Every year on the eve of a terrible and tragic date for our people - June 22, again and again I ask myself the question, how could this have happened? As a country preparing for war and having perhaps the most powerful army at that time, it suffered a crushing defeat, 4 million Red Army soldiers surrendered and fell into captivity, and the people were on the verge of extermination. Who is to blame for this? Stalin? Quite acceptable, but is he the only one? Maybe someone else is involved in this, maybe someone's wrong actions are hiding another blank spot in the history of the Second World War? Let's try to figure it out. A year before the war 1940 year. Summer. World War II has been raging for almost a year. Hitler and Germany led by him reach unprecedented heights. France is defeated, and with this victory virtually all of continental Europe is at the feet of the Nazis. The Wehrmacht begins to prepare for war with England. On July 16, 1940, Hitler signed Directive No. 16 on the preparation of a landing operation in Great Britain, codenamed Sea Lion. Not a word about the war with the USSR. Hitler does not need a war with the Soviet Union. Hitler is not suicidal. And he read the great strategists of Germany's past: Clausewitz and Bismarck. They bequeathed to the Germans that they would never fight with Russia. A war with Russia is a suicide: this is a huge territory that cannot be occupied by any armies, it is impenetrable swamps and forests, a cruel winter with wild frosts. And this is a multi-million dollar army; plus Stalin's industrialization gives this army the latest tanks, aircraft and artillery. This is a people who have never recognized foreign invaders, their own - yes, foreign ones - no. To decide on a war with Russia, you need to have either a huge, strong, professional army with a militarized economy subordinate to it, or be suicidal with a guarantee of failure. As for the first, the total number of troops of Germany and the USSR is no secret for a long time. These figures are even quoted in history textbooks. Before the attack on the USSR, Hitler had about 3,500 tanks, about 4,000 aircraft, 190 divisions, and this number includes all divisions (both motorized, and tank, and infantry). And what about the other side? Comparing the German Wehrmacht and the USSR before the war, in all reference books, textbooks and books, I always observed one detail, perhaps unnoticed by other researchers. Leading the German forces, the researchers give all the troops concentrated on the border with the USSR. This is the overwhelming number of the entire Wehrmacht, besides, Germany has only the occupying forces in the occupied countries of Europe. Leading the Soviet forces, only ZapVO, KOVO and PribVO (Western, Kiev and Baltic military districts) are given. But this is not the entire Soviet army. But all the same it turns out that Germany is several times inferior in number to even these districts. And if you compare the Wehrmacht with the entire Red Army? Only a madman could attack such a colossus as the USSR. Or someone who had no choice but a doomed attack. This is exactly what happened on June 22, 1941. Who, and by what unjustified actions, forced Hitler to take this step, which ultimately ruined him and the Third Reich? Unjustified appetites of the aggressor The USSR, acting like a real aggressor, seized foreign territories and occupied independent states. There is nothing strange in this, this is how any aggressors of both the past and the present acted and act. In 1940, the Baltic countries were subjected to aggression: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina - two primordially historical regions of Romania. What is changing, what happens after these seizures on the political map of the world? The borders of the Reich and the USSR are in contact, that is, now "only a spark is needed for fire." And this spark is struck by one of our military leaders - Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov. The oil fields of Romania are within easy reach - 180 kilometers. This is a direct threat to the Reich. Without oil, the Wehrmacht's military machine will stop. With the occupation of the Baltic States, there was a direct threat to the most important supply artery of the Reich - the supply of iron ore across the Baltic Sea from Luleå (Sweden). And without iron ore, Germany, naturally, would also not be able to fight successfully - this is the most important resource. The aspect of "Romanian oil" is especially important. After Stalin's step and the execution of this step G.K. Zhukov, among other things, the USSR had the following problems: Romania, having become an ally of Hitler, spoiled relations with the USSR (how else, when your territory was taken away?), The front with Germany increased by 800 kilometers, plus another foothold for Hitler to attack THE USSR. The worst thing is that Stalin scared Hitler away. It was the capture of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina by Zhukov that agitated the Fuhrer and the German military command. There is a direct threat to Romania's oil fields. From that moment on, a strike against the USSR began to be developed. Alternatives 22 June Although history does not like the subjunctive mood, but still “what would have happened if?” Germany is going to fight the British Empire and is preparing for the most difficult landing in foggy Albion. All this is known, but could Zhukov have changed something? It is quite possible that Stalin could listen to the voice of Georgy Konstantinovich and resolve military issues with him. In the summer of 1940, there were several alternatives. Let's consider them. First. With striking a blow to Bessarabia, do not stop, but move on and capture the whole of Romania. Hitler, who concentrated his army along the Atlantic coast, would not have been able to successfully interfere with Zhukov. Ten divisions in Poland and Slovakia do not count. With the capture of all of Romania, the oil fields of Ploiesti go out of the hands of Germany - and this puts the Reich in a dependent position. Synthetic fuel is not a solution: it is not enough, it is of poor quality and very expensive. Second. Zhukov could have advised Stalin to wait a bit until the Reich gets bogged down in a war with England. After all, landing on the island of Albion is a very risky and complicated matter, and even if everything goes well, then even then Stalin and Zhukov will have a moment that is very favorable for an attack - the very moment when the German army will be on this island - and for a successful operation it would take about 80-85% of the Wehrmacht. But what happened happened. The Red Army, having captured Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, stopped. Yes, you will say that Stalin did not set the task of Zhukov to crush Romania in the summer of 1940. But Zhukov could have tried, if he were a strategist, as our directors and writers portray him, to suggest to Stalin an almost win-win option. Didn't tell me. Was afraid or did not understand the strategy of warfare. “As a result of the successful development of offensive operations of the Central, Southern and Southwestern Fronts, the Red Army occupied