There is a Day of Remembrance and Sorrow in our country; the tragic date in the history of the country is June 22. In 1941, he divided the lives of millions of Soviet people into before and after, where before is happiness, light, and is still alive, and after - the death of millions of people, the destruction of hundreds of cities, villages and towns, unbearable pain from the atrocities committed by the Nazis and their henchmen in the occupied territories.
What is June 22 for Russia?
Decree of the President of the Russian Federation Yeltsin B.N. dated June 8, 1996 No. 857 declared June 22 as the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow. The events held on this day should preserve the memory of the new generation of Russian citizens about the terrible trials that befell the Soviet people. This is the day of remembrance of all those who died in battles, tortured in death camps and the dungeons of the Gestapo, who died of hunger, cold and disease.
This is a tribute to all those who, at the cost of their lives, won the Victory, stood at the machine tools for days, worked in the fields, at enterprises, spent whole days at the operating tables, saving the wounded, women and children, on whose shoulders lay responsibility and care for families. To all those who were starving and suffering from cold, received a funeral, suffered from the unknown about their loved ones and relatives. A tribute of gratitude to all the Soviet people, who have saved our state and the world from fascist barbarians.
Where and how do they spend the day on June 22?
In cities, villages and towns, events are held for the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, they help to keep in the minds of people all the events of that terrible time. Nowadays, this is also necessary because a lot of fiction about the events of the Second World War has appeared. They are intended to erase from the memory of the people the truth about the great Victory. This is done in order to belittle the crimes of the Nazis and present our people in the image of the invaders who conquered half of Europe.
We need the truth about war
The rallies on June 22, on the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, are called to strengthen our spirit, to unite the whole people and remember that this helped the Soviet people to survive in the terrible years of the war. We must relate to the history of our country with pride and great respect. Do not seek out only any black facts, how this is done in our time, but accept it as it is. We must remember that history does not accept the subjunctive mood.
No need to listen to those who, sitting on the couch, are thinking about what needed to be done and what, in their opinion, was done wrong. We need to respect what happened - this is our story. We need the truth about the war, in particular about its first day with its failures, unprecedented losses and disappointments.
It was this first day that smashed the blitzkrieg myth to smithereens, settled the germ of doubt in the fascists, this can be understood from the words of Hitler, who said that we opened the door, but did not know what was behind it, thwarted the hopes of reaching Moscow, like Paris, for several days. It was the heroism of the border guards and the military that made it possible to detain the fascists in order to start the evacuation of enterprises and to mobilize the population.
Start of war
At events dedicated to the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, they will certainly talk about the beginning of a terrible war. On this day, June 22, 1941, at 4.30, without declaring war, Hitler Germany launched an artillery attack on border fortifications and outposts in the area from the Carpathians to the Baltic, after which hordes of fascists crossed the state border. Prior to this, in the early morning, at 3.30, air strikes were carried out on all border strategic sites.
Also bombed from the air were cities such as Riga, Kaunas, Šiauliai, Vilnius, Grodno, Lida, Brest, Minsk, Baranovichi, Zhytomyr, Bobruisk, Sevastopol, Kiev and many others. In the first hours of the war, not understanding what was happening, a large number of peaceful Soviet people perished.
It was the beginning of a terrible, difficult and long road to Victory, a road full of losses, grief and hope. The day we celebrate as the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow has irreversibly turned the lives of tens of millions of people. It was a terrible and heroic time that passed according to the fate of people, forcing them to become stronger and wiser.
Heroism of the Soviet border guards
Frontier guards took the initial attacks, who were the first to engage in battle with the Hitler regular units and delayed their advance for long hours. Surrounded by Brest, detaining select units of the Nazis, fought for a whole month in complete isolation. After the fortress fell, the border guards in its basements continued to fight. The last defender was captured only in the summer of 1942.
June 22 is the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, so we must remember that not one of the 484 border outposts that were attacked on the first day of the war left without an order. Sometimes the Germans captured them only after all the border guards were killed. The Nazis did not take Soviet soldiers in green caps.
