How the war began on June 22, 1941 stories. Attack of Hitler's Germany on the USSR. Defense of the Brest Fortress

After the abnormally cold winter of 1940-1941. An unusually warm summer has arrived in Moscow. Sunday, June 22, 1941 could have been an ordinary day off for more than 200 million Soviet citizens. They would buy movie tickets for the premiere of the long-awaited comedy “Hearts of Four” or the match “Dynamo - CDKA”, take their children to a museum or zoo, and invite friends and family home. If only the most terrible war in the history of the people had not begun on June 22, 1941.

Place: Lviv region, Ukrainian SSR

At 21:00 on Saturday, June 21, soldiers of the border detachment of the Sokal commandant’s office detained the German corporal Alfred Liskoff, who swam across the Bug River. The head of the 90th border detachment, Major Bychkovsky, preserved memories of this event in his diaries: “The translators in the detachment were weak, and I ordered the commandant of the site, Captain Bershadsky, to deliver the soldier to the city of Vladimir-Volynsk to the detachment headquarters.

“At 00:30, in the presence of a translator, Liskof called himself a communist, a supporter of Soviet power, although he had served in the 221st engineer regiment in the village of Tselenzha since 1939 under the command of Lieutenant Schultz. The soldier stated that the Germans were preparing to attack the Soviet Union at dawn on June 22. I didn't want to believe what I heard."

Before finishing the interrogation, Bychkovsky heard in the direction of the first commandant's office. “I realized that the Germans opened salvos on our territory in the Ustilug area, this was confirmed by the interrogated soldier,” he later wrote.

At the same time, the commander of the Kyiv district, Mikhail Kirponos, who served in Ternopol, reported to the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, about the appearance of another German soldier of the 222nd Infantry Regiment of the 74th Infantry Division on the border. And in 3 hours 07 minutes Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Filipp Oktyabrsky called on HF, he said: “The air surveillance, warning and communications system of the fleet reports the approach of a large number of unknown aircraft from the sea, the fleet is in full combat readiness. I ask for instructions." After only 53 minutes, Oktyabrsky called again and reported in a calm tone: “The enemy raid has been repulsed. The attempt to strike the ships was foiled, but there is destruction in the city,” he wrote in his .

After this call, alarming messages began to arrive almost every five minutes. At 03:30, General Vladimir Klimovskikh, chief of staff of the Western District, called, reporting on an enemy air raid on the cities of Belarus; three minutes later, Maxim Purkaev, chief of staff of the Kiev District, reported about the raid on Ukraine; at 03:40, a call came from General Fyodor Kuznetsov, commander of the Baltic district, who confirmed the attacks on Kaunas on the Neman.

At 4:30 a.m., Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, appeared with a report from the German embassy: “Ambassador Count von Schulenburg confirmed that the German government has declared war on us.”

At the same moment, Zhukov received an order from the People's Commissar of Defense Semyon Timoshenko: to call the “Near Dacha” in Kuntsevo and report to Stalin about the start of hostilities. The answer came immediately: “Go to the Kremlin and warn Poskrebybshev ( first head of the special sector of the Central Committee) to call all members of the Politburo." At the beginning of five in the morning, a military force was sent from Moscow to all districts. Directive No. 1, ordering the troops of the Leningrad, Baltic, Western, Kyiv and Odessa military districts to be in full combat readiness to meet a possible surprise attack from the Germans or their allies.

Directive of the Western Special Military District

I am transmitting the order of the People's Commissariat of Defense for immediate execution: During June 22 - 23, 1941, a surprise attack by the Germans is possible on the fronts of LVO, PribOVO, ZAPOVO, KOVO, OdVO. An attack may begin with provocative actions.

The task of our troops is not to succumb to any provocative actions that could cause major complications.

I order:

During the night of June 22, 1941, secretly occupy firing points of fortified areas on the state border;

Before dawn on June 22, 1941, disperse all aviation, including military aviation, to field airfields, carefully camouflage it;

Put all units on combat readiness. Keep the troops dispersed and camouflaged;

Bring the air defense to combat readiness without additional increases in assigned personnel. Prepare all measures to darken cities and objects.

Before dawn, Bobruisk, Zhitomir, Riga, Libau, Vilnius, Grodno, Kobrin and many other border cities suffered from bombing; the bombing was repulsed with heavy losses in Sevastopol. A bomb attack hit Kyiv and its suburbs: by 10 am, the railway station, the Bolshevik plant, military airfields, power plants and an aircraft factory were destroyed.

Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

On the night of June 21-22, the first battle of the Great Patriotic War took place - Bialystok-Minsk, as a result of which the main forces were surrounded and defeated. In the Bialystok and Minsk “cauldrons,” 11 rifle, 6 tank and 2 cavalry divisions fell, and on July 8, less than two weeks after the start of the bloody shelling, the forces of the Third Reich captured Minsk.

Place: Brest Fortress, Belarusian SSR

At 4 o'clock in the morning On June 22, hurricane fire was opened on the barracks of the central part of the Brest Fortress, taking the garrison by surprise. The first attack of a heavy artillery battery ( the 600-mm self-propelled mortar "Karl" was in service) by 4:40, Wehrmacht troops occupied almost half of the fortress, destroyed warehouses, damaged the water supply system, and interrupted communications. The surviving commanders were unable to penetrate the barracks due to too intense barrage fire in the central part of the fortress and at the entrance gate.

From a combat report on the actions of the 6th Infantry Division: “Red Army soldiers and junior commanders, without control from middle commanders, dressed and undressed, in groups and individually, left the fortress, crossed the bypass canal, the Mukhavets River and the rampart under artillery and machine-gun fire. As a result, by 9 am the fortress was surrounded from the southwestern side, the northeast still remained under the control of Soviet troops.”

Place: Berlin, Germany

Greater German Radio in its entire history has never started its work as early as it did on June 22, 1941.

At 05:30 am Reich Minister Joseph Goebbels addressed the residents of the country, who read out an appeal: “German people! Today there are 160 Russian divisions on our border. Enemy pilots fly over it carefree, amused by it. Russian patrols invade the territory of the Reich, as if they feel like they are the masters of this territory. Our task is not to protect individual countries, but to ensure the security of Europe and the salvation of everyone. I have decided to place the fate and future of the German Reich and our people in the hands of German soldiers. May the Lord help us in this struggle!”

The voice of the Minister of Public Education and Propaganda was repeated at 07:00 Berlin time, then at 09:00 and 11:00 am. In Moscow they delayed making official statements. Famous words: “Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours,” Soviet citizens heard from Molotov only in 12:15 according to capital time.

In parallel with this, from 9 am in a Moscow studio they recorded the famous announcer Yuri Levitan reading an address to the people of the USSR. It was he who would later become the most recognizable voice of the Great Patriotic War.

Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

From Molotov’s address: “Citizens and women of the Soviet Union! Today, at 4 o'clock in the morning, without presenting any claims to the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed our cities from their planes... Not for the first time to our people you have to deal with an attacking arrogant enemy. Our people responded to Napoleon’s campaign in Russia with the Patriotic War... The same will happen with Hitler, who announced a new campaign against our country. The Red Army and all our people will wage a victorious Patriotic War for the Motherland, for honor, for freedom.”

IN 13:00 , an hour after Molotov’s address, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree “On the mobilization of those liable for military service,” according to which on June 23 all men born from 1905 to 1918 inclusive were to join the ranks of the Red Army.

