Chronicles of the Second World War: Eastern European Front

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In the CIS countries, the war on the Eastern European Front, which became the site of the largest military confrontation in stories, called the Great Patriotic War. More than 400 military units of the German and Red Army for 4 years fought at the front, which stretched over more than 1600 km. Over the years, about 8 million Soviet and 4 million German soldiers laid their heads on the Eastern European Front. The hostilities were particularly fierce: the largest tank battle in history (Battle of Kursk), the longest siege of the city (almost 900-day siege of Leningrad), the policy of scorched land, the complete destruction of thousands of villages, mass deportations, executions ... The situation was complicated by the fact that there was a split inside the Soviet armed forces. At the beginning of the war, some groups even recognized the Nazi invaders as liberators from the Stalin regime and fought against the Red Army. After a series of defeats of the Red Army, Stalin issued Order No. 227, “Not a Step Back!” Prohibiting Soviet soldiers from retreating without an order. In case of disobedience of the military leaders, a tribunal expected, and the soldiers could immediately receive punishment from their colleagues, who were supposed to shoot at everyone who ran away from the battlefield. This collection contains photographs of 1942-1943, covering the period of the Great Patriotic War from the blockade of Leningrad to decisive Soviet victories at Stalingrad and Kursk. The scale of the military operations of that time is almost impossible to imagine, and even more so to cover in a single photo story, but we offer you pictures that have preserved the scenes of hostilities on the East European Front for posterity.



Soviet soldiers go into battle over the ruins of Stalingrad, autumn 1942 of the year. (Georgy Zelma / Waralbum.ru)



The squad leader oversees the advancement of his troops in the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian SSR, 21 June 1942. (AP Photo)



The German anti-tank gun is preparing for battle on the Soviet front, the end of 1942 of the year. (AP Photo)



Residents of Leningrad take water during the almost 900-day siege of the Soviet city by the German occupiers, winter 1942 of the year. The Germans could not capture Leningrad, but surrounded it with a blockade ring, damaged communications and fired upon the city for more than two years. (AP Photo)



Funeral in Leningrad, spring 1942 year. As a result of the blockade, famine began in Leningrad, and because of the lack of medicines and equipment, people quickly died from diseases and injuries. During the siege of Leningrad, 1,5 killed a million soldiers and civilians, as many of Leningraders were evacuated, but many of them died on the way due to famine, disease and bombing. (Vsevolod Tarasevich / Waralbum.ru)



The scene after a fierce battle on Rostov street during the occupation of the Soviet city by the German invaders in August 1942. (AP Photo)



German motorized artillery is shipped across the Don River on a pontoon bridge, 31 July 1942. (AP Photo)



Soviet woman looks at the burning house, 1942 year. (Nara)



German soldiers shoot Jews near Ivangorod, Ukrainian SSR, 1942 year. This picture was mailed to Germany and intercepted at a post office in Warsaw by a member of the Polish resistance who collected evidence of Nazi war crimes. The original photo belonged to Tadeusz Mazur and Jerzy Tomaszewski, and is now stored in the historical archive in Warsaw. Signed by the Germans on the back of the photograph: "USSR, 1942 year, the destruction of the Jews, Ivangorod."



A German soldier participates in the battle of Stalingrad, spring 1942. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv / German Federal Archive)



German soldiers cross the river in a tank, 3 August 1942. (AP Photo)



In 1942, the Red Army soldiers entered the village near Leningrad and found there 38 bodies of Soviet prisoners of war, tortured to death by German occupiers. (AP Photo)



The plane drops bombs on Stalingrad, September 25 1942. (AP Photo)



Soviet war orphans stand near the ruins of their home, the end of 1942 of the year. German invaders destroyed their house, and parents were captured. (AP Photo)



German armored car rides among the ruins of the Soviet fortress in Sevastopol, USSR, August 4 1942. (AP Photo)



Stalingrad in October 1942. Soviet soldiers fighting in the ruins of the factory "Red October". (Deutsches Bundesarchiv / German Federal Archive)



The soldiers of the Red Army are preparing to shoot from anti-tank guns in the approaching German tanks, October 13 1942. (AP Photo)



The German dunk bomber Junkers U-87 "Stuck" is involved in the Battle of Stalingrad. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv / German Federal Archive)



A German tank arrives at a broken Soviet tank on the outskirts of the forest, USSR, October 20, 1942. (AP Photo)



German soldiers are on the offensive near Stalingrad, the end of 1942 of the year. (Nara)



German soldier hangs the Nazi flag on the building in the center of Stalingrad. (Nara)



