Hitler's 1941 Invasion of Russia | Part 2: Rage Of The Reich

[00:00:00] Hello everyone and welcome to the Anthology Of Heroes podcast, the podcast sharing stories

[00:00:05] of heroic figures who altered the course of history. Anthology Of Heroes is part of

[00:00:09] the Evergreen Podcast Network. I'm your host, Elliot Gates, and you've just dropped

[00:00:14] into part two of a four-part series detailing the story of Operation Barbarossa, the code

[00:00:20] name for the Nazi invasion of the USSR back in 1941. A few winters back I traveled through

[00:00:26] Russia and the areas of the East in front. Some friends that I actually went for a little

[00:00:31] hike, and let me tell you, I have never felt cold like the Russian winter. My phone battery

[00:00:36] died, the lens on my camera wouldn't focus, and my friend's beard actually froze. I'm

[00:00:42] ever taking a breath and I can actually feel the chill traveling down Marsoficus and into

[00:00:46] my lungs. In How Long Was Outside? About two hours, nothing.

[00:00:51] In this episode we'll follow the German invaders who lived in this weather for months. They

[00:00:56] did this with no winter uniform and nothing but an old strip of sheet iron to protect them

[00:01:02] from the weather. All they had was a promise that their furor would get them out, and in

[00:01:07] the end it would all be worth it for the glory of Germany.

[00:01:10] In part one we covered the build up to the invasion. We spoke about the cordial relationship

[00:01:16] that Stalin and Hitler had cultivated with each other over the 1930s.

[00:01:20] Through some secret and some not-so-secret deals, it seemed like the two nations were heading

[00:01:25] for a beautiful autocratic friendship, which is why the invasion came as such a shock to Stalin

[00:01:30] in 1941. When in the early hours of the morning, the largest land army ever assembled in world history

[00:01:38] overran the border between these two states. The completely underprepared Red Army collapsed,

[00:01:44] surrendering by the hundreds and thousands. In that episode we talked through the reason for

[00:01:49] the colossal failures of the Red Army and Stalin's hand in it. We saw Stalin fall into a depressive

[00:01:56] stupor, paralyzed by indecision, city after city fell as his terrified war ministers worked

[00:02:03] up the courage to confront the dictator. We heard from Russian citizens and soldiers who remember

[00:02:08] June 22nd as the darkest day of their lives. While on the flip side, we were acquainted with

[00:02:14] Ukrainians and Poles who were thrilled to be liberated from Bolshevist oppression. Over the

[00:02:20] course of the episode, we talked about what made the German army, the Varmak, so successful

[00:02:25] in the types of strategies they used in warfare. We closed off the episode with a melancholy

[00:02:30] Joseph Stalin announcing in a half to his ministers that, quote, Lenin left us a great inheritance

[00:02:37] and we, his heirs have fucked it all up. The Varmak was closing in on Kiev, the bread basket capital

[00:02:45] of the nation, and in this moment it looked like everything was all over for the USSR.

[00:02:51] If you haven't already I definitely recommend checking out Part 1 as the background to Operation

[00:02:57] Barbarossa is fascinating and well worth hearing about before you get to this part. But without

[00:03:02] further ado, let's get the ball rolling. Hitler's folly Operation Barbarossa Part 2, rage of the

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[00:04:01] While things were bleak in the Kremlin, it wasn't as rosy as you might think in German high

[00:04:19] command either. In order to be closer to the front, Hitler had a new command structure built

[00:04:24] in Western Ukraine. Always one for a mythical flair he christened the bunker, where wolf?

[00:04:30] But in the wolf's den, his field marshals were starting to sweat. Their blitzkrieg was slowing down.

[00:04:37] Russian resistance, feeble as it was, was taking its toll on the vermakt. All across the USSR,

[00:04:43] pockets of troops were holding out for longer than expected. In a little Lithuanian town called

[00:04:48] Racini, a single Russian tank that somehow snuck behind German lines held back an entire pan

[00:04:54] to division for a day. And in the city of Brez Latofsk, now in Belarus,

[00:04:59] a group of red army soldiers held out for a month with no ammunition, resupplies or food.

[00:05:05] In the final moments of life, one of these soldiers scored on the wall beside him, quote,

[00:05:10] I'm dying but do not surrender. Farewell, Motherland.

[00:05:15] It wasn't just these pockets that were giving the vermakt trouble. The point of the spear,

[00:05:19] the panzer tanks had overstretched their supply lines. By now they'd far outpaced roads and

[00:05:25] railways that they'd relied on to bring forward spare parts and fuel. Tank engines, driving gears

[00:05:30] and sprockets were wearing out far quicker than they did in the west. Overused and choked with

[00:05:36] dust, the tanks were beginning to break down, and the parts that needed to fix them were hundreds

[00:05:41] of kilometers west. Train tracks were being constructed as fast as humanly possible to keep the

[00:05:46] vermakt mobile, but these two were hundreds of kilometers in their rear. Deep into the Russian

[00:05:51] interior, horses were fast becoming the only things they could rely on. General Heinz

[00:05:56] Guderian said about the situation, quote, I doubt the machines will stand it, even if we are

[00:06:01] unopposed. There also scattered reports of Russian tanks far exceeding Nazi expectations.