By 2 p.m., the Brest Fortress was completely surrounded by German troops, after an almost 8-hour battle, the 1st border outpost of Alexander Sivachev surrendered, 485 of the 666 Soviet outposts were captured, but not a single one of them retreated without an order. At 16:00, a directive from the People's Commissariat of Defense on a counter-offensive of Soviet troops with the task of defeating Hitler's troops on the territory of the USSR is scattered throughout the cities.

At the same time, ground troops are prohibited from crossing the border, and aviation is ordered to strike German territory to a depth of no more than 100 - 150 kilometers, but to attack Koenigsberg and Memel. TO 17:00 Germany unleashed a blow of unprecedented power onto the territory of the Soviet Union: more than four thousand tanks, 47 thousand guns and mortars, up to 190 divisions, five million infantrymen.

Photo: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Location: London, UK

IN 23:00 Greenwich time, the BBC radio station released an appeal from the Prime Minister of England, Winston Churchill, who was one of the first to respond to the events in the USSR:

“Over the past 25 years, no one has been a more staunch opponent of communism than me. I won’t take back a single word that was said about him, but it all pales in comparison to the spectacle that I see now. The past with its tragedies and crimes recedes. I see Russian soldiers, how they stand on the border of their native land and guard the fields that their fathers have plowed since time immemorial... We must provide Russia with all the help we can, we will do this until the very end...”

Place: General Staff of the Red Army, Moscow

IN 00:00 According to the capital's clock, the first report of the Great Patriotic War was received, confirming that at dawn on June 22, 1941, regular troops of the German army attacked border units on the fronts from the Baltic to the Black Seas and were held back by them during the first half of the day. After fierce fighting, the enemy was driven back, but in the Grodno and Kristynopol directions, the troops of Nazi Germany still managed to achieve tactical successes and occupy Kalwaria, Tsekhanovets and Stoyanuv, 10 - 15 km away. from the border.

However, the officially announced data at that time was not entirely accurate, since the total losses of Soviet aviation already in the first day of the war amounted to more than 1,100 aircraft. 485 border outposts were under siege, and the village of Albinga, Klaipeda region of Lithuania, was brutally devastated. In total, about 16,000 people died in the first day of the war, and up to 25,000 were injured. Thus ended the first day of the Great Patriotic War. There were still 1,417 days and nights ahead of the most terrible war in the history of the Soviet people.

According to the widely known version, the Great Patriotic War began on June 22 at 4.00 am. It was this date and time that commemorated the most brutal, bloody and merciless war. They are reflected in textbooks, folk art, and are forever etched in the minds of millions of people. There are versions that the first military strikes were carried out earlier. So when did the Germans take their first steps and which cities were the first to suffer from the raids of the fascist invaders?

Among the first

June 22, 1941 in the USSR was not just a Sunday, it was a great Orthodox holiday - the Day of All Saints who shone in the Russian land. The invaders carried out attacks along the entire border. In his radio speech on June 22, Molotov named Kyiv, Zhitomir, Sevastopol, and Kaunas among the first cities to be bombed. Historians often also mention Odessa.

Target - airfields

Some sources claim that the targets of the first fascist raids were not the settlements themselves. Enemies bombed airfields with the goal of destroying as many Soviet fighters as possible. At the same time, settlements located in the immediate vicinity also suffered from their actions. In his memoirs, Khrushchev, describing the raids on Kyiv, indicates that the planes parked in hangars suffered from them.

In the 60s, it became known that in the first hours of the German attacks, 66 Soviet airfields were attacked. Almost all of them were located near the border. This made it possible for the enemies to carry out several raids and inflict enormous damage on Soviet aircraft. According to official data, 1,200 combat vehicles were destroyed that day; some historians put the figure at 1,800 aircraft.

Air strikes on Kyiv began on June 22 at about 4:00 am. Bombs fell on enterprises and factories, bridges and highways, and airfields. As a result of the first attack, more than 20 people were killed and more than 75 were injured of varying degrees of severity.

Despite the sudden attack, there was no panic in the city that day. The order for general mobilization came only the next day - June 23. In one day, more than 200,000 representatives of the male population were drafted into the ranks of the Soviet army. And on the 24th, reports of military operations appeared in local newspapers.

Zhitomir, named by Molotov in his speech as one of the first to take the blow, learned about the war early in the morning of June 22. At 6 a.m., an operational headquarters was formed there. Military registration and enlistment offices began mobilization. The regional committee and regional executive committee received information that the outskirts of Zhitomir were subject to air strikes.

However, according to the memoirs of Vladimir Perov, who at that time held the post of chairman of the Zhitomir Regional Executive Committee, on the first day of the war fascist planes flew over the city, but Zhitomir survived June 22 without bombing. And only on the 24th the city was shelled by German planes, and 12 bombs were thrown at Zhitomir.

According to official reports, the German air force attack on Kaunas occurred at 4.20 am on June 22, 1941. After air strikes, enemy tanks, artillery and infantry launched an offensive, concentrating the main attack forces on the Kaunas-Vilnius front.

Throughout the day, German fighters destroyed warehouses, communications centers, populated areas, airfields and caused enormous damage to the city.

In Odessa, on June 22, general mobilization was announced. Initially, only men of a certain age were admitted - from 1908 to 1918. But at the same time, the number of volunteers of other ages grew very quickly, everyone wanted to defend their Motherland. After 3 days, martial law was officially introduced in Odessa and its suburbs. It is interesting that in the first month of hostilities, theaters and cultural institutions functioned as usual; city residents did not experience all the horrors of war.

There is a version that in the very first days of the war, Odessa was saved by the excessive self-confidence of the German command. Historian Viktor Savchenko claims that the invaders considered Odessa as the capital of the territory controlled by Romania. They believed that the city would fall quickly and did not launch airstrikes on it. The first bomb exploded in Odessa only a month later - on July 22.

Sevastopol

The war came to Sevastopol earlier than to other cities of the Soviet Union - the first bombs were dropped on the city at 3:15 am. Earlier than the officially approved time of the start of the Great Patriotic War. It was at 3 hours 15 minutes that the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Filipp Oktyabrsky, called the capital and reported to Admiral Kuznetsov that an air raid had been carried out on Sevastopol and anti-aircraft artillery was returning fire.

The Germans sought to block the fleet. They dropped bottom proximity mines of enormous power. The bombs were lowered by parachute; when the shell reached the surface of the water, the fastenings came off and the bomb sank to the bottom. These mines had specific targets - Soviet ships. But one of them fell on a residential area - about 20 people were killed, more than 100 were injured.

Warships and air defenses were ready to launch retaliatory strikes. At 3:06 a.m., the chief of staff of the Black Sea Fleet, Rear Admiral Ivan Eliseev, gave the order to open fire on the fascist planes that had invaded far into the airspace of the USSR. This is how he left a mark on the series of historical events - he gave the first combat order to repel enemy attacks.

It is interesting that for a long time Eliseev’s feat was either hushed up or fitted into the framework of the official chronology of military operations. That is why in some sources you can find information that the order was given at 4 am. In those days, this order was given in defiance of the orders of the higher military command and, according to the laws, it should have been executed.

On June 22 at 3 hours 48 minutes in Sevastopol there were already the first casualties of the Great Patriotic War. 12 minutes before the official announcement of the start of hostilities, German bombs ended the lives of civilians. In Sevastopol, a monument to the first victims of the war was built in memory of them.

