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June 1941.
Hitler has invaded the Soviet Union.
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The German Blitzkrieg seems unstoppable.
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00:00:35,119 --> 00:00:38,760
Now the only hope of saving Kiev
is the ‘Stalin Line’…
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00:00:40,558 --> 00:00:42,700
Originally produced
for Russian television in 2011,
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this is the story of Russia’s
‘Great Patriotic War’
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and the Red Army’s long road
from defeat to victory.
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A German motorcycle unit raced
through western Ukraine.
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Suddenly it came
under a hail of machine gun fire.
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The survivors scrambled into cover.
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00:01:08,785 --> 00:01:13,135
The Germans thought they’d run into
the rearguard of the retreating Red Army.
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00:01:13,690 --> 00:01:17,450
But it was soon clear
this was no rearguard.
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The machine gun fire came from
a concrete bunker disguised as a farmhouse.
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The German motorcyclists had
run into the Stalin Line.
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00:01:50,844 --> 00:01:55,593
By the 1930s, fortress walls had
given way to fortified lines,
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which featured concrete gun-emplacements,
heavy guns in turrets,
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and anti-tank obstacles.
The French built the Maginot Line,
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00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:09,719
the Finns built the Mannerheim Line,
and the Germans, the Siegfried Line.
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The Soviet Union built its
own defensive line on its western frontier.
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Foreign newspapers dubbed it
‘the Stalin Line’.
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In reality it wasn’t a continuous line
but a series of fortified zones.
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00:02:28,904 --> 00:02:32,234
The sheer length of the border
meant in some places,
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the defences consisted of just
a few machinegun positions.
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00:02:36,982 --> 00:02:41,117
Old tanks were recycled
to provide gun turrets.
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The line was 13 years old
when the Germans invaded,
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and in most places lacked
modern anti-tank defences.
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After the Soviet invasion
of Poland in 1939,
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the Stalin Line was stripped
of men and weapons.
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They were moved to new defences
being built far to the west,
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along the new frontier.
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When the Germans attacked,
the Stalin Line was hurriedly reoccupied.
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00:03:21,154 --> 00:03:25,943
In the first weeks of the war,
the German blitzkrieg seemed unstoppable.
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Soviet generals hoped desperately
that at the Stalin Line,
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the invaders could be stopped,
and then thrown back.
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The first German formation to engage
the Stalin Line was the 1st Panzer Group.
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00:04:06,438 --> 00:04:12,403
It was led by one of the Wehrmacht’s most
experienced commanders, Ewald von Kleist.
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00:04:14,799 --> 00:04:18,611
In 1941, von Kleist was 60 years old.
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He had commanded a cavalry
regiment in the First World War.
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Now he was Germany’s senior panzer general.
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00:04:27,601 --> 00:04:32,783
In 1940 his Panzer Group had played
a crucial role in the Fall of France,
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breaking through French positions at Sedan
and encircling the Allies at Dunkirk.
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At the end of the war,
von Kleist was arrested by the Americans
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and extradited to the USSR.
He was found guilty of war crimes,
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and died in prison in 1954.
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The Stalin Line did not
overly concern von Kleist.
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His men were well trained in storming
enemy fortifications.
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German assault teams were made up
of infantry platoons reinforced
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with combat engineers and light artillery.
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00:05:19,694 --> 00:05:24,696
In an assault, German infantry would try
to outflank enemy strongpoints
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00:05:24,822 --> 00:05:26,822
in order to isolate them.
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00:05:28,446 --> 00:05:30,911
The bunker could
then be attacked from the rear,
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using explosives to blow a way in.
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00:05:37,646 --> 00:05:42,437
Another tactic was to fire a flamethrower
in through the observation slits,
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killing everyone inside.
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00:05:50,971 --> 00:05:56,260
Von Kleist’s tanks reached the Stalin Line
at several points simultaneously.
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On the approach to Kiev,
the fighting raged for three days.
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14th Panzer Division
was in the thick of it.
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00:06:07,764 --> 00:06:12,489
As it prepared to assault Soviet positions,
it came under air attack.
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00:06:20,390 --> 00:06:24,322
Then the infantry began
their assault on the Stalin Line.
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00:06:30,741 --> 00:06:35,323
Slowly the Germans fought
their way through the Soviet defences.
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00:06:35,648 --> 00:06:39,932
On 8th July, they broke
through to the Zhitomir highway.
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00:06:40,302 --> 00:06:43,496
They broke through
again to the south, at Ostropol.
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The road to Kiev, capital of Ukraine,
lay open.
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00:06:54,013 --> 00:06:59,542
But now the advance ran into well
camouflaged Soviet gun positions.
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00:07:12,821 --> 00:07:16,736
Each bunker had to be taken out
by heavy artillery.
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00:07:33,459 --> 00:07:37,446
Next stop was the Ukrainian
city of Berdychev.
