On this day in 1941, Hitler invades the Soviet Union with nearly 4 million troops. The decision will ultimately cost him the war. pic.twitter.com/UG4wWlFzQw— Military History Now (@MilHistNow) June 22, 2018
WNU Editor: My father was always sombre on this day. He was studying at the University in Kiev that summer when the war happened. He got drunk at a party that night, and so he crashed at a park that overlooked a part of the city. He was awaken by German bombers in the early morning hours, and not knowing any better he and many others rushed to the devastation. As he told me later .... all that he saw was burning buildings and dismembered bodies, and he had no clue on what was happening. He was also very lucky .... the Germans always bombed in two waves, killing the rescuers in the second wave. But at that time .... for reasons still unknown .... there was no second wave. My father then took the train to his home (my grand-parents home), where he then learned on the radio after an hour of martial music that the Soviet Union was now at war with Nazi Germany. I still carry my father's tradition of remembering this day. Lighting a candle in our home. A shot of vodka at suppertime. A moment for reflection, remembrance, and being grateful that there were people like him who stopped the Nazis.
The picture below is my father's grave-site, his grandson, and the monument is 20 meters to the right of him (he always wanted to be near that monument).
3 comments:
Really cool WNU editor! I always appreciate these stories that you share.
Matthew, Lori, we are all truly lucky.
My deepest respect to you and the memory of your father. My understanding is that there was almost nobody in the then-Soviet Union who was not impacted by the war, particularly by the loss of family members to the Nazis. This has no doubt helped to shape Russian attitudes about war and military service. This is very different from the American situation where we as a country can be at war almost continuously for the past 30 years, yet most Americans aren't even aware of it and most of those who are are brainwashed by the lying propaganda behind them.
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