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(narrator) Russia: mid-June 1941 .
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A bewildered, uncertain country.
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Rumours abounded
of invasion by Hitler's Germany.
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Here in the Kremlin, Russia's leaders
seemed oblivious of the Nazi threat,
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or if not oblivious, then complacent,
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as if, by ignoring it,
it might disappear.
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Yet already, millions of German troops
were poised along Russia's border
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to launch the bloodiest land battle
in history -
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the battle that was eventually
to decide the Second World War.
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(crowd)
Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer!
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♪ Wenn die Soldaten
durch die Stadt marschieren
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♪ Öffnen die Mädchen
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♪ Die Fenster und die Türen
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♪ Ei warum? Ei darum
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♪ Ei bloß wegen dem Schingderassa,
Bumderassasa
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♪ Ei bloß wegen dem Schingderassa,
Bumderassasa...
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(narrator) Hitler in July 1940,
returning from France in triumph,
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stood at the pinnacle of his power.
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♪ ..Die Mädchen ach so gerne
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♪ Ei warum? Ei darum
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♪ Ei bloß wegen dem Schingderassa,
Bumderassasa
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(narrator) The sureness of his
victories astonished even his generals.
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Their doubts had been answered,
their opposition could be discounted.
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lt was now that Hitler confided to them
it would be the Russians' turn next.
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(crowd) Sieg Heil!
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(narrator) In Mein Kampf,
Adolf Hitler had written:
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"When we speak of new territory,
we must think of Russia."
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"Destiny itself points the way there."
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(♪ German national anthem)
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(narrator) Russia would provide
living space for the German Volk -
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Lebensraum.
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(crowd) Heil! Heil! Heil!
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Heil! Heil! Heil!
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(narrator) The ordinary German,
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like the ordinary Russian
or ordinary person anywhere,
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had been surprised by Hitler's pact
with Stalin in August 1939.
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To him, as to them, it had seemed
the least likely about-face
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by the world's bitterest rivals.
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The Nazi-Soviet Pact
had serVed its purpose for Hitler.
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He had not been hindered
while he dealt with Poland and France.
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Stalin, for his part,
gained a breathing space
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while he put his army in order affer
the blood-letting purges of the '30s.
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He had gambled, too, on a lengthy
struggle between Germany and the Allies.
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But the German victories in the west
had been swiffer than he had expected.
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(man) Hitler wanted to attack Russia
already in the fall of 1940,
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and let himself, for once, be persuaded
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that it would be impossible
to go to war at that late time
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on account of the weather in Russia,
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and for the reason that it would be
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urgent and necessary
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to enforce the German army,
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as well as the German air force,
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before entering into this new campaign.
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ln August '39, when Hitler
had signed the pact with Russia,
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in the evening, there was a movie,
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and this movie showed the parade of
the Russian troops before the Kremlin.
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He was very much impressed and
was relieved that now, with the pact,
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this army is neutralised.
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But afferwards, when the German troops
met the Russian ones
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in occupying Poland,
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officers reported to Hitler
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that the equipment
of those Russian units were very poor.
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He first didn't believe it so much,
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but then when the Russians
attacked the Finns
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and they didn't have any progress,
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he was convinced
that this was really the truth
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and he was now considering
the Russian army
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no more as strong as before.
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(narrator) Doubts about the Red Army's
strength had been raised inside Russia.
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The purges of the '30s
had decimated its leadership.
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90% of its generals, 80% of its colonels
and well over half its corps commanders
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had been put to death at Stalin's whim.
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Every single commander
of a military district was eliminated.
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Every single commander
of an army division has been eliminated.
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Every single commander of a regiment,
with some exceptions here,
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also eliminated.
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Now, you see, this is a little more
than political weakness.
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The army was beheaded, so to speak.
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(narrator) Affer the Red Army's
poor performance against the Finns,
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steps were taken to reform it.
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When news reached Moscow of
the Wehrmacht's crushing of the French,
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these reforms were accelerated.
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They were still incomplete
by the summer of 1940.
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All the same, Stalin seized his chance
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while Hitler was preoccupied
with the battle for Britain
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to grab first the Baltic States
of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania,
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and then, within the same month,
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those parts of Romania known as
Bessarabia and northern Bukovina -
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a move that, to Hitler,
brought Russian troops
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uncomfortably close
to the Romanian oil wells at Ploesti,
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Germany's only oil supply,
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vital for its tanks and planes
and ships.
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But with the bulk of his forces
still in the west,
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Hitler did not interVene.
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lnstead, he stepped up
diplomatic pressure
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to woo the Balkans into the German fold.
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First, King Boris of Bulgaria
was invited
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to visit Hitler that autumn
at Berchtesgaden,
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and he was followed
by Prince Paul of Yugoslavia
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and by young King Michael of Romania.
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Michael was already under the sway
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of his pro-German prime minister,
Antonescu.
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When news broke that Romania
and Hungary had joined the Axis,
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the Russians reacted sharply.
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They accused Berlin of violating
the spirit of the August 1939 pact.
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The frail Soviet-German friendship
was beginning to fall apart.
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Hitler, that same month,
further strengthened the Axis.
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He signed a new military alliance
with ltaly and with Japan -
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the Tripartite Pact.
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lt was aimed, allegedly,
at only the United States and Britain.
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The Russians thought otherwise.
They protested angrily.
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Hitler invited Stalin's closest adviser,
Molotov,
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to Berlin that November 1940,
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to help, as he put it,
"clarify the situation".
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lt was a disastrous visit
for Soviet-German relations.
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(Speer) When Molotov visited Berlin,
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he was obviously afraid of
being poisoned by bacteria
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and he asked that all the plates,
all the glasses he used
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are boiled before they came in use.