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00:07:37,961 --> 00:07:41,275
Red Army survivors
were once more in retreat.
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00:07:41,712 --> 00:07:46,465
The Stalin Line had held up von Kleist’s
Panzergroup for just four days.
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When news of the breakthrough
reached General Mikhail Kirponos,
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Commander of the South-Western Front,
his only comment was,
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"We are going to pay dearly for this".
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Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos had been
declared a Hero of the Soviet Union —
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the state’s highest award —
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for his leadership
during the Soviet-Finnish war in 1940.
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In 1941, he was put in charge
of the Kiev Special Military District.
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Kirponos was a resourceful,
brave and energetic commander.
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But many envied his rapid promotion.
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On the morning of 9th July,
von Kleist’s tanks reached Zhitomir.
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00:08:33,703 --> 00:08:37,041
The Chief of Staff of Army Group South
signaled Berlin:
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“It is imperative that we go on
and try to take Kiev by surprise
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using the Third Army Corps”.
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But Hitler had other priorities.
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He ordered Von Kleist to swing south
to help encircle Soviet forces around Uman.
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Von Kleist was given just
a few days to take Kiev.
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The Ukrainian capital was in grave danger.
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The Chief of Staff of the Southwestern
Front received a visitor —
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a Major who brought news
of the German advance.
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The Soviet command rushed
all available reserves to Kiev.
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Paratroopers, tank crews without tanks,
NKVD police units,
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naval infantry —
all arrived to help defend the city.
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The Soviets knew the first German thrust
would come along the Zhitomir highway.
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00:10:00,311 --> 00:10:05,021
And where it crossed the Irpin river,
they were ready to meet it.
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00:10:35,752 --> 00:10:41,504
The Germans had reached the Kiev Fortified
Region, the last section of the Stalin Line,
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and it was ready to welcome the invaders.
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Von Kleist had reached Kiev,
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but his panzers needed infantry
to break through the city’s defences.
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00:11:01,747 --> 00:11:05,570
And the infantry had been left far behind.
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00:11:06,933 --> 00:11:11,132
Von Kleist was out of time.
He had orders to move south,
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away from Kiev, to encircle
Soviet forces around Uman.
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00:11:17,619 --> 00:11:20,827
Meanwhile, German infantry
were fighting their way through
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the Stalin Line to the southwest.
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Here their advance was supported
by the new assault guns.
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They had been deployed to help get
Army Group South through the Stalin Line
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where it protected
the Ukrainian city of Vinnitsya.
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The German assault guns
were the brainchild of Erich von Manstein.
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In 1935 he had written
to the Army General Staff.
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“The assault guns should act
in conjunction with the infantry.
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00:12:00,670 --> 00:12:04,148
They shouldn’t charge like tanks,
or attempt breakthroughs —
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they should support the infantry
by destroying enemy strongpoints.
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They shouldn’t operate en masse like tanks,
but be deployed in individual platoons.
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They must be able to rapidly neutralize
enemy gun emplacements.“
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In 1940, the German army received its first
assault gun — the Sturmgeschutz, or Stug, 3.
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It was built on a tank chassis,
and armed with a short 75 millimetre gun.
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It had a low silhouette
and thicker armour than most tanks.
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Head on, it was almost impervious
to the standard Soviet anti-tank gun.
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00:12:46,318 --> 00:12:51,396
During an assault, the Stug’s role was
to get in close to enemy gun positions,
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and knock them out by firing directly
through the observation slits.
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The StuG 3 became Germany’s most
produced armoured vehicle of the war.
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But in 1941, only a few were in service
on the Eastern Front.
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Red Army defences around Letychiv
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were pounded by German artillery
and assault guns.
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The German 4th Mountain Division
war diary described the attack:
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00:13:44,058 --> 00:13:46,998
“After 3 hours of softening-up
by the artillery,
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mountain troop assault teams
and engineer squads went forward.
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00:13:55,864 --> 00:13:59,396
By 9:30 p.m.,
all objectives had been taken.”
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The Stalin Line had been broken once more.
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00:14:10,274 --> 00:14:15,714
Other Red Army units would soon be
outflanked unless they withdrew.
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00:14:19,558 --> 00:14:23,957
The breaching of the Stalin Line
at Letychiv was regarded as a disaster
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by the Soviet Front command.
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00:14:27,613 --> 00:14:32,537
Marshal Semyon Budyonny was Commander
of the Southwestern Direction in Ukraine.
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00:14:32,624 --> 00:14:37,484
This put him in charge of two ‘Fronts’,
the Soviet equivalent of an army group.
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He sent a surprisingly
frank report to the Stavka –
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the Soviet High Command in Moscow.
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“Number 1. Restoring the situation to
its state before the enemy breakthrough,
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with current forces, is not possible.
Number 2.
