Journey

USSRHeld by the enemyFront line (approximate)

Germany and its allies

June 1941

Day 1 of 1418

“The morning that changed everything”

Chapter 1 · June 1941

The morning that changed everything

Sunday 22 June 1941 began like any summer day: school-leavers had just danced at their graduation balls. At dawn bombs and shells rained down on the country as the enemy advanced from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Minsk fell on 28 June, but the border guards and the defenders of Brest fought to the last.

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RemembranceBitter

22 June 1941 · Day 1 of 1418

The war begins

Brest, western border

German and allied soldiers stood at the border: 5.5 million; German and allied soldiers stood at the border
days this war would last: 1418; days this war would last

At dawn on 22 June 1941, at 4 a.m., Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union without declaring war. Planes appeared over sleeping towns and tanks rolled across the border. This was the first of the 1,418 days of the Great Patriotic War.

The border guards took the first blow. Their outposts had only rifles and machine guns, yet many held out for hours, some for days. That same morning bombs fell on Kiev, Minsk, Sevastopol, Riga and Kaunas. Children who had celebrated the end of school the night before woke up to a word that changed their lives: “war”.

The enemy expected to finish the war in a few weeks; the plan was called “Barbarossa”. It failed. But the price the people paid was enormous.

Arise, our mighty country, Arise for mortal fight Against the dark fascist power, Against the cursed horde!

The song “The Sacred War”, June 1941

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