The Germans continued to fight for Stalingrad, despite the threat of encirclement by the Soviet army. In the photo: Stuck dive bombers bomb the factory district of Stalingrad, November 24 1942. (AP Photo)



The horse is looking for food on the ruins of Stalingrad, December 1942 of the year. (AP Photo)



Cemetery of tanks, organized by the Germans in Rzhev, December 21 1942. At the cemetery there were about 2 thousands of tanks in different condition. (AP Photo



German soldiers are walking along the ruins of a gas generator station in the factory district of Stalingrad, December 28 1942. (AP Photo)



Ruins of Stalingrad after fierce fighting, November 5 1942. (AP Photo)



The soldiers of the Red Army are firing at the enemy from the backyard of an abandoned house on the outskirts of Stalingrad, December 16 1942. (AP Photo)



Soviet soldiers in winter outfits took a position on the roof of a building in Stalingrad, January 1943. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv / German Federal Archive)



The Soviet tank T-34 is racing across the Square of Fallen Wrestlers in Stalingrad, January 1943. (Georgy Zelma / Waralbum.ru)



Soviet soldiers take refuge behind the barricades of the ruins during the battle with the German occupiers on the outskirts of Stalingrad at the beginning of 1943. (AP Photo)



German soldiers attack the destroyed streets of Stalingrad, the beginning of 1943. (AP Photo)



Soldiers of the Red Army in camouflage go on the offensive on the German positions on the snow-covered field on the German-Soviet front, March 3 1943. (AP Photo)



Soviet infantry march across snow-covered hills in the vicinity of Stalingrad to liberate the city from the Nazi invaders, the beginning of 1943. The Red Army surrounded the German 6 Army consisting of about 300 thousands of German and Romanian soldiers. (AP Photo)



Soviet soldier guarding a captive German soldier, February 1943. Having spent several months in the Soviet environment in Stalingrad, the German 6-I army capitulated, losing 200 thousands of soldiers in fierce battles and as a result of the famine. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv / German Federal Archive)



German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus is being questioned at the headquarters of the Red Army near Stalingrad, USSR, March 1, 1943. Paulus was the first German field marshal who was captured by the Soviet Union. Contrary to Hitler's expectations that Paulus would fight until his death (or commit suicide after defeat), in the Soviet captivity the field marshal began to criticize the Nazi regime. Subsequently, he acted as a witness for the prosecution at the Nuremberg trial. (AP Photo)



The soldiers of the Red Army are sitting in a trench, over which the Soviet tank T-34 is passing, during the Battle of Kursk in 1943. (Mark Markov-Grinberg / Waralbum.ru)



The bodies of German soldiers lie along the road southwest of Stalingrad, 14 April 1943. (AP Photo)



Soviet soldiers shoot at enemy aircraft, June 1943 of the year. (Waralbum.ru)



German Tiger tanks engage in fierce battles south of Orel during the Battle of Kursk, mid-July 1943. From July to August 1943, in the Kursk area, the greatest tank battle in history was fought, in which about 3 thousands of German and more than 5 thousands of Soviet tanks participated. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv / German Federal Archive)



German tanks are preparing for a new attack during the Battle of Kursk, July 28, 1943. The German army had been preparing for an offensive for months, but the Soviets were aware of Germany’s plans and developed a powerful defense system. After the defeat of the German troops in the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army maintained superiority until the very end of the war. (AP Photo)



German soldiers are ahead of the Tigr tank during the Battle of Kursk in June or July of the 1943 year. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv / German Federal Archive)



Soviet soldiers attack German positions in a smoke screen, USSR, July 23, 1943. (AP Photo)



Captured German tanks stand in a field southwest of Stalingrad, 14 on April 1943. (AP Photo)



Soviet lieutenant distributes cigarettes to German prisoners of war near Kursk, July 1943 of the year. (Michael Savin / Waralbum.ru)



View of Stalingrad, almost completely destroyed after six months of fierce fighting, at the end of hostilities at the end of 1943. (Michael Savin / Waralbum.ru)
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    1. +7
      2 October 2011 10: 32
      War poster

    2. +2
      2 October 2011 12: 37
      The figure of the German losses is not correct. The article shows our losses - irrevocable, according to the Germans - human, the losses of German satellites are not indicated (the French on our front died more than when defending France, but the Finns, Romanians, Italians, Spaniards, etc., didn’t seem to have fought with us) .
      1. +2
        2 October 2011 17: 57
        And the Hungarians are vile!
    3. Indigo
      +4
      2 October 2011 13: 10
      The entry of this article from the firm of Jurgens and K0 (under the President of the Russian Federation) - de-Stalinization - to smear the feats of grandfathers and fathers with muck - to make cannon fodder guilty of all mortal sins ...
    4. LESHA pancake
      +1
      2 October 2011 15: 06
      Fritz bastards how many of our people put they will never be our friends.
      1. +3
        2 October 2011 18: 43
        Quote: LYOKHA damn
        Fritz bastards how many of our people put they will never be our friends.