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00:14:55,441 --> 00:14:59,183
Further resistance by Sixth and
Twelfth Armies in their current position
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may result in them being surrounded
and destroyed within 1 to 2 days”.
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00:15:06,058 --> 00:15:10,267
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny,
Marshal of the Soviet Union,
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was a Bolshevik legend
and a close ally of Josef Stalin.
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The son of poor peasant farmers,
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he had risen to command the 1st Red Army
Cavalry Corps in the Russian Civil War.
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Budyonny was a dedicated cavalryman,
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firmly convinced that tanks
could never replace horses.
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00:15:28,667 --> 00:15:33,738
As such, he was distinctly out of touch
with the realities of modern warfare.
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00:15:35,143 --> 00:15:39,308
Budyonny asked the Stavka
for permission to withdraw Sixth
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and Twelfth Armies towards
the Dnieper River. Permission was given.
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00:15:44,927 --> 00:15:48,714
At first, everything seemed to go smoothly.
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General Hube, commanding
the 16th Panzer Division, looked on:
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“Not able to do anything.
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00:16:02,553 --> 00:16:06,567
We can only watch the brown
convoys lose us and go East”.
150
00:16:07,157 --> 00:16:12,374
Franz Halder, Chief of the German
General Staff, shared his frustration:
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00:16:13,102 --> 00:16:18,150
“The enemy has again found a way
to withdraw his forces from under our nose.
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00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:25,203
Using fierce Counterattacks and great
skill, they are able to escape intact.”
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00:16:31,562 --> 00:16:34,816
But this time there would be no escape.
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00:16:38,599 --> 00:16:40,959
In accordance with the Fuehrer’s orders,
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von Kleist’s Panzer Group now turned south
to cut off the retreating Soviet armies.
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00:16:47,508 --> 00:16:51,308
On 3rd August the trap closed at Uman.
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00:16:54,805 --> 00:16:58,564
The encircled troops
fought on for nearly two weeks.
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00:16:58,897 --> 00:17:00,897
But they had no chance.
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00:17:05,507 --> 00:17:08,964
The two army commanders,
Muzychenko and Ponedelin,
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were among 103,000 Soviet prisoners.
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00:17:14,377 --> 00:17:18,717
Most would die of starvation
or disease in the so-called Uman Ditch,
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or other rudimentary
German prisoner of war camps,
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where the men received
no shelter and little food.
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00:17:26,674 --> 00:17:31,122
Major General Ponedelin, however,
survived German captivity.
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00:17:31,415 --> 00:17:34,848
At the war’s end
he was freed by Soviet troops.
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00:17:35,125 --> 00:17:40,473
But then he and his subordinate
General Kirrilov were arrested by SMERSH,
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the Soviet counter-espionage service.
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00:17:43,622 --> 00:17:46,444
After a 5 year investigation
into their conduct,
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00:17:46,602 --> 00:17:51,913
Ponedelin and Kirrilov were found guilty
of cowardice and treason, and shot.
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00:17:52,533 --> 00:17:55,950
Lieutenant General Muzychenko,
Commanding 6th Army,
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also survived the German camps.
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00:17:58,632 --> 00:18:02,052
He too was arrested by SMERSH
at the end of the war.
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00:18:02,139 --> 00:18:04,952
But Muzychenko
was cleared of any wrongdoing,
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00:18:05,032 --> 00:18:08,063
because he’d been
badly wounded when captured.
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00:18:08,126 --> 00:18:12,235
He was reinstated
and allowed to resume his military career.
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00:18:15,523 --> 00:18:17,295
After the victory at Uman,
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00:18:17,326 --> 00:18:21,882
Von Kleist’s Panzer Group dispersed
in a general advance eastwards.
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00:18:22,350 --> 00:18:26,309
In the port of Nikolayev,
they captured great prizes:
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00:18:26,491 --> 00:18:32,031
an unfinished battleship, a cruiser,
and two submarines.
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00:18:32,308 --> 00:18:35,770
German tank crews described
“a forest of cranes,
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00:18:35,872 --> 00:18:41,407
and submarines lying on their sides like
giant fish thrown onto the shore.”
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00:18:42,358 --> 00:18:45,160
But their commander,
von Kleist, was uneasy.
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00:18:45,231 --> 00:18:48,329
To his mind, they were miles
from where they should be.
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00:18:50,741 --> 00:18:53,359
His tanks had advanced hundreds of miles,
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their progress marked by the graves of
comrades, and their burnt-out tanks.
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00:18:58,849 --> 00:19:01,693
But they were further
than ever from what von Kleist
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00:19:01,733 --> 00:19:06,729
believed was the decisive target… Moscow.
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00:19:11,569 --> 00:19:16,215
After a 300 mile march,
the infantry of the German 6th Army
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00:19:16,373 --> 00:19:21,283
had finally arrived outside Kiev.
