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Unknown Host
There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad free. Listen with Wondry plus in the Wondery.
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Lindsey Graham
App as a member of Noiser plus.
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Unknown Host
At noiser.com or in Apple Podcasts. Or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts@intohristory.com It's.
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Lindsey Graham
June 21, 1941, near Poland's eastern border. Nine months into World War II. Under the COVID of night, German soldier Alfred Liskov flees his military unit and heads for Soviet territory. A Communist sympathizer, Alfred is determined to warn the Soviets that a German invasion of the Soviet Union is imminent, so he bounds towards a nearby river that separates Poland from the Ukraine. Without hesitation, Alfred jumps into the water, swims toward the Soviet Union on the other side. He emerges dripping wet and exhausted, but still takes off in a run. Soon he sees a flashlight shining in the distance. As Alferd hurries toward the light, he finds himself mere feet away from a pair of Soviet soldiers. Spotting Alferd's German uniform, the soldiers reach for their guns. Immediately, Alferd raises his hands in surrender and issues a series of protestations in Germany. Cautiously, the soldiers grab Alfred by the arms and march him to their truck. Almost two years prior, Adolf Hitler launched his invasion of Poland and plunged the world into war. And since the conflict's inception, the Soviet Union has flirted with the idea of joining the Axis powers. But unbeknownst to the Soviets, Hitler has been planning to enact a war of annihilation on the Soviet Union, a plan the German dictator will set into motion during the summer of 1941. Alfred Liskov's warning will come too late for the Soviets. Throughout the Germans invasion, the Soviet Union will suffer heavy casualties and numerous defeats. But contrary to the Nazis expectations, the Soviets will not collapse under the pressure. Instead, four years after their entry into the war, the Red army will descend on Berlin victorious, bringing the war in Europe to an end on what will come to be known as Victory Day. May 9, 1945.
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Unknown Host
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Lindsey Graham
Survive World War II.
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Unknown Host
But will they be able to escape their own dark secrets? Kate Quinn calls Strangers in Time Oliver Twist meets the Blitz. A beautiful read and Lisa Scottellini says it's a masterpiece of a historical thriller. Strangers in Time is available in bookstores now.
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Lindsey Graham
From Noiser and Airship I'm Lindsey Graham and this is history. Daily history is made every day on this podcast. Every day we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is May 9, 1945. The Soviets celebrate Victory Day. It's 11:05am on November 12, 1940 at a Berlin train station, a little over a year since the start of World War II. As a train pulls into the station, Soviet Foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov grabs his belongings and mentally prepares himself for the long day of negotiations ahead. Molotov's been sent here to discuss a potential alliance between the Soviet Union and Germany. Last year Britain declared war on Germany for their invasion of Poland and since then two opposing military alliances have formed. The British led allies and the German led Axis powers. So far the Soviet Union has not joined either camp. But today Molotov hopes that will change. At the request of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, Molotov is in Berlin today to negotiate the terms for the Soviet Union to become the fourth Axis power, joining Germany, Italy and Japan. As Molotov walks inside the train station, he sees it adorned with Soviet flags and he smiles as an orchestra inside the station and begins playing the Soviet Union's national anthem. Among the fanfare, Molotov spots Joachim von Ribenstrap, Nazi Germany's minister of Foreign affairs. After a brief breakfast, the two dignitaries begin talks. Negotiations continue for two days and at Molotov's final meeting with Ribbentrop, the German foreign minister presents a draft of Germany's terms for the Soviets entry into the Axis powers. Armed with Germany's list of proposals, Molotov returns to Moscow. But the Germans terms don't satisfy Stalin's desire for territory in eastern Europe. So 11 days after the negotiations, the Soviets offer a counter proposal. But enraged by Stalin's growing territorial ambitions, Hitler labels the Soviet dictator a cold blooded blackmailer who must be brought to his knees. Germany never responds to the Soviet's proposal. Instead he Hitler signs a secret directive authorizing the invasion of the Soviet Union. Unaware of Hitler's plans, the Soviet Union will attempt to preserve peaceful relations with Germany. Stalin will continue to push for the powers to come to an agreement on their entry into the Axis. But Germany will remain unresponsive until June 22, 1941, when German troops descend on the Soviet Union, launching the largest military invasion in history. It's December 28, 1941, in the Soviet city of Leningrad, six months after the Germans first invaded the Soviet Union. Inside her home, 11 year old Tanya Savacheva opens a small notebook and prepares to record the tragic reality that has become her life. Three months ago, Axis troops formed a ring around Leningrad, cutting off all roads to the city and beginning a siege. Conditions have grown grim. The German air force intentionally targeted