[00:06:09] Even before the invasion began, German soldiers were assured that the Russians were

[00:06:13] technologically illiterate, and that any machines they could scramble together would be little more

[00:06:17] than tractors. But the T-34 tank proved that this wasn't so. This medium tank with its

[00:06:24] sloped armor could withstand almost anything the Germans could throw at it. It outclassed

[00:06:28] the German tanks in almost every way, and most importantly it could be produced much quicker

[00:06:33] than the vermakt panzers. But as usual Hitler dismissed these concerns. Ever the optimist

[00:06:39] he reiterated the same lines that he always did. Superior blood, superior training and superior

[00:06:44] minds would triumph. He vehemently resisted any calls to pause and wait for repairs,

[00:06:50] insisting that there could be no stopping until their strategic objectives were met.

[00:06:54] Lenin Grad, Kiev and Moscow must fall. Whenever he got on his podium, the fewer talked for hours.

[00:07:01] Exuberantly he explained how soon the two great German armies, the one in Africa and the one in

[00:07:06] Europe, would link up. And the unstoppable vermakt would follow in the footsteps of Alexander

[00:07:11] the Great, extending the borders of the Reich to India. All the while with vermakt support,

[00:07:16] the Lakota and Sue tribes of North America would rise up against their mongrel mixed race government

[00:07:21] of the United States. As usual, these generals were unable to get a word in, as the dictator continued

[00:07:27] on as if the war war already won. His mind raced as he insisted that a decisive battle was needed

[00:07:33] against the Russian troop build up near Kiev, insisting that this would reduce their manpower

[00:07:38] to such an extent that continuing the war would be impossible. Holder, Guderian and other senior

[00:07:44] generals pressed Hitler to just stick with the original plan. The largest of the three army groups

[00:07:49] center was making good progress towards Moscow. They argued that if they really did intend to win

[00:07:55] this war before winter, taking out the central command structure would be the quickest way.

[00:08:00] After all, the Blitzkrieg was supposed to be the point of the spear. For it to be effective,

[00:08:04] it had to be thrust with a good deal of force to the most vulnerable spot.

[00:08:08] They reason that if Kiev did fall, Russia could still fight on, while if Moscow fell,

[00:08:13] the government would be unable to continue operating. It looks shook his head. He insisted

[00:08:18] that the concentration of troops around Kiev were imperative to remove as evidence by the poor

[00:08:23] performance of German forces against them. If they captured Kiev, they stole the bread basket

[00:08:29] away from Stalin, after which his peasant army would crumble and starve. The marches on Moscow and

[00:08:35] Leningrad would continue, they just have to be down with a few less tanks. As he always said,

[00:08:40] one German soldier was worth ten Bolsheviks, so this was no great ask.

[00:08:44] And that was the end of the matter. Hitler had made his decision and no amount of reasoning would

[00:08:48] now change his mind. The scope of Barbarossa was increased. The invasion was now an economic war

[00:08:55] backed by a military war in wider support of an ideological war. Instead of his generals getting

[00:09:00] their wish to scale things down and consolidate, Hitler had increased the workload.

[00:09:05] And so, as per Fuhrer Directive 33, two panther divisions peeled away from Army Group Centre

[00:09:11] and swung south to the wheat belt capital of the USSR. Kiev

[00:09:16] Back in the Kremlin, as the Stavka poured over maps and reports, it was becoming clear and

[00:09:21] clearer that Kiev could not be held. The rapid advancement of German troops from all sides had

[00:09:27] formed a pocket or salient of Red Army soldiers. This meant the defensive line was falling further

[00:09:33] and further back and if this continued, German troops would be able to pinch off the city of Kiev,

[00:09:38] trapping just under 750,000 Red Army soldiers in the city. Point blank Stalin refused any talk of

[00:09:45] retreat. Lenin Greed, Moscow and Kiev must never fall. He'd always said that. The Red Army must

[00:09:51] fight on. Few in the Stavka did disagree. But one who did was the chief of staff, Georgi Zukov.

