Photographs and newsreels of Nazi marches, processions and parades of the 1930s and 40s are now so familiar to many of us that, to a large extent, they are no longer capable of shocking or surprising us. However, the color shots by Hugo Jaeger, Adolf Hitler's personal photographer, are so realistic that they make you think. Jaeger's footage is a disturbing reminder of the dark years of the 20th century. They evoke awe and fear.
The history of these photographs is interesting. From 1936 to 1945, Hugo Jaeger had immediate and direct access to Adolf Hitler and his circle. He freely photographed large-scale parades, events and speeches of the Fuhrer. In 1945, as the war was ending and American troops entered Munich, Hugo Jaeger came face to face with six American soldiers in a small town west of Munich. During a search of the house where Hugo lived, the Americans discovered a leather suitcase in which the photographer hid thousands of transparencies. He knew what awaited him if they discovered the pictures. From them they will determine that he was closely associated with the Fuhrer. After this he will be arrested or worse... He could never have imagined what awaited him next. The Americans opened the suitcase and... a bottle of cognac fell out of it, which Hugo placed on top of the photographs. The delighted soldiers immediately uncorked it and invited Hugo to drink with them. The suitcase was forgotten.
After the Americans left Hugo's house, the photographer packed the transparencies into glass jars. He buried them on the outskirts of the town. Later, Hugo occasionally visited and hid the “treasure”. In 1955 he returned to photography again. They were preserved safe and sound. Hugo placed the photographs in a safe deposit box, and subsequently sold them to Life in 1965.
We present rare color photographs, first published by Life.
Reich Veterans Day Parade, 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Hitler at the Congress of the National Socialist German Workers' Party in Nuremberg, 1938.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Nuremberg, 1938.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Adolf Hitler rides through the streets of Munich, 1939, to the cheers of the crowd.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Adolf Hitler salutes the Congress of the National Socialist German Workers' Party in Nuremberg, 1938.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
In the late 1930s, very few photographers took color photographs. Hugo was one of the pioneers. “The future belongs to color photography,” Adolf Hitler once told him. In the photo: Naples during Adolf Hitler's official visit to Italy.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Military march in honor of the 50th Adolf Hitler, Berlin, 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Berlin, 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
March in Berlin, 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Parade marking the return of the Condor Legion from Spain in June 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, 1939. The same one who was convicted in Nuremberg and hanged.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Nuremberg, 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
German dancers at the Congress of the National Socialist German Workers' Party in Nuremberg, 1938
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Torchlight Parade, 1938.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
"Night of the Amazons", Nymphenburg Castle, Munich, 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Eugen (Eugene) Siegfried Erich Ritter von Schobert, German general who took part in the First and Second World Wars. He took part in the Civil War on the side of Franco. Died in the USSR. The photo was taken in 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Veterans Day, 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
A German soldier participates in the celebration of the 50th birthday of Adolf Hitler, Berlin, 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Congress of the National Socialist German Workers' Party in Nuremberg, 1938.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Condor Legion returning from Spain, 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
Hitler (right, arm raised, wearing a leather coat) watches the military parade in Warsaw that was held after the invasion of Poland in September 1939.
Photo: Hugo Jaeger
“A joint “parade” in 1939 in Brest of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht” has long been actively used by many pro-Western media as one of the “proofs” of the identity of the Soviet and Nazi regimes.
Brest-Litovsk, 1939
The first attempts to debunk this myth were made by historians Oleg Vishlev, Mikhail Meltyukhov, Alexander Dyukov and others.
Oleg Timashevich (Belarus) offers his version of what happened in 1939, having studied both photographs and film evidence of that time, and citing the words of witnesses to the “parade”
Beinenson.news published exclusive editorial material.
So, everything point by point.
As a result of successful military operations, the Germans managed to occupy Brest by September 14, 1939, and three days later they were already in the Brest Fortress. The occupation of the city was carried out by the 19th Motorized Corps of the Wehrmacht, whose commander was General Heinz Guderian. On September 20, the 29th tank brigade of Semyon Krivosheev, located in Pruzhany, received an order from the commander of the 4th Army V.I. Chuikov to occupy the city and fortress. On the same day, reconnaissance of the 29th Tank Brigade met with the German corps and coordination of details regarding the transfer of Brest and the Brest Fortress began.
Negotiations continued the next day, as a number of questions arose: what to do with Polish supplies, how to remove the wounded, etc. Heinz Guderian describes all this in detail in his memoirs, indignant that such a short deadline was set for the delivery of the settlement and fortifications. In addition, the memoirs of both Guderian and Krivosheev also mention negotiations regarding a joint parade.
Krivoshein in his memoirs (Krivoshein S.M. “Interstorm” Voronezh: Central Black Earth Book Publishing House, 1964. - P. 250-262. - 15,000 copies) states that Guderian very persistently demanded a parade with the traditional and inherent in each parade with the formation of the armed forces of Germany and the USSR on the square, Krivosheev refused, citing fatigue (his brigade covered 120 km in less than 24 hours, although with their motorization 90 km was permissible), but he had to give in, however, proposing a slightly different option for holding the ceremonial handover cities.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, units of the German corps march through the city and leave it, and Soviet units also enter the city on march, stopping on the streets where the German armed forces are advancing and saluting them. Guderian was satisfied with the proposed option, but demanded Krivoshein's presence on the podium to greet the moving regiments.
At 10 a.m. on September 22, the German flag, which had flown over the fortress for five days, was ceremonially lowered to the musical accompaniment of an orchestra from Germany, after which all the forces of the 76th Wehrmacht Infantry Regiment left the Brest Fortress.
We have the opportunity to speak about this with complete confidence, since there are a number of surviving signed photographs from the archives of this same infantry regiment No. 76.