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(man) He was blunt in his remarks
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and he didn't spare Hitler at all.
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Very uncompromising,
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hardly smiling at all,
reminding me of my mathematics teacher,
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with the spectacles -
hostile spectacles -
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looking at his pupil, Hitler,
and saying,
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"ls our agreement -
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last year's agreement - still valid?"
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Hitler thought it was a mistranslation.
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He said, "Of course. Why not?"
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And Molotov said, "Yes,
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l ask this question
because of the Finns."
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"You're on very friendly relations
with the Finns."
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"You invite people from Finland to
Germany and send the missions there."
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00:12:03,723 --> 00:12:08,768
"The Finns are very dangerous people.
They undermine our security."
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"We'll have to do something about that,
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and we are going
to do something about that."
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Whereupon Hitler exploded and said,
"l understand you very well."
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"You want to wage war against Finland,
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and that is quite out of the question,
do you hear me? lmpossible!"
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"Because my supplies
of iron and of nickel
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and of other important raw materials
would be cut."
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lt was a very tough,
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almost a heavyweight championship
in political discussion.
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(narrator) Even while Molotov
was still in Berlin,
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Hitler ordered his generals to plan
an attack on Russia for May 15, 1941 .
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They responded with a detailed scheme
which he named "Operation Barbarossa"
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affer the red-bearded Prussian emperor
who, centuries earlier,
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had crusaded against the Slavs.
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Hitler's generals had taken
some convincing.
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To attack Russia with Britain resisting
was to fight a war on two fronts,
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something that
even Mein Kampfmaintained
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to be the gravest of military mistakes.
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But Hitler argued,
and with some truth that winter of 1940,
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that Britain, although not beaten,
was not a threat,
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so an eastern campaign would be the only
front, provided it was over quickly.
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Years earlier, Hitler had written,
"Armies do not exist for peace."
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"They exist solely
for triumphant exertion in war."
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The Wehrmacht's morale
was at its height.
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Where was it to march next?
lt couldn't move against Britain on land
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and amphibious warfare
was not to Hitler's liking.
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Magnetism alone, it seemed,
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must draw it against its sole
remaining antagonist within Europe,
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draw it in the same way
as Napoleon's armies had been drawn
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when they, too, had been leff
champing at the bit along the Channel -
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eastwards, ever eastwards,
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to the boundless motherland of Russia.
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The Red Army in 1941
was the largest in the world.
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ln tanks, it outnumbered,
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in airplanes, it equalled the rest
of the world's armies put together.
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Despite its shortcomings,
the Red Army was better equipped
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than previous Wehrmacht victims,
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and its reorganisation since the fiasco
of the Finnish war was well under way.
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But what of its morale?
Hitler felt sure he knew the answer:
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"You have only to kick in the door
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and the whole rotten structure
will come crashing down."
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Russia's leaders still thought
they could buy time
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while their army made ready
for the struggle.
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By March 1941 , Russian troops were
already being faced by German troops
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along the borders of Hungary
and Romania, and even Bulgaria.
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00:16:13,931 --> 00:16:17,725
Yugoslavia, too, looked like
becoming a German satellite until,
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encouraged by British intelligence,
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a popular uprising in Belgrade
pushed out the Nazi puppets.
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lncredibly, Moscow
concluded a pact with the rebels.
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The very next day,
Hitler attacked Yugoslavia.
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lncensed by the revolt,
he named the operation "Retribution".
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Operation Retribution
meant postponing Operation Barbarossa
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by five crucial weeks.
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But now Russia stood by while
the Wehrmacht overran her newest ally.
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Hitler marched into Greece, again
without Moscow so much as protesting.
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This inaction made Hitler
even more headstrong
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00:18:05,918 --> 00:18:09,003
as his armies swept on
to further easy victories.
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Stalin's spies had been
sending back reports
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of German troop concentrations
along his borders,
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reports which he chose to ignore.
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When Western diplomats warned him too,
he shrugged them off.
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He argued to his cronies
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that however inevitable
a Nazi-Soviet conflict might be,
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these present reports
were simply a British ruse.
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(man) The interesting thing was
that both Roosevelt and Churchill
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informed Stalin
that Hitler was going to attack Russia.
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Stalin thought that was a trick
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00:18:49,461 --> 00:18:50,962
on our part
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to get him to mobilise and to divert,
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to provoke Hitler into attack.
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Stalin was very conscious that
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in World War l,
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it was the Tsar's mobilisation
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that caused the German -
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the Kaiser - to attack Russia,
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and he wasn't going
to have any part of it.
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There is a traditional
pathological mistrust.
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When the British say something,
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00:19:22,744 --> 00:19:27,874
Stalin's philosophy used to tell us,
"You must think the opposite".
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lf the British warn us,
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that must mean that
they try to put us against the Germans.
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00:19:36,258 --> 00:19:41,721
For that reason - the main reason -
he neglected all the warnings.
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(narrator) May Day in Moscow, 1941 .
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(♪ rousing, patriotic song)
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A particularly impressive
military parade,
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as if to reassure the Russian people
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in the face of all the rumours
of impending invasion.
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Russian diplomacy
was aimed at appeasing Hitler,
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hoping to delay any attack until the
Red Army's reforms would be complete.
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And so, while the generals lectured,
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00:20:22,971 --> 00:20:26,682
the diplomats rushed grain and
much-needed raw materials to Germany,
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00:20:26,767 --> 00:20:30,394
turned a blind eye to the incursions
of German reconnaissance planes
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over Soviet territory
228
00:20:32,189 --> 00:20:35,566
and even slowed down
their building of frontier defences
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so as not to offend Berlin.
