constantly
deathworthy; the Emperor was World War II is written and a list is made 129
interchangeable with, successively, of the generals who have done most
Weimar Republicanism, Hindenburg, the to whittle down Germany’s chances of
Führer. He was completely unpolitical: he victory, the name of Bock may lead all the
never plotted, was never purged. rest.
He always satisfied his superiors, often Scrabbling. His greatest efforts were
was the butt of his contemporaries. They flung at Moscow’s flanks. Starting from
used to goad him at mess by suggesting a line, the strongest previous blows of
that an enemy bullet was not something which had been struck directly opposite
to be grateful for. This would enrage Bock Moscow, he skirted south of the hard
and he would make his usual harangue, core of resistance at Tula to drive straight
until his fellows all said together: “Ah, the east as far as Skopin; then cut south of
holy fire of Küstrin.” another hard core at Kalinin to drive east
But as Fedor von Bock worked his to Dmitrov. His intention seemed to be
way up, he won more & more respect— to develop a huge encirclement of the
both for his fanaticism and for his capital.
thoroughness. Soon his fanaticism spread But advance through Moscow’s terrain
in the Army, until every unit had a handful of swamps, forests, rivers, and especially
of “Bock’s own dying heroes.” of forts-in-depth could not possibly be
When war came, he gave plenty of a Blitz advance. It was a slow, painful,
soldiers the fatal chance. He was not scrabbling process.
one to hoard lives. In Poland he had to Because Marshal von Bock could not
do more fighting than General Gerd von advance speedily, the element of surprise
Rundstedt, but by losing far more men he was largely denied him. The usually
went just as fast. In France, too, his central ponderous Russians could see what
armies of Group B suffered relatively high he was trying to do, were able to take
casualties. In Russia he won Germany’s counter-measures. They claimed that
greatest victories (Bialystok-Minsk, they were squeezing his northern prong
Smolensk, Bryansk-Vyazma) and suffered into a virtual encirclement, that they
the greatest losses. Last week he was were slowing the southern prong.
still sending men to glorious, spendthrift This week Marshal von Bock’s second
death. great try seemed to be playing out. But
Steely determination to win and a the tenacious Marshal was not through.
willingness to die have won more than He would certainly try, try again. If he
one battle. But when these qualities eventually succeeded, it would be at
develop into indifference to losses—as great cost, because the Dier would go on
they did on the Western Front in World saying to his men, as he had always said:
War I and as they did in Napoleon’s later “The ideal soldier fulfills his duty to
campaigns—they can easily lose wars. the utmost, obeys without even thinking,
Before Moscow Bock is expending men thinks only when ordered to do so, and
and materiel whose strength Germany has as his only desire to die the honorable
will never be able to call on again. It is just death of a soldier killed in action.”
possible that when the military history of
130 The Times, December 12, 1941 divisions, and perhaps considerably
THE RUSSIAN VICTORIES more), with two Panzer divisions. These
troops, it may be taken, were exclusive
The news from the Russian front, from of the lower-grade formations holding
hostile sources as well as from Moscow sectors where no attack was launched.
and Kuibyshev, makes it clearer than In fact, our Special Correspondent in
ever that the counter-offensive which Moscow reports that between Kalinin
rесарtured Rostov was not merely a fine and Tula fifty-one divisions are believed
local success but also a symptom of a new to be retreating. The objectives which the
situation developing all over the battle flanking pincers were designed to reach
zone. The fighting in the Moscow area before they began to close were as distant
was very different in character from the as Dmitrov, on the Vologda railway, in the
engagements on the Donetz and the Don; north, and Kolomna, some sixty miles due
but the result of the battle in each case south-east of Moscow, in the south.
has been the defeat of a German assault Here there was no sudden
fol- lowed by a Russian counter-offensive. counterstroke out of the blue as at
Departing for once from its customary Rostov. From November 16 to December
reticence, the Russian High Command 5 the Russians fought a stubborn
has given a remarkable picture of the defensive battle, with local counter-
last German offensive against Moscow, attacks whenever the pressure became
including the enemy’s complete order particularly heavy. And very heavy it
of battle — in itself sure proof that there was at times on both flanks, where the
have been extensive captures of prisoners situation was more than once described
and documents. local counter-attacks whenever the
The German plan must have been to pressure became particularly heavy. And
capture Moscow by envelopment; for it very heavy it was at times on both flanks,
was on the flanks that the enemy massed where the situation was more than once
almost all his armoured and mobile described by our allies as grave. Yet
strength, the central attack being mainly nowhere was the enemy’s progress on
carried out by infantry formations of anything like the scale of his previous
the normal type. The figures given bear offensives; many of his assaults were
witness that this was a truly formidable completely routed; many others were
host; and if, as is probable, some of the nipped in the bud. On December 6 the
formations were far below establishment Red Army gave extraordinary proof of its
in equipment and personnel, that was tenacity and endurance after so fierce a
due to the losses inflicted by the Russians test by turning to the offensive all along
during the October fighting. Against the Moscow front. This new phase has not
the Russian right were massed seven been long in progress, and the distances
Panzer, two motorized, and three infantry so far covered have not been great by
divisions; against the left, four Panzer, comparison with the vastness of the
two motorized divisions, and-one infantry front and the enemy’s deep penetration
division; against the centre, six army into Russia. But the results cannot be
corps (that is, at least twelve infantry measured by distance only. It is the nature
of the victory that counts. Rostov was of the capture of Moscow, Leningrad, and 131
equal and perhaps even greater strategic the Ukraine, with its resources, and the
importance, but it might well be argued seizure of the Russian oilfields. Only one
that at Rostov the Germans overreached of those objects has been even partially
themselves through over-confidence attained, and the value of the advance
and faulty intelligence as to the Russian into the Ukraine has been enormously
reinforcements. Moscow was that diminished by the prior removal of
supreme test of men, of material, and of industrial plant and the destruction of a
junior leadership, a slogging match, and great proportion of such machinery and
the Russians stood up to the slogging material as could not be removed.
better than their enemies. In the other attempts the enemy
This is a fact which cannot be disguised. has been rudely rebuffed, and most
The Germans are now announcing that thoroughly of all, as the events of the past
they are disengaging their forces. But few weeks bear witness, in the first. The
even they are not pretending that they Red Army remains, and it is now releasing
did not try to capture Moscow. Moreover, from hostile pressure and thus restoring
to a great extent they are obviously failing to full or much increased activity some of
to disengage. In the engagements round the great munition producing centres in
Yelets alone the Russians have captured that area between Moscow and the Volga
226 guns. In any case the decision to which is still the main arsenal of the Soviet
break off the offensive was forced upon Union. In the present conditions it holds
the enemy by necessity and was not a advantages over the enemy which he
matter of choice. It is probable that a himself scarcely attempts to deny. There
large number of formations have already have never been any laments about the
been withdrawn to such winter quarters weather from the Russian side. Our allies
as are available. But that is a consequence are convinced that it is less hampering
of failure to reach objectives or to provide to them than to their foes because their
the necessary equipment for that winter troops can better withstand it, because
campaign which German spokesmen were their communications are shorter, and for
boasting only a few weeks ago would suit certain technical reasons connected with
their purposes admirably. These reverses engines, fuel, lubricants, and tank-tracks.
are not confined to the shore of the While it cannot be doubted that winter
Sea of Azov and the central front. In the will in fact constitute a handicap to major
Donetz Basin the Germans are also losing operations on their part also, it is none the
ground and what is more leaving booty in less certain that they have no intention of
the hands of the Russians. At Tikhvin, on losing the initiative on which they have
the Leningrad front, the situation brought been, for the first time since the campaign
about by one of their most spectacular began, gradually extending their grip.
secondary offensives, five weeks ago to- Whatever course events may take within
day, has been restored, and here also the the next few months, it is reasonably
Russian counter-offensive is continuing sure that if the German Army in Russia is
campaign nearly six months ago were looking forward to a quiet winter its hopes
the destruction of the Russian forces, are not destined to be fulfilled.
132 LIFE Magazine, January 12, 1942 At last, in November, the Russians
RUSSIAN COURAGE AND COLD began to hit back. They first sensed
a soft spot in the north and freed
ROUT THE NAZI the railway lines to Leningrad. Next,
Manila fell to the enemy on Jan. 29 Timoshenko in the south discovered
and the sensation of defeat settled for that Hitler had withdrawn German
the second time in the pit of American divisions from the Rostov area to assist
stomachs. To help digest this cold news in the taking of Moscow. The Germans
came great good tidings from the other wrongly considered Timoshenko’s force
side of the world. On the day Manila so shattered by the defeats of October
fell, Adolf Hitler was speeding to the that it could only reel and fall. Instead,
Russian front to try to halt the retreat Timoshenko tempted Kleist into Rostov
of his armies back across the white hell and then smote him on the flank. Panic-
of Russia. No longer in a position to stricken, the Ger – mans realized they
glimpse the tantalizing towers of the needed troops on three fronts at once.
Kremlin, he now stopped at Smolensk. They began shuttling reserves around in
He was reported to be building three a frenzy. Finally, on Dec. 7, the same day
lines of fortifications between Minsk and as Pearl Harbor, the German center facing
Berlin as rolling attacks of the Russians Moscow began to sway back. General
exploded all along his front. The greatest Zhukov thereupon struck with all he had
army the world had ever seen was in full saved, a winter army of half a million men.
retreat and seemed to be marching into The German retreat began with
its own past, like a movie run backward, majestic competence, its rear guards
as the place-names of last fall’s German fighting stubbornly. But with the loss of
victories re-appeared as this winter’s Kaluga, Mozhaisk and the destruction
German defeats: Kerch (taken by Nazis of six army corps, it became something
Nov. 16), Kursk (Nov. 1), Tula (Oct. 31), never planned in Berlin. “Battles are won
Taganrog (Oct. 22), Mozhaisk (Oct. 17), with the remnants of armies,” and the
Kaluga (Oct. 12). Though the Red Army Russians had the best remnants.
had been helped by the worst winter in The great Red Army, which withstood
20 years, the larger fact was that it had such stunning shocks, is a mystery to
simply outfought the German Army. The most Americans. The Russians have
real saviors of Moscow were the men understandably been reluctant to spill
who had battled to the death all across their secrets to the talkative experts
Russia and bought with their lives a little of the democracies. Yet the Russians
precious time and space for their country. themselves warn their Allies that they
Slowly they whittled down the effective are not happy about the possibility of
German Army of 1941 from 300 to 200 to a German offensive next spring. They
150 to close to 125 divisions. Meanwhile desperately need tanks and machine
the Russian generals refused to panic, tools from U. S. and British plants.
kept reserves intact, hoarded their
strength and coolly mastered the German
lessons of maneuver.
The Evening Star, fears felt for the city’s resistance, residents 133
December 15, 1941 said. That came during the dark days of
Tension Eased, Moscow Doffs October 16 and 17, when a mass exodus
Battle Dress for Sunday Best accompanied the peak of the first of two
German offensives. Later in October the
Soviet Capital Marks Retreat of residents got a breather, and Muscovites
Germans, Strollers Crowd Park, on November 7 quietly celebrated the
Children at Play anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution
with a Red Square parade. The tension
By HENRY C. CASSIDY. was renewed November 16 when the
Associated Press War Correspondent. Germans launched their second offensive,
but arrival of the pick of the Red Army
MOSCOW. Dec. 14 (delayed).— This reassured the populace, who also got
glistening white capital exchanged tangible evidence of drooping German
battledress for its Sunday best today as morale. “We saw German prisoners here
its inhabitants celebrated the retreat of in Moscow,” one resident said. “Only
Adolf Hitler’s legions from their near- one that I saw had a fur cap. Twenty or
siege positions. With a group of American 30 others wore very thin clothes, with
and British correspondents flown in from shawls wrapped around the heads. They
Kuibyshev yesterday I viewed the city’s shivered in the cold.” Spirits then rose
scars and heard from men and women with the announcement that Rostov
who stayed grimly by their posts through had been recaptured. Today strollers
two bitter months of German air and land crowded the Alexandrov Park under the
onslaughts the epic story of their struggle walls of the Kremlin, Gorky street —
for existence. Residents, who underwent Moscow’s Fifth avenue — and the Arbat
as many as seven air raids in a single day, square on the city’s west side. Handsome
and on several days four, told of hearing cavalrymen wearing tall fur hats and blue
the heavy thud of artillery during one bad capes, their sabers gleaming, chatted
night when the Germans came closest. with pretty girls in colorful shawls and
Nightly they saw on the horizon the flashes furs. There must have been a couple
from the big guns reaching for their city. of hundred thousand children playing
in the streets. In the annex of the
No Serious Food Shortage. damaged Bolshoy Theater was a matinee
There never was any serious food performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s
shortage, residents said. Bread was ballet, “The Hunched Back Horse.” The
always available, they reported, and they Byzantine turrets of the Kremlin and the
also’ had rationed meat, potatoes, fats, modern structures of Gorky street are
kerosene and other essentials. Coffee standing unscathed. Subways, streetcars
and some other articles were obtainable and buses are still operating. Lights,
without ration cards. But they went water, gas and other public services are
without tobacco and alcoholic beverages. still functioning. Merchants are busy.
Match speculators who appeared I were Bad weather has prevented the Germans
quickly eliminated. Only once were real from making many air raids recently,
134 but they attempted one last night. The replacing him with Semyon Timoshenko. He was
never allowed to command troops in combat
government and Communist party again.
newspapers Izvestia and Pravda have
warned the public not to consider the 4 Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von
danger entirely passed. Clausewitz ( 1 July 1780 – 16 November
1831) was a Prussian general and military
theorist who stressed the «moral» (in modern
(Endnotes) terms meaning psychological ) and political
aspects of waging war. His most notable
1 Battle for Moscow – A generalized work, Vom Kriege (“On War”), though unfinished
name for the battles fought by the Wehrmacht at his death, is considered a seminal treatise
and the Red Army around Moscow from on military strategy and science.
September 1941 to April 1942. During these
battles, the German command, following the 5 Sherman’s March to the Sea,
plan ‘Barbarossa’ intended to storm the Soviet (November 15–December 21, 1864) American
capital and force the Soviet Union to surrender. Civil War campaign that concluded Union
The Battle of Moscow is divided into two stages: operations in the Confederate state of Georgia.
Defensive (until 5 December 1941) and Offensive After seizing Atlanta, Union Maj. Gen. William
(until 20 April 1942). As a result of the fighting, Tecumseh Sherman embarked on a scorched-
the Wehrmacht forces were first stopped and earth campaign intended to cripple the South’s
then thrown back from Moscow with heavy war-making capacity and wound the Confederate
losses, suffering the first major defeat in its history psyche. Sherman’s army marched 285 miles
in open combat. (458 km) east from Atlanta to the coastal town
of Savannah, which surrendered without a siege.
2 Jacob Otto Dietrich (31 August 1897 Sherman’s 37-day campaign is remembered as
– 22 November 1952) was a German SS officer one of the most successful examples of “total
during the Nazi era, who served as the Press Chief war,” and its psychological effects persisted in the
of the Nazi regime and was a confidant of Adolf postbellum South.
Hitler.
6 Chiang Kai-shek (born October 31,
3 Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny 25 1887, Fenghua, Zhejiang province, China—died
April 1883 – 26 October 1973) was April 5, 1975, Taipei, Taiwan) was a soldier and
a Soviet cavalryman, military commander during statesman, head of the Nationalist government in
the Russian Civil War, Polish-Soviet War and World China from 1928 to 1949 and subsequently head
War II, and politician, who was a close political ally of the Chinese Nationalist government in exile on
of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. In July–September Taiwan.
1941, Budyonny was Commander-in-Chief of the
Soviet armed forces of the Southwestern Direction 7 Fedor I. von Bock - Field Marshal
facing the German invasion of Ukraine. This General, commander of Army Group South (until
invasion began as part of Germany’s Operation 1942). He participated in World War I as Chief
Barbarossa which was launched on June 22. of Staff Operations, where he proved to be a
Operating under strict orders from Stalin (who talented organizer. After the establishment of
attempted to micromanage the war in the early the Nazi regime in 1933, he continued to serve
stages) not to retreat under any circumstances, in various staff positions. He took part in the
Budyonny›s forces were eventually surrounded Polish and French campaigns (1939 and 1940) as
during the Battle of Uman and the Battle of commander of various army groups. During the
Kiev by Nazi forces. The disasters which followed invasion of the USSR he initially commanded Army
the encirclement cost the Soviet Union 1.5 million Group Centre, but after the defeat at Moscow he
men killed or taken prisoner. This was the largest was reassigned to Army Group South, but was
encirclement in military history. On 13 September soon removed from this post because of conflicts
1941, Stalin sacked Budyonny as a scapegoat, with the Central Command.
 8 Bandar-e Emam 135
Khomeyni formerly Bandar Shahpur is
a city in, and the capital of, Bandar-e
Emam Khomeyni District of Mahshahr
County, Khuzestan province, Iran. The city also
serves as the administrative center for Bandar-e
Emam Khomeyni Rural District. During World
War II it consisted only of a jetty, two shipping
berths, a railhead and warehouses and a civilian
settlement some miles distant. The port was
initially in German and Italian hands, but was
stormed on August 25, 1941, by a combined
British and Indian force supported by the Royal
Navy.

9 The Japanese invasion of the

Philippines began on December 8, 1941; on
December 24, 1941, the USAFFE high command
and the War Cabinet of the Commonwealth
withdrew to Corregidor. On December 26, 1941,
Manila was declared an Open City.
136

Chapter IX. 1942: As the momentum of Russia’s two

Rocky Road from Moscow strongest winter offensives dwindled last
to Stalingrad week and there began to be talk of spring,
great new worries were reposed on the
Time Magazine, February 16, military mind of Joseph Stalin.
1942 How far would the Russian drives
World: What Will Spring Bring? carry? How soon did Hitler plan to mount
his inevitable spring offensive? How big
If a chief of state could find a man would it be when it came?
on whose mind was imprinted, as if Where would the Germans strike?
on animated microfilm, all the books Where could the Russians hope to hold
by and about Clausewitz, Napoleon, them? When could they hope to win? In
Lee1, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus of seeking to answer these questions for his
Sweden2, Sun Tzu3 of China and the boss, Boris Shaposhnikov would have to
rest of the great military theorists and riffle through the index of his incredible
practitioners, then the chief of state brain, snatch at the most applicable texts
would be a fool to buy the books. and apply them, in their proper seasons,
Joseph Stalin has such a man in Boris to Russia’s war.
Shaposhnikov4. Clausewitz for Autumn. His favorite
To Russia’s Chief of State, Marshal author, ironically, is the great German
Boris Shaposhnikov is officially Chief of military critic, Karl von Clausewitz. One
Staff. But unofficially he is Joseph Stalin’s passage which he quotes with especially
walking reference room and military affectionate comment might well have
mind. He is the author of a monumental been his text last week, as he reviewed
book called Mozg Armii (The Brain of the the lessons of Autumn 1941 before doing
Army), and he is it. his home work for the final exams in
While credit for tactical successes, Summer 1942.
or blame for reverses, must fall to such The commander, says Clausewitz,
regional commanders as Timoshenko, must guess whether, after receiving the
Zhukov, Budenny and Voroshilov, there initial blows, the core of the opponent’s
is only one man who can make the Army is gradually becoming condensed,
huge strategic decisions on which the tempered and strengthened, or, to the
war will be won or lost. That is Joseph contrary, beginning to crumble into
Stalin. Joseph Stalin never makes a dust like a decanter made of Bologna
military decision without asking Boris glass whose stir-face has been cracked.
Shaposhnikov what he would do. The commander must figure out with
precision how much the enemy state will before World War II began, a Captain 137
be weakened by the loss of certain sources Schoeneich wrote in Militdrwochenblatt:
of supply and by the disconnection of In the East, soil and climate erect
certain arteries. He must foretell without barriers before which we must stop.
mistake whether the enemy will collapse From late April to late September, we can
in pain from the wounds inflicted on him, wage a war of movement in the East. But
or hurl himself forward with frenzied then, in the fall, we shall have to call a
might like a wounded and enraged bull. halt… If motor transport is used beyond
It was plain that failure to obey these September, supply lines are likely to break
strictures to the letter had cost the down in short order…
Germans victory in the autumn. On the Failure to heed this warning had lost
other hand, Russia had observed them in the Germans their first great battles
reverse—had tightened and strengthened of the war. Marshal Shaposhnikov has
its Army in the face of the early blows, had studied winter warfare. He knows what
(by moving factories and acquiring allies) an army can do, and what it cannot do,
made provision to keep supply facilities when snow piles above hub caps.
from collapsing, had (with the help of a He knows that bitter winter warfare
remarkable Intelligence service) watched is old-fashioned warfare, in which man
to see when the enemy was preparing for is more important than his machines.
each great charge. He understands winter camouflage. He
The one weapon which had made it realizes that in winter cavalry and infantry
possible for Boris Shaposhnikov to keep his can accomplish more than planes and
Clausewitz5 about him had been artillery. tanks. And yet at the proper times he
The Red Army has developed the artillery uses planes mounted on skis and tanks
service to as high and fine a point as any painted white. He knows how important
army in the world. So proficient are some the warmth and cleanliness of his men
Red battery commanders that they often are in the season when frostbite and
hit the target without the gradual approach typhus march with soldiers. He knows
of range firing, and some of them are said that in winter warfare Death takes the
to be such mathematical wizards that hindmost.
they calculate trajectories in their heads, Western Europeans apparently do not
without the use of rigid firing tables. understand these things. The notorious
Germans have long talked of the Russians’ French Fascist, Jacques Doriot6, back in
“long-bearded-professor batteries.” Vichy last week after briefly leading French
The main lesson of the autumn, then, volunteers in Nazi ranks, described what it
had been that with skillful gunnery and is like to fight at 30 and 40 below zero.
unending vigilance German blitz tactics “At those temperatures everything
could be slowed down. changes. Men lose part of their faculties:
Schoeneich for Winter. The Germans their fingers become swollen and their
had, ultimately, been stopped and curled joints become stiff. In the front lines the
back a little. Boris Shaposhnikov would ground is as hard as rock and tools cannot
find the biggest reason for that in words dig into it. It refuses shelter to the soldier
from another German pen. Nine months who has conquered it.
138 “Automatic arms can be used only The Germans never will recapture
with difficulty. The motor of a tank or the initiative now gained by the Red
supply vehicle no longer responds to the Army.
command of its driver. It is Boris Shaposhnikov’s hope that,
“The dry wind raises waves of snow by pressing his present advantage, he can
which hide the roads and paths. In such prevent the Germans from ever standing
weather a great modern army loses by to organize their great spring blitz.
the essential elements of its technical And yet signs of spring, unmistakable
superiority.” as premature crocuses, were already to
There will be about a month more of be seen last week. The Germans were
severe winter weather during which the moving fresh troops up from Germany.
Russian can forget about his mechanical Stockholm estimated that at least 20
inferiority. Reasonable Russian divisions had moved east. The Russians
objectives for that month — objectives themselves were reported to be expecting
which are a minimum if the Russians are the enemy to throw between 6,000 and
to be properly braced for Hitler’s spring 7,000 new tanks into action.
offensive — are the following: Hitler, who for six weeks had been
-They must free Leningrad. This they Supreme Commander in Russia, was
have not been able to do so far, despite reported to have made a deal with his
spasm after spasm. The Germans still allegedly recalcitrant generals, to have
hold Schluesselburg, due east of the city. reinstated the stars, Marshals Fedor von
The only Russian access to Leningrad is Bock, Gerd von Rundstedt8 and Wilhelm
across the ice of Lake Ladoga. Ritter von Leeb9, and to have appointed
-They must regain Smolensk. 19 new generals to replace those who
Moscow can perhaps withstand several had fallen “ill.”
more great onslaughts, but to survive Resistance was already stiffening. The
in the south, the Russians must make Germans were reacting strongly to Soviet
operations on the central front as pressure in the all-important Crimea; and
expensive as possible. last week the Russians admitted their
-They must regain Dniepropetrovsk, second loss of Feodosiya. In the Ukraine,
the site of the great ruined dam. This where Marshal Timoshenko had achieved
would cut German communications with a great breakthrough, the Germans filled
Crimea and would give the Russians, at in and stopped the drive.
least initially, the natural barrier of the For the first time the Russians
Dnieper River on the southern front, complained that the terrible winter
where the Germans are almost certain to weather, which had been so good to
make their earliest and greatest efforts. them, was now an impediment.
Kalinin7 for Spring. The text of Boris The Germans were certainly preparing
Shaposhnikov’s optimum hope for spring for a spring drive. Exactly when it would
was set last week by an anomalous come no one but Adolf Hitler could say
figure, the Soviet President. Said grey- with certainty. The great thaws of spring
bearded Mikhail Kalinin: may cause him to delay his drive until late
April, the time recommended by Captain
Schoeneich. But he might order action our reasoning…” This silence and super- 139
next month, next week, tomorrow. modesty have saved his political head
Shaposhnilcov for Summer. If the time & again.
Russians, aided by the thaws, do succeed His loyalty to Joseph Stalin is
in thwarting Hitler’s plans, whatever they unquestioned by Joseph Stalin, who
are, and can keep the initiative into next ought to know. Stalin finds him useful
summer, their war would probably be in the way Hitler finds Artillery General
won. The chances of their doing so are Alfred Jodl10 useful—to be always at the
very small. But if they do the next-to- elbow to answer questions, to advise, to
impossible, it will be thanks partly to the refuse, to confirm. Boris Shaposhnikov’s
skills of Russia’s three best generals,*but memory for detail is astonishing; he
mostly to the stratagems of Boris seems to know Clausewitz’s Of War by
Shaposhnikov, the brain of the Army. heart.
Marshal Shaposhnikov has been called Boris Shaposhnikov is probably
the only man in Russia whom Stalin would not over-sanguine about the spring.
not dare to assassinate. His extraordinary He would put a little salt on President
power is a compound of his great ability, Kalinin’s beard when the good President
his silence and his unqualified loyalty. talks of never giving the initiative back to
His record testifies to his ability. Born the Germans. Marshal Shaposhnikov may
in the Urals 60 years ago, he rose to be have the initiative taken away from him in
a Tsarist colonel before the Revolution; spite of his efforts to press his advantage.
then he went over to the Reds. Always his But even if he does lose it, he thinks he
jobs have been mental jobs — General can get it back again and eventually win
Staff Operations Chief; Chief of Frunze the war, by some such formula as this:
Red Banner Military Academy, Russia’s In the spring and summer, Leningrad
Staff School; Chief of Staff. He planned would probably be tightly sealed again.
the invasion of eastern Poland in 1939; Moscow would be attacked, but could
he beat Finland; he timed the great hold. The Germans would make their
counterblow from Moscow in December. greatest push in the south, would drive
He has found time to write many heavy the Russians back to the Don River. There
tomes, the greatest of which are The the Russians would try to stand, then in
Cavalry, On the Vistula and the three- the autumn begin a counteroffensive.
volume Brain of the Army. By that time, if Britain has succeeded in
He is as silent as a chess player. (His holding Suez and the Middle East, the
one relaxation, in fact, is chess; his fellow Germans would be short of oil, men and
Army men well know the Shaposhnikov morale. Finally, in the winter of 1942-43,
end game.) He is personally cold with the help of the Allies in the west, the
and reticent, and he stays out of the great offensive against the Reich would
political light. He is modest to the brink begin.
of affectation; his books are almost This is a high hope. It may be too high.
coquettish: “Our present immature But it shows a clear understanding of a
work... If the magnanimous reader will fact which has been very easy to forget
do us the great honor of further following during the successful winter: Russia will
144 suffer further serious setbacks — and Finnish Front in Eastern Karelia in a battle
therefore Russia’s Allies will suffer terrible already raging four days, evidently to
anxieties —before the year is over. render secure the Arctic supply ports of
Boris Shaposhnikov would not have to Murmansk and Archangel.
be a breathing encyclopedia to know that Fierce fighting was reported by the
the great decisive land battles of World Government newspaper Izvestia in
War II have not yet even been joined. One the Leningrad area, involving General
of them will come this spring. Meretskoff’s Soviet forces and the
remnants of German divisions which they
Associated Press, January 8, pushed westward from Tikhvin, 110 miles
1942 southeast of Leningrad, and Volkhovo,
80 miles below Leningrad on the main
Russians Advance at Kaluga, railway line to Moscow.
Imperil Germans in Crimea Pravda, Communist Party newspaper,
said “the Germans have paid for their
A new Russian wedge of considerable treacherous attack (upon Russia) with
depth was driven into the German lines 6,000,000 killed, wounded, and taken
west of Kaluga on the Central Front as the prisoner, but they will pay several times
Soviets claim capture of Meshchkovsk and more for it.”
several unnamed villages. Elsewhere, in The Russian garrison of Sevastopol,
the Crimea and Karelia, at opposite ends long-besieged Black Sea naval base, was
of the long Eastern European battle-line, declared in a TASS radiocast to have taken
Russian offensives also were reported the offensive against Axis forces diverted
gaining ground. by sea landings at other major ports
The capture of Meshchkovsk of the Crimea-Kerch, Feodosiya, and
represents a 40-mile advance from Yevpatoriya.
Kaluga and a total advance of about
120 miles from the starting point of the Naval Fliers Aid
counteroffensive in this area. It places the Advances of from three to five miles
Russians well to the west of Mozhaisk, were registered in one’s days fighting, the
where the Germans continued their Soviet news agency said, with Russian
dogged resistance. naval fliers backing up ground troops.
The official Soviet news agency, “Units under Major General Petroff,
TASS, declared that at several points are dealing heavy blows to the enemy,”
the Russians had captured intricate is said. “One inhabited locality has been
German defense systems, including well- occupied and several important heights
camouflaged dugouts, heated with stoves have been captured.” Elaborating upon
and overlaid with six or seven tiers of logs. the Crimean situation, TASS said “several
populated places have been freed
Drive Against Finns from the Germans and Soviet Marines
Stockholm reports said the Russians liberated workers’ settlements at Kamysh
were hurling battalion after battalion of Burun, on the Kerch Peninsula.”
troops and armored forces against the The Army newspaper Red Star declared
that “advancing Soviet units on the equal to that of Russia as punishment for 145
Kalinin front (north-west of Moscow) in its crimes and unprovoked aggression.
one day cleared 22 villages of the enemy 3. Germany — the German people-
and captured prisoners and booty.” must rebuild all they have destroyed.
The British Radio said that Swedish The significance of these Russian aims
correspondents in Berlin declare the is heightened in light of the indictment
Russians have attempted landings at many contained in the note, charging German
fresh points in the Crimea with the support atrocities.
of units of the Soviet Fleet. The radio
quoted Swedish sources as saying that Massacres Listed
Berlin was anticipating further landings Germany was formally charged by
and that the Russian operations in the Soviet Russia today with massacring
Crimea are of an extensive nature. The 95,567 persons in 13 cities and countless
radiocast was heard by CBS. NBC heard hundreds elsewhere in an occupation
the British Radio declare that the Russians marked by “unheard of villages, general
had announced the capture of new and devastation, abominable violence.”
important bridgeheads in the Crimea. Slaying of civilians was said to have
been accomplished by explosives,
Christian Science Monitor, suffocation, knifing or hanging as well as
January 7, 1942 shooting.
These specific figures were presented
Aims of Moscow include on the number slain in the following
penalties upon Nazis equal towns: Kiev, 52,000; Dnieperopetrovsk,
to the hardships inflicted on 10,500; Kaments Podolsk, 8,500; Odessa,
Russians. 8,000; Kerch, 7,000; Lwow (Poland),
6,000; Mariupol, 3,000; Rostov, 308;
The first formal indication of Russia’s Ershovo, 100; Gerion, 68 Kryakov, 40;
war aims is contained in a Soviet note Kolodeznaya, 32, Kharkov, 19.
handed to all diplomatic representatives Thousands of civilians were forced
in Moscow. It is signed by Foreign Minister into hazardous war labor in violation
Vyacheslaff Molotoff. of international conventions, food
These aims would certainly account and clothing were stripped from the
for the surprise which Foreign Secretary defenseless and hundreds of homes
Anthony Eden is said to have felt where were burned, Mr. Molotoff asserted, all
he was personally confronted with testifying to “the utter moral degradation
the lengths to which the Russians are and corruption of Hitler’s Army.”
prepared to go in preventing Germany In three cases, it was charged, the
ever aggressing again. Germans rounded up civilians and forced
them into fields of potential Red Army
The aims as reported here are: fire to shield maneuvers of the invaders.
1. Germany must be disarmed and
made incapable of further aggression. “Monstrous Crimes” Charged
2. Germany must endure suffering Mr. Molotoff declared that it was the
146 Soviet’s duty to “bring to the knowledge Governments may not be prepared to
of all civilized humanity and all honest agree to the full with Soviet aims, latest
people in the world the facts illustrating indications, notably the Roosevelt speech,
the monstrous crimes committed by suggest a new mood of determination to
Hitler’s Army.” see fulfilled the final cause of the Atlantic
He added that Russia is keeping a Charter which provides that no aggressor
complete record of all such crimes, and shall be allowed to “aggress” again.
he pledged that the Russian people would
obtain retribution. Gap on Aims Closing
Mr. Eden is understood to have made To this extent Britain and the United
representations in Moscow that Soviet States may be said to be closing the
aims for a European settlement should gap between their aims and those of
be in line with the ideal of the Atlantic Russia. The Anglo-American-section of
Charter. the alliance is certainly firming up, and
Though there is no official confirmation perhaps Russia, as a knowledgeable
of the specific questions, Mr. Eden had to colleague suggested to me, is asking for
debate at the Kremlin, the sort of issues 100 per cent in the hope of getting 51 per
which must inevitably have arisen are the cent of its demands.
future of small countries like the Baltic The Russian action, however, leads
States and Finland. cautious observers here to accept, for
the first time, indications that Germany is
The Status of Finland wobbly.
Russian policy when it was neutral at In the past few days the vehemence
the start of the war was to secure a cushion first of Moscow and then of President
between its own frontiers and those of Roosevelt in telling the Axis what is in
Germany. Is Russia, therefore, going to store for it is felt to be linked with official
accept complete Finnish independence knowledge that the Nazi political and
after the war, since the Finns hitherto military machine and morale are for the
have tended to be pro-German? first time really out of balance, and are
Will Russia press for a safety zone therefore capable of being knocked out
on Germany’s western frontier? Are by a series of all-out blows. Mr. Roosevelt
the lengths to which the Soviet Union is in particular amazed and thrilled the
prepared to go in population exchanges British people with the whip rack which
acceptable to the British? What of the came into his voice when he referred to
Balkan zone?”. the Nazi hordes, to how America would
Innumerable questions such as these “take it” and “give it back with compound
and affecting millions of Europeans interest.
are now in the balance as Russian aims
crystallize more sharply with the growing Confident of Victory
confidence of the Soviets in their military The terrible indictment of Germany
success. and the warning of the punishment it
The impression in diplomatic circles must expect at Soviet hands which has
here is that while the British and American just come over the Moscow Radio didn’t
sound like the voice of a Russia uncertain MacArthur12 testifies to this. In a greeting 147
of victory. It sounded like a shrewd well- to the Red Army he said: “In all my lifetime
time thrust at an enemy now in the first I have participated in a number of wars
stages of despair at the realization that it and have witnessed others, as well as
is fighting a losing battle. studying in great detail the campaigns
And here in London today I have found of outstanding leaders of the past. In
well-informed British people who have none have I observed such effective
hitherto persistently rejected stories of resistance to the heaviest blows of a
cracks in the German setup and morale at hitherto undefeated enemy followed
last being ready to admit that they have by a smashing counterattack. The scale
good reason to believe that the internal and grandeur of this effort marks it as
situation of the Reich is very uncertain. the greatest military achievement in all
Moreover change of tone in British history.”
propaganda is indicated, with emphasis The effort of the Russians has been
more on the fact that the Germans must greater than that of all the other Allies
not think they’re going to get away with combined. Their sacrifices, in life and
anything this time should they have it property, have no parallel. The manner
in mini to swap their Nazi regime for a in which they have mobilized the entire
peace-seeking setup of Army Generals. nation for resistance and offensive is
In other words, it looks as if there’s unique.
going to be little wooing of the Germans And now, what does Stalin say? First
to revolt hence-forward, but instead of all, he is astonishingly cool and dry. He
plenty of frank words about what it will expresses confidence that he can liberate
be like to be the loser, with abundant the Russian soil. But he does not insist
reminders that the sooner defeat comes on the necessity to go farther. He dryly
the less painful it will be. expresses the hope and expectation that
the Hitler regime will be liquidated as the
The Evening Star , February 25, result of this war. But the only condition
1942 of Russian victory is that the Germans
should get out of Russia.
On the Record Agreement Restricted. Stalin does
Stalin’s Order to Red Army Is not deny his agreement not to make a
Interpreted As a Stern Warning to separate peace with Hitler. But he does
the Allies. not promise to continue an offensive
By DOROTHY THOMPSON11. war, beyond the Soviet Union. He sees
that Hitler is gathering together a million
Stalin’s order of the day to the Red Hungarian, Rumanian and Bulgarian
Army cannot be otherwise interpreted troops. But the United States has not yet
than as a stern warning to the Allies. declared war on these countries whose
One must consider the circumstances armies are fighting our major ally in the
under which it was made — in a nation field.
which has conducted the only brilliant The isolationist version of waging war
war against Hitler. No other than Gen. — not yet abandoned by many people
148 in our own State Department, and not informed Britain both of the strength and
abandoned by Britain — until this latest the trends in Russia. Britain draws the
shakeup in London — creates and justifies consequences and makes a clean sweep
an isolationist version of waging war by of the whole clique who have still had a
Russia. toehold in the door — from the Archbishop
Let us look at this whole business of Canterbury down. Britain has decided
of appeasement, still going on among to win the war together with Russia.
ourselves —through Mr. McCormick13 Have we? We are contemplating whether
of the Chicago Tribune, if you want an Hamilton Pish can be renominated for
example. And let us compare it with Congress. Stalin has very fine ears. He
relations with Russia before the war hears what is happening everywhere.
began. Russia had an alliance with France This war cannot be won by manipulations
and the Little Entente, and was prepared and agreements. Agreements hold or
to fight under it. do not hold, according to the disposal
It was broken by the same Frenchmen of the instruments of power. Stalin
who are now trying their fellow-nationals has no intention of sharing the fate
at Riom for losing the war. But the of Spain, which was manipulated into
consequence was not, as they hoped for, ruin. Stalin’s reference to the Russian
the bleeding to death of Germany and “war of liberation,” as contrasted with
Russia to the advantage of the west. The “imperialistic wars,” may also be taken
consequence was a disastrous defeat for either as a backhand thrust or as warning.
France, while Russia adopted isolationism. It is probably both. Our strength in the
If now any one is again going to appease, Far East — and Russia’s strength — is not
the Russians are in a better position that we are defending white supremacy
than we are. First, they have proved to in the Orient, but that we are defending
be stronger. Second, their war is the China against an aggressor. And we need
most unpopular war with the German the help of India. Although the interests
people. Third, the Russians understand of India certainly do not lie with Japan,
psychological warfare. Stalin asserts that neither — they feel — do they lie with
he is not afraid of the German masses, and the maintenance of the rule of the West.
does not desire to destroy Germany as a Russia’s doctrine and practice of racial
state or as a people. He therefore brings equality and national independence is
the greatest menace to Germany, while, today a political weapon of immense
at the same time, he offers the greatest power. The influence in the whole Orient
hope. And in political warfare, therefore, is divided between the western powers
no less than in military, the Russians and Russia. If our alliance is a sincere
alone have conducted a grand strategy, or one, we can pool that influence. If we
indeed, they are the only people who have do not, we shall lose it either to Japan
conducted any strategy at all. or Russia. As things are now, it is Russia,
who is appearing in Asia, as the prophet
British Respond to Reality. and defender of national liberty. There
Now, Britain is responding to a reality. is another restriction in Stalin’s speech,
It is obvious that Sir Stafford Cripps14 has which is an offer to the West. He is waging
a war of national liberation, he says — not and other reports told of Soviet troops 149
a war of social revolution. We are being slashing across the old White Russian
given a choice — to fight with Russia for border, 250 miles west of Moscow.
her liberation and for our survival and Semiofficial sources said the Russians
to mean business. Otherwise Russia will had crossed the White Russian border
fight for her own liberation, and let us at several points and were “fighting to
take care of ourselves. (Released by the regain the province, westernmost of the
Bell Syndicate. Inc.) Soviet republics on the Central Front and
40 miles beyond by-passed Smolensk at
The Washington Post, April 9, the nearest point.
1942
Nazis Spring Drive? Associated Press, April 8, 1942
Reds Drive Across Dnieper, Peril
Reds Smash Huge Tank Attack,
Extend Gains in Southwest Smolensk Line
LONDON, APRIL 8 – The Russian
The Red army on the southwestern armies of the center were reported
front has smashed the most powerful tonight to have forced the heavily
German tank attack since the battle for fortified upper Dnieper River in a major
Moscow, throwing back 60 to 70 tanks flanking movement designed to cut off
and extending a Russian river bridgehead and destroy the Germanhev-Gzhatak-
despite a rain of bombs from scores of Vyazma salient before Moscow, the last
dive-bombers, it was revealed today. enemy line of consequence standing east
During a 10-day battle, front dispatches of Smolensk.
said, Russian tanks destroyed 14 of the The crossing, said Soviet advices via
tanks and captured three intact. Stockholm, was made between the towns
The German tanks, painted green were of Dorogobuzh and Dutrovo about 50
manufactured only in February and were miles northeast of Smolensk and at about
‘Intended for use in the spring offensive, the point where the Moscow-Smolensk
but the Germans reportedly hurled them Railway bridges the Dnieper.
into battle in waves of fives and tens in The German-held corridor running
an effort to dislodge the Russians from an from Smolensk to Vyazma was said
important river bridgehead. already to have been narrowed to 30 miles
Dive bombers in formations of 25 and Soviet artillery was commanding the
or more simultaneously pounded the main highway and rail routes. Durovo
Russian lines, However, the Red army itself apparently remained in Nazi hands,
not only broke the German attacks, but although imminently menaced.
continued its advance to the west, the This Russian thrust, which if successful
dispatches said. Meantime, the Red would envelop large numbers of German
army newspaper Red Star reported that troops and put the Soviet armies in
Germany lost 137,000 men killed and strongly consolidated position to breast
more than 400,000 wounded on the the expected German spring offensive
Russian front in February and March mounted on Smolensk, was timed to
150 coincide with the last period of solid Soviet positions in the Crimea spearhead
footing aground before the approaching by 100 tanks had been broken and that
complete thaws. the Nazis had reeled back with losses of
In the far south, meanwhile, action at least 32 tanks and hundreds of dead.
was violent during the day. The Moscow
radio announced that a German attack on Big Push Heralded
Soviet positions in the Crimea spearhead This indicated that in the far south the
by 100 tanks had been broken and that ground already was firm enough for large
the Nazis had reeled back with losses of scale movements, and some observers
at least 32 tanks and hundreds of armies saw signs that the Germans had opened
of the center were reported tonight a series of attacks intended to establish
to have forced the heavily Fortified the invader’s control over the Kerch
upper Dnieper River in a major flanking Peninsula, the southern approach to the
movement designed to cut off and Caucasus.
destroy the German Gzhatak-Vyazma In the Ukraine, Russian dispatches
salient before Moscow, the last enemy reported that the inhabitants of
line of consequence standing east of Kramatorsk-in the heart of the Donets
Smolensk. Basin about midway between Kharkov on
The crossing, said Soviet advices via the North and Rosov on the south-could
Stockholm, was made between the towns hear the guns of the approaching Red
of Dorogobuzh and Dutrovo about 50 Army.
miles northeast of Smolensk and at about
the point where the Moscow-Smolensk Time Magazine, March 16,
Railway bridges the Dnieper. 1942
The German-held corridor running
from Smolensk to Vyazma was said
World Battlefronts:
already to have been narrowed to 30 miles Men Wanted
and Soviet artillery was commanding the Adolf Hitler needed men last week for
main highway and rail routes. Durovo his counteroffensive in Russia. Willingly
itself apparently remained in Nazi hands, or not, German-occupied and -puppetized
although imminently menaced. countries were being drained of fighting-
This Russian thrust, which if successful age men.
would envelop large numbers of German
troops and put the Soviet armies in In the beginning it had been a
strongly consolidated position to breast different story. Then the Führer graciously
the expected German spring offensive opened German ranks for non-German
mounted on Smolensk, was timed to volunteers who wanted to help in the
coincide with the last period of solid mass extermination of Communism.
footing aground before the approaching Gaunt, gimpy little Propaganda Minister
complete thaws. Joseph Goebbels cunningly stressed racial
In the far south, meanwhile, action and religious differences to realize the
was violent during the day. The Moscow Führer’s vision of allied legions swarming
radio announced that a German attack on from Europe’s four corners.
 For some it was a matter of question Staff ordered a new army of some 151
able honor but material gain. The “Legion 400,000 men. Hungary’s war lords flatly
of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism,” told Premier Laszlo Bardossy that this was
endorsed by Vichy, offered recruits a tidy impossible. Then the Wilhelmstrasse15
40 francs a day (against the ten francs tried to blackmail Hungary by threatening
paid by France’s “Armistice Army”). In to “rectify” the 1940 Vienna award
German uniforms and tricolor brassards, which returned Transylvania to Hungary.
they swore fealty to the Reichsführer Having struggled most of his public life
and were exhorted to avenge Napoleon’s to regain Hungary’s lost territories, Dr.
retreat from Moscow. Men with families Bardossy tried to follow the example of
in concentration camps learned that his predecessor, Count Paul Teleki, who,
joining the legion would free them. when pressed too hard by the Germans,
Spain’s “Blue Division” was a full put a bullet through his head. (Dr.
division of General Francisco Franco’s Bardossy was prevented.)
regular Army, seasoned with a
sprinkling of Moorish fighters. From the The Evening Star, June, 12, 1942
Scandinavian countries Germany got a Russians Using Convoyed
few Swedes, Danes and Norwegians for a
“Viking Division.” Rumania, Hungary and
Goods To Limit, Correspondent
Finland, promised territorial gains, sent Finds
heavy contributions. War to Be Fought to Finish, Nothing
Russia lost little time in singling out Will Be Wasted by Soviets, Farson
the volunteers for special attention. Declares
Soviet bombers dropped pamphlets in This is the first of a series of articles
several languages behind the German by a veteran foreign correspondent
lines, offering safe conduct and fair who has returned to England after
treatment to deserters. Many recruits several months in Russia and gives an
enlisted only long enough to obtain guns, authoritative picture of that country’s
ammunition and supplies, then legged “unanimous concentration’’ on the
it for the Russian lines. Last report from defeat of the enemy.
the French legion told of its crushing By NEGLEY FARSON16.
defeat near Mozhaisk. The Blue Division, Foreign Correpondent of The Star
a Spanish prisoner told his Soviet captors, and North American Newspaper
has lost 8,000 men. Alliance.
The time for cajolery and promises
was past. The Nazi recruiting program LONDON, JUNE 12.—Give the Russians
turned to tried & true Nazi methods: every tank, gun and airplane that the
Dutch labor conscripts, said the Free Allies can spare. The Red Army will use
Dutch Government in London last week, them intelligently, intensively, to the
are being forced into German uniforms utmost limit of their capacities.
to avoid “tragic consequences” for their That is my outstanding conviction
families at home. after a few months as an eyewitness in
From Hungary the German General the Soviet. The Russians intend to fight
152 this war to a finish, and nothing we can war weapons down Into Russia—and into
send them will be wasted. action.
I was 10 days getting from Moscow Then I saw the other side: The Allied
to Murmansk on my Journey back here. convoys.
There were one or two days when I think Admiralty communiques have already
my train did not move 50 miles. We spent informed you that some convoys going
most of our time on sidings. They were to and from Russia have been bombed. I
Infuriating delays, because I was trying to was on one of them.
catch a convoy.
Yet. on all those long waits, with a train Hurry to Get Goods.
full of Russian army and naval officers, I happened to go to Russia on a
we learned one thing: Human freight convoy that never had more than two
does not count against war materials that alert signals. The ships were loaded with
come down in train after train from the tanks and planes. It seemed to us, as we
convoys that have just reached Russia in watched all the activity that followed our
the Arctic. It was a terrific sight to see arrival, that the Russians could hardly wait
the fiat trucks trundle past — loaded to get the hatches open. One skipper told
with crated airplanes, with tanks under me It pleased him to know that the risks
tarpaulins with fresh boxes bearing the his crew and ship ran were so obviously
stenciled names of British and American Justified.
machine-tool manufacturers. That is a vital point. It is no picnic
getting these supplies into Russia. No one
Forced to Wait Two Days. who has been on the Job will ever deny
Also, at a junction 1.000 kilometers that. But the interesting thing is that he
from Moscow and another 1.000 from will also tell you, perhaps with a growl,
Murmansk, I had to wait two days — that he will soon be on the way out to
days when, in my impatience, I had to Russia again. This carrying-on of the
watch truck after truck being unloaded British seamen is one of the finest things
by swarms of husky Russians, who were in all British-Russian co-operation.
doing the whole job with their muscles, People have asked me since I came
without cranes or derricks. They even back: “Well, how do Russians feel about
shunted the cars along the tracks just things?” I find it hard to tell them how
by pushing them. It was a stupendous almost startled one Is in Russia by the
sight. A sight that simply hit you with the daily evidence of all energies behind the
knowledge that British and American Red Army.
supplies to Russia are fully appreciated.
I saw the same scenes of furious energy A Different Moscow.
in Murmansk—in that highly congested I was in Russia for nearly three years
dock area where, during the fiercest air during the last war. I spent a year under
raids, the girl sentries on duty over the the Soviets from September. 1928, to
warehouses never left their posts. There September, 1929. That year I saw the
just isn’t anything that the Russians will Russians launch their first five-year plan.
allow to stand In the way of getting these Moscow — Red Moscow — lived in a
perfect din of mental activity. I thought it the terms of peace as no one or two could 153
was the most exhilarating capital I could enforce it alone.
ever be in my life. The significant fact was that Russia
Well, the Moscow that I returned and Britain, which have behind them a
to in 1942 was different. Its vast new century of rivalry, suspicion and ill will,
boulevards — a lame man cannot had come to a long-term understanding.
cross them on one change of lights — That fact alone could change the history
almost gave me agrophobia. The streets of Europe as it had not been changed in
seemed strangely deserted: most of the modern history.
motor vehicles were on service at the Russia was the prime mover for
front. Then I noticed, as I looked into the agreement. Stalin had opened the
faces of people passing me, that people discussions by asking Britain, as an earnest
seemed to be walking with a purpose. of permanent friendship, to promise that
That’s just the way It ought to be in the peace settlement Russia should
phrased — this rather set expression recover the Baltic countries (Estonia,
you see everywhere on the faces of Latvia, Lithuania), as well as a part of
the Russians in Russia today. It is the Poland, to serve as protection against
outward expression of what I have future German aggression. From the
come to believe is an almost unanimous standpoint of Russia, that was perhaps
concentration on the war I am not no more unreasonable than for the U.S.
speaking loosely when I say that it is to ask for the Japanese-mandated islands
one of the most impressive things I in the Pacific as protection against future
have ever seen. Those faces are set. Japanese assaults.
And this expression has convinced me, But the U.S. opposed such a
more than anything they can ever say, settlement — and could not, either legally
that the Russians will fight out this war or politically, make a secret treaty about
to the very bitter end. future European boundaries. Britain was
reluctant to agree without U.S. approval.
Time magazine, June15, 1942 Instead of bringing the discussions to
Four Flags Together an end, the Russians did not press their
original point but went on to broader
The post-war world reached the terms of agreement. All the signs
blueprint stage last week. Britain, Russia, indicated last week that agreement had
China and the U.S. — the four great been reached.
Allied powers — had got down to making Signs that Britain was on the verge of
agreements, not only for the war, but for a great new international alignment have
the peace. At meetings in London and been many in recent weeks. Not only
Washington they were speaking to one have common people jammed Trafalgar
another frankly and, more important, Square to demand a second front in 1942,
agreeing jointly. but the old guard in the House of Lords
For, if the war is to be won, those four have paid glowing tribute to Russia. Said
must fight it jointly; and after they have Viscount Samuel17: “It is Britain’s duty,
won, those four, if they agree, can enforce not only to help Russia’s war effort, but
154 also to associate ourselves with her in Sevastopol in 1854-55, and had brought
the fullest possible measure in framing home as trophies. But now Bristol lads
the course of world settlement after the were fighting on Russia’s side, and the
war.” Lord Brabazon, long known as anti- cannon, heavy with good iron, could be
Red, proposed a post-war international melted down to be made into modern
police force consisting of U.S., Russian weapons.
and British air forces. The conservative As the cannon were hauled off to the
National Union of Manufacturers, steel works, they were preceded by a
roughly corresponding to the N.A.M. in band of Royal Marines. The Union Jack
the U.S., presented this memorandum flew over them; so did the Stars & Stripes
to the Board of Trade: “Any plans for the and China’s twelve-pointed star. And so,
future of world trade can only be made for the first time in 87 years, did a Russian
effective if they have the cordial assent flag, a red flag with a hammer and a sickle.
and cooperation of Russia.”
Not since before World War I has much The New York Herald Tribune,
that Britain has done had the approval of July 11, 1942
Russia, and vice versa. Not since the rise of
Hitler had Britain and Russia been able to
Major Eliot Says ‘42 Nazi Drive
agree on even an effective basis of mutual Hints German Sword Is Blunted
self-preservation. When they tried to get Compares 4 Weeks Required to Take
together in 1939 the British balked at Sevastopol - With the Seizure of
Russian control of the Baltic States (which France in Same Time and Sees Huge
last year helped to save Leningrad) and Losses of Best Leaders as a Cause
Russia plumped into the non-aggression By Major George Fielding Eliot18
pact with Germany. Later Britain helped
Finland against Russia. Even after Hitler’s The present German offensive on the
attack on Russia last year, some Britons’ Don River is the first operation of 1942
abhorrence of Communism led them to in which the German Army has shown
hope that somehow Germany and Russia anything like the striking power which it
would destroy each other, while Russians possessed in the earlier years of this war.
remained equally suspicious of their Even in these operations there is a
capitalist ally. suggestion to be drawn from the official
By last week war’s comradeship had accounts that the Germans are not
tempered most of these memories. making the same degree of progress
The world noted well an incident that which might have been expected under
symbolized the relations of the four new similar circumstances a year ago.
Allies: It is certainly not without significance
On Brandon Hill, in Bristol, two huge that in 1939 the Germans overran all
cannon, which for 87 years had pointed Poland in three weeks, while this year it
their empty mouths over the town, were has taken them three weeks to reduce
being dismounted. They were Russian a comparatively small salient south of
cannon, which Bristol lads had captured Kharkov or that they overran France
in the Crimean War, at the siege of in four weeks in 1940, while in 1942 it
has taken them four weeks of the most been constantly weeded out of the mass 155
intensive effort to capture the single of the army for the benefit of the armored
fortress of Sevastopol. divisions, the air infantry, parachute
units, the mountain divisions and certain
German Sword Blunted units of the S. S. All these troops have
Undoubtedly, one of the reasons for been in the forefront of the fighting and
slower German progress in 1942 is the have suffered disproportionately heavy
fact that the Russian Army has become casualties. In order to fill the gaps in their
thoroughly seasoned and thoroughly ranks, there has been a constant drain on
familiar with German tactics and the remaining units for the highest types
technique. But there is also some reason of officers and men, and these corps
to believe that last year’s campaign in d’elite have also had the benefit of the
Russia has blunted the formerly keen cream of the recruits.
edge of the German sword. This is due, This has resulted in a steady lowering
in part, to the heavy losses among of the quality and the morale of the army
officers, non-commissioned officers and as a whole, of the regiments of infantry
technicians who cannot be replaced by and field artillery which must form the
others of equally high quality. This same foundation of its power. Their natural
deterioration was noted in the German leaders, their non-commissioned officer
Army during the last war and became material, has been systematically taken
especially notable after Verdun. away for the benefit of the corps d’elite.
It was then that large numbers of
temporary officers promoted from the Gives Only Brief Success
ranks after comparatively short periods of It is a system which can give good
training began to make their appearance results only for a short time. It enables
in the German Army, and exactly the same a few very heavy blows to be struck with
thing is happening today. The «Pariser overwhelming power, but in the long run
Zeitung» of April 1 carries a statement that it cannot stand up against a mass army of
specially selected candidates are being the democratic type, which continues to
appointed to officers’ schools, after three produce its own leaders from among its
months’ special training, directly from own personnel. The fact that such a system
the ranks of the army. This is an expedient was adopted by the Germans is one more
which the German high command does indication that they expected to win this
not like to adopt and never does adopt war comparatively quickly. It is one more
except on the compulsion of necessity. gamble which they have taken and which
But there is probably another reason they appear to have lost, for it is hard to
for the deterioration in the fighting see what can be done now to remedy its
quality of the German Army as a whole, ill effects. Field Marshal Rommel’s Afrika
and that is the effect of the pernicious Korps is a striking example of this system,
principle of the corps d’elite. Ever since for African service recruits of the highest
the Nazi regime began its reorganization physical standards were chosen and put
and expansion of the German Army in through a special course at the Hamburg
1933, the very best officers and men have Tropical Institute. Before the beginning
156 of his last offensive the institute warned Now was no time for the diplomatic
Rommel that he could not expect any niceties and strategic reticences which
considerable number of replacements, blunted the first announcements after
as they were unable to obtain any Molotov visited Eden and Roosevelt. Last
more German youths of the requisite week Moscow’s spokesmen did what
standards. This lack of replacements none had done before: they said flatly that
may have a great deal to do with the fact the U.S. and Great Britain had decided “to
that Rommel has been stopped, perhaps open a second front in Europe in 1942.”
definitely stopped, only some seventy Commissars in the field with the Red
miles short of his goal. Army quoted this unqualified declaration
to the troops—and Moscow let its allies
Time Magazine, July 20, 1942 know that the Red Army had heard of the
Time Will Not Wait promise. Russia in her hour of peril had
given the promise of hope to her troops,
The Russians and the Germans, in of warning to London and Washington,
these July days of 1942, are fighting the that there could be no turning back.
battle that may decide the world’s fate. Cried a Moscow broadcaster,
On the plains beside the Don the battle significantly speaking in English: “Time
has only begun. Already it is erupting waits for no man. Time was a good ally
and spreading along the vast Russian to the anti-Hitlerite coalition during a
front. No Russian loss or retreat in any whole year, a year in which Britain was
one sector will be a final loss. But if the able to accumulate her forces and the
Germans win this battle—and in the Don U.S. to develop further their industries
sector they were still winning this week and build their Army and multiply their
— the war will be indefinitely lengthened; Air Forces. Now time will not wait while
the 1939-42 phase of it will be definitely the peoples of Europe are waiting,* and
lost. The U.S. and Great Britain, invading waiting impatiently, for aid and for the
Hitler’s Europe and fighting him on his signal to act . . . .”
own fronts, will then have an infinitely Fear for the First. Some London and
harder task than Hitler had in Russia. And Washington correspondents last week
it will be a task that they must take on warned the United Nations not to expect a
while in the Far East Japan is still winning, second front very soon. These dispatches
and growing stronger, and becoming as may have been no better than many a bad
hard to defeat in her area of conquest as guess from those capitals. But they were
Hitler will be in his — if Russia falls. no comfort to Moscow. Perhaps the U.S.
The Time is Now. Moscow knows this, and Britain were not yet ready, but many
and Moscow’s voice changed its tone this a non-Russian who remembered Spain felt
week. Its cry was still the same: that the that the only unforgivable and irreparable
U.S. and Great Britain must open a second failure would be the failure to try.
front in Europe, and open it soon. Not only Said the English-language Moscow
the tone, but the words were different; News, as though arguing a case before a
and the differences reflected the mounting doubtful jury: “Hitler’s back is his weakest
urgency of Russia’s need and peril. spot—he should be struck there with all
the might at our disposal.” Famed Russian Our Russian allies — I call them that 157
Correspondent Ilya Ehrenburg19 cabled though they try in vain to make a treaty
to the London Evening Standard: “In his of military alliance with us — are fighting
recent speech Churchill said that it was in a spirit beyond praise. Their resistance
the Crimean campaign that helped to before Stalingrad is one of those miracles
save Malta from the continuation of mass that Paul Reynaud in France, invoked in
bombing. All our men have read this by vain. But the spirit alone is not decisive in
now. . . . It is timely to tell our Allies of the this struggle, and we are not even helping
scale of fighting and of the seriousness of that spirit adequately.
the situation. Let every reader of these We will live bitterly to regret It. We
lines draw his own conclusions.” have to face the strong possibility that
But the specter haunting Russia this soon the German troops will reach the
week was not primarily the failure of the Caspian Sea, and cut the Volga traffic
U.S. and Britain to open a second front. It lifeline of Russia. It is obvious that the
was the first front — Russia’s own front Russian Army, a few months after that
— that roused the specter of fear, and event, will be short of oil, and thus will
turned Russia’s gaze to the valley of the lose its main offensive power.
Don. Furthermore, the southern supply line
to Russia will be cut, the most important
The Evening Star, September 9, food areas of Russia are already lost, and
1942 the city of Stalingrad is in shambles.
On the Record Could Shift Troops to West.
Americans Urged to Abandon The consequences for us are that the
Prejudices And Give Full Co- Germans will be able to wage a defensive
operation to Russia war in Russia next year, and to shift more
By DOROTHY THOMPSON. than 100 divisions to the west, together
with the main part of their air force. The
Our military situation is as grave as it winter this year is not going to be on the
can be. It is understandable that we stress side of the Russians. They have lost this
every battle where American forces are summer the coal mines of the Donets
engaged, and emphasize gains symbolic Basin and to bring up materials from
of their tough spirit. But they are only Siberia means that their communication
symbolic, and there is still only one front lines are this time much longer than the
where the great war, in all its global Germans. So the Russian population is
implications is being fought. No gains in facing a bitter, hungry winter, while the
the Pacific, nor in Egypt, or in the air fight Russian Army will be dependent upon
over Western Europe, are compensation supplies from the west, which it will be
for defeats in Russia. The fate of the very difficult to get to them. The offensive
Russian front will determine the length of power of an army is lost from one day to
this war and the number of American and the next. There are still great reserves in
British lives that will have to be spent to Russia. And if the Russians are able to
win it if Russia collapses. launch a successful counteroffensive late
158 this fall or in the early winter, as they did Molotoff, visiting London and Washington,
last year, there is still a chance to turn has tried to reach a real agreement with
the tide against the Nazis, who also are America.
overstrained. But that tide will not be But he had only limited success. He
turned without our help. It is not our was accompanied by Gen. Shilovsky,
task to develop military plans. But behind who the other day said in Russia that we
military plans, and always influencing needed a united command of British,
them, are political questions. Russian and American forces, and that if
such a command had existed in the First
Political Atmosphere Interferes. World War the Bolshevik revolution might
It is impossible to act intelligently, never have taken on the radical form that
boldly and realistically in the present it did. For then, as now — and both Lloyd
political atmosphere. And if this political George and Churchill are witnesses to
atmosphere continues it can contribute to this — Russia bore the brunt of the first
a disintegration in Russia that will not be two years of the war, and the result of not
in our favor. Such a disintegration would waging a true war of coalition was the
be neither anti-Communist nor pro-Ally. additional loss of three million Western
The Russians would continue to fight as European and American lives.
guerrillas and partisans, emphasizing
their Bolshevist tradition, and with the Must Forget Prejudices.
feeling of being the victims of western Meanwhile, we have permitted the
treason. And when our fighting armies loss of the Aleutian Islands to Japan, and
began to realize what the collapse of our publicists have acted as though they
Russia had meant in blood and tears the were unimportant far-off posts, and not
political reaction in our own countries on the main communication line between
would be anything but desirable. The America and Japan and America and
Russian leadership has done all in its Russia.
power to prevent such a development And we fumble around the
in Russia. Russian leaders from the Finnish question, although our other
outset emphasized the national, not the communication with Russia is by way
revolutionary, character of their war, and of Murmansk and could be made
were careful not to arouse exaggerated secure only by a blow against Northern
hopes in Allied aid. The Russian press has Norway and Finland, which is possibly
stressed the solidarity of Russia, Great the most reasonable second front that
Britain and America in fighting a common we could open. Anti-Russian activities
war for survival. The Comintern has are thriving in this country, sponsored
advised workers in all countries to pursue by Lithuanians, Latvians, White
the war, increase production and abandon Ukrainians, and even some Poles,
any kind of activity likely to impede and nothing decisive has been done to
production. The slogan, ‘’Proletarians of discourage them. I want us to win this
all countries unite,” has been changed to: war and survive. And unless we get clear
“Proletarians of all in our minds what our strategy absolutely
nations unite against Fascist invaders.” demands, regardless of our political and
class prejudices, we are in a good way to bloody mix-up in the front trenches and 159
losing this war and not surviving. they had been fighting on the receiving
(Released by the Bell Syndicate. Inc.) end of the world’s most devastating battle
line for 16 months without a breathing
The Evening Star, November 7, spell. When Ivan said, “We’ll take back
1942 everything the Fascists have,” he said It as
if that was as certain as subzero weather
Red Army Praised by Stowe For in the Russian winter. This is the spirit of
Τenacity and Fortitude the Russian wounded in the front zone.
Hardest Fighting Ally If We Fulfill Our
Obligations, Writer Declares Reds Long to Strike Offensively.
By LELAND STOWE. Judging by my observations in half a
Foreign Correspondent of The Star dozen different sectors of the Rzhev front,
and Chicago Dally News. it seems quite definite that this is also the
WITH THE RED ARMY ON THE RZHEV spirit of the Red Army as a whole. It’s an
FRONT army that longs to strike offensively. Its
officers are convinced that if the second
”Will you take Rzhev?” front will come soon, thereby forcing
This was in a log cabin emergency Hitler to transfer considerable land and
hospital where Ivan the Terrible, my air forces to Western Europe — then the
personal candidate for the war’s most hour for the Russian Army’s offensive will
unpredictable chauffeur, contrived to strike and that hour, that opportunity, is
land us for the night. I was talking with the chief thing the Russian soldier today
a Red Army soldier — big, blond Ivan waits for and lives for.
Kondratyev, from Novosibirsk, in western In nine days of travels up and down
Siberia. Ivan had had one leg and one this front, I have never met either one
arm pretty thoroughly perforated by a Russian soldier or officer, or commissar
German mine two days previously. He who had the easily discernible shadows
tossed back his yellow mop of hair and of doubt and defeatism in his face. Among
laughed loudly. these several millions in the Red Army
“Rzhev!” exclaimed Ivan from there must be some discouraged souls,
Novosibrisk. “We’ll take back everything but my experience would indicate that
the Fascists have—everything. Wait until if so, they are so rare as to represent a
this winter bites into the Germans and completely unnatural phenomenon. This
we bite, too. Fritz will forget everything army is an aroused fighting entity, strong
— even his wife.” in its unshattered self-belief and girded
Ivan now had all his comrades laughing with the tenacity and silent patience and
with him. They were all strong young remarkable fortitude of the Russian and
faces with plenty of fight in them. They Siberian peasants.
didn’t look a bit nearer being licked than What you find in the Russian soldier
any American soldiers or sailors or airmen and officer — once I also found it notably
you’ll see in any camp in the United States with the Spaniards and Greeks and also
today—yet they were just out of a very with the hard-bitten Finns — is character.
160 But it is character hammered out of a seeing its sinews at close hand, and feeling
lifetime of unremittent toil and out of long its pulse, I do not doubt for a moment that
accustomedness to hardship and uphill this is possible or that it will happen if a
struggle. Hitler thought he could make second front is created within a short time.
the Germans into soldiers who would be The atmosphere and spirit of the
harder and spiritually tougher-fibered Russian front is one of strength, resolution
than the Russians. In this he has failed. and confidence. There is absolutely no
Here is a’ front-zone colonel οf the Red underestimation of the foe nor of the
Army who is typical of scores of officers great sacrifices that must still be made.
with whom I have talked. He is a serious- Yet the fact remains that these Russian
faced man who chooses his words and officers and men are unbeaten, that their
avoids all rhetoric: “Russia will be the last organization is as intact as their morale
country in the world to capitulate,” — he and that they still burn with the conviction
says, factually. “We shall fight to the last that Nazism must be crushed and will be
man.” crushed in the end.
In my estimation the only thing that
Will Never Be Conquered. could shatter or seriously injure the
In another zone, a Red Army major offensive spirit of the Russian soldiers
snapped his jaws together and then said: would be the failure of Britain and
“Just one thing. Tell the Americans the the United States to have their forces
Russian people will never be conquered — fighting on European soil. Even after
never.” The battalion commissar chimed in such inexplicable tardiness on the part
with an emphatic nod of his head: of Britain and America, I believe that the
“We want help and we need it. But if Russians would keep fighting and resisting
you don’t start a second front, we shall as best they could wherever they could —
fight on alone — regardless. We shall keep but in the meantime the Russian soldiers
fighting.” and Russian people would have lost all
Again and again, I have heard these faith or friendship for the English-speaking
same declarations from soldiers or officers nations.
and they were not spoken as idle words
but as expression of a decision which had Veteran Army of Allied Side.
already been made. When the general The reality of the spirit of the Russian
says, “hit the Germans,” he is voicing the front today is almost a miracle and
central philosophy and dominant idea of certainly it presents a unique opportunity
the Russian army from top to bottom. The to Britain and America. For here is the
average Red Army man seems convinced only great veteran army on the Allied side
that all that is needed is a measurable with the exception of the Chinese in the
weakening of the Nazis’ armed forces in Orient. This great Russian Army has been
the east, the sudden pressure of a two- thoroughly tempered in the crucible of
front war upon Hitler, and the forward war and at the very least it will immobilize
march of the Russian troops will soon much more than 2,000,000 Germans
begin in earnest. troops through the winter and spring. It
After living with the Red Army, after has bled Hitler’s legions enormously and it
will bleed them more and more. It is both units are moving toward one of the many 161
the most powerful and the fightingest ally battlefronts. They have all been in battle
Britain and the United States will ever find before. Now they are returning after
anywhere in the world — but the secret of resting up. There is cavalry among them,
having a wholehearted ally lies in knowing and it is the first cavalry I have seen in this
how to be an ally. war.
Even so, any persons in America Cavalry is the Russian winter weapon.
or Britain who may still talk defeatism Some of these horsemen were operating
about the Red Army must completely with General Melnik the whole of last
miscomprehend what Russia is and must winter some five hundred miles behind
ignore all that I have reported as factually the German lines. One of the officers
as possible in these and previous pages. told me they were pretty lean when
The other day Ilya Ehrenburg quoted they came out, but now they are square-
to me a few lines from the Russian poet, looking again, their horses are fresh and
Tuchev, and they seem to explain why they can sing.
almost the whole world was so fantastically They were singing a Ukrainian song
wrong in June, 1941, about both the Red which has no name. They leaned forward
Army and the capacity for resistance of the to counteract the steep trail, their long
Russian empire. swords jangling against their stirrups,
Tuchev wrote: “One cannot understand their bodies creaking on leather.
Russia with the head, The mountain roads are a panorama
“One cannot measure her with a of up-moving and down-moving
jardstick, transport. Here the Russians have utilized
“One can only believe in Russia”. everything to get stuff up: even brown,
Today and for a long time to come, shaggy Tibetan camels are lined through
the wise man will believe in Russia’s Red the valleys. Mules in stupid groups mingle
Army. It is still heads up. And it’s still the on the road, slowing up U.S.-made trucks
greatest and the hardest fighting ally that ably driven by Red Army drivers. The
either America or Britain will ever have in strange smell of Russian petrol is mixed
this war — if we fulfill our highly important with horse, mule and camel manure and
part of a great and very grave obligation. the natural pleasantness of the hills.
(Copyright, 1942, by Chicago Daily Everybody is waiting for the first signs
News. Inc.) of winter. Up here it is goddamn cold and
the wind rips down from the Black and
Time Magazine, October 12, Caspian Seas. Sometimes black clouds
1942 scud over the Caucasus. But when the
wind ceases and clouds lie tranquil, then
A SONG FROM THE CAUCASUS comes snow and thick rain and real cold.
That is what all these men are waiting for.
TIME Correspondent James Aldridge20 That, after the second front, is what the
last week cabled this dispatch from the whole Soviet Union is waiting for.
Soviet-Iranian Border. If Stalingrad falls, most of the German
Along these terrible roads Red Army weight will be directed against the
162 Caucasus. There are five ways through the the second front. He said: “I am a simple
Caucasus: one route on the Caspian Sea, soldier. These decisions are up to others
one on the Black Sea, three passes across in higher places.” When I pressed him, he
terrible mountains. They all come out into said carefully, with a smile: “We would like
the southern Caucasus valley, stretching to see many more United States soldiers
from Batum to Baku. It is most probable in Britain ready for action in Western
that, if Stalingrad falls, the German drive Europe.”
will be directed on Baku. Soldiers in Tabriz have a remarkable
Should the Caucasus battle develop record. There has not been one case of a
this winter, it is likely to be a personal- Red Army soldier molesting anyone. You
leader struggle between German General never see a Red soldier drunk.
Siegmund List and Russian General Soviet women soldiers are truck
Melnik. Melnik conducted the guerrilla drivers, doctors, nurses, field workers,
offensive all last winter behind the map makers, pilots. There is nothing
German lines. He is more of a flat-terrain glamorous about them. In town they
soldier than a mountaineer, but the wear the same uniform as the men,
essentials of the battle for the Caucasus except that they wear a khaki skirt. They
will be fought in the approaches and. are clean, efficient, extremely moral and
because the Germans will not be able to work like hell.
move much in winter, this tough Soviet Because the war is of primary
Cossack will probably harass the Germans importance to the Russians, most of them
more than the actual battle will. do not enjoy their stay away from it. These
The Red Army is more serious about men moving up are happier than others
the war than any other army I have met. I have seen back in Tabriz and in other
They are soldiers first and last. Their areas. They are not romantic youths,
discipline is the best I have seen in any either. They have the scars of battle and
army, but with an essential and common- they know it is going to be tough, but
sense approach. On duty they are formal they think, breathe, eat and sleep war.
with officers. Off duty, officers and men Even the camels seem to bend their necks
mix more than in any army I have seen. forward like a man leaning into the wind,
Myths about the inefficiency of Soviet as if there is an urgency known to them.
transport are dispelled by the tremendous The only lazy thing around is the dust
movements going on here. Here they get settling into the valley, and soon the rain
things moving with more common sense will whip it away and the snows cover it
and less paper work and red tape than and then all will be urgent.
in most armies. There is also more of a
chance for men to make suggestions. In (Endnotes)
Tabriz I interviewed 30-year-old Colonel
Boris Ruhjov. He did not have a paper 1 Robert Edward Lee (January 19,
1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate
on his desk, only a field telephone and general during the American Civil War, toward
a map. He had no gestures, no habits to the end of which he was appointed the overall
exhibit. commander of the Confederate States Army. He led
I asked him the stock question about the Army of Northern Virginia—the Confederacy’s
most powerful army—from 1862 until its surrender Communist Party, he founded the French Popular 163
in 1865, earning a reputation as a skilled tactician. Party (PPF) and took over the newspaper La
Liberté, which took a stand against the Popular
2 Gustavus Adolphus (1594–1632), also Front.
known in English as Gustav II Adolf or Gustav II During the war, Doriot was a radical supporter
Adolph, as King of Sweden from 1611 to 1632, of collaboration and contributed to the creation
and is credited with the rise of Sweden as a great of the Legion of French Volunteers against
European power. During his reign, Sweden became Bolshevism (LVF). He fought personally in German
one of the primary military forces in Europe during uniform on the Eastern Front, with the rank of
the Thirty Years’ War, helping to determine the lieutenant. He was killed on 22 February 1945
political and religious balance of power in Europe. while traveling from Mainau to Sigmaringen when
He was formally and posthumously given the his car was strafed by Allied fighter planes.
name Gustavus Adolphus the Great by the Riksdag
of the Estates in 1634. 7 Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (19
November [1875–3 June 1946) was a Soviet
3 Sun Tzu was a Chinese military politician and Russian Old Bolshevik revolutionary.
general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who He served as head of state of the Russian Soviet
lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 Federative Socialist Republic and later of the Soviet
BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author Union from 1919 to 1946. From 1926, he was a
of The Art of War, an influential work of military member of the Politburo of the Communist Party
strategy that has affected both Western and East of the Soviet Union.
Asian philosophy and military thought. Sun Tzu
is revered in Chinese and East Asian culture as a 8 Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (12
legendary historical and military figure. December 1875–24 February 1953) was a
German Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) in
4 Boris Mikhaylovich Shaposhnikov the Heer (Army) of Nazi Germany during World
(2 October 1882–26 March 1945) was War II. In the invasion of the Soviet Union, he
a Soviet military officer, theoretician and Marshal commanded Army Group South, responsible for the
of the Soviet Union. He served as the Chief of the largest encirclement in history, the Battle of Kiev.
General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1928 He was relieved of command in December 1941
to 1931 and at the start of the Second World War. after authorizing the withdrawal from Rostov but
Shaposhnikov was one of the foremost military was recalled in 1942 and appointed Commander-
theorists during the Stalin-era. His most important in-Chief in the West.
work, Mozg Armii («The Brain of the Army»), is He was dismissed after the German defeat in
considered a landmark in Soviet military theory Normandy in July 1944 but was again recalled as
and doctrine on the organization of the Red Army’s Commander-in-Chief in the West in September,
General Staff. holding this post until his final dismissal by Adolf
Hitler in March 1945. Though aware of the various
5 Carl Philipp Gottfried (or Gottlieb) von plots to depose Hitler, von Rundstedt neither
Clausewitz (July 1780–16 November 1831) was supported nor reported them. After the war, he
a Prussian general and military theorist who was charged with war crimes, but did not face trial
stressed the «moral» (in modern terms due to his age and poor health. He was released in
meaning psychological) and political aspects 1949, and died in 1953.
of waging war. His most notable work, Vom
Kriege (“On War”), though unfinished at his 9 Wilhelm Josef Franz Ritter von
death, is considered a seminal treatise on military Leeb (5 September 1876–29 April 1956) was a
strategy and science. German Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) of
the Wehrmacht during the Second World War, who
6 Jacques Doriot (26 September 1898 – 22 was subsequently convicted of war crimes.
February 1945) was a French politician, initially
communist, later fascist, before and during World 10 Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl (10
War II. In 1936, after his exclusion from the French May 1890–16 October 1946) was a
164 German Generaloberst who served as the Chief 1889–21 April 1952) was a British Labour
of the Operations Staff of the Oberkommando Party politician, barrister, and diplomat. A
der Wehrmacht – the German Armed Forces High wealthy lawyer by background, he first entered
Command – throughout World War II. Parliament at a by-election in 1931, and was one
After the war, Jodl was indicted on of a handful of Labour frontbenchers to retain
charges of conspiracy to commit crimes his seat at the general election that autumn. He
against peace, planning, initiating and became a leading spokesman for the left-wing and
waging wars of aggression, war crimes, co-operation in a Popular Front with Communists
and crimes against humanity at the Allied- before 1939, in which year he was expelled from
organized Nuremberg trials. The principal charges the Labour Party. During this time he became
against him related to his signature of the intimately involved with Krishna Menon and
criminal Commando and Commissar Orders. Found the India League.
guilty on all charges, he was sentenced to death
and executed in Nuremberg in 1946. 15
Wilhelmstrasse is a major thoroughfare in the
11 Thomson Dorothy (1893–1961) central Mitte and Kreuzberg districts of Berlin,
was an American journalist and writer. After Germany. Until 1945, it was recognised as the
graduating from university she worked as a centre of the government, first of the Kingdom
freelance correspondent for a number of American of Prussia, later of the unified German Reich,
publications in Europe. In 1925 she headed the housing in particular the Reich Chancellery and
Berlin bureau of the New York Evening Post. In the Foreign Office. The street’s name was thus
1934 she became the first foreign correspondent also frequently used as a metonym for overall
expelled from Germany by personal order of German governmental administration: much as
A.Hitler. From 1936 to 1940 – President of the the term «Whitehall” is often used to signify the
American PEN Club. From 1941 to 1958, she wrote British governmental administration as a whole. In
a column in the New York Herald Tribune, which English, “the Wilhelmstrasse” usually referred to
was reprinted in more than 170 American dailies. the German Foreign Office.
D. Thompson was recognized as the second most
popular woman in the United States (after Eleanor 16 Farson Negley (1890–1960) was an
Roosevelt) by the weekly Time. Author of a large American reporter and traveller. After changing
number of books, including one on Soviet Russia many jobs, in 1924 N. Farson became a foreign
(New Russia, 1928). correspondent for the Chicago Daily News. The
author of vivid and often provocative materials
12 Douglas MacArthur (26 January 1880 – made in Western Europe, the USSR, India, Egypt
5 April 1964) was an American military leader and other countries. He interviewed Gandhi
who served as General of the Army for the United in India, witnessed his arrest in 1934, met with
States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine A.Hitler, interviewed famous criminals, repeatedly
Army. He served with distinction in World War I, visited the USSR, author of a series of articles on
was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the peoples of the North Caucasus. Author of one
the 1930s and played a prominent role in of the most colourful Western publications on
the Pacific theater during World War II. Soviet pilots, published in 1942.

