RemembranceBitter
· 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!