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Yet even as Stalin's defence commissar
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00:20:44,534 --> 00:20:47,703
shook hands with
Hitler's military attaché in Moscow,
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three million German troops
were moving up to the border.
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The biggest land battle in history
was about to begin.
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The shock was all the greater
when it came.
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l remember that night, l'd been out
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and came home rather late
and turned on the radio,
237
00:21:43,844 --> 00:21:45,928
and l got onto, l think it was Kharkov
238
00:21:46,013 --> 00:21:47,638
or Kiev or somewhere like that,
239
00:21:47,723 --> 00:21:50,933
and there were accounts going on
240
00:21:51,018 --> 00:21:53,019
of bombing and attacks and things,
241
00:21:53,103 --> 00:21:56,314
which l thought was
a sort of Orson Welles programme,
242
00:21:56,398 --> 00:22:00,359
like when he bombed New York,
remember?
243
00:22:00,444 --> 00:22:02,903
Then we checked around
and found it was real.
244
00:22:14,041 --> 00:22:19,170
We were told that the Red Army
will never fight on its own territory,
245
00:22:19,254 --> 00:22:22,965
that the very first shot
will be made on enemy's territory.
246
00:22:23,050 --> 00:22:24,925
Then, suddenly, on the 22nd,
247
00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:28,512
we were told that Sevastopol
is being bombed, Kiev is being bombed,
248
00:22:28,597 --> 00:22:32,725
Smolensk, bombed.
The enemy smashed, wiped out our forces.
249
00:22:49,201 --> 00:22:52,161
(man) Affer the success
of the other campaigns,
250
00:22:52,245 --> 00:22:57,917
we had confidence
that Barbarossa would be successful too.
251
00:23:03,173 --> 00:23:08,260
(man #2) The first period
of the advance was very quick.
252
00:23:08,345 --> 00:23:13,391
We made more than 100km per day.
253
00:23:17,813 --> 00:23:23,818
(man #3) We hadn't lost a battle,
so we were used to being victorious.
254
00:23:23,902 --> 00:23:26,529
(narrator) Hitler's plan
was for three armies
255
00:23:26,613 --> 00:23:31,617
to seek out and destroy
the Russian forces within four months.
256
00:23:31,701 --> 00:23:34,703
(man #4) l never was in a war before.
257
00:23:34,788 --> 00:23:37,289
We had no fear
258
00:23:37,374 --> 00:23:42,503
because we thought
we will win the war against Russia,
259
00:23:42,629 --> 00:23:48,843
because the wars against
Poland and France,
260
00:23:49,344 --> 00:23:53,347
we had ended with victories for Germany.
261
00:23:59,396 --> 00:24:01,105
(narrator) As well as surprise,
262
00:24:01,189 --> 00:24:05,818
the Germans had overwhelming superiority
in men and fire power
263
00:24:05,902 --> 00:24:09,530
at those points
chosen for their armoured thrusts.
264
00:24:09,614 --> 00:24:14,577
Three Russian infantry divisions
were annihilated that first day,
265
00:24:14,661 --> 00:24:17,663
and another five cut to pieces.
266
00:24:26,798 --> 00:24:30,217
(man #2) During the River Bug crossing,
267
00:24:30,302 --> 00:24:37,516
we were attacked
by several obsolete Russian aircraff
268
00:24:37,642 --> 00:24:40,269
that were shot down immediately
269
00:24:40,353 --> 00:24:42,563
and we were very impressed
270
00:24:42,689 --> 00:24:46,525
by the superiority of our air force
at the beginning.
271
00:24:56,620 --> 00:24:58,787
(narrator) During the first two days,
272
00:24:58,872 --> 00:25:02,666
2,000 Russian planes were destroyed,
mostly on the ground.
273
00:25:07,005 --> 00:25:11,050
The world's largest air force
had been well-nigh eradicated.
274
00:25:12,636 --> 00:25:18,807
Their air cover gone, the Russian
frontier armies wilted and disappeared.
275
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:34,907
ln a week, the Wehrmacht
was already halfway to Moscow.
276
00:25:35,700 --> 00:25:40,454
ln a month, the Germans had won an area
double the size of their own country.
277
00:25:40,539 --> 00:25:45,000
(♪ "Wenn die Soldaten
durch die Stadt marschieren")
278
00:25:45,085 --> 00:25:47,127
♪ Wenn die Soldaten
279
00:25:47,212 --> 00:25:49,463
♪ Durch die Stadt marschieren
280
00:25:49,548 --> 00:25:51,507
♪ Öffnen die Mädchen
281
00:25:51,591 --> 00:25:53,467
♪ Die Fenster und die Türen
282
00:25:53,552 --> 00:25:57,930
♪ Ei warum? Ei darum
283
00:25:58,056 --> 00:26:06,689
♪ Ei bloß wegen dem Schingderassa,
Bumderassasa
284
00:26:06,815 --> 00:26:08,691
♪ Zweifarben Tücher
285
00:26:08,775 --> 00:26:11,110
♪ Schnauzbart und Sterne
286
00:26:11,194 --> 00:26:13,112
♪ Herzen und küssen
287
00:26:13,196 --> 00:26:15,155
♪ Die Mädchen ach so gerne
288
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:19,994
♪ Ei warum? Ei darum
289
00:26:20,078 --> 00:26:28,085
♪ Ei bloß wegen dem Schingderassa,
Bumderassasa
290
00:26:36,803 --> 00:26:40,180
(narrator) Russian cities
fell like ninepins to the panzers.
291
00:26:40,265 --> 00:26:42,725
One was captured
with its trams still running.