13 Anne O’Hare McCormick (16 May 1880 17 Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount
– 29 May 1954) was an English-American journalist Samuel (6 November 1870 – 5 February 1963) was
who worked as a foreign news correspondent a British Liberal politician who was the party leader
for The New York Times. In an era where the from 1931 to 1935.
field was almost exclusively «a man›s world», 18 George Fielding Eliot (22 June 1894
she became the first woman to receive a Pulitzer – 21 April 1971) was a second lieutenant in the
Prize in a major journalism category, winning Australian army in World War I. He became a
in 1937 for correspondence. member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and
later a major in the Military Intelligence Reserve of
14 Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April the United States Army. He was the author of 15
books on military and political matters in the 1930s 165
through the 1960s, wrote a syndicated column
on military affairs and was the military analyst on
radio and on television for CBS News during World
War II.
19 Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (January
26 1891 – August 31, 1967) was a Soviet writer,
revolutionary, journalist and historian. Ehrenburg
was among the most prolific and notable authors
of the Soviet Union; he published around one
hundred titles. He became known first and
foremost as a novelist and a journalist – in
particular, as a reporter in three wars (First World
War, Spanish Civil War and the Second World War)

20 Harold Edward James Aldridge (10 July

1918 – 23 February 2015) was an Australian-British
writer and journalist. His World War II dispatches
were published worldwide and he was the
author of over 30 books, both fiction and non-
fiction works, including war and adventure novels
and books for children.

The Last Days Of Sevastopol

Audiofile
166

Chapter Х voices repeated the familiar old words

Vespers in Moscow. that I had heard hundreds of times: “Give
Colliers Magazine, January 2, alms to a poor blind one, to a cripple,
to an old woman, and I’ll pray for your
1943 health, for your dead, for your warriors
Vespers in Moscow at the front.”
By Irina Skaryatina1 For a while, pushed back by the crowd,
I stood near the entrance close to the
Collier’s correspondent takes you to counter where wax tapers are sold. Then
church in the Russian capital, where the little by little, in Russian fashion, I began
women of Russia pray for the safety of to work my way up toward the altar. At
their living and the salvation of the dead. last I succeeded in reaching the center of
Saturday evening I went to vespers to the church, where on a square elevation
the Bogoyavlensky Cathedral, belonging covered with a thick rug stood The
not to the Living church2 but to the Metropolitan of Kiev, Nicholas, in glittering
Orthodox faith in which I was raised. vestments, whom I had seen many a time
As the cathedral is situated in Elokhovo in the years following the revolution when
district, which is quite far from the hotel, he was Bishop of Peterhof. The passing
I took the subway and getting off at the years had not changed him much, and his
fourth top, walked a few blocks. Luckily voice as it rang out lead and high had the
there was a full moon, or I never would same “golden quality” that his followers
have found my way in the utter darkness always admired.
of Moscow blackout. Two choirs sang alternately, but
In the distance as I walked I could see occasionally the entire congregation
the spire and the dome of the cathedral took up the hymn and then throughout
looming ghostlike in the light of the the cathedral it rolled impressive and
harvest moon. Many people were going sonorous. Due to wartime economy
in the same direction, and following hem, of electricity, which is scrupulously
I got there without losing my way in the observed everywhere, only one electric
intricate maze of Moscow streets. lamp shone near the metropolitan’s
The service had already begun and elevation. Otherwise, the cathedral
the cathedral was full to overflowing. was plunged into darkness save for the
The usual church beggars that always flickering lights of the wax tapers and
terrified me in my childhood stood in numerous lampadas that burned in front
their customary places on both sides of of the cons. The congregation consisted
the main entrance, and in their chanting mostly of old and middle-aged women,
with a fair sprinkling of young ones, and conquered and destroyed and the land 167
the same applied to the men. once more free. And in their eyes, some
As I slowly made my way from the overflowing with tears, some dry but red
entrance door to the altar I had to stand from crying some shining with courage,
for a while next to a very old man with a I could see again that boundless love of
flowing white beard who looked exactly Russia that is to be found everywhere.
like a Biblical patriarch. In a perfectly At the end of the service, the
audible undertone, he kept saying the metropolitan spoke. The theme of his
words of the service just one second sermon was the war, and that there is
ahead of the clergy, and when a young no greater love than to give one’s life for
priest stammered and omitted a line, others.
the venerable patriarch shook his head
reprovingly, murmuring, “What is the Chicago Daily Tribune, October
matter with you, my little father? Are 4, 1942
you Hitler?” He repeated the whole line
twice over for his own and my benefit,
GODLESS COMMUNISM
too. After that he had to pray fast so as It is a key theory of communism
to catch up and once more be ahead of that religion is the opium of the people
the service. and that the role of the churches is to
A little farther I stopped for a few deliver the masses to their exploiters.
minutes near an elderly woman in a long The Marxist attack on property and its
black coat and a shawl wrapped around possessors in Russia was accompanied
her head, and again I could not help by the attack on religion, the churches,
overhearing her, as in low voice, with the clergy, and the devout. Church
frequent bows and signs of the cross, she edifices were destroyed or desecrated
prayed over and over again for the safety and taken for party uses. The Society of
of her son Vassily at the front, and for the the Godless3 was organized to promote
victory of the Russian army. And as I kept irreligion. Clergymen were driven
moving along. I heard on all sides deep underground.
signs and whispered prayers for the loved The Russians are a tenacious people
ones in danger, for the end of the war, for and they were terrorized, they clung to the
victory and peace, and the destruction of forbidden faith. They risked their lives as
the Antichrist Hitler. men of faith have done before to obtain
It was startling to hear that name in a the satisfaction of their religious needs
Russian church and to realize that in some and the godless dictators found that they
way or other it had brought pain and were dealing with an indomitable spirit
suffering to nearly everyone there. Yes, of resistance. Gradually the faith of the
there was the shadow of the “Antichrist devout forced a modification of the edicts
Hitler” in that old Russian church and, as of the irreligious and a form of worship
many times before in the thousand-year- was permitted under conditions which
old history of Russia, the people wept would be regarded as intolerable in any
and prayed that the invader, whether land in which liberty of conscience was
a Tatar Khan, or Napoleon, or Hitler, be even a restricted privilege.
168 In the most humiliating conditions intriguers which seek to establish abroad
which could be devised the churches the worst features of the vindictive and
were allowed to minister to such destructive cult.
communicants as had the courage to The true character of communism is
face the enmity of the commissars and not to be disguised by the heroism of the
the activities of the secret police. Altho Russian people, despite the efforts of the
the godless were permitted to spread American Communists to use that hero-
their doctrines and campaign politically ism as protective coloration. Neither are
for recruits, the churches were forbidden the stubborn piety of the Russian people,
any evangelical activities and all that was and the concessions to religion that that
allowed was service divested of rites tenacity has forced from the ruling party,
sacred to the congregation and limited to be taken as any indication of a changed
almost to a mockery of divine worship. attitude of communism and Communists
In spite of the concessions which toward religion, altho the Communists
the people’s tenacity forced out of their and their apologists in this country have
heathen dictators, religion and the practiced that deception, too.
churches were outlaws. The Russian has The Communists are pledged to the
not yet won the right freely to proclaim destruction of religion wherever they can
his religious belief, celebrate its rites, accomplish it. They cannot accomplish
and receive its sacraments as a person that, or anything else, in this country of
fully entitled to the blessings of even a their own strength. It is only by working
moderately free civilization. The church thru the New Deal that they have made
is humiliated and religion is officially themselves a force to be reckoned with
held in obloquy. So far as dictatorship in American politics. That is something
can obliterate the religious impulses of to be remembered by voters when they
people, it has done so. find the names of New Deal rubber
The dogma of the Communist cult stamps on the ballot.
still asserts that religion is the opiate
of the people. It still holds in its tenets The Evening Star, October 23,
that the church and worship should be 1941
abolished. These are the doctrines of the
Communist party in Russia and that is
Religion Has Survived Great
the parent organization which gives the Upheaval of Russian Revolution
party line to its followers everywhere. Observer Suggests That Resurgence
The American Communist party takes May Come From Disaster
its cues from the Moscow Comintern, Here is a first-hand account of the
which in these days of stress has been religious situation in Russia, written for
retired to the background in Russia itself The Star’s Special News Service by Wade
but is the international and revolutionary Werner, veteran foreign correspondent,
organization. The American Communist from his observations while he was
party is directly related not to the stationed in Moscow.
Russian people who are putting up this By WADE WERNER.
heroic struggle, but to the international Not many months before the outbreak
of war in Europe in 1939, a strange thing of churches, the conversion of other 169
happened in Russia. Bananas came back thousands into anti-religious museums,
to the Soviet Union. No bananas had been motion picture theaters, workers’ clubs,
marketed in Moscow for fully 17 years; warehouses and garages.
then, suddenly, a shipload was acquired
in some trade deal with a Latin American Sunday Became Work Day.
country and was offered for sale on the Sunday was secularized and made like
streets of the capital. Most Muscovites any other working day, so that regular
had not seen a banana for so long they church attendance became very difficult
almost had forgotten what one looked for most believers, even though there
like. Many of the younger people never were a few churches still left to attend.
had seen one in their lives. Some of those Systematic religious instruction of the
who bought them out of curiosity were young was prohibited, and theological
not sure whether to eat them skin and all schools were closed. Thousands of priests
or just the skin. rightly or wrongly were accused of anti-
Soviet conspiracy and paid the penalty
Not Under Soviet Ban. with imprisonment or death. Yet religion
Now, the Soviet constitution never had survived in Soviet Russia. Faith that was in
banned the eating of bananas. It just so the hearts of millions before the revolution
happened that for many years the Soviet still stirs a multitude of believers there
foreign trade monopoly had imported today, and would no doubt continue to be
a lot of other things, particularly things a reality meant, to discourage prayers for
needed for the completion of this or such a cause. But what will the religious
that Soviet project — but no bananas. reaction be if the Soviet regime crashes
It was obvious that an educative sales in a great military defeat? Military
campaign would be necessary if bananas disasters in the last great war not only
ever were to become popular again in ended with the collapse of the Czarist
Russia. Somehow the current controversy regime and a terrific period of suffering
over religious freedom in Russia strongly for the established church but touched
recalls to mind the odd episode of the off a revolution that rocked established
bananas. For in some of the passionate churches and social institutions in many
arguments, pro and con there has lurked parts of the world besides Russia. The
the implication that governments can Bolshevist revolution was basically
make or break religions, just as they can atheistic in character. If there is another
make or break the traffic in bananas. Even defeat now, and another great revolution,
the Soviet government never imagined it will it be this time — in reaction against
could abolish religion overnight by decree. the other — a great religious revolution?
Over a long period of years government- If so, what kind of religion? There have
sponsored anti-religious propaganda been great religious movements in the
patiently sought to wean the Russian past; which were characterized by their
people of their religious beliefs and habits. strong revulsion against violence, on the
The propaganda was powerfully assisted other hand, there have been militant
by the destruction of many thousands religions which have carried a fanatical
174 faith along with their conquering legions. missionaries were allowed in Russia,
Russia is vast and unpredictable. What and he had to work by remote control
will come out of the colossal carnage in from Paris. At first he was able to help
which Germans and Russians now are establish Baptist seminaries in Russia,
engaged, not even Hitler knows; not ever nurse along the churches and schools,
a victorious Hitler. But if Russia’s reaction and keep in close touch with the far-
to defeat should take the form of a great away officials. Then, in 1929, “a curtain
religious awakening, not even Hitler may of silence” cut off the Russian church
be able to control or predict its course. from the rest of the world as the Soviet
The religious freedom-in-Russia embarked upon a new succession of
question may assume new and religious persecutions.
unexpected forms, a defeated Soviet At last, late in December 1942, the
regime might find a sudden revival of curtain was drawn aside: American
strong feeling in the Russian masses Baptists got a telegram thanking them for
taking freedom into its own hands. the $1,000 check they had sent to their
Or a victorious Hitler, by proclaiming Russian brethren. This month brought
wholesale reopening of churches and another message of New Year and victory
restoration of an established state greetings. It meant that the church
religion, might find a genial and genuine in Russia was experiencing a greater
resurgence of Russian religious emotions freedom of operation than anyone had
running away with his show and upsetting dared hope. Overjoyed, the American
all his calculations. Right now, of course, Baptist churches declared in their day-
the colossal cauldron in the east still is of-prayer proclamation: “We shall pray
cooking. No one really knows what will that myriads in mighty Russia shall
come out of it. This has been merely enjoy freedom and find fullness of life in
an attempt to suggest that religion fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.”
sometimes makes its own freedom, and As a matter of fact, Dr. Lewis contends
that great religious movements more that Russian Baptists have actually been
than once have profoundly affected the happier under Stalin than they were
course of history. under the czar. They sprang up about 70
years ago in a series of revivalist offshoots
Newsweek, February 1, 1943 from the Orthodox Church and from
Baptists in the Soviet among German Lutheran immigrants.
They adopted the name “Baptist” after
To Dr. W. O. Lewis, small, plump, and the western Baptists had discovered the
white-haired secretary of the Baptist similarity of their beliefs and practices,
World Alliance, the announcement that the latter including immersion. And
1,000,000 Russian Baptists will join with most of them were peasants or middle-
the 12,000,000 others all over the world class, with none of the political power
in a day of prayer Feb. 7 was a personal that brought Soviet wrath down upon
triumph. For more than a decade he the Russian Orthodox Church. Also,
had been the chief link between the Russian Baptists had none of the official
alliance and Baptists in the Soviet. Few ties to churches abroad that brought the
Roman Catholics into disfavor. So they trends as signs that religious toleration in 175
rode out the revolution — and the Lenin Soviet Russia will be more than temporary
drive against Orthodoxy—comparatively — particularly for the unpolitical minded
unmolested. Baptists
But in 1928 came the five-year plan—
and with it steps that did everything The Evening Star, October 4,
but outlaw religion. The six-day week 1941
was instituted, Sundays disappeared.
Religious teaching for anyone under 18
The Political Mill
was considered an offense against the Religious Freedom-for-Arms
state. Printing of Bibles was forbidden. Trade Suggested As Practical Move
Some 1,000 clergymen were imprisoned Stalin Should Consider
or sent into exile on charges of “plotting By GOULD LINCOLN4.
to overthrow the government.” Toughest
of all, the government-backed and If President Roosevelt can obtain
powerful League of Militant Atheists was freedom of religious worship In Soviet
given free rein. Through all this, however, Russia and make it stick, he will have
the Baptists kept reading their old Bibles done a wonderful thing. It will be so
and chose laymen to preach in place of acclaimed throughout the world by those
the exiled ministers. who believe in freedom — and especially
Later the grip was relaxed, but 1937 by the people of this country. Certainly, it
brought a new wave of suppression. For would appear that, at this juncture, Russia
under the 1936 constitution Russia was to would listen to him. To put it practically,
hold an election. Fearing that the clergy the Stalin government could afford to
might influence the vote, the government trade a bit of religious freedom for guns
assigned a conscientious OGPU agent and tanks and planes, and the good will of
named Yezhoff to see that they didn’t. He many Americans. It may be that religion
was a little to effective: he sent so many and Communism don’t work together,
clergymen and personal enemies into but it does seem Stalin might try it out. As
exile that he himself was finally purged. the President said at a press conference
Now, apparently for the sake of last week, the Soviet constitution does
wartime unity and to placate the other mention religious freedom — thought not
Allies, civil rights have again been restored just in the same way as the Constitution
in Russia and the clergy is allowed to of the United States. I It might be well
vote. The seven-day week is back, school to compare the language. In article 124
text revisions have eliminated offensive of the Russian constitution — quoted
references to religion, and open funerals, in this column September 6 — the
with great crowds of townsfolk carrying following language is found: “Freedom
icons, are again common. The atheist of religious worship and freedom of anti-
newspaper Bezbozhnik — Without God — religious propaganda is recognized for all
has been liquidated (its final edition went citizens.” The Constitution of the United
so far as to attack Hitler for persecuting States says: “Congress shall make no law
religion) . Altogether Dr. Lewis sees these respecting an establishment of religion,
176 or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” aimed at winning Communist control
everywhere. The American people have
U.S. Obeys Constitution. no more love for the Communist idea
This language is found in the first than they have for Fascism or Nazism.
amendment to the Constitution of the Communism is just as foreign to the ideas
United States, submitted to the States of government, and of free enterprise
by the First Congress in 1789, along and freedom, generally, as practiced in
with nine other amendments, known as the United States. The President might
the “Bill of Rights.” They were promptly have pointed to another article of the
ratified. In article five of the Constitution Soviet constitution, article 126, which
there is found also: “But no religious test, guarantees the right of the people to
shall ever be required as a qualification to organize in trade unions. But a trade union
any office or public trust under the United in Soviet Russia is a government affair —
States.” The language and spirit of the and has no more relation to the free trade
Constitution have been lived up to in this unions of this country than black with
country. It is very clear, however, to any white. The Russian government today is
student of modern, very modern, history making a desperate fight — or rather the
that such has not been the case in Soviet Russian people and the Russian armies
Russia so far as freedom of religious are making a desperate fight — to keep
worship is concerned. The accent has from being included in Hitler’s “new
been placed entirely on the phrase order” for Europe, to keep the Nazi heel
“freedom of anti-religious propaganda”— off their necks. It is making a gallant fight.
and to such an extent that hundreds have But it was not so long ago that Russia
been killed for their religious beliefs. was attacking little Finland, seizing part
There Is no blinking the facts. Religious of Poland, making an agreement with
freedom has not flourished in Communist Hitler and Mussolini that virtually gave
Russia. Hitler the “go” signal for the present war.
However, as the President has pointed It was not so long ago that Communist
out the constitution of Soviet Russia does activities in this country were under way,
recognize freedom of religious worship. with subversive tactics, espionage and all
All Stalin has to do, therefore, is to assert that goes with such treacherous forms of
his adherence to that constitution and activity. Within a short time — probably
see that, it is lived up to. This seems next week — Congress will have before it
like a small price to pay. There are other for consideration and action the second
concessions that the President might lease-lend appropriation bill, authorizing
well obtain from the Soviet government. the expenditure of $6,000,000,000 to aid
One of them is that it cease to attempt Britain and other nations fighting the Axis
to undermine the governments of other powers. Threats have been made that an
friendly countries, among them the amendment will be offered, first in the
United States. It may be that Russia will be House and then In the Senate, to bar the
in a frame of mind to join in a brotherhood Soviet government from participation
of friendly nations after the war is ended, in these huge sums of money — that is,
and to drop the Idea of a world revolution from receiving supplies under the terms
of the Lease-Lend Act. Opponents of the Irina Skaryatina was an accredited war correspondent 177
for the American weekly Colliers, which published
President’s foreign policy have relied on her radiograms from the USSR about the need for the
the hatred of Americans for the activities immediate opening of a second front, reports about
of Communist Russia, and particularly for the heroic struggle of the Soviet people against Nazi
their hatred of the persecutions practiced Germany, stories about meetings and conversations
with very different people, united by one common
in Russia against religious worship and goal - to defeat the enemy at all costs.
the churches, to make headway against
the administration’s latest proposal. 2 i
Renovationism – also called Renovated
Church or by metonymy the Living Church (Zhivaya
Foes Might Be Stymied. Tserkov’)–, officially named Orthodox Russian
Church ( Pravoslavnaya Rossiyskaya Tserkov’), and
Perhaps the President’s present later Orthodox Church in the USSR ( Pravoslavnaya
step — his intercession for the freedom Tserkov’ v SSSR), was the official Christian Church
of religious worship in Russia and for in the Soviet Union in 1922–1946, which following
the churches, through the American the World War II was proclaimed as a religious
Ambassador to Russia and through Averill movement that schismed from the Russian Orthodox
Church in 1922. Sanctioned by the Soviet authorities,
Harriman, heading an American mission the movement ceased its operations in the late
to collaborate with the Soviet government 1940s. In 1927 the movement was blessed by the
on aid against Hitler, will bear fruit in time future Patriarch Sergius of Moscow, a political move
to stymie attacks by the isolationists, to that allowed reformation of the modern Russian
some degree. But whether they do or Orthodox Church in 1943 by Sergius (Stragorodsky).
not, the President will be given credit 3 The League of Militant Atheists (Russian:
for having tried to bring about better Soyúz Voínstvuyushchikh Bezbózhnikov,  ‘The
conditions. For the present the American League of Militant Godless’]), also Society of the
people should understand that the policy Godless ( Óbshchestvo Bezbózhnikov) or Union
of this Government toward the Russian of the Godless (Russian: Soyúz Bezbózhnikov),
was an atheistic and antireligious organization of
government is one of aid through the workers and intelligentsia that developed in Soviet
supply of military equipment, intended to Russia under influence of the ideological and cultural
defeat Hitler. views and policies of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union from 1925 to 1947.] It consisted of
(Endnotes) party members, members of the Komsomol youth
movement, those without specific political affiliation,
workers and military veterans.
1 Skaryatina Irina Vladimirovna (1888
-1962) I.V. Skaryatina is a Russian aristocrat, writer,
4 George Gould Lincoln (July 26, 1880
journalist and war correspondent. After the October
– December 1, 1974) was an American political
Revolution, she emigrated from Soviet Russia.
reporter between the 1900s to 1960s. Lincoln started
In the 1930s, Irina Skaryatina published several
at The Washington Times and The Washington
books in English in the United States, including her
Post during the 1900s before joining the Washington
memories of childhood and youth in the Russian
Evening Star in 1909. With the Evening Star, Lincoln
Empire, and diary entries from 1917–1919, about
was a political reporter and named the newspaper’s
the hardships and losses of the post-revolutionary
chief political writer in 1925. Lincoln remained
years, the collapse of the old world, about her
with the Evening Star until his 1964 retirement and
departure, from Russia, his subsequent return
received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1970.
to the USSR, in the status of an American citizen,
and about her impressions, of what she saw in a
completely changed country. During World War II,
178