In the direction of the main attacks of the Nazis, 257 Soviet border posts held the defense from several hours to one day. The remaining border posts held out from two days to two months. Of the 485 border posts attacked, not a single one withdrew without orders. The story of a day that changed the lives of tens of millions of people forever.

"They suspect nothing of our intentions"

June 21, 1941, 13:00. German troops receive the code signal "Dortmund", confirming that the invasion will begin the next day.

The commander of the 2nd Panzer Group of Army Group Center, Heinz Guderian, writes in his diary: “Careful observation of the Russians convinced me that they were unaware of our intentions. In the courtyard of the Brest fortress, which was visible from our observation points, they were changing the guards to the sounds of an orchestra. The coastal fortifications along the Western Bug were not occupied by Russian troops."

21:00. Soldiers of the 90th border detachment of the Sokal commandant's office detained a German serviceman who crossed the border Bug River by swimming. The defector was sent to the detachment headquarters in the city of Vladimir-Volynsky.

23:00. German minelayers stationed in Finnish ports began to mine the exit from the Gulf of Finland. At the same time, Finnish submarines began laying mines off the coast of Estonia.

June 22, 1941, 0:30. The defector was taken to Vladimir-Volynsky. During interrogation, the soldier identified himself as Alfred Liskov, a soldier of the 221st Regiment of the 15th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht. He said that at dawn on June 22, the German army would go on the offensive along the entire length of the Soviet-German border. The information was transferred to higher command.

At the same time, the transmission of Directive No. 1 of the People's Commissariat of Defense for parts of the western military districts began from Moscow. “During June 22 - 23, 1941, a surprise attack by the Germans on the fronts of LVO, PribOVO, ZAPOVO, KOVO, OdVO is possible. An attack may begin with provocative actions,” the directive said. “The task of our troops is not to succumb to any provocative actions that could cause major complications.”

The units were ordered to be put on combat readiness, to secretly occupy firing points of fortified areas on the state border, and to disperse aircraft to field airfields.

It is not possible to convey the directive to military units before the start of hostilities, as a result of which the measures specified in it are not carried out.

“I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory”

1:00. The commandants of the sections of the 90th border detachment report to the head of the detachment, Major Bychkovsky: “nothing suspicious was noticed on the adjacent side, everything is calm.”

3:05. A group of 14 German Ju-88 bombers drops 28 magnetic mines near the Kronstadt roadstead.

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

3:10. The NKGB for the Lviv region transmits by telephone message to the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR the information obtained during the interrogation of the defector Alfred Liskov.

From the memoirs of the head of the 90th border detachment, Major Bychkovsky: “Without finishing the interrogation of the soldier, I heard strong artillery fire in the direction of Ustilug (the first commandant’s office). I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory, which was immediately confirmed by the interrogated soldier. I immediately began to call the commandant by phone, but the connection was broken..."

3:30. The chief of staff of the Western District, General Klimovskikh, reports on an enemy air raid on the cities of Belarus: Brest, Grodno, Lida, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovichi and others.

3:33. The chief of staff of the Kyiv district, General Purkaev, reports on an air raid on the cities of Ukraine, including Kyiv.

3:40. The commander of the Baltic Military District, General Kuznetsov, reports on enemy air raids on Riga, Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas and other cities.

German soldiers cross the state border of the USSR.

“The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike our ships was foiled."

3:42. Chief of the General Staff Zhukov calls Stalin and reports that Germany has begun hostilities. Stalin orders Timoshenko and Zhukov to the Kremlin, where an emergency meeting of the Politburo is convened.

3:45. The 1st border outpost of the 86th August border detachment was attacked by an enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group. The outpost personnel under the command of Alexander Sivachev, entering the battle, destroy the attackers.

4:00. The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Oktyabrsky, reports to Zhukov: “The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike our ships was foiled. But there is destruction in Sevastopol.”

4:05. The outposts of the 86th August Border Detachment, including the 1st Border Outpost of Senior Lieutenant Sivachev, come under heavy artillery fire, after which the German offensive begins. Border guards, deprived of communication with the command, engage in battle with superior enemy forces.

4:10. The Western and Baltic special military districts report the beginning of hostilities by German troops on the ground.

4:15. The Nazis open massive artillery fire on the Brest Fortress. As a result, warehouses were destroyed, communications were disrupted, and there were a large number of dead and wounded.

4:25. The 45th Wehrmacht Infantry Division begins an attack on the Brest Fortress.

“Protecting not individual countries, but ensuring the security of Europe”

4:30. A meeting of Politburo members begins in the Kremlin. Stalin expresses doubt that what happened is the beginning of a war and does not exclude the possibility of a German provocation. People's Commissar of Defense Timoshenko and Zhukov insist: this is war.

4:55. In the Brest Fortress, the Nazis manage to capture almost half of the territory. Further progress was stopped by a sudden counterattack by the Red Army.

5:00. The German Ambassador to the USSR, Count von Schulenburg, presents the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, Molotov, with a “Note from the German Foreign Ministry to the Soviet Government,” which states: “The German Government cannot remain indifferent to a serious threat on the eastern border, so the Fuhrer has given the order to the German Armed Forces by all means.” avert this threat." An hour after the actual start of hostilities, Germany de jure declares war on the Soviet Union.

5:30. On German radio, Reich Minister of Propaganda Goebbels reads Adolf Hitler’s appeal to the German people in connection with the outbreak of war against the Soviet Union: “Now the hour has come when it is necessary to speak out against this conspiracy of Jewish-Anglo-Saxon warmongers and also the Jewish rulers of the Bolshevik center in Moscow... At the moment “The greatest military action in terms of its length and volume that the world has ever seen is taking place... The task of this front is no longer to protect individual countries, but to ensure the security of Europe and thereby save everyone.”

7:00. Reich Foreign Minister Ribbentrop begins a press conference at which he announces the start of hostilities against the USSR: “The German army has invaded the territory of Bolshevik Russia!”

“The city is burning, why aren’t you broadcasting anything on the radio?”

7:15. Stalin approves a directive to repel the attack of Nazi Germany: “The troops with all their might and means attack enemy forces and destroy them in areas where they violated the Soviet border.” Transfer of “directive No. 2” due to saboteurs’ disruption of communication lines in the western districts. Moscow does not have a clear picture of what is happening in the combat zone.

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

10:00. From the memoirs of announcer Yuri Levitan: “They are calling from Minsk: “Enemy planes are over the city,” they are calling from Kaunas: “The city is burning, why don’t you broadcast anything on the radio?”, “Enemy planes are over Kiev.” A woman’s crying, excitement: “Is it really war?..” However, no official messages are transmitted until 12:00 Moscow time on June 22.

10:30. From a report from the headquarters of the 45th German division about the battles on the territory of the Brest Fortress: “The Russians are resisting fiercely, especially behind our attacking companies. In the citadel, the enemy organized a defense with infantry units supported by 35–40 tanks and armored vehicles. Enemy sniper fire resulted in heavy casualties among officers and non-commissioned officers."

11:00. The Baltic, Western and Kiev special military districts were transformed into the North-Western, Western and South-Western fronts.

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

12:00. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov reads out an appeal to the citizens of the Soviet Union: “Today at 4 o’clock in the morning, without making any claims against the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed us with our cities - Zhitomir, Kiev, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others - with their planes, and more than two hundred people were killed and wounded. Raids by enemy aircraft and artillery shelling were also carried out from Romanian and Finnish territory... Now that the attack on the Soviet Union has already taken place, the Soviet government has given an order to our troops to repel the bandit attack and expel German troops from the territory of our homeland... The government calls on you, citizens and citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally our ranks even more closely around our glorious Bolshevik Party, around our Soviet government, around our great leader, Comrade Stalin.

Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours".

12:30. Advanced German units break into the Belarusian city of Grodno.

13:00. The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issues a decree “On the mobilization of those liable for military service...”

“Based on Article 49, paragraph “o” of the USSR Constitution, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR announces mobilization on the territory of the military districts - Leningrad, Baltic special, Western special, Kiev special, Odessa, Kharkov, Oryol, Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Ural, Siberian, Volga, North -Caucasian and Transcaucasian.

Those liable for military service who were born from 1905 to 1918 inclusive are subject to mobilization. The first day of mobilization is June 23, 1941.” Despite the fact that the first day of mobilization is June 23, recruiting stations at military registration and enlistment offices begin to operate by the middle of the day on June 22.

13:30. Chief of the General Staff General Zhukov flies to Kyiv as a representative of the newly created Headquarters of the Main Command on the Southwestern Front.

"Italy also declares war on the Soviet Union"

14:00. The Brest Fortress is completely surrounded by German troops. Soviet units blocked in the citadel continue to offer fierce resistance.

14:05. Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano states: “In view of the current situation, due to the fact that Germany declared war on the USSR, Italy, as an ally of Germany and as a member of the Tripartite Pact, also declares war on the Soviet Union from the moment German troops entered Soviet territory.”

14:10. The 1st border outpost of Alexander Sivachev has been fighting for more than 10 hours. The border guards, who had only small arms and grenades, destroyed up to 60 Nazis and burned three tanks. The wounded commander of the outpost continued to command the battle.

15:00. From the notes of the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal von Bock: “The question of whether the Russians are carrying out a systematic retreat remains open. There is now plenty of evidence both for and against this.

What is surprising is that nowhere is any significant work of their artillery visible. Heavy artillery fire is conducted only in the northwest of Grodno, where the VIII Army Corps is advancing. Apparently, our air force has an overwhelming superiority over Russian aviation."

Of the 485 border posts attacked, not a single one withdrew without orders.

16:00. After a 12-hour battle, the Nazis took the positions of the 1st border outpost. This became possible only after all the border guards who defended it died. The head of the outpost, Alexander Sivachev, was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

The feat of the outpost of Senior Lieutenant Sivachev was one of hundreds committed by border guards in the first hours and days of the war. On June 22, 1941, the state border of the USSR from the Barents to the Black Sea was guarded by 666 border outposts, 485 of which were attacked on the very first day of the war. Not one of the 485 outposts attacked on June 22 withdrew without orders.

Hitler's command allotted 20 minutes to break the resistance of the border guards. 257 Soviet border posts held their defense from several hours to one day. More than one day - 20, more than two days - 16, more than three days - 20, more than four and five days - 43, from seven to nine days - 4, more than eleven days - 51, more than twelve days - 55, more than 15 days - 51 outpost. Forty-five outposts fought for up to two months.

Of the 19,600 border guards who met the Nazis on June 22 in the direction of the main attack of Army Group Center, more than 16,000 died in the first days of the war.

17:00. Hitler's units manage to occupy the southwestern part of the Brest Fortress, the northeast remained under the control of Soviet troops. Stubborn battles for the fortress will continue for weeks.

“The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox Christians for the defense of the sacred borders of our Motherland”

18:00. The Patriarchal Locum Tenens, Metropolitan Sergius of Moscow and Kolomna, addresses the believers with a message: “Fascist robbers attacked our homeland. Trampling all kinds of agreements and promises, they suddenly fell upon us, and now the blood of peaceful citizens is already irrigating our native land... Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. She endured trials with him and was consoled by his successes. She will not abandon her people even now... The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox Christians for the defense of the sacred borders of our Motherland.”

19:00. From the notes of the Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, Colonel General Franz Halder: “All armies, except the 11th Army of Army Group South in Romania, went on the offensive according to plan. The offensive of our troops, apparently, came as a complete tactical surprise to the enemy along the entire front. Border bridges across the Bug and other rivers were everywhere captured by our troops without a fight and in complete safety. The complete surprise of our offensive for the enemy is evidenced by the fact that the units were taken by surprise in a barracks arrangement, the planes were parked at airfields, covered with tarpaulins, and the advanced units, suddenly attacked by our troops, asked the command about what to do... The Air Force command reported, that today 850 enemy aircraft have been destroyed, including entire squadrons of bombers, which, having taken off without fighter cover, were attacked by our fighters and destroyed.”

20:00. Directive No. 3 of the People's Commissariat of Defense was approved, ordering Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive with the task of defeating Hitler's troops on the territory of the USSR with further advance into enemy territory. The directive ordered the capture of the Polish city of Lublin by the end of June 24.

“We must provide Russia and the Russian people with all the help we can.”

21:00. Summary of the Red Army High Command for June 22: “At dawn on June 22, 1941, regular troops of the German army attacked our border units on the front from the Baltic to the Black Sea and were held back by them during the first half of the day. In the afternoon, German troops met with the advanced units of the field troops of the Red Army. After fierce fighting, the enemy was repulsed with heavy losses. Only in the Grodno and Kristinopol directions did the enemy manage to achieve minor tactical successes and occupy the towns of Kalwaria, Stoyanuv and Tsekhanovets (the first two are 15 km and the last 10 km from the border).

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

23:00. Appeal from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to the British people in connection with the German attack on the USSR: “At 4 o'clock this morning Hitler attacked Russia. All his usual formalities of treachery were observed with scrupulous precision... suddenly, without a declaration of war, even without an ultimatum, German bombs fell from the sky on Russian cities, German troops violated Russian borders, and an hour later the German ambassador, who just the day before had generously lavished his assurances on the Russians in friendship and almost an alliance, paid a visit to the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs and declared that Russia and Germany were at war...

No one has been more staunchly opposed to communism over the past 25 years than I have been. I will not take back a single word that was said about him. But all this pales in comparison to the spectacle unfolding now.

The past, with its crimes, follies and tragedies, recedes. I see Russian soldiers as they stand on the border of their native land and guard the fields that their fathers have plowed since time immemorial. I see them guarding their homes; their mothers and wives pray - oh, yes, because at such a time everyone prays for the preservation of their loved ones, for the return of their breadwinner, patron, their protectors...

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

June 22 came to an end. There were still 1,417 days ahead of the worst war in human history.

“On June 21 at 21.00, a soldier who fled from the German army, Alfred Liskov, was detained at the Sokal commandant’s office. Since there was no translator at the commandant’s office, I ordered the commandant of the site, Captain Bershadsky, to deliver the soldier to the detachment headquarters in Vladimir by truck.

At 0.30 on June 22, 1941, the soldier arrived in Vladimir-Volynsk. Through an interpreter, at approximately 1 o'clock in the morning, soldier Liskov indicated that on June 22 at dawn the Germans were to cross the border. I immediately reported this to the person on duty at the military headquarters, Brigade Commissar Maslovsky. At the same time, I personally informed the commander of the 5th Army, Major General Potapov, by telephone, who was suspicious of my message and did not take it into account.

I personally was also not firmly convinced of the veracity of soldier Liskov’s message, but nevertheless I called the commandants of the sections and ordered to strengthen the security of the state border, to post special listeners to the river. Bug and in the event of the Germans crossing the river, destroy them with fire. At the same time, he ordered that if anything suspicious is noticed (any movement on the adjacent side), immediately report to me personally. I was at headquarters all the time.

