The impact of WW2 on Russia

Question 1

Who performed the first atrocities on the people of the Soviet Union

Answer 1

NKVD

Question 2

Describe the role of the NKVD in the persecution of the Russian people during WW2

Answer 2

NKVD agents shot all detainess in Ukranian prisons, moved into minority areas and killed those minorities that were thought to be unreliable. Tartans living in the Crimean, ethnic Germans living along the River Volga were amongst the first targeted. Entire villages were wiped out, whilst thousands of people were sent in cattle wagons to the East- to Siberia and Kazhakstan. Few survived the journey.

Question 3

Who were the first victims of the Nazi regime in Soviet Russia

Answer 3

The Nazi’s first victims were political commisars, against whom “action must be taken immediately, without further consideration, and with all severity” and they were to be “finished immediately with a weapon.”

Question 4

How was Hitler able to enforce his New Order

Answer 4

Hitler’s New Order was implemented by Special Task Forces, the Ordnungspolizei (Order Police) and four mobile killing groups of Einstazkommandos.

Question 5

How many Russian people were there in Russia at the time of German invasion/advancement

Answer 5

Around 2,100,000

Question 6

Who was persecuted under Hitler’s New Order

Answer 6

Jewish Russians, alongside ordinary Russian slavs made up the ‘UnterUntermensch’ (or sub-human) which became the victims of Einsatzgruppen, Special Task Forces, and the Ordnungspolizei, the Order Police. Also victims of 4 mobile killing groups of Einstazkommandos.

Question 7

What was the purpose of Hitler’s New Order

Answer 7

To eliminate ‘undesirables’- Communists, and political commissars and those of inferior race, Slavs and Jews. This is also known as ethnic cleansing (exterminating a racial group).

Question 8

How were the Jewish people eliminated under Hitler’s New Order

Answer 8

Jewish men, women and children were either massacred openly or sent to out-of-sight mobile gassing installations referred to as ‘slaughterhouses on wheels’. Worst atrocity occurred at Babi Yar near Kiev where 33,000 Jews wee murdered in 2 days.

Question 9

Describe the massacring of Jews at Babi Yar

Answer 9

29-30 September 1941. Kiev had a Jewish population of 175,000 before war. 34,000 Jews brought to a ravine on

Question 10

Describe the massacring of Jews at Babi Yar

Answer 10

29-30 September 1941. Kiev had a Jewish population of 175,000 before war. 34,000 Jews brought to a ravine in outskirts of the town. 2 day orgy of murder and all men, women and children were machine gunned. Germans were helped in their work by Ukraine collaborators. A few victims were able to crawl away and hide, despite ther wounds. In remaining years of war the site was converted into an extermination camp to which Jews were sent from other regions of the Ukraine.

Question 11

What was the Jewish population of Kiev before WW2

Answer 11

175,000

Question 12

Describe the atrocity committed by Nazis that occurred at Katyn Forest in 1939-40

Answer 12

Some 14,500 Polish army officer shot by NKVD. Removed officers as a means of removing leadership from Polish army.

Question 13

Describe the 1940-41 Baltic States atrocity

Answer 13

Over 229,000 Jews murdered during first months of German occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Question 14

Which 3 atrocities occurred in 1941 and what were the consequences of each

Answer 14

1) In Ukraine an estimated 10,000 political priosners were murdered by the NKVD
2) Babi Yar- 33,000 Jews murdered 29-30 Sept.
3) At Chartsysk 370 children murdered by NKVD. Killed as exhausted therefore couldn’t keep up with general Russian retreat.

Question 15

What happened at Ponary between 1941-1944 and in how many villages did similar events take place

Answer 15

In Ponary 70,000 people (mainly Jews) were murdered at an extermination site at Ponary, near Vilna in Lithuania. For similar reasons, same fate befell at least 27 other Ukraine villages.

Question 16

What happened at Ponary between 1941-1944

Answer 16

In Ponary 70,000 people (mainly Jews) were murdered at an extermination site at Ponary, near Vilna in Lithuania.

Question 17

How many German troops were massacred at Korsun in 1944 and by whom

Answer 17

20,000 slaughtered by Cossaks of the Red Army as they attempted to escape during a blizzard. None were take prisoner.