In support:
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00:19:21,505 --> 00:19:26,774
flamethrowers, heavy artillery,
and Stug 3 assault guns.
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00:19:29,425 --> 00:19:35,694
On 30th July, 6th Army began a concerted
attack on the city’s southern defences.
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00:19:35,884 --> 00:19:40,510
From this direction, they would not have
to fight across the Irpin river.
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00:19:46,796 --> 00:19:49,816
The Red Amy was slowly forced back.
194
00:19:50,045 --> 00:19:54,914
Many units became cut off in their bunkers.
But they fought on.
195
00:19:57,195 --> 00:20:01,921
Bunker 131 near Kremenishche
repelled attack after attack.
196
00:20:04,126 --> 00:20:07,705
Its commander,
19 year old Lieutenant Yakunin,
197
00:20:07,761 --> 00:20:11,050
had been an officer for just 6 weeks.
198
00:20:13,861 --> 00:20:17,066
Finally the Germans blew their way in.
199
00:20:25,797 --> 00:20:28,246
No prisoners were taken.
200
00:20:31,547 --> 00:20:36,012
The neighboring bunker,
No. 127, held out for three days.
201
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:40,517
Its machineguns only fell silent
when they ran out of ammunition.
202
00:20:47,055 --> 00:20:49,040
When the Germans blew their way in,
203
00:20:49,183 --> 00:20:53,356
they found two men dead
and three badly wounded.
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00:20:55,308 --> 00:20:58,196
The wounded men were carried
into captivity.
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00:21:51,169 --> 00:21:55,102
On 4th August, the Germans
intensified the assault on Kiev.
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00:21:58,127 --> 00:22:04,097
On the left flank, near Vita-Poshtova,
the Germans captured a series of bunkers.
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00:22:04,740 --> 00:22:09,483
The next day they fought their way
through to Kiev’s second defensive line.
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00:22:10,030 --> 00:22:13,966
But every step forward
came at a heavy price.
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00:22:14,529 --> 00:22:18,734
Franz Halder, Chief of the German
General Staff, was alarmed:
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00:22:19,218 --> 00:22:22,588
“Army Group South
are taking heavy losses in Kiev.
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00:22:22,627 --> 00:22:26,605
6th Army loses up to 1,600 men per day”.
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00:22:29,879 --> 00:22:32,765
Red Army losses were also severe.
213
00:22:36,471 --> 00:22:41,635
Militia battalions were formed,
and sent forward to plug gaps in the line.
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00:22:45,667 --> 00:22:48,933
These men had received
only a few weeks training.
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00:22:49,473 --> 00:22:54,414
Most hadn’t received their army papers yet.
When they were killed,
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00:22:54,760 --> 00:23:01,730
they had to be identified by Party papers,
or the names on student exercise books.
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00:23:03,618 --> 00:23:07,308
On 6th August,
through a thick morning mist,
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00:23:07,466 --> 00:23:12,241
the Germans began their attack
on Kiev’s second defensive line.
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00:23:52,563 --> 00:23:56,124
The fighting ebbed back and forth.
But finally,
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00:23:56,219 --> 00:23:59,501
Halder’s diary entries could record
real progress:
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00:23:59,660 --> 00:24:03,660
“The fortified line around Kiev
has been breached.”
222
00:24:04,415 --> 00:24:07,629
German infantry had entered
the suburbs of Kiev:
223
00:24:07,675 --> 00:24:14,130
Pirogovo, Myshelovka, Golosiiv park,
and the city’s two technical colleges.
224
00:24:30,177 --> 00:24:34,075
The Germans were just a few miles
from the Dnieper bridges.
225
00:24:34,511 --> 00:24:37,840
To the west, they’d nearly
reached the Zhuliany Airport,
226
00:24:37,879 --> 00:24:41,621
held by General Rodimtsev’s
5th Airborne Brigade.
227
00:24:42,835 --> 00:24:48,257
With their leather flying helmets, Soviet
paratroopers looked a lot like pilots.
228
00:24:50,106 --> 00:24:54,683
In 1941, they were being used
as elite infantry.
229
00:24:55,477 --> 00:24:59,584
They were well-trained,
and their morale was high.
230
00:25:26,700 --> 00:25:31,356
The brigade commander, Lieutenant
General Alexander Ilitch Rodimtsev,
231
00:25:31,499 --> 00:25:35,528
was an experienced soldier,
who’d already been awarded the title
232
00:25:35,615 --> 00:25:40,023
‘Hero of the Soviet Union’
for his service in the Spanish Civil War.
233
00:25:40,864 --> 00:25:46,363
He was personally brave and popular
with his men. 18 months later, his role
234
00:25:46,427 --> 00:25:51,141
in the defence of Stalingrad would make
him a household name in the Soviet Union.