        Alexey, you're right, but in our time (I think so) only Germans from OTAN will not fight with us
      2. Dovmont
        +2
        2 October 2011 20: 23
        but Mendel-Medvedev said that a new history textbook for high school will be written together with the Germans. I can imagine what tolerant shit will turn out.
    5. 0
      2 October 2011 18: 03

      In this photo, our captured T-34s with German armored cars.
    6. SMERSH
      +3
      2 October 2011 18: 27
      A NEW CARRY IS WAITING FOR US! DO NOT REMOVE!
      1. +2
        2 October 2011 22: 05
        with you let's go cut enemies of RUSSIA
    7. +6
      2 October 2011 20: 20
      I want to declare: this article was written by a deeply incompetent person who did not have the courage to subscribe to the article even with a pseudonym! I am sure that this author recently "gave birth" to an article about "the friendship between Zhukov and Eisenhower" (a lot coincides). But I will return to the fact that this Madame claims that there was a "split" in the Red Army, allegedly she alone knows "some groups" who "recognized" the liberators from the "Stalin regime" as the enemy. I want to say with confidence that this is direct Goebbels propaganda! On that Great Patriotic War Our country has lost a lot of soldiers, and it is not this scum to keep the count !!
    8. +1
      2 October 2011 22: 34
      In the CIS countries, the war on the East European Front, which became the site of the largest military confrontation in history, is called the Great Patriotic War.

      Something I do not enter, who wrote this article? Is this really a Russian person? So I can also post pictures about German atrocities on the territory of the USSR, and add comments to them (either relatives or from myself) ... for such people (scribblers) - I advise you to watch the TV series "Unknown War" or talk to eyewitnesses.
    9. Priest
      +2
      3 October 2011 01: 17
      all the documents presented - the Belorussian direction, in other directions the situation was different - the front had to be leveled (yes! bearing heavy losses) but nevertheless giving a worthy rebuff. (already at 4:00 - the planes of the Soviets (who had taken off from the airfields of those who had previously taken measures) shot down the fascists - this is not the only example (in different branches of the armed forces combat readiness was organized in advance) - thanks to which the enemy was restrained in some "areas." source of information: a book of 10 myths about the 41st year (there are many others) - (my main source is eyewitness stories !!!).
    10. +2
      3 October 2011 22: 46
      The captions to some of the photos are wild: "German soldiers are advancing along the destroyed streets of Stalingrad, early 1943. (AP Photo)" and in the photo are Germans in summer uniform. This is how they made their way out of the environment ??? Not frozen when advancing? Or: "Red Army soldiers are sitting in a trench over which a Soviet T-34 tank is passing, during the Battle of Kursk in 1943. (Mark Markov-Grinberg / Waralbum.ru)" aha! soldiers in quilted jackets and earflaps and this in July 1943 in southern Russia ??? Also: "Red Army soldiers are firing at the enemy from the backyard of an abandoned house on the outskirts of Stalingrad, December 16, 1942. (AP Photo)" - and in the picture there are trees with foliage and greenery in the garden bed! Judging by the authorship - Western agencies, as always - WILD WEST !!! Those. - savages!
    11. sirToad
      +2
      5 October 2011 09: 16
      God forbid! sorry the author is not! Someone may have a war in the CIS and on the eastern front, and for some, the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet people against fascist reptiles!
    12. +3
      8 March 2012 22: 26
      the German is German to German, my grandfather also found war in 41m, but as a German was repressed to the army there and disappeared, but I’m sure he would have fucked Fritzes no worse than Kazakhs of Russian Tatars or Ukrainians. And still I need to learn history, recently I’ve got one duck said: you are the Germans who remained after the occupation of the USSR in the 41st. For 30 years and so stupid. And another moment I lived in Kazakhstan for 15 years I have never been told Fritz, in Russia, like two fingers to piss and whipping the most offensive one says so does not even understand that he taldychit
      1. +1
        8 March 2012 22: 38
        Quote: nemec55
        german german rosn

        Vladimir, most people in hell quantum understand this. And anti-fascists were and acted in Germany. There were many Germans in the ranks of the Red Army. I personally read the story of three scouts, not of the Stirlitz scale, but they went to take languages. good

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