The process of transferring the fortress took place with a high level of organization and without any inconsistencies. The photograph shown just above captures one of the many episodes of this event. Opposite the Soviet officer is Lieutenant Colonel Lemmel, who at that time commanded the second battalion of the 76th regiment. The same Hans Georg Lemmel, who on June 10, 1941 will be appointed commander of this regiment, and on July 17 of the same year will be killed in battle, attacking those with whom he is all polite and courteous in the photograph...
The second half of September 22 was also organized and without any problems or delays, the Germans left Brest, leaving the settlement of the Soviet army.
Of course, those who seek to debunk the myth also have flaws. So, for example, Vishlev in his work, pointing out that it was impossible to transfer the entire city without any military ceremonies, is absolutely right, but at the same time he reports not entirely correct information regarding the fact that at the time of the passage of the Soviet troops there were no Germans left in city.
In general, everything is in order.
Just five days later, that is, on September 27, the next issue of the film review “Ton-Woche” showed a film story about the transfer of Brest. It's no secret that the video material was made under the careful supervision of Goebbels' department. There is a possibility that Guderian’s exceptional insistence in negotiating with Krivoshein about the need for a joint parade is explained by the need to create such film material, and not in order to show off in ceremonial military uniform and some kind of love for parades.
Let's look at what the documentary filmmakers from Germany have edited.
It can be seen that German units are moving in front of the podium, and Krivoshein and Guderian are also visible there, greeting the passing units. It is also clear that quite a lot of Soviet soldiers are on the side of the road and Soviet T-26 tanks moving along the street. German trucks and artillery are visible driving past the podium from which Krivoshein and Guderian salute them, but there is not a single frame where there is at least one Soviet tank in the background of the podium with the commanders. This already leads to certain thoughts, but, as they say, it is too early to draw conclusions. So let's move on to looking at a few photos.
One of them shows a Soviet T-26 tank and a group of German motorcyclists, as well as German trucks standing on the sidewalk.
Light tank T-26. A separate tank brigade like the 29th had about 250 of these tanks
A Soviet tank moves past the very place where the podium was located in the film, but it is not there yet. If you look carefully, you can see a German flag hanging on the flagpole, which is located directly behind the podium in the video. And another photograph, which was taken on the same day, depicts the process of removing the flag. And precisely the withdrawal, and not the rise, since it could have risen from September 14 to 17, but not later.
Procedure for lowering the German war flag
At that time, Krivoshein was with his brigade on the march towards Baranovichi and therefore could not have been present at its raising, which gives every reason to claim that the flag was being removed.
In the second photo you can observe the process of removing the German flag, at the moment when the commanders greet the units while standing on the podium.
The newsreel demonstrates that at the moment of the march of military units there is a podium, and the flag is still raised.
That is, the second photo was taken after the event. The first photo, which shows German motorcyclists and a Soviet tank, shows a raised flag and the absence of a podium where commanders will sit during the event.
It turns out that the photograph with the T-26 and motorcyclists was taken before the ceremonial march. Krivoshein writes in his memoirs that the 29th Tank Brigade entered Brest at three o’clock in the afternoon, and the movement of the armed forces started at four o’clock. It is easy to guess that the photo was taken between three and four o'clock in the afternoon.
Somewhere at the same time, the following photograph was taken, where you can already see a whole column of Soviet tanks, while motorcyclists and trucks are in the same places. And again, there is still no platform, and in the place where it will be placed there are some onlookers and, judging by the pose, some other photographers.
Another interesting point is that in both pictures the trucks are standing in close proximity to the flagpole, but in the film there are no trucks.
More precisely, German artillery is visible there, passing by the trucks, which are somewhat removed and are located near the oval path that goes around the area with the flagpole and abuts the roadway of the street. The following photo clearly demonstrates this.
German equipment passes by the podium
If you pay attention to some details, you will see that there are trucks in the film only when German units are passing through.
Not a single frame did not capture Soviet troops moving in the background of trucks standing on the side of the road.
It is also curious that the Soviet tank crews, who are supposed to drive past the podium with their commanders, for some reason turn away from them and greet the crowded people who are on the opposite side of the podium.
The very last frame of the newsreel is also of interest (after the demonstration of Guderian’s greeting), since the filming of a moving Soviet tank is carried out from such a point (you can see this place in the first photograph, it is located at the far pillar on the right side, next to the bush), as if he wanted to prevent the stands from getting into the frame as well - the area with the flagpole is located behind him, at a great distance and on the right side.
This is surprising, because he would have made a much more impressive shot, since the Soviet tank would have been in front of the podium with the parade commanders. To do this, he needed to move closest to fifty meters, to where photographs with motorcyclists were taken.
Summing up, we can safely say that the film plot from “Wochenschau” about the “joint parade” in Brest should not mislead anyone, since it is obvious that the film series is not unified.
All the footage demonstrating the Soviet armed forces, and presented as if they were filmed directly during the ceremonial march past the podium with Guderian and Krivoshein, apparently, was actually filmed on September 22, but either at a different time of day, or on other streets altogether. Despite the high level of editing, especially considering the time, all of the above cannot serve as evidence of a “joint parade”.
The video from “Wochenschau” was created, it is clear, not for the Soviet people, but to reassure the Germans regarding military operations on two fronts and in order to try to influence the governments of England and France.
It is worth noting that it was clearly no coincidence that German propagandists ended up here, since they would not have been able to create such a strong plot anywhere else.
It is also worth noting that there is a Soviet-German protocol “On the procedure for the withdrawal of German troops and the advance of Soviet troops to the demarcation line in Poland,” which dates back to September 21, 1939. There it is quite clearly stated that the movement of the armed forces must be organized so that a distance of no less than 25 km is maintained between the leading part of the Red Army column and the tail of the German army column. This document also states that USSR troops should begin moving at dawn on September 23, and the Germans should leave the city on September 22.
It turns out that the beginning of the movement of the 29th tank brigade to the city of Brest simultaneously with the beginning of the process of withdrawal of German troops is explained by the fact that the order was not delivered to Krivosheev, or for some reason he did not carry it out.