the cities of Brussels, Amsterdam, Bruges and others during the liberation campaign. In the direction of Vienna, Salzburg, Strasbourg, the enemy troops in numbers were surrounded and surrendered ... "This is how or almost so the words of military reports from the front could sound, when the Red Army would subjugate Europe. But do we need it? ***** EDITORIAL COMMENTARY What is the reason for the defeats of the Red Army in the initial period of the war? In Soviet times, they usually looked for an explanation in the surprise of an attack, in Germany's superiority in military force (which in fact was not), in the incompleteness of the country's transition to a war footing (which also did not exist). It was mentioned briefly about the "partial loss of command and control," which is a delusion, since in this case it is necessary to talk about the partial preservation of command and control. Temirov and A.S. Donets in the book "War" (M., "EKSMO", 2005). They call the main reason for the defeats in 1941 the completely mediocre command and control of the troops by the Chief of the General Staff G.K. Zhukov, as well as the general inability of the command staff of the Red Army to fight. The mediocrity of Zhukov and the commanders of the Red Army was caused by the authoritarianism of the System itself, which deprived the commanders of the initiative and forced them to follow the stupid orders of the communists, and the repression in the army in the pre-war period, and the extremely weak and poor-quality training of the command staff. The authors of the book compare the timing of training specialists and commanders in the German army and in the Soviet army: on average, the Germans devoted 5-10 times more time to this training, and in some cases 30 times more. But the decisive role in the defeat of the Red Army was played precisely by the mediocrity of Zhukov as a commander, he fought "not by skill, but by number", made completely ridiculous tactical decisions, ditched thousands of tanks and millions of soldiers. As a result, Zhukov was punished and removed from office, Stalin was going to shoot him for mistakes, but he was hardly dissuaded (Zhukov himself hid this in his memoirs, explaining the removal from the post of the Chief of the General Staff by the fact that he allegedly had a fight with Stalin - this is another lie of the narcissist “Commander.”) But even today Russian historians cannot tell the whole truth about the war. The glaring fact is that the 3.5 million German army surrendered in just six months of the war 4 million Soviet soldiers, and about a million more were repressed during this period for unwillingness to fight (in total in the Red Army on June 21, 1941 there were 5.5 million . human). The most important reason for the defeats was the army's unwillingness to fight for Stalin, for the hateful power of the commissars. It has never happened before in history that entire units of the Red Army surrendered to the enemy, tying up their commissars. Moreover, out of 4 million surrendered soldiers and officers, about 1.5 million began to fight on the side of the enemy (including the millionth Russian People's Liberation Army of General Vlasov). There may be ten, one hundred traitors. But not a million and a half! These are no longer traitors, this is the Civil War. The people, tired of the bloody junta of the communists, were waiting for liberation. But the tragedy was that Hitler was not a "liberator" at all, he was a conqueror. And when the people realized this, the whole course of the war immediately changed. Therefore, all the same, the main reason for the defeats of the beginning of the war is the pre-war Bolshevik yoke, which did not allow people to understand in general the meaning of protecting such an ugly and rotten state as the USSR from the enemy. It is curious that today at all events in connection with the events of 1941 (on the "Stalin Line", etc.) the thought is given that "they died, but did not surrender." The same is stated in their articles by historians of the "Soviet temper." more than thousand for October in Beria's certificate, of which about 30 thousand were shot in October), and only about 500 thousand soldiers and officers from the pre-war composition of the Red Army were killed or wounded in hostilities? Naked statistics show that they just gave up, and did not die - EVERYONE gave up: about 80% of the pre-war composition of the Red Army surrendered to the Germans! Let the Red Army surrender for political reasons, and many historians call this an “Act of the Civil War,” and not a betrayal. But there was the crappy power of the USSR - and there was its own people: things are different. The Red Army actually betrayed its people, which it had to protect, who fed and clothed it, who trained it, who gave it the best military equipment in the world - while living from hand to mouth ... It seems absurd even the very fact that 4 million Soviet prisoners of war were in the rear of the advancing 3.5 million army of the enemy: they could well disperse the puny guards and seize power in the rear of the Germans, thereby carrying out the operation ENVIRONMENT of the entire advancing German army. Instead, they walked in an endless column to the West in front of the windows of the Belarusians for weeks - dreaming of an imminent victory of Hitler and a new life without the Bolsheviks. That is, not so much in German captivity as in captivity of their own illusions. Tragedy is precisely in this, and it is hushed up in every possible way even today, because the behavior of 4 million surrendered Red Army men must somehow be explained - and it is difficult to explain it. It is much easier to call them "heroes", although Stalin considered them traitors (80% of his army!). And it’s even easier to continue to tell the odious lie that “we died, but did not surrender.” And the truth is that in the Land of slaves, which was Stalin's USSR, and the army can only consist of slaves. And such an Army of slaves cannot fight with even the best technology in the world, because it does not understand the purpose of this: a slave will never be a patriot of his slavery. As a result, Hitler simply took advantage of this situation. Including a huge gift awaited him: he started the war with 3.5 thousand antediluvian tanks, and in the first weeks of the war surrendered units of the Red Army gave him another 6.5 thousand newest tanks, including a significant part - KV and T-34. They became the striking force of the Wehrmacht in the attack on Smolensk, Moscow and Leningrad, having acquired the indexes "KV (r)" and "T-34 (r)". Another paradox of the initial stage of the war is that the entire conquered Europe gave Hitler only 3,500 tanks to attack the USSR, and the surrendered Red Army added 6,500 of its own, bringing the number of tanks in Hitler's army in July 1941 to 10 thousand! And this is hushed up (the number of tanks the Germans have in July-October 1941 is concealed), although without this fact it is difficult to understand how with 3.5 thousand tanks it is possible to defeat an army with 27 thousand tanks, including the invincible KV and T-34 ... Sergey GRIGORIEV, Vitebsk "Secret Research"