Chapter ХI The most suitable campaigning season

Stalingrad. The City of Steel1. is approaching, and the probabilities are
that long before it is over the issue will
have been decided.
The Times, August 22, 1942 But what is happening or may happen
elsewhere cannot conceal the fact that
Volga and Caucasus the main theatre of the war is Russia; nor
The war-clouds seem to be banking can it be doubted that this is likely to be
thicker than ever; and the air is heavy with the case for some time to come. It is in
the electricity which heralds new storms. Russia that events count most and will
In the Pacific the first action dictated by most deeply affect the future progress,
allied initiative since the moment when and even the final result, of the war. There
Japan entered the war is in progress, the great bulk of the German combatant
and the auguries appear favourable. The strength and material resources are fully
combined operation at Dieppe2 may have engaged; there Germany is seeking the
been no more than an experiment, but an decision which she hopes will bring in
experiment on a very large scale, providing its train still wider decisions. And it is
many valuable lessons which are even more than ever clear that the first and
now being digested. It has also given the immediate decision is being sought in
Germans cause for reflection, and this is the offensive against the line of the
already rather less jubilant than it was lower Volga. Reinforcements have been
immediately after the re-embarcation of brought up into the shambles of the
our forces. It may be divined that the first Don elbow, where the enemy, rebuffed
relief at the discovery that the landing- again and again in a long and almost
force was only a gigantic raiding party has static struggle, is now making a supreme
given way to considerations of what the effort to reach Stalingrad. He seems
result might have been had ten or twenty to have cleared the greater part of the
times the strength been employed. “The territory within the bend. He has at last
significance of this war has grown with forced a passage of the river, and though
its dimensions,” writes GOEBBELS, some the Russians report that the majority of
of whose recent pronouncements have his troops on the left bank have been
not been lacking in realism; and again: destroyed and that the mopping up of
“The German people faces the dilemma the remainder is in process, it is not clear
- either to fight or to abdicate.” In Egypt that this bridgehead has ceased to exist.
both sides have been reinforced and While there remains to him the slightest
both sides are sharpening their weapons. foothold beyond the Don there is deadly
danger, and even if this is removed, he There are no definite reports of events 179
will without doubt continue to thrust for of major importance elsewhere, though
weak points all along the wide eastern arc the Germans speak of a new offensive
of the Don. The turning movement south starting at Orel. Taking the broadest
of the bend has made very little progress view, it must be said that the danger is
in face of stout resistance and determined as great as ever, but that the Germans
counterattacks, but it cannot be said that have never yet found the opportunity
the peril here has diminished. to deliver a knock-out blow. Russia has
In the Caucasus the campaign has taken been grievously weakened, but she fights
the course that might have been expected. on. She continues the combat unshaken
The enemy is making progress, but only by and defies the rules of obvious military
the easiest avenues, and so slowly that – logic. Yesterday, for example, Leningrad
except in the region of Krasnodar – there celebrated the anniversary of the
have been no alterations to make on a opening of its siege. More than once the
small-scale map for several days’ past. The Germans proclaimed its imminent doom,
most serious threat in this quarter is that which they would certainly not have
to Novorossiisk and, indeed, to the whole done unless they had believed what they
Black Sea coastline in its neighborhood. said. Leningrad is still fighting, and at this
Two processes have been simultaneously moment actually attacking. After losses
at work: a hardening of Russian opposition and battering such as no other nation in
on ground more favourable to defence; and the world could have survived Russia still
an exhaustion, distension, and absorption remains Germany’s principal immediate
of the German fighting strength. The result enemy. But the allied nations cannot
has been one of those relative pauses count upon Russian resistance enduring
relative but significant and unmistakable for ever without increasing exterior
– which occurred on some half a dozen support. Russia is the main front, and
occasions during the campaigns of 1941. the main problem is to ensure that the
How long this will endure it is not easy to growing allied strength is brought to her
estimate; it certainly will not do to count aid at the earliest possible moment by
upon an inability of the German staff every means which resource can devise.
work and supply system to accelerate the Such is the counsel not only o gratitude
advance within another week or ten days. but also of common prudence.
But so far, the enemy has made no serious
penetration of the mountains, which are Daily Boston Globe, August 23,
not an absolutely impregnable fortress 1942
but are, nevertheless, one of the most
formidable military obstacles in Europe.
If Russia Loses, Whole Middle
It must not be forgotten, however, that East May Fall to Hitler, Stowe
complete possession of the vast isthmus Warns
between the Black Sea and the Caspian By LELAND STOWE
would create a situation which the
Germans might be able to exploit in more The situation along the great Don bend
than one direction. and across the Don, above Kotelnikovo,
180 where the Nazis’ armored divisions are army on the Allies’ side the Soviet Army
hammering unrelaxed fury in an effort to and of 130,000,000 Russians toward their
break through to the great strategic city British and American war partners will be
of Stalingrad, is as serious as words can decided by what Anglo-American land, air
possibly portray. The Nazi threat to the and sea forces do in Western Europe now.
big oil center of Grozny in North Caucasus If the Russians get completely fed
is equally grave. up with us, then Britain and the United
This is why it will take a great deal States may have to figure out how they
more than one Dieppe raid to convince can carry nine-tenths of the burden of
the Russians the British and Americans defeating Nazi Germany on European soil.
are doing everything possible to relieve What this means if very simple. In order
the pressure of the Nazi armies here. At to crush Hitler and his terribly efficient
the very least there must be many and military machine, Britain and America
frequent landing parties on the European must first win the wholehearted support
coast. There must also be more, much more of Soviet Russia, its huge army and its
regular 1000-plane raids over Germany. To people. We can only win that kind of
have any effect here, even as uplift to the support by using every weapon we have
Russians’ morale and relief to their feeling got now, in these next few but decisive
of aloneness, these Anglo-American raids weeks, to ease and embarrass the Nazis’
cannot be postponed until October or blows in South-Russia. As of today, there
November. They must be staged at once is probably not a single Russian adult who
and with unprecedented force. thinks that either Britain or America has
The British and American publics will begun to use every weapon it has got.
be fatally misinformed unless they are Copyright. 1942. by the Boston Globe
told that the war can be lost or at the very and Chicago Daily News
least prolonged by three or four years -
if Hitler is permitted to gain his lower The Times, September 7, 1942
Volga and North Caucasus objectives in The Issues At Stake
the next month or two. There is nothing OIL ROUTE FROM BAKU “GUARDIAN
“secondary” about these South Russian OF VOLGA”
battles.
If the Nazis seize Stalingrad and Baku From Our Diplomatic Correspondent
the chances of the Allies holding Iran,
Iraq, Syria, Palestine, India and Egypt More depends on the battle for
will be alarmingly small. Without this Stalingrad than on any single battle since
absolutely essential and incomparably the one before Moscow last December
important middle area of the vast world and in many ways the dangers for Russia
battlefield where and how and when can are even greater and sharper now than
the British and American Armies hope to they were last December.
defeat Hitler’s legions? Even if Moscow had fallen the Russian
For many months to come, and armies would have remained unified,
perhaps for the duration of the war, the and they would have preserved all their
attitude of the largest, most powerful sources of supply. The fall of Stalingrad
would bring a split in the Russian armies lost, it produced as much as the whole 181
for the first time and would deprive the of the Ukraine. These considerations
central armies of their main route of will bear heavily on the Russian people,
supply of Baku oil. already shocked in their minds that
That would be the heaviest blow yet the invader has reached the “Mother
suffered by the Soviet war machine. The Volga,” their pride and their legend. The
“second Baku” area in the Middle Volga is strategic importance is starkly apparent.
being rapidly developed, but these fields The Germans are boasting that their right
produce little more than 7,000,000 tons flank is secure for a northern advance
about a quarter of the Baku production. towards Moscow. But the economic and
But Stalingrad is much more than the other set- backs probably count for even
guardian of the Volga. Its loss would be an more than the strictly strategic ones.
industrial setback greater than that which
the Russians suffered when Kharkov fell. The Times, September 8, 1942
Kharkov was recognized to be in the danger PREPARING TO SMASH
belt, and a high proportion of its factories
had been moved before the Germans
GERMANY
reached it. These factories had been taken PRESIDENT’S WAR REVIEW
east – some perhaps to Stalingrad, for From Our Own Correspondent
Stalingrad was within the eastern reception
area. Its job was to take in evacuee factories, In his “fireside chat” tonight, which
not to send its own away. was principally concerned with the need
for avoiding a domestic economic crisis
EXPANDING POPULATION by prompt action, President Roosevelt
The pre-war population of the town was gave a front-by-front summary of the
about 500,000; it grew rapidly during the progress of the war, which closed with the
first months of the war. The great tractor statement that in Europe “the aim is an
plant, which even in 1935 was producing offensive against Germany, toward which
38,000 tractors a year, was extended preparations are in progress in both the
and turned to the production of tanks. United States and Britain.”
The motor car industries were similarly “The power of Germany must be
developed and changed. Probably some broken on the battlefields of Europe,” the
of these factories have been hurriedly sent President said. “Certain vital decisions
farther east, but until a few months ago the have been made. In due time you will
town was working and developing in the know what these decisions are - and so
confident expectation that the Germans will our enemies. I can say now that all
would not reach it. of these decisions are directed towards
To the industrial loss has to be added taking the offensive.”
the agricultural. The Stalingrad province, Of the Russian front, President
lying mainly to the west of the river, has Roosevelt said that Hitler was still unable
been one of Russia’s richest wheat areas. to gain “the smashing victory” which
With the neighbouring north Caucasus almost a year ago he announced had
and the Azov-Black Sea area, all recently already achieved.
182 The New York Times, September the Russian giant cripples us. In the
14, 1942 words of the Soviet army newspaper,
STALINGRAD Red Star, “Stalingrad is Grozny, Baku and
Transcaucasia.” This means that its loss
Whether Stalingrad stands or falls, its would cost Russia her main oil supply
desperate defense must have a profound and all the riches that lie between the
effect on the development of the war. Caspian and Black Seas. It would dislocate
If the Russians accomplish a miracle the Russian armies, reduce their striking
and hold out, the event could mark the power, and permit Hitler to face the West
turning of the tide not only in Russia but again. It may bring Japan into Siberia. It
all over the world. If the city falls, the might result in the conquest of Egypt. Yet
war will certainly be prolonged, though for Hitler even such a victory would not
– in all her future campaigns. She cannot be decisive. Russia will fight on the cruel
revive the heaps of dead sacrificed in Russian Winter is approaching.
the gigantic assault or restore the vital Hitler can hardly launch another
weeks lost on the Volga. major offensive there this year. But if
The defense of Stalingrad has been the Russians fail now on the Volga, next
compared to that of Verdun in the year’s burden on Britain and the United
World War. The city itself is not a natural States will be immeasurably increased.
stronghold, as Verdun was, but control
of the banks of the Volga is as important The New York Times, September
to Russia as domination of the Meuse 20, 1942
heights3 was to France. In February 1916,
the Germans launched their attack on
Stalingrad Epic
Verdun and maintained a relentless Verdun on the Volga
pressure for four months.
They battered their way to within The city, built by the toil of the young
three miles of Verdun before the nation and the skill of foreign engineers,
campaign collapsed. On this battlefield from which machines to cultivate the
the Crown Prince used up forty-three Russian harvests were poured out now is
divisions of elite troops, and the German a vast caldron in which two armies with
army never quite recovered. But it was burning hate grapple for a decision.
not alone the stubborn defense of Verdun This was Stalingrad last week as
which saved the city. The Germans were described by The New York Times
compelled to meet almost simultaneous correspondent in Russia. The greatest
counter-offensives by Earl Haig4 on the battle of all times had reached the city’s
Somme and by General Brusilov5 in outskirts, had penetrated to its streets.
Russia. No comparable relief seems in Russian and German, civilians as well as
sight for Stalingrad, with the Nazis even soldiers, were struggling hand to hand
now in its southern suburbs. with gun and tank and bayonet for the
The fall of Stalingrad would be a possession of the key Volga city. Amid the
disaster not only for Russia but for all rubble of bombed houses, a portentous
the United Nations. Whatever cripples decision was in the making – a decision
that might affect the course of the war for pushed to within forty miles of the city’s 183
months, perhaps for years to come. For suburbs. Stalingrad’s residents, waking
Stalingrad means control of the Volga, and on the morning of Aug. 26, could hear
the Volga means South Russia, storehouse the distant booming of the guns and
of Soviet wealth, important lifeline to in their newspapers, they saw for the
Russia’s allies, one of the shields of the first time their city mentioned in the
Middle East, where the United Nations High Command communiqué. Life in
are gathering their might. If Stalingrad the Volga citadel took on a quickened
fell the Wehrmacht could flow on to the tempo-barges were unloaded faster, war
Caspian’s shores and southward past the factories worked day and night while
rich Caucasus oilfields to the border of men, women and children aided Red
Iran. The Red Army would be split in two, Army soldiers in throwing up earthwork
and Russia and the United Nations would defenses, barbed wire, and tank traps on
face somber days. Stalingrad’s outskirts in preparation for
the coming siege.
500,000 Attackers
Upward of 500,000 Germans, it was The Big Push
believed, were engaged in the assault All through the days that followed,
on the Volga citadel, defended by an days of hurtling heat beneath a relentless
unknown number of Red Army soldiers and sun, the Germans pushed steadily closer
thousands of its half-million population. while Stalingrad stood at bay. Out on the
Stalingrad, straggling for twenty miles fighting front the Wehrmacht shifted its
along the banks of the broad Volga River, pressure from northwest to southwest
was a valuable objective in itself. It was to center in unending attacks by wave
one of Russia’s greatest industrial centers, upon wave of men and machines. The
built in the last twenty years with the help city itself was battered ceaselessly by
of American technicians. Before the siege German planes which dominated the sky.
it had processed the ores of the Donets Railroads to the north and the south were
basin, the oil of the Caucasus; its great cut by the German armies; only the broad
factories had turned out tractors and farm Volga remained as a supply line from
machinery for Soviet agriculture in peace- the Russian hinterland. But Stalingrad
time, tanks, guns and planes for the Red stood, as Leningrad, Odessa, Sevastopol
Army in war. The mile-wide Volga, flowing and countless other Russian cities and
past steep cliffs on its western shore, had villages had stood before, fighting back all
been a busy artery of water-borne traffic through the long retreat, taking its toll of
along which had flowed 7,000,000 tons of German dead. The Wehrmacht’s advance
oil yearly to all parts of Russia, and equal elsewhere was likewise registering gains:
amounts of foodstuffs and industrial a new drive was reported in the Middle
goods. Caucasus.
It was twenty-five days ago that the Last week the battle was raging
assault on Stalingrad began. The Germans close to the city’s heart, where the
had crossed the Don River to the north- Germans were met by the supreme
west and southwest and their tanks had efforts of its defenders. German tanks
184 had spearheaded the thrust through the entire Caucasus region. For 200 miles
northwestern suburbs; German shock east of the city there is no point where
troops followed to fight the Russians an army could regroup and prepare for a
hand to hand. It was a bitter and savage counter-offensive. The Germans, firmly
battle that raged on the city’s pavements established on the Volga, would be able
a struggle where ruined houses were to recuperate and consolidate their gains
turned into forts, where men grappled in Russia, perhaps to prepare new blows
and heaved and swayed to hold a street on other fronts, certainly to withdraw
corner or a front door. It was a struggle large parts of their armies to the West
of grimy, hate-filled individuals, in which of Europe against the threat of a second
counter-attacks were measured in terms front by the Allies. The Red Army, wearied
of a house recaptured, a block of ruins by the campaign and with valuable bases
won. At one place the defenders fought lost, might be crippled for months as an
with their backs to the cliffs falling away effective attacking force.
to the Volga against German tanks before
them: in the clutter of fallen buildings Remaining Resources
they attacked, man by man, and drove If Stalingrad fell, Russia would still have
the invaders back. Yesterday Moscow left the strength for protracted defense.
reported that troops from Western There are oil and minerals in the Urals,
Siberia had entered the fray, recalling the old industries still functioning around
last-minute reinforcement of the Soviet Moscow and Leningrad, new factory
capital’s defenders by similar units last centers built in the regions beyond the
Fall. Volga. Russia still has great reserve
strength in manpower; her armies have
War’s Most Important Action not been destroyed, and the ranks thinned
The importance of Stalingrad’s by the fallen could be filled with young
resistance transcended all other actions of men to strike again. In time, perhaps,
the war. If the Russians could hold it, all of a second front would be opened by her
Germany’s gains in the great midsummer allies among the democracies, bringing
offensive might well be nullified. There the day when the Fascist invader could
were Russian forces poised on his flank at at last be driven from Russian soil. But if
Voronezh which might smash through to Stalingrad fell-and the Russians fighting
Rostov in a Winter attack. The threat might there knew this that day of liberation
be such that the German commander for all of their mother country might be
would be forced to withdraw to the postponed for an indefinite time.
region beyond the Don, giving up the
Caucasus prize. Such a defeat, after the The New York Times, September
terrible strain of the nearly three months’ 21, 1942
campaign, might turn the tide definitely
against Hitler’s forces. Conversely, for
CRISIS AT STALINGRAD
the Russians the loss of Stalingrad would On the blood-stained pavements of
mean a retreat beyond the Volga line, Stalingrad the Russians have turned and,
the isolation and possible loss of the house by shattered house, are driving the
Nazis out of some of the streets of the Moscow. That seemed impossible. Now, 185
city. It is a breathless moment. On most at the eleventh hour, the world wonders
of the war fronts a pause has fallen as if it may be barely possible. If the miracle
the world watches the outcome of this happens and Stalingrad does stand, even
greatest battle of all time. Not only is the in smoldering wreckage, Russia will have
spirit of resistance not failing; it seems to won a victory to match in decisive effect
have had a resurgence in a tremendous the Battle of England fought two years
demonstration of courage and stamina. ago in the skies. And whatever happens,
Almost a month ago the Germans the Battle of Stalingrad will not have been
crossed the Don and moved on the fought in vain.
Volga. For twenty-six days the Russians, For time has been gained as well as
outnumbered and cut down by crushing a lesson in devotion; attrition has taken
mechanical power, withdrew step by its toll of the enemy; and the faint hope
step from the furious assault of half that seemed dead for Stalingrad rises for
a million men. The heaps of German Russia, even though it may be low for the
dead piled ever higher, but always fresh hour on the banks of the Volga.
divisions pressed forward, paced by their
tanks and dive-bombers. Last week they The New York Times ,
reached the plateau on which the city, September 30, 1942
or what enemy bombs had left of it,
stands. By the end of the week they had
Why Stalingrad Produces So
surged into the streets. The German High Much Emotion
Command was ready at last to announce By ANNE O’HARE MCCORMICK6
the long-delayed fall of Stalingrad with
the customary flourish of trumpets. Then The day-by-day story of the fight for
something happened. Stalingrad has made the war more real
Instead of the expected victory to distant places than any engagement
announcement from Berlin came since the conflict began. When the two
excuses. Rain fell. Russian reinforcements greatest land armies in the world are
from Western Siberia marched into the locked in battles for streets and houses,
beleaguered city. Russian planes swept the very narrowness of the frame in
in to meet and check the tanks and which the terrific action is crowded gives
dive-bombers. The tide of street fighting the picture an unequaled clarity.
hesitated, then turned. Once more In this long-drawn-out contest for a
the Russians were contesting strategic city the whole global struggle is reduced
heights even beyond the city. to a scale the human imagination can
All we know now is that the doom compass. In Stalingrad we see more
of Stalingrad had been postponed. The vividly than before just what this war is
battle rages from crisis to hourly crisis like. We realize how fierce and merciless
under a pall of mounting smoke. What is and desperate it is, and this realization
clear is that the Russians will not yield the produces an emotion hardly matched
city at a price or any price. They intend by the feeling evoked by Dunkerque or
to hold it, as they held Leningrad and Bataan7 or the bombing of London.
186 This is partly because Stalingrad is the where plumbing, higher education and
climax of a decisive campaign and partly space to grow in are more universal
because it coincides with the recognition than anywhere else. But also they
that there is no immunity anywhere from might be expected to be spoiled by
the kind of fighting we watch at Stalingrad. ease and comfort, central heating and
But largely it is because for the first time automobiles. It was imagined that they
this Summer the war has become truly had been made skeptical by the doubts
universal; throughout this country and this and questions of disillusioned teachers.
hemisphere the understanding that every They were supposed to have been
battle involves us all has at last penetrated made cocky, undisciplined and selfish by
below the reaches of the mind to touch too indulgent parents.
the aching depths of the heart.
The British Impressed
Our Amazing Army Well, look at them! One has only
For Americans Stalingrad makes to meet the new American army
the war more vivid than other battles traveling about the country to feel that
for still another reason. It is a man-to- if this is the generation this country
man combat fought at a time when has produced in the unsettled years
every town in the land is conscious between this war and the last, we have
of its own contribution of manpower more to fight for than the most fervent
to the world-wide struggle. At every interventionists imagined. If these boys
turn we see American boys turned into are the fruit of the American system
soldiers; almost overnight, it seems, and the emanation of the American
the so-called “soft” generation has spirit, they prove that nobody on earth
been transformed into an army that has so much to defend as we have. Seen
amazes even its commanders by its en masse, they are more moving than
temper and its quality. Wherever one the sight of the Stars and Stripes waving
goes, the trains and the railway stations in the Solomon Islands.
are crowded with these new soldiers, Their deportment is almost too good
and anyone who has observed other to be true. Presumably they are being
armies in the process of mobilization – taught to be tough, trained in the dreadful
German and Italian, French and British, art of killing, but they never fail to give
Rumanian and Turkish – must be struck up their seats to women in crowded cars,
by the extraordinary physical fitness they offer to carry your bag when there
of these young Americans, moving by are no porters. They are gay and modest,
stages toward that second front which friend and polite. In England their good
is forming somewhere under the fog of manners impress the British, themselves
talk. one of the politest of peoples. But what
These boys are better than fit. Per- impresses Americans most of all is their
haps they should be expected to be attitude; they believe in themselves and
taller, better turned-out and stronger in their country with a casual and matter-
than other armies. They are the children of-fact faith that shames the doubters
of abundance, brought up in a land and debaters among their elders.
As Good as They Look Troops; Offensives Promise Hitler Worse 187
Stalingrad is a flaming background Winter than Last One
for this procession of American soldiers. By LELAND STOWE
We see the enemy now not only as the
opponent of the fighting Russians but Leland Stowe, one of the greatest war
of our own fighting men. The picture correspondents the present world wide
of the reality of war is imprinted even struggle has produced, has returned
more vividly upon our minds by the by air to this country after a prolonged
stories of the performance of Americans stay in Russia. His homeward route
in action. was by way of the Middle East and
The arresting report published in The Africa, a front of particular interest to
Times yesterday from Hanson Baldwin Americans since the landing there of
on the fighting of the Marines in the Gen. Ike Eisenhower’s doughboys. Globe
Solomons portrays the Japanese as the readers will recall Stowe’s previous
best jungle fighters in the world, “hard, dispatches from Europe and India,
ruthless, brave, well-equipped” and full particularly his sensational ex pose of
of tricks. It warns us of the kind of foe we the Allies’ failure in Norway which had
have to meet in the Pacific, just as the a large share in forcing the retirement of
Volga battle shows us how desperately Neville Chamberlain in favor of Winston
the Germans fight. On both sides of the Churchill. Mr. Stowe has written several
world we are opposed by fanatic and stories of what he observed on his way
thoroughly organized armies. But Mr. home. This is the first of that stories.
Baldwin also makes us see how quickly The 250,000 Red Army soldiers who
the American doughboy develops into died to keep Stalingrad out of Hitler’s
a jungle fighter. The story of Private hands saved Egypt for the British and
Morrison and his buddy at Guadalcanal made Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s
is an epic of incredible courage and offensive in North Africa possible.
resourcefulness on the part of “green” I brought this point home to a group
Americana. of American airmen I had met in an
The short annals of our war are already advanced base on the Libyan desert, a
rich in such epics. They prove that the few weeks after I left Moscow on Nov.
cheerful boys coming out of the camps 12. These clean-cut Yankee airmen had
are as good as they look. How can the rest had their baptism of fire over El Alamein
of us ever live up to them? and Hellfire Pass and had contributed
their important bit, helping Gen.
Daily Boston Globe, December Montgomery’s 8th Army drive Rommel’s
17, 1942 Afrika Korps out of Egypt and hundreds
of miles toward points west. As we
Stalingrad Made Drive by lounged in their squadron’s officers
Eisenhower Possible mess tent that night, they told me about
Stowe Says 400 Nazi Planes Kept the Allied war battles which had paved
From African Front; Soviets Using the way and decided the issue.
Improved Snow Equipment, Better
190 The Evening Star, October 26, Russian Offensive to Date Has
1942 Exceeded All Expectations
Leland Stowe Credits Reds But now the Russians were on the
offensive at last, both around Stalingrad
For African Win and around Rzhev and battling toward
Stalingrad Keeps 400 Nazi Planes Velikie Luki, and with this the almost
From African Front inconceivable had happened. No foreign
“What would it have been like if correspondent or military observer in
Rommel had had about 400 more planes Moscow would dared predict all this, or
to put up against you?” I asked casually. more than a tiny fraction of what the Red
This chance shot netted a collection of Army has accomplished in the past six
unanimously knitted brows and a circle of weeks. They could not have predicted it
suddenly serious faces. One of Lieut. Col. because the Russians know how to keep
Frank Mears’ operations staff officers, military secrets - but if Russian Army
Maj. Archie Knight, obviously spoke for commanders did not know how to keep
everyone present when he exclaimed: military secrets some 25 Nazi divisions
“Four hundred more German planes? would not be menaced with eventual
Phew! I even hate to think of it”. annihilation in front of Stalingrad today.
“Do you think you’d be sitting out Accordingly, when I attempt to analyze
here in Libya with the Nazis digging in at the Red Army’s Winter prospects, it
El - Agheila if Rommel had had several must be clearly understood that my
hundred more planes?” I asked. observations are not based on any
“Not on your life. Not a chance!” the “inside” military information. I do not
answer came in a general chorus. know any foreign observers in the Soviet
“Well, that’s all I want to know,” I said. Union, including military attaches who
“You’re the fellows who are doing the possess any really “inside” information
fighting. But if the Russians hadn’t held about the Russian armed forces; much
Stalingrad all through September and less about the strategic plans of the
October you can bet your flying boots Russian high command.
Rommel would have had at least 300 or Meanwhile, the only advantage which
400 more planes behind El Alamein.” a correspondent, freshly home from
So far as these American flyers in Moscow, possesses accrues from having
Libya were concerned there was no need been closer to the Russian war effort
to press the point. In a flash Stalingrad and from a somewhat more detailed
had taken on a very personal meaning knowledge of the weapons, methods and
to them. There was no telling how many morale of the Soviet armed forces.
gaps there would have been in this little
circle if the Red Army had not sacrificed Jolt to German Soldiers’ Morale
250,000 men or more in order to hold Must Be Considerable
Stalingrad if Hitler’s Luftwaffe had not lost My editors ask what undoubtedly
hundreds of airplanes trying again and you the reader would ask: How far can
again to take Stalingrad. these Russian offensives be expected to
go? Whenever and wherever they take
the initiative, how well prepared are the remarkable achievement; to advance 191
Russians to maintain it? Are the Germans seventy-five miles in five days might well
still very strong along most sectors of the have been accounted impossible, until it
Russian front? was done. The large number of prisoners
Unquestionably, the Germans still taken, the impressive tale of booty
have very powerful forces on Soviet soil that has already been counted, expose
and large amounts of tanks, planes, guns the falsity of the automatic German
and other equipment. The possibility of a explanation that a voluntary withdrawal
desperate Nazi counter-offensive, either is being made to prepared positions.
on the Don or on the central front, cannot The Red Army is pressing forward with
be discounted. Even so, the Red Army has an air of conscious superiority over its
dealt a staggering blow in the Don elbow opponents born no doubt of the natural
and south of Stalingrad and the jolt to exhilaration that comes to men who
the German soldiers’ morale must be have held their heads high through long
very considerable; perhaps even of long- months of fighting against odds, and now
term consequences. Dump the paralyzing at last begin to feel the grim joy of turning
Russian Winter on top of this blow and it successfully to the attack.
may well be that the fighting spirit of the The value of this offensive, or
simon-pure Aryan invaders will never be rather of the series of admirably timed
quite the same again. movements of which it forms the latest
This is one big reason why the Russians part, has to be judged in relation to the
are certain to hit with everything they can whole strategic situation of the enemy,
muster throughout this Winter, but don’t not only in Russia but on all fronts. In
ask me to tell you how far their present the Nazi system the winter is always
offensive can go. I don’t know and I the season for recuperation and the
don’t know anyone outside of the Red building up of strength, to be expended
Army’s high command and the Soviets’ in the concentrated assaults of spring
Commissariat of National Defense who and summer. This year the need for
could pretend to know. But there are recuperation is redoubled, first because
certain broad aspects of the Russians’ the strain of the past season has been
opening Winter campaign which are well greater than ever and its results less,
worth considering and here are several and, secondly, because HITLER knows
which seem most important to me. he must prepare to meet in the coming
year the attack of a far greater and better
The Times, December 23, 1942 equipped combination of his enemies
RUSSIAN VICTORIES than he has yet faced. His need to
husband his resources is urgent, almost
The Russian armies on the middle desperate. Therefore, so long as the
Don continue to drive the enemy before Red Army can keep him fighting at high
them with magnificent dash and fury. pressure in the season, he had designed
In the conditions of midwinter on the for rest, it is already helping to win, for
frozen steppe, to advance at all against all the United Nations, the battles of
the powerful German fortifications is a next year’s campaign. Not only are the
192 men being exhausted who will ultimately and irregularities. The moment when the
be required for the defence of German impetus of such an army is exhausted
soil; there is now a dangerous drain on is the moment of opportunity for the
the material resources of the Reich. This defence, if it retains sufficient resilience
depletion may be especially felt in the to exploit it. The Russian commander-in-
matter of oil. By thwarting one of the chief is doing very much what Foch did.
main summer objectives of the enemy, He mounts a vigorous offensive against
the capture of Baku, the Russians have a salient or other favourable point of the
already deprived him of much of the value German line, penetrating to a considerable
of his territorial conquests, for without depth, or even encircling a large hostile
that great source of supply he will be hard force. By hard fighting and the movement
put to find fuel in 1943 for the tractors of of reserves to the threatened sector the
the Ukraine, on which depended so much enemy may ultimately restore equilibrium
of his plans for provisioning the fortress there; but immediately another offensive
of Europe. According to an authoritative is launched many miles away, and a
estimate, the monthly output of the oil second hurried regrouping becomes
wells he controls is about a million and necessary. The rhythmic repetition of this
a quarter tons, at which figure it about process entails a heavy strain, not only on
balances his requirements for the mere the enemy’s troops in the front line, but on
routine of war, so that the heavy demands his communications, especially his lateral
of every major offensive are bound to cut communications, in the rear. In Russia it
into his reserves. Hence once more the has not yet gone nearly, so far as it went
need for a respite in winter; and hence in France in 1918; but its cumulative effect
the value to the general cause of holding is already shown by the fact that the latest
him to lavish expenditure of fuel, as he is offensive has penetrated in its first week
held, not only by such violent battles as considerably farther than its predecessors.
each Russian offensive brings about, but The attack on the middle Don profits,
also by the very costly process of supply by no doubt, by the fact that the tension
carrier aircraft, to which he is reduced for at several other points on the front is
the maintenance of HOTH’s beleaguered unrelaxed. Round Rzhev and Velikiye
army before Stalingrad. The Red Army is, Luki the armies remain heavily engaged,
however, doing considerably more than and the Russians are still gaining ground,
depriving the enemy of rest and compelling although resistance has stiffened. Both
him to draw upon reserve supplies that sides are reticent about events on the
will be acutely needed later on. There is Stalingrad front; but a fierce battle is
something in the Russian strategy which certainly proceeding south-west of the
recalls that by which wore down and city, in which the enemy is expending
ultimately disintegrated the German army much effort in the attempt to break the
of 1918. Here is a vast invading army whose Russian ring. He has no alternative, for to
prodigious onrush, intended to carry all desist is to abandon the encircled army to
before it, has been stemmed just in time its fate. Now comes the great drive from
and which is left in consequence holding a the frozen Don towards the valley of the
dangerously ex- tended line, full of bulges Donetz. There are two main thrusts, one
on a broad front driving south-westward, equipped, better trained, and more 193
the other, moving up the valley of the Chir, experienced in mechanized war. Their
which comes in on the left, almost at right spirit seems to be even more eager, and
angles to the first, and threatens another high hopes may be entertained.
large German force with an encirclement.
The main spearhead of attack points down The New York Times, February 4,
the strategically important railway from 1943
Voronezh to Moscow, and its immediate
objective seems to be the considerable
FROM STALINGRAD
junction at Millerovo, which is in imminent The last remnants of the great German
danger from a two-pronged attack. On the garrison at Stalingrad have surrendered,
enemy’s own showing, there is as yet no and the Russians are coming back into
abatement in the force of the offensive, the ruins of the city that now lies like a
which imperils his whole position in skeleton on the battered banks above
the broad belt of territory between the the unconquered Volga. Stalingrad is the
Don and the Donetz. This is the corridor scene of the costliest and most stubborn
through which runs the supply route by struggle in this war. The battle fought
land to the German army now snowbound there to its desperate finish may turn
in the Caucasus; and the Russian successes out to be among the decisive battles in
have already narrowed it by half. At the long history of war. But whether or
Millerovo they will be within 120 miles not the record will say that the fate of
of Rostov. Rostov, the principal seaport of the German armies was sealed when
the region, and the indispensable base for they were turned back from the Volga,
the whole Caucasus enterprise. It is too it is certain that in the Russian legend
early to think of Rostov itself as a pratical the story of Stalingrad will be retold
Russian objective. Nevertheless, the need and resung for generations to come.
to provide for its defence lies near to the Already it has dwarfed the little battles of
heart of the enemy’s strategic difficulties. Napoleon. In the scale of its intensity, its
His pressing need is to shorten his line. destructiveness and its horror, Stalingrad
But he cannot do so by abandoning the has no parallel. It engaged the full strength
great area within the bend of the Don, of the two biggest armies in Europe and
as MARSHAL TIMOSHENKO abandoned it could fit into no lesser framework than
in the summer, because that would be to that of a life-and-death conflict which
abandon also the army of the Caucasus. He encompasses the earth.
must therefore stand and fight for every From the beginning Stalingrad was
position that he holds; and that is to play for Stalin and Hitler a test and a symbol.
into the Red Army’s hands, provided only The test of endurance was won by the
the pressure can be maintained through Russians. As for the symbol, the issue of
the still colder months to come. the epic duel is indeed a victory for Russia,
After the middle of last January, the perhaps the most glorious and rewarding
Russian counter-offensives were frozen in a series of victories. But the Red armies
into immobility. But this year there have left Stalingrad 250 miles behind
is evidence that our allies are better them. They are pushing very close to the
194 line where the Germans started the drive such siege in this great war, not even at
that took them to the Volga. The garrison Leningrad.
at Rostov, the pivot on which the whole The story falls naturally into four
campaign hinges, already hears the guns phases covering a six-month period: the
of the advancing Russians. investment, which really started when
For Germany the symbol spells defeat. Hitler launched his ill-starred offensive
Stalingrad is the first great military from Kursk; the siege itself, with three
disaster the Wehrmacht has suffered in months of furious fighting around and
the war. There was retreat last Winter, within the city; the Russian counter-
but never from a position that Hitler was offensive, which isolated the besiegers,
so fanatically determined to hold. Three and the final annihilation of the enemy
days of national mourning have been army. Today only the littered streets of
ordered in Germany, and this wallowing Stalingrad are recognizable. The buildings
in grief expresses more than sorrow for a have been blown away. But in their
lost I battle or even for the regiments left rubble, in the choked gutters beside them,
to perish there. It signifies the failure of and the cellars beneath them, the battle
Hitler’s costliest gamble with the blood was decided. At its height the Germans
and patrimony of the Reich, and in the overran more than half the city. Its fall
strange, twisted interplay of disintegrating seemed inevitable. But always on the
forces going on behind the scenes, it may brink of disaster the Russians managed
even be intended to underline Hitler’s to ferry fresh squads across the Volga, to
responsibility. meet foot by foot the ceaseless wave of
In any case the dirges and the period assaults that broke upon the city.
of mourning write the obituary for any How many men were sacrificed at
hopes the German people may have Stalingrad to Hitler’s “intuition“ we may
cherished of compensation in Russia never know. Some 330,000 were trapped
for the inhuman sacrifices they have to there in the last stages. As the end
Hitler’s ambition. The Russians estimate approached German propaganda sought
that since mid-November the advance to transfer to the lost Nazi Army the epic
and retreat from Stalingrad have cost of heroism which belongs to Russia. The
the enemy 500,000 troops. What are the Berlin radio chanted the daily tale of their
Germans thinking today of the leader last-ditch stand. No doubt there was hard
who paid this price for nothing? fighting by some of the German divisions.
But even then, German prisoners were
The New York Times, February 7, yielding in large numbers. After the last
1943 call for surrender on Jan. 10 disintegration
was rapid. Three weeks later 91,000 had
STALINGRAD laid down their arms, including a field
The destruction last week of what marshal, twenty-three generals and
remained of the German Army at thousands of other officers. So, crushing
Stalingrad wrote the end to a story that a defeat throws a long shadow.
will live for generations. For savage attack
and grim resistance there has been no
The New York Times Germany will not come suddenly or soon. 195
February 11, 1943 Hitler still commands powerful weapons
IN THE STONES OF STALINGRAD which he will use to the utmost, against
the Germans themselves, if necessary;
Reporters who have talked to the Stalingrad is the proof of how little he
Germans captured in the graveyard values his troops compared to his own
of Stalingrad note the sharp contrast pride. But when the people realize
between the temper of the officers and that they have endured and sacrificed
the ordinary soldiers. All these men have everything for failure, their revulsion
experienced the hell they have created for against Hitler is sure to be as terrible as
others in their savage drive over Europe. the fury of conquered nations.
They are sorry specimens, the broken What the gaunt and beaten soldiers of
and ragged remnants of the arrogant Stalingrad say today all Germany will be
armies that rolled over Poland and France saying tomorrow.
and Greece in the first fine rapture of
conquest and destruction. They stumbled (Endnotes)
out of their cellars, over the frozen heaps
of their own dead, like scarecrows in a 1 Based on “The City of Steel 1942-1943, The
scene of desolation. Through the eyes of Battle of Steel through the eyes of British and American
newspapers”, The Foundation of Historical Outlook,
the correspondents on the spot we see Editions des Syrtes
a field of stones, without a street or a
house or a tree or any landmark to show 2 Operation Jubilee or the Dieppe Raid (19
that this was once a city. We see, too, the August 1942) was an unsuccessful Allied amphibious
human wreckage of a great the generals attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in
northern France, during the Second World War. Over
sullen, tight-lipped and full of venom; the 6,050 infantries, predominantly Canadian, supported by
soldiers starved, confused and glad to be a regiment of tanks, were put ashore from a naval force
captured. To the haughty officers of the operating under protection of Royal Air Force (RAF)
Sixth fighters. Within ten hours, 3,623 of the 6,086 men who
Army to be prisoners of the Russians landed had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.
The Luftwaffe made a maximum effort against the
is the final humiliation. They are bitter, landing as the RAF had expected, but the RAF lost 106
and what they think of Hitler for sending aircraft (at least 32 to anti-aircraft fire or accidents)
them to the Volga and leaving them there against 48 German losses. The Royal Navy lost
to perish probably explains much of their 33 landing craft and a destroyer.
bitterness. But the soldiers express their
3 The Battle of Verdun was fought from
opinions openly. Since Duesseldorf and 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western
Cologne, one of them told a reporter, are Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First
now almost as bad as Stalingrad, they World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun-
can no longer believe their Fuehrer is a sur-Meuse., The Germans planned to capture the
superman. “These fellows could stand Meuse Heights, an excellent defensive position, with
good observation for artillery-fire on Verdun. The
almost anything from Hitler“, adds their Germans hoped that the French would commit their
interlocutor, “but not failure“. Applied to strategic reserve to recapture the position and suffer
the Germans in general, this observation catastrophic losses at little cost to the German infantry.
has great significance. The break in
196 4 Earl Haig is a title in the peerage of the
United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for Field
Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. During the First World War,
he served as commander of the British Expeditionary
Force on the Western Front in France and Belgium
(1915–18).

5 Aleksei Alekseyevich Brusilov (1853 –1926)

was a Russian and later Soviet general most noted
for the development of new offensive tactics used in
the 1916 Brusilov offensive, which was his greatest
achievement.

6 Anne O’Hare McCormick (16 May 1880

– 29 May 1954) was an English-American journalist
who worked as a foreign news correspondent for The
New York Times. In an era where the field was almost
exclusively «a man’s world», she became the first
woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize in a major journalism
category, winning in 1937 for correspondence.

7 The Bataan Death March was the

forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of
75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war (POW)
from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles on
the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O’Donnell via San
Fernando. The march was characterized by
severe physical abuse and wanton killings. POWs who
fell or were caught on the ground were shot. Exact
figures causalities are unknown. Estimates range from
5,500 to 18,650 POW deaths.

BBC reporters Paul Winterton on

Stalingrad
Audiofile

BBC reporters Robert Robinson victory

in Stalingrad
Audiofile
 197

Chapter ХII His belly was fattening under his khaki

Glad to see you Mr. Stalin! shirt. But usually, his dark eyes flashed at
his callers. He spoke to them brusquely,
I know that after my death a pile of toughly, brandishing his arms.
rubbish will be heaped on my grave, Everything, during these hours, was
but the wind of History will sooner or momentous, but sometimes Joseph
later sweep it away without mercy. Stalin got off simple, heavy jokes. He
JOSEPH STALIN said that the Nazis were too smart to put
the Italians in the front line; Hitler used
Time Magazine, September 22, them for dishwashers. He laughed loudly
1941 at this one, but behind his own laughter
he could hear the mechanized, Hitlerian
Man of Steel tramp of destiny.
Behind blackout curtains, the lights Every night there came times when
burned late in a second-floor room of there were no more officers or politicos
the Kremlin. Often last week, as in other waiting to see him. At his desk at the
weeks, they burned until four or five in end of the long room he was alone.
the morning. Joseph Stalin was studying He considered the vast bloody picture
the greatest battle in history. One night puzzle of reports and rumors that he
the ballet season came to Moscow. A had been putting together all day. The
great Moscow crowd applauded the war was going none too well. In the
lyricism of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. But center, yes, Timoshenko was sharply
this year it was not for Joseph Stalin, who counterattacking, the Germans were
loves the ballet. He was absorbed with falling back. But in the north Voroshilov
the most crucial reflections and decisions might soon be trapped in Leningrad.
of his life. And now with a British mission And in the south Budenny’s defense of
in Moscow and a U.S. mission on the way, Kiev and Odessa was gravely threatened
Occidentals caught occasional glimpses of by new German eruptions east of the
the Dictator, learned how he lived, how Dnieper. Aside from possibilities of more
he worked, how he thought: immediate catastrophes, if the Germans
Hour after hour, from noon when could hole up in these great Russian
Stalin reached his office until early dawn cities before winter, they might prepare
when he retired to his apartment on the crushing flank movements for the spring.
same floor, there were deferential callers. Stalin sometimes let his mind play on
They found him looking tired. His thick Japan and his problems in the East. But
hair and bushy mustache were greying. how far away, how far ahead, did it pay
198 to think? The crisis was on Russian soil, went to his apartment and dined with his
right now. And where was the great aid wife. If anything was likely to delay him, he
that Churchill and Roosevelt had talked thoughtfully called her up and told her so.
about? So far, he had received only a few
squadrons of British planes and a few LIFE Magazine, October 5, 1942
tankers of American oil. He was fed to his STALIN: “GLAD TO SEE YOU,
pipe-clamping teeth with talk.
From where he sat, he could see
MR. WILLKIE”
portraits of Marx and Engels and a pale Through LIFE Roosevelt’s personal
death mask of Lenin. But the Russian representative reports on his interview
past all seemed very far away now— on war in the Kremlin
even the recent past in which he had by WENDELL WILLKIE1
consolidated his own dictatorship by
executing hundreds of old friends and Old Stalin’s invitation to me to come to
Bolsheviks. He was a hard man, worthy the Kremlin for a conference reached the
of the name of steel. He could feel it in Foreign Office Goose Hotel I am staying at
himself. If anyone could come through 7:30 on my third evening in Moscow. I knew
the great historic grinding in which he that something important had happened
now found himself, he could. from the way the receptionist acted when
But now he could not depend on his he announced that the Kremlin was on the
own personal political shrewdness, on telephone. The man was so excited that he
his personal stony capacity for the killing could hardly speak, and his arms bobbed up
of those who opposed him. Now he was and down like a marionette’s. It isn’t every
forced to admit that he depended on day that Russians make a connection with
the millions of Russian soldiers. For once the Kremlin, even by telephone.
Joseph Stalin depended more on the The time set for the meeting was 7:30
Russians than they did on him. in the evening of Sept. 23. I spent the
He had been mistaken about them, he morning touring the defense installations
admitted, in Finland. He and his generals of Moscow which I am glad to report
had told them that in Finland they were are among the most formidable that I’ve
really fighting for Russia. It had been seen in any country I’ve visited, and in the
wrong, psychologically. Most of them had afternoon attended a reception given for
been too young to care that Finland had me by Admiral Standley2 at the American
once been part of Russia. Embassy.
Now the Russians were fighting on At about 7:15 I stepped into the black
their own soil for their own homes. He Packard sedan that has been placed at
knew that their morale was high. He my disposal and set out for the Kremlin.
had seen it make a great difference. He It was a cool autumn evening with the
hoped it would make the difference. And moon just beginning to climb over the
he bluntly told callers that Russia would Kremlin walls as we drove past them. I
eventually win the war. was wearing a business suit under my
But at midnight, every night, he was glad black overcoat.
to try to forget some of it for a while. He The tall, rifle-bearing Red Army guards
at the gates of the Kremlin had evidently more that I wished to take up with him. 199
been advised of my coming because But when I made this move, he urged me
they let my car roll through with nothing to remain longer. We talked for another
more than a casual glance as they saluted hour with only one break: when Mr. Stalin
stiffly. Somewhere near the center of the left for a few minutes to wash his hands.
grounds I got out and walked into the Our talk took place around the end
building where Mr. Stalin has his office. of the long table which has about six
I reached the second-floor reception leather chairs on each side and one at
room at 7:29 and just after removing my each end. Mr. Stalin sat at one end with
coat and hat an interpreter appeared to Mr. Molotov in the chair on his right and
say that Stalin was ready to begin the me and the interpreter on his left. As Mr.
conference. Stalin lit his pipe-a thing he did numerous
The moment I entered his office Mr. times during the conference I took in
Stalin rose from his chair at the end the room with one sweeping glance.
of the long birch conference table and Behind me stood a heavy mahogany
strode toward me. He was dressed in pink desk where apparently Mr. Stalin works
whipcord trousers, a gray military blouse when he is alone. I noticed that it was
and black boots. Though stockily built he piled with papers that might have been
was shorter than I expected him to be, of a military character. Large rich squares
despite reports I had read to that effect. of birch paneling covered all the walls of
Actually, he would have to stand on his the room to a height of 8 ft. The walls
tiptoes to look over my shoulder. As we above the paneling were plain yellow,
shook hands his first words were: “Rad decorated with several large black-and-
vas videt gospadin Willkie” (Glad to see white drawings, one of which was of
you, Mr. Willkie). I replied: “Delighted to Lenin. In an alcove off one end there was
see you, Mr. Stalin.” After this exchange a colossal relief globe about 10 ft. high.
I greeted Mr. Molotov who remained Although the office is large (about 75 ft.
throughout the interview. Besides the by 25 ft.), there is nothing pretentious
interpreter, no one else was present. about it.
We felt completely at ease with one First, Mr. Stalin inquired about my
another throughout the conference. It journey3. I told him that the military
was clear from the outset that Mr. Stalin position in Egypt was much better than
did not look upon my visit as a courtesy call I had expected to find it, that the British
(which it wasn’t), but as an opportunity had recently dealt Rommel’s forces a
for a frank heart-to-heart discussion stunning blow and that throughout
about the war and the problems which the entire Middle East in general the
always beset united nations in war and military and political situation for the
peace. Realizing that the greatest battle Allies had become much firmer. Turning
of the war the battle for Stalingrad – was to lighter aspects of the trip, I said that
drawing to a climax every minute that we I had enjoyed my air journey immensely,
were sitting there, I thought it only proper adding that one had to ride in airplanes
after an hour that I should make a move really to understand how small are man
to leave although there was really much and his works. “Aha, so there’s something
200 of the philosopher in you,” Mr. Stalin said from their great workshops. We will be
with a twinkle in his brown eyes. most grateful. But I would suggest that
Most of our conversation concerned you understate the case rather than
military matters of a highly secret give anyone the impression that you
nature which, needless to say, cannot be are encouraging Americans to assume a
disclosed. I can, however, state that Mr. patronizing attitude toward us.”
Stalin gave frank, comprehensive and These I thought were wise words from
satisfactory replies to all of the many a sagacious and alert man. With every
questions I raised. Furthermore, he minute that passed my appreciation of
said that Hitler, by rolling across South Stalin’s gift for clear, straight thinking
Russia to the Volga, had struck a terrible increased. He never talked around a
blow at the Soviet Union. But he left no subject, but always stuck right to the
doubt in my mind about Russia’s power point until there was nothing more to
and determination to resist Germany at say. When he spoke and of course it
every tree, hillock, bridge and street until was always through an interpreter – he
the United Nations destroy Hitler’s war looked me straight in the eye and when
machine. I talked, he listened attentively to every
At one stage of our conference, Stalin word, though he doesn’t understand
made a convincing appeal for the United English. Stalin appeared to be in excellent
Nations to put every ounce of energy into health and spirits, though he probably
the war effort with the greatest possible works as hard and shoulders as great a
speed. If the will was present, he said that responsibility as any man in the world.
seemingly impossible obstacles could The war has turned some of his jet-black
be overcome. In the simple eloquence hairs gray, but it has also steeled his heart
and sincerity with which he spoke these more than ever against Fascist tyranny.
words he showed a tremendous power of When our discussion ended, I asked
persuasiveness. Certainly, one of the keys Stalin if he would be so good as to let me
to his greatness lies in this ability. introduce Gardner Cowles and Joe Barnes,
I told Mr. Stalin that I was eager to get my two companions on this trip. He said:
back to America to tell everyone what “Pazhaluista gde oni nakhodiatsia?”
I had seen of the great fight Russia was (Please, where are they?) I then explained
putting up, both at the front and behind that I had told them to wait at the Guest
it. The work that women were doing in House within arm’s reach of the telephone
factories, hospitals, on farms and on the in case I could arrange a meeting. So, I
transportation system was particularly handed the interpreter a slip of paper with
impressive to me, I explained. the Guest House telephone number, which
Thereupon Mr. Stalin looked at me like I was carrying especially for this purpose.
an old friend and said: “Mr. Willkie, do In ten minutes they arrived. Meanwhile
you mind if I make a suggestion?” I said: Stalin had asked me if I would pose with
“Of course not.” Stalin then said: him for a picture. We left the Kremlin at
“Yes, tell America all that you’ve 9:45 and at midnight started for the front.
seen here. Tell Americans if you like that
we need all the products they can send
Time Magazine January 4, Roundheads. Temple challenged all 201
1943 Britain’s well-established institutions of
Die, But Do Not Retreat economic privilege, espoused the cause
of mankind’s economic freedom (which
The year 1942 was a year of blood and Britain loosely calls socialism), probably
strength. The man whose name means to leave a lasting mark on British history.
steel in Russian, whose few words of Another man who may leave a similar
English include the American expression mark is Henry J. Kaiser5, the man who
“tough guy” was the man of 1942. Only launched one of his Liberty ships in four
Joseph Stalin fully knew how close Russia days and 15 hours and, more important,
stood to defeat in 1942, and only Joseph preached as a practical businessman “full
Stalin fully knew how he brought Russia production for full employment.” His
through. gospel challenged U.S. industry to lead
But the whole world knew what the the post-war world out of depression.
alternative would have been. The man A third man who left a mark was
who knew it best of all was Adolf Hitler, Wendell Willkie, whose world-circling trip
who found his past accomplishments as the politician without office had an
turning into dust. effect perhaps more lasting than the U.S.
Had German legions swept past yet realizes on U.S. relations with Russia
steel stubborn Stalingrad and liquidated and the Orient.
Russia’s power of attack, Hitler would But Willkie’s accomplishment was
have been not only man of the year, but dimmed by his failure to command the
he would have been undisputed master firm support of his party, and the plain
of Europe, looking for other continents to fact was that in 1942, a year of war, men
conquer. He could have diverted at least of good will had no achievements to
250 victorious divisions to new conquests match those of men of arms and men of
in Asia and Africa. But Joseph Stalin power.
stopped him. Stalin had done it before Men of War. Flamboyant Erwin
— in 1941 — when he started with all of Rommel6 and cold-mouthed Fedor von
Russia intact. But Stalin’s achievement of Bock were Germany’s two top generals
1942 was far greater. All that Hitler could in a year whose laurels were reserved
give he took—for the second time. primarily for fighting men. Rommel, who
Men of Good Will. Above the heavy drove to within 70 miles of Alexandria
tread of nations on the march, above the before he was stopped by the British,
staccato uproar of the battlefields, only a established himself as one of the great
few men of peace were heard in 1942. virtuosos among field commanders.
Britain’s William Temple4, who made Bock directed a brilliant campaign which
his pilgrimage to Canterbury in 1942 reached the west bank of the Volga, but
and became the new Archbishop, was the final spark that would have meant
one of them. His church-approved victory was not in him.
program of reforms brought religion The greatest military conquests of the
closer to the center of British national year – although not against the greatest
life than at any time since Cromwell’s forces – were those of frog-legged
202 Tomoyuki Yamashita7, who blasted the Halsey was the man of 1942 for a good
British out of Singapore, the Dutch out sufficient reason: there was no military
of the Indies and the U.S. out of Bataan victory of the year which showed signs of
and Corregidor. Yamashita in one year being conclusive.
successfully seized a great empire for his Men of Power. There was perhaps
country. On his side were advantages in no more unlikely place to look for a
numbers, in preparation, in the stupidity Man of 1942 than in prostrate France.
of the Allied nations, but Yamashita Yet two Frenchmen, both of whom the
successfully capitalized on them. U.S. disliked and distrusted, rose to the
Quite different were the military top of a soiled political heap. One of
triumphs of Yugoslavia’s General Draja them was Pierre Laval10, who rose to the
Mihailovich8, who capitalized on a honor of a meeting with Hitler to which
conquered nation’s unconquerable urge the tragicomic Benito Mussolini was not
for freedom to fight when fighting seemed invited. If Hitler wins, Pierre Laval may
impossible. But before the year was out yet be a successful man, Jean François
thousands of his countrymen, probably Darlan’s deal with General Eisenhower
distrusting the Yugoslav Government in might have profited him eventually, but
exile more than they did Mihailovich, his award was an assassin’s bullet.
supported the rival Partisan guerrillas A far greater step to power was taken
who were carving out their own fighting by a Japanese. From behind his horn-
front. From high on the crags of southern rimmed glasses and the ack-ack of his cigar
Serbia, Mihailovich, a great fighter, saw, smoke, Premier Hideki Tojo emerged as
instead of the unification of his country, a character worthy of his nickname: The
a preview of rival aims and clashing Razor. He, like Stalin, was tough. So were
ideologies which may bring out a rash of his people. He took the major political
civil wars in post-war Europe. risk of the year in tackling Britain and. the
As for the military men of the U.S., U.S., and, for the year, it turned out to be
1942 offered them few opportunities for a good speculation. His armies conquered
great achievement. General Eisenhower’s Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore,
able occupation of North Africa only the Dutch East Indies and Burma. Never
placed him on the threshold of his real in history had one nation conquered so
test. Douglas MacArthur, whose brilliant much so quickly. Seldom had any nation’s
skill and courage raised him to the rank fighting abilities been underestimated
of hero while he fought an inevitably so badly. Tojo, or Emperor Hirohito, in
losing fight, still lacked the means to win whose name all Japanese wage holy war,
the crown of a great victory. Outstanding might well have been the man of the year,
among Americans for accomplishment in if the explosive Japanese campaigns had
battle stood the name of Admiral William not shown signs of burning out.
Halsey9, who, not once but again & again, For the great leaders of the United
took his task force into swift encounters Nations 1942 was another story. China’s
against the Japs to deal them telling Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek struggled
blows. on stubbornly against China’s internal
Yet no military man from Rommel to problems and the invading Japanese.
Britain’s Winston Churchill, Man of able to prevent the conquest of the Don 203
1940, delivered victory in Egypt after basin, of Stalingrad, of the Caucasus?
standing on the verge of defeat. Franklin The strongest will to resist can eventually
Roosevelt, Man of 1941, shouldered crack under continued defeat.
mountainous problems, solved some, Only one new resource had Stalin for
left others still crying to be solved. He 1942: the help of the U.S. And, as events
successfully brought the weight of the were to prove, that was to come late and
U.S. to bear against the Axis. But the 1942 to be bottlenecked by German attacks on
accomplishments of Chiang, of Churchill the North Sea route and the Caucasus.
and of Roosevelt will not bear fruit till With these reduced resources, Stalin
1943. tackled his problem, trying to pick abler
And worthy though they may prove, leaders for his Army, trying to improve its
they inevitably pale by comparison with resistance, trying to maintain the morale
what Joseph Stalin did in 1942. of his underfed people, trying to extract
At the beginning of the year Stalin was more aid from his Allies and to get them
in an unenviable spot. During the year to open a second front.
before he had sold over 400,000 miles of Only Stalin knows how he managed
territory at the price of saving most of his to make 1942 a better year for Russia
army. Gone was a big fraction — how large than 1941. But he did. Sevastopol was
only he knew — of the precious tanks, lost, the Don basin was nearly lost, the
planes and war equipment which he had Germans reached the Caucasus. But
been hoarding for years against the Nazi Stalingrad was held. The Russian people
attack. Gone was roughly one-third of held. The Russian Army came back with
Russia’s industrial capacity, on which he four offensives that had the Germans in
depended for replacements. Gone was serious trouble at year’s end.
nearly half of Russia’s best farmland. Russia was displaying greater strength
With all this gone, Stalin had to face than at any point in the war. The general
another full-weight blow from the Nazi who had won that overall battle was the
war machine. For every trained soldier man who runs Russia.
the Germans had lost in the previous The Man. In his birch-paneled office
year’s battles, he had probably lost as within the dark-towered Kremlin,
many and more. For every bit of valuable Joseph Stalin (pronounced Stal-yn), an
experience which his soldiers and imponderable, soberly persistent Asiatic,
commanders had gained, the Germans worked at his desk 16 to 18 hours a day.
had had the opportunity to gain an equal Before him he kept a huge globe showing
amount. the course of campaigns over territory,
Stalin still had the magnificent will he himself defended in the civil wars of
to resist of the Russian people — who 1917–20. This time he again defended
had as much claim to glory as the British it, and mostly by will power. There were
people had when they withstood the new streaks of grey in his hair and new
blitz of 1940. But a strong people had not etchings of fatigue in his granite face. But
prevented the loss of White Russia and there was no break in his hold on Russia
the Ukraine. Would they be any better and there was long-neglected recognition
204 of his abilities by nations outside the were no red-cloaked wooden replicas of
Soviet borders. Dyed Moross (Granddad Frost). There
The problem for Stalin the statesman was no smoked salmon, no pickled
was to present the seriousness of the herring, no goose, no vodka, no coffee for
plight of Russia as an ally to Western the grownups. But there was rejoicing.
leaders long suspicious of Stalin and his The Rodina (Motherland) had been saved
workers’ State. Stalin, who had every for the second time in two years and now
reason to expect the city named for him victory and peace could not be too far off.
to fall shortly after its heroic siege began The trek of world dignitaries to
on Aug. 24, desperately wanted aid from Moscow in 1942 brought Stalin out of
his allies. Stalin the politician made these his inscrutable shell, revealed a pleasant
desires the hope of the Russian people. host and an expert at playing his cards
He made them think that a continental in international affairs. At banquets for
second front had been promised to them, such men as Winston Churchill, W. Averill
and thereby strengthened their will to Harriman and Wendell Willkie, Host Stalin
hang on. drank his vodka straight, talked the same
For his armies Stalin coined the slogan way. He sent Foreign Minister Viacheslav
Umeraite No Ne Otstupaite (Die, But Molotov to London and Washington to
Do Not Retreat). It had been shown at promote the second front and jack up
Moscow that a strongly fortified city can laggard shipments of war materiel. In two
be held as a strong point against attack by letters to Henry Cassidy of the A.P., Stalin
mechanized forces. Stalin chose to make shrewdly used the world’s headlines to
Stalingrad another such point. While state the Russian case for more aid.
Germans and Russians were booting Stalin did not get his continental
each other to death in the bomb-pocked second front in 1942, but when a new front
streets, Stalin was organizing the winter was opened in North Africa he publicly
offensive which burst into the Don basin approved. On the 25th anniversary of the
with the fury of the snowstorms that Bolshevist Revolution, Stalin, in his big
accompanied it. state speech of the year, reviewed the
To keep his home front intact, Stalin past and for the future struck the note of
had only work and black bread to offer. statesmanship.
He added a promise of victory in 1942 The Past. The Revolution that
and called to his people to sacrifice was begun in 1917 by a handful of
collectively to preserve the things they leather-coated working men and pallid
had built collectively. Children and intellectuals waving the red flag, by 1942
women foraged in the forests for wood. had congealed into a party government
A ballerina canceled one performance that has remained in power longer than
because she was stiff from chopping any other major party in the world. It
wood. Production norms were increased, began under the leadership of Vladimir
apartments went unheated, electricity Ilyich Lenin, on Marxist principles of a
was turned off four days a week. At year’s moneyless economy which challenged
end the Russian children had no new toys the right to accumulate wealth by private
for the New Year’s celebration. There initiative.
 The world reviled and caricatured the land across a continent 3,000 miles 205
the early Bolsheviks as bush-whiskered wide. Russia tried to catch up by doing the
anarchists with a bomb in each hand. same thing through a planned program
But Lenin, faced with hard facts and that post-pioneer Americans would not
a war-beaten, superstitious, illiterate have suffered. The rights as individuals
people, compromised with Marxism. that U.S. citizens have, the Russians want
Stalin, succeeding him, compromised and believe they eventually will receive.
still further, concentrated on building Some of the discipline that the Russians
socialism in one state. Retained through have, the U.S. may need before the end
the years of Russia’s great upheaval was of World War II.
the basic conception that the ownership The Future. In his 25th-anniversary
and operation of the means of production speech Stalin emphasized that the most
must be kept in the hands of the state. important event in foreign affairs, both for
Within Russia’s immense disorderliness, war and peace, was Allied collaboration.
Stalin faced the fundamental problems of “We have the facts and events,” he said,
providing enough food for the people and “pointing to a progressive rapprochement
improving their lot through 20th-century among the members of the Anglo-Soviet-
industrial methods. He collectivized the American coalition and their uniting in
farms and he built Russia into one of the a single fighting alliance.” This was a
four great industrial powers on earth. How frank approach to the post-war world, as
well he succeeded was evident in Russia’s realistically sensible as Stalin’s expressed
world-surprising, strength in World War ideas on dealings with Germany. “Our
II. Stalin’s methods were tough, but they aim,” he said, “is not to destroy all
paid off. armed force in Germany, because any
The Present. The U.S., of all nations, intelligent man will understand that this
should have been the first to understand is as impossible in the case of Germany
Russia. Ignorance of Russia and suspicion as in the case of Russia. It would be
of Stalin were two things that prevented unreasonable on the part of the victor to
it. Old prejudices and the antics of U.S. do so. To destroy Hitler’s army is possible
Communists dangling at the end of the and necessary.”
Party line were others. As Allies fighting What other war aims Stalin has
the common enemy, the Russians have are not officially known, but there are
fought the best fight so far. As post-war reports in high circles that he wants no
collaborators, they hold many of the keys new territories except at points needed
to a successful peace. to make Russia impregnable against
The two peoples who talk the most invasion. There is also a story in high
and scheme the biggest schemes are the places that, in keeping with the “tough-
Americans and the Russians. Both can be guy” tradition, credits Stalin with one
sentimental one moment, blazingly angry other desire: permission from his allies
the next. Both spend their money freely to raze Berlin, as a lesson in psychology
for goods and pleasures, drink too much, to the Germans and as a burnt offering to
argue interminably. Both are builders. The his own heroic people.
U.S. built mills and factories and tamed
206 (Endnotes) 6 Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (1891–
1944) was a German Generalfeldmarschall (field
marshal) during World War II. Popularly known
1 Wilkie Wendell (1892–1944)-American as the Desert Fox he served in the Wehrmacht
politician and diplomat, throughout the Second of Nazi Germany, as well as in the Reichswehr of
World War he made publications in the press the Weimar Republic, and the army of Imperial
about co-operation with the USSR, which ranged Germany. Rommel was injured multiple times in
from calls for the opening of a second front in both world wars. In World War II, he commanded
Europe to outright accusations at the end of 1944. the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion
He was an active opponent of the New Deal and of France. His leadership of German and Italian
participated in the presidential elections of 1940 forces in the North African campaign established
as a rival of F.D. Roosevelt from the Republican his reputation as one of the ablest tank
Party. In 1942 he was on a diplomatic mission to commanders of the war. In 1944, Rommel was
the USSR, met with Stalin. implicated in the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler.
Rommel was given a choice between suicide he
2 William Harrison Standley (18 chose the former and took a cyanide pill.
December 1872–25 October 1963) was
an admiral in the United States Navy, who served 7 Tomoyuki Yamashita (1885–1946) was
as Chief of Naval Operations from 1933 to 1937. a general in the Imperial Japanese Army who
He also served as the U.S. ambassador to the defeated the British Empire in Southeast Asia
Soviet Union from 1941 until 1943. during World War II and expanded Japan’s borders
to India and Australia. He was nicknamed the
3 After leaving the United States on 26 Malay Tiger for the success of the lightning Malay
August 1942, Wilkie first visited North Africa, Operation.
where he met with General Montgomery and
toured the front at El Alamein. In Beirut he stayed 8 Dragoljub (Draža) Mihailović also
with General de Gaulle, leader of Free France. Mihailović ( 1893–1946) was a Yugoslav and
Next in Jerusalem he met with representatives of Serbian military figure, participant in the Balkan
the Jewish and Arab population and the British Wars and World War I, leader of the Chetnik
administration of Palestine before travelling to movement, Chief of Staff of the Supreme
Moscow. Command of the Yugoslav Army at home and
Minister of Army, Navy and Aviation in the émigré
4 William Temple (1881–1944) 98th government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during
Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the World War II.
ecumenical movement, British education and
labour reformer. 9 William Frederick Halsey, Jr. (‘Bull’)
(1882–1959) was an American admiral during
5 Henry John Kaiser (1882–1967) was an World War II who commanded formations and
American industrialist and entrepreneur, founder fleets in the Pacific. In 1942, his primary mission
of a number of large industrial and commercial as fleet commander in the South Pacific was
companies. Kaiser’s most famous brainchild was to hold Guadalcanal, an island in the Solomon
the shipbuilding yards, which were the first to Islands. The battle included 3 major land battles
apply modern principles of ship construction. and 5 sea battles. Under Halsey’s leadership, the
During the Second World War, cargo ships of the fleet achieved its objectives, albeit at quite a cost,
Liberty series were produced on average every 45 setting the stage for victory at Guadalcanal. It was
days. During the Second World War ships of this the first major Allied offensive against Japanese
type were built in large numbers (2751 ships were forces and was a turning point in the struggle
built). To speed up the construction, the ships in the Pacific. As a token of his honour, William
were assembled from ready-made sections, which Halsey was awarded the rank of full admiral.
were prefabricated in the hull shop. The labour of
women welders was widely used. 10 Pierre Jean Marie Laval (1883–1945)
was a French politician who held high government
posts during the Third Republic, serving as Prime 207
Minister (1931–1932, 1935–1936). In 1936–1940
he became known as a media magnate, owner
of several newspapers and radio stations. Active
in the collaboration ‘Vichy government’ during
World War II and its head (Prime Minister) from
1942 to 1944. He organized the forced removal of
the best French workers to Germany, allowed the
Gestapo to operate in the unoccupied territory,
led the arrests and sent to extermination of the
Jews of France. After the war he was tried and
sentenced to death by firing squad.
208