235
00:25:51,410 --> 00:25:56,304
In 1943, he was given command
of the 32nd Guards Rifle Corps,
236
00:25:56,550 --> 00:25:59,110
which he led all the way to Prague.
237
00:26:01,052 --> 00:26:04,656
As the sun set on 9th August 1941,
238
00:26:04,743 --> 00:26:08,029
Soviet artillery opened fire
near the airport.
239
00:26:15,409 --> 00:26:19,163
10 minutes later,
Rodimtsev’s paratroopers attacked.
240
00:26:20,258 --> 00:26:25,098
At first the Germans thought they were
being attacked by pilots from the airport —
241
00:26:25,272 --> 00:26:32,055
a last desperate move by the Soviets.
But they soon realized their mistake.
242
00:26:49,067 --> 00:26:54,748
By sunrise the paratroopers had thrown
the Germans back almost 2 miles.
243
00:26:55,462 --> 00:26:59,339
More importantly,
they had bought Kiev time.
244
00:27:02,708 --> 00:27:06,871
Every day, more reinforcements
arrived in the city.
245
00:27:07,204 --> 00:27:11,862
That very day Red Army reports
recorded the arrival in the city
246
00:27:11,930 --> 00:27:16,179
by train of the 284th Rifle Division.
247
00:27:19,296 --> 00:27:23,880
The bitter fighting on the Stalin Line
and around Uman had, at least,
248
00:27:24,023 --> 00:27:28,772
slowed the German advance.
And each week,
249
00:27:29,002 --> 00:27:32,438
the Red Army raised
fresh divisions in the east.
250
00:27:40,252 --> 00:27:45,213
The city’s reinforced garrison
was reorganized as the 37th Army.
251
00:27:45,387 --> 00:27:48,622
It now launched
a large-scale counter-attack.
252
00:27:49,352 --> 00:27:54,492
By 14th August they’d liberated
many of the city’s southern suburbs.
253
00:27:54,856 --> 00:28:02,466
Bunkers 205, 206, and 207 were relieved
after being cut-off for several days.
254
00:28:04,593 --> 00:28:09,248
Kiev’s two inner defensive lines
had been re-established.
255
00:28:11,162 --> 00:28:12,920
Then in late August,
256
00:28:12,944 --> 00:28:18,555
Soviet intelligence reported
a decrease in enemy activity around Kiev.
257
00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:25,343
During the battles outside the city,
life in Kiev continued much as normal.
258
00:28:25,644 --> 00:28:31,554
There was electricity and running water.
Trams and buses still ran.
259
00:28:31,831 --> 00:28:35,973
Information about the course of the war
was tightly controlled.
260
00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:41,406
Few realized just how precarious
the situation was.
261
00:28:46,054 --> 00:28:49,728
Meanwhile, a Junkers
transport aircraft arrived
262
00:28:49,784 --> 00:28:51,784
at a secret airfield in East Prussia.
263
00:28:55,547 --> 00:29:00,189
On board General Guderian,
Commander of the 2nd Panzer Group,
264
00:29:00,315 --> 00:29:04,161
made final preparations
for his meeting with Adolf Hitler.
265
00:29:06,538 --> 00:29:09,113
Guderian had come to the Wolf’s Lair
266
00:29:09,185 --> 00:29:13,718
to persuade the Fuehrer
that he was making a strategic blunder.
267
00:29:17,348 --> 00:29:21,476
Hitler was concerned
at the slow progress of Army Group South,
268
00:29:21,658 --> 00:29:25,399
which was supposed to capture
the rich farmland of Ukraine.
269
00:29:25,708 --> 00:29:30,149
Stubborn Soviet resistance in this zone
had created a dangerous bulge
270
00:29:30,275 --> 00:29:35,861
in the German frontline, which exposed
the southern flank of Army Group Centre.
271
00:29:36,483 --> 00:29:40,344
Hitler was also alarmed
by air raids on his Romanian oil fields,
272
00:29:40,431 --> 00:29:43,035
launched from bases in the Crimea.
273
00:29:43,916 --> 00:29:47,423
So Guderian’s 2nd Panzer Group
was being sent south,
274
00:29:47,724 --> 00:29:51,004
to encircle Soviet forces defending Kiev.
275
00:29:52,532 --> 00:29:59,131
Guderian opposed the plan.
Moscow, he insisted, was the key objective.
276
00:29:59,272 --> 00:30:04,420
This diversion to Kiev wasted
valuable time and resources.
277
00:30:05,102 --> 00:30:08,069
And soon the Russian
winter would be upon them.
278
00:30:13,477 --> 00:30:19,374
Hitler listened patiently to Guderian.
But he was not going to change his mind.
279
00:30:22,060 --> 00:30:27,060
“My generals know nothing about
the economic aspects of war!”, he declared.
280
00:30:28,639 --> 00:30:35,210
The discussion was over.
Guderian was going south to Ukraine.
