DUNELLEN HIGH SCHOOL: The Eastern Front

Sunday, April 1, 2012

The Eastern Front

Obviously the assignment has changed due to the lateness of my post. Unfortunately I ran into some technical difficulties so the assignment will be due on Tuesday instead of Monday.

For this assignment you have been asked to examine the Eastern Front. The war in the east was far larger and nastier than the war in the west. For this reason I want everyone to research and find something that they did not know anything about prior to this assignment. Please try and search further than the Battle of Stalingrad for a topic (although if you post early, that might be an option). Look into famous soldiers, important battles, the use of propaganda, the influence of women on the war, the atrocities by either side, etc. Be sure to include the link you analyzed and/or a video that will help the reader to understand your topic better.

After you have posted an original topic, you need to respond to someone else's post. In your response be sure to analyze the information and the link/video that has been posted.

65 comments:

Stephanie HApril 1, 2012 at 11:26 PM
First post... finally! :D

The battles on the Eastern Front constituted the largest military confrontations in history and were characterized by ferocity, massive destruction, and immense loss of life due to various reasons (combat, disease, starvation, and massacres). The Eastern Front was also the site of nearly all the extermination camps, death marches, and ghettos – all of which were central to the Holocaust (Don’t forget the Gulags!). This massive loss of life totaled to 70 MILLION, 30 MILLION of which were civilians.

I was especially interested in the men involved on the Eastern Front, principally those who made a profound impact on a large battlefront in an even larger war. One of the men I came across was SS General Dr. Oskar Dirlewanger, also known as the “Butcher of the Eastern Front,” and “Leader of the Madmen.” He was the founder and commander of the band of criminals who became one of the most notorious units of WWII. He was a decorated army officer from WWI, having won both classes of the Iron Cross, and volunteered in the Spanish Civil War alongside other Nazis. However, he was arrested multiple times on molestation charges and considered loathsome by the standards of the SS. In June 1940, he was put in charge of assembling and commanding an anti-partisan (operations against the various resistance movements during World War II by the Axis powers) security unit from all of the convicted poachers sitting in German prisons. The unit was named SS-Sonderkommando Dirlewanger after its commander. It was sent to the Eastern Front and held the worst record for atrocities there. It then expanded to a battalion and then to a three battalion regiment in 1943, combining concentration camps, POW centers, and every institution/group/organization that attracted the worst of the worst, as well as those considered unfit to serve in normal regiments – including murders and homosexuals.
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Stephanie HApril 1, 2012 at 11:29 PM
The brutal character of the entire unit certainly had roots in its commander. Dirlewanger was a convicted child molester and rapist, who only escaped a concentration camp through military service. While in command, he was extremely paranoid and prone to giving extreme orders, which included enforcing his own kind of battlefield discipline. In fact, he ordered several of his own men shot after he believed discipline had been breached. However, this was nothing compared to what he did in his operations. He directed the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians and even took a part in the massacres.
I also thought it was fascinating that the information of his torture and murder at the hands of the Polish in the jail in Althausen was not known for a long time, which led to many fantastic stories of sightings of him all over the world.
http://www.thedarkpaladin.com/dirlewanger.htm
- This link includes more information about Dirlewanger and his unit. There are some neat photos of medals and the members of the unit. Informative!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW_FvuCGT2Y&feature=related&skipcontrinter=1
- This video has some great photos of Dirlewanger and his unit on the Eastern Front.
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MalloryApril 2, 2012 at 12:10 AM
Women have been put down and looked aside throughout history. To men their duties were to care and tend to the children and her husband. War changes everything, including the way that some men view women,

"My superiors made no distinction between male and female regiments of which the girls were very proud. I must admit, however, I sometimes wished they remembered that our regiment consisted of women, and would not send them into the very hell. Every pilot, every crew member became dear to me. I loved them all, was proud of them, and dreaded the possibility that any one of them might not return...," wrote Major Valentin Markov (http://webhome.idirect.com/~kjcottam/airwar.htm)