Chapter ХIII A snowstorm had been raging for

Victory Is a fighting word! several days. On the day when Colonel
Barrage of 1943. General Golikov’s campaign opened there
was such a whirling blizzard that a Russian
correspondent’s car took three hours to
Time Magazine February 22, negotiate a quarter-mile. The Germans,
1943 sure that human beings would not fight
on such a day, crawled into their dugouts
How Many Rivers to Cross? and turned their backs on war.
The Russians advanced. They
New victories are imminent after staggered forward, blinded by snow and
the fall of Rostov and Voroshilovgrad. bending over their green-lit compasses.
The Red Army is already far west of In the forests they felt for tree trunks
the line between these two cities. In for guidance and support. Their frozen
its irresistible sustained drive it has greatcoats crackled like splitting boards.
encircled large parts of Hitler’s Army.— When the Russians reached the napping
Moscow Radio. defenders far east of Kursk, they charged
It was hard to conceive what new and quickly captured batteries that fired
victories would seem epic at the end of not a shell.
last week. For last week was the greatest, Having won the first round by surprise,
the happiest week of the war for Russia’s the Russians pressed their advantages.
armies. The triumphs of the week were Sticking to the roads, they pushed through
dizzying. New possibilities were unfolded to the northwest of Kursk, and moved into
which a month ago would have seemed positions to the northeast and southeast.
fantastic. The focus of war had suddenly Planes dropped pamphlets showing
moved westward. Men’s eyes turned pictures of the captured Field Marshal
toward the Dnieper, toward the old von Paulus at Stalingrad and describing
borders of Russia — toward Berlin.1 the slow strangulation there. The three
Success In Snow. What a young groups attacked concentrically. Kursk fell
Russian general (Filip Ivanovich Golikov)2 so fast that even the Russians must have
accomplished on a limited Russian sector been surprised.
(Kursk) as the week opened seemed at Success in Bulk. That was the signal for
first to be another wonderful but local a general crumbling of what had been for
success. Actually the way Kursk was over a year a rigid, unbreakable line. On
captured and the consequences of its fall both Colonel General Golikov’s front and
shed much light on Russian potentialities. that to the south under Nikolai Vatutin,
who was last week promoted from garrisons off from convenient retreat by 209
Colonel General to Army General, the rail or good roads.
Reds exploited their advantage. Belgorod If the Germans succeeded in some
fell. So did Lozovaya, Voroshilovsk, masterful withdrawals, it was possible
Voroshilovgrad, Likhaya. The attackers that they might marshal reserves at some
rolled around Kharkov, which like Kursk line of their choosing—perhaps along the
had been one of the main fortresses Dnieper—and counterstrike at the then
on Germany’s great wall of last winter. extended Russians. Since the Russians had
Russians crept early this week to within again done their best work in their worst
seven miles of Kharkov, and the city’s fall winter weather, and since the thaws of
seemed imminent. It was all surprisingly southern Russia produce a mud which is
easy. The hedgehogs seemed to be beyond description, the Germans probably
walking away in the snow, shedding only look forward to a slackening of Russian
a few barbed quills. momentum in a month or six weeks.
Success in Fire. As a climax to a week Fears. This uncertainty as to how far
of climaxes, Rostov, the southern anchor the Russians might be able to go gave
of the whole German line and a bitterly rise to a curious reaction in Britain and
defended place, burst into flames and the U.S. Many voices, some nervously,
fell to the attackers. Thus the Germans some skeptically, asked the question: Just
lost the one sure foothold for an attack in what kind of victory does Russia want?
the Caucasus in the spring. Rostov’s loss The question arose from two mutually
was the clearest indication yet that there contradictory fears. One group seemed to
might not be another German offensive fear that the Red advance would sweep
in Russia, since any offensive would have to Russia’s old borders and stop, leaving
to start all over again on a program which the German fox still dangerously alive, the
had once failed. Allies holding a still-empty bag. The other
Success in Fluidity? All this suggested group feared that the Red advance would
that the Germans on the southern front sweep to and perhaps beyond the Rhine,
had been forced to go over (as Rommel that all Europe would be Bolshevized.
did when he left El Alamein3) from rigid to The first school thinks Joseph Stalin
elastic defense. They had been forced to may be playing a sly, lone, isolationist
do so because of the Russian mastery of hand. It points out parallels, such as
winter tactics and because of their own Kutuzov’s reply to the British observer
fear of encirclement. Wilson when the latter urged the Russian
Elastic defense can be masterful, to destroy Napoleon instead of merely
as Rommel’s retreat to Tunisia was, or pursuing him. “Kutuzov told him plainly,”
merely chaotic. The Russians had two says Eugene Tarle (Napoleon’s Invasion
chances of making it chaotic—they could of Russia), “that his aim was to eject
drive south through Stalin to the Sea of Napoleon from Russia and that he did not
Azov, pocketing the routed defenders of see why Russia should waste her forces
Rostov, and west from Lozovaya to the on the complete destruction of Napoleon,
Dnieper bend at Dniepropetrovsk, cutting since the harvest of such a victory would
the Caucasian remnant and Crimean be reaped by England, not Russia.”
210 The other (Red menace) school is Back in Russia he was given command
exemplified by a recent editorial in the of one of the seven armies that saved
New York Daily News: “It is a cinch bet Moscow. There he saw what the Germans
that the much-discussed postwar policing were capable of doing—but also what
of Germany will be done by the Russians. his own men could do. Golikov’s army
. . Stalin will accomplish what Hitler tried defeated two divisions of much-touted
to do—dominate all Europe. The effect of Heinz Guderian’s Second Tank Army
all this on us will be to leave us in as much and took the towns of Mikhailov and
danger from Europe as we were before Yepifan. This year he was promoted from
this war.” army commander to commander of the
Which, if either, of the apprehensive Voronezh front. What he has done there,
schools is within a light-year of the truth? culminating last week in the cracking
What kind of victory does Russia want? of the Germans’ rigid southern line,
The only way even to approximate an suggests that he personally burns for
answer at this stage, besides examining total destruction of the enemy.
the nature of the Red successes and their Commander in Excelsis. But the key
potentialities, is to estimate what Stalin to Russia’s military determination is the
and his Army want, review the known man who is key to everything in Russia.
facts as to what Stalin’s Government has If Russia’s allies knew as much about
said it wants. Joseph Stalin as he knows about them,
Front Commander. In trying to they would have a much clearer idea of
gauge how far the Russians can go, it is where he stands. The few U.S. and British
important to try to see what her military diplomats and officers who have talked
men want. They all seem to want: terrible with Stalin say that he knows more than
punishment of the Nazis. most Washington and London officials
Filip Ivanovich Golikov, a typical front about Allied performance, personalities
commander, seems to want that. He is and weaknesses. He has on the end of
young: 45. He fought in the revolution. He his blunt tongue the exact dates of and
is a product of Frunze Military Academy. reasons for the fall of Bataan, Corregidor,
He is one of few Red generals who have Singapore, Hong Kong, Rangoon. He says:
firsthand knowledge of Russia’s allies. “Timoshenko is my George Washington”
Just after the war broke out, he was (because Washington retired from
sent to Britain and the U.S. for staff talks Philadelphia to Valley Forge but still won
on supply problems. In the U.S. Golikov the Revolutionary War); and: “Zhukov, he
was treated (and behaved) more like a is my George B. McClellan—except that he
mystery man than a visiting celebrity. has never lost a battle” (McClellan always
He was observed to be a muscular man hollered for more men, more weapons,
with a head which seemed to have been more supply, more cavalry—but he lost
carved from pink glass, to be so short the Seven Days’ Battles, June 1862).
that the handkerchief in Sumner Welles’s Responsible men who have talked
pocket showed above his clean-shaven with Stalin all come away with the
crown. Beyond that nothing was known. conviction that he has the fixed
He disappeared after a brief visit. determination to destroy Hitler’s Army
and to punish, man by man, Hitler’s will and our regime on the Slavic and 211
henchmen. He has, they say, a fanatical other enslaved peoples of Europe who
desire to keep hammering the Germans, are waiting for our help. Our aim is to
to keep them rolling, never to let them help these peoples in their struggle for
get set for a counteroffensive. Some liberation from Hitler’s tyranny.”
say he wants to raze Berlin, as so many
Russian cities have been razed. They Other Russian declarations:
are unanimous in believing that there - On Russian border demands, Stalin
is no thought of a negotiated peace in said in the May Day order of 1942:
his stubborn mind. They are satisfied “We want to liberate our Soviet land—
that the reason he did not attend the our brothers the Ukrainians [including
Casablanca conference was that he was Bessarabians], Moldavians, White
busy at his desk directing the crucial Russians [perhaps including those in its
stages of his offensive—and last week’s Polish sections], Lithuanians, Latvians,
news seemed to bear this out. Estonians, and Karelians.”
The Record. Since Stalin has been - Soviet Ambassador Ivan Maisky4
Russia’s dictator, Russia has made said to the Inter-Allied Meeting, London,
much of abiding by signed agreements Sept. 24, 1941: “The Soviet Union
and official promises. The occupation defends the right of every nation to
of the Baltic States was accomplished independence and territorial integrity . .
by diplomatic pressure. The military . and its right to establish such a social
occupation of part of Poland, the order and to choose such a form of
Russian argument runs, took place after government as it deems opportune and
the Government of Poland with which necessary. . . .”
Russia had a non-aggression pact had - The Anglo-Soviet Treaty of May 265,
ceased to exist. Finland was attacked on 1942, says: “Britain and Russia wish to
the somewhat flimsy grounds that the unite with other like-minded States in
Finns allegedly fired first. Nevertheless, adopting proposals for common action
Russia’s efforts to keep the peace of to preserve peace and resist aggression
Europe were stronger than most. She in the postwar period.”
tried to give the League vitality. She led - On the punishment of Nazis, Foreign
the way in making bilateral pacts. Commissar Molotov’s Declaration for
The Russians themselves point to War Crime Trials, Oct. 14, 1942 (urging
these promises as the definition of their the immediate trial of Rudolf Hess6):
war aims. Last week Pravda quoted “The Soviet Government . . . expects that
Joseph Stalin’s speech of Nov. 6, 1941: all interested States will mutually assist
“We have not, nor can we have, such war each other in searching for extradition,
aims as the seizure of foreign territories prosecution and stern punishment of the
or the conquest of other peoples. . . Hitlerites and their accomplices guilty
Our first aim is to free our territories of the organization, encouragement,
and our peoples from the German Nazi or perpetration of crimes on occupied
yoke. We have not, nor can we have, territory.” A decree of the Presidium
such war aims as the imposition of our of the Supreme Soviet setting up a
212 committee to list Axis crimes against When Columnist Constantine Brown did
Russia (Nov. 1942) specifically asks for just that last week, Pravda answered
trial of German Army commanders. angrily: “Why should he not make a
– On the clashing ideologies of the generous present of California or Alaska
Soviet-Anglo-American coalition (from to the United States? Do there not exist
Stalin’s address on the eve of the 25th curious people who are ready to present
anniversary of the October Revolution, to the Soviet Union parts of the latter’s
Nov. 6, 1942): “It would be ridiculous to own territory?”
deny the differences in ideologies and Mutual uncertainty might develop
social systems of these countries. [This into one of the great tragedies of World
does not] preclude the possibility of joint War II: that, having won a victory over an
action on the part of the members of this enemy who was certainly common, the
coalition against the common enemy. . . .” victors might not be able to negotiate
Bitter Taste. These declarations are a common future. The thing which
specific — perhaps more specific than the made this tragedy a real danger was the
published postwar aims of the U.S. and tendency of people at large and even
Britain. But they leave many a forward- some statesmen to speak in vague, fearful
looking question unanswered. They cliches without attempt to find out even
omit any reference to Japan, with which what the Russians want.
Russia has a non-aggression pact. Some The Russians are conscious of this
of the phraseology of these declarations danger. It was a danger which U.S.
is ambiguous and, to the Allied way of citizens, as wartime partners in a United
thinking, at least open to debate: e.g., Nations not yet efficiently united, would
the inclusion of Bessarabia and the Baltic have to face and think about, not in vague
States (“our brothers”) in “Soviet lands”; and fearful clichés nor in sentimental
government, self-chosen or not, which is idealistics, but as citizens of the postwar
“opportune and necessary.” world.
On their part, the Russians might
well have some uncertainties about the Newsweek, March 1, 1943
intentions and desires of Britain and the KHARKHOV’S STORY
U.S. toward Europe. Their main clue is the
Atlantic Charter, which is not notable for Bill Downs7, Newsweek’s Moscow
its reinforced-concrete qualities. To this correspondent, sent the following cable
Russia has subscribed. If the record of on his return from a visit to Kharkov just
Allied politics in North Africa has caused eight days after the recapture of the city
certain British and U.S. citizens qualms, it by the Red Army.
had certainly not been reassuring to the
Reds. They cannot be any more certain Fifteen months’ occupation of Kharkov
of the Allied game in Yugoslavia than the – what Hitler calls “Aryan Colonization” –
Allies can of theirs. The Russians, who has all but killed the Soviet capital of the
consider that they have a right to the Ukraine. Kharkov today looks like a city
Baltic States and Bessarabia, do not like which has undergone earthquake, the
to hear Americans question that right. Black Plague, and the Chicago Fire all at
once. But the city’s wounds are not so the occupation. The population today 213
much on the surface as at its foundations is estimated at 350,000. A number of
— they are spiritual rather than material. people escaped to the unoccupied
It is in the faces of the people of zone, but what happened to the rest
Kharkov that you read the city’s real no one will ever know. The Germans
tragedy. They had been hungry for so didn’t bother to issue death decrees
long that they had got used to it. Their or keep records of their executions.
faces were dough white or pastry yellow. The Nazis organized heir “colonization”
The children had deep circles under schemes carefully. First, they used the
their eyes. Every body’s clothing needed extensive records of the Ukrainian
washing, patching, and replacing. Nationalist movement they had prepared
These people who were lucky enough in Berlin. Then they sent Nationalist
to survive lived for fifteen months on a leaders whom they found sympathetic
maximum of 300 grams of bread a day into the Western Ukraine. They appointed
— supplemented with what the family Professor Alexeyev Kramerenko8, an
furniture and clothing would bring in the instructor of chemistry at the famous
way of food through secret barter with Kharkov university, as the town’s first
the farmers in the surrounding district. burgomaster. Kramerenko was an ardent
There are few young men anywhere in Ukrainian Nationalist. The town was
the Kharkov district today. Those caught divided into six districts, and Kramerenko’s
in the city when the Germans marched friends were appointed district heads.
in were either sent to Germany or were At the same time German “colonists” —
shot or hanged or escaped to unoccupied businessmen, shopkeepers, carpetbaggers,
Russia. Even boys of 12 and 14 have the and just plain adventurers — began to
look of men about them. There are many drift into town. The best buildings, shops,
women, some of them young. But one and houses were turned over to these
school teacher told me: “Most of our colonists. The original Russian occupants
beautiful Ukrainian girls are gone now.” were given worthless receipts or were
The Germans also shipped beauty back to told plainly to get out — or were hanged.
Germany as a Ukrainian commodity. Although the exact circumstances are
When the Germans entered the city a unclear, Kramerenko finally realized he
year ago last October, they immediately had been duped, and the Germans were
began hanging men. For a distance of forced to shoot him. The rate of exchange
2 miles down Sumskaya Street, from for the German reichsmark was set at 1
the government center to the business mark for 10 rubles, giving the Germans a
center, Russians were hanged from neat exchange profit. There was absolutely
every balcony. Thereafter, hangings were no civil law, and martial law did not include
frequent, disappearances common, and civil cases. There were many cases of rape
beatings occurred every day. where the parents of the offended girl
The prewar population of the city was were simply too terrorized to complain to
900,000 which was swelled to 1,300,000 the authorities. When the Red Army drive
by refugees shortly before the occupation. reached the outskirts of Kharkov and two
The Soviets evacuated 250,000 before days before the Germans left, the Nazis
214 began systematic demolition of the city’s powerful German army stood ever ready
biggest and newest buildings, many of to strike at the capital. One after another,
which were the pride of the Ukraine. The Red offensives broke against Rzhev9.
House of Projects, which looks like a small- Last week, Rzhev fell. Its German
sized Radio City, the House of Cooperation, garrison slipped out, and only a few
which looks like a miniature Stevens Hotel, detachments stayed behind to fight rear-
Kharkov International Hotel and others guard actions and destroy the: Volga
of the biggest and newest buildings bridge. With the memory of Stalingrad
were completely gutted by fire and by still fresh in its mind, the Nazi High
mining. Then the day after the Red Army’s Command obviously decided not to risk
reoccupation the Germans sent over 25 encirclement by the Red forces sweeping
bombers which systematically flew down westward on both flanks. Once Rzhev
street after street, dropping bombs on the was gone, Gzhatsk too was abandoned.
smoldering buildings. And with Gzhatsk gone, Vyazma was also
This is only part of the story. The rest untenable in face of the Red advance.
would require a book. But Kharkov is only Thus, the entire German wedge into the
the first of the cities of Eastern Europe heart of Central Russia was crumbling
which must be retaken from the Germans. apart, and, at its base, Smolensk itself
There are Kiev, Riga, Danzig, Warsaw, and was in danger.
a string of others where this same story is Farther north, on the desolate shores
going to form one of the saddest chapters of frozen Lake Ilmen, the Russians opened
in the world’s history. a new front. In this region of rivers and
Meanwhile, the Germans succeeded lakes, a force under Marshal Semyon
in reestablishing part of Kharkov’s Timoshenko—whose whereabouts have
factories but only for the repair of army been a mystery since last fall—drove
equipment. While the population starved, forward against the powerful German
parties of German soldiers searched base of Staraya Russa.
homes of Russians suspected of hoarding The latest Red victories in the
sugar and other foods. Executions and northern and central sectors threatened
internments continued. A man would be vital German rail communications and
denounced to the Germans on one day opened captured lines to the Soviets.
and disappear the next. The Germans The Russians especially stressed the fact
even tried pressing Ukrainian men into that they had gained control of the entire
the German Army—mostly in the labor line running west to Velikiye Luki. In the
corps as there were large numbers of south as well as in the north, the struggle
desertions. began to center around the control of the
railways.
Newsweek, March 15, 1943
BATTLE FOR RAILWAYS Significance
The weather was one reason the
For eighteen months Moscow lived Battle of Russia had become a battle
in the shadow of grave danger. Just 180 for railways. Already the Ukraine was
miles away, in the ancient city of Rzhev, a a vast expanse of mud. In another few
weeks the thaw will send the carpet of By last fall, the crisis had passed. 215
mud rolling northward, until it covers Industry was rooted in new soil. The
the entire eastern front. Then-and until transport jams were broken. Traffic began
the sun dries the soil late in May — the to flow largely in one direction: west.
railways will be virtually the sole means The trip from Moscow to Kuibyshev,
of transportation. which took six days in 1941, was reduced
Control of railroads thus was essential to a normal three. When the great
to victory. This was why the Reds put so Red offensive opened last Nov. 19, the
much weight behind their attack on the railroads were ready and able to cope
Bryansk-Kiev railway. This, too, explained with the burden of supporting the attacks
Moscow’s elation over the capture of the One way used to ease the load put on the
line to Velikiye Luki. Some day soon, this railways was to shift part of it to trucks.
railroad will become the lifeline of the Eighty-odd thousand Lend-Lease trucks
armies hammering at Smolensk or Latvia. came from the United States. Dodges and
In the Red scale of values, railroads GMC’s carted Red Army supplies in the
have always ranked high. Back in 1935, Don River area. Perhaps 10,000 trucks
Marshal Klementi Voroshiloff told a captured from the Nazis were also put
congress of Soviets: “Give us better to work. But the usefulness of all these
transport! It is the blood brother of the vehicles was limited by the thaw.
Red Army.” Top Communists always drew Red labor brigades are now working
the tough task of reorganizing railroads. feverishly to restore traffic on recaptured
Russia’s harshest laws were invoked railways. The main job before them
against the slackers and the incompetents is gauge widening. Wherever they
in railway jobs. For years, reports on the advanced, the Germans altered the gauge
tonnage of freight moved pushed foreign from the Russian 5-foot width to the
news off the Soviet front pages. European gauge, 314 inches narrower.
Under such careful nursing, the This enabled the Wehrmacht to move
railroads did improve. But the war put its supplies straight from the Ruhr to
them under an almost unbearable strain. Kursk and Stalingrad. On retreating, the
Countless industrial plants, with their Germans often sawed off the tie ends.
tools, machinery, and workers, were However, it was improbable that they
bodily moved eastward. The factories could saw the ties close enough to the
thus uprooted included Russia’s largest, rails to prevent the necessary 14-inch
and their average migration was 1,000 widening. Rails can be fastened to the
miles. At the same time, masses of men edges of the ties; then they last but a
and arms flowed westward, toward few months — but that’s all the Russians
the front. Rolling stock rescued from count on. Nevertheless, as their advance
the Germans formed huge jams at rail continues, the Soviets will have to solve
junctions, and for months desperate, these all-important transport riddles:
sleepless railway men struggled to break Equipment: The Germans did a thorough
the bottlenecks. Sometimes the only way scorched-earth job on the railway stations,
to keep the traffic moving was to lay rail junctions, and depots they abandoned.
detours around the congested stations. They removed all junction frogs and blew
216 up the bridges—including the great bridge was shored up. When Leningrad cried for
over the Volga River at Rzhev. At Kharkov, supplies, the Reds laid a railroad across
for example, they destroyed the station the ice of Lake Ladoga.
and railway repair shops. The miracle man of Russian transport
Rails: With munitions holding absolute is Lazar Kaganovich10. For more than a
priority, Russia’s steel mills cannot hope to decade now, this swarthy human dynamo
meet the demand for rail replacements. has been Stalin’s favorite trouble shooter.
Shortly before the war, the Soviets bought After the terrible famine of 1933, Stalin
a limited quantity of used rails in the rushed him to the Ukraine to organize the
United States. An order for new rails in harvesting of the 1934 crop. Kaganovich
Sweden was never delivered because of combined oratory with an iron hand and
the war. Under Lend-Lease, 75,000 tons special tractor shock brigades and did the
of rails and 17,000 tons of other railway job. When the railways buckled under a
equipment have been sent to Russia up to wave of accidents—60,000 collisions in a
Feb. 1. But all this is a small drop in a very single year—Stalin made him Commissar
large bucket. of Railways. He got the same post a second
Spare Parts: There is no shortage of time when his successor botched the job.
locomotives and freight cars, for most There were few tasks Kaganovich did
were saved—and of Russia’s 59,520 miles not tackle. He built the Moscow subway,
of track half is still in German hands. But a section of which was shown at the
deterioration has been great, and no New York World’s Fair. He “bossed” the
spare parts are being manufactured. Moscow Communist machine. He revised
Fuel: The railways have always been textbooks. In many branches of industry—
Russia’s heaviest coal users. Therefore, oil, coal, steel, machinery, chemicals—he
they suffered most from the loss of the proved himself a superb organizer and
great Donbas mines. The shortage of efficiency expert. He knew the limits of
coal has been only partly overcome by human endurance, and he drove men
increased coal output east of the Urals right up to those limits. But it was the
and by a switch to wood and peat. railways which always remained his
The Reds tackled their railway specialty, and he visited the United States
problems with the same ruthlessness in 1937 to study American methods.
with which they fought their battles. To Kaganovich is one of the few remaining
widen the gauge and repair the beds of “Old Guard” Bolsheviks still in power. He
the recaptured lines, they conscripted the was a young and rebellious shoemaker
local population into Army-directed labor when he joined the party in 1911, and he
gangs. To supply their new industries and stayed with it through all its troubles. A
their troops, they planned 6,800 miles born spellbinder, he rose quickly to the
of new railways last year. They bought omnipotent ten-man Polit-Bureau which
railway equipment in the United States, rules Russia. Today, he is one of the three
including the largest order for automatic secretaries of the Communist party.
signals ever placed in this country. Their The other two are Andrei Zhdanoff, the
railroad to Murmansk often sank out of Leningrad boss, and Stalin.
sight in the treacherous tundra—but it Kaganovich’s loyalty to Stalin is
unwavering. He wears a Stalinesque second in length only to the siege of 217
mustache, assumes Stalin’s gestures, and Leningrad and surpassed in violence only
copies Stalin’s dress. Whatever tasks he by the battle of Stalingrad.
performs, he gives all credit to Stalin. He
shies away from publicity. His working In each case victory so far has gone
day seldom goes below sixteen hours, to Soviet arms.
and he contents himself with four or five Why possession of Rzhev has been
hours of sleep. so significant to each side becomes clear
When Hitler’s armies raced across the when it is realized that the major German
Ukraine last year, Stalin rushed Kaganovich objective throughout the 20 months
to the Caucasus to team up with Gen. Ivan of year on the eastern front has been
Tulyeneff: In this post, Kaganovich rallied Moscow.
the civilians to new efforts and sacrifices, During 1941 the German Army threw
and saw to it that the earth captured by its greatest weight into two offensives
the foe was really scorched. The battle against the capital, starting October 2
won, Kaganovich returned to his modest and November 16, even drawing forces
apartment in the Kremlin last month. His from the northwestern and southwestern
new job: Commissar for Transport. areas for the second push.
It was during the first. 1941 drive
The Evening Star, March 3, 1943 that the Germans entered Rzhev and
Threat to Moscow Lessened By converted this provincial manufacturing
city into an armed camp, one of the
Red Seizure of Rzhev mainstays of their line. After their failure
One of the Bitterest, Most Important to take Moscow they fell back to a fortified
Battles of Russian War Is Ended line just east of Rzhev.
During 1942 the eventual German
Henry Cassidy, Chief of the Moscow objective remained Moscow. While
bureau of the Associated Press, who one Nazi column went rushing into
toured the Rzhev front last August, the Caucasus and another dashed
analyzes in the following article the to Stalingrad, the main force was
significance of the German surrender concentrated in the Orel sector, southwest
of the city. Mr. Cassidy, who has been of Moscow. The plan was to push north
stationed in Moscow since August, 1940 from Stalingrad along the Volga, isolate
at present is visiting in the United States. and take the capital.
By HENRY C. CASSIDY In this campaign, the Germans clung to
Rzhev as a pivot from which their forces
The German evacuation of Rzhev northwest of the capital might, turn in a
ended today one of the longest, hardest- final rush on Moscow. The Red Army put
fought and most Important battles of the on a three-week push against Rzhev last
war In Russia, with the fate of Moscow at August, broke into the city but was unable
stake. to win complete possession of it. For 1943
The struggle for this city on the Volga, many Moscow observers believed, the
130 miles northwest of Moscow has been Germans still planned another offensive
218 against Moscow while they were beaten Luki due west of Rzhev, and the cutting
back from Stalingrad, the Caucasus and of the Rzhev-Vyazma railroad line, to the
the eastern approach to Leningrad, the south, left Rzhev an isolated German
battled bitterly for every inch of’ land outpost.
west of Moscow. The decisive factor in German
evacuation of the city may have been
Feared Another Nazi Push. the approach of spring, when road
As I left Moscow a month ago, there communications also will be bogged
were reports the Germans were massing down hopelessly for two months and no
in the Smolensk region for another push way in or out would be left to the Nazi
on the capital. Red Army men with whom garrison.
I talked believed the German strength Adolf Hitler has been quoted by the
had undergone a severe drain, but that Soviet Army newspaper, Red Star, as
the Germans might still be able to mount telling his Rzhev garrison. “The loss of
an offensive on a single sector. Rzhev would be equal to the loss of half
Now, the withdrawal from Rzhev means of Berlin.” Its occupation by the Russians
an apparent abandonment of such a plan may be worth the same amount in terms
— might mean the Germans have decided of Moscow.
to relinquish all hopes of the offensive on
the Eastern front and fight, an entirely Newsweek, March 15, 1943
defensive war inside occupied Europe. THE CENTRAL FRONT AFTER
Moscow, at least, appears safe. I saw
the Rzhev front last August after the Red
RZHEV
Army’s summer offensive against that city. by Maj. Gen. STEPHEN O. FUQUA,
Before it stood the Todt Line, a duplication US.A. Retired
of the West Wall, bristling with barbed
wire, trenches, dugouts and pillboxes. As the thaws of approaching spring
slow down the armies of the Ukraine,
May Have Saved Moscow. the tide of battle rolls northward through
By piercing the northern flank of the corridors of the central front. For it is
the German salient in this sector, the in that sector, Orel to Leningrad, where
Russians had stormed the northern the Red Army — regardless of all other
outskirts of Rzhev. Since then, although struggles northward to the Arctic Ocean
there had been no spectacular new push, or southward to the Black Sea—must
the Red Army had been shelling the city fight the decisive battles to free Russia of
constantly, breaking off enemy positions the Nazi invaders.
bit by bit. The lower corridor, lying between
Before the announcement of the the present front and the valleys of the
German evacuation, about threequarters Dnieper and Dvina, contains the direct
of Rzhev was estimated to be in Soviet route, through Vyazma-Smolensk-Orsha,
hands. The city was as much a heap of to the ultimate goals of the battling
ruins as Stalingrad. armies — Moscow and Berlin. In addition
The Red Army’s occupation of Velikie to the river lines, the area possesses vital
railway links uniting it with Latvia to the directed on Smolensk, and, in time, to the 219
northwest, with White Russia to the west, drive toward Latvia.
and with the Ukraine to the south as well. In the middle corridor—the area east
This region is the main bulwark of the of the Latvian border-lie the roadways
German line from Leningrad to the Black to the Baltic. And here rests the Russian
Sea. It is hinged to the south front by the spearhead deep into the German lines
hedgehog defenses of Orel and Bryansk in the Velikiye Luki sector—a vital
and to the upper corridors by the fortified springboard position for launching a drive
triangle Smolensk-Orsha-Vitebsk. It was to the west or south. In Russian hands this
across this corridor that the first German corridor would become a grave threat to
major offensive was launched, and it is the German Baltic flank and would be a
on this central plateau that the Red Army pivotal support for Timoshenko’s forces
is sparring for its final drive across White to the north.
Russia which, if successful, would cut in The upper corridor, south of Leningrad
twain the German armies of the north and between Lakes Peipus and Ilmen, holds
south as effectively as Sherman’s march the north and south communication
to the sea divided the Confederacy. In lines and the lateral routes to Estonia.
this corridor, therefore, are found Hitler’s The recent capture of Demyansk, the
strong east bastions, and it is against focal center of resistance of the Valdai
these pivotal points that the Red Army’s Hills region, further endangered the
attacks directed. The occupation of partly encircled German-occupied city
Rzhev, gateway to Moscow, compares in of Staraya Russa and the fortified base
strategical importance with the greatest at Kholm. Continued Russian successes
victories of the Russian winter offensive. in this area would be the signal for an
The German evaluation of the town offensive against the important Nazi-
as being “equal to half of Berlin” is an held railway centers of Dno and Pskov,
acknowledgment of its keystone position and a threat to the whole Nazi defense
in the Velikiye Luki-Vyazma arch. And structure in the Leningrad area.
the retreat from this stronghold is a true Although the cry for help is heard from
indication that the Hitler threat against all fronts, it is the call of the Red Army
the Soviet capital has ended. that must be heeded first, for it is in these
With Rzhev and Gzhatsk in the case central battle corridors of the Russian
Red Army’s pressure increases against front that Hitler’s eastern legions can be
Vyazma and Bryansk, while Orel, at the defeated this year.
start of this week, was almost encircled.
The fall of these fortresses would open Time Magazine, July 5, 1943
wide the gateway to the Nazi citadel of BATTLE OF RUSSIA: Victory is a
Smolensk and dangerously threaten the
whole German defense system in this
Fighting Word
corridor. And the opening of the railroad Last week, as in their bitter summer of
to Velikiye Luki will give impetus to the 1942, the Russians again asked the U.S.
launching of an attack southward in and Britain for a second front in Europe.
support of the main effort from the east, Unofficial interpretations came thick &
220 fast. The Russians, as in June 1942, had promise to do so.” Last week President
already learned that there was to be no Roosevelt, in an anniversary message to
second front this year. The Russians knew Stalin, did not mention a second front; at
that there was going to be a second front a press conference he said only that no
and were deceiving the Germans. Russian one wants a second front more than he
officialdom, aware of the terrific strain does. In Moscow Ambassador Standley
upon the Russian people, was passing the suggested that the U.S. and Britain would
buck from the Kremlin to the Allies. appreciate some assurance “that the
More likely the Russians merely meant wartime cooperation now working to
what they said: defeat Hitler will continue until Japan is
- A special Moscow communique, defeated.”
on the second anniversary (June 22) Endure the Agony. Whatever the
of German invasion, said: “To miss the Russians may think of their allies’ timing
opportunity afforded by the favorable for 1943, Moscow can have no quarrel with
conditions now prevailing for the opening the official U.S. and British conception of
of a second front in Europe in 1943, to what it will take to make a proper second
be late with the opening of it, would be a front and to defeat Germany.
serious set back for our common cause.” General George Catlett Marshall,
- The Moscow newspaper “Izvestia”, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, made this
in an editorial broadcast to the Russian conception very clear last week. General
people by Government radio, said: Marshall addressed the Governors’
“Without a second front, victory over Conference at Columbus, Ohio, but he
Hitlerite Germany is impossible.” might have been addressing himself to
- Foreign Commissar Viacheslav the Russians, and to their doubts that
Molotov, in an address to U.S. Ambassador Britons and Americans comprehend the
William H. Standley, said: “Let us realities of all-out war. Said he:
remember that millions of people who - On victory from the air — ”I think
have made countless sacrifices live in it proper to express a word of caution
profound hope . . . of a combined Allied against hasty conclusions or impromptu
offensive.” conceptions... I am convinced more &
- Joseph Stalin wrote to President more each day that only by a proper
Roosevelt: “Conditions have been combination of war-making means
created for the final defeat of the can we achieve victory in the shortest
common enemy. Victory will come all possible time and with the greatest
the sooner, of this I have no doubt, the economy in life... Your adversary may be
sooner we strike our joint united blows hammered to his knees by bombing, but
against the enemy from the east and he will recover unless the knockout blow
from the west.” is delivered by the ground army...”
Last June Winston Churchill brought - On the nature of invasion — ”Tunisia
on similar but more insistent requests gave us an invaluable pattern for the
from Moscow by telling Joseph Stalin in future. But the tasks will be increasingly
writing that “while we were preparing difficult, usually with the great hazard
to make a landing in 1942, we could not of an over-water approach and a heavy
battle to be maintained beyond the standbys, its troops are better equipped 221
beaches. The way will be far from easy, than ever. Its armored forces, reorganized
the losses heavy but the victory certain.” for the winter offensives of last year,
- On the imminence of victory— are probably mightier today than they
”Sudden waves of optimism [lead] the have ever been. Its air force is certainly
public to feel that we have made our stronger, and it probably holds front-wide
great effort and the end is in sight. This superiority over the Luftwaffe. Its mobility
is far from the case. We are just getting is at the highest: never has the Red Army
well started. The great battles lie ahead. been so well equipped with trucks and
We have yet to be proven in the agony of motorized weapons. Its famous cavalry,
enduring heavy casualties, as well as the favored originally because the Russians
reverses which are inevitable in war. What were short of trucks and tanks, is still
we need now is a stoic determination to effective and honored in its own right.
overwhelm the enemy, cost what it may. . The infantry force is undoubtedly the
“Two things we must guard against. largest in the world (unofficial estimates
There must be no divisions among the run up to 20,000,000 men for the entire
Allies. There must be no letup in our Red Army), and many of the infantry units
preparations.” are now among the best equipped in the
The Russians would have applauded world.
this frank and statesmanlike speech. Their For this prodigious endurance and
new Red Army of 1943, born in the blood recovery, the Russians have two factors to
and death of millions, could ask only one thank. Mainly, they can thank themselves
thing more—that the preparations be and a national effort singly devoted to
completed and the blow fall while Russia manning, equipping and re-equipping
is still strong, while the Russian soldier is their successive armies. To a lesser but
still fit and ready. great extent, they can also thank U.S. and
Power on the Fronts. In 1943 the world British aid. Published figures by no means
tends to believe that Russian endurance is convey the full effect of the planes, tanks,
eternal, that Russian victory is inevitable. other weapons and materials delivered to
Among those who do not share this belief the Red Army. Many, and in some sectors
are the Russians. most, of the bombers harrying airdromes,
By Moscow’s account, the Russians, railway junctions and supply centers are
up to June 22, had lost 4,200,000 men U.S. bombers, with Russian crews.
(against 6,400,000 Axis casualties). Most On the front as a whole the Russians
foreign observers believe that the actual outnumber the Axis. According to a
Russian losses have been at least twice nonofficial estimate from London last
the announced total. Certainly the losses week, the Red Army has some 265
of men and weapons have been huge—so divisions disposed along or immediately
huge that the Red Army of 1943 is literally behind the front, with its heaviest forces
a new army. massed south of Moscow against a
It is bigger, and it is probably stronger, still heavier concentration. The precise
than the Red Army of 1942. In artillery, strengths and dispositions of those forces
always one of the Russians’ chief are unknown, but the map on p. 25
226 represents the best guesses available last knocked out with one blow.” Inasmuch
week. as Adolf Hitler conceived the invasion of
Each army has the same problem: to Russia, this remark constituted indirect
hold a 2,000-mile front with sufficient criticism of the intuitive Führer.
forces everywhere yet find the troops to Power at the Top. Marshal Joseph
concentrate for its own purposes and to Stalin and his colleagues in the Supreme
counter enemy concentrations. On such a Command probably noted these Axis
front the whereabouts of ever-shifting air signs with interest last week. But it
and tank formations and the availability of was certain that he and the Chief of
concealed reserves may mean more than his General Staff, 46-year-old Marshal
the relative bulk of the forces routinely Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky12, did
assigned to a sector. If, as the Germans not take the signs to mean that the Red
reported last week, the Russians are Army had already beaten the Germans.
moving reinforcements into the sector Joseph Stalin has seen too much of war:
between Orel and Kharkov for a summer his country and his Red Army exist today
blow, the kind and quality, rather than the only because they proved the power of
size, of the forces may be decisive. defense on the long Russian line. If his
In this constant hide-&-seek the young protege, Marshal Vasilevsky, had
Russians with their larger numbers have been blind enough to make that mistake,
an advantage which the Germans can he could never have achieved the most
offset only with superior air and armored rapid rise in the Red Army’s recent history.
forces. Lacking this superiority, the Since the middle of 1941, when he
Germans recently indicated that they was still a major general — the lowest
would attempt only a limited offensive, general rank in the Red Army — he has
perhaps intended mainly to reduce risen four grades. In army power, and
the Red Army’s tank strength, and thus in the esteem of Joseph Stalin, he has
improve the Axis’ chances in a prolonged risen even faster. Now his responsibility
campaign. is threefold: he is one of the six or seven
Berlin propagandists suggested that members of Stalin’s Supreme Command,
even this modest design has withered. which lays down overall strategy; as
Now, they said, the Wehrmacht has Chief of the General Staff he reduces the
adopted a solely defensive strategy in Supreme Command’s strategy to specific
Russia, (which might include local, limited plans; as Chief of Political Administration
offensives, but no large-scale blow at the he directs the army commissars, who no
Red Army). They also indicated that the longer share command, but still have an
Allied menace in the south influenced important place in the Red Army.
this decision. Typically, he was all but unknown
Said one of the Wehrmacht’s favorite to most Russians when he suddenly
apologists, Lieut. General Kurt Diettmar11: appeared in the army limelight last year.
“We started this war with different Like most of his contemporaries, he had
conceptions from those we hold now. been a Czarist soldier but had fought
Many illusions were shattered. . . . We for the Revolution. Some said that he
realize that such an adversary cannot be was the son of wealthy Cossack horse
breeders, others that his parents were defenders of Moscow; General Konstantin 227
Volga peasants, others that he came Rokossovsky, one of the commanders
of Polish stock. The army knew that he at Stalingrad. Along with these field
had been principally a staff officer, a commanders, a small host of juniors rose
man of the schools rather than the field, to the command of corps, armies and
that he helped to reorganize the Red army groups.
Army after the Finnish War. Last week a In critical times the top staff officers
Russian official in the U.S., queried about do not remain at their desks. Last
Vasilevsky, looked blank and said: year Vasilevsky, Zhukov and Voronov
“Who? Vasilevsky? Ah, yes!” went into the field to coordinate the
Marshal Vasilevsky owed his rise counteroffensives which led to the victory
to Joseph Stalin’s decision last year to at Stalingrad; then Vasilevsky rushed to
revitalize the army command. As in any the Voronezh front, led an army group
other army, war had been unkind to many into action there. In the north Marshal
of his generals. Some were dismissed. Zhukov first planned, then directed the
Famed Marshal Semion-Timoshenko, counteroffensive which touched off the
hero of Smolensk, Rostov and the retreat Red Army’s entire winter campaign.
to Stalingrad, simply disappeared for a When the time for major action comes
while. Then he reappeared in a sector again Stalin’s luminaries will be on the
command. fronts again, wielding complete authority
In this process Stalin achieved a as “representatives of the Supreme
flexibility unmatched by any other army. To Command.”
serve with him in the Supreme Command Power at the Source. The Germans
he chose Vasilevsky; aggressive Marshal would like nothing better than to make
Georgy Zhukov), chief of the operational the world believe that their defensive
staff which executes Vasilevsky’s strategy in Russia automatically means
plans; Marshal Alexander Novikov13, the defeat of the Wehrmacht in Russia.
who represents the Red Air Force; Marshal Vasilevsky and his colleagues
the army’s leading artillerist, Marshal know that all the Red Army’s victories to
Nikolai Voronov14; and veteran Marshal date have been defensive. They know
Klimenti Voroshilov15. (According to that even the triumph at Stalingrad and
some reports, ailing Boris Shaposhnikov, the drive toward the Dnieper this spring
whom Vasilevsky succeeded as Chief of were defensive in character and result.
the General Staff, is also on the Supreme They know that behind them, on the
Command.) In the field Stalin placed heavily-manned Siberian front, there is
such commanders as General Nikolai always Japan.
Vatutin16 and Colonel General Filip I. They know that, for them, summer
Golikov, who pressed the Germans back has been a time for bleeding, winter for
from the Donets last winter; General victory — and that in their two winters of
Kiryl Meretskov17, who lifted the siege of war they did not crush the Wehrmacht.
Leningrad, and General Leonid Govorov18, For world consumption, and in the
who commanded troops inside the city; interest of an early second front, they
General Ivan Konev19, who was one of the specifically deny that the Red Army alone
228 can do so. They know, above all, that the strain upon underfed workers. So far
Red Army in the end can be no stronger Government and people have met the
than the country which produced and war’s demands by rigorous decrees, harsh
largely sustains that army. penalties for failure (Russian railway
The Wehrmacht is equally dependent workers, under martial law since April,
upon its home base, and that base is may be arrested for any negligence) and
certainly weakening. Thus, until one side fierce resolve.
or the other strikes for a decision, the Germany is betting that the Russians
war in Russia will be a race between two cannot keep it up.
processes of attrition — one in bombed
and distracted Germany, one behind Key West Citizen, June 17, 1943
the lines in Russia. At the moment the JUNE 22 IS DER TAG WATCH
Germans evidently hope to win that race.
It is a desperate hope. But it is their best
FOR GREAT DATE IN HISTORY
hope. OF WAR
From the U.S. or Britain it is hard to BY HENRY CASSIDY, AP Bureau Chief,
see how the Germans can win anything Moscow
in Russia. Yet the Russians evidently do
not welcome a war of attrition. In again Watch for June 22, 1943, as another
calling for the second front, and for the great date in the history of this war.
maximum chance to strike soon and
decisively on their first front, they plainly It will be the second anniversary of the
say as much. German invasion of Russia, the beginning
Perhaps they are not sure that they of the third year of the enormous
can win the race. If so, their chief worry campaign which many thought, at its
is probably over food. For all its brave start, would last only three weeks to
bragging to the world, the U.S.S.R. has three months. But even more important
never recovered completely from the it will be the date by which Hitler, to make
loss of the Ukraine’s grainfields. Belated one more venture in the east, must have
rains in central Russia last week improved started on his course.
the uncertain crop prospects, but at the Hitler has already lost one valuable
best a severe food shortage will continue. month of the fighting weather which
Vast but often badly tilled new acreages has limited German arms each year
plus Lend-Lease shipments have not to offensive operations between May
filled the shortage or ended the drain on and November. A year ago, on May 8,
the U.S.S.R.’s dwindling grain reserves. he started his campaign on the Kerch
The result is that only the Red Army, a peninsula of the Crimea. This year, he has
few foreigners and higher officials are let May slip past without a major move.
tolerably well-fed in Russia. The rest exist
and labor at a level of bare subsistence. Caucasus Abandoned
Industrially the U.S.S.R. is at its peak of That can be interpreted to mean the
military production. But it is a production Germans will not strike in the south, that
achieved by continuous and progressive they have abandoned, for this .year at
least, any gamble on getting the riches of launched their major offensive June 22, 229
the Caucasus, the oil of Baku. 1942, from Kharkov. They must start
They never have made a serious effort again by June 22, 1943, if they are to get
in that direction. Their southern campaign anywhere.
last year was limited to a few divisions,
designed as a diversion while they made Major Objective
their main effort to strike North through Their major objective, throughout
Stalingrad against the heart of Russia. the war, has been destruction of the Red
That diversion proved fatal to their own Army. The Germans’ capacity to strike at
plans, because it weakened their own that goal has diminished progressively,
strength in the battle of Stalingrad to a from a three-front offensive in 1941, to a
point, where the Red Army could, and two-front offensive in 1942, and probably
did, check them and throw them to a single-front offensive in 1943.
back beyond their Taganrog-Kharkov- Their objective has correspondingly
Kursk starting point. diminished. Probably, it has now reached
a point where the most the Germans
One at a Time could hope to do this year would be to
They seem to be avoiding that mistake knock the offensive power out of the Red
this year, the mistake, as Josef Stalin put Army before the Allies strike in the west.
it, of “chasing two hares at once.” The Stalin does not think the Germans can do
Caucasian bridgehead they clung to last that.
winter, and are defending so stubbornly “Another two or three powerful blows
this spring around Novorossisk, now from the west and east are needed,” he
appears to have been left as a decoy for said in his last speech May 1, “for the
the Russian forces. Instead of being used catastrophe of Hitlerite Germany to
as the spearhead for a German offensive become an accomplished fact.”
against the Caucasus, it has been kept as By June 22 just two years after the
a bastion of German defense against Red Germans brought their ordeal in the east
Army attacks. upon themselves, they may be on their
The Russians have not been deluded way to bringing their final downfall upon
into diverting any great forces to this themselves/
sector at the expense of the vital center.
They appear to be battering down the The Times August 6, 1943
bridge-head gradually with artillery as THE VICTORY OF OREL
the main weapon, but keeping their main
forces opposite the principal German In a special order of the day, issued
concentration on Russia’s western front. late last night, MARSHAL STALIN formally
Having sacrificed a month of fighting announced that Orel had been taken and
time in the south, the Germans cannot gave the world at the same time its first
afford to lose a minute of their potential tidings of the capture of Bielgorod. Salvos
period of operations in the center. They of gunfire proclaimed these splendid
started their momentous march east on victories to the city of Moscow. It was on
June 22, 1941, after a late spring. They Wednesday that the Red Army crowned
230 its labours in the offensive launched in their recent victories to the utmost,
mid-July by the seizure of the town of though it would be unwise to bank upon
Orel, with its road and railway junction. any sudden and spectacular further
On that same day eighty centres of advance, such as the capture of Briansk,
population passed into Russian hands. for the time being. This central sector
Nor did this end the Russian successes is probably more deeply fortified than
of August 4. Farther south in the region any other on the Russian front, and
of Belgorod, where the Germans had the Germans have had a warning that
achieved the most considerable results in they must stand upon their guard in it.
their abortive offensive against the Kursk The Russian operations, since the first
salient, an advance of six miles was made. stunning blows penetrated deeply into
by the forces of our ally. More limited but the enemy’s lines, have been methodical
satisfactory gains also resulted in the and deliberate. There has been a grimly
improvement of the Russian position on unhurried air about them which is in
the Donetz, south-west of Voroshilovgrad, some respects even more disquieting
The material benefits of the capture of for the Germans than a swifter but less
Orel are manifest. It restores to Russian regular advance would have been. Yet in
hands a valuable railway junction and will the situation which has developed there
lead to the restoration of through railway is scarcely any part of the front which
traffic on the main line from Moscow to the enemy can afford to denude of front-
Kursk. It thus improves the situation of line garrison or local reserves. Nothing
the Russians from the point of view of can be listed as safe, any position that is
defence or for the purpose for which Orel of value to the Germans may suddenly
is more likely to be required -a further become the centre of a new battlefield.
development of offensive operations. It is They are condemned not only to constant
reported to have brought in much booty, watchfulness and unrelenting strain
but it may safely be assumed that the but also to a dispersion of resources
Germans have lost far more material than which greatly decreases their power to
the Russians have gained. The Germans recover the initiative. Their own reports,
have had time enough for a good deal of as quoted by our Special Correspondent
demolition but only a limited amount for in Stockholm in a message printed
evacuation. It is little over three weeks yesterday, admit that they have only
since their own offensive finally collapsed just escaped another disaster in the
and the Russian offensive began. They south, where a double Russian offensive
have therefore had at their disposal much across the Donetz and the Mius almost
less than that time to withdraw from simultaneous with the opening of the
Orel all that had been put into it during offensive against Orel, “surged forward in
the two years in which it served as one both areas for two days” before German
of their principal advanced bases. To clear counterstrokes limited it. The Germans
the place would thus have been a physical do not pretend that they stopped it, but
impossibility and the sole alternative congratulate themselves on the alleged
would be to destroy as much as possible. fact that the Russians have progressed
The Russians will assuredly exploit “only a few miles” since July 19. The same
thing, or worse, may happen anywhere at against a half-armed enemy as if still 231
any time. trusting their validity against opponents
It may well be argued, however, at least as well armed The crumbling
that the greatest importance of the of the Orel front might not, viewed in
victory of Orel is to be sought in the itself, rank as a decisive victory, but
psychological field It stands as a symbol coming almost simultaneously with the
of the complete defeat of a German crumbling of the Catania-Paterno front
offensive launched in the most favorable on the southern slopes of Mount Etna it
possible circumstances and of the may well make this first week of August
Russian recovery of the initiative. It is a landmark in the future history of the
probably the most considerable Russian war20. Both victories have been won in the
success and Orel itself the biggest outpost zone, but both have shattered
capture achieved in the summer season, a bastion in the outposts which the
which the enemy’s spokesmen used to enemy had exerted every possible effort
call “German “weather.” The German to defend. Both too are forward steps
High Command has now to stomach the which afford hope of further successes.
realization that its own offensives are not In particular the victory of Orel lights up
likely to succeed even when best suited by the writing on the wall which proclaims
the circumstances, whereas those of the the doom of Nazi Germany, that doom
Russians are likely to succeed in circum which Russian endurance and fortitude
stances always considered hitherto as have done more than anything else to
unsuited to Russian methods and tactics ensure, It furnishes evidence of the
How much more then have the Germans intention and of the power of Russia to
cause to look forward with anxiety to persevere until the process which began
the coming winter and to circumstances at Stalingrad and El Alamein has been
in which Russian supremacy has always carried to its predestined end.
beer complete? And there is no deep
mystery as to why these things have The Evening Star, August 19,
occurred. The explanation is that the 1943
Russians have made greater progress
than their enemies in both offensive and
Tense Drama Lies Behind Soviet
defensive tactics. In some respects their Gains
own preconceived doctrine ؅— that part By HENRY C. CASSIDY, Associated
of it, for example, which insisted upon Press war correspondent.
the mingling of armour and infantry —
has proved sound. Where it has not they OREL. —The tern lines of communiques
have got rid not only of the doctrine sad the stiff phases of front-line dispatches
but of commanders who did not appear tell you that “after stubborn fighting, the
to be able to adapt themselves to the Soviet troops occupied” a populated
developments of warfare. The Germans point or city.
themselves have not stood still, but they But walk across the still-steaming
have tended to cling to the methods battlefield and see what such terms as
which gave there sweeping successes “defense lines broken—town occupied
232 — prisoners released — mines removed” How Orel Was Entered.
really mean. To enter Orel meant a dash across a
They have taken on even new meaning railroad track on the east side of town
in some new types of fighting in the Red where the bombings made an opening
Army’s first summer offensive. Here is while the enemy remained on the hills
what they meant in retracing the battle to the rear, then fighting down Moscow
of Orel: street past ruined factories and apartment
“Defense lines” meant three rows of houses to the Oka River running through
barbed wire stretched between wooden the city.
poles, backed up by solid land mines and There 55 Tommy-gunners crossed the
then a continuous front line trench with stream just before the bridge was blown
communicating trenches running back to up and two steel spans rose from the
the rear. concrete foundations and sagged into
Two hundred yards back there was a the water. They established a foothold
similar line, farther back still another. in a two-story red brick house on the
west bank and held that bridgehead until
Foe Well Entrenched. reinforcements crossed the 100-yardwide
Deep timber-supported dugouts were shallow stream by fording or over
built on the rear sides wherein the enemy pontoons.
took cover under artillery bombardment “Prisoners released” meant finding
and then emerged to reply with his own fellows like Sergt. pilot Dmitry Demovoy,
blaze of fire to any attempt to advance. 21, who told his story as though
To break such lines meant sending recounting a nightmare.
artillery into the open under enemy fire He made a forced landing north of
to blast the positions out of the ground. Orel and was given refuge in the cellar of
“Occupation of the populated point” a peasant house, but the Germans found
at Mtsensk, just north of Orel: meant him and made him a prisoner.
fighting a way through such defenses into
the ones beautiful garden town famed Hanged Three Times.
in Russian literature where now the only His wounds unbandaged, he said they
living things were two cats and one dog. took him to the command post, hung him
by the neck three times for five minutes
The only building intact was a log each and drained off 300 grams of his
cabin. blood in a futile effort to make him talk
In the yard at that house Maj Gen. about the strength and position of his
Boris Terpilovsky, the first commandant regiment. Then they threw him into a
of Mtsensk, established headquarters in concentration camp.
a stable with the ground covered with
straw. His staff set typewriters on a door He escaped and hid in Orel until
laid across some barrels to tap out the the Red Army arrived and put him in
orders. They lived in a dugout which was a hospital. “Mines Removed” meant
blown up by a delayed action enemy mine hunting tricky instruments—some with
the day after they moved. new devices with chemical soundless
qualities which still are being studied— 30 Villages Overrun 233
and get rid of them before they exploded. Berlin acknowledged Kharkov’s fall
They included all kinds of pressure prior to a special Russian announcement
mines, tension mines, clock mines and by Premier-Marshal Joseph Stalin, but
photo mines. In Mtsensk, the Red Army the Germans said the city had been
men heard clocks ticking monotonously “evacuated” in an orderly retreat.
toward their explosion point and toiled In the break on the Donets River
for 13 days before they finally found 16 mouth of Izyum, the Russians said their
mines buried in a ditch beside a stream. forces had smashed through From 19 to
They go off in anywhere from to 48 22 miles in three days of savage fighting
days and any day might be the day you and had overrun 30 villages, including the
are there. railway station of Donetsko-Amvrosievka
That’s what those terms really mean. on the only rail connection with German-
held Taganrog 50 miles below on the Sea
The Washington Post, August 25, of Azov.
1943 Tonight Moscow celebrated Kharkov’s
capture with a display of fireworks amid
Fleeing Nazis Hammered at a cluster of machine guns and other light
Both Ends of Southern Salient arms, and as heavy cannon boomed out
By the Associated Press a victory salute ordered personally by
Premier Marshal Joseph Stalin.
Victorious Russian forces yester day
captured vital Kharkov, streamed through Double Threat to Donets
a major break in the German Donets River Donetsko-Amvrosiekva lies about 70
front almost 200 miles to the south, and miles northwest of Rostov and about
hammered the retreating Nazis at both 40 miles southwest of Stalino. Thus the
ends of the southern salient today in a Donets area was threatened both from
drive to retake the industrial river basin. Russian forces driving westward and by
Moscow’s midnight communique said the Red troops which toppled Kharkov,
the Red army, perhaps 150,000 strong, almost 200 miles to the northwest.
broke into the third largest of Russian Soviet forces, throwing heavy blows at
cities from the north, east and west and German defenses along all active sectors
inflicted enormous losses on the enemy. of the long front, yesterday disabled 85
The Russians continued to throw heavy German tanks and shot down 134 enemy
blows at the reeling Germans as they fled planes, the Russian announcement said.
the city. Stalin’s order of the day said Soviet
Nazi forces west of Kharkov at tempted forces, “as a result of fierce engagements,
to counterattack, the Russians said, but broke the resistance of the enemy and
were repulsed with 2000 killed. took the town of Kharkov by storm.”
Fifteen more villages were recaptured The Germans admitted they had
by Russian forces in another sector of the retreated from the virtually encircled city,
Kharkov front. but painted it as an orderly withdrawal
leaving the Russians surrounding an
234 empty shell, the city itself, once the Pitts- Dnieper, made Kiev the heart of Russia’s
burgh of Russia, declared to be “only a Greek Orthodox faith. When Berlin
heap of ruins.” was still a muddy village, Kiev’s famed
The capture of Kharkov gives the Petchersky Monastery was green with
Russians control of one of the main age.
railroads to Moscow and opens a trap- Arrogant Field Marshal Walter von
door to the coal and iron rich Donets Reichenau, who captured Kiev in 1941,
Basin to the south. was not its first alien invader. For eleven
In his order, Stalin praised the troops centuries, men of the sword—Variags
for “high military skill, courage and and Khazars, Tatars, Lithuanians and
ability to maneuver” and authorized 10 Poles —ravished the beautiful city. The
divisions, about 150,000 men, which took proud conquerors became dust; Kiev,
part in the operation to use the name with its seven rolling hills, its glistening
“Kharkov” in their titles. church domes, its banks towering above
At 9 p. m, Moscow time, on Stalin’s the Dnieper, survived. It sprawled on the
order, 30 artillery volleys from 234 guns border between the rich, black-soiled
were to boom through the capital in south and the forested north, and their
a salvo of victory. The Germans said wealth was the plasma which always
“the evacuation is a natural measure to revived it.
shorten the front line in this area and This week Kiev lay black and tortured
will considerably improve the German again, awaiting transfusion. In its wrecked
positions.” buildings, Red Army sappers patiently
Kharkov was the greatest prize yet searched for hidden mines. In its streets,
for the summer Russian drive, which the civilian survivors toiled overtime, in a
has reached the highwater mark of last race with the approaching winter.
winter’s offensive west of Kharkov deep To recapture Kiev, the Russian
in the Ukraine. Supreme Command had picked two of
its ablest field commanders: Generals
Time Magazine, November 15, Konstantin Rokossovsky and Nikolai
1943 Vatutin. Their armies arrived before Kiev
in September, weary after the summer’s
Mother Freed cruel fighting. For many weeks, they
To Stalin’s listeners it was good to stood in an arc before the city, regained
know that Kiev was free again. strength, indifferently pounded the
For to the Russians Kiev was the enemy defenses.
“mother of cities,” Russia’s ancient Reassured, the Wehrmacht pulled
capital, a venerated center of history and some troops out of Kiev, rushed them
lore, a beloved and lovely spot. From south to help hold Krivoi Rog. Only then
Kiev, Slav buccaneers sailed on their raids did peasant-faced, tank-wise Vatutin (by
to ancient Byzantium, down the Dnieper now, for unannounced reasons, in full
and across the turbulent Black Sea. A command) give the order to attack. His
thousand years ago, Kiev’s ruler, Prince veteran troopers stood on the heights
Vladimir, was baptized in the sluggish before Kiev and wept with anger and
sorrow at the sight of flames eating 2 Filipp Ivanovich Golikov (1900–1980) 235
was a Soviet military commander. As chief of
through the city. Then, with fury in their the GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate), he is best
hearts, they swept down upon the foe. known for failing to take seriously the abundant
Tank spearheads drove through the intelligence about Nazi Germany›s plans for
city, and continued in pursuit. Behind an invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941,
either because he did not believe them or
them came the bulk of Vatutin’s army, because Joseph Stalin did not want to hear
estimated at 300,000. German garrisons them. He served in subsequent campaigns and
of some 150,000 men withdrew before was promoted to the rank of Marshal of the
the trap was sprung. In Moscow, the Red Soviet Union in 1961.
Army’s newspaper Red Star said proudly:
3 At the end of June 1942, Rommel
“History has not known such a swift commanded Afrika Korps during the Battle of
operation.” Tobruk, which was the most fortified, as it was
considered impregnable, British fortress and the
(Endnotes) main Allied bridgehead in Africa. On the night
of 20–21 June, with the very successful use of
1 In January 1943, the Soviet command bombers, Rommel’s tank columns managed to
conducted two major successful offensive overcome minefields and take Tobruk. As a result,
operations: the Ostrogozhsko-Rossoshanskaya the situation in this theatre of war changed in favor
and Voronezh-Kastornenskaya. After the loss of of Germany. Then Rommel decided to continue the
Voronezh on 25 January 1943, Kursk gained special offensive against the superior British forces, called
importance for the Germans as a transport hub, ‘Aida’, and by July 1942, parts of his army were
and a strong defence consisting of two lines was already near El Alamein, just 100 kilometers from
created. The Germans considered Kursk practically Alexandria and the Nile Delta. For the British troops
impregnable. The liberation of Kursk was entrusted it was one of the most difficult moments of the
to the 60th Army of the Voronezh Front under the entire war. 22 June 1942 Rommel was promoted
command of Major-General I.D. Chernyakhovsky to the rank of Field Marshal-General. At the same
and separate divisions of the 13th Army of time, due to lack of fuel and lack of reinforcements
the Bryansk Front. Having made a march from in manpower and materiel, the offensive of
Voronezh and having passed 200 km in 12 days, Rommel’s army stalled. At the end of October
on February 6, 1943 the units of the 60th Army 1942, when Rommel was undergoing treatment in
approached the outer defensive line. On 7 February Europe, the British began their offensive, less than
1943, early in the morning divisions of the 60th two weeks tank army ‘Africa’ was pushed back a
Army started fighting on the outer defensive line thousand kilometers back to Tunisia.
of the Germans. The enemy resisted stubbornly,
using defensive fortifications, but still could not 4 Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky (1884–1975)
resist the powerful onslaught of the Soviet troops. was a Soviet diplomat, historian and politician
Having broken through the Kursk defensive rim, the who served as the Soviet Union’s ambassador to
troops by the end of the day came directly to the the United Kingdom from 1932 to 1943, including
city, and on the night of February 8 burst into it. By much of the period of the Second World War.
the evening of February 8, 1943 the regional centre
was completely liberated. All in all during the time 5 The Anglo-Soviet Treaty, formally
of our troops’ operation on Kursk liberation the the Twenty-Year Mutual Assistance Agreement
enemy lost 8000 people killed and wounded. The Between the United Kingdom and the Union
4th tank and 82nd infantry divisions were defeated, of Soviet Socialist Republics, established
the remnants of four more infantry divisions were a military and political alliance between the Soviet
destroyed, 250 guns, 300 vehicles, hundreds of Union and the British Empire. A military alliance
thousands of shells and bombs were captured. was to last until the end of World War II, and a
political alliance was to last 20 years. The treaty
was signed in London on 26 May 1942 by British
236 Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and Soviet the Official Military Commentator of the German
Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov. Armed Forces.

