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Russia Marks 68th Anniversary of Nazi German Invasion in WWII

by Yuliya Talmazan | June 22, 2009 at 04:01 pm

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June 22, 2009 marks the 68th anniversary of Nazi German Invasion of Soviet Union. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germans under the direction of Adolf Hitler began the unannounced invasion of the Soviet Union in what later became know as Operation Barbarossa, which was supposed to end with the seize of Moscow in a matter of months. Instead, the invasion began the Great Patriotic War, which lasted five years and lead to the loss of 26 million Soviet lives. Soviet Union came triumphant on May 9, 1945 with the signing of unconditional capitulation of Nazi Germany.

Today, commemoration ceremonies took place all throughout Russia. President Medvedev has attended the wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of Unknown Solider at Moscow's Red Square. Elsewhere, people lit candles and hold vigils for the victims of the war. Statistically, nearly every family in the Soviet Union has been touched by war, having lost someone on the battlefield, mass killings or due to hunger.

Thousands of people in Moscow and other cities of Russia got up on June 22 at 4 a.m. (the time, when Nazi Germany attacked the USSR) to light candles in memory of those who were killed in the most terrible war of Russia’s history, Interfax reports.

Over 10,000 people gathered on Moscow Sparrow Hills (Vorobyovy Gory) to open the Alley of Memory there. The members of the action hung 10,000 bells on the trees and put 10,000 candles on the ground.

Veterans, survivors, officials, and scores of younger people are visiting war memorials in Russia's major cities. In Moscow, people have been laying flowers and lighting candles in Victory Park, the center of annual Victory Day celebrations.

The anniversary of the attack was not officially marked until the 1990s. It is now officially named the Day of Memory and Sorrow. National flags are flown half mast in Russia and other former Soviet states on this day and light entertainment programs are forbidden.

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Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 17:16 on June 22nd, 2009

For those that can read German here is a book chronicled by a German Military Doctor, which shows the hardship German troops went through on the outskirts of Moscow. Here is the link

Uwe Paschen

at 22:54 on June 22nd, 2009

It is good to remember those injustices and tragedies, however we do fail to put them in perspective since the USSR was working with the NAZI prior to this and invaded Poland with them as well as divided it up between the two.

The reason Hitler and Stalin ended up going at each others was that they where to much alike.