At 1.00 on June 22, the commandants of the sites reported to me that nothing suspicious had been noticed on the adjacent side, everything was calm..."(“Mechanisms of War” with reference to RGVA, f. 32880, on. 5, d. 279, l. 2. Copy).

Despite doubts about the reliability of the information transmitted by the German soldier, and the skepticism towards it on the part of the commander of the 5th Army, it was promptly transferred “to the top”.

From a telephone message from the UNKGB in the Lvov region to the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR.

" On June 22, 1941, at 3:10 a.m., the NKGB for the Lviv region sent the following message by telephone to the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR: “The German corporal who crossed the border in the Sokal region revealed the following: his name is Liskov Alfred Germanovich, 30 years old, worker, carpenter of a furniture factory in Kolberg (Bavaria), where he left his wife, child, mother and father.

The corporal served in the 221st Engineer Regiment of the 15th Division. The regiment is located in the village of Tselenzha, 5 km north of Sokal. He was drafted into the army from the reserves in 1939.

He considers himself a communist, is a member of the Union of Red Front Soldiers, and says that life in Germany is very difficult for soldiers and workers.

Before the evening, his company commander, Lieutenant Schultz, gave the order and stated that tonight, after artillery preparation, their unit would begin crossing the Bug on rafts, boats and pontoons. As a supporter of Soviet power, having learned about this, he decided to run to us and inform us.”(“History in documents” with reference to “1941. Documents”. Soviet archives. “Izvestia of the CPSU Central Committee”, 1990, No. 4.”).

G.K. Zhukov recalls: “At about 24 hours on June 21, the commander of the Kyiv district M.P. Kirponos, who was at his command post in Ternopil, reported on the HF [...] another German soldier appeared in our units - 222- th infantry regiment of the 74th Infantry Division. He swam across the river, appeared to the border guards and reported that at 4 o'clock the German troops would go on the offensive. M. P. Kirponos was ordered to quickly transmit the directive to the troops to put them on combat readiness... ".

However, there was no time left. The above-mentioned chief of the 90th border detachment, M.S. Bychkovsky, continues his testimony as follows:

“...Due to the fact that the translators in the detachment are weak, I called a German language teacher from the city, who speaks excellent German, and Liskov again repeated the same thing, that is, that the Germans were preparing to attack the USSR at dawn on June 22, 1941. Named himself a communist and stated that he had come specifically to warn on his own initiative.

Without finishing the interrogation of the soldier, I heard heavy artillery fire in the direction of Ustilug (the first commandant’s office). I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory, which was immediately confirmed by the interrogated soldier. I immediately began to call the commandant by phone, but the connection was broken..."(cit. source) The Great Patriotic War began.

03:00 - 13:00, General Staff - Kremlin. The first hours of the war

Was Germany's attack on the USSR completely unexpected? What did the generals, the General Staff and the People's Commissariat of Defense do in the first hours of the war? There is a version that they simply slept through the beginning of the war - both in the border units and in Moscow. With the news of the bombing of Soviet cities and the fascist troops going on the offensive, confusion and panic arose in the capital.

This is how G.K. Zhukov recalls the events of that night: “On the night of June 22, 1941, all employees of the General Staff and the People’s Commissariat of Defense were ordered to remain in their places. It was necessary to transmit to the districts as quickly as possible a directive to bring border troops to combat readiness. At this time, the People's Commissar of Defense and I were in continuous negotiations with district commanders and chiefs of staff, who reported to us about the increasing noise on the other side of the border. They received this information from border guards and forward covering units. Everything indicated that German troops were moving closer to the border."

The first message about the start of the war arrived at the General Staff at 3:07 a.m. on June 22, 1941.

Zhukov writes: “At 3:07 a.m. the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, F.S. Oktyabrsky, called me on HF and said: “The fleet’s VNOS [air surveillance, warning and communications] system reports that a large number of unknown aircraft are approaching from the sea; the fleet is in full combat readiness. I ask for instructions" [...]

“At 4 o’clock I spoke with F.S. again. Oktyabrsky. He reported in a calm tone: “The enemy raid has been repulsed. An attempt to strike the ships was foiled. But there is destruction in the city."

As can be seen from these lines, the start of the war did not take the Black Sea Fleet by surprise. The air raid was repulsed.

03.30: Chief of Staff of the Western District, General Klimovskikh, reported on an enemy air raid on the cities of Belarus.

03:33 The chief of staff of the Kyiv district, General Purkaev, reported on an air raid on the cities of Ukraine.

03:40: The commander of the Baltic district, General Kuznetsov, reported on the raid on Kaunas and other cities.

03:40: People's Commissar of Defense S.K. Timoshenko ordered Chief of the General Staff G.K. Zhukov to call Stalin at the “Near Dacha” and report on the start of hostilities. After listening to Zhukov, Stalin ordered:

Come with Tymoshenko to the Kremlin. Tell Poskrebyshev to call all members of the Politburo.

04.10: Western and Baltic special districts reported the beginning of hostilities of German troops on land sectors.

At 4:30 a.m., members of the Politburo, People's Commissar of Defense Timoshenko and Chief of the General Staff Zhukov gathered in the Kremlin. Stalin asked to urgently contact the German embassy.

The embassy reported that Ambassador Count von Schulenburg requests to be received for an urgent message. Molotov went to meet with Schulenberg. Returning to the office he said:

The German government declared war on us.

At 7:15 a.m., J.V. Stalin signed a directive to the Armed Forces of the USSR on repelling Hitler’s aggression.

At 9:30 a.m., J.V. Stalin, in the presence of S.K. Timoshenko and G.K. Zhukov, edited and signed a decree on mobilization and the introduction of martial law in the European part of the country, as well as on the formation of the High Command Headquarters and a number of other documents .

On the morning of June 22, it was decided that at 12 o’clock V. M. Molotov would address the people of the Soviet Union by radio with a Statement of the Soviet Government.

“J.V. Stalin,” recalls Zhukov, “being seriously ill, of course, could not make an appeal to the Soviet people. He and Molotov drew up a statement.”

“At about 13 o’clock I.V. Stalin called me,” Zhukov writes in his memoirs, “and said:

Our front commanders do not have sufficient experience in directing the combat operations of troops and, apparently, are somewhat at a loss. The Politburo decided to send you to the Southwestern Front as a representative of the High Command Headquarters. We will send Shaposhnikov and Kulik to the Western Front. I called them to my place and gave appropriate instructions. You need to fly immediately to Kyiv and from there, together with Khrushchev, go to the front headquarters in Ternopil.

I asked:

And who will lead the General Staff in such a difficult situation?
J.V. Stalin replied:

Leave Vatutin in charge.

Don't waste time, we'll get by somehow.

I called home so that they wouldn’t wait for me, and 40 minutes later I was already in the air. Then I just remembered that I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. The pilots helped me out by treating me to strong tea and sandwiches." (chronology compiled from the memoirs of G.K. Zhukov).

05:30. Hitler announces the start of war with the USSR

On June 22, 1941, at 5:30 a.m., Reich Minister Dr. Goebbels, in a special broadcast of Greater German Radio, read out Adolf Hitler’s appeal to the German people in connection with the outbreak of war against the Soviet Union.