292
00:26:42,851 --> 00:26:48,439
lts citizens, heading to work, cheered
German tanks, thinking them their own.
293
00:26:51,526 --> 00:26:57,990
(man #2) We were, in parts, very
friendly received by the population.
294
00:26:58,617 --> 00:27:04,580
We had the impression that
we could win the population in Russia.
295
00:27:12,213 --> 00:27:14,798
(narrator) Like the French
the summer before,
296
00:27:14,883 --> 00:27:17,509
the Russians used their tanks
in penny packets
297
00:27:17,594 --> 00:27:22,056
instead of the mass formations
of the German panzers.
298
00:27:27,854 --> 00:27:30,773
Easy meat
for the German antitank gunners,
299
00:27:30,857 --> 00:27:34,026
their blazing hulks
littered the battlefield.
300
00:27:34,110 --> 00:27:36,612
6,000 Russian tanks were lost
301
00:27:36,696 --> 00:27:42,368
in just two engagements
at Minsk and Smolensk in July.
302
00:27:42,452 --> 00:27:45,663
(♪ lively German song)
303
00:28:02,013 --> 00:28:06,308
(narrator) Half a million Russians
were killed in the first fortnight,
304
00:28:06,393 --> 00:28:09,228
and nearly a million taken prisoner.
305
00:28:11,898 --> 00:28:16,777
As the weeks went by, the Russian losses
mounted, bewildering the Germans,
306
00:28:16,861 --> 00:28:21,031
who refused to believe such profligacy
in human life could possibly continue.
307
00:28:25,787 --> 00:28:27,913
As in France the year before,
308
00:28:27,997 --> 00:28:31,583
Hitler was concerned more
to destroy enemy forces in the field
309
00:28:31,668 --> 00:28:35,546
than to capture cities
or to conquer territory.
310
00:28:38,967 --> 00:28:41,969
His generals
didn't always see it that way.
311
00:28:42,053 --> 00:28:44,179
Tempted, perhaps, by golden spires,
312
00:28:44,264 --> 00:28:48,100
they vied with each other to be
the captor of this or that great city,
313
00:28:48,184 --> 00:28:50,519
especially Moscow.
314
00:29:13,251 --> 00:29:16,837
To capture the Russian capital
without delay, the generals argued,
315
00:29:16,921 --> 00:29:18,672
would be decisive.
316
00:29:18,757 --> 00:29:22,217
Hitler preferred to destroy
the Russian forces in the south first,
317
00:29:22,302 --> 00:29:25,679
hoping for a decisive battle there.
318
00:29:25,764 --> 00:29:29,433
Moscow was not his first priority.
319
00:29:29,517 --> 00:29:34,021
ln August,
he ordered his panzers to swing south.
320
00:29:35,565 --> 00:29:37,483
Kiev,
321
00:29:37,567 --> 00:29:42,321
the capital of the Ukraine,
was taken in mid-September.
322
00:29:46,159 --> 00:29:49,036
ln one of the most spectacular
encircling movements
323
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:50,662
in military history,
324
00:29:50,747 --> 00:29:53,540
the German panzers
took prisoner at Kiev
325
00:29:53,625 --> 00:29:57,169
nearly
three quarters of a million Russians.
326
00:30:10,642 --> 00:30:12,184
German newsreel cameramen
327
00:30:12,268 --> 00:30:15,479
made great play of these
long columns of luckless Russians
328
00:30:15,563 --> 00:30:18,982
for whom frontline fighting
was now over.
329
00:30:19,067 --> 00:30:21,568
But ahead lay another hell -
330
00:30:21,653 --> 00:30:24,863
imprisonment at the hands of the Nazis.
331
00:30:24,948 --> 00:30:28,617
Of every hundred Russian prisoners
seen here,
332
00:30:28,701 --> 00:30:32,579
only three would ever return alive.
333
00:30:48,179 --> 00:30:50,305
By the end of September '41 ,
334
00:30:50,390 --> 00:30:52,766
affer just three months of war,
335
00:30:52,851 --> 00:30:55,853
the Russians had lost
nearly three million men.
336
00:30:57,564 --> 00:31:00,607
But Russian resilience
before such fatal-seeming blows
337
00:31:00,692 --> 00:31:03,819
was to astonish the world.
338
00:31:19,919 --> 00:31:23,630
The German was told
to regard his Russian foe as subhuman,
339
00:31:23,715 --> 00:31:27,342
but it was not long before
the German frontline soldier, at least,
340
00:31:27,427 --> 00:31:31,555
came to think of him
as more superhuman than subhuman.
341
00:31:31,639 --> 00:31:35,642
The Russians seldom cried out
when wounded
342
00:31:35,727 --> 00:31:39,813
and there always seemed to be
more of them on the horizon.
343
00:31:39,898 --> 00:31:42,399
One Wehrmacht colonel wrote:
344
00:31:42,483 --> 00:31:44,568
"ln fighting Russia,
345
00:31:44,652 --> 00:31:48,322
the German army is like an elephant
attacking a host of ants."
346
00:31:48,406 --> 00:31:51,366
"The elephant will kill thousands,
maybe millions,
347
00:31:51,451 --> 00:31:55,704
but in the end,
their numbers will overcome him
348
00:31:55,788 --> 00:31:58,874
and he will be eaten to the bone."
349
00:32:02,629 --> 00:32:04,796
(man) Orientation in Russia
350
00:32:04,881 --> 00:32:09,801
is as difficult as it is in the desert,
351
00:32:09,886 --> 00:32:13,388
only you don't see the horizon.
352
00:32:13,473 --> 00:32:15,140
You are lost.