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

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 fortress of Brest, which could be seen from our observation posts, to the sounds of an orchestra, they conducted a set of guards. The coastal fortifications along the Western Bug were not occupied by Russian troops. "

21:00. Fighters of the 90th border detachment of the Sokal commandant's office detained a German serviceman who had crossed the border river Bug by swimming. The defector was sent to the headquarters of the detachment 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 the interrogation, the soldier introduced himself Alfred Liskov, servicemen 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 over to the offensive along the entire length of the Soviet-German border. The information has been transferred to the 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 the LPO, PribOVO, ZAPOVO, KOVO, OdVO is possible. An attack can start 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 alert, secretly occupy firing points of fortified areas on the state border, and aviation to be dispersed over field airfields.

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

Mobilization. Columns of fighters are moving to the front. Photo: RIA Novosti

"I realized that it was the Germans who opened fire on our territory."

1:00. Commandants of the sections of the 90th border detachment report to the chief 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 raid.

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

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

From the memoirs of the chief of the 90th border detachment major Bychkovsky: “Without finishing the questioning 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 confirmed immediately by the interrogated soldier. He immediately began to call the commandant, but the connection was broken ... "

3:30. Chief of Staff of the Western District General Klimovsky reports on the enemy air raid on the cities of Belarus: Brest, Grodno, Lida, Kobrin, Slonim, Baranovichi and others.

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

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

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

3:42. Chief of General Staff Zhukov calls Stalin and informs about the beginning of hostilities by Germany. Stalin orders Tymoshenko and Zhukov to arrive at the Kremlin, where an emergency meeting of the Politburo is called.

3:45. The 1st frontier post of the 86th August border detachment was attacked by an enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group. The personnel of the outpost under the command Alexandra Sivacheva, joining the battle, destroys 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 at our ships was thwarted. But there is destruction in Sevastopol. "

4:05. The outposts of the 86th August border detachment, including the 1st border post of senior lieutenant Sivachev, are subjected to powerful 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 on the beginning of hostilities by German troops on land sectors.

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 killed and wounded.

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

The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Residents of the capital on June 22, 1941, during the announcement on the radio of a government message about the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Photo: RIA Novosti

"Protecting not individual countries, but ensuring the security of Europe"

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

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

5:00. German Ambassador to the USSR Count von Schulenburg presents to the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR Molotov"A note from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Soviet Government," which says: "The German government cannot be indifferent to a serious threat on the eastern border, therefore the Fuehrer ordered the German armed forces by all means to ward off this threat." An hour after the actual start of hostilities, Germany de jure declares war on the Soviet Union.

