Battle for Russia

• June 22, 1941 Germany breaks treaty with Soviet Union by attacking

• German Blitzkrieg technique was devastating in Russia

• One week into the German invasion, 150,000 Soviet soldiers were either dead or wounded

KIEV

• Despite Stalin's ruthless order forbidding any city to surrender, Kiev fell and 600,000 Soviet soldiers were captured

• By October 1941, three million Soviet soldiers were prisoners of war

Battle of Stalingrad

• Spring of 1942, Hitler launched a two-pronged attack in what he believed would be his final offensive in the East

• The Germans moved swiftly forward, reaching the banks of the River Volga

• The German soldiers of Army Group B had one last major task - to take the city of Stalingrad on the west bank of the Volga

• More than 1,000 tons of bombs were dropped on the city, but Stalin initially forbade any evacuation from the city, even of children

• Soviet reinforcements had to cross the Volga from the east and many of them drowned under the weight of their clothing and weapons

• The average life-expectancy of a Soviet private soldier during the battle of Stalingrad was just 24 hours

German Loses at Stalingrad

• Battle of Stalingrad July 17, 1942-Feb. 2, 1943• Germans lost almost 150,000 soldiers, and

91,000 more were captured by the Russians• Only 5,000 of them returned home after years

in Russian prison camps • Together with the losses of their Romanian

and Italian allies, the German side lost about 300,000 soldiers

Soviet Union

• Russians lost 500,000 soldiers and civiliansVasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev : March 23, 1915 – December 15, 1991*Was a Soviet sniper during World War II, notable particularly for his activities between November 10 and December 17, 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad. He killed 225 soldiers and officers of the Axis armies, including 11 enemy snipers.Prior to November 10, he had already killed 32 Axis soldiers with the standard-issue rifle. Between October 1942 and January 1943, Zaytsev made 242 verified kills.