353
00:32:15,224 --> 00:32:18,352
The immense space here was so immense
354
00:32:18,436 --> 00:32:23,565
that we had many soldiers
355
00:32:24,609 --> 00:32:27,069
who became melancholy.
356
00:32:28,112 --> 00:32:30,614
The valley -
357
00:32:30,698 --> 00:32:34,660
flat valleys, flat hills,
flat valleys, flat hills -
358
00:32:34,744 --> 00:32:37,537
endless. There was no limit.
359
00:32:37,622 --> 00:32:39,790
We could not see an end
360
00:32:39,874 --> 00:32:44,628
and it was so disconsolate.
361
00:32:44,712 --> 00:32:48,090
We saw the big fields -
362
00:32:48,174 --> 00:32:50,342
the cornfields -
363
00:32:50,468 --> 00:32:52,511
from the horizon to the horizon.
364
00:32:52,595 --> 00:32:54,680
We never saw it before.
365
00:32:54,764 --> 00:32:56,932
lt's very large.
366
00:32:57,016 --> 00:33:03,814
Unimaginable vastness of this country,
367
00:33:03,898 --> 00:33:06,733
and we advanced
from one river to the other,
368
00:33:06,818 --> 00:33:10,737
from one position to the other,
and there was no end to it.
369
00:33:37,432 --> 00:33:42,602
(narrator) "Trade space for time"
was the traditional Russian strategy.
370
00:33:42,687 --> 00:33:44,688
Time was not on Hitler's side
371
00:33:44,772 --> 00:33:48,650
if he was to achieve
his decisive victory before winter.
372
00:33:48,735 --> 00:33:51,486
(Russell) I remember
flying back from Kuibyshev
373
00:33:51,571 --> 00:33:56,867
and there was this great tank trap they
were digging all round, outside Moscow,
374
00:33:56,951 --> 00:34:02,039
and one saw what looked like ants
moving around it,
375
00:34:02,123 --> 00:34:05,208
and it was practically
the entire population of Moscow -
376
00:34:05,293 --> 00:34:07,627
man, woman and child - digging.
377
00:34:07,754 --> 00:34:12,716
l think they did tap every emotional
resource that was available to them.
378
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:15,635
l remember, for instance,
a lot of churches being open
379
00:34:15,720 --> 00:34:19,681
that had been shut for a long time.
380
00:34:19,766 --> 00:34:22,559
(Tokaty) ln that very situation,
381
00:34:22,643 --> 00:34:26,146
something else appeared among us -
382
00:34:26,230 --> 00:34:28,774
the tradition of Borodino.
383
00:34:28,858 --> 00:34:32,194
Borodino is the place
where Napoleon was defeated.
384
00:34:32,278 --> 00:34:38,033
And suddenly, religious feeling
just appeared from nowhere
385
00:34:38,117 --> 00:34:41,328
and that helped to unite people.
386
00:34:42,205 --> 00:34:45,749
(narrator) With the Ukraine subdued
and Leningrad surrounded,
387
00:34:45,833 --> 00:34:49,586
Hitler now turned his attention
to the biggest prize of all,
388
00:34:49,670 --> 00:34:50,962
Moscow,
389
00:34:51,047 --> 00:34:53,799
something his generals
had been beseeching him to do
390
00:34:53,883 --> 00:34:57,219
since the start of the campaign.
391
00:35:00,932 --> 00:35:04,810
Moscow in October '41
was already a frontline city.
392
00:35:04,894 --> 00:35:08,647
German troops had been
only 200 miles away since August,
393
00:35:08,731 --> 00:35:11,691
when Hitler had diverted his panzers
southwards.
394
00:35:14,153 --> 00:35:17,489
Rumours had been rife
of early capitulation.
395
00:35:17,573 --> 00:35:20,617
The city had long been placed
under military rule.
396
00:35:22,578 --> 00:35:26,623
Hardly a day went by
without a visit from the Luffwaffe.
397
00:35:44,851 --> 00:35:48,019
The battle for Moscow
began in earnest in early October.
398
00:35:48,104 --> 00:35:52,440
Straight away,
things went wrong for its defenders.
399
00:35:58,656 --> 00:36:00,740
(squealing)
400
00:36:02,827 --> 00:36:04,494
ln two vast pincer movements,
401
00:36:04,579 --> 00:36:08,373
the Germans captured
another 700,000 Russian troops.
402
00:36:08,457 --> 00:36:11,543
Goebbels summoned
American war correspondents to Berlin
403
00:36:11,627 --> 00:36:14,754
to announce Moscow's impending fall.
404
00:36:14,839 --> 00:36:17,382
(man #3) We had had
a very beautiful summer.
405
00:36:17,466 --> 00:36:21,970
No problems - climatic problems -
or anything of this sort.
406
00:36:22,054 --> 00:36:28,685
As l remember it, it started snowing
and becoming cold around October 10,
407
00:36:28,769 --> 00:36:35,817
and then we knew immediately that we
were totally unprepared and unequipped
408
00:36:35,902 --> 00:36:38,528
for what was lying ahead of us.
409
00:36:38,613 --> 00:36:41,114
(narrator)
When one panzer commander asked
410
00:36:41,199 --> 00:36:43,241
when he could expect winter clothing,
411
00:36:43,326 --> 00:36:48,038
he was told not to make further
unnecessary requests of this type.
412
00:36:48,122 --> 00:36:51,249
On the day the first snows fell
before Moscow,
413
00:36:51,334 --> 00:36:54,002
its defenders received a new commander,
414
00:36:54,086 --> 00:36:59,132
Zhukov, something German intelligence
didn't consider worth telling Hitler,
415
00:36:59,217 --> 00:37:01,718
although Zhukov had led
Leningrad's defence
416
00:37:01,844 --> 00:37:04,804
with enormous energy
since mid-September.
