How World War II began for the USSR (PHOTOS)
“Our troops’ offensive seemed to come as a complete tactical surprise to the enemy on the entire front. The border bridges across the Bug and other rivers were seized everywhere without a fight and no damage. The total unexpectedness of our attack was evidenced by the fact that the units in the barracks were caught unawares, planes were on the airfields covered with tarpaulins, and the vanguard elements attacked by our troops had to ask the command for instructions..." This is how the chief of the General Staff of the German Ground Forces, Franz Halder, described the Wehrmacht's invasion of the Soviet Union in the early morning of June 22, 1941, in his diary.
Despite the fierce resistance of the Soviet border guards and the Red Army’s counterattacks, the German troops, backed by their Romanian allies, rapidly advanced deep into Soviet territory. The first enemy strike was against the Brest Fortress, located on the border. “The children and I were awakened early in the morning by a terrible roar,” recalled Anastasia Nikitina-Arshinova: “Shells and bombs were exploding, shrapnel was screeching. I grabbed the children and ran out into the street barefoot. We barely had time to grab some clothes. Terror gripped the streets. Planes circled over the fortress and dropped bombs on us. Women and children were rushing around in panic, trying to escape. Lying in front of me were the wife of a lieutenant and her son – both had been killed by a bomb.”
Twelve-year-old Pyotr Kotelnikov was a cadet in the musical platoon of the 44th Infantry Regiment when the Brest Fortress came under attack: “We were woken up in the morning by a shattering blow. The roof was smashed. I was dazed. I saw the wounded and dead, and realized this wasn’t an exercise, but war. Most of the soldiers in our barracks were killed in the first few seconds. I followed the adults rushing to get weapons, but they wouldn’t give me a rifle. Then I raced off with a Red Army soldier to extinguish a fire at the clothing depot. After that I went with the soldiers to the cellars of the barracks of the neighboring 333rd Rifle Regiment... We helped the wounded, brought them ammunition, food and water. At night, we made our way through the western wing to the river to get water and back again.”