5:30. Reich propaganda minister on German radio Goebbels reads out the appeal Adolf Hitler to the German people in connection with the outbreak of the war against the Soviet Union: “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 ... what the world has ever seen ... The task of this front is no longer the protection of individual countries, but ensuring the security of Europe and thus the salvation of all. "

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

"The city is on fire, why aren't you broadcasting anything on the radio?"

7:15. Stalin approves the directive on repelling the attack of Hitlerite Germany: "For the troops with all their forces and means to attack the enemy forces and destroy them in the areas where they violated the Soviet border." Transmission of "directive No. 2" due to the violation of communication lines by saboteurs in the western districts. In Moscow, there is no clear picture of what is happening in the war zone.

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

10:00. From the memories of the announcer Yuri Levitan: “They call from Minsk:“ Enemy planes over the city ”, they call from Kaunas:“ The city is on fire, why aren't you broadcasting anything on the radio? ”,“ Enemy planes over Kiev ”. Female crying, excitement: "Is it really a war? .." Nevertheless, no official messages were sent until 12:00 Moscow time on June 22.

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

11:00. The Baltic, Western and Kiev special military districts were reorganized into the Northwestern, Western and Southwestern fronts.

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

12:00. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov read out an appeal to the citizens of the Soviet Union: “Today at 4 o'clock in the morning, without making any claims to the Soviet Union, without declaring war, German troops attacked our country, attacked our borders in many places and bombed our our cities - Zhitomir, Kiev, Sevastopol, Kaunas and some others, with more than two hundred people killed and wounded. Enemy aircraft raids 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 repulse the robbery 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 their ranks even more closely around our glorious Bolshevik Party, around our Soviet government, around our great leader, Comrade Stalin.

Our cause is right. 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 ..."
"On the basis of article 49, clause" o "of the Constitution of the USSR, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR announces the mobilization in the territory of military districts - Leningrad, Baltic special, Western special, Kiev special, Odessa, Kharkov, Oryol, Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Ural, Siberian, Volga, North -Caucasian and Transcaucasian.

Persons liable for military service born from 1905 to 1918 inclusive are subject to mobilization. Consider June 23, 1941 as the first day of mobilization. " Despite the fact that the first day of mobilization was named June 23, the recruiting offices at the military registration and enlistment offices begin to work by the middle of the day on June 22.

13:30. The Chief of the General Staff, General Zhukov, flies to Kiev as a representative of the newly created Headquarters of the High Command on the Southwestern Front.

Photo: RIA Novosti

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

14:05. Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano declares: "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 Triple Pact, also declares war on the Soviet Union from the moment German troops entered Soviet territory."

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

15:00. From the notes of the commander of Army Group "Center" Field Marshal Boca von: “The question of whether the Russians are carrying out a systematic withdrawal is still open. At present, there is ample evidence both for and against this.

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

Of the 485 attacked frontier posts, not one left without an order

16:00. After a 12-hour battle, the Nazis took up the positions of the 1st frontier post. This became possible only after all the border guards who defended it were killed. 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 became one of hundreds committed by border guards in the first hours and days of the war. On June 22, 1941, the USSR state border from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea was guarded by 666 border outposts, 485 of which were attacked on the very first day of the war. None of the 485 outposts attacked on June 22 withdrew without an order.

The Hitlerite command set aside 20 minutes to break the resistance of the border guards. 257 Soviet frontier posts held the defense from several hours to one day. Over one day - 20, more than two days - 16, over three days - 20, more than four and five days - 43, from seven to nine days - 4, over eleven days - 51, over twelve days - 55, over 15 days - 51 outposts. Up to two months 45 outposts fought.

The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The working people of Leningrad listen to the news about the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. Photo: RIA Novosti

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 were killed 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 the Soviet troops. Stubborn battles for the fortress will continue for weeks.

"The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox to protect 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 on any agreements and promises, they suddenly fell upon us, and now the blood of peaceful citizens is already irrigating their native land ... Our Orthodox Church has always shared the fate of the people. Together with him, she bore trials, and was consoled by his successes. She will not leave her people even now ... The Church of Christ blesses all Orthodox to defend the sacred borders of our Motherland. "

19:00. From the notes of the Chief of the General Staff of the Land Forces of the Wehrmacht, Colonel-General Franz Halder: “All armies, except for the 11th Army of Army Group South in Romania, went on the offensive according to plan. The offensive of our troops, apparently, was a complete tactical surprise for the enemy on the entire front. The border bridges across the Bug and other rivers have been captured everywhere 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 the barracks position, the planes stood at the airfields, covered with tarpaulins, and the forward 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 whole 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 the Soviet troops to launch a counteroffensive with the task of defeating the Nazi troops on the territory of the USSR with a further advance into enemy territory. The directive ordered to capture the Polish city of Lublin by the end of June 24.

Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 June 22, 1941 Nurses provide assistance to the first wounded after the Nazi air raid near Chisinau. Photo: RIA Novosti

"We must provide Russia and the Russian people with all the assistance we can."

21:00. Summary of the Red Army High Command for June 22: “At dawn on June 22, 1941, the 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 forces 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 townships of Kalwaria, Stoyanov and Tsekhanovets (the first two are 15 km away and the last 10 km from the border).

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

23:00. Message from the Prime Minister of Great Britain 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 accuracy ... 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 literally the day before, generously lavished his assurances to the Russians in friendship and almost alliance, paid a visit to the Russian foreign minister and declared that Russia and Germany were at war ...

No one has been a more staunch opponent of communism for the past 25 years than me. I will not take back a single word said about him. But it all pales before the spectacle unfolding now.

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

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

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

Until now, one of the most burning secrets of history remains the reasons that prompted Hitler to attack the USSR.

Many years have passed after the war, but it is still not known why Hitler attacked the USSR.

66 years have passed since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, but there is still no single point of view on this issue either among historians or among geopolitologists.

Traditional Soviet historiography blamed for the unsuccessful start of the war for the USSR on Stalin, who supposedly imagined himself a great strategist, as well as on the adventurous nature of Hitler, who allegedly considered it possible to defeat the Soviet state in 3 months.

Meanwhile, the information of the Soviet military intelligence of the first half of 1941, which categorically rejected the possibility of starting a large-scale invasion of the troops of Nazi Germany into the territory of the USSR, became public knowledge.

The fact is that in order not to become a victim of disinformation, Soviet military intelligence decided to apply the method of independent indicators to determine the true intentions of Hitler. These independent indicators were selected prices for mutton and lamb skins in Western Europe, as well as information on the grades of grease used in the Wehrmacht (the so-called armed forces of Nazi Germany).

The prices for mutton and lamb skins were chosen because at the beginning of preparations for the invasion of the USSR, the Wehrmacht's rear services inevitably had to deploy a company for large-scale purchases of lamb skins, from which they had to sew sheepskin coats and sheepskin coats. There was no other way to protect German soldiers from the famous Russian frosts.

With the deployment of such a purchasing company for lamb skins in Western Europe, prices for lamb skins should have inevitably increased, and prices for lamb, respectively, should have dropped sharply.

But according to reports from the Soviet military intelligence, prices for mutton and lamb remained stable. It turned out that Hitler was not preparing for the winter war, and, therefore, was not going to invade the USSR.

The same was evidenced by the pieces of rags used by German soldiers to clean and lubricate weapons, and which were zealously collected around the German military units by Soviet agents. The Germans continued to use non-frost-resistant varieties of weapon grease, which, in freezing weather, were supposed to disable the Wehrmacht's weapons. However, this is what happened during the battle for Moscow in the winter of 1941.

True, the aforementioned blissful picture of the absence of Nazi Germany's intentions to invade the USSR was spoiled by the intelligence of the Soviet intelligence agent Richard Zoorge, who argued the opposite. But due to the fact that Hitler several times postponed the start date of the "Barbarossa" plan (a plan of attack on the USSR), Stalin did not have much faith in the data of Zoorg, who several times gave unconfirmed dates for the start of the war with Germany.

Reason for the attack

So, after all, why did Hitler give the order to his army to attack the Soviet Union?

The solution to this mystery may be associated with the peculiarities of the spiritual sphere of the Fuhrer himself of the "millennial Reich". The fact is that Hitler was an atheist. And, moreover, members of the NSDAP (Nazi party in Germany) were also charged with universal atheism. And it has already been noticed more than once that when religion is ousted from the spiritual life of people, superstitions and belief in occult sciences come instead.

Hitler was not original in this regard. He had a personal astrologer (for whom dozens of other astrologers worked), whose predictions he often trusted much more than the reports of his intelligence or the conclusions of competent experts.

And I must say that the data of the fascist astrologers, as a rule, very often turned out to be very correct.

For example, after the outbreak of World War II, when the Wehrmacht defeated Poland with lightning speed, and all of its forces were transferred to the West, Hitler postponed the date of the start of the offensive against France and Great Britain 17 times until astrologers gave him firm guarantees that the May 1940 offensive would lead to lightning victorious war against France. Which, too, was brilliantly justified.

A similar story happened with the capture of the Greek island of Crete by Hitler's airborne troops in May 1941, when almost the entire German generals objected to such an operation. They say that the English corps in Crete was almost twice the number of German foremen, and the domination of the English fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, in general, turned the landing operation into a pure adventure. But the astrologers gave the go-ahead, and the German landing operation in Crete became a classic for the airborne troops of the whole world.