[00:10:00] Georgi Zukov is to russians what General Patton or MacArthur is to Americans. He's often credited

[00:10:06] as winning the war on the Eastern Front and historians tend to place him somewhere between

[00:10:11] very good and phenomenal as a battlefield tactician. But all that was later. Right now he was an

[00:10:17] insubordinate who had just disagreed with Joseph Stalin. To the shock of many in the room,

[00:10:23] the chief of staff stepped forward, boldly telling the man of steel that Kiev was lost

[00:10:28] and there was nothing they could do to save it. Stalin was stunned by the brashness of the chief

[00:10:33] of staff. He had killed men for much less than this. But Zukov continued. Gesturing at the map,

[00:10:39] he dished up the kind of cold logic that Stalin never liked to hear. They were in circle. Their

[00:10:45] divisions were under manned and they had no air support and little armour. If they pulled back now

[00:10:49] behind the Dene Parivra and rushed to visions away from the Far East Japanese border,

[00:10:54] they could counterattack with real force. I'm going to read General Zukov's autobiography now,

[00:10:59] just trying to imagine the tension in this room. Quote,

[00:11:02] What about Kiev? Said Stalin, looking me straight in the eye. I realized what the words

[00:11:07] to surrender Kiev meant for all Soviet people and for Stalin of course. But I could not be carried

[00:11:13] away by emotion and as chief of the general staff, I had to suggest the only possible and correct

[00:11:19] strategic decision in the existing situation as the general staff and I personally saw it.

[00:11:25] We shall have to leave Kiev, I said firmly. An oppressive silence set in.

[00:11:31] I continued the report trying to remain calm. As Zukov began to explain his plan of counter-attack,

[00:11:36] Stalin reached his limit. Quote, What counter blows? It's nonsense! How could you hit upon the idea

[00:11:41] of surrendering Kiev to the enemy? Stalin was furious and he approached the much taller chief of staff,

[00:11:48] staring up at him with that piercing gaze that made the knees of other men tremble.

[00:11:53] But Zukov refused to back down, quote. If you think that as chief of general staff,

[00:11:57] I'm only capable of talking nonsense, I've got nothing more to do here. I request to be

[00:12:02] relieved of the duties of chief of general staff and sent to the front. Apparently, I'll be

[00:12:06] better used to my country there. Stalin didn't send Zukov directly to the front but he did

[00:12:12] demote him. Zukov was putting command of the reserve front, far away from strategic decision-making.

[00:12:19] For the next two months, loudspeakers threw up Kiev boomed, playing Stalin's famous speeches as

[00:12:23] a Germans closed in around. Consecutive commanders requested permission to withdraw troops and each one

[00:12:29] Stalin denied. Frustrated with their quote, weak resistance against the enemy, he fired them and

[00:12:36] replaced them one man after the next. One of them he phoned personally, telling him on the phone,

[00:12:41] quote. Stop looking for lines of retreat and start looking for lines of resistance, only resistance.

[00:12:47] The red army resisted bravely but German air superiority meant it was a matter of when, not if.

[00:12:53] As the panzers rumbled into the outer suburbs of Kiev, 570,000 tons of bombs rained down on the city.

[00:13:01] Generals inside Bikker to weather or not they had permission to override Stalin's orders in

[00:13:05] a final attempt to break out. On the 26th of September, the swastika flag was hoisted

[00:13:11] above the parliament building in Kiev. The loss of Kiev was a disaster for the red army.

[00:13:19] When the guns fell silent, the Vermakte found themselves in the possession of almost 500,000 red

[00:13:25] army prisoners. Half a million people that if Stalin had listened to reason could have been withdrawn

[00:13:31] to fight elsewhere, not to mention the supplies, the ammunition and crucially the fuel that fell into

[00:13:37] Nazi hands. David Stel, author of Kiev 1941 says quote. Germany had been handed a triumph

[00:13:46] far in excess of what its exhausted armored forces could have achieved without Stalin's

[00:13:51] objuracy and incompetence. Hitler told the hysterical German public that they had just won the greatest

[00:13:57] battle in the world. The Vermakte soldiers too were re-energized. The last few months of hard fighting

[00:14:03] in the chilly autumn weather was worth it, perhaps the war really would be over by Christmas.

[00:14:08] As usual, the fewer and you best. Stalin was really having recovered from his initial shock

[00:14:15] of the invasion he had again as he put it earlier, fucked it all up. Showing just how desperate

[00:14:21] he'd become, Stalin wrote to his old enemy the Prime Minister of England Winston Churchill

[00:14:26] and asked, baked for help. The secretive dictator wrote a milleta asking for between 25

[00:14:33] and 30 divisions of English troops to reinforce the collapsing red army.

[00:14:38] For Stalin not only to allow but to request foreign troops to enter the USSR shows his desperation

[00:14:45] and though he would not send troops both Churchill and England and Roosevelt in the USA began

[00:14:50] supplying food, medical aid and vehicles to the USSR. When questioned in the House of Commons why

[00:14:55] he was sending aid to a communist dictator, the Prime Minister gave one of his famous Churchillian

[00:15:00] responses quote. If Hitler invaded hell, I would at least make a favorable reference to the devil.