Also interesting will be the testimony of eyewitnesses of that “joint parade”:
Svetozar Nikolaevich SINKEVICH (b. 1924):
“The first Soviet tanks appeared on Shosseynaya Street. With a feeling of great curiosity and completely stunned, I ran to look.
After all, these are ours, Russians! Soldiers wearing strange, pointed helmets sat on small trucks. Pine boards were laid across the truck to serve as seats for the fighters, as the soldiers were then called. Their faces were gray, unshaven, their overcoats and short padded jackets seemed to come from someone else's shoulders, the tops of their boots were made of a material like canvas.
I walked up to one of the cars and tried to talk to the soldiers. However, everyone there silently looked away. Finally, one of them, wearing a uniform cap with a star on his sleeve, declared that the party and government, at the request of the local population, had sent the Red Army to free us from the Polish lords and capitalists.
I was very surprised by the wretched appearance and strange unsociability of my fellow tribesmen...At this time, another military man called me over and asked if this was the right road to the fortress. There was only one road: another two kilometers ahead, and the column slowly moved on.
Then I witnessed the transfer of Brest by the German military authorities.
At the building of the former voivodeship administration there were rows of German soldiers and a military band. A flag with a swastika fluttered on the flagpole. Not far from the flagpole there were some people in caps, several military men and a crowd of onlookers.After the German anthem was played, the swastika flag was lowered. The combined orchestra played “The Internationale” out of tune, and someone from a group of people I didn’t know began to raise a red flag with a hammer and sickle.
After this, the Germans quickly left the city.”
From this evidence it is clear that the witness did not use the word “parade” even once, and it is also precisely stated that after the German anthem the German flag was removed and, after the Soviet “international”, the Soviet one was raised, after which the German army immediately left the city.
Petr Onufrievich KOZIK (b. 1928):
“On September 22, 1939, my father took me to the square. There's nothing but talk around the city there was talk of the approach of the Russians. On the road from Shpitalna (International) towards Union Lubelska (current Lenin Street - approx.), an orchestra of locals turned - judging by the red armbands with a hammer and sickle, members of the KPZB. And along the Jagiellonian (Masherova) a Russian tank column was marching. The tank turrets had a long bracket welded to the sides to support the landing party.
The infantry soldiers are all kind of tired. I remember how they smoked. A fighter will take out a bag of tobacco, make a rolled-up cigarette from a piece of newspaper, strike a spark for a long time on a piece of file, blow the wick, light it... And the German has a cunning cigarette case: he puts in a piece of paper, twists it - and he’s done.
The Wehrmacht column was already at the ready.In front of the voivodeship, the current regional executive committee, there is a small wooden platform (tribune) and a flagpole with the German flag.
The Russians turned from Jagiellonian to Union and stopped. A German officer in an overcoat with a red general's lining and a Russian brigade commander shook hands.
The units passed, two commanders made speeches.
Then they lowered the German flag and raised the Soviet one.
The last German column, taking a step, moved towards the Graevsky Bridge, turned left onto Kashtanovaya (Heroes of Defense), towards the fortress, and further beyond the Bug. KPZB members began shouting: “Long live Soviet power!”
In these In the testimony, the witness also does not use the word “parade,” and it is also clear that Soviet tanks entered the city at a time when the Wehrmacht soldiers were already at the ready. Moreover, neither the first nor the second witness mentions any passage of the Soviet army past the podium with Guderian and Krivoshein.
Another proof that there was no parade is the “Agreement with Soviet officers on the transfer of Brest-Litovsk.” It is not worth dwelling on this document in detail, since it is already very well known. We will focus only on the most important point for us, which we will translate from German.
“14:00 The solemn march of Russian and German troops begins in front of the commanders on both sides with a change of flag at the conclusion. During the changing of the flag, the music of the national anthems is played.”
The translation of the German word Vorbeimarsch is “passing in formation in a solemn march (past smth.); passing in a solemn march.” A regular on-line translator gives “Marching”. The word “parade” in German is different – Truppenparade or simply Parade,” and this word is not in the document. And to “no,” as they say, “there is no judgment.”
One can also cite a whole series of indirect evidence, such as the general condition of the Soviet troops at that time. Krivoshein's tanks entered Brest straight from the march and, naturally, were not ready to participate in the ceremonial passage.
One can also cite Polish sources as evidence, which describe the transfer of the city, but not the parade.
However, against the backdrop of all of the above, I think this no longer matters.
There were many shameful and shameful pages in Soviet history that Soviet historians never officially recognized. One of these shameful pages was the Soviet-fascist parade in Brest after Poland.
On September 22, 1939, a joint parade of the Wehrmacht and the Red Army took place in Brest ( Deutsch-sowjetische Siegesparade in Brest-Litowsk) - a solemn march along the central street of the city of units of the XIX Motorized Corps of the Wehrmacht (corps commander - General of Tank Forces Heinz Guderian) and the 29th separate tank brigade of the Red Army (commander - brigade commander Semyon Krivoshein) during the official procedure for the transfer of the city of Brest and the Brest Fortress to the Soviet side during the invasion of Poland by German and USSR troops. The procedure ended with the ceremonial lowering of the German and raising of the Soviet flags.
Germany's attack on Poland became possible only thanks to the signing of the criminal Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The entire attack plan was based on the support of the USSR, otherwise the Germans would simply have been stuck in a war on two fronts - a long-standing nightmare of the German General Staff. Only after enlisting the support of Stalin did Hitler attack Poland on September 1, 1939. And on September 17, the USSR entered the Second World War - on the side of the Third Reich. At the same time, Germany tried in every possible way to show England and France that the USSR was its ally, while in the USSR itself they tried in every possible way to hypocritically show their “neutrality.” Nevertheless, “friendship sealed by blood” (of the Poles), as Comrade Stalin put it, clearly took place. The joint Soviet-fascist parade in Brest was evidence of this.