Predicting the future outcome of the war

There is evidence that Hitler gave the order to start developing the Barbarossa plan in October 1940 after his personal astrologer predicted the outcome of a possible war with the USSR. The essence of this forecast was that if Hitler did not defeat Stalin by the fall of 1942, he would not be able to defeat him under any circumstances.

The situation was aggravated by the New Year's 1941 of Hitler's fortune-telling about what he might expect in five years. For this, the method of pouring wax into water was used. And Hitler clearly saw that the molten wax curled up in the water into what looked like a skull.

After that, Hitler was determined to attack the USSR. Moreover, astrologers promised him that the valiant Wehrmacht would win loud and brilliant victories over the Bolshevik Red Army.

Much of the forecast came true

It must be admitted that these predictions of Hitler's astrologers were largely justified. The Red Army, despite the multiple superiority over the Wehrmacht by the beginning of the war in tanks and aircraft, was instantly defeated, and with great exertion of forces and monstrous losses of millions of soldiers killed and captured, restrained the advance of the Germans to Moscow, Leningrad and the Caucasus.

But in the fall of 1942, the situation changed dramatically.... The practically won battle for Stalingrad turned into a defeat unheard of until now for Nazi Germany. And the commander of the 6th Army Paulus, surrounded at Stalingrad, surrendered and acted as the main prosecution witness at the Nuremberg trials against the leaders of the German fascists.

And no matter what Hitler did after the fall of 1942, Germany was steadily heading towards an inglorious defeat.

And the personal astrologers of the Fuhrer continued to make correct predictions. As, for example, they correctly pointed out that in the summer of 1943 the allied forces would land on the Italian island of Sicily. While the British special services carried out a brilliant disinformation operation, and convinced Hitler and his intelligence that the Allies would land in northern France near the city of Dunkirk ...

In the early morning of June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. The German attack on the USSR came as a complete surprise to the Soviet government. Nobody expected such insidiousness from Hitler. The command of the Red Army did everything possible not to give a pretext for unleashing aggression. The troops had the strictest order not to succumb to provocations.

In March 1941, the coastal artillery anti-aircraft gunners of the Baltic Fleet opened fire on the German intruder aircraft. For this, the leadership of the fleet almost went to death. Following this incident, ammunition and shells were confiscated from the forward regiments and divisions. The locks were removed from the artillery pieces and put into storage. All border bridges were cleared of mines. For an attempt to shoot at German military aircraft, a military tribunal awaited the perpetrators.

And then suddenly the war began. But the draconian order of provocation tied the officers and soldiers hand and foot. For example, you are the commander of an air regiment. German planes are bombing your airfield. But you don't know if other airfields are being bombed. If they knew, then it is clear that the war has begun. But you are not given to know this. You see only your airfield and only your burning planes.

And each of the millions of officers and soldiers could only see a tiny piece of what was happening. What is it? Provocation? Or is it no longer a provocation? You start shooting, and then it turns out that only in your area the enemy took provocative actions. And what awaits you? Tribunal and execution.

After the outbreak of hostilities on the border, Stalin and the top commanders of the Red Army gathered in his office. Molotov came in and announced that the German government had declared war. The directive ordering the start of retaliatory hostilities was written only at 7:15 am. After that, it was encrypted and sent to the military districts.

Meanwhile, airfields were burning, Soviet soldiers were dying. German tanks crossed the state border, and a powerful large-scale offensive of the fascist army began. Communication in the Red Army was broken. Therefore, the directive simply could not reach many headquarters. All this can be summarized in one phrase - loss of control... There is nothing worse in wartime.

For the first directive, the second directive went to the troops. She ordered to start a counteroffensive. Those who received it were forced not to defend themselves, but to attack. This only exacerbated the situation, since the planes were on fire, tanks were on fire, artillery pieces were on fire, and shells for them lay in warehouses. The personnel also had no ammunition. All of them were also in warehouses. And how do you carry out counterattacks?

Captured Red Army soldiers and German soldiers

As a result of all this, in 2 weeks of fighting, the entire personnel Red Army was destroyed.... Some of the personnel died, and the rest were captured. The enemy captured a huge number of tanks, guns and ammunition for them. All captured equipment was repaired, repainted and already launched into battle under German banners. Many former Soviet tanks went through the entire war with crosses on their towers. And the former Soviet artillery fired at the advancing troops of the Red Army.

But why did the disaster happen? How did it happen that the German attack came as a complete surprise to Stalin and his entourage? Maybe Soviet intelligence was working poorly and overlooked the unprecedented concentration of German troops at the border? No, I didn’t overlook it. Soviet intelligence officers knew the location of the divisions, their numbers, and weapons. However, no action was taken. And why? In this we will figure it out now.