[00:15:07] With Kiev conquered, the Vermakte turned northeast and at long last began their march on Moscow.

[00:15:14] Stalin and the USSR had won last chance.

[00:15:18] Deep within the pine forests of Western Ukraine and where we'll HQ everyone was celebrating,

[00:15:30] French campaign popped and brandy flowed as a fewer claptist staff officers on the back.

[00:15:36] Kiev was theirs all that remained was Moscow and Leningrad.

[00:15:40] Try upfortly he announced the beginning of Operation Typhoon, the final ruin of the Soviet Union.

[00:15:47] Once Moscow fell he insisted Stalin would be forced to the negotiating table and once that happened

[00:15:53] the stubborn British would finally realize a futility of resistance.

[00:15:58] New staff officers were enraptured by his charisma and as a furore fell into his usual

[00:16:03] hour long speech about his thousand year hike they listened in baited breath but as field marshals

[00:16:09] and generals the ones that had been with him since the start were less enthusiastic.

[00:16:14] They toasted to their furore with everyone else but silently they harbored grave concerns for what

[00:16:19] came next. The taking of Kiev had been much harder and taken much longer than anyone anticipated.

[00:16:26] By this point the Vermakte had lost almost 400,000 men veterans who could not be easily replaced.

[00:16:33] Half of their tanks were out of commission and the other half were in desperate need of repair.

[00:16:37] Red army soldiers had begun to fight back with ferocity as if sensing the net was closing.

[00:16:43] Stalin too was proving he would scorch every one of his great cities from the map before he let

[00:16:48] Hitler have them. As the Russian front line collapsed Stalin's secret police crept ahead and

[00:16:53] destroyed one of the greatest achievements of the Soviet Union to date, the Deneepra Hydroelectric Dam.

[00:17:00] The dam occupied a place of pride in the hearts of many Soviet citizens.

[00:17:04] The towering structure which was among the biggest dams in the world was a testament to Bolshevism

[00:17:10] of what could be achieved when workers stood united but under the cover of night a demolition

[00:17:15] team crept in and dynamited the station. Billions of litres of water were released and many

[00:17:21] Nazis were killed. But many, many more Ukrainian villages who at no prior knowledge of the event

[00:17:28] were also killed. Historians speculate that this little known event killed somewhere between 20

[00:17:33] and 100,000 Ukrainian civilians. Though Stalin remained disinterested in human suffering

[00:17:39] on the front line the senseless mass charges of early 1941 were becoming less frequent and the

[00:17:45] red army had on their side an old ally, an ally who would always come to the aid of Russia in a

[00:17:51] darkest hour. The weather. Rasputitsa which means literally the season of bad roads is a rapid

[00:17:59] thoring that takes place between spring and autumn in Eastern Europe. A short period of heavy

[00:18:04] snowfall followed by rapid defrosting that turns the roads into slush. The Rasputitsa had slowed down

[00:18:10] Napoleon, it slowed down the Nazis and 82 years into the future it would slow down Vladimir

[00:18:16] Putin as he invaded the sovereign country of Ukraine. The Soviet prisoners captured a Kiev

[00:18:22] were put to work repairing the roads. The condition these men lived in were appalling.

[00:18:27] Fed virtually nothing they were kept in outdoor cages. With no protection from the elements

[00:18:33] they huddled together like penguins in the Arctic and slept standing with a rag over their face

[00:18:39] to try and keep the warm breath in. They dug and dug at the roads without end. And when they fell

[00:18:45] dead from exhaustion the Germans used their frozen bodies to line the roads and provide traction for

[00:18:50] their tanks. For the men that had survived the Kiev pocket, cases of self-mutilation rose rapidly.

[00:18:58] For a frontline soldier the quickest way to get out of military duty was an injury.

[00:19:03] Initially soldiers would shoot themselves in the foot or hold their hand above a trench for a

[00:19:08] few seconds but quickly the Russian command caught an on to this. If a soldier had powder burns

[00:19:14] on his pants it was obvious that the bullet had been fired from close range. Once this method was

[00:19:19] discovered the troops would put a loaf of bread between their rifle and their foot and fire

[00:19:24] through the bread to keep the powder off their uniform. If anyone was caught doing this the

[00:19:28] penitenti was almost always death. Army surgeons knew this and at times when a soldier came in

[00:19:34] they pitted either because he was so young or because they personally liked him, they would

[00:19:39] do him a favor and amputate the limb so the evidence of the crime would be hidden and he could go

[00:19:44] home. Things were incredibly bleak but in the face of catastrophe Stalin, unlike last time did not

[00:19:52] alter. Instead of moping around his office he hung the portraits of Alexander Souverov and Mikhail

[00:19:57] Kutuzov, two titanic figures from Russian history who had repelled foreign invaders. Kutuzov's

[00:20:03] biography which Stalin had recently read seemed to have an impact on him and very gradually he became

[00:20:09] less overbearing on a field commanders. Marish rather than blind loyalty slowly became the criteria

[00:20:15] for military promotions in the Red Army. A good amount of this was probably thanks to chief of

[00:20:20] staff Gyorgi Zukov who had earned his way back into the dictators good books again.