Did the USSR want war
Much has been written about this terrible Day of Remembrance and Sorrow; it was studied literally by the minute. Documents that allowed historians to conduct a comprehensive analysis were declassified. But starting in the 90s, they began to inspire us that this war was the result of a conspiracy of Stalin and Hitler, placing an equal sign between the two regimes.
But the documents speak differently. The Soviet country did not want war, in every possible way delaying the time of its beginning. The country's leaders, diplomats, military, knowing what kind of policies Germany is pursuing, which, before starting hostilities against the USSR, laid half of Europe under its boot, did not doubt that there would be a war.
W. Churchill spoke well of Hitler’s cunning, speaking to his compatriots that day. With no sympathy for the USSR, he called the German government treacherous and noticed that the German ambassador to the USSR, flatteringly smiling, was wasting courtesy on behalf of the government, assuring “of friendship and almost alliance”, and after the German invasion to Molotov with a note in which he posted a bunch of complaints to Russia. Why didn’t they talk about them before?
Chronology of the first half of the day the war began
On the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, people remember the first day of the war, although it is difficult for those who did not survive this to imagine what was happening then. Horror and fear were in the air when bombs fell on sleeping people from the sky. From archival documents and eyewitness accounts, the details of that terrible day were restored:
- 3.30. A massive air raid was carried out in the cities of Belarus. They bombed Baranavichy, Brest, Kobrin, Grodno, Slonim, Lida and others.
- 3.35. Information is received about air raids on cities of Ukraine. The first blows were also made to the capital of Ukraine, the city of Kiev.
- 3.40. General Kuznetsov, the commander of the Baltic region, reports to the headquarters about the raid of enemy aircraft on warships and Baltic cities. Naval artillery managed to repel a raid on the ships of the Baltic Fleet, but the cities were destroyed.
- 3.42. Chief of General Staff G.K. Zhukov makes contact with Stalin, reports on the German attack on the USSR and receives an order together with Tymoshenko to urgently come to the Kremlin for an emergency meeting of the Politburo.
- 3.45. The German reconnaissance and sabotage group launched an attack on the 1st outpost of the 86 August border detachment. The border guards took the fight. Saboteurs were destroyed.
- 4.00. The attempt of German planes to bomb the ships of the Black Sea Fleet was repelled. A blow to Sevastopol, in the city there is destruction.
- 4.05. Artillery strikes were inflicted on all frontier posts, after which the Nazis went on the offensive.
- 4.30. The meeting of the Politburo begins, at which Stalin expresses doubts about the outbreak of war. Zhukov and Tymoshenko are convinced that this is a war.
- The German ambassador to the USSR presents a note of the German government to the government of the USSR. De jure, Germany declares war on the USSR.
- 12.00. On this Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, V. Molotov informed Soviet citizens about the beginning of the war. All people listened to his speech, holding their breath, with tears in their eyes. Most people still remembered the Civil and World War I, their consequences, so they had no illusions.
Chronology of the afternoon of the outbreak of war
For the Soviet Union, this attack was a complete surprise. The rearmament of the Red Army has just begun. The Nazis counted on this. But from the first hours of the war it was clear that the blitzkrieg in Russia would not produce such results as, for example, in France. As the reports of the German generals show, they could not have expected such a desperate resistance. But, nevertheless, the factor of surprise and technical superiority yielded results. This is evidenced by exhibits of organized exhibitions on the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow:
- 12.30. Pal city of Grodno.
- 13.00. General mobilization announced.
- 13.30. The rate of the Supreme High Command has been created.
- 05/14. Italy, as an ally of Germany, declares war on the Soviet Union.
- 14.30. Many border outposts, despite the Germans moving inland, hold the enemy for 10 hours.
- 6 p.m. The Russian Orthodox Church blesses all Orthodox to fight the enemy.
- 9 p.m. The first summary of the High Command on the situation at the front. These reports, with hope and pain, were waited every day by millions of Soviet people.