Question 18

Describe the atrocity that occurred at Kortelisy in 1942 and in how many villages did similar events take place

Answer 18

Entire population of Kortelisy (2892 men, women and children) were murdered by Einsatzgruppen due to their support for local partisans. For similar reasons the same fate befell at leats 27 other Ukranian villages.

Question 19

How did the Ukrainians collaborate with the Germans and why did they do so

Answer 19

Ukrainian still retained bitter memories of Stalin’s enforced famine, whilst German troops offered traditional gifts of bread and salt. It became clear that thousands of Ukrainians were willing to collaborate with the invaders and even serve in the German army. Some agreed to serve as Hilfswillige (volunteers) and were used as labourers or to carry supplies to front-line soldiers. A number of Ukrainians formed a unit within the Waffen-SS known as the Galacia Division, which was headed by Andrey Vlasov.

Question 20

What was the role of Andrey Vlasov in collaboration with the Germans

Answer 20

Andrey Vlasov was the leader of the Galacia Divison after being taken prisoner by the Germans in 1942. He blamed Stalin for the fate that met him and his men and as a captive agreed to work with the Germans. He recruited prisoners of war and Red Army deserters to his Russian Liberation Movement with the aim of fighting as Germany’s ally for a socialist Russian and to rid the country of Stalin’s system of terror.

Question 21

How many men were in ‘Vlasov’s army’

Answer 21

50,000 men

Question 22

How did Hitler react to the implementation of Russians in to the German army and how did this compare to the reaction of the German generals

Answer 22

Despite the enthusiasm of German generals, Hitler opposed the idea of sub-human Slavs fighting alongside Aryan Germans. He only allowed Russians to perform menial tasks, quickly resulting in the disillusion of many.

Question 23

How many Russians swore oath of loyalty t Hitler and enlisted in the German Army.

Answer 23

Over a million

Question 24

What happened in July 1941

Answer 24

July 1941: Central Committee of the party called upon all Soviet citizens to fight and oppose the German invaders. Thousands did so and continued doing so even after their lands had been overrun.

Question 25

How did the Russian’s attempt to resist the Germans

Answer 25

The Russian used guerrilla tactics to harass their enemy and as the war progressed their armies became better organised and better supplied, due to their receiving of officers and arms from the Red Army. Uprisings also occurred vs the Germans from time to time.

Question 26

How were the German’s able to deal with the Russian uprisings and resistance

Answer 26

Uprisings caused Germans to respond by carrying out extensive anti-partisan sweeps across that country which involve thousands of men. Those partisans captured were punished via death by hanging. There were also occasions in which partisans led to German retaliation, hostages were taken and shot and whole villages raised to the ground and their inhabitants slaughtered. By end of war an estimated million or more partisans were creating havoc behind the German lines

Question 27

How many partisans were there behind German lines by end of war

Answer 27

By end of war an estimated million or more partisans were creating havoc behind the German lines

Question 28

What is a partisan in the context of WW2

Answer 28

A strong support of the Communist party, who would rebel against German invasion.

Question 29

What is the name of the alliance formed between USA, Britain and Russia

Answer 29

The Grand Alliance

Question 30

How were Britain able to transport resources to Britain

Answer 30

The British used British Royal Navy ships and merchant fleets to transport cargoes of war materials to the USSR, despite the danger of German capture or being destroyed by German submarines or air attacks. Some resources were also transported overland via Iran.

Question 31

How much money did Russia receive in aid from USA during the course of the war

Answer 31

$11 billion

Question 32

When was the Lean Lease Act introduced in the US

Answer 32

1941

Question 33

What was the importance of the Lean Lease Act to Russia

key stats-MUST REMEMBER

Answer 33

Saw the USA provide the USSR with:
6430 planes
3734 tanks
104 ships
Raw materials
5 million tonnes of food
By end of war 427,000 of the 665,000 motor vehicles used by Russian came from overseas.

Question 34

How did Stalin react to the aid from the allies

Answer 34

Stalin refused to publicly acknowledge the aid received from the allies and hid it from the Russian people. Stalin criticised the USA and Britain for their inability to open a ‘second-front’ in Europe, without considering that they were both already at war vs Japan and that they were fighting campaigns vs the Germans in North Africa and in Italy from 1943.