[00:20:26] Throughout the siege of Kiev despite being sent away Zukov was frequently in touch with the

[00:20:31] Stavka providing what in such a direction he could though Stalin made a particularly liked Zukov

[00:20:37] he found that he could not live without him. The peasant-born general was self assured in his council

[00:20:43] decisive in his decisions and firm with his discipline whether he was in the front line or in the

[00:20:48] command office when the broad-chested bold headed leader was present he had a way of lifting the

[00:20:54] spirits and buoying the confidence of all around him very soon he became Stalin's troubleshooter.

[00:21:00] He said things that irritated even anger the dictator but if given a task Stalin knew he would

[00:21:06] do everything in his power to get it done. Zukov seemed to be able to read the dictator in a way

[00:21:12] that few others could he knew and to push him on things and he knew when to keep his mouth shut

[00:21:17] if he ever entered a room and saw Stalin filling his pipe with tobacco and lighting it while

[00:21:22] pacing the room was a sign that the dictator was in a good mood but if a subordinate was explaining

[00:21:27] something and Stalin filled his pipe without lighting it and stood still that was the silent

[00:21:33] signal that he was raging and about to explode. Around 10,000 BCE families and tribes of the ancestors

[00:21:40] to the people of Britain would arrive in the southern part of the island after crossing from land

[00:21:44] that bridged from Europe. The Welsh built houses, communities, kingdoms and continued to survive

[00:21:50] through Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans. The language and culture influenced by these sources

[00:21:55] continued to change and thrive becoming ancient and modern at the same time. Join me as we travel

[00:22:01] through the history meeting the kings, queens, nobles and everyday people that create and grew

[00:22:07] modern whales from the seeds of the ancient past. Kreosso and welcome to the Welsh History podcast.

[00:22:13] Hey podcast listeners I'm Paul Brandis introducing my podcast Countdown to Dallas. It's a fascinating

[00:22:20] in-depth look at the seemingly unconnected events that led to the assassination of President

[00:22:26] John F. Kennedy, based on my book of the same title. In that book and in this podcast I go all the way

[00:22:32] back to 1939 when Lee Harvey Oswald was born into a troubled and dysfunctional family. I'll follow

[00:22:40] his transient and often violent teenage years and young adulthood painting a fuller picture of the

[00:22:47] man who would later become Kennedy's killer. I also take a look at events unfolding in that era like

[00:22:54] Cuba and Vietnam, and I'll unpack the conspiracy theories too, not one of which has ever been

[00:23:00] conclusively proven. Subscribe to Countdown to Dallas at everygreenpodcasts.com or your favorite

[00:23:08] listening app, October 31st. Through the slushy mud the faltering pans a tanks edge towards

[00:23:15] Moscow. Every citizen of Moscow man, woman and child was conscripted into the defence of the city.

[00:23:22] Air batteries were erected through the suburbs and groups of women that showed promise with their

[00:23:26] aiming were assigned to them while everyone else dug triple line ditches around the city.

[00:23:32] Clock factories switched to making anti-tank mines and bullets. Soon the faint sounds of gunfire

[00:23:38] and canners could be heard by the citizens inside the city. It seemed impossible that three

[00:23:44] months ago they were going on with their lives working in raising children carefree.

[00:23:49] Stalin was well aware of the possibility of the capital's collapse and ordered the stavka to be

[00:23:54] evacuated east. This order panicked many of the citizens but crucially and rather bravely

[00:24:02] Stalin himself stayed put, but it wasn't just the stavka that he evacuated.

[00:24:07] Stalin made a decision, perhaps the best decision he would make in the entirety of the war.

[00:24:13] It's a truly Stalinistic instruction that would have seemed inconceivable anywhere else in the

[00:24:18] world. Stalin ordered the industry of the USSR packed up and moved. These weren't specially

[00:24:25] constructed mobile factories we're talking about, manufacturing facilities and factories that

[00:24:30] span blocks. 1500 steel refineries, tank factories or weapon manufacturers were taken apart,

[00:24:38] piece by piece put on trains and moved thousands of kilometers east to Siberia, Central Asia or

[00:24:44] the Ural Mountains. Every beam, furnace, bolt and machine, deconstructed and rebuilt.