On the night of September 17, the Polish military left the fortress under artillery fire. They carried out the wounded. They did not abandon the dead. Volunteers under the command of V. Radzishevsky remained in the fortress to cover the retreat.
Those who survived and made it to Terespol buried the dead in the local cemetery. Their graves are still preserved there. And from the east, the regiments of Corps Commander Vasily Chuikov were already coming towards the Wehrmacht troops. At the very time when the Poles were leaving the fortress, Polish Ambassador Waclaw Grzybowski was summoned to the Kremlin...
The Soviet Union tore up the Soviet-Polish non-aggression pact signed back in 1932. According to this treaty, aid and any assistance from the Soviet Union to a state that would attack Poland, and vice versa, were prohibited. But what is the implementation of an international treaty if we are talking about the division of territories! The Soviet-Polish non-aggression pact was forgotten at the same moment when Germany proposed simply dividing Poland.
By the way, the Soviet Union violated the non-aggression treaty with Poland even before its unilateral break - until September 17, when the Soviet note was read to the ambassador. A week after the German attack on Poland, on September 8, Ambassador Grzybowski was invited by Molotov and said that from now on the transit of military materials to Poland through the territory of the USSR was prohibited. And from the very first day of the war, the Soviet Union kindly provided Germany with the Minsk radio station so that German troops could use it as a radio beacon to guide planes bombing Poland. For this friendly service, Goering personally thanked the People's Commissar of Defense Klim Voroshilov.
Officially it was called - to protect the fraternal peoples of Ukraine and Belarus. At first, the “defenders” were indeed greeted there joyfully. Soviet propaganda did not work in vain. Long before the war, groups of young people sometimes fled across the border from that side. They fled to live in a free country. But here the security officers grabbed them and carefully extracted testimony that all these yellow-haired youths and girls, crazy with fear, were Polish spies. Those who confessed were shot. Those who withstood the interrogations were sent to camps for twenty years...
The Poles fought desperately, but the forces were unequal. In addition, the USSR joined the Nazis...
The transfer of Brest took place in accordance with the Soviet-German protocol on the establishment of a demarcation line on the territory of the former Polish state, signed on September 21, 1939 by representatives of the Soviet and German commands.
Soviet and German officers in Poland discuss the demarcation line on the map.
According to the memoirs of the commander of the 29th separate tank brigade, Semyon Krivoshein, his unit received an order on the evening of September 20 from the commander of the 4th Army, V.I. Chuikov, to occupy the city and fortress of Brest. For this purpose, the brigade had to make a 120 km night march from Pruzhany (the T-26 tanks in the brigade had a practical range of 90 km at one refueling and a recommended march speed of 18-22 km/h). By the morning of the 21st, the leading elements of the 29th Brigade approached Brest from the north. Krivoshein went alone to negotiate with the German command regarding the transfer of the city and fortress, giving the order for the brigade to begin moving to Brest at 14:00.
German generals, incl. Heinz Guderian, conferring with battalion commissar Borovensky in Brest.
Negotiations with Guderian, which were conducted in French, which both understood, dragged on until the evening. Krivoshein recalled that Guderian insisted on holding a parade with the preliminary formation of units of both sides in the square. Krivoshein tried to refuse to hold the parade, citing fatigue and unpreparedness of his troops. But Guderian insisted, pointing to clause of agreement between higher commands, which stipulated a joint parade. And Krivoshein had to agree, and he proposed the following procedure: at 16 o’clock, parts of Guderian’s corps in a marching column, with standards in front, leave the city, and Krivoshein’s units, also in a marching column, enter the city, stopping on the streets where German regiments pass , and salute passing units with their banners. Bands perform military marches.
Guderian agreed to the proposed option, but separately stipulated that he would be present on the podium along with Krivoshein and greet the passing units.
Having completed the negotiations in the evening, Krivoshein gave instructions to the brigade that had already entered the city to prepare the 4th battalion and brigade orchestra for the parade, as well as to block the railway.
The passage of units that took place the next day Krivoshein described it like this:
“At 16.00 General Guderian and I went up to the low platform. The infantry was followed by motorized artillery, then tanks. About two dozen planes flew over the podium in a low-level flight. Guderian, pointing at them, tried to shout over the noise of the engines:
- German aces! Colossal! - he shouted. I couldn’t resist and also shouted back:
- We have better!
- Oh yeah! - Guderian answered without much joy.
Then the infantry came again in vehicles. Some of them, it seemed to me, I had already seen. Obviously, Guderian, using the vicious circle of nearby neighborhoods, ordered the motorized regiments to demonstrate their power several times... Finally, parade ended.
Krivoshein. Interstorm, p. 261»
General Guderian describes the events in his memoirs:
“As a herald of the approach of the Russians, a young Russian officer arrived in an armored car, informing us of the approach of their tank brigade. Then we received news of the demarcation line established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which, passing along the Bug, left the Brest fortress to the Russians; We considered such a decision by the ministry unprofitable. It was then established that the area east of the demarcation line should be abandoned by us by September 22. This period was so short that we could not even evacuate our wounded and pick up damaged tanks. Apparently, not a single military man was involved in the negotiations on establishing a demarcation line and ending hostilities.
On the day of the transfer of Brest to the Russians, brigade commander Krivoshein, a tankman who spoke French, arrived in the city; so I was able to easily explain myself to him. All issues remaining unresolved in the regulations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were resolved satisfactorily for both parties directly with the Russians. We were able to take everything except the supplies captured from the Poles, which remained with the Russians, since they could not be evacuated in such a short time. Our stay in Brest ended with a farewell parade and a flag changing ceremony in the presence of brigade commander Krivoshein.
Guderian. Memories of a Soldier"
Soviet and German military personnel communicate friendly in Brest-Litovsk.
Commanders of the 29th Tank Brigade of the Red Army near an armored car BA-20 in Brest-Litovsk.
In the foreground is battalion commissar V. Yu. Borovitsky.