417
00:37:04,889 --> 00:37:09,726
But Moscow's defence was to be
a bigger test of Zhukov's generalship.
418
00:37:11,604 --> 00:37:14,522
The first snows soon melted,
419
00:37:14,607 --> 00:37:17,776
turning roads into quagmires.
420
00:37:20,738 --> 00:37:24,741
(man #5) Only a few roads in Russia
were paved.
421
00:37:24,825 --> 00:37:31,164
Therefore, in autumn,
the terrible period of mud was beginning
422
00:37:31,249 --> 00:37:35,210
and the roads became deeply soffened,
423
00:37:35,294 --> 00:37:38,922
and therefore useless for motorcars,
424
00:37:39,006 --> 00:37:41,675
except tanks.
425
00:37:46,764 --> 00:37:54,312
(man #1) We had, as infantry,
to march along the sides of the roads
426
00:37:54,397 --> 00:37:58,441
to let pass cars and the tanks.
427
00:38:00,695 --> 00:38:06,992
(man #6) The wheels of my guns
were broken.
428
00:38:07,451 --> 00:38:10,829
(man #2) And within a period
of two or three days,
429
00:38:10,913 --> 00:38:14,708
we had to improvise mobility
430
00:38:14,792 --> 00:38:21,131
by requisitioning pannier horses
and wagons.
431
00:38:23,384 --> 00:38:31,308
We all were quite happy about the
success of the German armies in Russia,
432
00:38:31,434 --> 00:38:34,519
but the first inkling
that something is wrong
433
00:38:34,603 --> 00:38:38,565
was when Goebbels
made a big action in all Germany
434
00:38:38,691 --> 00:38:43,778
to collect furs and winter clothes
for the German troops.
435
00:38:43,863 --> 00:38:47,574
Then we knew something was ahead
which was not foreseen.
436
00:38:50,161 --> 00:38:55,832
(man #7) We had no warm mantles
and nothing,
437
00:38:55,958 --> 00:39:00,462
only the things we had
also in summertime.
438
00:39:00,546 --> 00:39:03,548
(man #3) And we were actually angry
439
00:39:03,632 --> 00:39:06,843
that we didn't have better equipment.
440
00:39:08,846 --> 00:39:10,805
(narrator) The weather worsened.
441
00:39:10,890 --> 00:39:14,142
Many German commanders
favoured halting for the winter.
442
00:39:14,268 --> 00:39:15,769
Hitler would have none of it.
443
00:39:15,853 --> 00:39:18,938
Convinced victory would be his
before winter proper,
444
00:39:19,023 --> 00:39:21,232
he ordered his generals on, on,
445
00:39:21,359 --> 00:39:25,904
as soon as the ground
had hardened enough to bear his panzers.
446
00:39:28,115 --> 00:39:33,828
The welcome delay allowed Zhukov
to organise Moscow's defences.
447
00:39:43,672 --> 00:39:48,593
The Russians had less than
400 tanks leff to defend Moscow.
448
00:39:48,677 --> 00:39:51,721
Space was running out fast for Zhukov,
449
00:39:51,806 --> 00:39:54,224
but time was still on his side
450
00:39:54,308 --> 00:39:58,770
as the cold winds of winter
swept in from the north.
451
00:40:03,401 --> 00:40:05,944
But, on October 14,
452
00:40:06,070 --> 00:40:08,696
a panzer group broke through
and took Kalinin,
453
00:40:08,781 --> 00:40:11,825
less than 100 miles away to the north.
454
00:40:11,909 --> 00:40:16,454
A few days later, another unit
took Mozhaysk, 60 miles west,
455
00:40:16,539 --> 00:40:21,918
while an infantry division
reached Gorki, just 40 miles away.
456
00:40:24,213 --> 00:40:26,339
Panic gripped Moscow's citizens.
457
00:40:26,424 --> 00:40:30,802
Those who could, leff - two million,
including most government departments.
458
00:40:30,886 --> 00:40:34,889
Even Lenin's coffin was evacuated,
along with other Kremlin treasures.
459
00:40:34,974 --> 00:40:38,852
(Russell) lt was a bit of a shock
when, in those two or three days -
460
00:40:38,936 --> 00:40:42,272
l suppose they were just
the advance spear tip probably -
461
00:40:42,356 --> 00:40:45,066
a few chaps on motorbikes or something
got to within
462
00:40:45,151 --> 00:40:47,694
40 or 50 kilometres of Moscow.
463
00:40:47,778 --> 00:40:52,073
Then there was, l must say,
considerable shock in Moscow.
464
00:40:52,158 --> 00:40:53,825
People were trying to get out.
465
00:40:53,909 --> 00:40:56,661
They thought
the German army was going to roll in.
466
00:40:56,745 --> 00:40:58,872
(Tokaty) ln fact, l should imagine,
467
00:40:58,956 --> 00:41:01,499
from October 16
468
00:41:01,584 --> 00:41:04,502
to about October 20,
469
00:41:04,587 --> 00:41:07,505
an average citizen of Moscow
probably expected
470
00:41:07,590 --> 00:41:11,176
that Moscow will fall
within the next few days,
471
00:41:11,302 --> 00:41:14,179
and that was what
the panic was about, really.
472
00:41:14,263 --> 00:41:19,225
People used just to stop
top-ranking secret serVice officers
473
00:41:19,310 --> 00:41:22,479
and shout insults at them
without any fear.
474
00:41:22,563 --> 00:41:25,273
ln normal times,
you couldn't do anything like that.
