Search

• History
• Halls
• Exhibition archive
• Events archive
• Conferences archive
• Publications
• Posters Gallery
• Achievements
• Museum theatre

An exposition dedicated to the Day of Sorrow and commemoration of war victims has been opened in the Art Museum

On June 22, 2021, the exposition "June Rubicon of 1941" dedicated to the Day of Sorrow and commemoration of the victims of the war in Ukraine was opened in the Art Museum.

Despite numerous allegations about the irrelevance of the topic of World War II in modern realities, the latest Russian-Ukrainian war, changes in the political situation, etc., the events of that war continue to attract the attention of historians, local historians and those who care, becoming the basis not only for research but and heated discussions. It is not surprising, because the scale and devastating consequences of that war are really impressive. To varying degrees, it covered 61 countries and 80% of the world's population. Its black wings covered the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, the oceans, reached the shores of the New Earth and Alaska in the north, the Atlantic coast of Europe in the west, the Kuril Islands in the east, the borders of Egypt, India and Australia in the south.

Sometimes it seems to us that we know everything about that war. No one will be surprised by the phenomenon of Soviet-German friendship at the diplomatic and economic levels, cooperation between the Gestapo and the NKVD, joint military exercises and parades, and so on. Many films have been written and made about the glorious battle for Britain, the significant contribution of Ukrainians to the victory over Nazism, the mass transition of Russians to the Wehrmacht, which is not surprising given the actions of party workers and law enforcement officers. But World War II constantly throws us new information, striking, shocking, forcing us to rethink certain ideas and views. Addressing this topic is also relevant given that it has become an important component of the modern ideological war against Ukraine, which requires from us an adequate, scientifically sound answer.

Exactly 80 years ago, Nazi Germany, at the height of its triumph, in the light of military victories and the status of master of Europe, attacked the Soviet Union in order to eliminate a competitor on the path to world domination. There is still controversy over whether it was an act of treachery or a preemptive strike, and why did the leaders of the two totalitarian states turn from allies into fierce enemies, once again confusing the cards of the then political players?

Many questions remain, but it is a well-known fact that it was Adolf Hitler who decided, figuratively speaking, to cross the Rubicon and thus pass the point of no return in relations between the two states, to initiate the German-Soviet war traditionally fought in the former Soviet Union and modern Russia. called the Great Patriotic War.

 

On December 18, 1940, the F?hrer signed Directive 21 under the code name "Barbarossa", the strategic basis of which was the theory of blitzkrieg - a lightning war against the USSR. According to this document, within 1.5-2 months, in the worst case - within five months, the complete defeat of the Red Army and the withdrawal of German troops on the line Arkhangelsk-Kuibyshev-Astrakhan. In the future, it was planned to completely liquidate the Soviet state and create 4 German provinces on its territory. It was decided to blow up or flood Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, and a number of other Soviet cities.

It provided for the mass extermination of entire nations, which Hitler called "inferior nations" that had no right to exist. He openly stated that 30 million Slavs needed to be exterminated, and then the population would be regulated in the amount needed to serve the Aryan race. In May 1940, a directive was adopted to develop the Ost Plan, according to which the territory of the Baltics, Belarus, Ukraine and the European part of Russia was to be inhabited by Germans and included in Germany after colonization, and the inhabitants of these regions should be deported to Western Siberia. .

As you know, the "Rubicon" was crossed on June 22, 1941. The battle of the two titans began, which lasted 1418 days. The invading army numbered 190 divisions - 5.5 million men, more than 4,000 tanks, 47,000 guns and mortars, 4,500 aircraft, and up to 200 ships. The USSR Army was able to field about 3 million soldiers and commanders, 1,800 heavy and medium tanks, and 1,540 newly designed aircraft.