Battalion Commissar of the 29th Tank Brigade of the Red Army V. Yu. Borovitsky with German officers at the BA-20 armored car in Brest-Litovsk.
Wehrmacht soldiers with a Red Army soldier on a Soviet armored car BA-20 from the 29th separate tank brigade in the city of Brest-Litovsk. Bundesarchiv. "Bild 101I-121-0008-13"
General Guderian and brigade commander Krivoshein during the transfer of the city of Brest-Litovsk to the Red Army.
In German documents this event was depicted as follows.
In Brest, as follows from the report of the command of Army Group North on September 22, 1939, “...a solemn march of one Russian and one German regiment took place... The city and the Citadel were handed over to the Russians in a festive manner.”
In the Federal Military Archive in Germany, in the documents of the senior leadership of the second tank group, there is a document “ Vereinbarung mit sowjetischen Offizieren über die Überlassung von Brest-Litowsk»(“Agreement with Soviet officers on the transfer of Brest-Litovsk”) dated 09/21/1939. It states, in particular:
14:00: The solemn march (Vorbeimarsch) of Russian and German troops begins in front of the commanders of both sides, followed by a change of flags. During the changing of flags, music plays the national anthems.
In addition, scoops stubbornly “forget”. that the Poles received these territories after the defeat of Germany in the First World War, and before that the Bolsheviks themselves gave Russian territories to the Germans under the terms of the shameful and treacherous Brest Peace.
Not to mention that it would be very interesting to find on the map Russian Empire"returned by Stalin" city of Lvov... :)))
The fact of a joint Soviet-fascist parade is now denied only by publicists and officials Dyukov, Medinsky, and a couple of other “historians” and publicists. And the dispute around the parade is ideological in nature, but in fact, if we consider it as a purely historical event, then of course there was a joint Soviet-fascist parade in Brest, no matter how pro-Soviet propagandists tried to deny the obvious.
This is not the first time they have written to me in a personal message about the so-called “joint parade” in Brest on September 22, 1939. Basically, these are those who, at one time, read my material and who are interested in whether I have something new (documents, photos, eyewitness accounts, etc.) that would either prove or refute my conclusions that there was no “joint parade” on September 22, 1939 in Brest, but there was an official procedure for the transfer of the city.
Well, did you ask? I answer! Since the publication of the material was completed in January 2014, I have not received anything particularly new, valuable or sensational. There are no new documents, no eyewitness accounts, but new photographs have been added. I won’t say that there is nothing interesting there, but no sensations. And that's for sure. There are questions about the dating of most of the photos. In this regard, the dating that is present there is absolutely crazy.
In general, somewhere else I will sort out and clarify the photos, but for now I want to offer you what I found interesting among the new photos and that I have not published on my LiveJournal.
Passage of German technology. On the left, on the side of the road, tankers of the Krivoshein brigade and civilians near the truck, on the right - “extras” of the military and a platform on which four stand: Krivoshein, Guderian and two more Germans (I can assume that these are: the city commandant and the chief of staff of the 19th Army Motorized Corps). The key point is why Krivoshein’s tankers are not in the tanks preparing to take part in the “parade”, but are standing on the sidelines. The answer to this question is given by fragment from the “War Journal of the XIX Motorized Corps” by Heinz Guderian dated September 22, 1939.
“11.15 - The commander of the Russian tank brigade on the march to Brest, brigade commander Krivoshein, arrived. He was accepted by the corps commander and chief of staff. Gives the impression of a well-mannered, reserved and self-confident person.
The agreement adopted the day before regarding the transfer of the city was discussed in detail for the second time. During a conversation regarding a scenario for a public event, Russian the general expressed the wish that his tanks would not take part in the ceremonial march, since because of this their crews would not be able to see the march of German units .
This wish caused corresponding changes in the entire course of the ceremony; it was decided that there will be no passage of Russian tank units , but the orchestra and tank crews will take places next to the orchestra of the 20th Motorized Division opposite the generals hosting the parade.”
Next photos...
Krivoshein Orchestra. About his participation in the procedure for transferring the city to
we read:
“14.30 - The ceremonial passage of two artillery battalions, a reinforced regiment of the 20th motorized division, with a closing reconnaissance battalion of the 20th motorized division began. The passage was accepted by the corps commander; On his left hand stood the Russian commander. During the march, German and Russian orchestras played alternately. A very good, sublime and impressive picture of the passage was somewhat spoiled by traffic jams caused by large destruction on the street leading in the direction of Vidomlya.
The crews of Russian tanks participating in the event and the 8-person orchestra made a very mediocre impression. The mismatched and sloppy uniforms were striking » .
The same Krivoshein orchestra during the city transfer procedure (link 12)
In the area of the podium on which the German flag was flying, and also before
start of the city transfer procedure
A German photograph claims it is a "parade" of German and Soviet troops. But where then is the platform with Krivoshein, Guderian and two other Germans? Where did the German bus come from, which should not have been there even in principle? Where are Krivoshein’s tankers standing on the side of the road (see the first photo in this post)? In general, I have already analyzed this situation (), so I will not return to it.
This photo was taken on the eve of the transfer of the city of Brest, and not on September 22, 1939
Another similar photo:
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the flag on the flagpole is German (!), and not Soviet. This is also an important detail, because when on September 22, 1939, during the procedure for the transfer of the city, " the last German car passed in front of the grandstand ", the German flag was lowered and after the speeches of Guderian and Krivoshein, the procedure for the transfer of the city of Brest was completed. In the photo we see that the Germans did not leave anywhere, and Krivoshein’s tanks had already entered Brest. Like the photo above, This photo was not taken on September 22, 1939, but the day before.
The fact that this is exactly how it is recorded in "War Log of the XIX Motorized Corps" by Heinz Guderian, September 22, 1939. We read the continuation of the fragment relating to 14.30:
“At the end of the passage, when the last German car passed in front of the podium, the corps commander, in a short speech, conveyed the “Russian fortress” of Brest on behalf of the German army to the Russian commander.
