Russia at war 1941-1945

outside Leningrad, but that no matter how many more they lost, they still wouldn't get into Leningrad; he also said that "communications continued to be maintained", and that, although there was rationing in the city, there was no food shortage. He also said that there was heavy fighting "for the Crimea", but denied that the Germans had as yet crossed the Perekop Isthmus. As for the German claim of having captured 500,000 or

600,000 prisoners in the Ukraine, after the loss of Kiev, he was much more cagey, saying that the battle was continuing, and that it was not in the Russian's interest to give out information prematurely. However, he added the somewhat sinister phrase: "The farther east the Germans push, the nearer will they get to the grave of Nazi Germany." He seemed to be prepared for the loss of Kharkov and the Donbas, though he did not say so.

It did not become clear until October 4 or 5 that an offensive against Moscow had started, and, even so, it was not clear how big it was. There was, needless to say, nothing in the Russian papers about Hitler's speech of October 2 announcing his "final" drive against Moscow.

However, Lozovsky referred to it in his press conference of October 7. He looked slightly flustered, but said that Hitler's speech only showed that the fellow was getting desperate.

"He knows he isn't going to win the war, but he has to keep the Germans more or less contented during the winter, and he must therefore achieve some major success, which would suggest that a certain stage of the war has closed. The second reason why it is essential for Hitler to do something big is the Anglo-American-Soviet agreement, which has caused a feeling of despondency in Germany. The Germans could, at a pinch,

swallow a 'Bolshevik' agreement with Britain, but a 'Bolshevik' agreement with America was more than the Germans had ever expected." Lozovsky added that, anyway, the

capture of this or that city would not affect the final outcome of the war. It was as if he was already preparing the press for the possible loss of Moscow. Yet he managed to end on a note of bravado: "If the Germans want to see a few hundred thousand more of their people killed, they'll succeed in that—if in nothing else."

The news on the night of the 7th was even worse, with the first official reference to

"heavy fighting in the direction of Viazma".

On the 8th, while Pravda and Izvestia were careful not to sound too alarmed (Pravda actually started with a routine article on "The Work of Women in War-Time"), the army paper, Red Star, looked extremely disquieting. It said that "the very existence of the Soviet State was in danger", and that every man of the Red Army "must stand firm and fight to the last drop of blood". It described the new German offensive as a last desperate fling:

Hitler has thrown into it everything he has got—even every old and obsolete tank, every midget tank the Germans have collected in Holland, France or Belgium has

been thrown into this battle... The Soviet soldiers must at any price destroy these tanks, old and new, large or small. All the riff-raff armour of ruined Europe is being thrown against the Soviet Union.

Pravda sounded the alarm on the 9th, warning the people of Moscow against "careless complacency" and calling on them to "mobilise all their forces to repel the enemy's offensive". On the following day it called for "vigilance" saying that, in addition to advancing on Moscow, "the enemy is also trying, through the wide network of its agents, spies and agents-provocateurs, to disorganise the rear and to create panic". On October 12, Pravda spoke of the "terrible danger" threatening the country.

Even without the help of enemy agents, there was enough in Pravda to spread the greatest alarm among the population of Moscow. Talk of evacuation had begun on the

8th, and foreign embassies as well as numerous Russian government offices and

institutions were told to expect a decision on it very shortly. The atmosphere was

becoming extremely tense. There was talk of Moscow as a "super-Madrid" among the braver, and feverish attempts to get away among the less brave.

By October 13, the situation in Moscow had become highly critical. Numerous German

troops which had, for over a week, been held up by the "Viazma encirclement", had become available for the final attack on Moscow. The "Western" Front, under the general command of General Zhukov, assisted by General Konev, and with General Sokolovsky