The beginning of the war turned into a real catastrophe for the Soviet Union. As early as the beginning of August 1941, the Soviet army of the first composition was virtually destroyed, and it seemed that nothing could stop the German army on its way to Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev. But further developments took an unexpected turn for German plans, significantly reducing the degree of previous euphoria. All the new Soviet divisions appeared behind the broken defense and immediately entered the battle. It became clear that Germany underestimated its enemy, its military and industrial potential, inexhaustible human resources. The problem for the Nazis was the vast territory of the USSR, which, firstly, created conditions for the evacuation of industrial facilities in the east of the country with the subsequent establishment of military production, and secondly - allowed Soviet troops to constantly retreat, thwarting German plans to implement Polish or French versions. In addition, the Red Army, gradually coming out of the coma, began to put up a decent resistance, reducing the pace of the enemy's offensive. For the Wehrmacht - a fighter who used to win in the first round by knockout, the gong sounded. Ahead was the second round, full of uncertainty.

But the Red Army paid a high price for being able to catch their breath and win for a while. In the first month of the war, it lost about 1 million people, including 300,000 dead and 700,000 prisoners. And for the period from June to December 1941, Soviet military losses amounted to 3 million 138 thousand soldiers, 6 million small arms, 20 thousand tanks, 10 thousand aircraft. The territory of the USSR, captured by the Wehrmacht, exceeded 1.5 million square kilometers - three times more than the territory of France. For comparison, during the same period, the losses of German ground forces amounted to about 750 thousand people, aviation - several thousand aircraft.

The reasons for this situation lie on the surface and they are quite objective. The Third Reich was at that time a powerful industrial empire, which employed the industry of virtually all European countries. As a result of the occupation of Europe, Germany received more than 200 enemy divisions. In France alone, the Nazis captured nearly 5,000 tanks and armored personnel carriers and about 3,000 aircraft. As for the Soviet armament, a significant part of it was significantly inferior to the German in terms of quality. These included aircraft, small arms, anti-tank and anti-aircraft artillery, and especially radio communications.

In addition, Germany had a two-year, very successful experience of the war in Europe and was far ahead of the Soviet military in training. The Red Army was severely weakened by the "Great Terror" of 1937-1938, which destroyed many talented and enterprising military professionals.

 

A huge negative role was also played by the obvious Germanophilism of the Soviet leadership, which from the very beginning set a course for rapprochement with Germany and confrontation with the countries of Western democracies. Already in the summer of 1925, a military aviation school was established in Lipetsk, where about 120 German pilots and ground aerodrome personnel were trained at the Fokkers. At the tank school near Kazan "Kama" where tests of German-made tanks were conducted and about 30 German tankers were trained. North of Samara in 1928, with the participation of the Germans, spraying of poisonous gases from planes was practiced, and chemical mines and grenades were tested. In turn, 19 officers of the highest echelon of the Red Army were trained at the courses of the General Staff of Germany. More than half of the members of the Revolutionary Military Council of that period had official contacts with the German General Staff and went "to share experiences." There are reports that at least 20 German aviation cadets from Lipetsk and 10 tankers trained in the Kama served in the general's shoulder straps in Germany. As a result, in the summer of 1941, the advancing German units were often commanded by officers who had undergone professional training on Soviet soil.

The tragedy of the first months of the war, the critical situation in which the Red Army soldiers found themselves and their sacrifice, the disenfranchised position of the Soviet people in the occupation and the brutal face of Nazism are vividly illustrated by Nadezhda Lopukhova's 1941, Amshey Nuremberg's Fascists in the Museum (1943), Peter Kodiev's "Occupation" (1954) and Alexander Parchevsky's "On Vultures - Fire!" (1965). Part of the work is devoted to the People's Resistance Movement, including "Liberation. From the series "Years of Occupation" (1969) by N. Popov and a sketch for the painting "Partisans" (1975) by Vladimir Fedorov.

The June Rubicon of 1941 is an eloquent reflection of the most tragic period of the Soviet-German war by means of fine arts, the desire to make one think about the consequences of the excessive ambitions of individual politicians capable of sacrificing millions of lives for the realization of their conquests. - this is not romance, or a kind of cool action movie, but grief, suffering, pain, blood, this is our answer "Never again!" to those who shout "We can make it again!".

 

Oleg Yurchenko - Head of Tourism, Local Lore and Information work Department

Kropyvnytskyi Art Museum