Why did Germany attack the USSR unexpectedly?

Comrade Stalin understood that war with Germany could not be avoided, so he prepared for it extremely seriously. The leader paid great attention to personnel. He gradually, step by step changed them. Moreover, he was guided by some of his own principles. But the most remarkable thing is that Iosif Vissarionovich ordered to shoot unwanted people. Soviet intelligence did not escape bloody repressions either.

All of its leaders were eliminated one by one. These are Stigga, Nikonov, Berzin, Unshlikht, Proskurov. Aralov spent several years under investigation using physical measures.

Here is a description of Oscar Ansonovich's Stigga, written at the end of 1934: "In his work, he is initiative, disciplined, hardworking. He has a firm and decisive character. He implements plans and orders with perseverance and perseverance. Reads a lot, engages in self-education." The characteristic is good, but it did not save the scout. As Vysotsky sang: "They took out something useful, hands behind his back, and threw it into a black funnel with a flourish."

Abandoned Soviet tank T-26 reached Moscow as part of German troops

It goes without saying that when the leader was liquidated, his first deputies, deputies, advisers, assistants, heads of departments and departments were also subject to liquidation. When the heads of departments were eliminated, the shadow of suspicion fell on the operational officers and the agents they were in charge of. Therefore, the destruction of the leader entailed the destruction of the entire intelligence network.

This could affect the fruitful work of such a serious department as the Intelligence Agency. Of course it could, and it did. The only thing that Stalin achieved was to prevent any conspiracy against himself and the Politburo. Nobody put a briefcase with a bomb on the leader, unlike Hitler, who limited himself to only one night of long knives. And Joseph Vissarionovich had as many such nights as there were days in a year.

The work on replacing personnel was carried out constantly. It is possible that at last the intelligence was staffed with true masters of their craft. These people thought professionally, but they considered their enemies exactly the same professionals as themselves. To this can be added high ideological principles, party modesty and personal devotion to the leader of the peoples.

A few words about Richard Sorge

The work of military intelligence in 1940-1941 can be seen on the example of Richard Sorge. This person was once recruited personally by Jan Berzin. And the work of Ramsay (the operational pseudonym of Sorge) was supervised by Solomon Uritsky. Both of these scouts, after severe torture, were liquidated at the end of August 1938. After that, the German resident Gorev and the Finnish woman Aina Kuusinen were arrested. Shanghai resident Karl Rimm was summoned on leave and liquidated. Zorge's wife Ekaterina Maksimova was arrested. She admitted to having links with enemy intelligence and was eliminated.

And then in January 1940 Ramsay received an encrypted message from Moscow: "Dear friend, you work a lot and are tired. Come and rest. We are looking forward to seeing you in Moscow." To which the glorious Soviet intelligence officer replies: "With great gratitude I accept your greetings and wishes regarding rest. But, unfortunately, I cannot come on vacation. This will reduce the flow of important information."

But the chiefs from the Intelligence Directorate are not appeasing. They again send an encrypted message: "God bless her with work, Ramzai. You can't change it all anyway. Come and rest. You will go to the sea, sunbathe on the beach, drink vodka." And our scout again replies: "I can't come. There is a lot of interesting and important work." And he answered: "Come, Ramsay, come."

But Richard did not heed the persuasions of his leaders from Moscow. He did not leave Japan and did not go to Russia, because he knew perfectly well what awaited him there. And they were waiting for him Lubyansky served, torture and death. But from the point of view of the communists, this meant that the intelligence officer refused to return to the USSR. He was recorded as a hard-core defector. Could Comrade Stalin believe such a person? Naturally not.

The legendary Soviet T-34 tanks went to the Germans in the first days of the war and fought in German tank divisions

But you need to know the leader of the nations. He cannot be denied in intelligence, prudence and endurance. If Ramsay sent a message, confirmed by facts, then he would be believed. However, Richard Sorge did not have any evidence regarding the German attack on the USSR. Yes, he sent a message to Moscow that the war would begin on June 22, 1941. But such reports came from other intelligence officers. However, they were not supported by hard facts and evidence. All this information was based only on rumors. Who takes rumors seriously?

It should be noted here that Ramsay's main object was not Germany, but Japan. He was faced with the task of preventing the Japanese army from starting a war against the USSR. And Richard managed to do it brilliantly. In the fall of 1941, Sorge informed Stalin that Japan would not start a war against the Soviet Union. And the leader believed this unconditionally. Dozens of divisions were removed from the Far Eastern border and thrown near Moscow.

Where does such a belief in a malicious defector come from? And the thing is that the scout provided not rumors, but evidence. He named the state on which Japan was preparing a surprise strike. All this was confirmed by facts. That is why they took Ramsay's encryption with complete confidence.