[00:24:51] Almost overnight, areas that were previously nothing but empty grassland became the most

[00:24:57] important regions of industry in the entire USSR. Imagine that during the era of US car manufacturing

[00:25:04] Canada invaded the US and in response the president ordered that every factory in Michigan moved to

[00:25:10] San Diego. This was that but on an even larger scale and its testament once again to the

[00:25:16] civilians and workers it managed to pull this off. Here's an extract from an observer who watched

[00:25:21] as an entire factory was constructed and switched on in 14 days, where previously it was just empty

[00:25:28] ground. Quote, it was then that the people of the Urals came to this spot with shovels, bars

[00:25:33] and pickaxes. Students, typists, accountants, shop assistants, housewives, artists, teachers.

[00:25:40] The earth was like stone frozen hard by our fifth Siberian frost. Axis and pickaxes could not

[00:25:47] break the stony soil. In the light of our clamps people hacked at the earth all night.

[00:25:52] They blew up the stones in the frozen earth and laid the foundations. Their feet and hands

[00:25:56] were swollen with frostbite but they did not leave work. Over the charts and blueprints laid out

[00:26:02] on packaging cases the blizzard was raging. Hundreds of trucks kept rolling up with building

[00:26:07] materials. On the 12th day into the new buildings with their glass roofs, the machinery covered

[00:26:13] with wharfrost began to arrive. Brasiers were kept light to unfreeze machines and two days later

[00:26:19] the war factory began production. This is just one example of the 1500 factories that were relocated.

[00:26:26] The factory workers themselves who were sent to live in the nearest town would walk through the

[00:26:31] Siberian winter anywhere between 3 and 6 miles, work 12 hours or more in the factory,

[00:26:38] walk home and do it all again the next day. No one complained they didn't need propaganda to

[00:26:43] tell them what would happen should they lose the war. The decision to move industry east meant

[00:26:49] long term survivability of the Red Army. Remember Hitler's first objective was to crush the Red

[00:26:55] Army before it retreated to the Urals. Now not only had the bulk of the Red Army survive the initial

[00:27:00] attack it had moved its industry out of range of German bombers and artillery meaning production

[00:27:06] could continue. On October 4th a German tank division got their first taste of a real tank battle

[00:27:13] a squadron of T-34 Russian tanks sadly defeating their own panzers.

[00:27:18] Losing a battle to the Russian army shocked Heinz Guderian so much that he ordered

[00:27:22] an investigation as to what had gone wrong. The findings were alarming. The T-34 tank outclassed

[00:27:30] their panzers in almost every way. Its thick armor made it almost impervious to any missiles

[00:27:35] fired from a panzer but apart from these isolated setbacks the mechanized spear of the VAM act

[00:27:41] was still thrusting forward by the end of October the cities of Viasma and Briance could fall in

[00:27:47] and hundreds of thousands more Red Army soldiers were taken as POWs. Zukov who had again been promoted

[00:27:54] tried to establish a line of defense to stop the encirclement of Moscow. To the north Lenin

[00:27:59] Grady was fearing no better. Food was almost gone and with winter approaching cannibalism had taken

[00:28:06] hold of the civilian population. Red Army troops inside found themselves at a crisis of conscience

[00:28:13] as the Germans began to use Russian civilians as human shields. Zukov requested Stalin's advice

[00:28:19] on how to approach the situation and he gave a tragically predictable response.

[00:28:24] Quote, don't be sentimental. Smash the enemy and his unwilling or willing accomplices in the teeth.

[00:28:30] Hit the Germans and their delegates whoever they might be with everything you've got. Cut

[00:28:35] the enemy down. Never mind if they are willing or unwilling enemies. All across the encirclement

[00:28:41] the battle raged for the fate of Russia. As the temperatures continued to fall the German troops

[00:28:46] began to suffer frostbite in larger numbers. Hitler's decision to not supply winter uniforms

[00:28:51] was having drastic consequences but the soldiers pressed forward with the promise of a Christmas

[00:28:57] back home keeping them going. As the shrill screech of the German Stuka bonners echoed through

[00:29:02] the halls of the Kremlin itself, Stalin sat Zukov down, looked him in the eyes with a gaze that

[00:29:07] seemed to burn through men and asked him if he believed Moscow could be defended, insisting that

[00:29:13] he quote, speak honestly like a communist. Zukov said he thought it was possible but they must

[00:29:20] call in the reserves from the far east. He could not hold out with a few many had left.

[00:29:25] By mid-October the panzer tanks were quite literally stuck. The mud that girded the capital had

[00:29:30] become such a quagmire that for almost three weeks they barely moved. Zukov sprang into action.

[00:29:37] From a spy in Japan Stalin had been reassured that the Japanese were not planning to invade Russia

[00:29:43] from the east. As we now know their focus was on a little American island in the Pacific Ocean.

