Photos of Barbarossa

Below are some of the photos from Istochnik’s 1941 immersion event, Operation Barbarossa, The Defense of Smolensk. Istochnik portrayed the 1st Battalion, 477th Rifle Regiment apart of the 161st Rifle Division stationed in Orsha, Belarussian S.S.R during the defense of Smolensk in July 1941.

On June 22nd 1941, German forces crossed the Soviet border and began their invasion of the Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa was one of the largest military campaigns of all time, leading the Red Army to suffer disastrous defeats nearing losses of almost 5 million soldiers by the end of 1941. They also lost a significant portion of the Western Soviet Union, and had German soldiers bearing down on Moscow and Leningrad. The Western front in particular saw massive losses. They suffered multiple massive encirclements. 

The 161st Rifle Division was a reserve unit formed in Mogilev in 1940. In May, 1941 the division had been brought up to a strength of about 12,000 men, a high proportion of younger and well-motivated men composed the unit. In addition a high proportion of senior leaders had combat experience from the Winter War. They were mobilized just before Barbarossa, and were moving towards Minsk when the war started. They were unable to move towards the city. They were assigned to the 2nd Rifle Corps of the Western Front and formed a new line of defense with other reserve units protecting Smolensk in early July 1941. Around July 14th they were engaged by the German XXXXVI Corps, and forced to retreat to Smolensk. There the division distinguished itself, and was awarded the title of “Guards”  on September 18th, 1941.