“...Today there are 160 Russian divisions on our border,” the address said, in particular. “In recent weeks, there have been continuous violations of this border, not only ours, but also in the far north and in Romania. Russian pilots are amused by this that they carelessly fly over this border, as if they want to show us that they already feel like the masters of this territory. On the night of June 17-18, Russian patrols again invaded the territory of the Reich and were driven out only after a long firefight. But now the hour has come when it is necessary to oppose this conspiracy of the Jewish-Anglo-Saxon warmongers and also the Jewish rulers of the Bolshevik center in Moscow.

German people! At the moment, the greatest troop movement in terms of length and volume that the world has ever seen is taking place. In alliance with their Finnish comrades are the victorious fighters at Narvik near the Arctic Ocean. German divisions under the command of the conqueror of Norway defend Finnish soil together with Finnish heroes of the struggle for freedom under the command of their marshal. Formations of the German Eastern Front were deployed from East Prussia to the Carpathians. On the banks of the Prut and in the lower reaches of the Danube to the Black Sea coast, Romanian and German soldiers unite under the command of the head of state Antonescu.

The task of this front is no longer to protect individual countries, but to ensure the security of Europe and thereby save everyone.

Therefore, today I have decided to once again place the fate and future of the German Reich and our people in the hands of our soldiers. May the Lord help us in this struggle!"

Battles along the entire front

Fascist troops went on the offensive along the entire front. Not everywhere the attack developed according to the scenario conceived by the German General Staff. The Black Sea Fleet repelled the air raid. In the south and north, the Wehrmacht failed to gain an overwhelming advantage. Here heavy positional battles ensued.

Army Group North came across fierce resistance from Soviet tankers near the city of Alytus. Capturing the crossing of the Neman was critical for the advancing German forces. Here, units of the 3rd Tank Group of the Nazis stumbled upon organized resistance from the 5th Tank Division.

Only dive bombers managed to break the resistance of Soviet tankers. The 5th Panzer Division did not have air cover and, under the threat of destruction of manpower and materiel, began to retreat.

Bombers dived at Soviet tanks before noon on June 23. The division lost almost all its armored vehicles and, in fact, ceased to exist. However, on the first day of the war, the tankers did not leave the line and stopped the advance of fascist troops deeper into the country.

The main blow of the German troops fell on Belarus. Here the Brest Fortress stood in the way of the Nazis. In the first seconds of the war, a hail of bombs fell on the city, followed by heavy artillery fire. After which units of the 45th Infantry Division went on the attack.

The hurricane fire of the Nazis took the defenders of the fortress by surprise. However, the garrison, numbering 7-8 thousand people, offered fierce resistance to the advancing German units.

By mid-day on June 22, the Brest Fortress was completely surrounded. Part of the garrison managed to escape from the “cauldron”; part was blocked and continued to resist.

By the evening of the first day of the war, the Nazis managed to capture the southwestern part of the fortress city, the northeast was under the control of Soviet troops. Foci of resistance remained in fascist-controlled territories.

Despite complete encirclement and overwhelming superiority in men and equipment, the Nazis were unable to break the resistance of the defenders of the Brest Fortress. Skirmishes continued here until November 1941.

The battle for air supremacy

From the first minutes of the war, the USSR Air Force entered into a fierce battle with enemy aircraft. The attack was sudden; some of the planes did not have time to take off from the airfields and were destroyed on the ground. The Belarusian Military District took the greatest blow. The 74th attack air regiment, which was based in Pruzhany, was attacked at about 4 a.m. by Messerschmitts. The regiment did not have air defense systems, the planes were not dispersed, as a result of which enemy aircraft destroyed the equipment as if at a training ground.

A completely different situation arose in the 33rd Fighter Aviation Regiment. Here the pilots entered the battle at 3.30 in the morning, when Lieutenant Mochalov’s flight shot down a German plane over Brest. This is how the Aviation Encyclopedia “Corner of the Sky” website describes the battle of the 33rd IAP (article by A. Gulyas):

“Soon about 20 He-111s flew into the regiment’s airfield under the cover of a small group of Bf-109s. At that time there was only one squadron there, which took off and entered into battle. Soon it was joined by the other three squadrons, returning from patrolling the Brest-Kobrin area . In the battle, the enemy lost 5 aircraft. Two He-111s were destroyed by Lieutenant Gudimov. He won the last victory at 5.20 am, ramming a German bomber. Twice more, the regiment successfully intercepted large groups of Heinkels on the far approaches to the airfield. After the next interception, those returning Already on the last liters of fuel, the regiment's I-16s were attacked by Messerschmitts. No one could take off to help. The airfield was subjected to continuous attack for almost an hour. By 10 o'clock in the morning there was not a single aircraft left in the regiment capable of taking off..."

The 123rd Fighter Aviation Regiment, whose airfield was located near the town of Imenin, just like the 74th Attack Aviation Regiment, did not have anti-aircraft cover. However, its pilots were in the air from the first minutes of the war:

“By 5.00 in the morning, B.N. Surin already had a personal victory - he shot down a Bf-109. On the fourth combat flight, being seriously wounded, he brought his Seagull to the airfield, but was unable to land. Apparently, he died in the cockpit during leveling ... Boris Nikolaevich Surin fought 4 battles, personally shot down 3 German planes. But this did not become a record. The best sniper of the day was the young pilot Ivan Kalabushkin: at dawn he destroyed two Ju-88s, closer to noon - a He-111, and At sunset, two Bf-109s fell victims to his nimble Seagulls!..” - reports the Aviation Encyclopedia.

“About eight in the morning, four fighters, piloted by Mr. M.P. Mozhaev, Lt. G.N. Zhidov, P.S. Ryabtsev and Nazarov, took off against eight Messerschmitt-109s. Taking Zhidov’s car in pincers , the Germans knocked it out. Helping out a comrade, Mozhaev shot down one fascist. Zhidov set fire to the second. Having used up the ammunition, Ryabtsev rammed the third enemy. Thus, in this battle the enemy lost 3 vehicles, and we lost one. For 10 hours, the pilots of the 123rd IAP fought "Heavy battles, performing 10 -14 and even 17 sorties. The technicians, working under enemy fire, ensured the readiness of the aircraft. During the day, the regiment shot down about 30 (according to other sources, more than 20) enemy aircraft, losing 9 of its own in the air."

Unfortunately, in the conditions of lack of communication and reigning confusion, the timely delivery of ammunition and fuel was not organized. The fighting vehicles fought until the last drop of gasoline and the last cartridge. After which they froze dead on the airfield and became easy prey for the Nazis.

The total losses of Soviet aircraft on the first day of the war amounted to 1,160 aircraft.

12:00. Radio speech by V.M. Molotov

At noon on June 22, 1941, Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V.M. Molotov read out an appeal to the citizens of the Soviet Union:

"CITIZENS AND CITIZENS OF THE SOVIET UNION!

The Soviet government and its head, Comrade Stalin, instructed me to make the following statement:

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

This unheard of attack on our country is a treachery unparalleled in the history of civilized nations. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that a non-aggression treaty was concluded between the USSR and Germany and the Soviet government fulfilled all the terms of this treaty in all good faith. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that during the entire duration of this treaty the German government could never make a single claim against the Soviet Union regarding the implementation of the treaty. All responsibility for this predatory attack on the Soviet Union falls entirely on the German fascist rulers.

After the attack, the German Ambassador in Moscow Schulenburg at 5:30 a.m. made me, as the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, a statement on behalf of his government that the German government had decided to go to war against the Soviet Union in connection with the concentration of Red Army units near eastern German border.