Women were an asset to the War on the Eastern Front. Some women did stay back to cover the jobs of those men enlisted in the war, without them the economy would have sunk and Russia might not have been able to keep up during war. 800,000 women served in the Soviet Armed Forces. They served as pilots, snipers, machine gunners, tank crew members and partisans, as well as in auxiliary roles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N90Qk1kzNLI <<< This video is a short clip showing great footage from the war, it also takes the time in the beginning to recognize those women who fought during WWII on the Soviet side.
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ChrisApril 2, 2012 at 7:47 AM
The eastern front was a devastatig front for both the Germans and the Russians. The Germans began their attack with operation Barbarossa. This brought the Germans to the gates of Moscow. However, eventually the Germans had staggering defeats at places such as Stalingrad. After Stalingrad the German army was in retreat. Hitler did not like the retreat and thought that the allies would think that the Germans were weak. The Germans also believed that the Russians were becoming weak because of the failure of the opening of a second front. However, Hitler chose to go on the offensive. The last major German offensive on the Eastern front was the battle of Kursk. The Germans grouped 900,000 soldiers, 10,000 artillery guns, 2,700 tanks and 2,000 aircraft. This was the equivalent of about one third of the German strength in the region. The Russians had 1.3 million men in the region. They had 20,000 artillery pieces, 3,600 tanks, and 2,400 tanks. The size of the armies is staggering. Before the battle began, German shock troopers were captured by the Russians. The Russians discovered the time of the offensive. The Russians began a mass bombardment of the German line to halt the offensive. It took the Germans two hours to regroup. The Russians also laid down miles of mines for the German infantry and tanks. 400,000 mines were laid and this equates to about 2,400 anti-tank mines and 2,700 anti-personal mines per square mile. The Russian civilians even helped create thousands of miles of trenches. Also, the Russian civilians created tank traps for the defensive line. The amount of soldiers the Russians had, outweighed the German numbers. The Germans failed to create a bulge in the Kursk salient and were in retreat again.
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ChrisApril 2, 2012 at 7:48 AM
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_kursk.htm

Here is a website about the battle of Kursk. It goes into more detail.
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Avary CampbellApril 2, 2012 at 11:37 AM
So I decided to talk about Vasily Zaitsev the Russian sniper that was involved with the eastern front. He was said to be a hero of the Soviet Union who killed an abundant amount of Nazi soldiers. I found it interesting to see that he was born poor and yet ended up turning into someone who was important in the war. I learned that he became such a good shooter because bullets were scarce during that time and he was forced to learn to kill the animals using only one. He volunteered to move up to the front line once he was involved in the war. His commanding officer saw his potential when he told him to shoot an enemy from 800 meters away. After killing two more men from this distance he was put into the position of a sniper. His work with sniping and achievements began the sniping movement in the Red army. Here was one of his famous quotes “For us there was no land beyond the Volga,” He also had a knack at finding good hiding places and shooting from them. His nick name was the super sniper.
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JackieApril 2, 2012 at 12:51 PM
This comment has been removed by the author.
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JackieApril 2, 2012 at 1:44 PM
While the Soviets were pushing the Germans west, the Home Army in Warsaw, Poland came up with a plan to liberate the city from Nazi control. The plan was nationwide, named Operation Tempest. The people of Warsaw wanted to push the Germans out of the city just as the Russians were advancing to help the Allied cause against the Axis powers. They also wanted to liberate Warsaw before the Russians could get the chance to remind the world of their independence, something they had been extremely lacking in. Also, they of course wanted to end the Germans taking their people to concentration camps.

The Home Army managed to take control of central Warsaw, but the Soviets had stopped short in their advance, allowing the Germans to focus their attention on Poland. The Poles were in trouble, and they reached out for their closest allies, the Russians. Unfortunately, their common enemy didn’t drive the Russians to help, and they ignored the Polish attempts at communication. The Russians didn’t want Poland to defeat Germany because after the war, they planned on taking Poland for themselves. The Poles did have one ally, though, and the British were able to send over some supplies, which was joined by American supplies shortly after.

It wasn’t until 1944 that the Russians trapped Nazi forces in Poland, causing a colossal defeat for Germany. While the Germans were in Warsaw, they systematically destroyed eight-five percent of the city’s infrastructure, killing 16,000 Polish soldiers and 200,000 civilians. Many people were taken to concentration camps.
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Financial GuruApril 2, 2012 at 2:02 PM
For my conversation about the Eastern Front, I wanted to talk about the Battle of Berlin. This battle was one of the most important battles of the war because it marked the end of the war through the Russian destruction of Berlin. It had both vital importance in the Western and Eastern Front, but it is officially considered a battle of the Eastern Front. It was fought between April and May 1945, and the Russian victory saw the end of Hitler's Third Reich and the occupation of the city by the Red Army before it was divided into four as a result of the wartime meetings between the Allies.

After the Battle of Stalingrad, which acted as the turning point of the war, the Russians began to push the German forces back to their capital city of Berlin. The Soviet offensive into central Germany, what later became East Germany, had two objectives. Stalin did not believe the Western Allies would hand over territory occupied by them in the post-war Soviet zone, so he began the offensive on a broad front and moved rapidly to meet the Western Allies as far west as possible. But the overriding objective was to capture Berlin. The two goals were complementary because possession of the zone could not be won quickly unless Berlin was taken. Another consideration was that Berlin itself held useful post-war strategic assets, including Adolf Hitler and the German atomic bomb program. When the offensive resumed after proper preparations, two Soviet army groups attacked Berlin from the east and south, while a third overran German forces positioned north of Berlin. The Battle in Berlin lasted from April 20, 1945 until the morning of May 2nd.