And now let's imagine that in January 1940, Richard Sorge would have left for Moscow, naively believing his chiefs from the Intelligence Directorate. And who after that would deal with the issues of preventing Japan's attack on the Soviet Union? Who would have informed Stalin that the Japanese militarists would not violate the Soviet border? Or maybe there were dozens of scouts at the leader of the peoples in Tokyo? However, only one Sorge became the Hero of the Soviet Union. Therefore, there was no one besides him. And what is the attitude to the personnel policy of Comrade Stalin after that?

Why did Stalin think that Germany was not ready for war?

In December 1940, the leadership of Soviet intelligence informed the Politburo that Hitler had decided to fight on 2 fronts. That is, he was going to attack the Soviet Union without ending the war in the west. This issue was thoroughly discussed, and Joseph Vissarionovich ordered the intelligence officers to structure their work in such a way as to know for sure whether Germany was really preparing for war or was simply bluffing.

After that, military intelligence began to carefully monitor a number of aspects that formed the military preparations of the German army. And every week Stalin received a message that military training had not yet begun.

On June 21, 1941, a meeting of the Politburo took place. It considered the issue of the grandiose concentration of German troops on the western border of the USSR. The numbers of all German divisions, the names of their commanders and their locations were named. Almost everything was known, including the name of Operation Barbarossa, the time of its beginning and many other military secrets. At the same time, the head of the Intelligence Directorate reported that preparations for the war had not yet begun. Without this, hostilities cannot be waged. And 12 hours after the end of the Politburo meeting, Germany's attack on the USSR became a reality.

And after that, what is the attitude to military intelligence, which did not see the obvious and misled the leaders of the Soviet state? But the whole point is that the intelligence officers reported to Stalin only the truth. Hitler really did not prepare for a war against the Soviet Union.

Joseph Vissarionovich did not believe the documents, considering them a fake and a provocation. Therefore, key indicators were found by which Hitler's preparation for war was determined. The most important indicator is rams... All residents in Germany were ordered to keep an eye on the rams.

Information about the number of sheep in Europe was collected and carefully processed. The scouts identified the main centers for their cultivation and slaughterhouses. Residents received information about the prices of mutton in the markets of European cities twice a day.

The second indicator is dirty rags and oily paper that remains after cleaning the weapon... There were many German troops in Europe, and the soldiers cleaned their weapons daily. The rags and paper used were burned or buried in the ground. But this rule was not always followed. So the scouts had the opportunity to get used rags in large quantities. The oiled rags were transported to the USSR, where they were subjected to careful examination by experts.

As a third indicator, kerosene lamps, kerosene stoves, stoves, lanterns and lighters were transported across the border. They were also scrupulously researched by experts. There were other indicators that were mined in large quantities.

Stalin and the leaders of military intelligence reasonably believed that a very serious preparation was needed for a war against the USSR. The most important element of readiness for hostilities was sheep sheepskin coats. They needed about 6 million. Therefore, the scouts and watched the rams.

As soon as Hitler decides to attack the Soviet Union, his General Staff will give the order to prepare the operation. Consequently, the mass slaughter of sheep will begin. This will immediately affect the European market. The prices for lamb meat will creep down, and the prices for lamb skins will skyrocket.

Soviet intelligence believed that for a war with the USSR, the German army should use a completely different grade of lubricating oil for its weapons. Standard German gun oil froze in the cold, which could lead to the failure of the weapon. Therefore, the scouts were waiting for the Wehrmacht to change the grade of oil for cleaning weapons. But the collected rags indicated that the Germans continued to use their regular oil. And this proved that the German troops were not ready for war.

Soviet experts closely monitored German motor fuel. In the cold, ordinary fuel decomposed into non-combustible fractions. Therefore, the General Staff had to give an order for the production of another fuel that would not decompose in the cold. The scouts transported samples of liquid fuel across the border in lanterns, lighters, primus. But analyzes showed that there was nothing new. German troops used their usual fuel.

There were other aspects that were closely monitored by the scouts. Any deviations from the norm should have been a warning signal. But Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa without any preparation. Why he did this is a mystery to this day. German troops were created for the war in Western Europe, but nothing was done to prepare the army for the war in Russia.

That is why Stalin did not consider the German troops ready for war.... His opinion was shared by all the scouts. They did their best to uncover the preparations for the invasion. But there was no preparation. There was only a huge concentration of German troops on the Soviet border. But there was not a single division ready for military operations on the territory of the Soviet Union.

So, was the new cohort of intelligence officers, which replaced the old cadres, to blame for the fact that they could not predict the German attack on the USSR? It seems that the liquidated comrades would behave in exactly the same way. They would have looked for signs of preparation for military action, but they would have been unable to find anything. Since it is impossible to discover what is not.

Alexander Semashko