In response to this, on behalf of the Soviet government, I stated that until the last minute the German government did not make any claims against the Soviet government, that Germany carried out an attack on the Soviet Union, despite the peace-loving position of the Soviet Union, and that thereby fascist Germany is the attacking party .

On behalf of the government of the Soviet Union, I must also state that at no point did our troops and our aviation allow the border to be violated, and therefore the statement made by Romanian radio this morning that Soviet aviation allegedly fired at Romanian airfields is a complete lie and provocation. The entire today’s declaration by Hitler, who is trying to retroactively concoct incriminating material about the Soviet Union’s non-compliance with the Soviet-German Pact, is the same lie and provocation.

Now that the attack on the Soviet Union has already taken place, the Soviet government has given an order to our troops to repel the bandit attack and expel German troops from the territory of our homeland.

This war was imposed on us not by the German people, not by the German workers, peasants and intellectuals, whose suffering we well understand, but by a clique of bloodthirsty fascist rulers of Germany who enslaved the French, Czechs, Poles, Serbs, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Greece and other peoples .

The Government of the Soviet Union expresses its unshakable confidence that our valiant army and navy and the brave falcons of Soviet aviation will honorably fulfill their duty to their homeland, to the Soviet people, and will deal a crushing blow to the aggressor.
This is not the first time our people have had to deal with an attacking, arrogant enemy. At one time, our people responded to Napoleon’s campaign in Russia with a Patriotic War and Napoleon was defeated and came to his collapse. The same will happen to the arrogant Hitler, who announced a new campaign against our country. The Red Army and all our people will again wage a victorious patriotic war for their homeland, for honor, for freedom.

The Government of the Soviet Union expresses its firm confidence that the entire population of our country, all workers, peasants and intellectuals, men and women, will treat their duties and their work with due consciousness. Our entire people must now be united and united as never before. Each of us must demand from ourselves and from others discipline, organization, and dedication worthy of a true Soviet patriot in order to provide all the needs of the Red Army, Navy and Air Force to ensure victory over the enemy.

The government calls on you, citizens of the Soviet Union, to rally your ranks even more closely around our glorious Bolshevik Party, around our Soviet government, around our great leader, Comrade Stalin.

Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. Victory will be ours".

The first atrocities of the Nazis

The first case of atrocities by the German army on the territory of the Soviet Union occurred on the first day of the war. On June 22, 1941, the Nazis, advancing, broke into the village of Albinga, Klaipeda region of Lithuania.

The soldiers robbed and burned all the houses. The residents - 42 people - were herded into a barn and locked. During the day of June 22, the Nazis killed several people - beaten to death or shot.

The very next morning, the systematic extermination of people began. Groups of peasants were taken out of the barn and shot in cold blood. First, all the men, then the turn came to women and children. Those who tried to escape into the forest were shot in the back.

In 1972, a memorial ensemble to the victims of fascism was created near Ablinga.

The first summary of the Great Patriotic War

SUMMARY OF THE RED ARMY CHIEF COMMAND
for 22.VI. - 1941

At dawn on June 22, 1941, regular troops of the German army attacked our border units on the front from the BALTIC to the BLACK Sea and were held back by them during the first half of the day. In the afternoon, German troops met with the advanced units of the field troops of the Red Army. After fierce fighting, the enemy was repulsed with heavy losses. Only in the GRODNO and KRISTYNOPOLE directions did the enemy manage to achieve minor tactical successes and occupy the towns of KALVARIYA, STOYANOW and TSEKHANOWEC (the first two are 15 km and the last 10 km from the border).

23:00 (GMT). Winston Churchill's speech on BBC radio

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a statement on June 22 at 23:00 GMT in connection with the aggression of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union.

“...The Nazi regime has the worst features of communism,” in particular, he said on BBC radio. “It has no foundations or principles other than greed and the desire for racial domination. In its cruelty and furious aggressiveness, it surpasses all forms of humankind.” depravity. Over the past 25 years, no one has been a more consistent opponent of communism than I. I will not take back a single word that I said about it. But all this pales before the spectacle that is now unfolding. The past with its crimes, follies and tragedies is disappearing.

I see Russian soldiers standing on the threshold of their native land, guarding the fields that their fathers have cultivated since time immemorial.

I see them guarding their homes, where their mothers and wives pray - yes, for there are times when everyone prays - for the safety of their loved ones, for the return of their breadwinner, their protector and support.

I see tens of thousands of Russian villages, where livelihoods are torn from the ground with such difficulty, but where primordial human joys exist, where girls laugh and children play.

I see the vile Nazi war machine approaching all this with its dapper, spur-clanging Prussian officers, with its skilled agents who have just pacified and tied a dozen countries hand and foot.

I also see a gray, trained, obedient mass of fierce Hun soldiers, advancing like clouds of crawling locusts.

I see in the sky German bombers and fighters with still unhealed scars from the wounds inflicted on them by the British, rejoicing that they have found, as it seems to them, easier and more certain prey.

Behind all this noise and thunder, I see a bunch of villains who are planning, organizing and bringing this avalanche of disasters upon humanity... I must declare the decision of His Majesty's Government, and I am sure that the great dominions will agree with this decision in due time, for we must speak out immediately, without a single day of delay. I must make a statement, but can you doubt what our policy will be?

We have only one unchanging goal. We are determined to destroy Hitler and all traces of the Nazi regime. Nothing can turn us away from this, nothing. We will never come to an agreement, we will never enter into negotiations with Hitler or with anyone from his gang. We will fight him on land, we will fight him by sea, we will fight him in the air, until, with God's help, we have rid the earth of his very shadow and freed the nations from his yoke. Any person or state that fights against Nazism will receive our help. Any person or state that goes with Hitler is our enemy...

This is our policy, this is our statement. It follows that we will provide Russia and the Russian people with all the help we can..."

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. At 3:30 a.m., when the fascist German troops received the pre-arranged Dortmund signal, an artillery strike was suddenly launched at Soviet border outposts and fortifications, and a few minutes later enemy hordes invaded the USSR. Large forces of German aviation brought down thousands of tons of deadly cargo on Soviet airfields, bridges, warehouses, railways, naval bases, lines and communications centers, and on sleeping cities. A giant fire tornado raged in the border regions of the country. The cruel and incredibly difficult Great Patriotic War began for the Soviet people.

At 12 noon, Molotov made an official address on the radio to the citizens of the USSR, announcing the German attack on the USSR and announcing the beginning of the Patriotic War. I think everyone has heard and knows the text of this appeal to the Soviet people:

Citizens and women of the Soviet Union!

The Soviet government and its head, Comrade. Stalin instructed me to make the following statement:

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

This unheard of attack on our country is a treachery unparalleled in the history of civilized nations. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that a non-aggression treaty was concluded between the USSR and Germany, and the Soviet government fulfilled all the terms of this treaty in all good faith. The attack on our country was carried out despite the fact that during the entire duration of this treaty the German government could never make a single claim against the USSR regarding the implementation of the treaty. All responsibility for this predatory attack on the Soviet Union falls entirely on the German fascist rulers.

“Today, at 4 o’clock in the morning...” - this very hour is considered the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. However, the Great Patriotic War began 47 minutes earlier, and not in Brest or on the Prut River, but in Sevastopol.

The war began for Sevastopol at 3:13 on June 22, 1941 with a German air raid. The first bombs fell on the city, and mines were dropped into the bay.