Before the main battle in Berlin commenced, the Soviets managed to encircle the city as a result of their success in the battles of the Seelow Heights and Halbe. During the 20th of April, 1945, the 1st Belorussian Front led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov started shelling Berlin's city centre, while Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front had pushed in the north through the last formations of Army Group Centre. The offensive began with thousands of artillery and rockets called “Stalin Organs” opening a huge sustained barrage for days. On April 16, the First and Second Belorussian Fronts and the First Ukrainian Front, which boxed in Berlin from the North, West, and South, attacked. By April 24 the three army groups had completed the encirclement of the city.

On April 20, Hitler feeling hopeless ordered the Twelfth Army facing the Americans and the Ninth Army to break into Berlin and relieve the siege. Neither unit was able to get through. Berlin’s fate was sealed, but the resistance continued. Fighting was heavy, with house-to-house and hand-to-hand combat. The Soviets sustained 305,000 dead; the Germans sustained as many as 325,000, including civilians.

On April 30, Adolf Hitler married Eva Braun, took cyanide and shot himself. Berlin surrendered on May 2. An infantry soldier, Sergeant Shcherbina, was credited with raising the Red Flag on the top of the Reichstag which signaled the effective end of the battle. Soviet soldiers ransacked the city, raping 100,000 German women of all ages and looting anything of value. The Battle of Berlin was over, and with it went the Third Reich. The thousand-year Reich had lasted for twelve years, and 50 million people were dead. The German Surrender was signed on May 7 in Rheims, France.
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Mike HongApril 2, 2012 at 2:09 PM
Friedrich Paulus became deputy chief of staff of the Army General Staff in 1940 during World War II. Paulus was a major contributor to the planning of Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. In January 1942, he became commander of the 6th Army, which operated on the Eastern Front in the Caucasus area. After taking part in the successful capture of Kharkov in May, Paulus moved his army towards Stalingrad. In October 1942, he had captured most of the city. During the next month, however, the Soviet forces began a massive counter-attack and eventually surrounded the 6th Army. In January 1943, Hitler promoted Paulus to Field Marshal hoping that it would impel Paulus to lead a suicidal last stand. After harsh fighting for many months, however, Paulus surrendered his forces on February 2, 1943. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Soviets until 1953. He died in Dresden, Germany a few years later.
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therealkevinpuckettApril 2, 2012 at 4:04 PM
Surprisingly this is still out there, so i'll talk about the Battle of Stalingrad. It was the largest and most brutal battle on the eastern front. It was a battle full of blatant disregard for the well being of both military personel and civilians. Combined casualty estimates are around 2 million!!!! That is a lot of people. This war is also noted as the turning point, the point in which the Germans lost control of the war allowing for an allied victory. This battkle started in the summer of 1942. The Luftwaffe led the way with heavy bombing reducing much of this city to rubble. There were times in the battle where the Germans controlled as much as 90% of the city. The never could quite finnish off the las of the defense. This defense clung heavily to the west bank of the Volga. Once November rolled around, the axis troops in Stalingrad were in trouble. The Red Army launched operation Uranus. This plan had Red Army forces surround the German forces within by killing the Romanian and Hungarian troops who stood guard. The flanks were infultrated. Once the troops were surrounded, they were cut off entirely. The Russian winter brought cold days. The poor conditions, coupled with starvation and ongoing attacks, caused the attack to fail. The Germans would fail to make any impact in the east after this battle. By February 1943 it was over in Stalingrad. Something i read was that Hitler's ideologies proved to be the death of the remaining soldiers who were trapped in Stalingrad. His ideas of will power and standing fast were detrimental to his troops who sought refuge. Upon losing their war with Russia, Germany could not be the world powerit wanted to be. And by entering these brutal death filled battles to the far east, Germany had spread themselves too thin. Thus allowing an easier defeat with an opening of the second front. It was interesting to see how close the Germans came to taking Stalingrad at times. Had those last men on the Vulga River given in, the entire dynamic of the world could have been altered as the Germans may have won WWII.
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David BreckenridgeApril 2, 2012 at 6:15 PM
Battle of Moscow
Before the battle. As Hitler began to believe that he would be able to just walk right over the Red Army after his initial attacks from the Blitzkrieg. But with all of their success they had to remember that when you are in a war you also have casualties, within one month of fighting they had lost over 100,000 men, 50% of their tanks and over 1200 planes, along with their need to split their forces between both fronts. As the Russian winter started to approach the Russian troops were preparing to go right into the bitter conditions. Field Marshall von Bock ordered all troops to join together in Moscow, where he was equipped with around 1 million men, 1700 tanks, 19,500 artillery guns, and 950 aircrafts. With this to fight against the Russians had less than 500,000 men, a little fewer than 900 tanks and 300 planes.
As the battle began the Russians declared that they would never surrender even if they were offered this by the Germans. All major roads that led to Moscow were now occupied by the Germans and many Red Army soldiers were engulfed by the enemy at Vyazma and near Bryansk. These two groups of armies brought major problems to the Germans because they had to deal with them before they could move on. With this attack coming from the Germans, Moscow was equipped with 422 miles of anti-tank ditches, 812 miles of barbed wire and 30,000 firing points. With the supplies that they needed to help was brought by around 120 trains daily while the Germans only could manage a pitiful 23 trains a day which wasn’t enough when they needed to have around 70 to keep them satisfied.
When December came the Russians started a counterattack. Within 20 days the Germans were dealt with 155,000 men that were killed, wounded or fell victim to frostbite, 800 tanks and 300 guns destroyed. Attacks were taken place in weather that reached sub-zero temperatures at negative 20 degrees at night. Along with the weather Hitler had ordered to take 800,000 men from the western front and move them to the east and shattering any chance in success with ‘Operation Sealion’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd6egExrJGo

This is a documentary that shows the life in Moscow during the war.
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MattApril 2, 2012 at 6:18 PM
I felt it would be interesting to research General Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, who was a major general of the Red Army and many other armies at the time of WWII. To get a look of his earlier life, Chuikov was the fifth of eight sons in his family, all of which were forced to fight in the Russian Civil War at a young age. After leaving his family to pursue his own interests, he became recruited into the Red Guards, and later entered the Red Army of Russia. He climbed to the rank of commander pretty fast, and soon found himself leading armies against the White Army. I didn’t know much about this guy at first, but he was a real war hero. He was wounded four times in battle, and received a few awards from the Order of the Red Banner for his heroism and bravery. He had been partially paralyzed in his arm due to a fragment he received in 1920, which he had to carry for the rest of his life.

In WWII though, he commanded the 4th Army in the invasion of Poland in the year 1939. Chikov was also involved in the Russo-Finish War, and almost pushed the Japanese into the Second Sino Japanese War. The Battle of Stalingrad is where Chuikov received a pretty high position. Beginning with commanding the 64th Army, he worked his way up the 62nd Army, a much more 'important' army to Russia, which was to hold Stalingrad during the battle. One tactic that was developed under him was "hugging the enemy". Sounds funny when you put it that way, but in reality, it was a pretty effective tactic. Soviets would keep the German armies so close to them that it would minimize the firepower they would normally be able to unleash on them.

Chuikov used his military genius to stomp through Poland. During this journey, he was in control of the 8th Guards Army, which was what his original 62nd regiment was redesignated to after his victory at Stalingrad. Usually within a day, his army would travel up to 40 miles! During the march across Poland, he learned of hitler's suicide (the first of the Allied officers to find this out), and soon accepted the surrender of Berlin and the forces under General Helmuth Weidling. There were so many battles this guy was in, and it was amazing to see how he went from commanding one army to another, and was able to use each to his advantage.
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Kimberlymcdougall06April 2, 2012 at 6:23 PM
Someone who has yet to be mentioned on this blog is a man that goes by the name of Georgy Zhukov. As you can probably tell by his name, he is a vital Russian man of the military, who ultimately achieved greatness for the Soviet Union during World War II. He was born into a hardworking, peasant family; His mother was a farm hand, and his mother was a shoemaker. Throughout his entire life, he was described as someone who was dedicated to a specific cause. As he grew older, the army called out for him. Georgy served in the Russian military during World War I as an officer. He was then also involved in the Russian Civil War. In the duration of that war, he acclaimed the title of cavalry commander for the communist Red Army. Although fighting in the civil war ceased on the battlefield, Georgy did not halt his studies about warfare. He was greatly interested in war, and did his best during the ceasefire to educate himself more about it. All of his education and drive was a leading factor as to why he survived all of the purges in the Russian army. Stalin had his eye on Georgy, however in a positive way. In 1940, Georgy was given the full title of general in the Russian army, and he was also appointed to the position of chief of staff. When the Soviet Union becomes completely submerged in World War II, Georgy is assigned to the army general headquarters in Moscow. Although a very intelligent individual, especially when it comes to war, Georgy didn't have the greatest relationship with the hot-headed, Joseph Stalin. After a disagreement about whether to withdraw from Kiev, Georgy resigned from chief of staff. He was placed in the Central Front, to fend off the Germans from attacking Moscow, and he was able to assist in the resistance. By 1942, Georgy was under the title of Marshal in the Russian army, and considered commander in chief of defense. After heading the disastrous Operation Mars, he is able to redeem himself in breaking through the German blockade in Leningrad. This concludes his action on the battlefield during World War II.
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MattApril 2, 2012 at 6:24 PM
http://www.theeasternfront.co.uk/commanders/russian/chuikov.htm

Definitely a good source to check out. Goes into a lot more detail about what this guy did during the battles of WWII, and also how he moved from one rank to another.
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ValApril 2, 2012 at 7:14 PM
I found in my research for the war on the Eastern Front to be very interesting, especially the use or lack of air fighters. I found that in the late 1930’s the Soviet Union had suffered a series of purges, and Stalin had begun killing Russians because of them being an opposition to his regime. Stalin had even imprisoned and killed aircraft designers, and exterminated ¾ of the leaders of the air force. Pilots began to feel afraid to fly with the thought that any mistake could be seen as possible sabotage for the VVS (Russian air force.) When Russia was warned about Hitler’s Operation Barbarossa by the British and a spy in Tokyo, Stalin refused to accept the idea feeling that Germany would not dishonor the Non-Aggression Pact. Operation Barbarossa began on June 22nd, with thirty bombers attacking the airfields of Western Russia. As a result, 1,489 aircrafts were destroyed on land within the first day, and over 4,000 VVS aircrafts were demolished by the end of the week. While the Soviet bomber pilots were sent out to meet the Germans, their lack of experienced leadership was clear due to their tight formations, and maintaining of steady altitudes and courses. The Russians were easy targets due to their lack of gunners and fighter escorts, causing the German Luftwaffe to score many victories in the air against the Russians. Erich Hartmann became Germany’s all-time leader in air victories earning 352 successes most of which were against the Russians. Yet despite all of this, the Soviets had managed to develop a strong aircraft industry, for example they debuted a MiG 3 high altitude interceptor which could out speed any aircraft that the Luftwaffe had (this aircraft was unknown previous to the invasion.) Stalin even made one plane a priority in terms of production calling it, “like air, like bread,” meaning that it was absolutely necessary for the Russians to have it. The plane was called the Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik, it was a low altitude attack aircraft, and was indestructible to ground fire, making it a devastating ground attack against the Germans, causing them to call it the “Black Death.” While the Germans wanted to reach Moscow before winter, the cold weather of November caused their aircrafts use a fire underneath the engine in order to start them because they could not handle the subzero weather. The Russians’ planes were much better equipped and were made to handle to harshness of the cold weather. They continued to better equip and create aircrafts which resulted in them help drive the Germans out of Russia and boarders of Moscow. I found this to be very interesting because I had no idea how insufficient Russia’s aircrafts and pilots had been for the war. Yet their continued efforts to create better aircrafts and experienced pilots helped them push Germany out and secure their safety.
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ValApril 2, 2012 at 7:17 PM
http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/WW2/Air%20Power%20on%20the%20Eastern%20Front%20in%20World%20War%202.htm
This was the site that I used, it was very interesting and well informing as to the war on the western front, especially between Germany and the Soviet Union. They have some pictures and maps that really express what was going on in terms of territorial gains and battles.
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ValApril 2, 2012 at 7:28 PM
These are History Channel's videos on Russia's aviation and the issues they faced during WWII. They are a bit long, but they are interesting even if you only watch a few minutes from each.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYq2pdjlumc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJJirXbDF_I&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqk-b7EtE20&feature=relmfu
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JeffreyApril 3, 2012 at 3:49 AM
I have decided to do my post on a very interesting man named Tuvia Bielski, who by the end of the war had command of his own little resistance group of Jewish people. When the Germans invaded Russia in June of 1941, Bielski and his brother Zus vowed never to be found by the Germans and be sent to one of the terrible concentration camps or worse be killed. Tuvia had an extensive knowledge of the area from living in Stankiewicze of western Belorussia. There was also a warrant out for his arrest but because he could move around and hide in numerous places, he was not caught. In early 1942, he spawned an idea through rumors of partisans and believed that if he did not get more of his fellow Jews together then they would all be killed. He decided that they must acquire arms and organize all-Jewish resistance groups. He along with his two brothers Zus and Asael began organizing Jews. By May of 1942, Tuvia was in command of a small group. This group had grew to a staggering 1200 strong by the end of the war. They took up the name Bielski otriad. The main focus of the group was not to seek out the Germans and kill them for what they have been doing. They simply wanted to save as many Jews as they could. There was no exception. If you were Jewish, you were in. Konstantin Kozlovski, who was not Jewish himself but helped shelter some escaping Jews escaping from the ghetto at Novogrudok, helped to free hundreds of Jewish people from the ghettos. The otriad carried out food raids, killed German collaborators and sometimes carried out missions along with a Russian partisan group. Their main focus was anti-Nazi missions. They would sometimes go and burn food supplies of the Germans such as wheat fields so they could not eat. They would send guides to the ghettos for people who were willing to risk death and escape to the forest. By summer of 1943, the otriad was 700 strong. They set up shop in the Nalibocka forest. Here, they created their own community and worked together the support the community whether that would be being a butcher, a doctor or nurse in one of the hospitals they set up, a teacher in one of the school houses for children, worker in the soap factory or even a tailor for clothes. They would help provide for other partisan groups as well in exchange for things like food and arms. By the summer of 1944, the group was 1200 strong and consisted mostly of women, children and the elderly. This was the largest of all the partisan groups. So many people that followed Tuvia survived because of his terrific leadership and his will to fight and save as many Jews as he could. He later moved to Israel and then to the United States where he died at the age of 81. Stories like this really make you wish there were more people willing to do this in the war and take the risk that this man took. Truly a remarkable man.
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JeffreyApril 3, 2012 at 3:51 AM
http://www.jewishpartisans.org/t_switch.php?pageName=mini+bio+short+bio+1&fromSomeone=&parnum=4
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Jose SozaApril 3, 2012 at 4:53 AM
THought this was about germany and such, it shows some great footage of thewar on the eastern front.

http://bcove.me/f7l1cqj3
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Carlos LabandaApril 3, 2012 at 5:08 AM
A topic I decided to research and talk about is the Lidice Massacre which occurred on June, 10th 1941. It started when two Czech patriots serving in Britain volunteered to parachute in near Prague with the task of assassinating SS Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. This act took place May 27, 1942 and was indeed sucessful as he was severely wounded, he was rushed to Bulovka Hospital where he died eight days later. Nazis catching wind of this quickly took action in afew days, 3,188 Czech citizens were arrested snd 1,357 were shot and killed. Another 657 died while being interrogated by SS police. On June 9th armed police surrounded Lidice, not far from Prague and gathered together the entire population in a tiny square. Boys over 15 were lined up with the men of the village and locked away in barns. Women and children were forced into schools for the night while houses were ransacked, the pillaging went on all night. On June 10th the women and children were bundled into trucks and driven away. The police then got numberous mattresses from the ransacked houses and put them up against the wall of the barn to prevent ricochets. The men and boys were then brought out 10 at a time, lined up in front of the mattresses and then shot and killed. 173 innocent people were killed in this massacre, as it would forever be known as a dark day in Czechoslavakia. In fact once Churchill got news of this atrocity five days later he wanted to seek havoc on three German villages for committing such horrible acts. This was never carried out owing to moral objections put forward by the then deputy Prime Minister.
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Carlos LabandaApril 3, 2012 at 5:17 AM
Image of Massacre:
http://wolfsonianfiulibrary.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/lidice_massacre.jpg

Image of Massacre: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c9/Lidice_massacred_men.jpg/350px-Lidice_massacred_men.jpg

Image of Memorial "Remembering the Lidice Massacre":
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/images/Memorial%20to%20the%20children%20of%20Lidice.jpg

Image of Pillaging: http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/images/highres_30024551%20copy.jpg
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Stephanie HApril 3, 2012 at 5:46 AM
http://www.theeasternfront.co.uk/Commanders/commandersindex.htm

This website is really neat because it lists a group of famous commanders and describes the events of their experience in the war.
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Jose SozaApril 3, 2012 at 5:54 AM
The Battle of Kursk, one of the bloodiest battles of the Eastern Front. The battle took place shortly after the defeat of the Germans at the Batlle of Stalingrad whcih cost the Germans many casualties and devestation. Hitler's plan of attack was to now focus on the area of Kursk where Soviet troops were sationed. The operatioin called "Citadle" called for an invasion of this bulge where the sovietts were held in order to cut of their armies and delay soviet preperations for attack long enogh to mobilize German troops.

The operation called for many of Germans atillery resources, almost 1/3 of it. 3,000 tanks were needed, 900,000 of soldiers and an abundance of both guns and aircrafts, making the Battle of Kursk the biggest tank battle of WW2.

Russians were quick to pick up on theattack and were soon prepearing for the imminent attack. The were equibed with 1.3 million soldiers, slightly more tanks and aircrats and enough ground atillery to push the Germans back from Kursk. The Russians also ordered a bombardment of German lines before the attack was to begin, crippling the morality of the German army since they now know their plan has been exposed.

Regardless, the Germans carried out their attack lining their tanks in waves. After a day of invasion, Germany was only able to gain 6 miles of land and loose much of their infrantry icluding tanks and aircraffts. Russians also saw a huge loss in tanks and aircrafts as well, yet were ablo to push back German lines. After much counter-attacks at the hands of the soviets, Germany was forced to retreat back, rendering a victory for the Soviets.

The battle cost many looses in both men and supplies on both sides, Germany lost thousands of men while loosing much more in defenses and supplies. The Batlle marks as one of the mojor turning points in the war for Germany, wome going as fas as to say that Kursk was the actuall signal of German defeat in WW2 as opposed to D-Day.
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Stephanie HApril 3, 2012 at 6:03 AM
I was doing some research on the vehicles used along the Eastern Front and was especially interested in the “Lend Lease Vehicles.” During the war, the Russians received a significant amount of assistance from the allies thanks to FDR’s Lend Lease Act. They received armoured cars, jeeps, and trucks. The vehicles they received gave the Russians an advantage over the Germans because they were able to launch large-scale offensives. These unstoppable offensives pushed the Germans out of Russia and carried the advance toward Poland.

One of the vehicles, the Carrier, Bren No.2 Mkl, or universal carrier, entered service 1936. It was designed as a scout machine for mechanized units. It was not a popular vehicle because its occupants were not protected from enemy fire. I really liked it because it was equipped with a Browning machine gun. Everyone who has played COD: World at War, specifically Nazi Zombies, knows how powerful this gun is and has been grateful when it emerged from the mystery box. This is further evidence of the new style of warfare used after WW1. Now extremely deadly machine guns rained upon the enemy.
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Stephanie HApril 3, 2012 at 6:17 AM
In regards to weaponry, I was reading about the German “stick hand grenade.” It was, simply, a heavy sheet metal can, filled with an explosive, screwed to a wood handle. It became popular in WWI, as soldiers began changing its shape and experimenting with different fillers. It was by far one of the most notorious German weapons thanks to its efficacy and advantage it had on sloppy terrain because it did not roll like egg-shaped explosives. In WWII they were further improved to make them cheaper and quicker to assemble/manufacture, in addition to being lighter for use. One famous variation includes smoke. The SS even developed its own specific model.

http://www.inert-ord.net/ger03a/gerhgr/stck/index.html
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codyApril 3, 2012 at 7:36 AM
While sitting in class Mr. Lubisco made reference to a legendary sniper battle that took place on the eatern front. While hearing this i started to recall a famed sniper i learned about years ago. Back in 8th grade Bobby, Vinnie, and Myself would play call of duty with a history major at old miss who told us about a Finnish sniper who fought in the winter war on the Russian side. His name was Simo Haya, or as they dubbed him "the white death". He was a sniper who used a personally owned and Mosin Nagant. He personally terrorized the Nazi war machine by racking up 505 confirmed kills with his rifle. More than any other sniper in any major war. He also added 200 kills with a Suamo sub machine gun. THis man is a perfect attestment to the grusome numbers of poeple lost in the war one man killed nearly 1,000 people by himself. It seems the gameplan for the eastern front was send in men until they're over whelmed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_H%C3%A4yh%C3%A4(not exactly an ideal source but it has the facts)
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Alex ToweyApril 3, 2012 at 7:39 AM
Unless I missed something I don't think anyone took the warsaw uprising yet so I'll talk about that. The warsaw uprising was a 63 day long conflict conducted by the Polish resistance Home Army to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The Soviet Union's Red Army also helped with the operation. However, when victory seemed close, the Soviet Union stopped their advance and left the Polish at the mercy of the German's, who bounced back and defeated them. The uprising was cohesive with the nationwide plan Operation Tempest, which was just a series of uprisings by the Polish. What the Polish wanted to do was drive the Germans out of their cities, which would allow them to help out with the bigger war and fight against the Axis powers. The Polish also wanted to liberate Warsaw before the Soviets arrived so they could assert their own sovereignty before the Soviets could assume control. The Soviets were very able to assist the operation as they had an air base mere minutes away, yet they halted their advance, which led to speculation that Stalin wanted the operation to fail, so he purposely neglected to assist. Churchill and FDR soon sent supplies over to help with the effort. The Polish forces eventually had to surrender though as they were running out of men and supplies. After the surrender, the Germans destroyed what was left of Warsaw. Later on, the Soviets moved in and took control of the city. Casualties for the Polish were about 16000 killed and 6000 wounded, with about 200000 civilians also dead. Germans had about 8000 dead and 9000 wounded. Just before the Soviets took over, the Germans had leveled about 85% of Warsaw.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWwarsawU.htm
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sergioApril 3, 2012 at 7:53 AM
I found a story that not even Bisco knew about. Its about a man named Eddie Chapman. Before WWII Eddie Chapman was born in Burnopfield, County Durham, England and served for the Coldstream Guards which was a regiment in the British Army. He then deserted and became a criminal. He was a safecracker in London and was arrested in Scotland. Afeter being let out on bail he went to Jersey in the Channel Islands. From there on he would be arrested again. He was imprisoned while the Germans raided the Channel Islands and talked his way into being a turn-coat agent for the Germans. He once had a mission to blow up an airfield factory that was developing the Mosquito aircraft. This was a mission that was ordered by the Germans and Chapman told British Intelligence who contrived a plan to blow up a part of the factory that wasnt in use. so for saving the Britsh factory and also giving the Germans the illusion that the mission was a success he was awarded the German Iron Cross and also a British War Decoration. Pretty interesting that Germany never found out about this and Chapman lived a full life until his death at 83 years old.
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sergioApril 3, 2012 at 7:55 AM
https://www.mi5.gov.uk/output/eddie-chapman-agent-zigzag.html

Heres a link with some info on him.
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BeckyApril 3, 2012 at 7:45 PM
One major event that seems to be overlooked was the Siege of Leningrad that lasted from September 1941 to 1944. Hitler had expected for the city of Leningrad to“fall like a leaf,” planning to surround and bombard Leningrad by air and artillery, and then let them suffer. The air bombers dropped pamphlets onto the city, telling the people that if they don't surrender they will starve. Lieutenant-General Popov, commander of the city's garrison, A. A. Zhdanov, head of the local party committee and P. Popov, head of the city's Soviet Executive, imposed martial law on the city. They had expected the Germans to attack and take over Leningrad, but the Germans took a different approach. They sieged Leningrad and cut them off from the rest of Russia. Supply lines were attacked, and very quickly Leningrad was rid of all its sources for food and supplies. As a result of this, Leningrad quickly lost food. It was estimated that they only had enough flour for 35 days, cereals for 30 days, meat for 33 days, fats for 45 days, and sugar for 60 days. The leaders tried to ration the food, giving first and foremost to soldiers and manual workers, then office workers, then children and everyone else. This didn't work out perfectly, because not everyone was informed about the food shortage, so the people were not conservative with the food, and restaurants continued selling what they'd already had. Those who had more money could also break the rationing.
As amounts of food became little to nothing, death by starvation became increasingly common. Workers who were constantly laboring who needed food were only getting less than ten percent of their normal calorie intake a day. By November, 1941, over 350 people were dying of starvation a day, often just collapsing on the streets. People were desperate for food. Attempts were made to more effectively use whatever they had available for food. Bread was made in a different way; cats and sheep intestines were stewed, and the resulting liquid was used as a substitute for milk. It was said that workers ate grease from factory machines, and drank oil from oil cans. It was also said that some ate their pets (cats and dogs) or even turned into cannibalism, digging up recently deceased bodies in the middle of the night. So many bodies had to be buried during this time, so they began burying them in the masses. When the winter came, the population was dying even faster, and explosives were used to make holes in the ground to put bodies in.
Efforts were then made to build a road to link Leningrad to a staging post called Zaborie. The road that was built was nicknamed the “Road of Life,”even though it was very narrow and very difficult to use. At one point, the nearby city of Tikhvin was recaptured by Russians and supplies were taken from the Germans and brought to Leningrad slowly on this path. Some also had the idea of using the frozen Lake Lagoda as a means of route to carry supplies over. The Russians had to wait, though, for the lake to freeze and be thick enough to hold trucks carrying supplies. The road and lake also allowed for people to flee the city, even though the leaders had urged the people not to because they might be captured outside the city by Germans.
It was estimated that by the end of 1942, the population had gone from 2.5 million in 1942 to 1 million. After 900 days, the siege was lifted after the Germans withdrew because of the advance of the Red Army. Interestingly, the people who had been leading Leningrad were arrested by Stalin for taking over leadership of the city without contacting outside sources for help.
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BeckyApril 4, 2012 at 8:00 AM
Mr. Lubisco (or anyone), in the descriptions about most of the weapons that I was reading, it almost always said that "production was halted in 1941." Sometimes it said production was resumed in 1942. I researched this because I was wondering why, but all I found was all the other weapons that were halted in this year. Was it because of money, or was it because the weapons became ineffective, or what?
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