6 Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in 12 Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky (30

German; 26 April 1894–17 August 1987) was September 1895 – 5 December 1977) was a Soviet
a German politician and a leading member career-officer in the Red Army who attained
of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union in
Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held 1943. He served as the Chief of the General
that position until 1941, when he flew solo to Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces (1942–1945)
Scotland in an attempt to negotiate the United and Deputy Minister of Defense during World
Kingdom›s exit from the Second World War. He War II, and as Minister of Defense from 1949
was taken prisoner and eventually convicted of to 1953. As the Chief of the General Staff from
crimes against peace. He was still serving his life 1942 to 1945, Vasilevsky became involved
sentence at the time of his suicide in 1987. in planning and coordinating almost all the
decisive Soviet offensives in World War II, from
7 William Randall Downs, Jr. (August 17, the Operation Uranus of November 1942 to
1914–May 3, 1978) was an American broadcast the assaults on East Prussia (January – April
journalist and war correspondent. He worked 1945), Königsberg (January – April 1945)
for CBS News from 1942 to 1962 and for ABC and Manchuria (August 1945).
News beginning in 1963. Throughout 1943
Downs delivered intermittent shortwave radio 13 Alexander Alexandrovich
reports on the CBS World News Roundup and Novikov (1900 – 3 December 1976) was
concurrently served as the Russia correspondent the chief marshal of aviation for the Soviet Air
for Newsweek. Forces during the Soviet Union’s involvement in
the Second World War. Lauded as “the man who
8 In October 1941, after Soviet troops has piloted the Red Air Force through the dark
left Kharkiv, he was appointed mayor of the city. days into the present limelight” and a “master of
He had no real power – groups of Bandera and tactical air power”, he was twice given the title
Melnyk supporters fought each other for power in of Hero of the Soviet Union as well as a number of
the city, and Melnyk’s police chief, B.I. Konyk (who other Soviet decorations.
later served in the SS division ‘Galicia’), had great
influence. 14 Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov (1899–
1968) was a Soviet military leader, chief marshal
9 The Battles of Rzhev were a series of the artillery (1944), and Hero of the Soviet
of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht Union (7 May 1965). He was commander of
between 8 January 1942 and 31 March 1943, artillery forces of the Red Army from 1941
on the Eastern Front of World War II. The until 1950. Voronov commanded the Soviet
battles took place in the northeast of Smolensk artillery during the Battle of Stalingrad and was
Oblast and the south of Tver Oblast, in and around the Stavka representative to various fronts during
the salient surrounding Rzhev. Due to the high the Siege of Leningrad and the Battle of Kursk. He
losses suffered by the Soviet Army, the campaign also fought in the Russian Civil War, the Polish-
became known by veterans and historians as the Soviet War and the Battle of Khalkin Gol, as well
“Rzhev Meat Grinder” as serving as an advisor to the Spanish Republican
Army during the Spanish Civil War.
10 Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (1893–
1991), was a Soviet politician and administrator, 15 Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov,
and one of the main associates of Joseph popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (1881–1969),
Stalin. He was one of several associates who was a prominent Soviet military officer and
helped Stalin to seize power. politician during the Stalin-era. He was one of the
original five Marshals of the Soviet Union, the
11 Kurt Dittmar (1891–1959) was a second highest military rank of the Soviet Union
German general in World War II, who served as (junior to the Generalissimo of the Soviet Union,
which was a post only held by Joseph Stalin), 1944, and was awarded the title of Hero of the 237
and served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Soviet Union and many other awards. He was the
Supreme Soviet, the nominal Soviet head of state, father of Soviet General Vladimir Govorov.
from 1953 to 1960.

16 Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin (1901 19 Ivan Stepanovich Konev (1897–1973)

–1944) was a Soviet military commander was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet
during World War II who was responsible for Union who led Red Army forces on the Eastern
many Red Army operations in the Ukrainian Front during World War II, responsible for taking
SSR as the commander of the Southwestern much of Axis-occupied Eastern Europe. Following
Front and of the Voronezh Front during the Battle the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941,
of Kursk. During the Soviet offensive to retake Konev took part in a series of major campaigns,
right-bank Ukraine, Vatutin led the 1st Ukrainian including the battles of Moscow and Rzhev.
Front, which was responsible for the Red Army›s Konev further commanded forces in major
offensives to the west and the southwest Soviet offensives at Kursk, in the Dnieper–
of Kiev and the eventual liberation of the city. Carpathian and Vistula–Oder offensives. In
He was ambushed and mortally wounded in February 1944, he was made a Marshal of the
February 1944 by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Soviet Union. On the eve of German defeat,
Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Front was pitted against
17 Kirill Afanasievich Meretskov (1897 the armies of Georgy Zhukov in the Race to
–1968) was a Soviet military commander served Berlin. Konev was the first Allied commander to
in the Red Army from 1920. During the Winter enter Prague, the capital of Czechoslovakia, after
War of 1939–1940 against Finland, he had the the Prague uprising.
task of penetrating the Mannerheim Line as
commander of the 7th Army. He was awarded 20 The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known
the title of Hero of the Soviet Union shortly as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky,
afterwards. The NKVD arrested Meretskov at the was a major campaign of World War II in which
start of invasion of the Soviet Union. Released the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July
two months later, he returned to command the 1943 and took it from the Axis powers. It began
7th Army and later the Volkhov Front during the with a large amphibious and airborne operation,
1941–1944 siege of Leningrad. He commanded followed by a six-week land campaign, and
the Karelian Front from February 1944, notably initiated the Italian campaign.
the Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive of October 1944. To divert some of the Axis forces to other
From April 1945 he was assigned to the Far East, areas, the Allies engaged in several deception
where he commanded a front during the Soviet operations, the most famous and successful of
invasion of Japanese Manchuria. During the war which was Operation Mincemeat. Husky began
he reached the rank of Marshal of the Soviet on the night of 9–10 July 1943 and ended on 17
Union. August. Strategically, Husky achieved the goals
set out for it by Allied planners; the Allies drove
18 Leonid Aleksandrovich Govorov (1897 Axis air, land and naval forces from the island and
–1955) was a Soviet military commander. Trained the Mediterranean sea lanes were opened for Allied
as an artillery officer, he joined the Red Army in merchant ships for the first time since 1941. These
1920. He graduated from several Soviet military events led to the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini,
academies, including the Military Academy of Red being toppled from power in Italy on 25 July, and to
Army General Staff. He participated in the Winter the Allied invasion of Italy on 3 September.
War of 1939–1940 against Finland as a senior
artillery officer. NBC program “War Telescope”
In World War II, Govorov rose to command on Russian Offensive
an army in November 1941 during the Battle
of Moscow. He commanded the Leningrad Audiofile
Front from April 1942 to the end of the war. He
reached the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union in
238

Chapter XIV Veronika banked the pechka2 and set

Fearless Women of Russia to work making gloves for the Red Army.
Time Magazine, January 11, Her factory had been bombed and she
worked at home. By midmorning it grew
1943 light and she blew out the lamp. It grew
Nichevo, Tovarish! warmer, too, and she could no longer see
her breath as she stitched quickly, trying
For generations large-familied to keep up with the new high norms. In
Russians have repeated a proverb: V past years there had been a New Year’s fir
tesnote, da Ne V Obide (Crowding is tree and presents for the children.
no discomfort). Veronika, a Moscow Christmas, the old Russian Christmas,
glovemaker, remembered it as she got was coming in a week, but there would
up from her narrow bed, stumbled over be no celebration. It was a bleak new
her sleeping daughters and lit a fire in the year that Veronika and nearly 200 million
little iron pechka in the center of the tiny other Soviet citizens faced—cold, hunger
room. It was below freezing in the room, and suffering.
water had to be left dripping to keep the There were many reasons why all the
pipes from freezing and on this, the first Veronikas of Moscow and their families
day of 1943, Veronika Popova, Russia’s had no light, no heat, little food and
Jane Smith, dressed quickly, repeating to endless work. Russia had lost:
herself a newer Russian proverb: Nichevo, Five million men, killed or maimed. A
Tovarish (Everything’s Fine, Comrade). territory larger than France, Germany and
Veronika lit her improvised lamp—a the United Kingdom combined, inhabited
cup of kerosene with a twisted thread for by some 77 million people, of whom
a wick—and made breakfast: water-thin roughly 39 million, mostly men, were
gruel, black bread and brick tea brewed evacuated and resettled. Sixty percent of
on the pechka. When it was ready she the country’s pre-war iron & coal output.
woke 16-year-old Grusha, fed her and, But Veronika and millions of her
with an endearing Nichevo, sent her off to fellow countrymen knew why the Red
work in a war plant. Eight-year-old Fanya Armies were relatively well supplied and
tied her ragged valenkis1 on her feet and were winning victories. Veronika knew
went off to school. “Nichevo, Mama, I am that: Much of Soviet industry had been
not very hungry,” she said. evacuated to the Urals and Siberia, where
There was no letter from her husband, it was producing more tons of products
but Nichevo, he had everything he than all Soviet pre-war industry. In
needed at the front. Magnitogorsk a giant new blast furnace
had been blown in, a strange, but fitting, of girl soldiers at every head-quarters and 239
Christmas present from the Russian hundreds more camped here or there,
people to themselves. Baku oil production wherever any battalion or regiment of
was 40% above 1941. the Red Army may be. Girls operate the
commissary stores of various army units.
The Evening Star, October 31, Uniformed girls prepare and serve meals
1942 in almost all the officers messes. Of
course, there are nurse and girl stretcher
Miracles of Red Army Credited bearers, even in many of the front lines.
In Large Part to Its Women There are also whole detachments of
Thousands Serve as Guards, telegraphers and telephone operators
Gunners, many of them working in exposes front-
Telegraphers, Storekeepers and sector positions.
Nurses
Brave and Determined.
In every sector of the front you find These young, apple-cheeked girl
young Russian girls in uniform. They are contribute enormously to the feeling
usually between the ages of 18 and 24. normalcy which constantly surprises you
They are husky, athletic young women. even in advanced zone of the fighting
They are proud of their posts with the front. They have happy faces. They are
Red Army, and they seem to thrive on completely self-possessed and self-
the rugged outdoor life and on hard reliant. They take the way in their young,
work and danger. They have complexions vigorous stride, and they are every bit as
which are unsurpassed anywhere in the brave and determined and self-effacing
world. They devote themselves to their as the simple Russian soldier, who
jobs with intense seriousness and great performs his duty without a murmur or
capability, yet they love laughter and questioning.
they radiate good cheer. When you drive Riding up to one advanced
out of Moscow you first meet these girls headquarters, I saw Red Army girls
standing guard on the main highways. who were living in earth caves along
Some do sentry duty with rifles. Others “Dugout boulevard” under precisely the
direct all traffic. They stand very erect same conditions as troops. They were
and cut trim figures as they snap their busy about their work, and obviously it
red flag back under the arm and sweep seemed perfectly natural to them that
their yellow flag forward in the go-ahead they should be here. In other sectors girls
signal. were camped in the woods living in tents.
Then they come to a salute as your car All are highly disciplined, and they give
passes. Every one of these Russian girls as snappy and clean-cut a salute as any
means one more man in active combat soldiers in the army.
service — and there are hundreds of These young front women in uniform
thousands of young women performing have all been carefully selected, and
tasks like this all over the Soviet Union. thousands of them have been at the front
Here along the front there are squads since the first weeks of the war. They have
240 been shelled and bombed, and although was more fun in Moscow? But Tamara
many are still only 18 or 19, they are all hastens very earnestly to correct my false
veterans today. No small number of them impression.
have been decorated. “Oh, no. We like it much better here.
In one front zone we talked with & The work is more interesting, and besides
group of girl telegraphers who have we have movies here, too. Sometimes
served on this front for 14 months. They we even have artists from Moscow, who
might well have stepped off the campus come out to entertain the soldiers. We
of any American college, except that their have everything you could want.”
cheeks were far rosier and their physiques Yes, they had been in a good many
much stronger than the average American sir raids, but they didn’t remember how
girl could boast. They wore khaki Russian many. Sometimes they worked in log
tunics, blue shirts and blue berets — as cabins, sometimes in tents or in the open
fine looking, smiling and shining-eyed in forests. Did they have any brothers in
youngsters as you could hope to meet the army? Yes, Katja had two brothers at
anywhere. the front, and Dusja had two more — and
so it went. Were any of them married?
Girls Like Life at Front. They all laughed. “There’s plenty of time
Sergt. Katja Schelbaldova acknowledged to think about getting married after the
the full total of 20 years, and on the breast war,” Katja declared, and when we were
of her tunic she wore the combat medal saying goodby it was Sergt. Katja ho said:
of merit. Katja attended a professional “Tell your American girls to come and join
telegraphers’ school in Moscow when us in fighting the war.” When we reached
she was 16, and Tamara — this pretty, Gen. Dmitri Lellushenko’s headquarters
shy and unspoiled dark-haired girl — the brigade commissar showed us into a
was her roommate. Katja and Tamara clean, cozy, three-room “guest” dugout
were graduated together, started their with the remark: “This is your house.”
telegraphers’ careers together and went to He had scarcely left us when a buxom,
war together. Dusja, this curly-haired blond girling bundle of health entered, asking
girl of 19, also went to the same school. if we cared to have tea. Clean towels lay
They have all been here on the Kalinen and folded on the pillows of our beds. It was
Rzhev fronts since last November. difficult to realize that this was a dugout
Wasn’t it pretty terrible here last in the front line and the more so when
winter? Shura, the smiling girl attendant, served
“Oh, no,” says Sergt. Katja. “We all had our meals with attention to every detail.
our valinki and army overcoats.” (Valinki Then in another sector we were served
are those marvelously warm Russian felt by none other than the general’s 17-year-
boots which the German soldiers envy so old, brown-eyed daughter. She had been
much.) Have you been home since the on a trip to an advanced post for the first
war began? “We had five days’ leave in time.
September,” Dusja says. “That was the “I had never been under a hellfire
first time in one year. We saw our families before,” Elena said. “But I wasn’t at
and we went to a movie.” I suppose life all afraid. We saw an air fight too, and
three Nazi planes were shot down. Once The Evening Star, October 22, 241
a bunch of shells came over and one 1942
exploded quite close- maybe 30 or 40 Soviet Woman Leads Her Son
yards away. I wanted to stay, but they To Battle as Regiment Captain
wouldn’t let me stay after that.” Emma Wolf Looks 30,
but She Fought With Loyalists
Afraid of Nothing but Spiders. and Was Wounded
The general, Elena’s father, had an
understandable light in his eyes as Elena By LELAND STOWE3,
talked. “I really wasn’t afraid of anything Foreign Correspondent
except the spiders,” Elena was saying. of The Star and Chicago
“There were lots of spiders and I hate Daily News.
spiders. My brother is an aviator, and I
wanted to join an anti-aircraft battery. But WITH THE RED ARMY
papa won’t let me. He says I’m too young ON THE RZHEV FRONT.
but I don’t see why. I’m very strong, and In the course of my rather variegated
I know I could shoot an anti-air gun. But journalistic gypsying. Capt. Emma will
papa says I’ve got to stay at headquarters remain unique as the only person who has
and be his librarian.” ever translated to me in three languages
This is a fair sample of the spirit of at once — at any rate, almost in one
young Russian girls who serve with the breath and all in the same paragraph.
Red Army. Many of their tasks are sheer Emma usually starts in French or Spanish,
drudgery, and in many front sectors they slips over into the other Latin tongue whenever
live under the same hard conditions as the going seems easier, and then throws in a
the soldiers themselves, but they all few 12-syllable jawbreakers in German when
do their work cheerfully and do it well. things begin to get complicated. If I could
The girl telephone operator in Gen. grasp Italian, she’d mix in some of that to
Tshantshebadza’s dugout was a perfect complete the linguistic cocktail.
example. For more than five hours she But Capt. Emma is distinguished for
sat on a stool holding the telephone much hardier accomplishments than this.
apparatus to her ear. She had to hold it She was the first woman to be assigned
to the ear all the time because she was as a commissar with front-line units of
in direct communication with the front the Red Army and she has served in front
lines When we left she was still sitting on zones most of the time since the German
the same stool, still listening intently, still invasion began.
quietly efficient. She was wounded in action and she
(Copyright, 1942, by Chicago Daily wears the decoration of the Red Star. She,
News.) her husband and her son, who was then
16, all voluntarily enlisted in the Russian
Army in the first week of war. Capt.
Emma’s husband has since been killed.
Her son is a soldier in her own regiment
here on the Rzhev front.
242 She Looks About 30. brigade commissar’s tent not far from the
It is not strictly correct to call Emma Volga. That was the day we had red caviar,
Wolf a captain. She’s really a “politruk,” onion salad, salami and real bacon. The
which is the Soviet abbreviation for only trouble was they served the bacon
political leader. But in the Red Army raw, but I was so hungry after all these
politruk has the same rank as the captain months I ate one piece raw anyhow. With
of a company. For an American it seemed a dash of vodka for a chaser it tasted fine
much simpled to describe Politruk Wolf and, meanwhile. I learned a number of
as a captain. After all, there are plenty of things about Capt. Emma and her job
captains all over the map who have done which is one of the most dangerous in
much less fighting and much less leading the Red Army. Commissars, you see and
than Capt. Emma has. especially politruks, have to lead their
You might not guess it at first glance. men in the most difficult attacks and
She’s just a slender mite of a woman; not Emma has led plenty of them.
more than 5 feet 2, I suspect, nor much
over 100 pounds in weight. She’s dark- Lives Only For Victory.
eyed, vivacious and her hair still has a “I’m a pretty small captain,” Emma
short mannish cut because it all had to said, “but if a woman is going to be a
be shaved off when she had typhus. You commissar at the front, that’s probably
would take her to be about 30, but. Emma an advantage. Anyway, whenever I lead
laughs and says you’d better add 10 years my soldiers in attack, you should see
to that figure. It would take a particularly how gladly they follow. When a woman is
bold or foolhardy person to suggest to advancing against the Fascists naturally
Capt. Emma that a woman nearing 40 the soldiers feel they must be braver than
might be too old to fight in a war. ever. I love to go with our men. They are
wonderful in battle. “Sometimes my son
Learned How to Hate. goes in the attack beside me. Then you
Before this war, Emma was in Spain. should see the soldiers when they see
Her husband was one of those anti- mother and son going forward together.
Fascist Italians who joined the Garibaldi Twice, before my husband was killed,
Battalion of the International Brigade, all three of us went into battle side by
so Emma went along too. Once she side.” There was a sudden pause and I
was apparently cut off in Bilbao but she knew this was something which did not
escaped on a submarine and at the war’s bear talking about. Once before Capt.
end she got out to France in one of the Emma had told me: “bombs and gunfire
last Loyalist airplanes. The Fascists, first in really don’t bother me. I almost always
Italy, then in Spain, taught Emma how to sleep well at the front, too. It was only after
hate. I have noticed there are extremely my husband died that I couldn’t sleep. For
few good soldiers who don’t know how one whole month, then, I couldn’t sleep at
to hate. all. Then finally I realized I must concentrate
“No, not with my revolver, with rifle or all my strength and all my thought on each
with a tommy gun, in attacks.” day’s battle. I must only live for winning the
One day we lunched together in a war.”
Fascism or Humanity. losses in dead and wounded and despite 243
So we talked about Emma’s son, all the suffering which we must yet
Vladimir, now 17, who fights as a soldier endure, the Russian women have never
but also writes articles and poems for lost their courage. “Each Russian woman
the division’s daily newspaper. “Yes,” said knows the meaning of the words of the
Capt. Emma. “It’s fine to have my boy in Spanish, patriot. Dolores Ibarruri.4 ‘It
the same division with me. But sometimes is better to die standing up than better
it makes it harder too — when I know he to die standing up than to live on your
is in an attack, somewhere not far away, knees.’”
but I can’t be with him. And I know I can’t
do my job right if I let myself keep thinking Modest Sacrifices.
about him or wondering if he will come Then Capt. Emma said something
back. Then it’s really hard. “You know,” which is one of the truest things which
Capt. Emma added earnestly, “it’s not can be said about Russia at war, yet I have
difficult to have no fear about yourself. never heard it expressed so supremely
But it’s much different, much more well: “All the sacrifices which our women
different not to have fear for someone make are made modestly — without big
you love. Yet one must remember’ that words,” Capt. Emma said.
any one life does not matter. Just as I was reminded of the millions on
one must remember that this war is not millions of Russian women who labor
Fascism or Bolshevism. This war is only 10 or 12 hours daily, and often more, in
one thing— Fascism or humanity.” factories of all kinds; of other millions of
women who planted, tended and have
Message for Americans. just harvested all of the Soviet Union’s
Sitting across the table from me in a crops and food supplies; of women train
tent, she was just a slender little woman conductors, trolley and bus and subway
— who might have been sitting at home drivers; of the army of young women who
except that she, Emma Wolf, could not have chopped millions of cords of wood
possibly be sitting anywhere so long in the past few months to fuel Russia’s
as this war is on. She did not dramatize war efforts this winter; of girls who police
herself. She did not indulge in gestures the roads and those who man the entire
or postures. She was simply here at the antiaircraft batteries around Moscow
front because that was the one place she and other cities, and of the many other
wanted to be — and because she knows Russian women who have enabled
why. If enough people understood why, millions of men to take their place in the
how much sooner this war might be army and similar active war positions.
won— “Fascism, or humanity.” But Capt. Emma had not quite finished:
On another day I asked Capt. Emma “They do this,” she said simply, “out of
if she thought of anything she would like the necessity of their hearts.” These
to say to American women. “I would like words too were not meant to be big.
American women ‘to know,” she said, But when words are really big, they just
“that we have fought a very hard war for are. The next day came the time to say
16 months now: Yet, despite our great dosvydanya — Russian for au revoir. Capt.
246 Emma was returning to her regiment But she instantly understood what he was
and we were leaving that sector of the thinking and feeling and, throwing herself
front. Standing beside three big Russian down on her knees beside him, swore
officers, she looked astonishingly small, that it made no difference to her. On the
even in her coffee-gray army overcoat. contrary, she would love him ten million
She waved and smiled and waved again. times more. She took him home and
Thinking about it, as Ivan the Terrible carefully nursed his pride and his wounds.
steered us over the badlands’ ruts and Now, with his mechanical legs and arms,
bumps, it occurred to me that only one he looks like a human being once more
kind of people have the right to use and is gradually coming back to life.
the word humanity. Capt. Emma would Eventually, he will even be able to teach,
always be one of these. for that was his profession before the war.
These are but a handful of the stories I
Colliers, November 7, 1942 heard from some of the women I talked
Fearless Women of Russia to at random; all of them played down
the roles that were thrust upon them
By Irina Skaryatina by the war. Every woman has a story
to tell, whether she is a president of
The Man Who Almost Lost Love a soviet, typist, housewife, streetcar
“And there is the case of the man who had driver, hotel maid or worker. For they
been severely maimed and did not want are of the people, and their lives taken
his wife to see him or even know where he collectively are the life of Russia today.
was. ‘She would stop loving me and I could The women of Russia know no fear.
not stand that,’ he explained. ‘Nothing is They are fighting shoulder to shoulder
half so important to me as losing her love; with their men for their homes in towns
so I’d rather she never saw me again, and villages. They have pledged all their
but remembered me as I used to be.’ strength to the destruction of the enemy.
“Meanwhile, his wife was frantically Millions of Russia’s women have proved
looking for him everywhere. And then their strength, their power of endurance,
one day when she had almost given up their contempt of death, and their will to
hope, she found him sitting in front of help bring about the final decisive victory.
a hospital, bundled up in a wheel chair.
With a cry of joy she rushed to him and (Endnotes)
began kissing and hugging him. She told
me she could not understand at first why 1 Valenki are traditional Russian winter
footwear, essentially felt boots: the
he did not put out his arms and hug her name valenok literally means «made by felting”.
too. Then suddenly she realized that there They are not water-resistant, and are often worn
was something the matter and pulled off with galoshes to protect the soles from wear and
his blanket. Both his arms and legs were moisture.
gone. “She said she will never forget the
2 Stove
look on his face. It was that of a frightened
little boy, ashamed and hurt. He burst 3 Stowe Leland (1899 -1994) — American
into tears shouting, “Go away, go away”. journalist, winner of several Pulitzer Prizes. After
graduating in 1921, he worked as a European 247
columnist for the New York Tribune, and as a war
correspondent for the Chicago Daily News and
the New York Post. In 1930 he was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the reparations
conference in The Hague. In 1933 he visited
Berlin, after which he wrote a series of anti-
fascist articles that no American periodical at the
time agreed to publish. In 1940 he was awarded
the Pulitzer Prize for his work as a frontline
correspondent during the first months of World
War II and his coverage of the Soviet-Finnish
War. In 1942 he visited the USSR and travelled
to the front together with I. Ehrenburg. These
reports became one of the best examples of war
journalism. In the post-war period L. Stowe’s diary
notes from 1939-1945 were published.

4 Isidora Dolores Ibárruri Gómez (9

December 1895 – 12 November 1989),
also known as Pasionaria, “the passionate
one” or Passion flower”, was a Spanish
Republican politician of the Spanish Civil War of
1936–1939 and a communist known for her
slogan ¡No Pasarán! («They shall not pass!”)
issued during the Battle for Madrid in November
1936.
248

Chapter XV The sea approaches to Leningrad

Heroism and Tragedies were threatened as German naval and
of Leningrad Luftwaffe parties battered their way
onto the stubbornly defended Estonian
Islands, Oesel, Vormsi and Moon. The
Time Magazine, September 29, Finns put new pressure on the sea fort of
1941 Hanko. German warships were reported
steaming into the Baltic to smoke the Red
World War: Peter Mikhailov’s Fleet and its stinging artillery out of the
Love Gulf of Finland.
Little Peter hated water: every time The city Peter had built to be near the
he passed over a bridge he trembled with sea was now threatened from the sea.
fear. But when little Peter grew up to be
Peter the Great he fell madly in love with The Washington Post, July 27,
water. Last week that love bore ironic 1941
fruit.
A few years after he became Tsar,
Leningrad Is Difficult to Defend
Peter began to woo the sea. He learned
on a Russian lake how to trim a sheet WHEN Peter the Great transformed
and ease a tiller. Later he went to Holland an insignificant Russian frontier village
disguised as Peter Mikhailov, able-bodied into the great fortress city of Leningrad
seaman, there took a job in shipyards and two and a half centuries ago, he called it
learned how to warp gnarled oak into Russia’s “window on the west.”
clean ship shape with his own hands. He As reconstructed, the “window” had
learned navigation, piloting, naval tactics. the strongest of iron bars. It became
He went back to Russia and pushed his known as virtually impregnable. So secure
country’s borders to the Baltic Sea. Then, were the czars behind its walls that they
by the Baltic Peter built the beginnings of made it capital of all Russia and gave
his favorite city, St. Petersburg. The town it a glittering, brilliant court. Napoleon
grew, and Peter gave it a fortress touching reckoned it too strong and invaded Russia
the water — great Kronstadt. Peter called from Poland. Even in 1914, Germany
the place his “paradise” eventually moved avoided It, attacked from a different
his capital there, by the water. direction.
Last week, the third of Leningrad’s The Leningrad of 1941, second city
siege, Kronstadt’s huge guns were silenced of Russia, is a far cry from the Leningrad
by Nazi artillery and dive-bombers. of earlier years — so different, in fact,
that most military men consider it more in the city’s defense, rendered useless in 249
vulnerable to attack than any other large the case of a land at- tack is the fortress
city in the world. Almost on the frontier, of Kronstadt, built by Peter in 1704 on an
it stands out like a sore thumb inviting: island 20 miles west of the city.
bomber attacks from the west. Natural A force of close to a million men is
defenses against a land army are little required to defend Leningrad — a city
better than a series of swamps and lakes worth defending for many reasons besides
and marshes, many of which have been its numerous concentrated industries,
drained. High ground exists nowhere. railroad terminals, armament factories
FOR some strange reason Leningrad is and trade facilities. Its greatest value to
cursed with more galvanized iron roofing the Soviet lies however, in its position —
than any other city in Europe. Such it is a stumbling block on what other- wise
material is duck soup for bombers The might be an easy road to Moscow.
big wharves along the crowded, winding LENINGRAD, as a great city, dates back
waterfront always are crowded with to 1702. In that year, Peter the Great
lumber barges headed for the Baltic on marched on the village at the head of
along the Neva River canal and the Volga the Finnish Gulf, took it away from the
for Moscow. These are more duck soup Swedes and built himself a comfortable
for bombers. log house. Then he brought thousands of
Any enemy force, especially with serfs from all parts of the empire and set
the aid of Finland, has simple strategy them to work driving myriad log piles into
cut out for it. It must concentrate on the swampy land for the foundation of
encirclement of the city from the south- the modern Leningrad. From his cabin he
west, then gradual envelopment until directed the building of the great fortress
the great capital of the czars has been of St. Peter and St. Paul — a stone bastion
cut off from its precious rail and water conceived as a keystone of defense
communications with the rest of Russia. against any preying enemy. Palaces, parks
An army successful in this operation has and broad boulevards were constructed,
Leningrad at its mercy for Leningrad but disease and hardship claimed the
cannot live long without food and lives of so many workers that the city was
ammunition produced elsewhere. said to be built on bones.
RUSSIA’S air-sea bases on both sides NUMEROUS rail lines serve the
of the Gulf of Finland, newly acquired, twentieth century city, particularly
give the city partial protection against a important to a Russia-at-war because of
modern war machine, but even they serve its munitions, machinery, precision tool
as much to draw attack as to prevent it. and instrument plants. In its ware-houses,
Josef Stalin also had hoped the newly blockaded by battle are great stores of
acquired buffer states of Latviа, Lithuania timber, grain, flax, hemp, vegetable oils,
and Estonia would offer additional leather, furs and copper.
defenses for the vulnerable metropolis — An estimated 3,200,000 inhabitants
but the blitz pace of the German army was give Leningrad rank as Russia’s second
not a matter of common understanding at city, although its population dropped to
the time of their acquisition. Another link less than a million during the 1916-1920
250 period when revolutionary strife and line, made good use of a low semicircle
political confusion led to a mass exodus. of heights 15 miles to the south of the
For two centuries the city was city. “Still shooting from all barrels,” as
known as St. Petersburg, named after Nazi correspondents admitted, Marshall
its founder. In 1914, with Russia at odds Voroshilov’s defenders repeatedly
with Germany, the name was changed to counterattacked. He announced that his
Petrograd, because Peter the Great was forces had beaten off a minor German
descended from a German family. The sea raid on the Kronstadt naval base, and
Bolsheviks renamed it in honor of Lenin claimed the capture of three villages,
in 1924. It thus becomes significant that destruction of over 200 German tanks,
present German communiques refer to 10,000 soldiers, on the outskirts of the
the city at St. Petersburg. defense line.
Within Leningrad the population
Time Magazine, September 22, became, according to Izvestia, “a wall of
1941 steel and concrete barring the enemy
at the entrance.” Listening to the radio,
World War: Two Sieges the defenders heard a broadcast from
London’s conservative BBC:
Last week at opposite ends of the “Lionhearted Leningrad, city of the
Russian Front, the German Army besieged Revolution. London is with you. . . .
two Russian cities: London salutes the heroes of Leningrad.
Lionhearted Leningrad. Rain and the . . . Victory is yours. Long live Leningrad!”
first snow, driving Field Marshal Ritter Bloody Odessa. For five weeks the
von Leeb’s northern forces like Hitler’s Rumanians under General Ion Antonescu
fury, impeded German and Finnish efforts have laid siege to the Black Sea port of
to close the ring around Leningrad (see Odessa. Locked within the city, whose
map). present population is 605,000, is part
Admitting that “hunger and internal of bogey-mustachioed Marshal Semion
confusion as aids in breaking the Russian Budenny’s Southern Army which
resistance” were unpredictable elements, retreated there after being chased out
the Germans undertook a heavy and of Bessarabia last month. They claim to
lengthy bombardment of the city. All have killed thousands of Antonescu’s
day long-range Nazi cannon, skulking in Rumanians. Every now & then, they say,
ash-colored Karelian soil, cracked high a placard reading “Cease Fire and Take
explosives into Leningrad’s defenses. Away Your Dead” has to be hoisted.
All night the Eighth Air Corps and the Bloodletting is nothing new to
ugly “black beetles” of the Luftwaffe’s Odessa. During the Crimean War it was
smart Richthofen Squadron dealt out unsuccessfully attacked by the Franco-
destruction, until the night glowed red British Allies in 1854; later it was muffed
with fire and death. by the Turks in the Russo-Turkish troubles
Besieged in Leningrad, Marshal of 1876-77. In an unforgettable silent
Klimenti Voroshilov, establishing active film, Director Sergei Eisenstein recorded
defense positions far forward of the main the Cossack slaughter and pogroms
which followed the mutinied battleship’s 1919, when the Whites were pressing the 251
landing (1905) at Odessa’s port. After the Seventh Red Army northward into the
Bolshevik Revolution the city was in turn city. But the words echoed like a great
occupied by Austrian, German and French roar in the labyrinth last week.
forces, and the monstrous General Simon After five weeks of siege, the defenders
Petlure (whose murderer a French jury in were still firm in their decision. Wherever
1926 acquitted and fined one franc) also the German wave seemed to lick too
had his whacks. Finally in 1920 the Reds close, the Russians scooped it back a
took it from the Whites. little. They used a new armored train as a
This time Odessa has dug in for another battering ram for their attacks, and inside
bloody event. For trench digging, 100,000 the city workers labored day and night
spades have been manufactured in the toward the completion of two more such
caviar and sturgeon canning factories trains. One Russian lunge drove back the
within, the past six weeks. Its defenders German right wing, restoring the line to
have been busy manufacturing “Molotov its position in early September. The Reds
cocktails” (impromptu bombs) out of sneaked across Lake Ladoga and the Gulf
jam and fish cans; hatchets; crowbars; of Finland in small boats to harass the
homemade armored cars. A sign in German flanks. The Germans seemed to
the telegraph office reads: “We do not be digging in almost defensively—with
guarantee time of arrival.” half-buried tanks as pillboxes.
It looked as if the Germans, unless
Time Magazine, October 13, they waited for the city to be starved
1941 out, would be unable to crack Leningrad
without a major offensive. At this stage of
World War: Leningrad the Battle of Russia they seem unable to
the Labyrinth mount more than one offensive at a time.
This week’s was not aimed at Leningrad.
Bursting into this gigantic city the
[enemy] will come into a stone labyrinth, Time Magazine September 28,
where every house will be for them either 1942
a riddle, or a threat, or a mortal danger.
Whence can they expect a blow? From the
A Million Have Died
window? From the attic? From the cellar? Sorrow for Stalingrad tempered
From around the corner? Everywhere. Russia’s somber pride in Leningrad. The
At our disposition are rifles, machine tsar-made city on the Baltic, entering
guns, hand grenades. We can cover some its second year of siege, presented to
streets with barbed-wire entanglements, Russia and the world an epic of agony
leave others open and turn them into and heroism which in its duration and
traps. It is only necessary that some sustained intensity exceeded even the
thousands of men should firmly decide siege of Sevastopol.
not to give tip. . . . One year ago, Field Marshal Wilhelm
Leon Trotsky wrote these words about Ritter von Leeb threw three armies
the defense of Leningrad in October around the city. He failed to take it by
252 storm. He then settled down to reduce it Time Magazine, January 31,
by attrition. Early in the siege, warehouses 1944
chocked with food enough for three years End of Siege
were destroyed by German bombers. The
air was acrid with burning wheat. Gutters At 9:20 on a misty morning the signal
ran with melted chocolate. came. As the men moved out, they
A terrible decision had to be made— saw silhouetted the massive St. Isaac’s
who should eat? From limited food Cathedral, the battered Admiralty, the
stocks, soldiers and defense workers grey ships on the Neva. On the broad, cold
were fed enough to keep them going. Nevski Prospect the passers-by guessed:
The rest of the city’s 3,000,000 men, the hour was near.
women & children were given only 125 Then all of Leningrad listened
grams of bread a day — about a slice and breathlessly to the music of battle. Like
a half. From starvation, cold, disease and moles the Germans had burrowed deep
German bombs more than 1,000,000 into the alien earth; now thousands of
died. The rest fought on. tons of explosives dug them out.
The major part of its vast machine- Victory’s Pattern. The Russians struck
tool, precision-instrument and other from two points at once. One column
industries had been moved beyond the drove south from the city. Another
Urals. So Leningrad, to produce its own pushed out from the tiny beachhead at
guns and shells, had to depend on the Oranienbaum, 25 miles from Leningrad.
remaining fraction of its industries. Before both columns a broom of TNT
The sacrifice helped prevent the swept a clear path.
German from shattering Russia’s By the fourth day, the enemy’s
Murmansk supply route and enabled defenses had been breached, his men put
Russia to keep Kronstadt, its last base to flight. Then the two wedges became
in the Baltic. From Kronstadt Russian iron jaws, crushing the thin German
submarines and other survivors of the salient still left between them. By the
Red Fleet last week were still harassing eighth day, Red units had taken a railroad
Axis ships in the Gulf of Finland. On the to Moscow, were headed for the second.
Karelian Isthmus Russian soldiers were In the Pulkovo Hills and south
still holding off Finnish assaults. Leeb’s Oranienbaum, the Germans fought their
armies, which once had plunged 125 hardest: their trenches were deep, mine
miles east, now had been pushed back fields vast, artillery plentiful. Now little
100 miles and were holding a corridor was left of these defenses, and the snowy
only eight miles wide stretching north to road across the hills was blotched with
Lake Ladoga . Against both sides of the dark, ragged craters. Over the rear German
corridor the Russians were pressiing hard. positions, pounded by Russian bombers,
A talisman in time of Russia’s distress, black ack-ack puffs spotted the milky sky.
Leningrad stood firm. This pitted, tortured soil was Russia’s
proudest. At Ropsha Peter the Great built
a magnificent palace. At Krasnoye Selo
Alexander Suvorov, the 18th century hero,
trained his men and shouted: “Battles are The Evening Star, Junе 21, 1944 253
not won in offices.” At Peterhof the Czars Leningrad Is Normal, But War
kept their priceless works of art. Now the at Its Worst Is Not Far Distant
palaces and treasures had been wrecked,
looted. But Russian soil was back in By David M.Nichols
Russian hands. War Correspondent of The Star and
Victory’s Rewards. Black columns of Chicago Daily News.
weary, stunned prisoners straggled into LENINGRAD, June 20 (Delayed). -A
Leningrad. The passers-by laughed and trip to the Leningrad front is a fantastic
shouted. For this was a great victory: an combination of an intourist tour. A
880-day siege had been lifted, 25,000 summer picnic and war at its most
Germans (according to Moscow) had horrible.
been killed in six days, 85 huge siege guns Your base is the famous Hotel Astoria
had been captured. The Baltic Fleet was across the square from the Immense bulk
free again to sail into the Gulf of Finland. of St. Isaac’s Cathedral which outwardly,
Red columns were pressing toward at least, is undamaged, and the rambling
Estonia 56 miles away. brown- stone building of the former
Credit for victory went to the planner: German consulate, which is now serving
General Leonid Govorov, plump, short, a much more humane purpose.
middleaged, with unruly hair and a You taste excellent food and sleep in
Hitlerian mustache. In 1940 this artillery clean white beds in rooms where there
expert helped to open a corridor into is running water several hours daily-
Leningrad, broke the Germans’ partial no mean achievement in itself. In the
blockade but did not — as accounts at the evenings, you go to the opera or to ballet
time wrongly indicated — actually free concerts by distinguished Leningrad
the city. Until this month, German shells companies, or poke through bookstores,
tore daily into Leningrad’s brick-and- which are overflowing compared to those
mortar flesh, and its defenders rode to in Moscow.
the front in streetcars. More than a million
had died of cold and hunger since Field Winter Palace Windowless.
Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb’s army In the morning, you set out in a
first besieged the city in 1941. Last week, column of jeeps, past the Winter Palace,
after their long torture, the survivors of which has hardly a single pane of glass
Leningrad could hardly believe that the in all its multitudinous windows, past
siege had ended. Already there was talk the damaged hermitage across the Neva
of making the city beautiful again. But on River, past the Fortress of Peter and Paul
many a wall a sign still warned: “Citizens, and out along a suburban road which has
this side of the street is dangerous during every appearance of normalcy.
shelling.” The villages have been inhabited
all along. Streetcars now serve them
regularly. Summer homes for youngsters
are operating. Fields are cultivated to the
last square inch.
254 The procession travels along through The crowning touch is supplied by
sandy rolling country in the warm summer the feminine contingent. When it
air, freshened by the recent rain and the was proposed that the trip should be
proximity of the Finnish Gulf. extended two or three more days,one
Then suddenly you are at war again. of two women correspondents walled
Torn wire lines, blasted forests and despondently: “How can it? I haven’t
trenches mark the initial Finnish positions. any more lingerie.” In justice it should be
The Astoria Hotel has thoughtfully said that that same woman once rode all
provided & basket of cheese, ham and night across the Stalingrad steppes in an
caviar sandwiches and vodka, which unheated ambulance at 40 below zero.
you enjoy on the green hillside, actually (Copyright, 1944, by Chicago Daily
within the invisible line of fortifications. News.)
After lunch you go on to more pillboxes.
 255