civilian food supplies, power plants and water treatment facilities. Deaths now near 100,000amonth, mostly from starvation. The only food currently available to Leningrad citizens is 125 grams of bread a day, and half of it consists of sawdust. With city transport out of service and temperatures below zero, even the walk to the breadline has proved an enormous task for this city's exhausted civilians, many of whom collapse and die in the streets. The famine has already begun to ravage Tanya's family. Earlier today, Tanya's sister Zhenya died in the arms of her other sister, Nina, succumbing to exhaustion and malnutrition, exacerbated by her long shifts at the munitions factory and commitment to donating blood. Tania fights back tears as she flips to a blank page in her notebook. In large, childlike handwriting, Tania logs her sister's death in simple terms, writing, Zhenya died on December 28 at 12 noon, 1941, one month after Zhenya's death, Tania's grandmother dies of heart failure after losing a third of her body weight due to starvation. At her grandmother's insistence, Tania's family postpones her burial so they can keep her ration card until the end of the month. Again, Tania opens her diary and pencils in the tragedy. Grandma died on the 25th of January at 3 o' clock, 1942. The following month, Tania's sister Nina disappears, failing to ever hear from her again. Tanya and her family assume she's dead. The next month, Tania's brother dies. One month later, Tania logs the death of her favorite uncle. And the following month she notes the death of a second uncle. Three days later, Tania's mother dies. Tania again opens her notebook to record a family member's death. Mama. On May 13th, at 7:30 in the morning, 1942, Savichevas are dead. Soon Tanya is sent to an orphanage, where she becomes one of 140 children rescued from Leningrad and brought to another village. But the deeply malnourished Tanya never recovers her health. Two years after her mother's death, Tania dies from intestinal tuberculosis. By its end, the Germans two and a half year blockade at Leningrad will become the most lethal siege in history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated one and a half million soldiers and civilians. The economic destruction and human loss in Leningrad will exceed the war's bloodiest battles, surpassing even the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tanya's diary will eventually be used during the Nuremberg trials as evidence of the Nazis war crimes. But six months after the siege's end, the Soviets on the Eastern Front turned the tide of the war for the Red army and the Allies at the Battle of Stalingrad.
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Unknown Host
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Lindsey Graham
My people.
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Unknown Host
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Lindsey Graham
It's the early morning of November 11, 1942 at the Barricade Gun factory in Stalingrad. Inside, Soviet troops shuffle to their assigned positions. Private Melia Rosenberg heads to a station in the factory's basement, machine gun in hand. As Melia walks through the crumbling building, he takes care to avoid the pile of corpses strewn around him. Four months ago, the German army launched a large scale offensive on Stalingrad, an important industrial center and transport hub for the Soviets. Aerial bombing and a ground siege has ravaged the city and pinned the Soviets against the bank of the Volga River. There they fought tooth and nail to hold their line, making a final stand at the Birkhati gun factory. But the chance of a Soviet victory seems slim. Aircraft have struggled to drop supplies onto the Soviet's small foothold. Most fall in the river or behind German lines. The dwindling food supply has forced the Soviets to live off one cracker a day. And at night they have begun collecting corpses, searching the bodies for any leftover food and ammunition. This morning, Milia stares at one of the piles of corpses near his station. In the morning's eerie silence, he wonders if today will be the day he too dies. But soon the deafening thunder of artillery fire breaks Milia out of his contemplation. The ground trembles beneath his feet as the barrage becomes the strongest he's ever experienced. Soon another Soviet soldier runs toward Melia's station in the basement with a chilling report. The Germans have destroyed their neighboring divisions and now have them surrounded. Melia accepts this information with a solemn nod. Cut off from reinforcements and supplies, Melia's division fights in isolation for over a week. Melia will later describe the intensity of the fight, saying, we were hungry and lice ridden. But in the frenzy there came a point where I pitied no one, not even myself. We fought savagely for every brick in every wall. Against the odds, Melia and his comrades resist all assaults on their foothold. And after eight days, Melia and his division launch a counteroffensive, targeting the poorly armed Romanian soldiers on the Germans flanks. Eventually, the Soviets break through their defenses and encircle the Germans. By the time German reinforcements arrive in December, the Soviets position is too strong to be overtaken. On February 2, 1943, exhausted and humiliated, the Germans surrender. In the end, the battle of Stalingrad will become the deadliest battle of World War II. In total, 2 million will die. But the loss of life won't be in vain. The Soviets victory at Stalingrad will shock the Axis powers and turn the tide of World War II. Soon the Germans will begin a retreat back to Berlin and its third. There that the Red army will wage their final offensive, an attack designed to crush Nazi Germany. Once and for all. It's