The Unknown War

On a pleasant June morning in 1941 nothing seemed more peaceful than Red Square and Moscow itself. It was early summer, and people were strolling along the broad streets, shopping in the big department stores or going to the country for the day.

On October 8, 1941, Hitler's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, broadcast from Berlin that Moscow had fallen. Hitler's troops could see the Kremlin towers from their front lines; another four or five days and the Nazi flag would fly over the Kremlin.

In the history of the Unknown War, Leningrad stands out as a symbol of the courage and persistence of the Russian people. For years Leningrad resisted capture by Hitler's forces.

This is the story of ordinary Russian civilians who worked to supply the military with tanks, planes, guns whatever was necessary to win the war against the Nazis.

In 1942 some of the fiercest combat ever took place in the monumental battle between the German and Russian armies. The ground was covered with bombs and artillery shells; almost all of Stalingrad was reduced to rubble.

During the fighting for Stalingrad, the defenders of the city took an oath: "There is no land for us beyond the Volga."