Chapter ХVI of warfare in their invasions of sparsely

Russia’s Invisible army. Inhabited countries or regions occupied
Newsweek, August 11, 1941 by civilized peoples or barbaric tribes.
Partisan Warfare: Reds Improve In our own country were developed
special types of guerrilla warfare in our
an Old Weapon Indian, Revolutionary, and Civil Wars.
Maj. Gm. STEPHEN O. FUQUA, USA. And, in the Philippines, guerrilla war fare,
Retired in whirl which this observer had much
experience, was praised to by both sides
Partisan warfare such as the Russians in the Americas pacification of these
are carrying on has played a part in many islands.
fierce struggles for national existence But in Russia there is developing
to supplement or extend the more both in pattern and technique, a type
usual combat, or to prolong resistance of partisan warfare which is interwoven
when the army has been destroyed. into the strategical defense system of
It embodies raids, arson, ambushes, the country. Unlike their counterparts
sniping, and sabotage in all of its varied In China, where the military stalemate
forms. has encouraged guerrilla warfare, the
This type of warfare, generally labeled Russians are fighting great defensive
guerrilla but more properly known as battles as delaying actions calculated to
partisan, is carried on by small independent halt the German advance. When these
or semi-independent forces, operating means are successful and the enemy
against a greatly superior enemy and in stopped, harassing tactics follow If
employing hit-and-run tactics. The object the Invader weakens, a counterattack is
is not only to harass the enemy but to delivered; should he retreat, all effort in
delay his advance, causing loses through directed toward a pursuit.
attrition and gnawing at or destroying Although guerrilla warfare is an
his lines of communication and supply. integral part of the Soviet defense plan, it
Mobility, enterprise, courage, versatility, is at this time a secondary measure only
and reliability of the Individual members as an aid to the defenders in resisting the
of the group at what really count. Success invader. It is being carried on by hands of
is usually attained by employment of peasants, organized and armed by the
numerous small detachments under government for that purpose, and also by
versatile subordinates controlled from hands of regular soldiers when the larger
above by an experienced high command. units become isolated and broken up.
All armies have experienced this type Strange to say, modern warfare as
256 conducted by the Germans encourages Soviet partisans bands as well as by the
guerrilla fighting due to the opportunities Red Army would find himself in a perilous
presented by the Nazi tactics of situation to meet a Russian winter.
penetration and infiltration, particularly
because of their employment of large This Week, April 5, 1942
panzer forms that separate into small RUSSIA’S INVISIBLE ARMY
combat units. The isolated maneuvers of
the small German tank units operating If they’re caught — death! But Red
behind the Russian main lines in Army guerrillas don’t stop fighting.
spearhead drives and the presence of Men, women, youngsters — they
large bodies of Russian troops in the back harass German lines and rip up Hitler’s
areas which have been cut off from their timetables
commands, afford opportunities for both OUR forces have retaken the town of
the “irregulars and regulars to engage in K.” Whenever you read that in a Soviet
their own type of partisan warfare. communique, don’t be too sure it is a
These situations have permitted mere statement of fact. Very likely “Town
the Russians to resort to guerrilla-type K” prime is a code expression conveying
warfare in all its varied forms and on a a secret order to the Russian guerrillas
scale perhaps never before contemplated behind the German lines. For these
as an element of a defense system. But valiant fighters are far from scattered,
these guerrilla tactics are used only unorganized bands: they are a huge,
as an expedient in regions not wholly integrated fighting force, and their orders
subjugated by the Nazis. The “scorched come straight from Moscow.
earth” policy comes into action later and Never in history have guerrillas played
is applicable only to territory about to fall such an important part as they do in Russia
into the hands of the invader. That the today. They form an underground front
activities of the Russian partisan hands behind the front, and are everywhere
are beginning to tell up on the Germans and nowhere. They are more dangerous
is evidenced in reports from Berlin which than flame throwers and dive bombers
characterize these groups as “bandits” because no sound betrays their lightning
and “wild men,” accuse them of using approach. They cover every inch of the
“illegal stratagems and not “fighting hinterland, and as quick as they come,
fairly,” and label their acts “murderous, they disappear in the forest mist. They are
inhuman cruelties. But it is natural that at least as much responsible for German
guerrilla tactics should offend the leaders reverses this winter as the stinging cold
of the highly organized German war ma of the steppes and the death-defying
chine, and particularly so became one of gallantry of the Soviet soldiers. They are
the great aims of the Russian partisans known as the “partisans,” and Russia is
is to halt the German advance and force full of their praise. There may be millions
the invader to change from of movement of them, operating in large formations as
to position warfare. Then, if this should well as in small units.
come to pass, Hitler, with his long lines of What kind of people are these
communication and supply, harassed by partisans? Gray-haired mujiks rub
shoulders with boys and girls in their have been trained as partisans, we are 257
teens. Fathers and sons, mothers and told. “Proletarian Rifle Divisions” are
daughters are fighting side by side. regular features of Moscow Red Square
Some of the old-timers are veterans parades. Thousands of their civilian
of World War I. To many of the others members march in company formations,
that war is scarcely a memory. There armed with rifles. The technique of
was, for instance, Alexander Tchekalın, guerrilla warfare, how to read maps, how
aged 16, whose name has become a to find one’s way by compass, are being
byword throughout the Soviet Union. He taught by the organization known as
operated near his native village, and fear “Osoaviachim” with millions of members.
was unknown to him. He threw sticks of For years young Russia has been learning
dynamite at German tanks, sniped at Nazi parachute jumping, has been toughened
patrols from behind hayricks. But one day up by all kinds of mass sports. Even
he was cornered in a peasant’s hut; he women and children have been taught to
decided to smash his way to freedom or handle rifles.
to sell his life dearly. With a grenade in his “Every bush, every peasant house
hand, he met the Nazis halfway. shoots at you,” German soldiers
The hand grenade turned out to be complain. “The entire civilian population
a dud; the Germans hanged the boy. of the occupied territories has risen,” a
The Soviet government decorated him German-controlled Belgian newspaper
posthumously with the highly-coveted wailed the other day. “The remarkable
Order of Lenin, and the title of “Hero of gifts of ingenuity and organization.
the Soviet Union,” the nation’s greatest Front-line Red soldiers often notice
honors. that the enemy’s fire is suddenly reversed,
Some of the partisan commanders scouring the rear. Then they know that
are regular-army officers, while others partisan fighters are at work behind the
are just plain village folk. “Division X of Nazi lines. The guerrillas seek to shear off
the Red Army has been destroyed,” the German supply lines, cut tank units from
German high command would announce. their fuel base. Isolated from the rear, the
But Division X was destroyed only as a Germans must turn their tanks into forts
visible unit; it would turn up behind the and shoot it out until their ammunition is
lines as a sector of the great invisible exhausted or reinforcements arrive.
army, commanded by its own officers. The partisans dig traps for the enemy’s
Beggar’s rags may be a general’s uniform mechanized forces, destroy bridges,
among the partisans, and a colonel may tunnels, viaducts, railway tracks, set fire to
be a flashing-eyed woman. Common oil and food stores, ammunition dumps,
peasant commanders sometimes flour mills. They snipe at occupation
reveal remarkable gifts of ingenuity and garrisons, at reserves moving up to the
organization. front, at retreating formations. They decoy
The partisans have their nameless entire regiments into swampy wasteland,
Napoleons. The Soviets have long been and then destroy vital military objectives
preparing for just this type of warfare. Not in their absence.
fewer than 40,000,000 of their citizens Small groups of partisans sneak up
260 to German field headquarters, slaughter line is not continuous. Messengers are
their staffs. A typical case of partisan sometimes disguised as peasant women,
work was that of “Commander” a prime carrying water from the well. Radio
chairman of a local Soviet, who captured transmission is also employed on a large
the railway station “G.” In less than half scale. The Russian high command had
an hour his men destroyed miles of a large section of the western country
telephone and telegraph wires, railroad wired for underground telephone before
tracks, the water pump, then set the the war, preparing for such a contingency.
station on fire. Noncombatant peasants are also
When the Russian army was retreating serving the partisans. The vast behind-
last year, it was the partisans who the-lines operations could not be
completed its scorched-earth policy. They successful without their active help.
saw to it, too, that their countrymen’s They transmit prearranged signals to the
morale in the occupied land should not fighters; their women cook and do the
sag. They are largely responsible for the laundry of the partisans. The guerrillas
fact that no Quislings have been found also have their secret newspapers in the
by the Germans, for they maintain occupied country, such as the celebrated
an underground government, punish “Stalinist Post,” which not merely spreads
treason and execute the Soviet law while news but also builds up morale and
the regular government is absent. passes on orders.
Recently the partisans have devised
new ways to render the enemy’s life Honored
unbearable. They are flooding the Nazis’ CITATIONS for partisan work are very
line of retreat, turning it into a sheet of ice, frequent in Russian military bulletins.
paralyzing the machines of war. They are The Order of Lenin and the title Hero of
littering the highways with multi-pointed the Soviet Union have been conferred on
iron barnacles that pierce the tires. They many of them.
construct fake artillery positions in the Not fewer than a million Germans are
rear to keep the retreating Nazis worrying fighting the partisans behind the lines,
and guessing. the Russians say. The punishment of the
The partisans have their own special guerrillas is hanging. “You are hereby
war machines, which they call the ordered,” the commander of the 123rd
“tatchanka”. They may be tractors or German Infantry Division, Major General
combines (harvesters and threshers), the Rauch, instructed subordinates recently,
number of which is legion in the Soviet “to leave the executed guerrillas hanging
Union. The weapons mounted on them for a certain time in public squares.”
are of a wide range. Rifles of Crimean War It is only seldom that a partisan
vintage are no rarity, but they also have captured by the Germans lives to tell
flame throwers and planes. the story of his exploits. But this is what
Many of the partisan forces are in happened to a young partisan whom
constant touch with one another, as well newspapermen recently found in the
as with units of the regular army. This is zone reoccupied by the Red Army. “When
rendered possible because the Russian the Nazis captured him, they told him to
walk away from them. Five steps away the “Whites.” In an effort to combat 261
they shot at him, and the bullet passed bolshevism, foreign countries dispatched
through his neck and out of the mouth. expeditionary forces to Russia. Time was
He fell down, wounded, and pretended short and it would have taken long to
to be dead. The Germans piled snow on set up a regular army. The Soviet leaders
him, shot a bullet into the mound to be appealed to the peasants to prevent
sure that he was dead. This bullet only the return of the old order, and they
grazed his right hand. After a while he got organized guerrillas. Some of the partisan
up, took refuge in a friendly village, until leaders have become legendary figures.
Red soldiers drove the Nazis back. The Soviet leaders have never
The Germans scour the guerrilla forgotten the lesson of the Civil War. They
countryside in reconnaissance planes, have put the theory of partisan warfare
followed by bombers. They set fire to to practical tests on different occasions.
woods sheltering partisan forces. They They trained Spanish loyalists in the art
burn villages and execute hostages. Even of partisan warfare. Even greater success
so, wise commanders have found it safer attended their work in China, where
to take long detours around forests and they helped to train the famous Eighth
to patronize well-protected highways. Route Army in partisan methods. Chinese
Partisan warfare is fully in line with partisans have been working for years
Russian traditions. It was the partisans behind the Japanese lines.
who turned Napoleon’s retreat from As soon as the Germans launched
Moscow into a rout. As long as half a their attack on the Soviet Union last June,
century ago, Lenin himself advocated the the partisans got down to work. Less than
formation of such units in the Czarist army a fortnight later the Nazis were well on
to spread confusion in its ranks. Partisans the way to Leningrad and Moscow, and
did some very effective work behind the nothing seemed to be able to halt the
lines in the Russian Revolution of 1905, formidable juggernaut. It was on July 3 that
which followed the disastrous Russo- Joseph Stalin appealed to the partisans to
Japanese War. When the Communists launch an all-out counterattack and help
became a strong force they formed their save the Soviet Union. At that time this
own militia, a secret military organization. was thought by many outside observers
The collapse of the Czar’s armies during an admission of weakness and perhaps
the First World War was in no small even of impending doom. In reality, Stalin
measure caused by deserters who turned was merely calling upon the vast reserves
guerrilla against their own forces. of civilian strength the Soviets had been
accumulating for just such an emergency.
Early Red Partisans The response of the people surpassed the
THE partisans’ great day came with the most optimistic expectations. Instead of
end of World War I. Enemies closed in on turning against their government, as the
all sides. The Bolshevik government was Germans had expected, the inhabitants
fighting for its very life. Several armies of the occupied regions rose as one man
converged upon Leningrad and Moscow, against the invaders.
led by counterrevolutionary leaders, “You cannot hang us all,” young
262 partisan Alexander Tchekalin1, whose . . . together with guerrillas . . . struck an
name has already been mentioned, told unexpected blow. . . In October several
his hangmen under the gallows. “There guerrilla detachments in the Tarnopol
are too many of us; we will win.” The region blew up 33 enemy troop trains,
words may be apocryphal. Just the same, two armored trains and a railway bridge.
they have been inscribed in the history . . . At the beginning of November the
books of partisan warfare. The Germans Germans sent out a large punitive
failed to reach Leningrad, Moscow and expedition against one of the guerrilla
Sevastopol, and for their failure the detachments. In a two-day engagement
partisans deserve much of the credit. the Soviet patriots wiped out more than
The part they have played, living in the 100 enemy officers and men and forced
shadow of the gallows, is a great epic of the enemy to retreat.”
the Russo-German War. When the Wehrmacht retreats, the
partisans retreat with it—harassing,
Time Magazine, November 29, dynamiting, killing, raiding villages and
1943 towns, ambushing supply columns,
cutting telegraph lines. This war of stealth
World: Armies of the Forest is not entirely haphazard; a thoroughly
organized Central Staff of the Partisan
In peacetime Russia, Peter and Elena Movement coordinates attack, and keeps
Ignatov led a quiet, homey life. But the in touch with the many “armies,” partly
war altered all that. Killing has become by courier and partly by radio. But of
their trade; they pursue it with the necessity the control is loose, and the
matter-of-factness with which Peter once guerrilla leaders usually choose their own
tinkered with engines and Elena mended tactics, make their own decisions.
her sons’ torn garments. Today, Peter’s is No one but the Central Staff knows
one of Russia’s busiest guerrilla “armies”; the total guerrilla strength, but it must
Elena is one of his killers. run into hundreds of thousands. In the
Their exploits have made them Army of the Bryansk Forest alone, 3,200
national figures. Pravda honored the men and women won guerrilla and Red
Ignatovs in an editorial. The same issue Army decorations. Other “Armies of the
announced that seven partisans had been Forest” — between Kiev and Zhitomir in
made Heroes of the Soviet Union. Two of the Pripet Marshes, in White Russia and
the seven were Peter’s sons: they had the Crimean Peninsula — are as big, or
died blowing up a Nazi ammunition train. bigger.
War of Stealth. No gun salvos in Complex Foe. Most of the Partisans
Moscow record the guerrilla’s exploits: today fight with captured rifles, hand
they are small victories, pinpricks in a war grenades, machine guns. The larger units
of titans. But enough pinpricks can bleed, employ German-made artillery and tanks.
exhaust, inflict painful wounds. Last Scarce items — medicines, winter clothes,
week, a Soviet communiqué recorded shoes — are supplied by Red Army
these pinpricks: planes and parachutes. An air shuttle
“In the Cherkassy direction our troops service flies doctors and Army officers
into guerrilla territory, flies the wounded 263
out. The bigger “armies” operate their
own bakeries, hospitals, community
bathhouses. Many mimeograph and
distribute their own newspapers.
The Wehrmacht has burned down
forests where guerrillas lurked. It has
razed villages, killed or imprisoned
thousands of suspects, created special
antiguerrilla forces (in one case 60.000
strong), offered big rewards (for the head
of Guerrilla Chief Mikhail Romashkin:
15,000 rubles, a house, 32 acres of land,
two cows, a horse). But the hour came
when the Wehrmacht’s mouthpiece,
Lieut. General Kurt Diettmar, had to make
an admission: “The struggle with the
partisans has become a complex problem,
which cannot be solved by small means.”

(Endnotes)
1 Alexander (Shura) Pavlovich
Chekalin (1925 –1941) was a Russian
teenager, Soviet partisan, and Hero of the
Soviet Union. Chekalin was captured, tortured,
and hanged for partisan activities in Tula
Oblast near Moscow during the German-Soviet
War.
264

Chapter XVII so fast the Germans have little time for

Liberation of Europe. systematic burning.”
Gen. Rogov said the Germans intended
to hold a line along the Dnepr River
The Evening Star, April 20, 1944 and had devastated the entire region
Swift Russian Advance Blocked to the east to create a no-man’s land
and deprive the advancing Russians of
Nazi Destruction Near Odessa local support. That is no longer so. Here
By HENRY C. CASSIDY. the Germans ran for their lives. Odessa,
seventh Russian city, is by far the most
WITH THE RED ARMY ON THE THIRD important in the newly liberated area.
UKRAINIAN FRONT Odessa is typical. It suffered cruelly under
Most of the Southern Ukraine has Romanian and finally German occupation.
been saved from German destruction, About 80,000 of its residents were killed.
I learned during a week’s trip through They were mostly Jews.
country recently recaptured by the Red
Army. Like Prewar Paris
The retreating Germans, who laid But today, Odessa has an atmosphere
waste Central and Northern Russia, were like prewar Paris on the 14th of July, with
prevented from carrying out wholesale crowds strolling along peaceful, sunlight
destruction in the Lower Ukraine by the avenues in holiday mood,
swift Red Army offensive. Mayor Boris Davidenko, chairman
Rich farmlands already are being of the Odessa Soviet, told Allied
tilled and important industries are being correspondents that the city’s plans to
put back in commission to make a major celebrate its 150th anniversary this year
contribution to further production in the had been interrupted by the war. The
war. city had grown rapidly from 604,000
I traveled by plane and truck over population in 1939 to 737,000 in 1941
and through the region from Kharkov to and heavy industry was developed highly,
Odessa. he said. Evacuation was started in July,
1941, and most industrial equipment
Little Time for Burning and more than half the population were
“It is characteristic of this offensive moved through the Caucasus into Central
that there is little destruction,” said Asia, Odessa’s land communications
Alexander S. Rogov1, deputy chief of staff were cut July of that year, but evacuation
for this front. “The Red Army is going continued by sea while the city fought
back stubbornly for 70 days until mid- terrible quarrels with Gov. Alexeanu and 265
October. It was subjected to 24-hour daily left very quietly with one small suitcase
shelling and aerial bombardment, Mayor on a droshky.
Davidenko said. Industry remaining
in Odessa supplied besieged troops Removed for Embezzlement
defending the city. Father Vassily said Alexeanu was finally
removed in February, 1944, for “terrible
Boundary Set Up embezzlement of the governorship.” “Our
One of the first Romanian acts was money was spent not for public welfare
to set up a boundary on the Southern but for pretty legs,” he added.
Bug River establishing frontier posts The designation Trans-Dnestria then
separating territory they considered their was abolished and the region between
own from that controlled by the Germans. the Dnestr and the Southern Bug rivers
“The rule of the Romanians was often was placed under Romanian military
worse than that of the Germans,” Mayor command. The Germans started taking
Davidenko said. “They subjected the control in February and openly assumed
population to torture and death.” authority in March. During the final hours
Late in 1941 and early in 1942 Mayor of occupation German radio cars raced
Davidenko said about 15,000 persons were through the streets broadcasting that the
burned to death or shot at Strelbische rifle Nazis were leaving for only three months
range near Odessa. He said Jews were and would never forgive anyone who
herded there behind barbed wire, wet worked for the Russians. Notices were
with gasoline and burned in the Sabanska. posted April 8 ordering every one off the
barracks. He said others were killed at streets at 3 p.m. and telling the people to
numerous nearby places. stay in their houses with doors open and
The Romanians converted Odessa windows closed.
into a “trading center.” There were few At 6 a.m. on April 10 the Red Army
Germans in evidence and the Romanians entered the city, breaking through
were mostly merchants who took quickly from the east after smashing the
charge of all trade and few Germans main German line north of Odessa. Ten
in evidence and the Romanians were thousand partisans who rose from the
mostly merchants who took charge of all catacombs prevented much destruction
trade and production by artisans. Schools in the city.
and government correspondence were When city authorities entered with
conducted in Romanian. troops at dawn on April 10, Mayor
The horrors were relieved somewhat Davidenko said they found the port
by comic aspects of the Romanian facilities the hardest hit. A grain elevator,
administration as related by Father Vassily, a meat packing plant and an agricultural
priest of the Uspensky Cathedral. He said machinery factory were burning and flour
the Romanian Patriarch Nikodim2 sent the mills, bakeries, factories and the railroad
Metropolitan Visarion of Bessarabia and station were blown up. The central pier
Chernovitsy as head of a clerical mission. was flattened by mines. Reconstruction
The priest said the Metropolitan started started immediately.
266 Maj. Davidenko said running water fruit of the destruction of the German
would be supplied within a few days divisions which were holding the Vitebsk
and that electricity and streetcar service and Zhlobin sectors, respectively, of the
would start May 1. former Fatherland. It will be recalled
Many famous monuments, including that five German divisions were wiped
the opera house, the Vorontsov Palace out southwest of Vitebsk, and a similar
and the Potemkin staircase leading to number falling back from Zhlobin, were
the port, were unharmed. Partisans were surrounded and destroyed at Bobruisk.
credited with saving the opera house by Thereafter, the troops of Gen.
neutralizing a mine the Germans planted Chernyakovsky’s3 third White Russian
under it. Some stores, in which private army group on the north, and those
trade is permitted, are open. Municipal of Marshal Rokossovsky’s first White
offices, including marriage bureaus, are Russian army group on the south, pushed
open. You can get a shoe shine from a ahead at a speed which is astonishing
man on the corner. by comparison with the usual progress
The most striking impression is that of troops advancing into enemy-held
so many buildings are not burned and so country. The fact is, that they have been
many still have windows. Contrasted to proceeding almost at normal march rates,
Leningrad, Smolensk, Kharkov and other instead of having to stop to fight German
cities I have seen, Odessa got off easily. rear guards every two or three miles as
the Allied troops are doing in Italy.
The New York Herald Tribune, Gen. Chernyakovsky’s cavalry, for
July 4, 1944 example, is reported in Sunday’s Russian
communique to have covered 37 miles in
Victory of Minsk the preceding 24 hours; but good cavalry,
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot properly trained, should be able to march
at least 35 miles a day for several days
The fall of Minsk was the inevitable without injury to the horses. A single
consequence of the masterly Russian forced march of 50 miles is quite possible,
strategy which hurled so great a weight though it should not be repeated the
of men and material against the center following day. The meaning of the rapid
of the German line in White Russia, and advance, therefore, is simply that there
of the admirable tactical skill with which are no Germans in front of the advancing
that strategy has been carried out by the Russia.
subordinate commanders to whom its The bulk of the Germans appears to be
execution was entrusted. The Russians in between the two long outreaching arms
hit hard, exploited rapidly, and followed of the twin Russian flank advances. Here
through with ample reserves. Their Gen. Zakharov’s second White Russian
success has been well earned. army group has advanced more slowly,
The astonishing speed of the Russian obviously because there was at least
advances on both flanks of their major some opposition. The same was true of
break-through seems to have been due the right flank of Marshal Rokossovsky’s
to lack of opposition. This is the direct forces, northwest of Bobruisk.
 The remains of some 30 German offensive action, mobility, surprise and 267
divisions (perhaps, 300,000 or more men) security. And they have once more proved
have been pressed back toward Minsk on that adherence to these principles is the
converging routes. They were bypassed to key to victory in modern warfare as well
north and south by fast moving Russian as in the days of Alexander and Hannibal.
troops cavalry followed by motorized What the fruits of that victory will be we
and armored units which cut all the main do not know as this column goes to press.
highways and railways leading out of Minsk It may take some time to achieve the
to the northwest and the southwest. total destruction which has been wrought
There are no routes of escape directly west upon the broken German forces of the
from Minsk. The Germans were therefore central front. It is not, of course, Minsk
for all practical purposes, completely itself that is really important; the German
surrounded. They were squeezed ever Army is, now as always, the objective
more tightly into a small area around Minsk, of all Russian offensive operations. It is
where the confusion and congestion must altogether possible that when the results
have assumed frightful proportions. The are fully known the victory of Minsk will
German army group of the center may assume greater proportions than even
well have become a disorganized mob that of Stalingrad. It offers the brightest
which became impossible to control at all. prospects for the future and it has
It is also interesting to note how certainly brought nearer the end of the
carefully the Russian high command long and bloody struggle against German
provided against possible German despotism.
interference on their exposed northern
flank. The first Baltic army group of Gen. Time Magazine, July 10, 1944
Bagramian pushed rapidly westward, Mincemeat at Minsk
north of the main battle area. It will be
noted that the great Russian advance The crushing power of the Soviet
from Vitetbsk had hardly started offensive amazed and delighted the
when Gen. Bagramian was discovered Allied world. It amazed and staggered
southwest of Polotsk, cutting off any the Germans.
German counterthrust by way of the
Polotak-Molodechno line. Then, as the In the first week of the great push, five
main Russian thrusts went farther west, major Nazi strongholds fell: after Vitebsk
so did Gen. Bagramian’s flank guard. (which had withstood two fierce Red
threatening both Dvinsk and Vilna and assaults in the past year), Orsha, Mogilev,
making any German attempt to move Bobruisk, Zhlobin. Nothing like this, in so
southward across his front a most short a time, had ever happened to the
perilous enterprise. Thus the Russians Wehrmacht before.
have exploited to the full both their In that week, the Russians said,
possession of the initiative and their they killed or captured at least 183,000
superior numbers. Their strategy is of German troops, and the enemy was
the classic order; they adhere to the old losing 30,000 more every day. Some Red
and tried principles of concentration, thrusts had maintained a pace of 20 to 24
268 miles a day —faster than the Wehrmacht young Chernyakhovsky and Colonel
in its blitziest days, against pushover General Georg Zakharov, a central-
opposition, had moved in Poland, France, front newcomer who won his spurs in
Greece, Yugoslavia. the Crimea, the Russians had 80 to 100
divisions, by German count, concentrated
Barrel’s Bottom. on a front of 200 miles.
The Red forces encountered As the Germans in 1940 did in
surprisingly sparse deployments of France, the Russians hacked and slashed
German tanks and other armor. Probably into the defense zones, cutting them
half of the Reich’s armor was pinned to mincemeat, swallowing the pieces
down in Italy and France; the remainder separately. Last week, after Polotsk,
was not enough for Russia. Borisov and Slutsk fell, giant jaws closed
But the Germans could not transfer on Minsk, the last great Nazi stronghold
units from France without paving the way in White Russia.
for Montgomery, making defeat in the The upper jaw of the Soviet crunch
west more certain. The 20-odd divisions reached far behind Minsk and cut
committed to rear-guard action in Italy the railroad to Vilna; the lower jaw
might have made the difference if they snapped the trunk line to Warsaw near
had been shifted to Russia, but it was too Baranowicze. Minsk fell, trapping an
late for that now. And the Nazis could not estimated 150,000 more Germans.
borrow from other sectors of the Russian Swarms of Red bombers blasted the roads
front itself without openly inviting the to Vilna and Koenigsberg, to Bialystok and
Reds to walk through. Brest-Litovsk.
Joseph Stalin’s armies had no such The View Is Short. The lone little
troubles. They were strong in men and German success of the week was the
weapons and they held the offensive. political maneuvering by which they kept
Their own choice of a place for the first beleaguered Finland in the war against
impact, and their management of it, Russia. Finland was another front where
raised no questions at all. time meant something to the Germans.
They wanted to keep the Soviets’ 20
The View Is Long. divisions (plus reserves) in Finland tied up
Aside from their natural desire to there as long as possible, to stave them
“cleanse” the last Russian soil of the off their own necks at Narva. They were
enemy, their White Russia drive seemed desperately anxious to keep the Russians
calculated to bring that front into line away from Petsamo and its nickel mines,
with the more advanced southern sector, away from the Petsamo air base from
which would then have its right flank which German planes sniped at Allied
secured for a sweep across south Poland shipping in the Arctic.
to Germany. Last week’s push might also The Germans signalized their coup
be the start of a flank envelopment which in Finland by parading third-rate troops
might reach for Koenigsberg and cut off around Helsinki, actually sent one
all the Nazi hordes to the north. armored division and a few planes to the
Under Rokossovsky, Bagramian, the wavering front between fallen Viipuri and
Helsinki. The Russians, having retaken after three years’ virtual blockade, a 269
a 150-mile enemy-held stretch of the chance to operate in the Baltic. The Red
Murmansk-Leningrad railroad between Fleet seized the opportunity at once, and
Lakes Ladoga and Onega, were now landed marines who captured Paldiski,
shipping seaborne supplies direct from west of Tallinn.
Murmansk to Leningrad on this line. On While Govorov’s army was wringing the
the Karelian front the Red armies were last of the Nazis out of the northernmost
patently able to do their will. of the Baltic States, the Second and Third
In Finland, too, Germans’ time was Baltic Armies, directly to the south, drove
growing short. through Latvia to squeeze the Germans
against the Gulf of Riga. To close the trap,
Time Magazine, October 2, the First Baltic Army swung north to take
1944 Riga at the bottom of the Gulf.
But there was still fight left in the
World Battlefronts: Nazis. They concentrated their strength
Victory on the Baltic to hold a hedgehog near Jelgava (Mitau)
and thus kept open a small exit for their
Another Russian campaign pushed troops from the northeast. Even after the
through to victory. Last week on the capture of Jelgava by tankers of Lieut.
shores of the Baltic it partially destroyed General Viktor Obukov, the Germans
two German Armies (the 16th and 18th), stood their ground, backed up against the
and even better to the Russians — it Gulf of Riga. Until the first of this week, an
secured the Baltic States for Russia. escape corridor was still open, with Nazis
Marshal Leonid A. Govorov’s streaming through it to fight another day.
Leningrad army, fresh from its triumph But they had only a few more days left
over the Finns in Karelia, swept across to fight outside the borders of the Reich.
Estonia. Its left flank drove through from With Estonia and Latvia going and the
the southern end of Lake Peipus. Its right larger part of Lithuania already gone, the
flank drove through the lake-studded Red Army would soon ring East Prussia
swamps bordering the Gulf of Finland. around two-thirds of its perimeter.
At a mile-an-hour clip, this force rolled *Capitals formerly occupied, now
into Tallinn, last but one of the occupied freed by the Red Army are: Kiev, Ukrainian
capitals (according to Soviet reckoning) of Soviet Socialist Republic, liberated Nov. 6,
the Soviet republics.* 1943; Petrozavodsk, Karelo-Finnish S.S.R.,
Down Go the Ships. With Govorov’s June 19, 1944; Vilna, Lithuanian S.S.R.,
southern flank cutting toward the coast July 13; Minsk, Belorussian S.S.R., July
south of Tallinn, the Nazis took to the sea 14; Kishinev, Moldavian S.S.R., Aug. 24;
to escape. Many of the scratch fleet of Tallinn, Estonian S.S.R., Sept. 22. There
evacuation ships were sunk by Red Fleet remained only Riga, Latvian S.S.R.
aircraft before they got to sea. The seizure
of Tallinn (directly opposite Helsinki) was
a great naval victory, for it pave the Red
Fleet control of the Gulf of Finland and,
270 The Times, October 25, 1944 undoubtedly exercise an important effect
LIBERATION OF THE BALTIC upon the campaign farther to the south.
These territories have not only served as
The liberation of Estonia by the Soviet buffers against a Russian approach to the
armies is virtually complete. Tallinn was lower Niemen on the northern flank of
captured by a very rapid thrust from the East Prussia: they have at the same time
isthmus of Narva, between Lake Peipus occupied very large Russian forces — in
and the sea, and now Parnu, on the all probability more numerous than the
north side of the Gulf of Riga, and Baltiski German garrison, considerable though
have shared its fate. The Germans have that has been.
admitted that evacuation is in progress, Their recovery will permit the Russian
and a number of their ships, with troops high combined to shift southwards
embarked at Tallinn before that port fell several armies which have been engaged
into Russian hands, have been sunk by south of the Gulf of Finland, and these
aircraft of the Baltic fleet. No ports of any may be joined by other forces which
size or significance remain at the disposal have been withdrawn from the Finnish
of the Germans in Estonia, and their front. It can be confidently assumed that
shipping in the Baltic is now believed during the relatively long pause on the
10 be limited in quantity. The enemy East Prussian frontier and the Vistula
has maintained his forces in Estonia the Russians have fully restored their
and Latvia in defiance of their perilous communications across the battlefields of
situation as a measure of protection for the summer. A few days ago our Special
East Prussia: and he has shrunk from no Correspondent in Moscow reported that
risk and no sacrifice to achieve this end. though their effect on the fate of the
A month ago, when a Russian drive to two German armies is obviously great,
the Baltic coast west of Riga threatened the Baltic operations have probably less
to cut off the German armies, a supreme “direct bearing on the strategic situation
counter-offensive effort attained a “on this front than moves in progress
measure of success, and has enabled or “impending elsewhere.” Just as the
them ever since to maintain a precarious Germans exhausted themselves by
corridor of communication past Riga. their prolonged resistance and frequent
That too is now menaced by GENERAL counterattacks on the Baltic front, so it
BAGRAMYAN’S4 fresh offensive towards may prove that they have left themselves
Riga, and the liberation of Estonia may without sufficient resources to withstand
shortly pave the way for that of the still much longer the flood which appears
occupied portions of Latvia and Lithuania. to be banking up towards East Prussia,
The first stage of evacuation is not difficult western Poland, and Silesia. The Baltic
for the Germans while the large island of victories important though they are may
Ösel remains in their hands. But they can be only the prelude to greater events.
retain it indefinitely if they lose the whole
of the mainland in its neighborhood.
The recovery of the Baltic republics
will when it has been completed,
The Times, December 13, 1944 threat to the left flank from the German 271
VIENNA forces falling back from the Balkan
peninsula; and accordingly, MARSHAL
A vigorous and expanding campaign TOLBUKHIN struck out with special
has developed from the Russian capture vigour on that side and secured a strong
ten days ago of Pecs, a main centre of salient enjoying the natural protection
communications for southern Hungary. given by the river Drava, which is also
Throwing his cavalry and mechanized the frontier of Yugoslavia. Nor can it be
forces boldly forward along many overlooked that the southern column will
lines radiating from the captured city, be travelling away from the broad stream
MARSHAL TOLBUKHIN5 has reduced the of the Danube, which in the course of
German and Hungarian forces before this remarkable advance of hundreds
him to bewilderment and disorder. His of miles into hostile territory has been
troops pushed rapidly to a point near the an invaluable reinforcement of Russian
northern end of Lake Balaton, in peace communications. The success gained by
the favoured holiday resort of the urban MARSHAL TOLBUKHIN has been rapidly
population of Budapest, in war the one followed by a very powerful blow from
natural feature of importance that breaks the arm of MARSHAL MALINOVSKY’S
in the middle the great quadrilateral of Third Ukrainian army group. In a great
the Hungarian plain south and west of new offensive on a seventy-mile front
the Danube. They then extended their north of Budapest he has advanced
grip along the whole of its nearer shore, forty miles. He has reached the town of
which is fifty miles long and runs from Balassa-Gyarmat on the Ipel, a tributary
south-west to north-east, so that they are of the Danube, thirty-nine miles north of
now in a position to thrust beyond it at the capital and simultaneously captured
either extremity; while a third column is the town of Vacs on the Danube, roughly
pushing northwards up the west bank of midway between it and Balassa-Gyarmat.
the Danube. Again immediately received considerable
The further unfolding of MARSHAL aid from the river flotilla which has
TOLBUKHIN’S plan will show along which accompanied the advance from Rumania,
of these lines he will seek the decision but it has to be remembered that the
of the Hungarian campaign: possibly all Danube will before long be frozen and
three, since German spokesmen in Berlin that new and formidable difficulties
and Stockholm seem to be preparing of communication will men have to
public opinion for a general crumbling be overcome. Moreover, if MARSHAL
of the defences in Hungary. The column TOLBUKHIN should feel compelled to
passing south of Lake Balaton has keep a flank guard on the Drava she moves
before it some of the easiest country the two army groups will be advancing on
in Europe, leading towards the south- a frontage not far short of hundred and
eastern frontier of Austria, which at the fifty miles, in winter and, in the left wing,
nearest point is only forty miles from the in country where roads are few and poor
extremity of the lake. Its advance has to in quality.
be conducted with an eye to a possible Yet making all allowances for the
276 increasing difficulties of the season, the Jackson Advocate7, January 6,
omens are good for a total overthrow of 1945
the hostile positions in Hungary; and of Uncover Bones of 700,000
this one shows himself more aware than Victims Of German Murder
the enemy. His dispositions are being
made for defence not of Budapest but “Master Race” Shows High Art Of
of Vienna, where the press gangs have Inhumanity
been at work to concentrate all available Babies Shot ‘On The Fly” By High
civilian labour upon the fortifications. The Official And Wife
arrival of Russian forces at the ramparts By CHATWOOD HALL8 our Negro
of that great city, considered even as a Correspondent in Russia
probable contingency of the New
Year, must already begin to exercise its MOSCOW - (ANP) - The Nordic Nazis
strategic influence upon the whole plan are indisputably the “superior master
of allied and German war. For Vienna is race” when it comes to inventing and
the key, not only to the Danube valley, committing the most monstrous forms of
but to the approaches from Germany to sadism, murder and torture.
the central and easterly Mediterranean Lately the radio and press have
peninsulas. The present Russian spotlighted the Nazis mass murder of
movements, with every mile that they 200.000 persons in the neighborhood
progress, cut more of the direct lines of Lvov in the Ukraine. Beside Russians,
between Germany and her remaining the victims were Ukrainians, Poles, Jews,
forces in the Balkans, and facilitate the North Africans, Americans. Englishmen,
efforts of the Yugoslav partisans to destroy Frenchmen and Italians. The Italian
them; the conquest of the Hungarian victims included five Italian generals and
plain will bring chances of striking against 45 Italian army officers. Some had served
the lines of communication by which in Mussolini’s Abyssinian invasion.
the German army of Italy is maintained.
The mighty barrier of the Alps may MOUNTAINS OF CORPSES
for a long time forbid GENERAL MARK As I write these lines, I have before me
CLARK6 to join hands with the Russian a picture that was taken by the Germans.
Marshals. But a blow at Vienna will be a It shows mountains of bloodstained
visible contribution to the strategy of the corpses of men, women and children,
Italian campaign; it will bring the Anglo- most of them completely naked. Another
American and the Russian efforts into a picture shows a big gallows from which
more immediate coordination than the the corpses of many lynched persons
geographical remoteness of their starting still dangle, while a third picture shows
points has yet permitted; and it holds the a big band of prisoners playing “tango of
possibility that from this southern side death” and a bone crushing machine with
the coming year may see forces of all the which the Germans crushed the bones of
United Nations marching down the same thousands of created victims.
roads to Berlin. The mass murders of Lvov deserve
to rank second to the Majdanek crime.
In the segregated Jewish concentration The Evening Star, January 23, 277
Lvov, called “Judenlag” 136,000 Jews of 1945
all ages and sexes were murdered to the This Changing World
last person. “Hitler Jugden” organization By Constantine Brown
members stationed in Lvov used Jews
as human bulls eyes for target practice. The Russian steamroller continues to
At a mass slaughter house named move ahead unchecked as the Germans
“Yanevski camp” the commandant, retreat as fast as available means permit.
Obersturmfuehrer Wilhauss, had children The bulk of Western Poland has been
thrown into the air for him and his wife liberated while the Red armies have made
to shoot “on the fly” in his balcony office. important penetrations in Southern East
This murderous sport thrilled his nine- Prussia and Silesia.
year-old daughter and she would cry: Military observers who, however,
“again papa, once more papa.” Fifty-four are not judging the military situation by
lives were snuffed out in this manner in the thousands of localities which have
celebration of Hitler’s birthday. been occupied, point out that it would
be premature to talk about the defeat
FREEZE VICTIMS of the Germans in the east or about the
Favorite forms of Nazi “winter disintegration of the German forces.
methods” were to bind prisoners naked For the time being it appears to them
to posts or place them standing in barrels that the enemy is retreating in an orderly
of water until they froze to death. The fashion. This is particularly obvious from
far below zero weather soon encased the small number of prisoners reported
the water victims in solid cakes of ice. to have been captured in the Russian
Mental torture was also resorted to. communiques only 25,000. Germans
When prisoners begged for information have been taken in 12 days of fighting
about their relatives and families, the on a 700-mile front extending from the
Germans would cynically answer “your Carpathians to the Baltic Sea. Considering
relatives undoubtedly have been killed the size of forces involved and the speed
and German soldiers sleeping with your of the Red army’s advance, this is a very
wives.” low figure, and shows that the Germans
Change the color of these victims to have not been routed.
black or brown and you will have any When the American and British forces
idea of what Africa or the American black broke through the Atlantic Wall last June
belt would resemble under fascist rule about 10.000 prisoners were captured in
and “new order in addition of getting an the first 11 days, while on July 7. a month
idea of what you are working and fighting after D-day. Field Marshal Montgomery
against. announced that no fewer than 54,000
Germans had fallen in the hands of the
Allies.
The Germans offered a very stubborn
resistance to the American-British forces
and during the first few weeks of the
278 Normandy invasion they intended to few weeks ago in the west are now to be
dispute every inch of French territory. found on the eastern front.
The deductions made in military The stalemate in Italy also may enable
quarters from the fact that on a front the German high command to with draw
much larger than the size of that on the a substantial number of troops from that
Atlantic coast only 25.000 me n have been sector. If the need for man power in the
taken after 12 days of fighting is that the other main theaters operation becomes
German high command has ordered the very great, it is no unlikely that Field
bulk of the forces to withdraw and create Marshal Alber Kesselring9 will be ordered
as much of a vacuum as possible between to guard the approaches to the Reich
them and the Russians. from the south with only a few divisions
The Russian penetration of the placed in the Alps and bring the bulk of
“sacred soil” of the Reich which Hitler his forces either to the Siegfried or the
has told his fellow citizens would never Todt lines10. Weather conditions in Italy
be invaded by the “Russian hordes” has are now favorable for such a maneuver
undoubtedly caused a deep impression and the Allied high command would not
throughout the Reich. But for the time be surprised to hear that the Germans
being the German home front is still are pulling out of Northern Italy under
holding and is not likely to break unless protection of strong rear guards formed
the Wehrmacht suffers an overwhelming by Italian troops trained in the Reich.
defeat in the near future.
And this cannot happen unless the The Evening Star, January 23,
German high command is compelled t 1945
engage the bulk of its forces in a series of
major battles. The strategy of the German
Hungarian Armistice
propaganda machine of telling the whole Thus the last Axis satellite disappears
truth to its people and painting the from the scene.
blackest possible picture of the situation The armistice signed at Moscow
in the east is aimed at toughening the last Saturday by representatives c the
resistance of the population which is Hungarian provisional government
directly menaced by the steam roller of in Debrecen and Marshal Klementy
our ally. Voroshiloff, representing Britain and the
In the meantime, according to report United States as well as the Soviet Union,
from the front, the Germans are rushing defines an regularizes a situation which
further reinforcements to the east since began three months ago when Hungary”
the middle of November the Germans united will to fight broke down before the
have been withdrawing troops from Russian invasion.
Norway. While the exact figure is not Last October the legal government of
known, it is believed that at least six Hungary headed by the regent Nicholas
and possibly eight divisions including Horthy11, tried to come to terms with
Elite Corps, have been moved to Eastern Moscow, but that attempt was instantly
Germany According to other reports frustrated by the quick action of the
some troops who had been identified German occupation forces, which
arrested and deported Horthy and his value of $300,000,000 American dollars- 279
colleagues. Installing in their place a two-thirds due Russia and the balance
puppet regime composed of die-hards split between Czechoslovakia and
and stooges pledged to fight to the end Yugoslavia. Until the peace settlement
beside their German masters. While the provisional government agrees to
most of the Hungarian Army continued function under the direction of an Allied
to resist the Russians, certain units Control Commission whereon Britain and
together with many officials escaped the the United States will be represented,
German dragnet and set up a provisional though Russia will have the chairmanship
regime at the city of Debrecen in Eastern and general initiative. Thus the last Axis
Hungary, already occupied by the Russian satellite disappears from the scene.
invaders. This Moscow-supported regime
is now recognized by Soviet Russia, in The Evening Star, February 2,
concurrence with its western Allies, as 1945
competent to negotiate an armistice
settlement fixing Hungary’s interim
On the Record
By Dorothy Thompson
status and responsibilities until the close
of the war. After the impending fall of
Budapest, the Debrecen regime will be In the moment when this is written
installed in the Hungarian capital with (Wednesday) the Russians are 50 miles
added prestige, much as the Badoglio from Berlin, and nobody can say exactly
provisional government of Italy was in when they will stand at the gates of the
Rome after it had fallen to Allied arms. German capital or how long the fight for
There is, indeed, a rather close analogy Berlin will last.
between the course of events In Italy and But in his speech, Tuesday evening I
Hungary. Neither country is as yet fully had the impression that Hitler without, of
liberated from German control, and in course mentioning it had already given up
both countries puppet regimes continue the German capital.
to support Germany with a certain amount And it was not the speech of a defeated
of native backing. The chief difference is spirit. This is significant. For militarily the
that the Hungarian armistice terms have situation of Germany is hopeless and
been published while those imposed on Hitler knows it. He knows that the military
the Italian provisional government have war is already lost. Of course, he did not
never been disclosed. say so.
Hungary’s capitulation is complete. It The speech was primarily political and
declares war on Germany, places all its a careful study reveals that he believes
resources unconditionally at the service that if the organized German military
of the victors, which in practice means resistance is broken, there will be no
Soviet Russia, and formally renounces all armistice, no surrender, and no peace.
territorial gains made at the expense of And in that dubious twilight of a war which
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania is lost, and yet not ended of a victory
through its former Axis partnership. It which is won but not translated into real
likewise agrees to pay reparations to the peace, of a Europe which is liberated but
280 not pacified, the Nazi revolution — or the same opportunity. He himself has
counter-revolution — will not be lost, but destroyed the Europe that existed
will eventually, in the inherent nature of previous to 1939. Europe will be
things, win allies from some of those who devastated, hungry and desperate. It will
are now its enemies. divide, inexorably, into right and left wing
This view is presented with some logic. factions. To prevent any compromise of
Hitler is clearly convinced that in the long the middle from ever occurring will be
run it will be impossible for Britain, the his aim. To do that he is prepared to fight
United States and the Soviet Union to now on this side, now on that
agree on a European peace. It is amazing He intends to prevent any orderly
how closely his mental processes follow demobilization of Germany. Soldiers must
those of Lenin and Trotsky after the last keep their arms, and the more chaos the
war. Then they signed with Germany a better, and the more civil war the better.
Carthaginian peace which partitioned For the speculates that ultimately
Russia. Russia lost the Baltic states, Russian troops and Anglo-American
Finland and the entire Ukraine at Brest troops will become involved in these
Litovsk. But the Bolshevist leaders argued Nazi-promoted conflicts, and on opposite
that this was entirely temporary: the sides. In this situation the Nazis will have
social forces consolidating in the world for bargaining power. Hitler does not believe
a revolutionary showdown would end in in the capacity of the democracies
civil wars, and in the chaos and weakness to fight the Russians — nor, for that
caused by these the Soviet Union would matter, without the Russians, to fight the
recover and expand. Germans successfully and he makes clear
At the end of the last war the his confidence that in this situation the
Soviets had only one interest to prevent Germans will be called out of the grave
consolidation of any non-Communist of their military defeat to save the West
social order in Europe. Had that happened against the East
the treaty of Brest Litovsk would have That this is Hitler’s concept cannot
been final. So they tried, by revolutionary be proved by word quotations, but it
means, to keep all social orders in a is Implicit in his whole argument, and
state of flux. Far from assisting social is the only explanation of his unbroken
democratic parties, which represented confidence in such a moment.
the solidest progressive forces in all (Released by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.)
European countries, and supporting a
solid labor movement, they directed their The Evening Star, February 10,
attacks precisely at these, knowing that 1945
these and not the reactionary parties
held the best promise for bringing about
In His Lair
a new political order satisfactory to the There was a time when Hitler’s
masses of the people. legions strutted like supermen along the
Now, Hitler, who is a revolutionary shores of the Black Sea. But now in that
tactician and an able one, sees in the same region, where they strut no more,
situation following this war exactly the mightiest coalition in history has
fashioned plans for the final destruction the Crimea in the Black Sea, perhaps very 281
of Nazidom. “The Oder line,” says the near the meeting place where American,
Moscow radio, “has been pierced and British and Russian plans have just been
Berlin in panic is witnessing the crumbling coordinated to put an end forever to the
of the last obstacles in its forefield.” whole evil structure of Hitlerism. How
And in the west General Eisenhower’s the mighty have fallen! Where once they
Allied armies are moving into a grand stood astride half a world, whipping and
offensive against the vitals of the Reich. terrorizing it, the supermen now whirl in
And in the air giant fleets of British and a frenzy in their own lair, their spectacular
American bombers keep hammering forward marches of yesteryear having
away remorselessly, giving the enemy no been totally reversed and all their
rest, pounding him by day and night, and monumental victories being turned to
strewing flame and wreckage across the ashes. And with the Russians less than 40
length and breadth of his land. miles from Berlin and with Eisenhower’s
North, south, east and west, wherever armies moving deeper and deeper into
they look even in Italy — the Nazis find Germany from the west, the lair itself
themselves caught in a room whose walls grows ever smaller and the walls, like
of fire and steel keep closing in until the doom, keep closing in desperation and
room itself becomes smaller and smaller with the wild and dangerous strength of a
and threatens to crush all life within. How trapped animal, this enemy may yet fight
changed the picture is! These are the on for many a long and bloody week, but
same people who only five years or so ago the mark of death is already upon him:
said they wanted “Lebensraum,” and then he has lost everything, and there is no
gobbled up Austria and Czechoslovakia, escaping the kill.
and brought agony to Poland, and struck
down the Danes, the Norwegians, the The Evening Star, April 2, 1945
Belgians, the Dutch and the French with The Fall of Danzig
such brutal and efficient might that they
made nearly all the world tremble and The Russian capture of Danzig is an
stand in fear of them. These are the same event of great importance, not only
people who came close to destroying strategically but also in the politico-
Britain and who shattered Yugoslavia and diplomatic sphere. On the military side,
Greece and who then thundered across the termination of a long and bitter
the steppes of Russia. These are the siege entailed the destruction of the
people who ‘most won the Battle of the large German garrison, totaling 50,000,
Atlantic, who marched as far as Stalingrad, the taking of 45 U-boats and 151 other
who hammered at the gates of Alexandria craft in the spacious harbor area, and the
and Suez and who once seemed so destruction by Russian air and naval units
invincible that they themselves believed of many German transports aggregating
they would one day be the master race of 200.000 tons attempting last-minute
all races everywhere. It is not so long ago, evacuation. The wiping out of the main
actually, that these things happened. As German pocket of resistance on the
recently as last May the Nazis were still in eastern Baltic coast is estimated to have
282 freed some 50 Russian divisions for the the new port of Gdynia at the Baltic tip
impending drive against Berlin and other of the corridor, which diverted much of
remaining centers of German resistance Danzig’s trade and further embittered
in Eastern Germany. German-Polish relations. The fateful climax
The politico-diplomatic aspect of the came when Hitler attempted to cut the
matter is emphasized by the raising of Gordian knot with the sword by attacking
the Polish flag over the captured city, Poland and incorporating Danzig with
thus emphasizing Moscow’s advocacy the Reich. Hitler thus tried to undo the
and support of Polish claims to its Versailles creation by force. The result of
incorporation into the reconstituted this rash gamble will probably be the loss
Polish state. That would definitively solve to Germany of East Prussia and most of its
in Poland’s favor one of the thorniest territory east of the River Oder. The price
problems bequeathed by the Versailles of aggression will thus be a staggering one.
settlement of World War One — a
problem which, more than any other The Evening Star, April 2, 1945
single issue, contributed to the outbreak Russian Drive towards Vienna
of the present conflict. This Changing World
The reconstitution of a Polish nation By Constantine Brown
was the most ambitious achievement
of Versailles. This new creation could The Russian drive toward Vienna is
hardly have been viable without access causing some concern among diplomats
to the sea, and the logical access was conversant with those features of the
through the Vistula, the great river which Teheran and Yalta agreements which have
drains most of Poland. However, at the not yet been made public. But it does not
Vistula’s mouth lay the port-metropolis worry the military men, who regard the
of Danzig, a thoroughly German city. drive as strategically sound.
In deference to the principle of “self- The diplomats’ concern springs from
determination” which dominated the the fear that Russia might again consider
Versailles Conference, a compromise was unilateral action by occupying Austria
evolved along nationalist lines. Danzig alone while the Americans and British
was declared a Free City under protection forces are forging ahead in Germany.
of the League of Nations, though Poland The question of Austria is of
was given commercial access and Danzig paramount importance to the future
was legally within the Polish customs of Europe, since its capital. Vienna is
territory. the most important communications
This compromise did not work well. center between Western, Eastern and
Germany never reconciled itself to the Southern Europe. Railways, highways and
loss of Danzig and the amputation of waterways fan out of Vienna toward all
the adjacent Province of East Prussia, the other European countries.
sundered from the rest of the Reich by The future of Austria was discussed for
a narrow “corridor” of Polish territory the first time at the Moscow conference
reaching to the Baltic just west of Danzig. of foreign secretaries in 1943 and
German opposition led the Poles to build taken up again at Teheran by President
Roosevelt, Premier Stalin and Prime a nominal representation, as has been 283
Minister Churchill. According to available the case in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary
information, the Big Three decided in and Yugoslavia. In those four nations the
December, 1943, that Austria would Red Armies are in complete control, while
become the ward of the major Allies until the American and British military and
such time as she could stand on her feet diplomatic missions are mere figureheads
politically and economically after the without authority or power to decide on
expulsion of the Germans. any matter.
This agreement is said to have been Should Austria come under Russian
further confirmed at Yalta, where it is occupation before April 25 and there is
reported that details of the occupation of a good chance that it may there will be
the various sections of that country were an additional problem to be ironed out at
discussed. According to the reported San Francisco12.
agreement Vienna and its suburb was to To the military men, who are not
fall in the American zone, the northern concerned with the diplomatic side of the
and eastern portions of Austria were to war and aim only at the destruction of
be occupied by the Red Armies, while the enemy forces, the Russian offensive
the western and south-western portions is considered as a well-planned and
were to be placed under the temporary useful move. Around Lake Balaton,
military control of the British. where the Germans and Russians have
The fact that neither the Red armies been fighting for several months, there
nor the Moscow puppet, Marshal Tito, are the remaining oil wells from which
made any attempt to move toward the Germans can draw a small supply of
Trieste, which has been earmarked to crude oil.
become a main Yugoslav port on the Moreover, the defeat of the Nazi
Adriatic, was regarded as an indication forces in Austria will be another body
that Moscow would not attempt to break blow at the Germans and also will deprive
the Big Three’s Yalta agreement in any the enemy leaders of an important area
way. Trieste is the only harbor which the where they might hope to fight a guerrilla
British and American forces occupying war.
Austria could use effectively for supplies. To destroy this last prospective
The sudden and somewhat unexpected stronghold of the Nazis probably would
Russian offensive toward Vienna causes entail heavy losses for the Allies. It is from
the diplomats to fear that the Russians this point of view that the military men
have decided to act before, the Americans are judging the Russian drive on Austria.
and British can reach Austria. They admit that while it may create some
Should the Red armies enter Vienna additional headaches for the diplomats
and occupy it while their associates and the politicians who drafted the
in the west and in Italy have not yet various agreements and compromises at
completed their mission, it is probable Moscow, Teheran and Yalta, there is no
that the entire control over Austria will question that the Russian offensive will
be assumed by the invading force and the save many American and British lives.
other. Allies may have to be satisfied with
284 The Evening Star, April 28, 1945 comeback from the banks of the Volga:
Junction on the Elbe of Montgomery’s victory at El Alamein; of
the projection of the might of the United
After more than a half decade of the States across the Atlantic to North Africa:
most terrible war in history, the Allied of the “miracle” of American production;
armies of the east and west are at last of our hard-won Allied triumph over the
joined in Germany. Thus, as Berlin battles U-boats; of the invasion of Sicily and Italy,
suicidally to ghastly finish, the whole and the Volga: of Montgomery’s victory
of Hitler’s “thousand-year” Reich is cut at El Alamein; of the projection of the
completely in two and the remnants of might of the United States across the
his once-mighty legions — the legions Atlantic to North Africa; of the “miracle”
that were to conquer Europe and the of American production; of our hard-won
world — now are broken into hopelessly Allied triumph over the U-boats; of the
isolated fragments. invasion of Sicily and Italy, and finally of
In itself, as a military event, this junction the landings in Normandy..
has none of the spectacular qualities These are the things that have made
of a great battle, but it is tremendously possible the colossal and historically
significant in the sense that it marks unprecedented victory we are seeing. But
the end of effective Nazi resistance. In “things” is not the proper word for them.
President Truman’s words, it signifies that They are better described in human
“the last faint desperate hope of Hitler terms in terms of the courage and stead-
and his gangster government has been fastness of the millions of Allied troops
extinguished” and that the hour of final who have achieved them, in terms of
victory in Europe, though not yet here, the endless lists of casualties, in terms of
draws near. the armies of brave men who have laid
The junction is of immense significance, down their lives to bring this day about.
too, because it means that now, since our It is because of them, because of their
British and American forces are directly heroism and sacrifice, that one of the
merged with the Red Army, complicated blackest tyrannies ever to afflict mankind
new problems of coordination must be has been shattered. It is because of them
met to smooth the joint task of liquidating that Nazi Germany lies prostrate and
the last pockets of resistance and of that Britain, Russia, the United States
putting into effect unified occupation and all the United Nations now have the
policies. This momentous development opportunity to demonstrate, as President
is the culmination of long years of Allied Truman says, that they can collaborate
travail and of a vast and heartbreaking “in the cause of peace and freedom” as
expenditure of Allied blood. It is the effectively as they have collaborated in
end-product of an awesome march of waging war.
power westward some 1,400 miles from In hailing this historic moment, the
Stalingrad and eastward more than 4,000 President wisely reminds us that the
miles from America — the end-product mopping-up operations against the
of Britain’s lone stand in the dark days Nazis may yet take considerable time,
after Dunkerque; of Russia’s magnificent that Japan still remains to be defeated
and that there must therefore be no men — is an index of the reduced scale of 285
relaxation on the home front. We are only our military effort in Europe. The benefit
halfway to global victory, and even after will be particularly felt in the matter of
we have gone the whole way, we and shipping, which is and always has been
our Allies will face the task of making the the bottleneck of the Pacific war. Again
peace. And this, as the President says, we and again we have seen demonstrated in
must do together, just as we are winning the past six years how very small is the
the war together. Otherwise we shall be actual amount of fighting power which
breaking faith with all who have died can be produced at the farther end of a
to make possible such triumphs as the long overseas line of communication, in
junction on the Elbe. comparison to the total effort which is
exerted at the originating end of line.
The Evening Star, May 7, 1945 There will of course, be an immediate
Complete Victory period of major strain as we begin the
By Maj. George Fielding Eliot tremendous shift from Europe to the Far
East. For some months conditions, from
The Wehrmacht has been destroyed, the civilian point of view, may seem even
and the German war is finished. worse than at the height of the European
We have seen so many German fighting. This shift is probably the biggest
surrenders by individual armies and single military task that we and our Allies
local commanders that we do not yet have ever undertaken, and it will not
quite grasp what the Allied forces, be easily or quickly accomplished. But
Anglo-American and Russian, have we have the inspiration of victory over
accomplished. The truth is that Gen. Germany, the spur of the knowledge that
Eisenhower and the Russian marshals, in victory over Japan will mean the final end
magnificently coordinated efforts, have of all the bloodshed and the horror, to
succeeded in bringing about a complete uplift us and urge us on. And the Japanese
victory over Germany far sooner than a may gloomily examine what happened to
prudent observer would have imagined the Germans as some indication of what
possible at the beginning of this year. their own fate may be if they continue to
In terms of the task remaining before pursue their present policy of resistance
us in the Pacific, the swift cleanup of the to the bitter end.
German war is of immense benefit. Why did the Germans collapse so
It will be possible for the Allied powers suddenly and so completely? Almost
to bring their full strength to bear against every competent observer expected them
the Japanese much earlier, and in much to put up a long hard fight in an interior
more concentrated force, than would position. That was the view expressed
have been the case had the fighting in by most of our military leaders, including
Europe dragged on through the summer, Gen. Eisenhower himself. Yet there can
even though its scale might have been be no doubt that this strategy, and the
considerably reduced. Russian strategy, was directed toward
The very size of the announced making such withdrawal to interior lines
American Army of Occupation — 400,000 of defense as difficult as possible, and
286 the working out of this strategy was in nearby Serbia and Hungary, as well as for
diaspora communities in Central and Western
successful beyond all hopes. Europe, North America and Oceania. It is the only
The truth is that the German armies autocephalous church within Eastern Orthodoxy
were destroyed before they could to have a Romance language for liturgical use.
withdraw, in very large part; they were
destroyed because the German High 3 Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky (1907
–1945) was the youngest-ever Soviet General of
Command did not withdraw in time, the army. For his leadership during World War
because the Germans would not give up II he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet
the attempt to hold extended frontier Union twice. He died from wounds received
lines, while there was opportunity to outside Königsberg at age 37 while in command of
do so — whether at Hilter’s order or the 3rd Belorussian Front.
otherwise, we shall have to find out. They 4 Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan,
would not fall back until they were driven also known as Hovhannes Khachaturi
back, and when they were driven back Baghramyan (1897–1982) l and twice Hero of the
they were so closely and fiercely pursued Soviet Union. He began his service as a private in
that they were cut to pieces in the open the Russian Imperial Army, and after the Civil War
he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy.
back into the interior stronghold, and they After the Civil War he graduated from the Frunze
were not enough to make any protracted Military Academy, and in 1938 graduated with
defense of it. honors from the General Staff Academy. By the
Moreover the cumulative effect of beginning of the Great Patriotic War he was Chief
these, tremendous and concentric blows of Staff of the South-Western Front. In 1942 he
was appointed commander of the 28th Army,
shattered more than the German armies but in June he was removed from his post after
themselves. It shattered the German will several major defeats. However, already in 1943
to continue the battle. he showed himself well, commanding the 11th
The Third Reich is dead. The desolation Guards Army. At the end of the war, Bagramyan
that is Germany remains as Adolph Hitler’s successfully led the Baltic Front, inflicting a
number of serious defeats on Army Group North.
request to the German people whom he
led downward into the pit of hell. 5 Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin (1894–
1949) was a Soviet military commander
(Endnotes) and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He is regarded
as one of the finest Soviet generals of World
1 Rogov, Aleksandr Semenovich War/ On September 12, 1944, two days after
(1901–1992) Colonel-General of Soviet Staff Malinovsky was promoted to Marshal of the
Soviet Union, Tolbukhin was promoted to the
2 The Romanian Orthodox same rank. While Malinovsky moved northwest,
Church (Biserica Ortodoxă Română, BOR), towards Hungary and Yugoslavia, Tolbukhin
or Patriarchate of Romania, is occupied Bulgaria. Starting in the Winter Campaign,
an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church Tolbukhin shifted his army to the northwest axis,
in full communion with other Eastern thereby liberating much of Yugoslavia and invading
Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the southern Hungary
nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox In late April 1945, at the end of the Battle
Church. Since 1925, the church’s Primate has of Vienna, Tolbukhin acted on Stalin’s order to
borne the title of Patriarch. Its jurisdiction entrust Karl Renner with foundation of a new
covers the territories of Romania and Moldova, provisional Austrian government in order to
with additional dioceses for Romanians living prepare democratic elections. On 27 April, Renner
was appointed provisional government leader, at
Tolbukhin›s authority, which renders the latter engaged in questions for the reorganization of 287
an important role in the foundation of a new the Soviet postal service on the basis of American
Austrian republic that had been integrated into experience. While working in the Soviet Union,
the Third Reich (1938–1945). Tolbukhin gave the G. Smith continued to write articles for several
go-ahead at the location, for this important step American periodicals for blacks.
towards an independent Austria in the formation
of the Second Republic (1945–present). 9 Albert Kesselring (30 November
1885– 16 July 1960) was a German military
6 Mark Wayne Clark (1896–1984) was officer and convicted war criminal who
a United States Army officer who saw service served in the Luftwaffe during World War
during World War I, World War II, and the Korean II. In a career which spanned both world
War. He was the youngest four-star general in the wars, Kesselring reached the rank of
US Army during World War II. During World War the Generalfeldmarschall (Field marshal) and
II, he commanded the United States Fifth Army, became one of Nazi Germany’s most highly
and later the 15th Army Group, in the Italian decorated commanders.
campaign. He is known for leading the Fifth Army
when it captured Rome in June 1944, around the 10 The Siegfried Line, known in German
same time as the Normandy landings. He was as the Westwall (= western bulwark), was
also the head of planning for Operation Torch, the a German defensive line built during the
largest seaborne invasion at the time. late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the
French Maginot Line, it stretched more than
7 The Jacksonville Advocate was 630 km (390 mi) from Kleve on the border with
a weekly newspaper for African Americans the Netherlands, along the western border
in Jacksonville, Florida established in 1891. It was of Nazi Germany, to the town of Weil am
succeeded by The Jacksonville Advocate-Free Rhein on the border with Switzerland. The line
Press from 1987 to 1990 and the Jacksonville Free featured more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels
Press. and tank traps. The Winter Line was a series
f German and Italian military fortifications in Italy,
8 Smith Homer (Chatwood Hall) constructed during World War II by Organization
(1909–1972) Born in Mississippi, Homer Smith Todt and commanded by Albert Kesselring.
studied journalism at the University of Minnesota,
graduating in 1928, while at the same time 11 Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya (1868–
having to work as a night mail clerk to pay for 1957) was a Hungarian admiral and statesman
his education. After graduation, Smith had great who served as the regent of the Kingdom of
difficulty finding work and only occasionally Hungary during the interwar period and most
wrote for the specialized Negro periodicals that of World War II, from 1 March 1920 to 15 October
existed at that time in the United States. In June 1944.
1932, he was in Moscow as part of the cast for
the Soviet feature film ‘Black and White’ racial 12 Planned United Nations Conference in
segregation and other hardships of black life in San-Francisco
the United States. In 1933, after the establishment
of diplomatic relations between Moscow and
Washington, it was decided not to make the film, BBC Edward Ward Reports from Link-Up
which too much ‘cast a shadow’ on the American
administration. Arrived in Moscow black troupe
Lunch At Elbe
was no longer needed and abandoned to their Audiofile
fate. At that moment G. Smith, taking into
account his experience of work at the US post
office, unexpectedly received an offer to stay in
Moscow to serve in the People’s Commissariat
of Posts and Telegraphs of the USSR, where he
soon received the post of inspector and was
288