475
00:41:25,357 --> 00:41:30,278
These were the only times when,
probably, a very weak force of Germans,
476
00:41:30,362 --> 00:41:35,074
if they would manage to drop a unit
of some kind of parachutists inside,
477
00:41:35,159 --> 00:41:38,077
we would have real trouble.
478
00:41:38,162 --> 00:41:41,539
(narrator) But while Hitler plotted
his final attack on Moscow,
479
00:41:41,624 --> 00:41:45,251
Zhukov, too, planned an attack.
480
00:41:45,336 --> 00:41:47,045
But with what?
481
00:41:47,129 --> 00:41:50,715
He had already withdrawn as many troops
as he dared from other sectors
482
00:41:50,799 --> 00:41:53,718
to defend Moscow.
483
00:41:53,802 --> 00:41:57,597
But there was one reserVe
the Russians had not yet touched,
484
00:41:57,681 --> 00:41:59,933
nor ever thought they would be able to.
485
00:42:00,017 --> 00:42:02,769
The 40 divisions of the Siberian front,
486
00:42:02,853 --> 00:42:08,233
among the best troops in Russia,
trained to fight in winter conditions.
487
00:42:08,359 --> 00:42:13,154
Since June, they had been expecting
a Japanese attack.
488
00:42:17,576 --> 00:42:21,287
Midway through October,
Stalin's master spy in Tokyo
489
00:42:21,372 --> 00:42:25,083
reported Japan's eyes were elsewhere.
490
00:42:25,167 --> 00:42:28,503
This time, Stalin believed his spies.
491
00:42:28,629 --> 00:42:32,048
He moved the Siberian divisions
to Moscow.
492
00:42:35,261 --> 00:42:37,387
Even at this moment of crisis,
493
00:42:37,471 --> 00:42:41,683
Moscow took time off to celebrate
the anniversary of the revolution,
494
00:42:41,767 --> 00:42:44,769
and Stalin showed himself to his people.
495
00:42:46,772 --> 00:42:51,234
(Tokaty) We could say,
in spite of all his shortcomings,
496
00:42:51,318 --> 00:42:58,575
that Stalin rendered a very great
serVice to the USSR by that presence
497
00:42:58,659 --> 00:43:00,743
because it showed two things:
498
00:43:00,828 --> 00:43:05,665
one, the supreme commander
did not run away,
499
00:43:05,749 --> 00:43:10,211
secondly, Stalin retained his nerVe.
500
00:43:10,296 --> 00:43:16,009
That sense of nerVe spread at once
into all the armed forces.
501
00:43:16,093 --> 00:43:21,723
All the commanders began saying,
"Stalin himself, he is here."
502
00:43:27,229 --> 00:43:29,272
(people cheer)
503
00:43:42,119 --> 00:43:48,416
(narrator) The ground had hardened.
The panzers were able to roll again.
504
00:43:49,001 --> 00:43:52,795
On November 26, they entered lstra,
505
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:55,089
just 30 miges west of Moscow,
506
00:43:55,215 --> 00:44:01,179
and four days later had taken
Krasnaya Polyana, just 25 miles north.
507
00:44:07,144 --> 00:44:10,229
As yet,
Zhukov had not used his Siberians
508
00:44:10,314 --> 00:44:13,316
and German intelligence
had not stumbled on the presence
509
00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:15,735
of such numbers of fresh troops.
510
00:44:15,819 --> 00:44:20,198
But the Germans
were having troubles of their own.
511
00:44:22,951 --> 00:44:27,664
(man #1) And one morning,
it was finished.
512
00:44:27,748 --> 00:44:31,042
All was frozen,
513
00:44:31,126 --> 00:44:34,962
and the cars were sitting in the mud,
frozen,
514
00:44:35,047 --> 00:44:37,757
and the tanks could not roll
515
00:44:37,841 --> 00:44:41,594
and, in this moment,
my heart broke down.
516
00:44:41,679 --> 00:44:45,723
And there was, in the distance,
a large town,
517
00:44:45,808 --> 00:44:50,687
and l think that was the first time
and the last time l have seen Moscow.
518
00:44:52,773 --> 00:44:56,567
(narrator) Temperatures were down
to minus 40 degrees centigrade.
519
00:44:56,652 --> 00:45:00,697
Oil solidified
in the sumps of lorries and tanks.
520
00:45:00,781 --> 00:45:03,491
The intense cold
affected the soldiers, too.
521
00:45:03,575 --> 00:45:06,911
There were more casualties
from frostbite and stomach troubles
522
00:45:06,995 --> 00:45:08,579
than from fighting.
523
00:45:08,664 --> 00:45:10,832
(man #3) We had no winter shoes.
524
00:45:10,916 --> 00:45:18,840
We had no equipment whatsoever
to fight or stand the cold.
525
00:45:18,924 --> 00:45:23,052
And l think this became
a very, very big problem right away.
526
00:45:23,137 --> 00:45:27,140
We lost a considerable part
of our equipment -
527
00:45:27,224 --> 00:45:31,519
guns,
heavy and light equipment in general.
528
00:45:31,603 --> 00:45:34,188
We, of course, due to the cold,
529
00:45:34,273 --> 00:45:38,735
lost a lot of people
who got frostbitten,
530
00:45:38,819 --> 00:45:43,948
and we had not even
the necessary amount of ointments
531
00:45:44,032 --> 00:45:47,744
or the most simple and primitive things
to fight it.
532
00:45:48,787 --> 00:45:51,998
Of 900 men in my battalion,
533
00:45:52,082 --> 00:45:56,544
200 fell out because of freezing
534
00:45:57,629 --> 00:45:59,714
in the first 14 days.
