Generals Chuikov & Gurov check the rifle of famed sniper Vassili Zaitsev at Stalingrad -- Daily LIFT #193

Generals Chuikov & Gurov check the rifle of famed sniper Vassili Zaitsev at Stalingrad -- Daily LIFT #193

Zaitsev, the most effective sniper of the battle that turned the tide against the Nazis, meets with Soviet generals during the battle.

The Battle of Kursk Begins, July 5, 1943

On July 5, 1943 the genocidal Nazi invaders of the Soviet Union launched what would be their last great offensive in the east, an epic conflagration that would later be called the Battle of Kursk and that would last until the end of August. After weeks of intense fighting the soldiers of the Red Army beat back the Nazis at tremendous cost and turned the tide once and for all on the Eastern Front.

Kursk was the largest tank battle in human history and after Kursk -- though many hard days were still ahead -- the people of the Soviet Union through their courage and sacrifice had laid the path that would lead to the total defeat of the Third Reich in the streets Berlin just under two years later.

Here we look at an account of the battle with photographs that was published in Soviet Life Magazine in 1985. We must never forget the heroic sacrifices of the Red Army and the peoples of the USSR in the defeat of Nazism and fascism, especially as far right regimes in Eastern Europe and elsewhere seek ever more brazenly to distort and erase this history.

See also: Second World War Hero Cities of the USSR w. photos and text 

Second World War Hero Cities of the USSR w. photos and text Part II

On June 22, 1941 Nazi Germany and its fascist allies launched their genocidal invasion of the Soviet Union. Over the course of what the Soviets called the Great Patriotic War an estimated 26 million of its citizens were killed and the country endured unimaginable devastation.

Despite early retreats and losses the people of the USSR and the Red Army turned the tide against the fascists and eventually drove all the way to Berlin. There can be no doubt that it was the Soviet Union and its people that played the greatest role in winning the Second World War in Europe and did so in the face of the very worst Nazi depravities and barbarism.

In 1965, in honour of the 20th anniversary of the victory. the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR designated Leningrad, Volgograd (Stalingrad), Kiev, Sevastopol, Odessa, and Moscow as Hero Cities for the extraordinary courage, resilience and endurance of their citizens resisting against the Nazis. Brest was declared a Hero Fortress in remembrance of the way its garrison held out for many days, even when surrounded, fighting with ever declining food, water and ammunition to the very last man. In later years the list of Hero Cities would be expanded to include Kerch, Novorossiysk, Minsk, Tula, Murmansk and Smolensk.

In 1975 a book was published honouring the original group of Hero Cities and Brest Fortress. With text in Russian, English, French, Spanish and German it looks at each city story. We see the destruction wrought by the Nazis, the heroism of Soviet resistance and the remarkable recovery and rebuilding in the wake of the war, which is one of the great accomplishments of Soviet socialism. There are many photographs both from the period of the war and then of the monuments, people and rebuilt cities after it.

In this second of two parts we look at the Hero Cities of Sevastopol, Moscow and, of course Volgograd (Stalingrad). It is at Stalingrad that the grave of Nazi Germany first began to be truly dug. In addition to the photos in the book we have also included two more postcard images of the great monument to the fallen at Stalingrad, The Motherland Calls, which is situated atop the strategic height of Mamayev Kurgan that was a focal point of the battle.

We have looked at this before in our post: Mamayev Kurgan -- Taken by Red Army Troops in Stalingrad, January 26, 1943

You can find the first part here: Second World War Hero Cities of the USSR w. photos and text Part I

(Click on scans to enlarge)