The order was then given to lower the German war flag. At the sound of the national anthem at 16.45 in Brest the German flag was lowered.
Then the Russian commander spoke. After his speech, to the sounds of the Internationale, one of the political commissars raised a red flag on the flagpole.
This completed the handover ceremony. To settle the remaining cases, its former German commandant and translator remained in Brest. The entire event was filmed by a propaganda platoon. The corps commander and the chief of staff, having said goodbye to the Russian officers, immediately left for the new location of the corps headquarters in Zambrovo (barracks) "
The following photo deserves closer attention:
Civilian cyclists (!)
and tanks of the Krivoshein brigade. Is this also a “joint parade”???
Three subsequent photographs confirm that Krivoshein was in Brest until September 22, 1939. I was and met with Guderian. And he was not alone, but the Germans were filming it all. And in the chronicle, which was later inserted into the “joint parade” on September 22, and in the photo. You can ignore the dating of the photo. Why? See for yourself!
Date on photo - January 1, 1939!
Fantastic!
If cities were given titles in the same way as people, the Brest Fortress would be twice a hero. Because in June '41 it repelled the second siege. For the first time, the garrison of the Brest Fortress had to hold the defense for thirty...
If cities were given titles in the same way as people, the Brest Fortress would be twice a hero. Because in June '41 it repelled the second siege. The first time the garrison of the Brest Fortress had to hold the line was in 1939. Then it was defended by the Polish troops of General Plisovsky. And the attackers were still the same.
“In that unknown war...”
In 1939, when Germany attacked Poland, the Brest Fortress was stormed seven times. The German infantry attacks were supported by artillery. But everything was unsuccessful. The garrison repelled attempts to break through. It seemed to the attackers that they were confronted by a powerful military group. And General Konstanty Plisovsky commanded only three infantry battalions and a guard battalion. He didn't even have a single anti-tank gun. And Guderian’s tank division was already entering the city, which was just a stone’s throw away.
On September 13, Plisovsky ordered the families of officers and sub-officers to be evacuated from the Brest Fortress, the bridges and approaches to the fortress to be mined, and the main gates to be blocked with tanks. It was pointless to use the several light combat vehicles that the general had for their intended purpose.
On September 14, units of the 10th German Panzer Division of the 19th Army Corps advanced to the forts. The artillery brought down powerful fire on the fortress. Then the infantry went on the assault. But the garrison repelled the attack. Under the command of General Plisovsky there were two thousand people. There are five thousand attackers. But the fortress held. On September 16, a carefully prepared assault on the fortress began. He was repulsed again. But in these battles, General Plisovsky was wounded.
The Brest Fortress fought under siege for three days - from September 14 to 17. She could have held on longer. But that day the Red Army crossed the border. It was clear to everyone that the war had taken a different turn. And further resistance, no matter how heroic it may be, will only destroy human lives and end in the senseless destruction of the garrison. In order to save people, General Plisovsky decided to withdraw his battalions from the doomed citadel.
On the night of September 17, the Polish military left the fortress under artillery fire. They carried out the wounded. They did not abandon the dead. Those who survived and made it to Terespol buried the dead in the local cemetery. Their graves are still preserved there.
And from the east, the regiments of Corps Commander Vasily Chuikov were already coming towards the Wehrmacht troops. At the very time when the Poles were leaving the fortress, Polish Ambassador Waclaw Grzybowski was summoned to the Kremlin.
Deputy People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR Vladimir Potemkin read him a note signed by Stalin: “The Polish-German war revealed the internal failure of the Polish state. Warsaw as the capital of Poland no longer exists. The Polish government has collapsed and shows no signs of life. This means that the Polish state and government virtually ceased to exist. Thus, the treaties signed between the USSR and Poland ceased to be valid. Left to its own devices and left without leadership, Poland turned into a convenient field for all sorts of accidents and surprises that could pose a threat to the USSR.” “Poland will never cease to exist!” - the ambassador replied and refused to accept the note. Potemkin tried to push the note directly into his hands, but Grzybowski threw it on the table and repeated once again: “Never!” And he left the office, slamming the door. When he arrived at the embassy building, a courier from the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs was waiting for him - with a note in his hands. But it was not possible to deliver the note there either. Then she was simply sent to the embassy by mail.
On the same night and at the same time, when Potemkin read Stalin’s note to the Polish ambassador, the German ambassador Count von Schulenburg was summoned to the Kremlin. He, unlike the Polish diplomat, was received as a dear guest: not a deputy commissar with a dry reading of a note, but Stalin, Molotov and Voroshilov with good news. After friendly handshakes, von Schulenburg was told that today at dawn the Red Army would cross the entire length of the Soviet-Polish border - from Polotsk to Kamenets-Podolsk. The ambassador was asked to convey to Berlin a friendly request that German planes not fly east of the Bialystok-Brest-Lvov line. The ambassador promised that there would be no unpleasant surprises in the form of loitering aircraft on the path of the Soviet troops.
And in the morning, Pravda and Izvestia came out with the text of the Soviet-German communique on the front pages:
“In order to avoid any kind of unfounded rumors about the tasks of the Soviet and German troops operating in Poland, the government of the USSR and the government of Germany declare that the actions of these troops do not pursue any goal that runs counter to the interests of Germany or the Soviet Union and is contrary to the spirit and letter of the pact non-aggression agreement concluded between Germany and the USSR. The task of these troops, on the contrary, is to restore order and tranquility in Poland, disturbed by the collapse of the Polish state, and to help the population of Poland reorganize the conditions of their state existence.”
So the Soviet Union tore up the Soviet-Polish non-aggression pact signed back in 1932. According to this treaty, aid and any assistance from the Soviet Union to a state that would attack Poland, and vice versa, were prohibited. But what is the implementation of an international treaty if we are talking about the division of territories! The Soviet-Polish non-aggression pact was forgotten at the same moment when Germany proposed simply dividing Poland and becoming good neighbors forever.