281
00:30:36,726 --> 00:30:44,171
Meanwhile, 150 miles southeast of Kiev, the
Germans were about to cross the Dnieper.
282
00:30:54,262 --> 00:30:57,211
They encountered only light resistance.
283
00:31:03,918 --> 00:31:10,191
This toehold across the mighty river became
known as the Kremenchug salient.
284
00:31:11,540 --> 00:31:15,588
The Soviet High Command did not
regard the salient as a priority.
285
00:31:15,667 --> 00:31:19,663
There were no bridges,
so only German infantry had got across.
286
00:31:19,798 --> 00:31:25,233
It was the tanks that worried them.
Now those tanks were on the move again.
287
00:31:25,793 --> 00:31:29,913
General Yeremenko’s Bryansk Front
was ordered to strike
288
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,294
at Guderian’s flank as he moved south.
289
00:31:35,381 --> 00:31:39,550
But Yeremenko had only a few,
obsolete tanks.
290
00:31:40,327 --> 00:31:44,036
They stood no chance
against the 2nd Panzer Group.
291
00:31:49,089 --> 00:31:56,119
On 10th September, Guderian reached Romny,
130 miles east of Kiev.
292
00:31:58,737 --> 00:32:01,178
As the threat of encirclement grew,
293
00:32:01,217 --> 00:32:05,218
the Soviet Southwestern Front
requested permission to retreat.
294
00:32:06,041 --> 00:32:08,889
But the Stavka High Command hesitated.
295
00:32:08,928 --> 00:32:12,812
They still hoped to stop Guderian,
and save Kiev.
296
00:32:14,316 --> 00:32:19,329
180 kilometres still separated the
two prongs of the German advance.
297
00:32:19,567 --> 00:32:25,613
And the southern pincer at Kremenchug
held only infantry. It could be contained.
298
00:32:28,173 --> 00:32:31,664
Von Kleist’s panzers
were still far to the south.
299
00:32:33,419 --> 00:32:39,047
Red Army forces retreating from Kiev would
be highly vulnerable as they pulled back.
300
00:32:39,213 --> 00:32:44,602
This was what had happened at Uman.
They would not make the same mistake again.
301
00:32:46,379 --> 00:32:50,727
The strategic arguments ran back
and forth. But the fact was:
302
00:32:50,893 --> 00:32:54,777
Stalin was not prepared
to abandon Kiev to the enemy.
303
00:32:54,911 --> 00:33:00,266
The 37th Army, 100,000 strong,
would hold the city.
304
00:33:05,998 --> 00:33:11,169
Only 11th September, General Kirponos,
commanding the Southwestern Front,
305
00:33:11,216 --> 00:33:14,980
spoke to Marshal Shaposhnikov,
Chief of the General Staff.
306
00:33:15,408 --> 00:33:19,432
He wanted permission to withdraw
the 37th Army from Kiev,
307
00:33:19,471 --> 00:33:23,222
and use it against the German
forces threatening his rear.
308
00:33:23,817 --> 00:33:29,235
Shaposhnikov told him this could not
be permitted. He must find other troops.
309
00:33:30,347 --> 00:33:34,362
A few hours later, Kirponov’s superior,
Marshal Budyonny,
310
00:33:34,488 --> 00:33:37,322
contacted Moscow with the same request.
311
00:33:37,942 --> 00:33:40,799
“The enemy’s plan to surround
the Southwestern Front
312
00:33:40,823 --> 00:33:46,236
from the direction of Novgorod-Siversky
and Kremenchug is obvious to everyone”.
313
00:33:47,926 --> 00:33:53,905
Budyonny requested they either withdraw
all forces to the East, or evacuate Kiev,
314
00:33:54,215 --> 00:33:59,916
freeing up troops to defend a reduced
front. But the Stavka was inflexible.
315
00:34:00,868 --> 00:34:05,888
Kiev must be held.
Their orders read:
316
00:34:05,976 --> 00:34:12,129
“You are not to evacuate Kiev or destroy
any bridges without Stavka authority”.
317
00:34:13,125 --> 00:34:18,836
Marshall Budyonny was removed from command.
His place was taken by Marshal Timoshenko.
318
00:34:22,303 --> 00:34:27,836
Instead of pulling back, more troops
were being sent into the Kyiv salient.
319
00:34:34,742 --> 00:34:39,815
One by one, German tanks drove
onto a 2,000 metre-long bridge
320
00:34:40,061 --> 00:34:42,696
that floated over the Dnieper River.
321
00:34:44,134 --> 00:34:46,789
With the help of German combat engineers,
322
00:34:46,820 --> 00:34:51,074
Von Kleist’s panzer group crossed
into the Kremenchug salient.
323
00:34:51,375 --> 00:34:54,681
And Soviet intelligence had no idea…
324
00:35:02,283 --> 00:35:06,052
As the sun rose, von Kleist made his move.