The first mine fell directly into the waters of the Sevastopol Bay - in order to prevent ships of the Black Sea Fleet from going to sea. It fell almost in the very place where, during the Crimean War, during the defense of Sevastopol, old wooden ships were sunk in order to prevent the Anglo-French squadron from entering the bay. There is also a monument there, which is called “Monument to Sunken Ships” (that’s what it is in the picture). It was here that the Great Patriotic War began.

The second mine was also thrown for this purpose, but did not hit the water area, but fell on the street. Podgornaya and brought the first victims (about 20 people killed and wounded). These were the first victims of the Great Patriotic War.

The mines were lowered by parachute and exploded when they fell to the ground; several of them fell into the sea. Military experts suggested that the enemy was dropping ordinary anchor mines. On the evening of June 22, an underwater explosion killed the SP-12 tugboat, two days later a 25-ton floating crane, and then the Bystry destroyer. It turned out that German troops used a new type of weapon - non-contact bottom magnetic mines, which exploded under the influence of the mass of ships passing over them. By placing electromagnetic mines on the fairways, the German command hoped to clog the main base of the Black Sea Fleet, and then destroy the ships with bomber strikes.

However, as a result of the successful work of the air defense forces, the task of blocking the Sevastopol bays with mines in order to subsequently destroy the fleet by bomber aircraft was not completed by the Germans. For a long time, enemy planes tried to mine the bay, the main fairway.

The boats of the Water District Protection Division found a means of combating proximity mines. At high speed, the boats passed over the places where mines had been dropped and dropped depth charges, from the explosion of which the mines detonated and exploded. But this method was not absolutely reliable and was fraught with huge risks.

To quickly solve a complex problem, the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet created a group of military engineers in early July. They received great assistance from the research staff of the Leningrad Institute of Physics and Technology E.E. Lysenko, Yu.S. Lazurkin, A.R. Regel, P.G. Stepanov and laboratory assistant K.K. Shcherbo. Soon the first electromagnetic trawl was created.

On August 9, 1941, physicists, later academicians, A.P. Aleksandrov and I.V. Kurchatov arrived in Sevastopol. The days of intense work came (after the departure of A.P. Aleksandrov, the leadership was carried out by Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov). In a small house on the shore of Holland Bay, I.V. Kurchatov and his group managed to develop a demagnetization system in a uniquely short time. Scientists, together with specialists from the Black Sea Fleet, having carefully and comprehensively studied the fundamental principles of the new weapon, theoretically substantiated the method of mine protection of ships by demagnetizing them. Based on their research, the special mine-resistant treatment of warships before they go to sea gave positive results. Surface and underwater ships of the fleet treated by this method were not afraid of enemy magnetic mines.

Participants in the work on demagnetizing ships. In the first row - A.R. Regel, Yu.S. Lazurkin, V.D. Panchenko. In the second row - P.G. Stepanov, D.M. Gitelmacher. In the third - I.V. Kurchatov. 1941

An underwater mine detonated by a special trawl developed by I.V. Kurchatova.

The physical principle, in general, is quite simple - the mine sensor reacts to the ship’s magnetic field, just like a compass needle. The idea underlying the work to protect ships from proximity mines was to demagnetize ships. It was assumed that this could be done by compensating the ship's magnetic field using special windings attached to it, through which direct current was passed. In this case, the magnetic field of the ship can be compensated by the magnetic field of the current to such an extent that the passage of the ship over the mine will not trigger the fuse, which has limited sensitivity.

The first work on demagnetizing ships was carried out even before the war, but in Sevastopol they worked with larger mines of a new design. By a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated April 10, 1942, A.P. Aleksandrov, I.V. Kurchatov and six other participants in the work were awarded the Stalin Prize of the first degree for the creation of effective methods for demagnetizing ships and their practical implementation. On October 4, 1944, I.V. Kurchatov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for solving the same problem. The command of the Black Sea Fleet nominated Kurchatov to be awarded the medal “For the Defense of Sevastopol.” So we can say that the demagnetization of ships in order to protect them from mines also began to actively develop after this work by Aleksandrov and Kurchatov in 1941 in Sevastopol.

The enemy reached Sevastopol on land only in October 1941. Already in mid-September, German and Romanian troops began preparations for an invasion of the peninsula. Until mid-October, our troops managed to hold the enemy on the approaches to Crimea. However, on October 22, the Germans reached the last, Ishun line of defense of the Crimean isthmuses and, having captured them, on October 28 they broke through to the steppe expanses of the peninsula, developing an offensive in the direction of Sevastopol and Kerch.

On October 29, 1941, a state of siege was introduced in Sevastopol. On October 30, 1941, the second heroic defense of Sevastopol began, which lasted 250 days - until July 4, 1942. From the first battles to the last days of defense, the city’s defenders showed dedication, unparalleled fortitude and heroism. On November 4, the Sevastopol Defense Region (SOR) was created to unite all the forces of the Main Base of the Black Sea Fleet. General management of the Main Base of the Black Sea Fleet and its defense was carried out by the Military Council of the Black Sea Fleet. As in the first defense of Sevastopol, the defense was commanded by Soviet sailors - the successors of Nakhimov, Kornilov, Istomin.

A. A. Deineka, “Defense of Sevastopol” (1942)

The city withstood two assaults (the first was an attempt by German troops to capture the city on the move during October 30 - November 21, 1941, the second - December 17-30). The last, summer assault began on June 7. Both sides prepared for the last, June assault with all their might: the Sevastopol residents - with the courage of despair, the Germans - with unprecedented frenzy. Their group was strengthened to 200 thousand people. The latest weapons were delivered to Sevastopol, including the largest cannon of the Second World War, the Dora, which was serviced by an entire division led by a general. One shell weighed 7 tons - it was visible in flight. But only 3 weeks later, on June 30, street fighting began. On the same day, an order from Headquarters was received to abandon Sevastopol. However, organized resistance ceased on July 3. Some pockets resisted until June 12. The last defenders of Sevastopol fought on the Chersonesos Peninsula, on the legendary 35th battery (now there is a unique museum complex dedicated to the heroic defenders of Sevastopol - I recommend everyone to visit, you will not see this anywhere else).

If the defense of Sevastopol lasted 250 days, the liberation took only a week. On May 5, as a result of a powerful offensive, German fortifications near the Mekenzi Mountains were broken through, and on May 7, Sapun Mountain was taken by storm. 58 hours later, by the end of the day on May 9, 1944, the city was liberated. Sevastopol. On May 8, 1965, Sevastopol was awarded the title of Hero City (among the first 7: Leningrad, Odessa, Stalingrad, Kyiv, Brest Fortress and Moscow).

Memorial wall in honor of the heroic defense of Sevastopol and Alley of Hero Cities of Sevastopol (Republic of Crimea) (my photo). The two bayonets reflected by the soldier symbolize two reflected assaults.

Today, June 22, 2015 at 3:13 a.m., the All-Russian “Candle of Memory” event will take place at the Memorial of the Heroic Defense of Sevastopol 1941-1942.

On June 22, 1941, the German army invaded the territory of the USSR, and the Great Patriotic War began, in which about 27 million Soviet citizens died. This tragic date is sacred for each of us; today, on the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, we remember and honor the feat of those who died in the Great Patriotic War.

The longest day of the year
With its cloudless weather
He gave us a common misfortune
For everyone, for all four years.
She was so impressed by the tour of the Reichstag