Thursday, July 4, 2013

newsreel 07/41

July 4, 1941. Vichy French version of Deutsche Wochenschau No. 564 on the beginning of the German invasion of Russia. Translation by Olivenstein: On the 22 June 1941 on Radio Berlin, Dr. Goebbels, Reich propaganda minister, reads the Fuhrer's proclamation stigmatising Russian bolshevik action which for twenty years with its duplicitous diplomacy, tried to set Europe ablaze. For his part, at six in the morning, Mr Ribbentrop, foreign minister, reveals to German and the international press the note from the government of the Reich to the Soviet government. From the glacial Arctic ocean to the Black Sea, that is to say a front of 3,000 kilometres, German forces have taken position. Finnish and Rumanian divisions march on the side of the Reich. Italy, Hungary, then Slovakia also joined the anti-Bolshevik crusade. On the East Prussian front, camouflage barriers are torn down. A frontier guard rail is struck down. The German attack of Kovno in Lithuania, which along with Vilna, was occupied in two days. The Lithuanian border. Siberian sharpshooters fiercely defend this frontier village. The first prisoners. Soon, in spite of the resistance of 160 Red Army divisions the frontiers are crossed at every point. The San River is reached. The Soviet border. Beams are laid to enable trucks to use the rail bridge. The speed of the German attacks surprised the Russians such that bridges mined well in advance did not explode. In less than seven days, 2,233 trucks and armoured vehicles and 600 artillery pieces have fallen into German hands. Similarly, 60,000 men were taken prisoner. In parallel with the foot soldiers' advance, German aviation attacks Soviet airfields. Equally in less than a week, 4,107 parked aircraft were destroyed. Above Soviet territory, the Luftwaffe destroys communication centres and airfields. The struggle for the defense of the West is on. The biggest offensive that has ever been witnessed in the course of history has started."

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