325
00:35:07,849 --> 00:35:11,425
The Soviet Command
expected a strike from the north.
326
00:35:11,670 --> 00:35:15,371
But now the fatal blow
came suddenly from the south.
327
00:35:15,593 --> 00:35:19,353
Von Kleist and Guderian
were about to encircle the entire
328
00:35:19,392 --> 00:35:21,595
Soviet Southwestern Front.
329
00:35:24,231 --> 00:35:27,728
On 13th September,
Kirponos’s Chief of Staff,
330
00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:30,945
General Tupikov, painted a bleak picture:
331
00:35:32,931 --> 00:35:35,272
“We have nothing to counter the enemy,
332
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:38,201
who has already reached
Romny and Lokhvitsa.
333
00:35:38,673 --> 00:35:41,368
Their advance cannot be resisted.
334
00:35:41,439 --> 00:35:45,599
It is a matter of a couple of days
before the catastrophe occurs”.
335
00:35:49,169 --> 00:35:53,049
Once again, Kirponos
recommended retreating from Kiev
336
00:35:53,097 --> 00:35:58,145
before his forces were cut-off.
But Marshal Shaposhnikov replied:
337
00:35:58,518 --> 00:36:03,272
“I think this encirclement is a delusion,
which exists chiefly in the minds
338
00:36:03,312 --> 00:36:07,053
of commanders of the Southwestern Front
and 37th Army”.
339
00:36:10,891 --> 00:36:15,071
But on the ground,
encirclement had become a reality.
340
00:36:15,594 --> 00:36:21,424
On 14th September, German 1st and
2nd Panzer Groups linked up near Lokhvitsa.
341
00:36:22,138 --> 00:36:27,804
They had surrounded
532,000 Soviet soldiers.
342
00:36:32,812 --> 00:36:35,645
Two days later a Colonel from Stavka
343
00:36:35,740 --> 00:36:39,177
flew to Kiev to give Kirponos
his new orders.
344
00:36:39,561 --> 00:36:42,988
Now that it was too late,
and the trap had closed,
345
00:36:43,115 --> 00:36:45,734
he finally had permission to withdraw.
346
00:36:48,526 --> 00:36:52,872
But the new orders contradicted
Stalin’s directive about Kiev.
347
00:36:53,348 --> 00:36:56,386
Kirponos knew other generals
had been executed
348
00:36:56,494 --> 00:37:03,127
for making mistakes in similar situations.
He demanded written confirmation.
349
00:37:04,339 --> 00:37:07,046
He would not leave the city without it.
350
00:37:15,641 --> 00:37:20,870
Stavka confirmation came just
before midnight on 17th September.
351
00:37:21,060 --> 00:37:24,984
Kirponos immediately gave
the order to evacuate Kiev.
352
00:37:26,071 --> 00:37:32,183
48 hours later, the Red Army left the city
and crossed to the east bank of the Dnieper.
353
00:37:34,621 --> 00:37:37,656
NKVD Colonel Mazhirin was with them.
354
00:37:38,806 --> 00:37:42,829
“It was a surprisingly warm day.
At about 11 in the morning,
355
00:37:42,884 --> 00:37:46,854
the Nazis started firing furiously
into the city’s suburbs.
356
00:37:48,521 --> 00:37:51,267
Then they advanced on the bridges.
357
00:37:54,981 --> 00:37:58,348
“On a signal,
the Darnitsya bridge was blown up.
358
00:38:00,458 --> 00:38:05,089
The Navodnitsky bridge had been covered
in tar, and was now set on fire.”
359
00:38:06,158 --> 00:38:11,193
Having destroyed the bridges,
the 37th Army retreated towards Yagotin.
360
00:38:11,757 --> 00:38:15,713
But there was no escape.
In five days of fighting,
361
00:38:15,808 --> 00:38:19,114
the Southwestern Front
was chopped up into smaller
362
00:38:19,169 --> 00:38:21,989
and smaller pockets of resistance.
363
00:38:25,661 --> 00:38:29,157
Some Red Army units held out for 10 days.
364
00:38:29,530 --> 00:38:34,017
But they were under attack from all sides,
and without supplies.
365
00:38:49,968 --> 00:38:54,568
Some bands of soldiers tried to escape
east through the German lines.
366
00:38:57,301 --> 00:39:01,817
They were hunted through the ravines
and woods by German motorized columns,
367
00:39:01,864 --> 00:39:03,864
supported by tanks.
368
00:39:08,332 --> 00:39:12,560
More than half a million Red Army
soliders became prisoners,
369
00:39:12,599 --> 00:39:16,769
in what had become the largest
encirclement in military history.
370
00:39:17,546 --> 00:39:20,036
Fewer than 20,000 escaped.