At the same time, the Soviet command feared that, despite the offer of eternal friendship, the German army could, as if by chance, reach Stalin’s line, and quickly moved its troops to the west. Officially it was called - to protect the fraternal peoples of Ukraine and Belarus. At first, the defenders were indeed greeted there joyfully. Soviet propaganda did not work in vain. Long before the war, groups of young people sometimes fled across the border from that side. They fled to live in a free country. But here the security officers grabbed them and carefully extracted testimony that all these yellow-haired youths and girls, crazy with fear, were Polish spies. Those who confessed were shot. Those who withstood the interrogations were sent to camps for twenty years.
The Soviet-German non-aggression pact was signed on August 23, 1939. Attached to it was a secret protocol on the division of Eastern Europe between Moscow and Berlin. On August 31, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR ratified it. The Soviet people, as usual, responded with applause. Naturally, the Soviet people were not informed about the secret protocol.
By the way, the Soviet Union violated the non-aggression treaty with Poland even before its unilateral rupture - until September 17, when the Soviet note was read to the ambassador. A week after the German attack on Poland, on September 8, Ambassador Grzybowski was invited by Molotov and said that from now on the transit of military materials to Poland through the territory of the USSR was prohibited. And from the very first day of the war, the Soviet Union kindly provided Germany with the Minsk radio station so that German troops could use it as a radio beacon to guide planes bombing Poland. For this friendly service, Goering personally thanked the People's Commissar of Defense Klim Voroshilov. And when Poland was over, he sent him a plane as a gift.
Intimidation of Europe
Brest was occupied on September 22. Two armies at once. From the eastern side, the vanguard 29th Tank Brigade under the command of Semyon Krivoshein entered the city. According to the secret protocol, Brest became Soviet territory. And the next day German troops had to leave the city. But to demonstrate Soviet-German friendship, the military leaders decided to part beautifully. And since the two armies met as friends, as allies who together carried out a successful military operation, then according to all traditions this should have been celebrated. And they decided to hold a joint parade. Farewell - the Germans were leaving. Not far, on the other side of the Bug.
The celebrations began the day after the arrival of Soviet troops, September 23, at 16.00. Usually parades are hosted by one person. This time there were two hosts. Two commanders in full dress uniform stood up on a wooden podium in the center of Brest: a graduate of the Kazan Tank School, Heinz Guderian, and a graduate of the Frunze Military Academy, Semyon Krivoshein.
It was a sincere celebration. Soldiers of the two armies exchanged cigarettes on the streets of Brest, officers treated each other to beer.
General Guderian would later remember these September days in his memoirs: “As a herald of the approach of the Russians, a young officer arrived in an armored car, informing us of the approach of their tank brigade. Then we received news of the demarcation line established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which, passing along the Bug, left the Brest fortress behind the Russians... On the day of the transfer of Brest to the Russians, brigade commander Krivoshein, a tankman who spoke French, arrived in the city; therefore, I was able to easily explain myself to him... Our stay in Brest ended with a farewell parade and a ceremony with the exchange of flags in the presence of brigade commander Krivoshein.”
The parade went great. The troops on both sides showed excellent drill skills. The parade squads marched to the sounds of the Brandenburg March. Forty-five minutes after the start of the parade, the national anthems began to sound in the square. The Reich flag was lowered. Brigade commander Krivoshein made a short speech in military style. A Soviet soldier raised a red flag. The parade is over. The Reich is moving to the other side of the new border. In a solemn ceremony, the city of Brest was transferred to the Soviet Union. As expected, everything ended with a banquet for senior management. The separation was a success. And on September 24, German troops left Brest. Not for long.
This parade was not for its citizens. Not for the Soviet people. Not for the Germans. And especially not for the residents of Brest, who could not understand in whose hands the city was, whose power was here and in what country they would now live. The crash of German and Soviet boots on the Brest paving stones should have echoed powerfully in Europe. It was necessary to show the whole world that a powerful alliance of two friendly states had emerged, which would confidently redraw not only the map of Poland, but also the map of the world. They will cut off a piece for Germany and their share for the USSR. The world will be the same as it was with Poland.
The parade in Brest was not the only joint celebration. In Grodno and Pinsk, parades with fraternization of Soviet and German soldiers also took place - albeit on a smaller scale than in Brest. Germany called them "victors' parades." The USSR called them “friendship parades.” In Grodno, on a hastily put together stand, the same as in Brest, the parade was hosted by Corporal Commander Vasily Chuikov. The cities occupied by the Germans under the Treaty of Friendship and Borders, which, following the non-aggression pact, was signed by the USSR and Germany, were passed from hand to hand. It was as if a thief was bringing his catch to a buyer of stolen goods.
Soviet troops advanced quickly. Cities were occupied instantly. And this is not a matter of combat training. The Red Army did not encounter any serious resistance on its way. Why did the Poles, who desperately fought the Germans, not even try to repel the same aggression from the east? They strictly followed the order. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Polish armed forces, Marshal Rydz-Smigly, immediately after the invasion of the Soviet army in Poland, sent a directive to the troops: “Do not engage in battles with the Soviets, resist only if they attempt to disarm our units that came into contact with Soviet troops. Continue to fight the Germans. The surrounded cities must fight. If Soviet troops approach, negotiate with them in order to achieve the withdrawal of our garrisons to Romania and Hungary.”
The marshal understood perfectly well that the country would not be able to fight on two fronts. Germany sent one and a half million people (62 divisions), 2,800 tanks and 2,000 aircraft against Poland. The Polish army numbered a million people (37 divisions - 31 personnel and 6 reserve), 870 tanks and tankettes and 771 aircraft of an outdated design. The German troops outnumbered the enemy in both numbers and equipment. The Poles fought heroically. However, their army could no longer open another front in the east. And therefore it was decided not to resist the Soviet troops, but to negotiate with them. The Polish command notified the Soviet leadership that it did not consider the actions of the Red Army to be the beginning of the USSR's war against Poland.