535
00:46:01,300 --> 00:46:03,092
(man #3) As it became colder,
536
00:46:03,177 --> 00:46:07,263
towards the end of November
and early December,
537
00:46:07,347 --> 00:46:12,643
most of our artillery
had become completely unusable.
538
00:46:13,729 --> 00:46:20,693
(man #6) We had not the lubrication oil
suitable for this winter war.
539
00:46:20,819 --> 00:46:23,154
Nevertheless, the Russians had it
540
00:46:23,238 --> 00:46:28,201
and suddenly our soldiers realised
541
00:46:28,285 --> 00:46:31,287
that from one moment to the next,
542
00:46:31,371 --> 00:46:34,332
the weapon didn't shoot any more.
543
00:46:37,586 --> 00:46:42,924
(man #3) Well, the worst memory was
if the vehicles got frozen in the ground
544
00:46:43,008 --> 00:46:46,260
and the motor oil was thick
so we couldn't move.
545
00:46:46,345 --> 00:46:51,349
And we needed and we wanted to move.
l think that was the worst.
546
00:46:51,809 --> 00:46:58,147
(man #1) ln Russia, there were
no signposts to mark the ways.
547
00:46:58,232 --> 00:47:00,983
To find our roads,
548
00:47:01,068 --> 00:47:06,113
we had set the frozen bodies of horses
549
00:47:06,198 --> 00:47:08,783
along the snow walls
550
00:47:08,867 --> 00:47:12,578
to find the way during the snowdriffs.
551
00:47:12,663 --> 00:47:18,501
And the scenery was so disconsolate -
552
00:47:18,585 --> 00:47:22,129
always snow and snow.
553
00:47:24,132 --> 00:47:26,968
(man #4) We always were alone,
554
00:47:27,052 --> 00:47:31,430
dreaming what time
we will be back in Berlin.
555
00:47:32,266 --> 00:47:36,269
(narrator) But the powers that be
in Berlin refused to believe the worst.
556
00:47:36,353 --> 00:47:40,064
The newsreels
made it all seem great fun.
557
00:47:50,492 --> 00:47:53,286
The reality was different.
558
00:47:56,290 --> 00:48:02,169
(man #2) At that time,
we had advanced almost 2,000 kilometres.
559
00:48:10,971 --> 00:48:14,932
Hitler, at first,
did not want to conceive
560
00:48:15,017 --> 00:48:19,812
that this crisis was the end
of all his strategical planning,
561
00:48:19,938 --> 00:48:23,441
but the army knew better,
562
00:48:23,525 --> 00:48:28,696
and the Russians did
563
00:48:28,780 --> 00:48:30,948
the most important part
564
00:48:31,074 --> 00:48:33,701
in convincing Hitler, too,
565
00:48:33,785 --> 00:48:36,370
that the Russian campaign
of this first year
566
00:48:36,455 --> 00:48:39,040
had failed and had come to an end.
567
00:48:45,213 --> 00:48:47,048
(narrator) December 6.
568
00:48:47,132 --> 00:48:50,134
With the Wehrmacht's morale
at its lowest,
569
00:48:50,218 --> 00:48:53,846
although some German troops
were just 15 miles from the Kremlin,
570
00:48:53,931 --> 00:48:56,265
Zhukov unleashed his Siberians.
571
00:48:57,059 --> 00:49:00,102
(man #4) lt was astonishing this time -
572
00:49:00,187 --> 00:49:05,149
the first time -
l saw the Russian tanks,
573
00:49:05,233 --> 00:49:07,109
34,
574
00:49:07,194 --> 00:49:11,113
running through the fields
and through the snow.
575
00:49:11,198 --> 00:49:17,203
Our own tanks couldn't drive,
couldn't shoot,
576
00:49:17,287 --> 00:49:19,997
because it was too cold.
577
00:49:32,010 --> 00:49:36,389
(man #6) When l wanted to go back,
l met Russians everywhere,
578
00:49:36,473 --> 00:49:40,017
and so this was the first impression
579
00:49:40,102 --> 00:49:43,938
that there was no victory any more.
580
00:50:27,232 --> 00:50:29,775
(narrator) As the Russians
regained territory,
581
00:50:29,860 --> 00:50:33,904
they began to uncover
the horror of the Nazi occupation.
582
00:51:22,370 --> 00:51:25,748
"Comrade, kill your German"
became the catch phrase.
583
00:51:25,832 --> 00:51:28,417
ln the first month
of the counteroffensive,
584
00:51:28,502 --> 00:51:32,004
more than 300,000 Germans
were killed or captured.
585
00:51:32,089 --> 00:51:36,217
(man #4) The worst memory
of this retreat
586
00:51:36,301 --> 00:51:38,427
was the fear,
587
00:51:38,512 --> 00:51:40,596
every day and every night,
588
00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:43,933
to come in captivity.
589
00:51:44,017 --> 00:51:50,523
(man #3) We had seen enough of the
enemy to know that in cases like that,
590
00:51:50,607 --> 00:51:53,692
prisoners were hardly taken.
591
00:52:37,112 --> 00:52:40,990
(man #1) lt was the first time
that our soldiers remarked
592
00:52:41,074 --> 00:52:44,285
the dark shadows of the coming times.
593
00:52:57,007 --> 00:53:01,302
(man #4) When we must retreat
from Moscow,
594
00:53:02,762 --> 00:53:07,474
the Russian population
and the Russian soldiers must think:
595
00:53:07,559 --> 00:53:11,478
"lt's possible to defeat
the German army."
596
00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:18,569
(narrator) Two days
affer the Russian offensive began,
597
00:53:18,653 --> 00:53:21,197
the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbour.
598
00:53:21,323 --> 00:53:25,075
The war was taking
a very different turn.
51065
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