SUPPORT THE CHANNEL
www.Patreon.com/Military1945

This German material taken in the summer of 1941 is exquisite for a number of reasons. First of all it`s in color which is rare enough, but more importantly it shows Romanian soldiers. In all my experience working with the film archive that makes this collection of private footage unique. As I introduce the situation that Romania found itself in with the coming of operation Barbarossa we’ll see more from this collection and also from another rare film source. Having entered the war on Germany’s side and recovered the territory that had been lost to the Soviet union just one year earlier, the Romanians would be enticed into extending their sphere of influence farther east. Using original situational maps and a 1941 Signal journal you’ll get a good overview of the content we cover. I’ll add additional color footage from the collection to the website Military1945.com which will eventually become a full video-on-demand platform.

This is the original campaign Atlas created by the German high Command for Operation Barbarossa. Today we are looking at the situational map from July 27, 1941; specifically the Romanian 4th Army that was part of Army Group South.

During the first month of the campaign Romania focused its attention on recapturing the territories of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. These territories had been occupied by the Soviets in the Summer of 1940 after they’d issued an ultimatum that the Romanians were forced to accept. The stipulation for the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia had been agreed upon in the secret protocols included in the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement from August 23, of 1939; the Romanians of course were not informed. That the Soviets would also take Northern Bukovina was not part of the agreement and with Germany’s heavy reliance on Romanian oil any further Soviet presence in Romania was unsettling to the Germans.

This rare footage is of a German delegation being welcomed into the Soviet Embassy in Berlin just after the signing of the non-aggressions pact.

By mid July the Romanians had recuperated the lost territory. With no immediate end to the war in sight and with the intention of keeping Romania an active participant, on 27 July 1941, Hitler sent a letter to General Antonescu in which he recognized the Romanian administration of the territory between the Dneister River, or in Romanian the Nistru, and the Bug River.

General Antonescu accepted on 31 July. In fact the 3rd Army had already crossed the river on 17 July and was advancing east. With about 650,000 soldiers involved on the Eastern Front at this time Romania was the second largest contributor only after Germany.

This Romanian 1941 stamp commemorates the Romanian-German cooperation on the Eastern Front.

This original German Signal journal is Nr. 16 from August of 1941. We’re looking at the section dedicated to the Romanians and titled The Romanians are Fighting at our side. The description states that the Romanians advance to the front by horse and motor vehicle to join in the battle against Europe’s main enemy. In reality most of the Romanian soldiers were on foot as they advanced into the soviet union.

Here it states that this highly advanced Romanian anti-aircraft spotting equipment, that is situated inside Bessarabia, is able to accurately determine the altitude of attacking enemy planes.

The photo to the right explains that as in all the Soviet Union the road conditions are terrible and that the advance is only maintained through a combination of mechanical power and of physical strength.

This photograph shows Romanian soldiers studying a chart which shows the different Soviet uniforms and rank insignias. Supposedly these posters were hung everywhere to familiarize the soldiers to their enemy.

In August the 4th Army had under its command the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 11 Army Corps which included a total of 17 infantry divisions, the 1st Armored Division (named Romania), 3 cavalry divisions and a total of 38 artillery regimens. On August 3 a general offensive began to cross the river. The 15th Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Brigade managed to force a crossing between Tighina and Dubosari.

On 8 August, the Romanian General Staff issued the Operative Directive No. 31 instructing the 4th Army to occupy Odessa. It was thought that the city garrison, which was heavily outnumbered, would surrender quickly.

This footage is of Romanian soldiers advancing during the early days of this operation. An important reason the taking of Odessa would be much more difficult than expected is that the powerful Soviet Black Sea fleet was able to continue supplying the city’s garrison.

свернуть