Chapter XVIII Lieutenant” when in reality this particular

Comrades in Epaulets. comrade was “Tovarisch General.”
The ordinary private also comes in for
some touching up. He wears shoulder
Newsweek, February 15, 1943 straps in place of epaulets, and by their
Comrades in Epaulets color he will be known. Privates wearing
straps colored dark red are members
This dispatch from Russia was of the artillery; bright red designates
wirelessed by NEWSWEEK’s Moscow armored troops; air force, light blue;
correspondent. cavalry, dark blue; engineering troops,
black. These colors also form the basis
Tough Red Army men are walking of the officers” epaulets over which gold
around Moscow these days with the braid and stars are attached.
embarrassed air of a high-school kid However, epaulets have a deeper
wearing his first tuxedo. significance than mere designation. They
The reason is the introduction of mean that the Red Army has transformed
epaulets. The decree by the Presidium of itself into a completely professional outfit
the Supreme Soviet ordering epaulets to with all the refinements and discipline of
designate officers went into effect Feb. 1. more traditional fighting forces. It was
Officers of the entire Russian Army have only a generation ago that epaulets on
until Feb.14 to get the colorful shoulder the shoulder of an officer would have
appendages. At first, some soldiers and branded him a soldier of the Czar.
civilians were not sure they liked the Now the army newspaper, Red Star,
innovation. One reason was that the new can put it this way:
epaulets, which are stiff bits of board “Epaulets are the exterior expression
covered with colored cloth and gold of the deep interior processes which
braid, as well as stars, according to rank, have taken place in the army in the
looked so new that they showed up the course of the inst fighting. The men are
rest of the uniform. Remember that the entitled to be proud of their uniforms.”
Red Army has been fighting for almost
two years and their uniforms show it.
The introduction of epaulets has
created a problem for the civilian. He has
to learn just what the stripes and stars on
the officers shoulders mean. Otherwise
he might call an officer “Tovatisch
The Times, February 22, 1943 are being overcome with greater tenacity 289
The Man Who Fights In the Red even than a year ago, and the Red Army is
Army advancing faster over the snow than did
the Wehrmacht over the brazen steppes
ACHIEVEMENTS IN RETREAT AND last summer, it is no less difficult to see
ADVANCE the Red Army man in his true, natural,
OUTLOOK OF THE MODERN RUSSIAN human proportions.
SOLDIER
From Our Special Correspondent A PATIENT SOLDIER
MOSCOW, Yet the fighting men of Britain and
America would not feel strangers beside
Anniversaries are always dear to the him. Differences of temperament, of
Russians, but this year the coincidence course, there are, and many would
of the date of the Red Army’s twenty- perhaps find it strange that members of
fifth birthday with a period when such non-Russian nationalities — Mongols,
resounding successes are attending its Uzbeks, Turkmens, and Kazakhs - fought
efforts decks the day with particular with equal rank and prestige beside
solemnity. Birthdays are usually an Russians and Ukrainians. Over one-third
occasion for looking back through the of those awarded decorations during the
years, but to-day it is towards the months war were non-Russians.
immediately ahead that imagination of In company they would find the
the Soviet Union’s people is straining. Yet Russian soldier quieter, more reserved,
for most the day commemorates personal more formal in his attitude towards his
tragedy, for there is scarcely a family fellows than they are used to; and in
that has not suffered some loss. Millions intimacy more impulsive, articulate, and
who have served the Red Army during emotional. In moments of grief, anger,
20 months of struggle lie buried under and triumph he is mort’s exalted but
Russian soil in «brotherly graves» as they in the humdrum everyday experiences
are movingly called here, or are perishing of life perhaps laughs, but sighs more;
in German prison camps. cynicism is far from his nature and his
Those 20 months have been divided favourite songs, like the popular “Dug-
almost equally into periods of retreat and out” and “Let’s have a smoke,” are wistful
advance. In which the Red Army has most and tender, his thirst for education is
distinguished itself would be difficult unquenched by his experiences and
to say. In the battles of Brest-Litovsk, many go into battle with text-books in
Smolensk, Leningrad, and Moscow, in their pockets; his taste is extraordinarily
defence of Odessa, Sebastopol, Voronezh, high. That is no new feature of the Red
and Stalingrad, such qualities have been Army. The favourite play of the Chapayev
drawn from the Red Army’s fighters Division in the civil war is said to have
that the world has sometimes forgotten been the Spanish “Fuente ovejuna,” by
that these are men like other men, and Lopez de Vega. It is a moving experience
now that the fierce perils and scarcely to sit beside simple Red Army men on
imagined hardships of the Russian winter short leave watching the fairylike beauty
290 of Tchaikovsky’s “The Swan Lake” at the Division were quartered, there was also a
Moscow ballet theatre. number of political pamphlets and a one-
volume edition of the freedom-loving
HOME AND FAMILY spokesman of the nineteenth-century
Their feeling for home and family is Russian peasant, Asov.
intense, and the exchange of letters is
felt to be vitally important. The young A LAND TO FIGHT FOR
Russian poet, Eugene Dolmatovsky1, told There has been no revival of
me that on a sector of the Stalingrad front “flagwagging” patriotism. Rather has it
which he visited there was a craze for been a discovery of all that is valuable
writing verse extending from the General and significant for the present time in
to the Red Army men. Russian novelists Russia’s heroic past, and the men who
and playwrights can always count on are fighting for the federation of Socialist
a host of critical letters from the front republics have been made conscious that
after their works have been published behind them, as they take their places in
in the newspapers. The power of the the trenches and gun emplacements, lie
word is strong, and the meetings before not only the great factories or the slopes
battle, at which commanders and their of the Urals and wide cultivated plains in
political assistants address the men, have Siberia, Moscow with its still incomplete
a profound effect. Ilya Ehrenburg2, by far planning a host of new cities beside the
the most popular writer in the Army, tells rivers, and on the forest edge of buoyant,
how in a region controlled by partisans aspiring dogged workers and farmers
there was a rule that people using a of contemporary Russia, but also the
newspaper to roll cigarettes should avoid cathedrals and the Kremlin and ancient
using the column containing his articles, tulip-domed churches; poets, musicians,
and that the Ehrenburg article has in and novelists, and those who fought for
some places become a kind of currency, a land ordered by justice and reason,
with a high value in kind. knowing no slavery – a Russia ever
The growth of patriotism has been renewing herself by the fruitful talent of
striking; today patriotic motives are her much-enduring people. It was in the
probably more outspokenly expressed in period of retreat that the Red Army man
the songs and literature of the Red Army learned to know how dear his land was
than anywhere else in the world. Some to him. “It is a fact, Comrade Commissar,”
of the rousing marching songs you hear says the hero of that remarkable
on the lips of Russian soldiers and sailors interpretation of the Red Army’s
have the sturdy quality of “Hearts of Oak” mood during the 1941 retreat, Vassili
and “John Brown’s Body.” It is significant Grossman’s3 “The People Immortal”; “It
that of all British poets Rudyard Kipling is is as if I have become a different person
the one most read at present in the Red in this war; only now have I seen Russia
Army. In a dug-out under the banks of the honestly. You walk along and you become
Volga at Stalingrad where I lodged, and so sorry for every river, every bit of
where till a few days previously a group of woodland that your heart aches. Life was
young officers of Rodimtsev’s 13th Guards not always easy for the people, but then
the difficulty was their own and ours. them water from the well and tearing 291
To-day I was walking along a glade and down boughs in the cherry orchard.
there a tree was rustling and trembling.
It suddenly hurt me as if something HATRED OF INTRUDER
was tearing at me. Can it really be that He discovered his love for his country
this little tree will go to the Germans? I and hatred of the intruder, so that when
thought.” he saw cities with gleaming white churches
This is no idealization of the Red and broad rivers down which rafts used to
Army man. It happened that that long swing lazily, crooked streets where ancient
desperate withdrawal thro through crafts were preserved, cities where tens of
the Ukraine and Byelorussia took place thousands of women and children slept;
during a summer of unwonted beauty when he saw these things thoroughly
and abundance, and as the heavy boots and meticulously destroyed by German
trampled down the ungathered harvest aeroplanes, and when he saw the whole
and rain pattered steadily down, as the peaceful economy of the land poignarded
shells shattered the trunks of the maple by a sudden German attack which spared
trees in the primeval forests, and the neither woman nor child, he swore
Germans rode roughshod through the never to forget how he hated the enemy.
orchards of black cherry, tearing down The hatred which has grown perfectly
the white Ukrainian cottages where naturally out of the Red Army soldier’s
flowers ran riot and sunflowers stared love of his own country has continued to
and nodded, the Red Army man learned possess him ever since, but it would be
to feel that this was his Russia and his a misjudgment of the Russian character
blood ran cold to think that the intruder to imagine that it has turned him into a
could remain here. The vision came to demoniac, bloodthirsty soldier. That is
him in different ways — perhaps as he lay how Goebbels, in his guilt, is trying to paint
with his face pressed to the earth waiting him to the world, and indeed the guilty
for the red flare that would beckon can expect no mercy at his hands. But to
him into counter- attack, lying there those of us who see them in Russia these
drawing in the fragrance of the soil and earnest, frowning soldiers, disciplined but
discovering all Russia in a patch of wood- not cowed, absorbed in the art of fighting
land; or perhaps when he drove a tank but remaining the impulsive, generous-
through an abandoned village, overtaking hearted Russians of history, are men as
carts full of stern, upright old women we know men in Britain and America. The
and querulous, bewildered children, with order in which they place the things they
sacks of hastily gathered effects, leaving value in life is a little different from ours,
homes where since times forgotten there but to the eternal values of love of one’s
had breathed an atmosphere of quiet fellow man and love of country and family
routine labour; or when, standing amid they are no less loyal.
the hemp on a reconnoitering patrol, he
watched Germans making themselves TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS
at home before a Byelorussian cottage, Alongside with the development in
carelessly beckoning to little girls to bring the Red Army man’s character during the
292 war important technical developments life, has pervaded the Army. Though there
have occurred, partly because of the are probably fewer unanswered questions
changeover from active defence to the in the Red Army man’s mind than in that
offensive, and partly because of the of his British or American comrades,
effect of battle experience on the Army. questions about their countries’ future,
No fewer than 70 rifle divisions have the welfare of their dependents, and their
been converted into divisions of guards, Government’s policy, his concentration on
and a correspondingly high number of self-improvement as a fighting man is no
tank brigades, cavalry corps, artillery less. The Red Army is a thinking army, in
regiments, and aviation formations. These whose minds you find the unquenchable
units are trained for attack, and whereas, curiosity of Russian people as you find
since the first onslaught on Russia, the their richness of talent and their great-
Wehrmacht has produced no new tactics heartedness. Proud indeed may the Soviet
of any note, these crack Russian troops Union be to-day of its sons who fight so
have devised much that is new and nobly, simply, and thoughtfully on the vast
bewildering to the German command, battlefields.
who are trying to determine the character
of the commander opposing them and Time Magazine, January 11,
find something diffused and hazy. It may 1943
be in the development of independent
mixed columns, or in the use of regimental
New Army
artillery hauled by men into the front lines Joseph Stalin sent a new Red Army into
and using anti-personnel shells at close battle this winter. Moscow communiqués
and unexpected range, or in the mobility and dispatches, making this fact plain
of sledge-mounted equipment, or in some last week, also told more about the Red
other recent development in the Red Army’s command and methods than the
Army that success lies. The Red Army has outer world had ever known before.
learned much during the war; not only Zhukov for Timoshenko. The vast
how to defend itself against the intricacies reserves of men and weapons available
of modern German warfare, the three- for the Red Army’s winter offensives
dimensional warfare of aircraft, tanks, and showed that the retreats of last summer
parachute landings, and combined thrusts and fall had been triumphs of military
of dynamic manoeuvre, but how to master thrift. Stalin and the Red Army Command
the enemy in attack. had sacrificed Russian cities, resources
The learning period was one of and territory rather than risk the Soviet
stern, strict self-criticism. The Supreme reserves. But there was evidence that not
Command has unhesitatingly carried all of the retreats were planned that way.
out far- reaching reorganizations, and Commanders who failed have been
the men have been called on to undergo relieved or shot. The Army’s own Red
the most intensive and most realistic Star has repeatedly complained that the
training that any army ever had. But the Germans still outgeneraled the Russians.
same absorption in the task of seeking Last week Moscow announced that one
knowledge, which is a feature of Soviet civil of its famous generals — Marshal Semion
Timoshenko commander on the southern tank organizations in the Red Army were 293
front when the Germans broke through and brigades, and these usually were broken
drove to Stalingrad — had been replaced. up for auxiliary service with infantry.
In his stead, directing the Red Army’s The new army’s motomechanizirovannyia
counteroffensives to relieve Stalingrad, chasti (motorized, tank and mechanized
was aggressive, 48-year-old Army General units) also include light, self-propelled 45-
Gregory Zhukov, who also had much mm. guns, slightly larger than those on U.S.
to do with planning the offensive on light tanks, and bigger (76-mm.) mobile
the central front London reported that field guns to blast heavily defended enemy
Marshal Timoshenko was still in high points before the tanks attack.
favor, helping Stalin prepare a final blow Three of the new corps received the
against the Germans. But, in a unique highest honor the Red Army can give
communiqué, Moscow announced a long its units. They were designated “Guards
list of generals who had distinguished Corps,” entitled to the extra pay of
themselves this winter and the name of Russia’s elite troops.
Timoshenko did not appear among them.
This unprecedented list personalized Saturday Evening Post, April 17,
the Red Army with new names, new 1943
faces like those of the Don commander,
Lieut. General K. Rokossovsky, and Lieut.
WHAT KIND OF MAN IS
General M. M. Popov, one of ten officers A RUSSIAN GENERAL?
whose troops “particularly distinguished By Edgar Snow4
themselves.” Moscow, via Wireless.
The Big Shots. The Supreme Command
of the Red Army not only plans Soviet What kind of men have been leading
campaigns, but directs their execution. the Red Army to its victories, and what
Its representatives have responsibility kind of men must Hitler’s new generals
for “general leadership” of the field outwit if they are to begin a summer
commanders. Listed first among these drive eastward? Where do Russia’s
representatives was General Zhukov (with generals come from, and how did they
Colonel Generals Alexander Vassilevsky learn their trade? How do they compare
and N. N. Voronov). Soviet airmen also as people with our own generals? Who
have full representation on the Supreme is tallest among them in the minds of the
Command: Lieut. Generals of Aviation Russians themselves? And what kind of
Novikov and Talaleyev directed the Red world are they fighting for?
Air Force in the southern offensives. Obviously it is possible for an outsider
Motomechanizirovannyia. Last week to generalize only to a limited extent
the full extent of a tank revolution in the in answering such searching questions
Red Army could be seen. about anything as big and variegated as
Stalin’s honors list included no less the army of the Soviet Union. It is the
than ten tank leaders with ranks indicating world’s largest military organization. It
that they commanded armored corps and consists of more different nationalities
armored armies. Previously the biggest than can be found in the armies of all the
294 other Allies plus the Axis forces combined. same, they all possess what might be
It is unique, too, because it is the first called “official personalities” which are
army in the history of the world that has strikingly alike. There is common source
been organized through a proletarian material here. They come out of the same
dictatorship represented through the quarry, so to speak. They are cut out of
Communist Party. Its commanders are the same piece of granite and shaped
thus bound to hold ideas contradictory by the same strokes of the hammer and
to those found in other armies and chisel. Up to the point where they begin
to present quite different stories of to come to life as a spark which pulsates
individual development though in my between their own supreme command
own case months spent with the Red and the men they lead in battle, they all
Army in China suggest certain interesting approximate a basic norm.
parallels. From that norm and through a kind
Under Supreme Commander Joseph of matching of backgrounds I shall try to
Stalin there are seven marshals of the suggest crudely a typology — and if it is
Soviet Union, besides a marshal each for true of generals, it probably goes for the
aviation, tanks and artillery. Note that lower officers as well.
the latter are not “marshals of the Soviet First, what appears unquestionably
Union,” however. unique about the Red Army leadership?
After them come army generals, Napoleon once said, “I made all my
colonel generals, lieutenant generals, generals out of mud.” Stalin made all
major generals and, as there is no rank of his out of peasants and workers. The
brigadier in Russia, colonels. ancestors of nearly all of them were
There are over one thousand generals actually serfs hardly a hundred years
in the Red Army. More than four hundred ago. Voroshilov, Budyenny. Kulik and
new appointments were gazetted in the Timoshenko are all of former peasant
first four months which I spent in this families. And the newest talent to wear
country. It is reasonably doubtful whether the marshal’s star, Zhukov and Vasilevsky,
the supreme commander, proverbially are likewise of peasant origin.
good though his memory is, knows all The thought of a poor farmer boy
their patronymics. Most Russians could becoming the head of an army strikes
not mention offhand the names of more Americans as the correct order of things,
than a handful of them. but for Russians it is a wonderful change
Yet they are not mass goods from the still recent past. In the Czarist
conforming to a standard in looks, speech army officers were drawn from the
and manners-though in political ideas nobility and conscripts were illiterates
certainly more so than is the case with excluded from “polite” society. They
American generals. were not even permitted the use of seats
Not one of a dozen commanding in trams. Now there is no permanent
generals that I have met at the front who officer class here and any citizen can
reluctantly told details of their personal aspire to generalship. The Russians would
histories failed to create around himself probably say their method of selection is
a climate distinctly individual. Just the even more democratic than ours.
 79 Races, Excluding the Scandinavian education in army and party schools 295
It must be admitted that the Red since the October Revolution. He fought
Army general I certainly does seem less as a conscript in World War I or he is a
handicapped by race and color prejudice. veteran of one or more of the wars which
That is natural because he himself preceded the Nazi invasion; the civil
may come from any one of scores of war and the war against intervention;
nationalities and shades of color and undeclared war or hostilities with Japan;
shapes of eyes in the Soviet Union. It or the Finnish war.
seems he is most likely to be a Russian, In a few cases he also fought with the
however, or a Ukrainian, a Cossack, a Republican Army in Spain. Because of his
Georgian, a Jew or Siberian. humbler beginnings, perhaps, he was
The best testament to both the able to learn in even obscure places and in
polyglot character of the army and the the hardest of all schools the experience
impartiality of its recognition of merit is of other people and in that attitude to
the official list of orders awarded to Red find no doubt that he has an advantage
Army men. Up to last October they totaled over some generals better grounded in
185,000 and included seventy-nine textbooks.
different “nationalities”- among them For example, Marshal Grigory
Kalmycks, Yakuta, Mongolians, Gypsies, Constantinovitch Zhukov won the first
Ostyaks, Uigurs, Kurds, Poles, Spaniards great battle of tanks when he encircled
and Greeks. Incidentally, Jews stood third and destroyed Japanese forces at
on the list with over five thousand battle Kharkingol, in Outer Mongolia, in 1939.
decorations which may interest quarters Not even Germans, much less ourselves
ready to swallow the Himmler tale that or the British, profited from its profound
Jews are all applauding the war from the lesson. But Russians incorporated it into
best seats on the side lines. their training and all their subsequent
General Krueger, who commanded the tank successes probably trace to it.
Third Army in the Louisiana maneuvers, General Rodimstev, whose colorful
told me when I was there that he had Guardists taught Germans something
risen from the ranks of enlisted men. He new about the art of fighting at
came to America as an immigrant boy, if I Stalingrad, brought to his task a living
remember correctly. But his isn’t exactly a background of experience acquired in
common case. There are other American Spain, where, as a minor commander,
generals today who didn’t start their he first met and smashed with infantry
careers at West Point, but they must be Italian tank attacks; and so on. The Red
fewer than those-literally hundreds who Army general of 1943 is probably younger
came up from the ranks of the Red Army. in years than the average general in
However, the Reds wouldn’t necessarily other armies. Thousands of officers were
stress that as, on the contrary, they are lost in the first months of the war and
forever trying to overcome the handicap promotions since then have been rapid
of late schooling where it exists. and apparently made solely with regard
The Russian general received to competence and reliability. Contrast
virtually his entire civil as well as military the ages of prewar marshals with those
296 of the striplings running the army the German general; actually, perhaps, a
today. Civil war heroes Voroshilov and fellow about your own size. He is clean-
Budyenny are in their early sixties, but shaven-often right to the top of his head.
First Vice Commissar of Defense Zhukov, I have yet to see a Russian general with a
who stands at Stalin’s right hand, is but beard, and even a mustache seems out of
forty- eight, while Chief of Staff Alexander fashion in 1943.
Michaelovitch Vasilevsky is only forty-two
and Timoshenko is forty- eight. An Example as Well as a Leader
Experience here tends to show that This synthetic general is a member of
the audacity, energy, drive and technical the Communist Party. He probably speaks
knowledge of modern war- fare and the fair German or French and perhaps a little
habit of thinking in terms of battles of our English. He likes to sing and may have a
time rather than those of World War 1 good voice. He is fond of ballet and opera.
days — all qualities necessary to organize Tchaikovsky is his favorite composer. In
successful counteroffensives against an peacetime he liked to spend an evening
armored mammoth like the Wehrmacht- with Tolstoy, Pushkin, Turgenev or Gorky,
exist in the richest mixture in younger or perhaps with Byron or Shakespeare.
men. In effect, that is the chief message No Russian general can consort with
of Moscow’s currently popular drama, floozies and hold his job. There are
The Front. It shows that senile generals, no prostitutes or camp followers with
however successful they may have been the Red Army. A general usually is an
under other circumstances, however example for his men in every respect.
covered with glory and recognition, must He does not go to church and does not
be prepared to step aside when defeats believe in God, but he is clean- minded,
demonstrate their inability to cope with he doesn’t particularly like risqué stories,
problems in dimensions unfamiliar to and he seems unusually uninhibited and
them. And we may assume that The Front free from Freudian complexes. Though
is not presenting a viewpoint contrary to in some ways he reminds you of a good
Kremlin policy. Y.M.C.A. secretary, nobody could call him
Another obvious reason why youth is a prude. He is often a heavy smoker and,
a characteristic of today’s generals is that like all Russians, loves his fiery vodka and
older men cannot long bear up under can carry his quota at any banquet and
the severe physical strains imposed by he likes banquets. But he isn’t a drunkard
mechanized warfare and the terrible and he isn’t a fat man, though usually he
Russian weather. The army leader, has plenty of weight around his waist, to
therefore, is a man of sound physique, insulate himself against frost. He is a good
solidly and powerfully built, and capable poker player when he knows the game.
of withstanding the cruelest exposure I once played poker all night with Red
somewhat better than the rather more officers and we used captured German
aged generals of the Wehrmacht. But he is 32 cartridges for chips with fifty-caliber
not the giant that people in the west tend bullets, representing fifty rubles, as the
to picture him in their mind’s eye. He is of limit. He likes chess but chess but in
medium height, somewhat shorter than dominoes you may find his real passion.
 All his training and experience have commandant, Col. Semyon Mladentsev5, 297
made. This man is democratic, but no “We teach our students to give instant
more so than most American generals. obedience to orders and demand instant
You could search all Russia, for ample, obedience from, subordinates.”
to find a simpler, humbler, more honest With the recent abolition of the
and more plainspoken man than “Vinegar post of political commissar, the average
Joe” Stilwell, Commander of the U. S. general has more responsibility and
Army Headquarters in China, India and authority in his hands than ever before.
Burma under whom any American ought Formerly he was only half a general in
to be plenty proud to serve. Incidentally effect. His political commissar could
you wouldn’t see a term like “Vinegar overrule him. Conflicts of will and opinion
Joe” or any kind of nickname used to often hindered operations. The system
describe a general in Soviet Journalism. traced back to the early days when it was
For Red Army democracy is dignified necessary to make use of former Czarist
and isn’t expressed in the exaggerated officers who were considered politically
forms sometimes suggested abroad. A doubtful. But with all higher commanders
general receives better food, clothing now Communists and many commissars
and quarters, many times better pay than themselves trained through generalship,
his men. In this respect, as others, the it seemed desirable to combine both
Socialist law, not the Communist, applies: military and political authority in one man.
“From each according to his ability; to Col. Gen. Radion Yakovitch Malinovsky6
each according to his work. told me that “the main factor in recent
Stalin is a strong advocate of discipline. successes was “the great reorganization
In recent public statements he repeatedly of the army by the Supreme Command.”
stresses its importance and exhorts the Stalin abolished the dual-command
army strictly to enforce it. Even in minor system only a month before the great
matters, deportment and appearance- offensive began. Though few on lookers
return of epaulets, for instance, and the then realized the far-reaching significance
ban on unpressed uniforms and wearing of his move, there is no doubt about its
felt boots in theaters the tendency is to popularity with the field command. The
adopt whatever forms help to raise the latter to have been working doubly hard
prestige and dignity of the uniform. since, to prove that it was exactly what it
In Moscow I was impressed by the needed.
formal discipline enforced at the Supreme All strengthening discipline
Soviet Military School, the oldest notwithstanding the Russian general still
command school in the country. Cadets regards the men under him-”fighters”
we encountered in dormitories and class he calls them, not “soldats,” which has
rooms came to attention and snapped Czarist connotations as his social equals.
out reports with the same sharpness, There are no longer any illiterates among
promptness and exactitude you would them and about 35 per cent have had
find at West Point or Sandhurst secondary or higher education. In the
“The commander’s word is rank and file one out of four is a member
everything now,” I was told by the school of the Comsomol or of the Communist
298 Party. An officer knows his men can freely about Zhukov’s men” or “Timoshenko’s
enter all Red Army cluls and Red Army army beating the Nazis. The emphasis is
houses in the country there are more never on the individual commander.
than two thousands of them and enjoy For this reason it is hardly conceivable
the same rights he has. He knows, too, that a general during war could be popular
that the private soldier under him today mind by built up in the popular sectarian
may, before the end of his career, be his interests if anyone could find such here
equal or superior in rank. at the moment as a great figure worthy
Except in the topmost ranks, a Red of political power. The idea that he could
general is about as anonymous to most in purely personal views differ with the
of his countrymen as the private. Far administration on questions of internal
more information of personal nature policy and freely express those differences,
about Soviet commanders is published as American and British generals
in the Anglo-American press than ever sometimes do, and at the same time be a
appears in Russia. Correspondents tried loyal official, wouldn’t be acceptable here.
frantically to get information about On the other hand, a Red officer has
generals at Stalingrad, but could never a legal voice in politics even during war.
scrape together more than a few skeletal According to the law, he may vote and
facts. Only when some of us actually run for office, though, in practice, nobody
reached the spot and put these men to would think of interrupting front- line
the usual third degree did they come alive fighters to tally votes. A red general has
as personalities. Marshals themselves are more responsibility for policy too. As a
mentioned only on special occasions. A member of the Communist Party, he may
general’s name gets into the big papers presumably criticize inside its ranks the
when his troops occupy an important administration’s management of the war.
new town or position. If he receives a There is little frivolity in this man. His
high decoration, or is promoted to the character seems drawn in heavier planes,
rank of colonel general or marshal or wins with deeper, more somber shad wows
a victory of first-rate significance, maybe than ours. Before strangers he is graver,
his picture actually appears in Pravda more gets thoughtful and reserved. He
or Red Star or Izvestia with two or three does not easily smile and laugh. He has
lines of description. You may not see him seen his closest comrade officers killed
mentioned for weeks afterward, however, and very likely, as with everyone in Russia,
though his troops and he himself may he has lost a son or a brother or someone
continue in the thick off fighting. close to him. Possibly his home has been
If a story of the type carried by some burned nod to the ground and some of
American weekly news magazines were his neighbors or his folk robbed, beaten,
to appear in a Soviet paper concerning starved, raped or tortured by the Nazi
Russian general, he would probably look sadists. The weight of tragedy lies on
for the nearest hole into which to crawl. this man and hatred for those who have
While our papers may headline news of designed it.
MacArthur’s troops” or “Pat ton’s boys, In this deep, abiding, restless hatred,
nobody ever saw a streamer in Russia which possesses him like a disease and
the only cure for which is complete had the same patronymic as my own, so 299
extermination of the pest which causes it, you see it was easy for me to imagine “But
in hatred which it is hard for Americans — you are speaking of my husband,” said the
as yet, at least — fully to understand, the woman, suddenly comprehending.
general and fighter have a strong common “It is true that Ivanovich was your
band. husband. Listen to the story of a hero.
And so for many minutes the general,
Officers Who Aren’t Officious for whom death was as commonplace as
Sometimes you see this leap to life as the showering of leaves in autumn is for
I saw it one night at dinner with young all of us, slowly and with infinite tact and
General Rodimstev7 at Stalingrad. Some delicacy broke to this woman the news of
of his men who had been through all the the death of his fellow officer and friend.
terrible battles with his division came in Once, as he speaking, a colonel burst into
to sing to us. Rodimstev never took his the room, protesting against the long wait
eyes off their faces and all the smile of of his own general, who also was leaving
a faint grin hung on his lips. At the end for the front the next day.
they sang a composition of their own, “Never mind,” the general insisted.
satirizing Fritz and glorifying Rodimstev, “Ask him to stay a little longer. For once the
and there you could almost feel the warm living must wait for the dead.” And in the
current of fellowship flowing between end the woman rose from the interview,
men and commander. dry-eyed and exalted, ready to return to
Recently a friend told me this story of her work, strong in the pride of her grief.
an experience of an acquaintance of his. So here men still find time, even generals,
Hearing that the man who commanded for the human kindliness which makes life
her husband’s division was in Moscow bearable for the survivors of the beloved
briefly from the front, the woman sought dead.
an interview with him. He received her Hut that is perhaps as much of a
at once and, brushing important papers composite picture as can be outlined.
to one side, he sat down beside her and He yond such generalities the individual
began to talk. personality intrudes, real people emerge
“Tomorrow,” he said, “I am going to and it is necessary to particularize. And in
the front and may never return. The price such particularization the variations are as
of our freedom, the right of our children wide as anywhere.
to lead happier lives than ours, is very Take for instance Marshal Zhukov. He
heavy. But if I don’t return, what then? I is a short stocky man, partly bald, with
don’t wish my wife to wear mourning for bushy eyebrows and long ears in which
me. Not for a single day. With so many the Chinese would see a sign of sagacity.
fine people dying for what we hold dear, He has a wide mouth and wide intelligent
the duty of those who remain is to face eyes. When at his desk, usually swept
forward, to think of living and thus honor clean of everything but a map or report
the dead. Now in my division there was he is studying at the moment, he wears
a man, a great Russian, the kind of man glasses and makes careful notes in pencil
who wins wars for us. By coincidence he while his whole appearance suggests
300 that of a scientific man, a distinguished mouthful of golden teeth, who looks and
professor of academician rather than that is a son of peasants. His mind quickly
of a military man. picks up your whole meaning with
Which is just a point, for war is to extraordinary speed and in his laconic
Zhukov a science, a series of mathematical speech he always hits directly at the heart
problems to be solved through proper of any subject he discusses. Chuikov has
integration and co-ordination of men and been wounded four times and twice has
weapons in time and space. He has never had a concussion of the brain. During
been a specialist in one branch of arms to the battle of Stalingrad he used to fly in
the exclusion of others. His fame rests on a slow plane personally to observe the
skill in the use of combined arms. And in enemy gun positions. Once he was shot
those operations no one has performed so down. At times his headquarters were
successfully in so many crises: In the war only few score meters from the front. On
with Finland, in the Battle for Moscow in a single day he lost sixty one men from
1941, at Rzhev in 1941 and again in 1941 his own staff. Once an officer delivering a
and the whole string of triumphs of the report to him was killed by a flying bomb
great offensive Stalingrad, Velikiye Luki, fragment as they stood talking. All those
the breaking of the Leningrad blockade. narrow escapes seem to have left Chuikov
Zhukov was called by a former with unruffled nerves. He is a tireless
German military attaché, “the greatest worker, and when I saw him only four
general in Russia,” though he failed to days after the end of a five months ordeal
convince his own staff of that fact. Today on the banks of the Volga he betrayed no
he stands out as the greatest general signs of fatigue. A very brave man who
World War II has yet produced. Marshal has looked death in the face hundreds of
Vasilevsky seems to be just about as times, a man loved by his followers, good-
good as Zhukov in minute planning and humored, kindly, humble with a modesty
scientific co-ordination of combined equal to Vasilevsky’s. I had not been with
arms. In Finland, and before Moscow and Chuikov long before I thought to myself,
throughout the counter-offensive, these “Here’s another general whose orders
two worked side by side. There’s little I could obey with confidence in their
outward resemblance, Vasilevsky is a tall, wisdom and justice.”
blond, powerfully built Cossack with thick
hair and a forelock hanging down in the A General Who Looks the Part
Cossack manner. He has a round face with Quite different case from any of these
greenish-gray eyes and speaks quietly and is Col. Gen. Malinovsky, whom I met on
authoritatively. “A really modest man,” all the Don. Black-haired, blue-eyed, and
Russians agree and a great general. only forty-four, this Ukrainian hero,
By way of contrast with such handsome in a uniform which glorifies
professorial types, I think of Chuikov8, the tailor who made it, would set any
now famous abroad, in whose company woman’s heart aflutter. He too rose from
I spent some hours at Stalingrad. Of the ranks, but I had the feeling he would
medium height and burly figure, he is a have been a general in any army Russia
homely man with a rugged face and a ever had.
 Malinovsky is probably the only red whatever military achievements either 301
general who ever fought side by side with he as an individual or the Red Army as a
American troops against the Germans whole could claim today.
— which he did as part of a Russian
detachment sent to France by the Czar in (Endnotes)
World War I. To get there he and the others
had to travel from Vladivostok by way of 1 Yevgeny Aronovich Dolmatovsky (1915–
Singapore to Europe. He returned by the 1994) was a Soviet-Russian poet and lyricist.
same route and joined the Bolsheviks in 2 Ilya Grigorievich Ehrenburg (1891–
Siberia. 1967) was a Russian writer, poet, essayist,
Quite a man, Malinovsky. I saw him journalist, war correspondent, translator from
toss down two full tumblers of vodka French and Spanish, public figure, photographer.
in the middle of the day, and then In 1908–1917 and 1921–1940 he was in exile,
from 1940 he lived in the USSR.
proceed, apparently as little bothered
as if he’d been drinking milk, to carry on 3 Vasily Semyonovich Grossman (1905–
with the little job of taking Rostov back 1964) was a Soviet writer and journalist. Born to a
from the Germans in which he was, of Jewish family in Ukraine, then part of the Russian
course, successful in one of the neatest Empire. At the outbreak of the Second World War,
Grossman was engaged as a war correspondent by
maneuvers on the southwestern front. the Red Army newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda;
Like all Russians, Malinovsky makes good he wrote first-hand accounts of the battles
toast at the drop of a hat. And a pertinent of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin.
one. Consider this sample peroration: Grossman’s eyewitness reports of a
“We’ve fought successfully without a Nazi extermination camp, following the discovery
of Treblinka, were among the earliest accounts of
second front and will go on fighting till a Nazi death camp by a reporter.
the enemy is destroyed. But our faith is
constant that there will be a second front. 4 Snow Edgar (1905–1972) American
It is inevitable because our triumph is publicist. During the Second World War he
inevitable the triumph of all those who visited the USSR and China. He travelled twice to
Stalingrad (December 1942 and February 1943),
want to organize life on a basis of liberty. communicated with Soviet soldiers and military
And beside the grandeur of our common leaders, as well as with captured German soldiers,
cause, the various shades of opinion and officers and generals. He described the dramatic
differences of ideas behind our striving events of those months in a series of articles for
are insignificant.” the weekly newspaper ‘Saturday Evening Post’
and in the book ‘People on Our Side’ published in
More than that no Russian general 1944.
would say or perhaps could be expected
to say. The job at hand is to crash Hitler 5 Semyon Ivanovich Mladentsev
and here men grow impatient with too (1900–1969) was a Soviet military commander.
much talk of dividing a victory not yet Participant of the Russian Civil War, the Soviet-
Finnish and Great Patriotic Wars. Hero of the
won. In all his thinking along such lines the Soviet Union (7.04.1940). Major-General (1942).
general’s mental apparatus undoubtedly
works very much, if not exactly, the 6 Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (1898–
same as the brain in the Kremlin where 1967) was a Soviet military commander and
he likewise places the main credit for statesman, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944),
302 twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1945, 1958),
Knight of the Order of Victory (1945). Minister
of Defence of the USSR (1957–1967). People’s
Hero of Yugoslavia (1964) He was a member of
the Russian Expeditionary Corps in France, from
where he managed to return to Russia in 1919
and joined the Red Army. After the end of the
Civil War in 1930 he graduated from the Frunze
Military Academy, where he later taught. After
the end of the Civil War in 1930 he graduated
from the Frunze Military Academy, where he later
taught. By the beginning of the Second World
War he served in the Odessa Military District
and in August 1941 became commander of the
Southern Reserve Front. Later he showed himself
in the battles of Stalingrad and from 1944 he
was appointed commander of the 2nd Ukrainian
Front, leading the troops of which achieved the
liberation of Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.

7 Aleksandr Ilyich Rodimtsev

(1905–1977)was a Soviet military commander,
twice Hero of the Soviet Union (22.10.1937,
02.06.1945). Colonel General (09.05.1961).
Commander of the 13th Guards Rifle Division
(17.07.1942–02.02.1943), especially distinguished
in the Battle of Stalingrad.