[00:29:49] With that confirmation Stalin finally agreed to move troops west, something Zukov had been begging for

[00:29:55] months. By November the ground was frozen solid. The mud was gone but the arrival of one of the

[00:30:02] coldest winters in the last century created other problems. Just to start their panzer tanks the

[00:30:08] freezing Vemak soldiers had delight fires under the engines. And during battle machine guns malfunction

[00:30:15] when their lubrication grease froze. Hitler furious as what he saw as weak leadership insisted

[00:30:21] the army move faster. When his field marshals rattled off the plethora of issues that stopped

[00:30:27] them from doing so, the fewer thumped his fists against the table to drown out their voices.

[00:30:32] A clothing drive was arranged in Nazi Germany, imploring women to donate their fur coats and hats

[00:30:38] for the war effort. The proud Vemak soldiers resorted to looting Russian corpses for their warmer

[00:30:44] clothing. As the temperatures plummeted to minus 35 Celsius, minus 31 Fahrenheit, they lurched forward,

[00:30:52] itching with lice, wearing boots with toe holes cut out to fit their swollen blackened feet.

[00:30:58] Bowel and bladder infections became more common from troops sleeping on the freezing ground.

[00:31:04] General Hungryky, who would have had much better clothing than the standard soldier wrote in his diary,

[00:31:08] quote, The wind stabs you in the face with needles and blasts through your protective headgear

[00:31:14] and your gloves. Your eyes are steaming so much that you can hardly see a thing.

[00:31:19] Field marshal Gurd von Roonstead unable to advance any further yet unable to convince Hitler

[00:31:24] to let them rest developed a severe alcohol addiction before offering his resignation.

[00:31:29] He would be the first of almost 40 veteran officers Hitler would relieve of command before

[00:31:34] the siege was up. As Hitler's impatience reached critical mass, the shivering German army arrived

[00:31:40] at Moiseisk, only 68 miles 110 kilometers from Moscow. Otto did trick the Nazi press chief,

[00:31:49] gave a speech telling the German public that the defeat of Moscow was imminent, perhaps only hours

[00:31:54] away. The advancing troops were now close enough to see the spires of St Basil's Cathedral in Red

[00:32:00] Square. High above the Kremlin, the Hammer and Sickle, the eternal symbols of Soviet power

[00:32:07] were wrapped in canvas to minimize damage as was every statue of Stalin or Lenin. Ghost

[00:32:13] highways were created using sand to fool German bombers and the roofing above Stalin's residence

[00:32:18] was painted black to camouflage it as an apartment block. My all long lines for supplies soon gave

[00:32:24] way to riots before Zoukhov soldiers were stored order. One eyewitness recalled that Jews for

[00:32:30] hairdresses were amongst the longest in the city. Perhaps the Muscovite women were hedging their

[00:32:35] beds that if the city did fall they stood a better chance of living, if they were more attractive.

[00:32:40] Another eyewitness watched sadly as a militia march towards the front, quote,

[00:32:45] under red banners detachments of civilians armed with old rifles and hunting rifles

[00:32:51] march towards their bitter and tragic fate. The headlights of every car was dimmed with cloth

[00:32:57] and blood banks spring up on every street corner. Heards of cattle taken from the countryside

[00:33:02] looked out of place in the middle of the metropolis as citizens rounded up everything they could to

[00:33:07] help them prepare for the siege. We won't surrender Moscow, we will retreat no further. Stalin's voice

[00:33:13] blared over the radio as townsfolk dragged iron hedgehogs and sandbags across Red Square.

[00:33:20] The next morning a Stalin returned home in the early hours and air raid began.

[00:33:25] Stepping out of his staff car he looked up instead. As the whirring of the sirens began,

[00:33:31] countless searchlights stricked across the dark sky. Then the long heavy shots of anti-aircraft

[00:33:37] batteries downed out every other sound in the world. His chief of security tried to usher him inside

[00:33:42] but Stalin waved him away and stood for several minutes, mesmerized. He had helped to lead a revolution

[00:33:50] to replace a system of government that had survived thousands of years. Was this how the great

[00:33:56] nation of Rus came to an end? Overhead a direct hit was made on a German stuka and a small piece

[00:34:03] of shrapnel landed near Stalin's feet. The head of security picked it up and handed it to him. It

[00:34:10] was still warm. Spirits were low and Stalin realized that if the citizens thought they were beaten,

[00:34:20] they might as well be beaten. He needed a way to show them that despite what was going on,

[00:34:25] despite everything the USSR still stood tall. As Zoukov's much needed reinforcements began to arrive

[00:34:32] the dictator came up with a very clever idea. November 7th the anniversary of the great revolution

[00:34:38] was approaching. Every year since the communist overthrow of the Russian state in 1917,

[00:34:43] the date had been celebrated. It was almost sacred a day of rebirth. Everyone just assumed that because

[00:34:50] the city was under siege the parade and celebration would be cancelled. Stalin cleverly realized

[00:34:55] he could still hold the parade. Zoukov's eastern reinforcements would march directly from the trains

