Barbarossa Part III - a War of Annihilation

Few single events in world history wreaked by human intent have had such catastrophic impact in terms of devastation and mass slaughter than Nazi Germany's decision to invade the Soviet Union in June Protected content the largest military force ever assembled.

In terms of the records, and especially since the opening up of the USSR's archives in the Protected content , we are now able to piece together a full, detailed and revealing account from all the participants' perspectives - a luxury few historians can ever enjoy.

This is Part III of a four-part series on the events from June to December Protected content , that set in process the foreshortening of Hitler's proclaimed 'Thousand Year Reich' by Protected content .

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September/October Protected content As the Germans and their allies continued their advances deeper into the USSR, they began to rely on 'battles of annihilation' against Soviet armies cut off by panzer columns.

But the advance was uneven, and German High Command was unable to agree which sector of the Eastern Front was most important to concentrate on. Then there was the nightmare of logistics, the unsustainable exhaustion/depletion of men and machines alike, and the growing partisan activity in the rear.

And while the planned mass eviction/enslavement/extermination of civilians in the path of 'Generalplan Ost' was underway, the Soviets also had urgent removals to do, relocating all their heavy industry to safety behind the Urals.