8 Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (1900–1982)

was a Soviet military commander. Marshal of the
Soviet Union (1955). Twice Hero of the Soviet
Union (1944, 1945). Commander-in-Chief of the
Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany
(1949–1953), Commander of the Kiev Military
District (1953–1960), Commander-in-Chief of the
USSR Ground Forces – Deputy Minister of Defense
of the USSR (1960–1964), Head of the USSR Civil
Defense Forces (1961–1972). From 1942 to 1946–
Commander of the 62nd Army (8th Guards Army),
which was especially distinguished in the Battle of
Stalingrad.
 303

Chapter XIX a war. The new conference aimed at the

Yalta Conference formation of a new world.
The conferees had come to Stalin as
they had at Teheran. President Roosevelt
Newsweek, February 19, 1945 was supposed to have wanted the meeting
Big Three Agree on Final held at Khartoum in the Sudan. Churchill
Attacks and How to Rule Reich had suggested that his colleagues visit
in Peace him in London. But Stalin refused to leave
Russia. Therefore the President and the
The ancient Greeks called the Black Prime Minister went to Yalta. On the way
Sea Euxeinos (friendly to strangers). This they met at Malta, from where they flew
week many strangers departed from by night to the Crimea.
its shores. From the summer palace of Despite the fact that the conference
Czar Nicholas II near Yalta in the Crimea, was held at a place of Stalin’s choice,
President Roosevelt, Secretary of State the decisions reached did not reflect
Edward R. Stettinius Jr., Fleet Admiral any domination of the meeting by the
King, General of the Army Marshall, and Soviet Premier. Instead, on the whole,
a host of other American diplomatic and they showed compromise on almost all
military key figures left by ship and plane. issues from Poland to the principle of
So did Prime Minister Churchill, Foreign unconditional surrender. And if any one
Secretary Anthony Eden, and rank after of the Big Three might be said to have
rank of British soldiers and diplomats. made more impression on the results
The Big Three meeting was over. That than the other two, that man was the
was proclaimed in a communiqué issued President.
Feb. 12. The length of the text of the
For eight days, the President, the communiqué at the end of the conference
Prime Minister, and Premier Stalin had sat gave some idea of the meeting’s scope. It
over the conference tables. For eight days ran to six pages. In the box below the main
they had been warmed by the Black Sea points of the communiqué are reprinted.
breezes that make a stretch of the Crimea They give a complete outline of what was
into a Russian Riviera. For eight days they actually decided.
had ranged over problems of a complexity
and scope as have probably never before What Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill
been covered by statesmen in a similar Decided in the Crimea
period of time. Even the Teheran meeting Defeat of Germany: We have
was overshadowed. It had given shape to considered and determined the military
304 plans of the three Allied powers for the Reparation by Germany: We have
final defeat of the common enemy. considered the question of the damage
The timing, scope, and coordination caused by Germany to the Allied
of new and even more powerful blows to nations in this war and recognized it as
be launched by our armies and air forces just that Germany be obliged to make
into the heart of Germany from the east, compensation for this damage in kind to
west, north, and south have been fully the greatest extent possible. A commission
agreed and planned in detail Meetings of for the compensation of damage will be
the three staffs will be continued in the established. The commission will work in
future whenever the need arises. Moscow.
Occupation and control of Germany: United Nations Conference: We are
We have agreed on common policies and resolved upon the earliest possible
plans for enforcing the unconditional establishment with our Allies of a general
surrender terms which we shall impose international organization to maintain
together on Nazi Germany after German peace and security. The foundations
armed resistance has been finally were laid at Dumbarton Oaks. On the
crushed. These terms will not be made important question of voting procedure,
known until the final defeat of Germany however, agreement was not reached
has been accomplished. Under the agreed there. The present conference has been
plan, the forces of the three powers will able to resolve this difficulty. We have
each occupy a separate zone of Germany. agreed that a conference of United
Coordinated administration and control Nations should be called to meet at
has been provided for under the plan San Francisco in the United States on
through a central control commission April 25, 1945, to prepare the charter
consisting of the supreme commanders of such an organization, along the lines
of the three powers with headquarters proposed in the informal conversations at
in Berlin. It has been agreed that France Dumbarton Oaks Poland: A new situation
should be invited by the three powers, if has been created in Poland as a result
she should so desire, to take over a zone of of her complete liberation by the Red
occupation, and to participate as a fourth Army. This calls for the establishment of
member of the control commission. a Polish provisional government which
Postwar Germany: We are determined can be more broadly based than was
to disarm and disband all German forces; possible before the recent liberation
break up for all time the German General of Western Poland. The provisional
Staff ... remove or destroy all German government which is now functioning in
military equipment; eliminate or control Poland should therefore be reorganized
all German industry that can be used for on a broader democratic basis with the
military production; bring all war criminals inclusion of democratic leaders from
to just and swift punishment and exact Poland itself and from Poles abroad. This
reparation in kind of the destruction new government should then be called
wrought by the Germans; wipe out the the Polish Provisional Government of
Nazi party, Nazi laws, organizations, and National Unity.
institutions. The three heads of government
consider that the eastern frontier of The actual conferences of the Big 305
Poland should follow the Curzon Line Three were held at Livadia but the
with digressions from it in some regions delegates had the run of one of the most
of 5 to 8 kilometers in favor of Poland. delightful region of Russia, the so-called
They recognized that Poland must receive Crimean riviera that centers around the
substantial accessions of territory in the little seaside town of Yalta. The climate
north and west. made it the winter resort of the Russian
Yugoslavia: We have agreed to aristocracy before the revolution.
recommend to Marshal Tito and Dr. There are occasional cold snaps but the
Subacic1 the agreement between them surrounding cypress-covered hills shield
should be put into effect immediately and Yalta itself from the bitter northwest
that a new government should be formed winds. The Black Sea is warm enough for
on the basis of that agreement swimming.
Meetings of Foreign Secretaries: Yalta itself is a town of clean, white
The conference agreed that permanent houses, many trees and magnolia
machinery should be set up for regular gardens, and a seaside promenade called
consultation between the three Foreign the Naberezhnaya. And between Yalta
Secretaries. They will, therefore, meet and Sevastopol the country is dotted with
as often as may be necessary, probably relics of the Crimean War-where they
about every three or four months These haven’t been destroyed by Germany.
meetings will be held in rotation in the
three capitals ... Charles d’Artagnan
The fourth Musketeer sulked at
Palace With a Past home last week. There was nothing Gen.
Two rulers of Russia have left their Charles de Gaulle — whose impulsive and
marks on the site of the actual conference. irascible temper actually gives him a good
One was Nicholas II, the dim witted, deal in common with Dumas’s d’Artagnan
feeble-willed last Czar of Russia. He loved — wanted to do more than cross swords
to visit the big Italian renaissance palace with the three old masters at diplomatic
at Livadia, about 2 miles from Yalta, with dueling somewhere in the ‘Black Sea
its paneled rooms and lovely view of the area.”
Black Sea. The Czar begged to be taken The least he had expected was to be
there after his arrest by the Bolsheviks in kept advised of the decisions taken at the
1917. He never arrived. conference. According to the information
The other ruler who has left a mark allowed to leak from official quarters in
on Livadia is Joseph Stalin. Under the Paris, he was told nothing. There were
Soviets, like other Crimean estates of the only hints that Roosevelt and Churchill
pre-1917 aristocracy and wealthy classes, might be willing to stop off in France on
Livadia was made into a rest home. It was their return. De Gaulle tried to make it
called the Joseph Stalin Sanatorium and clear he wouldn’t welcome the visit and
workers instead of nobles strolled through left to tour liberated Alsace.
the gardens of myrtle and mimosa, the For two days the general visited the
hot houses and the evergreen groves. front and the cities of Mulhouse, Colmar,
306 Molsheim, Strasbourg, and Saverne. Time Magazine, February. 26,
In these speeches he referred grandly 1945
if ambiguously to the “renovation and The Yalta Conference’s
expansion” of France. Implications for the Future
In a radio address earlier in the week
he stated in public what he wanted to tell No doubt about it—the Russians
the conferees in private and challenged were changing. At Yalta, as at earlier
the agreements they might make in his conferences, Stalin and other Soviet
absence. France, he announced, would bigwigs shed a little more of their personal
not be bound by private decisions. Allied isolation.
control commission, de Gaulle demanded Stalin mugged the cameras, patently
these goals for peace: “The definite loved to show off his fine grey uniforms.
presence of a French force from one end His stock of English phrases had grown:
of the Rhine to the other; the separation “So what?” and “You said it” had been
of the territories of the left bank of the added to “The toilet is over there!” and
river and of the Ruhr Basin from what “What the hell goes on here?” Now one
will be the German state or states; the of his problems is the ingrained aloofness
independence of the Polish Czecho- of Politburo men and others in the Soviet
Slovak, Austrian, and Balkan nations.” hierarchy who feel that Russia is having
too much truck with foreigners.
The Little Ones Demur But the international yeast was
From the sidelines, before the working. Perhaps it had something to do
conference spoke publicly, the small with Yalta’s implications for the future:
nation began to voice their doubts about Deed of Trust. Stalin, Roosevelt and
the brave new world being planned by Churchill bluntly said that the three
the Big Three. The Dutch and Polish powers who had “made victory possible
governments in London discussing the and certain” proposed to administer the
Dumbarton Oaks2 world security plan, victory. Big Three unity for this purpose
had one specific complaint: The plan was “a sacred obligation which our
gives the big nations too much authority, Governments owe to our peoples and to
the small ones too little protection. They all the peoples of the world.”
objected to a big power’s right of veto This assertion of high purpose had
in case affecting it and urged greater some very practical roots. It was a logical
representation for small nations on the expression of Stalin’s cold certainty that
Security Council. Mexico backed them only power counts (said he once of the
and suggested membership in the world Pope, “How many divisions has he got?”).
organization for all, including present It was an equally natural extension of
enemies. President Roosevelt’s recent assertion
that the U.S. intends not only to take a
responsible part in world affairs but to
shape the decisions for which it shares
responsibility. For Winston Churchill, the
doctrine of trusteeship was insurance
that a Britain exhausted by the war will speech asserting the principle of French 307
have a position in keeping with Britain’s equality last fortnight De Gaulle himself
needs. reminded the French people that they still
But Big Three assertions alone cannot have to earn the right to actual equality.
make trusteeship work. That will also All concerned faced the same hard facts:
require the conscious, wholehearted, France cannot recover without Big Three
fully informed support of the U.S. people. help; the Big Three cannot run liberated
And it will require tacit acceptance by the Europe and postwar Germany without a
hundreds of millions of people for whom resurgent, reasonably satisfied France.
the Big Three propose to be trustees. Concert of Spheres. In the first glow,
Whose Trust? In Europe, where the some optimists had read more into the
first test must come, first reactions were Big Three declaration on liberated Europe
not promising. At best, the Poles were than the Big Three actually said. Even
uneasy; at worst, certain that they had among the Big Three, contests for power
been sold out. But the selling out of the and spheres of influence were not finally
Poles had actually occurred many months abolished at Yalta. Yalta could be taken as
ago. In the first days after Yalta, the major an incomplete check on a race for spheres
test of the Yalta doctrine was France. of influence.
Despite its gestures toward the French, In principle, the Big Three agreed to
the Crimea declaration made it clear that “concert” their interests and policies in
the Big Three did not yet rate France as one such troubled countries as Greece and
of the trustees, even in western Europe. Poland. But the statement of principle
Even the cordial paragraph inviting “the included some significant limitations: 1)
Provisional Government of the French it holds good only “during the temporary
Republic” to join in the guardianship of period of instability”; 2) the big powers are
liberated Europe implied that the Big bound to act together only when all three
Three could get along without France. agree that the specific circumstances of
The French rebelled. Their press each case justify their joint intervention.
reflected some but by no means all the Concert of Votes. The sorest point
popular resentment. General de Gaulle settled at Yalta was the dispute over
had already made it plain that France voting procedure in the postwar world
intended to be not one of the trusteed Security Council.
but one of the trustees. Now he pointedly Joseph Stalin did not budge an inch
announced that France would handle from his insistence that any one of the
its own empire. Finally, he declined to Big Powers must be able to veto world
leave Paris for an aftermath session with action against itself or against any other
President Roosevelt, who had hoped to country accused of aggression. But the
pause in North Africa on his way home compromise engineered by President
and soothe the General. If Roosevelt Roosevelt was neither so cynical nor so
wanted to see him, said De Gaulle, the futile as it seemed to some commentators.
President would have to come to Paris. Under the compromise, the Security
These initial irritations were probably Council’s Big Five (the Big Three plus France
not so serious as they seemed. In a and China) must agree unanimously
310 before the world organization can take both here and in the United States, as
economic or military action against an a mere concession to power politics,
aggressor. But any seven (nominally, two- unjustified by any considerations of
thirds) of the Council’s eleven members equity; and emotion has tended to darken
can cite an aggressor nation, bring its sins counsel. The arguments which support
to world attention. the decision will, however, withstand the
The provision requiring a two-thirds closest scrutiny.
vote instead of a simple majority to do During the closing stages of the last war
this is a marked concession to the smaller British and American experts undertook
powers. It means that the Big Five, even much detailed and impartial research into
when united, cannot commit the world the drawing of future European frontiers
organization to any action without on lines likely to correspond with the
approval of at least two of the Council’s national allegiances of the greatest
little-nation members. At least in theory, possible number. The frontier between
six smaller members could join forces Russia and Poland was the subject of
with one of the Big Five to override the one of the completest of these studies.
other four in preliminary decisions. When the Polish commission of the peace
When the United Nations convene in conference met in Paris it had before
April to revise the original Dumbarton it by far the most exhaustive volume of
Oaks proposals, these considerations may population statistics ever compiled for
outweigh the right of veto retained by the these regions. Patient examination of a
Big Powers. Everyone in San Francisco will mass of data resulted in the unanimous
know that, anyhow, whatever the rules, recommendation by the commission of
no nation could be made to declare war what afterwards came to be known as the
on itself. Curzon line3. The line was provisional in
the sense that the fate of the territories
The Times, February 27,1945 cast of it was left undetermined, the
POLAND argument of the supposed instability
of the Soviet régime in Russia being
Several members of Parliament, freely invoked. But the objection to the
not confined to one party, are likely to allocation was true in the sense that
raise the Polish question in the debate the fate of the territories cast of it was
on the Crimea conference which opens left undetermined, the argument of
to-day. The decision regarding Poland the supposed instability of the Soviet
was not the least significant item in the régime in Russia being freely invoked.
Crimea declaration; and it has given But the objection to the allocation of
wide satisfaction as constituting tangible these territories to Poland was certainly
evidence of the recognition by the three present to the minds of the commission.
Powers of the imperative importance, in In the words of the “History of “the Peace
the interests of world peace, of agreement Conference” published by the Institute
between them on contentious issues. The of International Affairs in 1924, A Polish
decision has naturally been challenged. It occupation of these regions means the
has been represented in some quarters, hostility of every Russian, Bolshevik or
monarchist, liberal or reactionary. In accepted the fait accompli by recognizing 311
the end this must involve an alliance of the frontiers thus established.
Russia and Germany against Poland. It Even therefore if it were true that
is impossible that Poland could hold her the decision of the Crimea conference
own against such an alliance. to endorse the Curzon line was simply
It was widely held then, and it is the reflection of superior military force,
equally true now, that an extension of the protest against it on that ground would
Polish frontier to the east of the Curzon come with no great conviction from
line could only be a source of grave apologists for the frontiers recognized in
weakness to Poland. 1923. But that is not in fact the basis of the
Unhappily this wise caution was not decision. To speak of it as depriving Poland
maintained. In the summer of 1919 the of so many square miles of “her” territory
Poles expelled the Ukrainian authorities is to use the language of rhetoric and to
by force of arms from East Galician action beg the very question at issue. Estimates
against which the Supreme Council based on Polish census figures carefully
helplessly protested. Even proposals from analysed place the number of Poles in the
the Supreme Council for an autonomous area before 1939 at less than 2,500,000
régime in East Galicia were rejected by out of a total population of 11,000,000.
the Poles. Yet the archives of the League MR. EDEN recently gave the Poles more
of Nations in the period between the wars than the benefit of every doubt when he
contain much evidence of the discontent estimated the Polish population at from
of the Ukrainian majority in East Galicia 3,200,000 to 3,900,000. The only solid
with Polish rule and of the repressive and substantial blocks of Polish population
measures which the Polish authorities were found in the cities of Vilna and Lvov,
were driven to adopt in order to maintain where they formed islets separated from
it. In 1920 PILSUDSKI marched against Polish territory, properly so called, by
Russia. After many changes of fortune hundreds of thousands of White Russians
the war ended in a sweeping Polish and Ukrainians respectively. No one doubts
victory over an exhausted Russia and in that friendly relations between Poland and
the conclusion of the treaty of Riga, fixing the Soviet Union are indispensable to both
the frontier which remained in being countries. Yet what hope of such relations
till 1939. That the Russian signatories could there be for a Poland which retained
at the time prudently made a virtue of in her possession vast regions where White
necessity could not alter the nature of Russians and Ukrainians are by far the
the concessions to which they had been largest elements in the population? The
compelled to subscribe. A subsidiary apprehensions which Polish annexations
episode was the seizure of Vilna from after 1919 inspired at that time in many
the Lithuanians, which provoked strong sincere friends of Poland were justified up
protests and long but fruitless discussions to the hilt, and are no whit less valid to-
at Geneva. By 1923 it was plain that there day. Such policies have as little foundation
was no military force in eastern Europe in justice as in political wisdom. Both
strong enough to contest these Polish equity and common sense are on the side
acquisitions, and the allied countries of the Crimea decision.
312 The second decision that “the divergences, it was essential for the Crimea
provisional Government which is conference to take a hand. Given these
now “functioning in Poland should be premises, it is difficult to see what decision
reorganized on a broader democratic was possible other than to reorganize the
“basis with the inclusion of democratic administration now working, however
“leaders from Poland itself and from imperfectly, on the spot and to reconstitute
“Poles abroad” raises different issues. But it as an effectively representative body by
these too chariot usefully be discussed the introduction of now elements from
in question-begging catchwords which within Poland and from abroad. All the
mean, if they mean anything at all, that the evidence suggests that what MARSHAL
Polish Government in exile has not only an STALIN desires to see in Warsaw is not a
exclusive title to speak for the people of puppet Government acting under Russian
Poland, but a liberum veto on any move orders, but a friendly Government which,
towards a settlement of Polish affairs. The fully conscious of the supreme importance
legal credentials of this Government are of Russo-Polish concord, will frame its
certainly not beyond challenge if it were own independent policies in that context.
relevant to examine them: the obscure and Those who argue or imply that any own
tenuous thread of continuity leads back at independent policies in that context,
best to a constitution deriving from a quasi- those who argue or imply that any Polish
Fascist coup d’Etat. But legal argument Government working in friendly harmony
can be no more decisive in Poland than with Russia is a puppet Government are
in other countries of liberated Europe not offering an alternative solution, but
where experience has shown that new denying the possibility of any solution
Governments and new leaders thrown up at all. Things have not reached that pass
after liberation are the necessary bulwark and, wisely handled, will not reach it. To
of stable future administration. The damn the present provisional Government
representative quality of the provisional unrepresentative or exclusively dependent
Government now functioning in Warsaw on Russian support is barren criticism:
is admittedly defective. But what can be the task is to put in its place something
said of the representative quality of M. stronger and more broadly representative.
ARCISZEWSKI4 and his colleagues? Is it Happily signs exist that M. ARCISZEWSKI’S
seriously suggested that the proceedings possumus does not correspond to the
in Polish circles in London which led to attitude of all Polish leaders outside
the replacement of the Government of Poland, and that some of these may be
MIKOLAJCZYK5 by the Government of ready to answer the call of their country.
M. ARCISZEWSKI reflected the will of the This prospect affords by far the best
mass of the Polish people, or indeed had hope for the security, well-being, and
any relation to it whatever? independence of the Polish nation in the
Clearly the present situation of the years to come. It would be tragic if any
different Polish authorities had become heated or unguarded words pronounced in
wholly unreal; and since they had failed the House of Commons in the forthcoming
over a long period to make any progress debate were to discourage this hope or to
at all towards the composition of their render its realization more difficult.
(Endnotes) 313
1 Dr. Subasich the former Prime Minister Franklin D. Roosevelt speaks about
of Yugoslavia was representing the monarchy in Allied Conference at Yalta
exile. Audiofile
2 Dumbarton Oaks Conference,
(August 21–October 7, 1944), meeting
at Dumbarton Oaks, a mansion in Georgetown,
Washington, D.C., where representatives of China,
the Soviet Union, the United States, and the
United Kingdom formulated proposals for a world
organization that became the basis for the United
Nations.

3 The Curzon Line was a

proposed demarcation line between the Second
Polish Republic and the Soviet Union, two new
states emerging after World War I. Based on
a suggestion by Herbert James Paton, it was
first proposed in 1919 by Lord Curzon, the
British Foreign Secretary, to the Supreme War
Council as a diplomatic basis for a future border
agreement.
The line became a major geopolitical factor
during World War II, when the USSR invaded
eastern Poland, resulting in the split of
Poland’s territory between the USSR and Nazi
Germany roughly along the Curzon Line
in accordance with final rounds of secret
negotiations surrounding the Molotov-Ribbentrop
Pact. After the German attack on the Soviet Union
in 1941, Operation Barbarossa, the Allies did not
agree that Poland’s future eastern border should
be changed from the pre-war status quo in 1939
until the Tehran Conference. Churchill’s position
changed after the Soviet victory at the Battle of
Kursk.

4 Tomasz Stefan Arciszewski (1877–1955)

was a Polish socialist politician, a member of
the Polish Socialist Party and the 31st Prime
Minister of Poland, 3rd Prime Minister of the
Polish government-in-exile in London from 1944
to 1947 during which the government lost the
recognition of the Western powers.

5 Stanisław Mikołajczyk (1901–1966)

was a Polish politician. He was a Prime Minister of
the Polish government-in-exile during World War
II and later Deputy Prime Minister in post-war
Poland until 1947.
314

Chapter ХХ Russian front, alternately planning grand

Marshall of the Great Victory strategy and commanding Individual
armies and groups of armies in the
front lines. In his capacity as deputy to
LIFE Magazine, February 12, the supreme commander in chief he is
1945 second only to Stalin as the Soviet Union’s
guiding military star. As a staff officer he
ZHUKOV — STALIN’S BEST has proved himself cunning, imaginative
GENERAL, DEFENDER OF and prophetic. As a field general he has
STALINGRAD AND MOSCOW, been audacious, imperturbable and to
COMMANDS THE GREAT date unconquerable.
RUSSIAN DRIVE TO BERLIN Zhukov’s most dramatic performances
heretofore have been in his recurrent
BY RICHARD E. LAUTERBACH1 role as Russia’s Horatius-at-The-Bridge2.
Muscovites call him “Spasitel,” or savior.
Whatever happens in the next few When German armies almost encircled
weeks, Marshal Georgi Konstantinovitch Moscow in the bitter fall of 1941, Stalin
Zhukov (pronounced Jzoo-kuf) will go sent him from his warm berth as chief
down in history as one of the greatest of staff into the cold woods outside the
generals of World War II. Currently field capital. In a few weeks he not only lifted
commander of the Red Army’s elite troops the siege of Moscow but threw the
in the center of The Eastern Front, he is Germans into retreat under the impact of
evidently Stalin’s choice as conqueror of a great winter offensive. The next winter
Berlin and perhaps as the chief Russian In Zhukov was sent south to save Stalingrad.
the future Allied government of Germany. In the process he destroyed the Sixth
His record of military achievement is German Army in a bloody battle which
without parallel in modern war. turned the whole tide of the war. Next he
No single counterpart for Zhukov can broke the blockade of Leningrad. And last
be found in either the Allied or Axis armies. year, again trouble-shooting in the field,
His role can best be comprehended he led forces which expelled the Germans
if one imagines an individual officer from the Ukraine and the southern U. S.
simultaneously holding the responsibility S. R.
of General Marshall, General Eisenhower At the moment Zhukov is enjoying
and General Bradley. For the last four the pleasure, seldom experienced by
years he has shuttled between the staff officers, of translating his own
Kremlin and every battlefield of the strategical concepts into tactical reality.
The climactic offensive which began Jan. infantry across more than 300 miles of 315
12 is the fruit of his planning last autumn. swampland and woodland in the first 18
To invest Berlin, destroy Hitler’s armies days of his campaign-the fastest advance
and end the war, Zhukov gathered his of the war, far exceeding the record of the
forces for the greatest effort undertaken Germans against the Russians in 1941.
by the Red Army in four years of conflict. Russians term their infantry not “queen
He deployed an estimated 200 divisions- of battles” but “queen of fields.” Last
twice the reported total strength of the week Soviet war correspondents were
Anglo-American armies in the West-along referring to Zhukov’s infantry as “queen
a 400- mile front from East Prussia to the of forests and rivers.” His rapid progress
Carpathians. Characteristically he aimed led facetious Londoners to remark that
the main weight of his attack straight Zhukov was racing to liberate the British
down the Warsaw-Frankfurt highway Channel islands.
to Berlin. And characteristically he gave
command of that most critical, most HE IS A GOOD BOLSHEVIK
difficult sector to himself. The day Zhukov steps across the
The speed with which his forces have ultimate German trench to greet his allies
advanced (15 to 20 miles a day) attests in the West will not mark the first occasion
not only to the efficiency of the Red on which he has found himself entrusted
Army’s fluid supply system, which Zhukov with diplomatic responsibilities. The
helped evolve in years past, but also to Kremlin’s esteem for him accrues not
his own tactical skill. As a field soldier, only from his martial abilities but from his
he has repeatedly outguessed and reputation as a good Bolshevik, too. When
outmaneuvered the Germans’ shrewdest he is in Moscow Stalin freely discusses
commanders. Two winters ago, for political as well as military problems
example, he took Rzhev by ordering his with him. He was Stalin’s representative
engineers to throw an “invisible bridge in Madrid during the Spanish War. He
across a river. It was built entirely by commanded the Red Army’s far eastern
night, with its roadway submerged just units in Mongolia in the ticklish summer
18 inches below the surface of the water. of 19393. And during the uneasy days of
On Rzhev’s D-day the Nazi garrison saw the Russo-German pact it was Zhukov
Zhukov’s tanks miraculously breasting who more than any other commander
the stream like a fleet of old side- warned against Nazi duplicity.
wheelers. Last month he again outfoxed In appearance and manner Zhukov
the enemy by taking Warsaw from the is a military man from his apperceptive
rear. In the current fighting the Red eyes to his polished boots. When he gives
Army has attacked from unexpected orders or discusses strategy he speaks
directions all up and down the front. directly, sharply and precisely in a calm,
Retreating Germans have found Russians low voice. He dislikes vacillation. His
already dug in behind them. By-passing strong face is so expressive of willfulness
strong points and leaving them for rear that few men readily dispute his views.
echelons to mop up, Zhukov has hurled In upholding his judgments he can be
his armored spearheads and motorized extremely stubborn, but on occasions
316 when he is outvoted by other members that Zhukov’s home is the top floor of a
of the supreme command he executes two-story house in Arbat Square, one of
their plans as solicitously as he would his Moscow’s better residential areas some
own. five minutes’ walk from the Kremlin, or
Soviet newspapermen first glimpsed that he has a pretty, dark-haired wife who
Zhukov’s superlative self-assurance when is taller than he, a 13- year-old daughter
the Red Army underwent its test by and two sons, 12 and 9. The older boy,
fire in the Mongolian steppes. A group who is called “Zhuk” by his classmates,
of war correspondents were sitting resembles his father. (He dislikes his
around an iron stove in a blockhouse nickname, for in Russian zhuk means
on the Manchurian frontier one day “beetle.” The suffix or is an elision of
when Zhukov strode into their midst. He “ovich” which signifies “the son of,” hence
had just come from his early morning the name Zhukov can be interpreted as
banya and his cheeks were pink. As he “son of a beetle.”) The Zhukov apartment,
dressed he chatted cheerfully with his which is small but comfortable, is a
interviewers. Suddenly two Red Army monument to the Marshal’s military
scouts rushed into the room and reported career. In the living room Mrs. Zhukov
that the Japanese were massing large displays swords, helmets, remnants of
units in preparation for a counterattack. enemy tunics and other trophies he has
The correspondents braced themselves, accumulated in 30 years of soldiering.
expecting a galvanized commander and The bookshelves are filled with volumes
a cascade of excited orders. But Zhukov, by Clausewitz and other military analysts.
unperturbed, went on dressing and calmly Zhukov is considered an authority on
informed his scouts that a counterattack the campaigns of Hannibal4. The books
was impossible since the Japs were in are in several languages, for Zhukov
no position to deliver an offensive blow. speaks some Spanish and German and
His words changed the atmosphere is very fluent in French; before the war
instantaneously. A few days later the he subscribed to most of the leading
forces under his command wiped out the French periodicals. When not studying
Japanese Sixth Army at Khalkin-Gol. or practicing military science, he liked
Although he is twice a Hero of the to climb into rough worsteds and motor
Soviet Union, victor over Japs and to the lake country north of Moscow for
Germans and unquestionably the No. fishing. On quiet evenings at home or
1 professional soldier of the U. S. S. R., in camp he would entertain his friends
Zhukov’s face and broad, balding brow are by playing the piano or the accordion.
unfamiliar to the average Russian citizen. His favorite composers are Tschaikovsky,
The Soviet press places little emphasis Glinka and Moussorgsky, but most of his
on the work of individual commanders accordion selections are old folk songs he
except when they receive an official learned in his youth.
citation. Americans know a good deal Zhukov’s whereabouts are always
about the public and even private lives a complete military secret and in the
of their leading generals, but the Russian Soviet Union no exceptions are made
public is completely ignorant of the fact for rank, so Mrs. Zhukov rarely hears
from her husband. She follows the Red he was sent home because of ill health. 317
Army’s campaigns closely on a big, By the time he had recovered, Russia was
colored wall map and knows pretty well out of the war and Lenin was in power.
that whenever something pretty big is Army life had appealed to Zhukov, so
brewing, her Georgiy will be nearby. Like he abandoned the fur trade and joined
most army wives Mrs. Zhukov devotes the Red Army cavalry. He also joined
her spare time to a war-relief committee. the Communist Party. During the civil
As wife of a leading Soviet citizen she war Zhukov fought on many fronts, was
receives certain privileges. She can buy wounded, decorated and promoted to
clothing at a discount on a special floor the rank of an officer. His ability attracted
of a department store reserved for the the notice of Red Army commanders and
families of top military personnel. At a when the war was over he was picked
“gastronom5” similar to ones maintained to attend Frunze Academy-the Soviet’s
for foreign diplomats, she may draw a combination of West Point and General
good ration of caviar, wines, vodka, Soviet Staff School-to study military science
champagne and chocolate candies for and tactics. Upon his graduation he
her children. When Zhukov is home an elected to re-enter the cavalry, incubator
army car and chauffeur are at the family’s of many Russian generals. In the years
disposal, but usually they prefer to pay that followed Zhukov obscurely but
their 40 kopeks6 and ride the subway like effectively prepared himself for his later
other Muscovites. responsibilities. He had few intimate
On his visits to Moscow Zhukov enjoys friends and spent his off-duty hours
going to military and diplomatic parties studying Marxist literature, writing
where he holds forth as an intelligent if tactical disquisitions and learning foreign
somewhat didactic conversationalist. languages. For a while he lectured at
At the front he leads a Spartan regime. Frunze Academy. During the pre-Hitler
When he was stationed in the Ukraine period he visited briefly in Germany,
he habitually galloped his favorite black attending lectures given for Russian and
Caucasian charger before breakfast and Chinese officers by the German General
worked a 12- hour day without lunch. Staff. In 1936 Stalin and Voroshilov
Sometimes for additional exercise he dispatched him to Spain as the Soviet
would fence with his aides, usually Union’s chief military observer. There
wearing out several of them before Zhukov had his first opportunity to test
he had had enough. Since he subjects Red Army theories of tank warfare under
himself to such rigors he does not shrink actual combat conditions, for he brought
from demanding as much from his men. along a shipment of Russian tanks to help
Son of simple peasant folk, Zhukov counter the aid given Franco by Germany
was born in Strelkovka, a small village in and Italy.
central Russia, in 1895. He left school at
an early age and became apprentice to a
furrier. At the outbreak of World War I he
was drafted into the army and saw two
years of active service as a private. Then
322 HIS FIRST BATTLE WAS IN OUTER canalize the functions of the political
MONGOLIA commissars so they could not interfere
When the Japanese attacked the with the purely military command. He
Mongolian Republic in May 1939 the criticized the Finnish campaign and
Soviet Union implemented its mutual-aid blamed its shortcomings upon adherence
pact with the Mongols and rushed several to obsolete techniques. The new army
tank divisions under Zhukov’s command to Zhukov hammered into shape was a far
their assistance. In battles that followed, cry from the rapt dream of a Communist
Zhukov exhibited the daring and guile fighting force of happy comrades who
that established him in Stalin’s eyes as a held meetings and voted on every
military genius, wiping out the Japanese military decision. Racing against time
Sixth Army with the unexcitable efficiency and Hitler, Zhukov welded the Red Army
noted before. In the 22 months between into an orderly hierarchical organization,
this campaign and Hitler’s invasion of whose respect for discipline has been
Russia Zhukov shot upward through Red intensified in the last four years of war
Army ranks, emerging as a political as to a degree unknown in Czarist days.
well as a military personage. He helped Officers and men cannot appear in public
with staff work under Timoshenko during places in unpressed uniforms. Their boots
the not very brilliant Finnish campaign must be polished, their faces shaven,
and upon its conclusion was appointed their hair combed. Even on the coldest
Commander of the Kiev Military District days no Red Army man can walk down
with the rank of general of the army, next Moscow’s Gorky Street with the collar
highest to marshal. of his greatcoat turned up. No Red Army
During his stay in Kiev Zhukov drew man can be seen hanging on the outside
up plans for Red Army reform based on step of an overcrowded streetcar or bus.
experience gained in the Japanese and No officer or enlisted man is ever seen
Finnish campaigns. In a remarkable speech seated in a car or subway while a man of
delivered before a Party conference higher rank stands. These outward signs
of the Kiev Military District, Zhukov of discipline are symptomatic of intrinsic
outspokenly attacked the Red Army’s character changes within the Army.
“political commissars” and charged
the army’s high command with failure HE IS STERN BUT KINDLY
properly to train young officers rising Stern disciplinarian though he is,
from the ranks. He closed his audacious Zhukov nevertheless respects a Russian
speech with an oblique warning against military tradition, antedating the Red
the Nazis, the Russo-German peace pact Army, of solicitude for the individual
notwithstanding. The Western horizon soldier. Instances of his personal
looked glowering in the winter of 1940-41 relationship with the men under his
and Stalin brought Zhukov to Moscow as command are few but illuminating.
chief of staff to hasten reorganization and Some years before the war, when Zhukov
expansion of the Red Army. He weeded was stationed in White Russia, he gave
out incompetent officers, inveighed permission to a cavalry regiment to
against bureaucracy and did his best to arrange a party for a junior officer who
was getting married. On the morning of poorly equipped, hastily trained Moscow 323
the wedding day Zhukov learned that volunteers, to cease avoiding Nazi tanks
Marshal Budenny was arriving for an but “to hunt and destroy them.”
inspection tour. Zhukov ordered the The Russian retreat slowed and
prospective bridegroom to the station Zhukov won time to concentrate powerful
to head a welcoming guard of honor. reserves that had been brought from
Foreseeing an all-day job, the young man the cast and stationed in woods north,
groaned but marched off like a good south and west of the city. Hitler had
soldier. At the moment Budenny’s train proclaimed that his troops would parade
drew in, Zhukov appeared at the station in Red Square on Nov.7, the Soviet Union’s
and whispered in the junior officer’s ear, Fourth of July. But on Nov.7 the marchers
“Sorry to be late, I just stopped by your in Red Square were Red Army reserves
wedding party and everyone was having on their way to join Zhukov’s defenders.
a marvelous time.” With a dig in the ribs In the days that followed Zhukov
he dismissed the impatient bridegroom deliberately sucked the Wehrmacht into
and told him to have fun. Zhukov then his trap. On Nov.27 he sprang it, following
strode forward in his place to welcome up with an offensive which split the Nazi
the visiting marshal. spearhead and sent so German divisions
In February 1941 Zhukov was elected streaming westward in defeat. In a rare
alternate member of the Central press interview on Jan. 25, 1942, Zhukov
Committee of the Communist Party and outlined a few reasons for the German
appointed Vice-Commissar of Defense. shambles at Moscow. “They were used
Four months later the Nazis started the to easy victories,” he said. “For them,
attack Zhukov had repeatedly prophesied. war was merely maneuvers. They have
Week by week the huge German forces neither cavalry nor skiers, their tanks
drew closer to Moscow, battering down cannot pass over the snow.” As he talked
Voroshilov’s defenses in the north, he sparkled with sarcasm and occasional
Budenny’s in the south, and Timoshenko’s wit he was relaxing for the first time in
on the central front. By October the Nazi months. “The stubborn resistance the
steam roller had battered its way to within Germans offer in towns and villages has
so miles of the Kremlin. On the 21st of that a simple explanation. They are afraid to
month Stalin decreed a state of siege in give up warm houses for frozen fields.
Moscow. Transferring Timoshenko to the Early in December it was clear that their
southwest, he relieved Zhukov of his desk offensive had petered out. We retreated,
duties as chief of staff and entrusted him preserving our matériel. The day came
with the defense of the capital. Zhukov and we launched a counterassault.”
issued an impassioned hold-or-die order:
“Not a step back!” he commanded. “Halt “HIGHLY TALENTED AND BRAVE
the Fascists! Every man must fight like LEADER”
ten! Cowards and panic mongers must The year 1941 was one of cumulative
be destroyed ruthlessly as traitors to successes for Zhukov and the Red Army.
the fatherland.” He ordered his tired With the Germans stabilized on the central
armies, now reinforced with divisions of front, Zhukov was suddenly transferred to
324 Stalingrad, then menaced by the armies While the country was still reverberating
of von Paulus and von Manstein. Once with cheers over his Caucasian triumph,
again he replaced Timoshenko. Presiding Zhukov organized a new offensive at
as supreme theater commander (as Leningrad which lifted the blockade of
Eisenhower presides in the West), that long- beleaguered city. A few weeks
Zhukov was assisted at Stalingrad by later he was named Marshal of the Soviet
some of the Red Army’s most brilliant Union, the first field commander of the
tacticians, among them Chief Marshal of war to be so recognized. In an Izvestia
Artillery Nikolai Voronov and Marshals editorial entitled “Skill of Red Army
Rokossovsky and Malinovsky who are now Leaders,” Zhukov was officially acclaimed
flanking his thrusts toward Berlin. All of for the first time as the “highly talented
them owe something to their experience and brave leader” who had smashed
in the epic battle of the Stalingrad front. the Germans at Moscow, Stalingrad and
It went on for 21 weeks and exceeded Leningrad. Izvestia’s editorial was the
in violence and bitterness any previous most notable official tribute that had
battle of the war. Under Zhukov’s direction been accorded to any Russian other than
what had seemed to be a Russian disaster Stalin since the beginning of the war. Only
was dramatically turned into one of the once again that year did Zhukov’s name
greatest Russian victories of the war-a appear in the Soviet press and that was on
victory that probably will go down among July 28 when he was awarded the Order
the decisive ones in world history. By the of Suvorov for coordinating successful
end of the year the threat to Stalingrad campaigns along the entire Eastern
had been dissipated and von Paulus’ Sixth Front. With Stalin and Voroshilov he had
Army lay surrounded in a solid steel ring. helped plan the 1943 summer offensives
At this point von Manstein, advancing which swept the Germans out of Kursk,
with reinforcements from the southwest, Orel, Belgorod, Kharkov, Smolensk and
attempted to drive a wedge into Zhukov’s sent them back across the Dniepr. When
ring and join up with von Paulus’ encircled the triumphant Red Army marched into
divisions. Before the relieving force could twice-liberated Kharkov a great victory
swing into action Zhukov sent fresh celebration was held in Dzershinsky
troops under Malinovsky to intercept it. Square. Appropriately, it was Zhukov who
His maneuver was perfectly timed. Von sat on the platform as a representative of
Manstein’s armored units were smashed the Supreme Command.
and his infantry limped back to Rostov.
In the wake of this great victory the HE COMMANDED SOUTHERN FRONT
Russians sent an ultimatum to von Paulus. IN 1944
To the surprise of military observers Early last year, when General Nikolai
the name signed to the document was Vatutin of the First Ukrainian Army was
not Zhukov’s. Stalin, realizing that the killed at the height of operations in the
Germans were knocked out in the south, Ukraine, Zhukov further adorned his
had decided it was time to hit them reputation as the Red Army’s best pinch
elsewhere and he had accordingly hustled hitter. He was already in the theater of
Zhukov by airplane to the Leningrad front. operations, having been assigned to
coordinate the strategy of the First and and Artillery Chief Voronov he evolved 325
Second Ukrainian Armies. Rather than plans for the Red Army’s ultimate drive
entrust Vatutin’s important sector to on Berlin. He held interstaff discussions
a less experienced commander, Stalin with British and American envoys on the
allowed Zhukov to remain in active timing of coordinated offensive thrusts.
command of the First Army. It was as Leaving problems of morale and politics
though President Roosevelt had suddenly to other members of the Supreme
ordered General Eisenhower to take over Command, Zhukov concerned himself
command of the U. S. Third Army from with operational plans for annihilating
Lieut. General Patton7 or the Fifth Army the German armies and ending the war.
from Lieut. General Clark8. In Moscow On Jan. 11 of this year he rose once more
military observers raised their eyebrows from his desk and went forth into the
and said, “Zhukov is taking a great chance. field for his greatest battle.
What a triumph for Manstein if he could
stop Russia’s greatest professional HE GETS UP CLOSE
soldier! What a blow to Russian morale!” It is Zhukov’s philosophy that offensive
Everything was against Zhukov’s success. strategy must be fluid and flexible and
One of the earliest spring thaws in cannot be definitely envisaged at a table
memory set in. His troops sank to their in the Kremlin. Hence while he studies
knees in greasy mud. But time was all- and evaluates field reports carefully, he
important. On March 4 Zhukov gave the habitually insists on taking great personal
command and his artillery opened up. For risks in order to observes his troops in
40 minutes the Ukrainian bogs quaked. action and to compare backroom strategy
Then the tanks slipped forward through with great frontline tactics. Ever since the
the mud on a 150-mile front. However, battle of Moscow Zhukov has journeyed
inspired by Zhukov’s presence, the First up and down the Red Army’s offensive
Ukrainian Army outdid itself. After two line from the Baltic to the Carpathians
days of bitter fighting 12 German divisions and to the Black Sea. He has traveled by
were smashed. Pursuing his advantage, plane and train and often by American
Zhukov drove the enemy to the frontier command car. Despite his eminence
of the Soviet Union and across it onto as a desk general, he is primarily a
Polish soil. For his achievement the man of action who craves the smell of
Supreme Soviet awarded Zhukov the battle smoke. Zhukov has defined war
Order of Victory, a magnificent bauble as “a science, a series of mathematical
of diamonds, rubies and platinum worth problems to be solved though proper
over $100,000. integration and coordination of men and
The Marshal’s responsibilities weapons in time and space.” But he has
continually increased last summer and fall. also said, time and again, that it is the
As the pressure of international affairs and common denominator that counts in war:
postwar plans absorbed more of Stalin’s the simple soldier who shoots the bullet
energies the burden of military strategy and stops the bullet. At Stalin’s suggestion
fell ever more heavily on Zhukov’s ox- he sent a pamphlet to Rokossovsky,
like shoulders. With Air Marshal Novikov Malinovsky, Chernayakhovsky, Konev and
326 other commanders now fighting north the Romans refused, he declared war on them.
Publicola was the consul of Rome, and he and
and south of him on the blazing highroad Lucretius defended Rome until they fell in battle.
to Berlin. To them he commended these
words of Suvorov: “Regardless of what 3 The Battles of Khalkhin Gol were the
happens to me, the soldier is dearer than decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–
myself.... I neither sleep nor rest so that Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet
Union, Mongolia, Japan and Manchukuo in
my army may have sleep and rest.’ Lord 1939. The conflict was named after the
Beaverbrook once said that communism river Khalkhin Gol, which passes through
had produced the best generals of the the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle
war. Georgi Zhukov is a Communist. He of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan
does not believe in God. But he does Incident  after Nomonhan, a nearby village on the
border between Mongolia and Manchuria. The
believe in history, in progress, in decency. battles resulted in the defeat of the Japanese Sixth
For these things, for his home, his wife, Army.
his children and for Russia, he has fought
an unbeatable kind of war. Like most 4 Hannibal (247 – between 183 and 181
of the 15,000,000 front-line soldiers BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who
commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle
that he commands, Zhukov was the son against the Roman Republic during the Second
of a humble peasant. “In the time of Punic War.
civilization’s crisis,” a Russian soldier said
not long ago, “Zhukov rose up like David, 5 Soviet Supermarket
to smite the German Goliath.
6 Russian and Soviet coin 1:100 of Rouble

(Endnotes) 7 George Patton ( 1885-1945) was a U.S.

1 Lauterbach Richard Army officer who was an outstanding practitioner
(1914-1950)-American journalist. After graduating of mobile tank warfare in the European and
from college in 1935, he worked for the weekly Mediterranean theaters during World War II.
Time. In 1941-1942 he was a correspondent His strict discipline, toughness, and self-sacrifice
of this publication in the Middle East. In 1943- elicited exceptional pride within his ranks, and
1944 he wrote for Time and Life magazines from the general was colorfully referred to as “Old
Moscow. His 1945 book, ‘Such Are These Russians’, Blood-and-Guts” by his men. However, his brash
went through eight editions. ‘It is the best, most actions and mercurial temper led to numerous
complete and fascinating book showing what controversies during his career.
Russians are like among the books on Russia that I
have had occasion to read lately,’ was John Hersey’s 8 Mark Clark (1896-1984) was a U.S. Army
review of it. In 1946, R. Lauterbach visited the USSR officer during World War II, who commanded
again, travelling from Vladivostok to Moscow and Allied forces (1943–44) during the successful Italian
in his book ‘On Russia from East to West’ (1947), campaign against the Axis powers.A graduate
he repeatedly spoke in favor of deepening mutual (1917) of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point,
understanding between the USSR and the USA N.Y., Clark served overseas in World War I. Early
in 1942 he became chief of staff of army ground
2 The story of Horatius is described forces. Later that year, as deputy commander in
in Plutarch’s “Life of Publicola.” In the early chief to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, he executed
6th century BCE, Lars Porsena was the most delicate and demanding assignments in connection
powerful king in Etruscan Italy, who Tarquinius with the Allied invasion of North Africa, including
Superbus asked to help him take back Rome. a dramatic submarine trip to Algeria for a secret
Porsena sent a message to Rome saying they meeting with French officers.
should receive Tarquin as their king, and when
 327

Chapter ХХI Not Churchill, nor Stalin, nor

Epilogue: The War is Over. Roosevelt, nor any other Allied leader
ever really articulated the nature of this
war. It was more nearly named by Nazis in
Time Magazine, May. 14, 1945 such outpourings as Mein Kampf. But the
The Big Three’s Victory Allied peoples showed that they sensed
it by the way they fought—not with great
In Europe hate but implacably, as men fighting for
If Japan had never existed, the events the existence of their civilization.
of last week in Europe would have And last week the Nazi revolution was
marked the end of the greatest war in put down. It ended, appropriately, with the
human history. The fact that this war was Nazis fighting from the sewers of Berlin.
only part of a still greater war could not No battle ever ended more decisively.
diminish its epic size, its overwhelming It was fought to the finish. The power of
agony, or its pervasive consequences. those who began it was utterly destroyed.
This war was not only the greatest but Their armies were annihilated. Every inch
probably the ugliest in human history. of their land was occupied. Their cities,
The war in the Pacific is, in some respects, great & small, were largely reduced to
more savage. But the war which swept rubble. As a people, those who survived
over almost the whole of Europe, much were completely beaten and very nearly
of Africa and some of the Near East, over destitute.
the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, the The civilized world, in spite of its
Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic, was fought unpreparedness, mental, moral and
by the peoples who cradled 20th-Century physical, in spite of its lack of understanding
civilization. It was fought with a brutality and its self-deceptions, its false pride and
which exceeded that of primitive times. petty contentions, had finally risen and
Revolution Put Down. This war was destroyed its attackers. The price was the
a revolution against the moral basis destruction of the greater part of Europe’s
of civilization. It was conceived by the material heritage, the cutting short of
Nazis in conscious contempt for the life, several million lives, the maiming of many
dignity and freedom of individual man millions more.
and deliberately prosecuted by means The Big Three, who chiefly
of slavery, starvation and the mass accomplished the great task, were the
destruction of noncombatants’ lives. It soldiers and peoples of Britain, Russia
was a revolution against the human soul. and the U.S. Each of the three deserves
its own particular credit.
328 It will be to the eternal credit of the crude were their efforts, how uncertain
British that for a whole year, from the fall their vision was all too evident. Yet men
of France to the invasion of Russia, they everywhere were so painfully aware
bore the burden of the struggle alone. of the imperfections of the civilization
After Dunkirk, with only one division of which had triumphed that perhaps they
troops equipped to put up organized underrated the triumph’s decisiveness.
resistance to invasion of the British Isles, After the fall of Napoleon, France
they fought on. They continued to fight and Austria were considered two of the
on, bloody but unbowed, throughout the greatest powers of the world, but the
blitz. Hitler called them “military idiots.” War of 1870 revealed that Germany, a
To the eternal credit of the Russians, greater power than either, had arrived
they willingly paid more heavily in blood upon the scene. And World War II
than any other nation. From a people who revealed that the U.S. and modern Russia
after centuries of oppression have still to were both greater powers than Germany.
taste the real benefits of that civilization The victorious coalition of these two with
or even understand it in the same light Britain promises to dominate the world
as the western world, this was a great until the next great war—or until mankind
contribution. can find a better argument than war.
Americans also paid heavily in But even if the hopes vested in San
blood and sacrifice, but not on a scale Francisco are not fulfilled, World War II
comparable to the other two. Unlike should not have been in vain. The Nazi
the other peoples, Americans were attempt to derail the train of history
not invaded or directly threatened caused a near-wreck but brought doom
by the Nazis, but—slowly, haltingly, upon its perpetrators. After such an
after argument and contention—they overwhelming defeat, the enemies of
overcame their old belief in isolation civilization should not find it so easy to
and acknowledged that the Nazi attack emerge from the sewers. And the victors,
on civilization was as much their war as having mustered the forces of civilization,
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. will have a stake in preserving them.
Having made this decision, difficult for The 68 months’ struggle is now
them, Americans not only made their over. One job is done, one battle won.
contribution in blood and military skill to Civilization is now free to pour its full
the defeat of Naziism, they also provided strength into the other battle, the war
the greatest part of the machinery which against Japan.
overmatched slavery as a tool of war.
Coalition Set Up. The effective coalition The Evening Star, May 9, 1945
of these peoples brought modern Fraternity of Arms
civilization through—battered and partly By Maj. George Fielding Eliot
destroyed, but in triumph. And last week,
even while its enemies succumbed in SAN FRANCISCO, May 9 — The German
Europe, in San Francisco a parliament surrender brings about a condition of
of the victors was groping toward a affairs in Europe which for the first time
stronger and better civilized world. How gives American and British forces the
opportunity for close contact with their public opinion. There is an official Russian 329
Russian allies. On a very long front, from tendency to “protect” their nationals
the Baltic to the Adriatic, the armies of from direct and intimate contacts with
the western powers will stand alongside non-Russians, especially those of the
the armies of Russia. The official Russian western world. This arises from suspicions
tendency may be somewhat standoffish; born of the long period when Russia was
that this may be true is suggested by front a diplomatic outcast and when there
dispatches saying that all trame between was a tendency in the west to regard
the two zones shall be forbidden. But if the coming Red revolution, centering in
anyone thinks that this official state of Moscow, as the great enemy of the future.
mind will long prevail in practice, he does But it has been almost the universal
not know very much about soldiers. It experience that when direct contacts
may be freely and confidently predicted have been established, increasingly
that within a week or two we shall have friendly relations are the result, even
an Anglo-American-Russian fraternity after difficult beginning. It has been so
of arms on the broadest sort of scale in North Persia, it has been so on the
— a fraternity not of statesmen and Arctic coast, it has been so with our
commanders in chief, but of GI Joes and airmen who have used Russian bases.
Ivans. Hitherto, contacts between the It is no, also, here in San Francisco, where
forces of the western powers and those of it is obvious to all observers that Mr.
Russia have been limited indeed. In North Molotov and his associates are easier to
Persia the service troops of the Persian work with today than they were when they
Gulf Command have been working with arrived in San Francisco only a little over
the Russians; there has been some contact two weeks ago. That is why it is possible
on the Arctic coast between British and to express conviction that direct contacts
American naval personnel and Russian on so broad a scale as now seems certain
forces; and some of our airmen have to be the case in Europe cannot fall to
landed at Russian bases, or even operated have a beneficial effect on the relations
from them for a short time. Now we have between Russia and her western allies.
literally millions of Russian soldiers and Very likely the Russian high command
millions of British and American soldiers may issue orders of a “protective” nature;
right alongside each other all across but such orders will not prevent GI Ivan,
the center of Europe. The results of this on patrol, outpost or traffic control duty,
intimate contact cannot help being good. from making friends with his opposite
The reason for this is the fact that almost numbers among this GI Joes. Soldiers
all our difficulties with the Russians arise are not like that in any army. They are
from misunderstanding rather than from gregarious, friendly, curious creatures
malice. The Russians do not know very just like the rest of us. All of which will
much about our ways of doing things. They inevitably be of the greatest help to
have had very little direct contact with the official relationship between the
our institutions. They are quite unable to western allies and the Russians in the
weigh their acts in the light of the effect Central Control Commission at Berlin, in
of those, acts on American and British the various combined proceedings along
330 the front, and eventually in the highest withheld recognition from it. The zones
council chambers where representatives of occupation of the three great powers
of the powers meet to decide the future in Austria are apparently in dispute as are
of the world and to plan in common the the plans for joint occupation of Vienna.
security of mankind from the scourge The State Department in Washington
of renewed war. It is on the lie and the officially announced opposition to the
distortion of fact that our enemies twisted acquisition of the Italian port of Trieste
the souls of their people until they made by the Communist Yugoslav regime of
of them the monsters of cruelty and Marshal Tito.
hatred which they have become. It is But the greatest threat to Allied
on the truth, upon better knowledge of cooperation lay in the occupation
each other based on living and working and administration of the Reich itself.
and playing together that we must build The exact lines defining the zones of
our new structure of mutual confidence occupation of the victorious powers have
and mutual understanding which means not yet been agreed upon. Nonetheless,
so much to us all, whether we make our the Unity States revealed the blueprint
homes on the banks of the Mississippi, for administering its part of the Reich.
the Thames or the Volga. The administrator of the American
zone is Lt. Gen. Lucius Clay, a 48-year old
Newsweek, May 21, 1945 West Pointer who tightened screws on
Allies Test Strength of War civilians of the United States as deputy
director for war programs of the Office of
Unity in Ruling Conquered War Mobilization and Reconversion. “He
Germans has been described as a tough minded
For the Occupation Forces Reich soldier with thorough understanding and
Presents Many Problems in the experience in the balance between military
Transition Period necessity and civilian requirements,”
Secretary Stimson said. “He was hand-
The second battle of Europe began picked by President Roosevelt for the
last week as the bugles blew the ceasefire direction of the occupation of Germany.”
order on the fighting fronts of the war- Clay will also serve as General of the Army
racked continent. The second battle Eisenhower’s deputy on the Allied Control
may be harder than the first for it will Council, the overall governing body of the
be the struggle to continue in Europe Reich.
the cooperation between the United ‘The American control machinery,
States, Britain, and Russia that was forged corresponding to the Nazi central
under the compelling urgency of German government ministries, is designed to
aggression. And the threats to Allied unity keep a close grip on all phases of German
are now coming thick and fast. life and economy. It is separated into
In Austria, the Russian-appointed twelve divisions — such as military,
government declared the nation’s finance, transport, political — whose
independence despite the fact that Britain heads form the American group of the
and the United States have deliberately Allied Control Council.
 De-Nazifyaing Germany. At the same has never been made public, it includes 331
time each division is charged with the such obvious criminals as Hitler, Goring,
task of purging Nazis from all public and Goebbels, and Himmler. According to an
important industries. In addition, an over- Associated Press dispatch from London, it
all Intelligence Section, working directly contains the names of between 4,000,000
under Clay, will general supervision and 6,000,000 other Germans. Russia,
of a Denazification program and also which is not a member of the United
maintain general surveillance stamping Nations War Crimes Commission, has
out underground activities. Until the compiled a separate list and will conduct
organization goes into action, however, its own trials.
the Germans are living under strict military The policy for trying the criminals was
government of the American occupation outlined in the Moscow Declaration on
forces. Already they have received some German Atrocities, signed by President
indication of the severity with which will Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill,
be dealt. The basic German food ration and Marshal Stalin and issued on Nov.
has been cut one-quarter and the schools 1, 1943. This provided that the fate of
closed until textbooks are rewritten by major criminals, whose offenses have
Allied professors. Foreign businesses no particular geographical localization,”
have been denied entry into Germany would be decided by the three
and foreign loans for reconstruction have governments. Individuals who committed
been banned (the Germans had been crimes in a nation would be sent there for
looking to the United States for financial trial; those who committed them in more
aid). A series of Allied decrees dissolved than one received classification as “major
the Nazi party, the Propaganda Ministry, criminals.
the Hitler Youth, and the “pure blood” Surrender in Russian. The escorting
laws, instituted a curfew; restricted the Russian Stormovik planes. slowly
jurisdiction of the Reich’s courts, and dropped toward the ground. Inside the
forbade Germans to cross the Reich’s five transports the passengers peered out
boundaries. with tense faces. The noon sun streamed
By orders of Allied Headquarters all through a break in the clouds and shone
foreign newspapers and magazines will with ghastly brilliance on a wasteland of
be barred from Germany. For an indefinite wreckage, stretching silent and deserted
time the Germans in the American zone for miles. That was what had been Berlin.
will be spoon-fed their news through The aerial convoy slanted down on
about seven newspapers and magazines the bomb pocked runways of once-busy
which will be controlled by 1,000 officials, Tempelhoff airdrome. From one plane
750 of whom will be military men and stepped haughty Field Marshal Wilhelm
the rest members of the Office of War Keitel, chief of Das Oberkommando
Information. der Wehrmacht—the German High
To Judgment: As the impact of defeat Command, Col. Gen. Hans Jiirgen Stumpff,
hit Germany, the Allies carried out acting Luftwaffe head, and Gen. Admiral
the greatest search in history for war Hans Georg von Friedeburg, commander
criminals. Although the present. Allied list of the German Navy. From the other planes
336 came Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur . Tedder, whitewashed hall. Zhukoff rose, bent
Allied Deputy Supreme Commander, and his close-cropped head and read the
Gen. Carl Spaatz, commander of the. documents of surrender. At 12:10 Keitel,
United States Strategic Air Forces, along taut and flushed, stamped in, slammed
with their staffs. his field marshal’s baton on the table, and
They had all come to Berlin for the sat down, glaring straight ahead. Zhukoff
signing of a second capitulation by motioned him forward. Keitel jammed a
the Germans. The original surrender monocle into his right eye, bristled over
at Rheims had not been enough for to the head table, and signed, with disgust
Marshal Stalin. He wanted the Nazi reflected through the studied insolence
defeat admitted by the highest German of his manner.
commanders in Adolf Hitler’s wrecked While Tedder and Zhukoff signed,
capital. Although Britain and the United Keitel called to the Russian interpreter
States had refused a Russian request for, and demanded an extra 24 hours to
a further delay in announcing the Rheims inform his troops of minor modifications
capitulation they sent officers to sign in the capitulation text. The lines in
during the Berlin ceremony. German cars Zhukoff’s heavy face tightened. He
took the Allied and German delegations ignored the interruption, rose, and
to the headquarters of Marshal Gregory announced in Russian: “I now request the
K. Zhukoff, commander of the First White German delegation to leave the room.”
Russian Army and conqueror of Berlin. Keitel snapped together his folder, picked
They were in a former German Army up his marshal’s baton, hat, and gloves,
school in the suburbs of the city— no and strode out. The surrender was
building in the city proper was sufficiently over. Outside, the night sky still glowed
intact. red from innumerable fires. Only the
‘Leave the Room’ occasional rumbling of a Red Army truck
At midnight exactly Marshal Zhukoff broke the silence of the dead city.
and Marshal Tedder entered the

Soldiers of the Press, Boyd Lewis

program “Victory in the East”
Audiofile