"When Stalin Was Caught Napping." ON THIS DATE, In 1941, OPERATION BARBAROSSA was launched , Germany invaded the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa.

"When Stalin Was Caught Napping."

ON THIS DATE, In 1941, OPERATION BARBAROSSA was launched ,  Germany invaded the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa.

The Germans had the largest invasion force in history with about 4 million men in the attacking force. They attacked along a 2900 mile front, with about 600,000 vehicles and another 600,000 horses.

The initially obliterated the unprepared Soviet Red Army and took nearly 5,000,000 prisoners, most of whom never lived thru captivity. 

Nearly 3.3 million Russian prisoners died in captivity under the German rule, who regarded them as lesser human beings.

IN PREPARATION FOR BARBAROSSA, THE GERMAN MILITARY STOCKPILED 91,000 TONS OF AMMUNITION, HALF A MILLION TONS OF FUEL (40% OF ALL FUEL AVAILABLE TO GERMANY AT THE TIME), AND 600,000 TRUCKS AND 750,000 HORSES TO CARRY SUPPLIES.

When the attack on Russia starts, the world will hold its breath”

-Hitler

On December 18, 1940, Hitler issued a secret order to Germany’s top generals instructing them to begin preparing a massive surprise attack on the Soviet Union, codenamed “Barbarossa” after a 12th-century Holy Roman Emperor who won land for the Germans from the Slavs.

 The element of surprise was crucial, Hitler emphasized, because of the need to prevent the Red Army from withdrawing into Russia’s vast interior; German troops would drive deep into Soviet territory and capture millions of enemy troops in huge encirclements before their commanders had time to react.

 To accomplish this, Hitler’s generals planned a “blitzkrieg,” or “lightning war,” similar to the ones that destroyed Poland and France in 1939-1940 -- but on a much, much larger scale.

Some of the officers objected to the “Commissar Order” ( The Commissar Order (German:

 Kommissarbefehl) was an order issued by the German High Command (OKW) on 6 June 1941 before Operation Barbarossa.

 Its official name was Guidelines for the Treatment of Political Commissars (Richtlinien für die Behandlung politischer Kommissare). 

It instructed the Wehrmacht that any Soviet political commissar identified among captured troops be summarily executed .)

and atrocities against civilians on grounds of honor; Field Marshal Erich von Manstein “told the commander of the Army Group under which I served at that time… that I could not carry out such an order, which was against the honor of a soldier.” 

But Hitler, anticipating the qualms of his professional soldiers, gave them an easy out: much of the dirty work of hunting partisans and murdering Jews would be left to about 3,000 retired policemen and petty thugs, operating as four roving SS death squads euphemistically termed Einsatzgruppen (“Special Action Groups”).