371
00:39:22,185 --> 00:39:25,991
Even Front Commander
General Kirponos did not get away.
372
00:39:26,617 --> 00:39:30,745
He was killed by shell fragments
while leading a breakout attempt.
373
00:39:31,163 --> 00:39:36,052
His Chief of Staff Vasiliy Tupikov,
Front Commissar Burmistenko,
374
00:39:36,186 --> 00:39:39,580
and most of his Headquarters
were also killed.
375
00:39:46,715 --> 00:39:52,308
Guderian described the Battle of Kiev
as a great tactical success.
376
00:39:52,586 --> 00:39:57,026
But what, he wondered,
was its strategic significance?
377
00:39:58,009 --> 00:40:01,495
The Germans were still looking
for the knockout blow.
378
00:40:01,630 --> 00:40:04,616
Guderian, and many German generals,
379
00:40:04,687 --> 00:40:09,611
firmly believed it could only come
at Moscow, and before winter.
380
00:40:11,810 --> 00:40:14,608
But was there still time?
381
00:40:18,406 --> 00:40:22,172
The Germans entered Kiev on 19th September.
382
00:40:23,534 --> 00:40:29,085
Five days later, NKVD agents dynamited
the buildings chosen by the Nazis
383
00:40:29,482 --> 00:40:31,787
as their administrative headquarters.
384
00:40:32,810 --> 00:40:37,553
Acts of arson and sabotage continued
for several days.
385
00:40:39,653 --> 00:40:44,340
They destroyed department stores;
the circus on Karl Marx Street;
386
00:40:44,713 --> 00:40:49,223
and The Continental Hotel which the German
army had chosen as its headquarters.
387
00:40:57,534 --> 00:41:00,659
Great fires raged across the city.
388
00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:07,158
Khreschatyk, the city’s main street,
was almost entirely destroyed.
389
00:41:08,491 --> 00:41:14,068
No one tried to put the fires out.
They raged for 4 days.
390
00:41:18,853 --> 00:41:24,007
The Nazis used these events as their
pretext to round up the Jews of Kiev.
391
00:41:27,589 --> 00:41:32,264
On 28th September, a proclamation
went up around the city.
392
00:41:34,154 --> 00:41:39,160
It ordered all Jews to come to the junction
of Melnikov and Dehtaryivska Street
393
00:41:39,278 --> 00:41:45,338
at 8am the next day.
Jews, it said, were ‘to be relocated’.
394
00:41:46,710 --> 00:41:52,284
The next morning, more than
30,000 Jews arrived from across the city.
395
00:41:52,744 --> 00:41:57,447
Supervised by German SS troops
and Ukrainian collaborators,
396
00:41:57,510 --> 00:42:01,126
they were marched down Melnikov
Street to the Babi Yar Ravine
397
00:42:01,173 --> 00:42:03,173
on the outskirts of town.
398
00:42:04,709 --> 00:42:09,398
Near the ravine, men, women
and children were told to undress,
399
00:42:09,470 --> 00:42:13,313
and put clothes and valuable
belongings into separate piles.
400
00:42:14,820 --> 00:42:17,962
Then they were led to the ravine
in groups of 10.
401
00:42:18,892 --> 00:42:22,492
Two machine guns waited on
the far side of the ravine.
402
00:42:24,476 --> 00:42:31,134
Over two days, the Nazis
murdered 33,771 Jews here.
403
00:42:33,022 --> 00:42:35,804
The bodies were buried in the ravine.
404
00:42:39,777 --> 00:42:43,801
For 103 weeks, every Tuesday and Friday,
405
00:42:43,959 --> 00:42:47,215
the Nazis brought people here
for extermination —
406
00:42:47,349 --> 00:42:52,139
Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, Gypsies.
407
00:42:54,817 --> 00:42:59,046
Babi Yar was used for executions
for exactly two years:
408
00:42:59,109 --> 00:43:05,175
29th September 1941,
to 29th September 1943.
409
00:43:08,674 --> 00:43:12,957
By summer 1943, the Nazis
had begun to cover their tracks.
410
00:43:13,084 --> 00:43:16,056
Prisoners from the neighbouring
Syrets Concentration Camp
411
00:43:16,095 --> 00:43:19,352
were made to dig up the bodies
and burn them.
412
00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:29,619
Historians estimate that between 100 and
200,000 people were murdered at Babi Yar.
413
00:43:38,927 --> 00:43:43,601
These massacres were the first
indication of the kind of ‘New Order’
414
00:43:43,626 --> 00:43:46,921
that the Nazis planned to bring
to the Soviet Union.
415
00:43:50,609 --> 00:43:55,772
The war in the east had become
a war like no other.
416
00:43:55,994 --> 00:43:59,529
This was now a struggle for existence.
417
00:44:00,271 --> 00:00:00,000
For the Soviet Union, there could
be only victory, or annihilation.
38432
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