[00:35:02] through Red Square and then off to the front. And so as bombs fell overhead and

[00:35:07] the search lights criss-crossed the skies, the upbeat military songs of the brass band broke

[00:35:12] the monotony of siege life in Moscow. Thousands upon thousands of red army soldiers marched through

[00:35:19] Red Square saluting Joseph Stalin as they passed. Stalin's speech and the parade itself were

[00:35:25] televised all across the USSR was a clever bit of psychology that lifted the mood of many citizens

[00:35:31] who could see their capitals still standing with their leader still in charge. As soon as the parade

[00:35:36] was done the troops were rushed to fill the gaps. These soldiers coming from some of the coldest

[00:35:41] regions in the realm were veterans of Winter Warfare. Strapping on their skis alongside T-34 tanks

[00:35:48] they turned the tide almost immediately. For the first time since the invasion began the German

[00:35:53] troops gave ground. Gradually at first but soon Zoukov had them on the ropes. With no food, no fuel,

[00:36:00] no ammunition and no winter clothing, the veermark simply could go no further.

[00:36:06] Just 60 kilometers, 37 miles outside Moscow, Corporal Allouis Shua wrote to his wife quote,

[00:36:14] I'm sitting with my comrades in a dugout in the half-dark. You have no idea how lousy and crazy

[00:36:21] we all look and how this life has become a torment for me. It can't be described in words anymore,

[00:36:28] I've only got one thought left. When will I get out of this hell?

[00:36:33] On the 14th of December, Valta von Brauchitz commander in chief of the veermark d'armie

[00:36:39] finally had enough. After traveling to the front and seeing the appalling state the men were in

[00:36:44] he grew more and more frustrated with Hitler who tucked away safe in his bunker away from the front

[00:36:50] lines continued to insist that the troops just needed a quote injection of fanatical will.

[00:36:56] Unable to perform his function he resigned. By the time Christmas came it was clear that

[00:37:02] threat to Moscow at least for the time being had passed. It had been six horrific months since

[00:37:10] the largest land invasion in world history began. Spurred forward by their unshakable faith in their

[00:37:16] furor, the veermarkt had made it to the very gates of Moscow. Hitler had promised the people of

[00:37:21] Germany, his generals and the world that conquest of the USSR would be swift. While vast territories

[00:37:28] of the land was occupied Russia was still standing. Reinforcements old and young arrived in their

[00:37:35] thousands by the day while Hitler's loyal soldiers shivered in the freezing snow, wondering if they'd

[00:37:41] ever see home again. Hitler's triumph at showdown against Bolshevism had failed. But this setback went

[00:37:48] further than just defailley to take Moscow. Operation Barbarossa had destroyed the relationship

[00:37:54] Hitler had with his senior commanders. In the early days of the war he and them worked in tandem.

[00:37:59] Hitler's gift for psychology and unorthodox tactics blended seamlessly with their training

[00:38:05] and understanding of military theory. But in the last few months of the invasion that cooperation

[00:38:10] had disappeared as the Fuhrer continually disregarded their opinions and ignored facts he didn't agree

[00:38:17] with. The resignation of his commander in chief would be the first of many replacements that

[00:38:21] would occur as a dictator surrounded himself with yes men. The veermarkt was going through the very

[00:38:28] same brain drain that had almost costile on the war. In two weeks we're going to see Zukov

[00:38:34] explode out of the gate as the veermarked loads a hard way that Russian's honest stupid as

[00:38:39] the Fuhrer promised they were. We're going to see the introduction of probably the most pitiful

[00:38:44] character in the story. A mild-mannered Prussian staff officer named Frederick Pollis who would

[00:38:49] be rapidly promoted to Field Marshal and then forcibly sacrificed on the altar of history.

[00:38:56] Things are about to get very bad for the German army. As Stalin told the cheering crowd of besieged

[00:39:03] muskivites on the October Revolution parade quote,

[00:39:06] the German invaders want a war of extermination against the peoples of the USSR?

[00:39:12] Well, if the Germans want a war of extermination they will get it.

[00:39:18] This has been anthology of heroes. If you've enjoyed this episode please don't forget to drop

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[00:39:34] Thanks for listening and speak to you on the next one.

[00:39:41] For you at California's Great America, the Holy Cowell Way too high in here comes a drop kind of fun.

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[00:40:08] The Battle of Waterloo was one of the most famous turning points in world history.

[00:40:16] But what happened next? My name is David Montgomery and I'm the host of The Sieggele,

[00:40:21] a history podcast that tackles exactly that. Join me as I cover France's overlooked

[00:40:27] century in between Napoleon and World War I. The Sieggele spelled S-I-E-C-L-E is part of the

[00:40:35] Evergreen Podcast Network and can be found wherever you get podcasts.