SOVIET UNION IN RETREAT DURING OPERATION BARBAROSSA 1941 WORLD WAR II 50514

For simultaneous translation, hit the "closed caption" button and then turn on "auto translate." This Soviet newsreel recounts the long retreat of Soviet forces during the initial stages of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the USSR beginning in the summer of 1941.A second part of the film can be seen here:    • BATTLE FOR LENINGRAD, MOSCOW  in WWII  SOV...   Narration: Our soldiers displayed their heartfelt allegiance to the Motherland and determination to protect it at the cost of their lives by thwarting the attack of the enemy, whose forces were superior in strength. An incredibly difficult period in the life of our country began. (00.26) Residents of ravaged towns and villages were leaving for the east. The equipment of factories and plants was evacuated. As Lenin taught us, ‘If a war starts, everything should comply with its needs.’ (00.58) The Party devised a program of military restructuring of the country. ‘The treacherous attack by Fascist Germany against the Soviet Union is continuing. The goal of this attack is to destroy the Soviet system, to occupy Soviet lands, to enslave the peoples of the Soviet Union, to rob our country, to capture our bread and oil, to restore the rule of landholders and capitalists.’ (01.36) The enemy had already stepped on Soviet soil, took over most of Lithuania, including the cities of Kaunas and Vilnius, occupied part of Latvia, the Brest, Vereiskaya, and Bialystok regions of the Soviet Belarus, and some districts of Western Ukraine. A few other districts were in immediate danger. The goal of the Bolsheviks was to rally the people around the Communist Party and the Soviet government, to selflessly support the Red Army and achieve victory. (02.32) The Party sent 9,000 leading party workers to the front. Tens of thousands of Communists and Komsomol members went to war as political fighters. (03.13) New fighting units were being prepared for the front. The Leningrad Party organization introduced the initiative of forming a People's Militia out of citizens who were unfit for conscription. The Central Committee of the Party approved this initiative. Following the example of Leningrad, People's Militia divisions were created in Moscow and other cities across the country. (03.37) By the end of 1941, almost every second communist of the country was defending the Motherland with arms. Thanks to the example of these communists and Komsomol members and their belief in the just and liberating nature of the war, others began to put their faith into victory. (04.37) Radio broadcasting, word of mouth, visual propaganda, and the press served the same purpose.. (05.19) Vigilantes were of great help to the Red Army. The resilience of the Soviet troops came from hundreds and thousands of acts of valor of individual soldiers, commanders, and party workers, from the heroic acts of minor and major units. (06.05) But the sudden nature of the first treacherous attack still had an impact. The Fascist armies were moving east. The Brest frontier fortress was already far behind German lines, but its imperishable garrison still refused to surrender under the leadership of the Communists Gavrilov, Fomin, Zubachev, Kizhevatov. (06.30) Smolensk was the decisive direction of the German military commanders. The main body of Hitler's army was sent here. The Smolensk region formed two armies and militia to help the fighters of the regular army. Almost two-thirds of the Smolensk Party organization were off to the front. (07.05) Here, in the battle of Smolensk, the famous Katyusha rocket launchers were used for the first time. Here the Fascists had to go on the defensive for the first time since the Second World War had begun. (07.52) At the same time, Germans were approaching Kiev in the southwest. Kiev lodgment. 90,000 militiamen and 30,000 Communists stood up to defend the capital of Ukraine together with the army. The heroic defenders held the bridgehead on the right bank of Dnepr for two and half months. (08.49) Odessa. (09.32) Odessa sent 13,000 Communists and 73,000 Komsomol members to the front. The defenders of Odessa were containing almost half of the Romanian army for more than two and half months. The enemy lost 160,000 soldiers and officers here. (09.50) Out troops left Odessa only following the commander's orders to help the defenders of the Crimean Peninsula. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit