The Second World War
You probably think that the Second World War began with Germany’s invasion of Poland in September, 1939. For many years, the Soviet Union stated that the Great Patriotic War began in June, 1941.
Why the discrepancy? Because just before Adolf Hitler sent the German Army into Poland in 1939, his foreign minister, Joachim Ribbentrop signed a non-aggression pact with Joseph Stalin’s foreign minister, Vyacheslav Molotov. The Germans swept into Poland from the west on 1 September, 1939. Seventeen days later the Soviet Army took eastern Poland.
Over the next two years, Hitler and Stalin were actually allies. Until, that is, Hitler had the German Army invade the Soviet Union on 22 June, 1941. What he thought would be a short and easy victory did not turn out that way.
You will read that some of our interviewees do not refer to the Germans or even the Nazis, but Fascists, which is the term many citizens of the Soviet Union use.
You will also read about Jews in the Soviet Army. Indeed, around a half million Jews served in the armed forces and around 198,000 fell in battle.
Note: since Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, the authorities no longer refer to it as The Great Patriotic War, but the Second World War.
As for antisemitism: many of our interviewees tell us they felt little antisemitism as they were growing up or in the Soviet Army. That all changed after the war.