Reconnaissance by parade
There was another characteristic detail of that parade. At a time when friendly troops were still preparing for a joint holiday, German intelligence diligently examined the left bank of the Bug, which was supposed to become the border between Germany and the Soviet Union. Together with the Red commanders, the Germans wandered around the fortifications of the Brest Fortress, as if getting acquainted with the places where the victory over the Polish garrison was won. We examined the destroyed casemates and abandoned ammunition. And at this time the sappers measured the depths, determined the directions most convenient for crossing the Bug and Mukhavets. Then, when the crossing of the border and the assault on Brest and the fortress began on June 22, 1941, the German troops acted surprisingly harmoniously. They knew in advance which sites to land troops on, where to cross the river, where it was best to transport artillery. And where are the most vulnerable places of the Brest Fortress.
And Heinz Guderian’s track record includes the Kazan Tank School and the General Staff Academy. The brilliant officer of the Prussian school also received excellent training in the best educational institutions of the potential enemy. Perhaps the Germans would not have had such stunning success at the beginning of the war if it had not been for this cooperation between the Wehrmacht and the high command of the Red Army.
Our country trained German pilots - future aces of the Second World War. The Germans studied our military equipment very well and were sufficiently aware of the latest achievements of Soviet military science. They knew many military leaders by sight, their strengths and weaknesses. And even the territory on which they later had to fight was well known to the Germans.
In June '41, German troops left the Brest Fortress in the rear, surrounded, and moved on. For the reckless joy with which the Wehrmacht was greeted in Brest in 1939, two years later it was paid with the lives of thousands of soldiers. For every German killed, ten are ours. Surrounded and abandoned by their command, they were forced to stop the German troops themselves. Detain them at unmarked borders - sometimes, maybe just for a minute. The Germans did not reach Moscow only because our soldiers took upon themselves the hard work of correcting the incompetent policies of their state.
Long way to the memorial
The Brest Fortress did not stop the German troops, as it was later presented by Soviet propaganda. Tank columns advanced into the interior of the country. And there, in Brest, the Germans left only separate units of the Second Wehrmacht Infantry Division, which were ordered to finish off the rebellious garrison. However, garrison is too strong a word. By the beginning of the war, many were no longer in the fortress. Some were taken to summer camps. Some went to maneuvers or to build a fortified area. Between seven and eight thousand troops remained in the fortress. And also three hundred officer families. One of the commanders, fearing encirclement, hastened to withdraw his subordinates. And in the fortress there remained mainly economic units, a medical unit, a transport company, and quartermaster teams. There were few combatants.
However, these scattered units, not united by anyone, offered unprecedented resistance to the advancing Germans and held out for more than a month. There were no high-ranking commanders among the defenders of the fortress. The most senior in rank remained Major Gavrilov, captains Zubachev, Shablovsky, Kasatkin and regimental commissar Fomin. And mostly - commanders of companies, platoons, and squads. They organized resistance that was almost impossible under those conditions and held out as long as they had ammunition. The defenders died under landslides, under fire, without hope of help. Only vague rumors will circulate about this feat later. Many of those who miraculously survived will also go through Stalin’s camps. The country did not forgive the soldier's captivity.
The soldiers of the Polish Army, who had faced the war there two years earlier, did not consider themselves abandoned. Their general was with them. They did not write on the walls: “We will die, but we will not leave the fortress.” The soldiers fulfilled their military duty with dignity. And the one who was responsible for them fulfilled his duty as a commander. He took responsibility and led the defenders out of the besieged fortress. And he buried the dead with military honors. Every single one of them. Perhaps this is precisely what the Soviet government could not forgive him for.
On September 28, 1939, General Konstanty Plisovsky, who commanded the defense of the Brest Fortress, was captured by Soviet troops. He was sent to a camp in Starobelsk. And a few months later they were shot in the building of the Kharkov NKVD. In 1996, by order of the Minister of Defense of Poland, the 6th Armored Cavalry Brigade of the Polish Army was named after General Konstanta Plisovsky.
And Major Gavrilov, the defender of the Eastern Fort, was captured by the Germans on July 23, 1941. He was seriously wounded and so exhausted that the Germans could not understand how he could still shoot. The captured Pyotr Gavrilov was carried on a stretcher in front of the line so that the soldiers saluted the hero. Later, these honors cost the major ten years in the camps. He would become a Hero of the Soviet Union many years later.
The Moscow teacher, Sergeant Alexei Romanov, who defended the fortress, was not given any honors by the Germans. He was found unconscious under the rubble. They were thrown into a prisoner of war camp. In Hamburg, when they were taken out to clear the ruins, Alexey Romanov fled. He snuck onto a Swedish merchant ship at the port and, burying himself in the coal hold, sailed to Stockholm. There, the police handed Romanov personally to the Soviet Ambassador Alexandra Kollontai. At that time she was already using a wheelchair. Having heard Romanov’s story, she said: “I’m sorry that I can’t kneel before you.” Kollontai helped the sergeant return home. The homeland was not distinguished by sentimentality. And she met him, like the others who were captured.
Only ten years later, when Khrushchev began to return people from the camps, the defenders of the fortress learned that they were not criminals. Their military honor was saved by the writer Sergei Smirnov. It was he who helped former prisoners, listened to their meager stories and recreated an almost fantastic story in detail. It was only thanks to him that they were recognized as heroes. Rehabilitated. And they rewarded me. And in the Brest Fortress they began to build a memorial complex, which became the main object of Soviet excursions after Red Square and the Hermitage. And the names of the hero-defenders were inscribed there. And the monument was erected. Justice has prevailed.
That eloquent memorial is silent about the fact that in 1939 other soldiers defended the same fortress from the Nazis. It was as if the thirty-ninth had never happened, the stand with Heinz Guderian and Semyon Krivoshein. And even more so, there was no Soviet-German communique and the Polish ambassador shouting “never!”, and the executed General Plisovsky.