April 20, 1945 in Berlin. The day of Adolf Hitler's 56th birthday. Inside her apartment building, 29 year old Dorothea von Schwanenflugel huddles in the building's cellar alongside her young daughter and neighbors as explosions rock Berlin. For months an Allied victory has seemed increasingly inevitable. Still, Hitler has refused to surrender. Instead, the German Fuhrer has begun drafting previously exempt Germans into the war effort. Ready to force a surrender, Stalin unleashed over two and a half million soldiers, 7,500 aircraft and over 6,000 tanks on the German capital. Today, after breaking through the German lines around the city, the Soviets begin their artillery position entourage. Dorothea clutches her trembling daughter. As the explosions grow incessant, she curses Hitler for bringing the fight back to their doorstep. For days the battle in Berlin rages on as the Soviet and German troops fight street by street for control of the city. The Soviet sights are set on Hitler's chancellery in the city center where the German leader has stayed in his underground bunker for the last three months. But before the Soviets reach him, Hitler commits suicide. His death spells the end for Nazi Germany and within two days, fighting in Berlin ceases. Before long, vans with loudspeakers populate the streets of Berlin, ordering Germans to cease all resistance. The Soviets victory at the Battle of Berlin will mark the end of World War II in Europe. But few Soviets will be able to forget the war's enormous cost. Over the course of World War II, the Soviet Union will lose over 20 million of its citizens, nearly a third of the war's total casualties and 50 times the number of American losses. This unparalleled cost will remain a point of resentment for the Soviets, many of whom will accuse the United States of intentionally delaying their Normandy invasion to force the Soviets to bear the brunt of the war's devastation. Soon, lingering distrust coupled with tense post war negotiations will rupture the uneasy alliance between between the Soviet Union and the United States, setting the stage for a 50 year cold war.
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Lindsey Graham
Knee pads check and helmet.
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Unknown Advertiser
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Lindsey Graham
It'S May 9, 2021, in Moscow's Red Square, 80 years after the Soviet Union entered World War II. Thousands of Russian soldiers and cheering civilians fill the square for Moscow's Victory Day celebration. Atop a stage in the middle of the square stands Russian President Vladimir Putin. The square's crowd falls silent as Putin approaches the Stage's lectern. Since Moscow's first first Victory Day celebration on May 9, 1945, the event has become an annual occurrence. But over the last few decades, the celebration has taken on a new political significance as an event indicative of Russia's complicated relationship with the West. In 2005, dozens of foreign leaders attended Moscow's parade, including US President George W. Bush today amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine, the president of Tajikistan is the only foreign dignitary in attendance. But the absence of Western leaders doesn't seem to perturb Putin. As Putin begins his annual address, he proceeds in standard fashion. He thanks Russia's veterans before recalling the sacrifices of the Soviets and the Red Army's heroism during World War II. Then Putin glances at the script before him and reads the next sentence. At the most difficult moments in the war, during decisive battles that determined the result of the struggle against fascism, our people were united. But as Putin comes to the word united, the Russian president makes an impromptu edit on the spot. He switches out the word united for the word alone, declaring that the Soviets were alone in their toilsome, heroic and sacrificial path to victory. The official transcript of Putin's speech made public publicly available earlier, will reveal the president's spontaneous departure from his prepared address. His improvisation will highlight the deepening post Cold War rift between Russia and the West. The alteration will send the heads of political analysts spinning headlines will decry Putin's shunning of the west, and Russians will accuse Putin of using a day of remembrance for his own political purposes, an agenda that will become clear less than one year later when Russian troops invade Ukraine and Europe's biggest military mobilization since World War II. Soon, reports will circulate that Putin will not just celebrate victory over the Germans. In May of 2022, speculation will swirl that the Russian president will use Victory Day as a deadline for military achievement in Ukraine, a testament to the extent to which the symbolic power of the date endures in Russian imagination and a reminder of how strained Russia's relationship with the west had become in the eight decades since the Soviets inaugural Victory Day on May 9, 1945. Next on History Daily May 12, 2002.
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Unknown Host
Jimmy Carter becomes the first current or former U.S. president to visit Cuba in almost half a century.
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Lindsey Graham
From Noiser and Airshift, this is History Daily Hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham Audio editing by Molly Bond Sound design by Misha Stanton Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written and researched by Alexandra Curry Buckner. Executive producers are Steve Walters for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.
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Unknown Advertiser
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