Soviet soldiers finally returning home.

What they found upon their return was heart-breaking. One‐third of the Soviet Union's wealth was destroyed. 70,000 villages, 1,700 towns, 32,000 factories, 40,000 miles of railroad track were ruined. 25 million people were homeless. It took the USSR 15 years to rebuild its western part.

Returning home

NKVD officers setting up a gun machine behind the defensive line August/September 1942. 

On July 28. 1942 Stalin issued the notorious Order 227, demanding that commanders create “blocking detachments” to prevent any unauthorized withdrawals from the battles. 

The order had such a negative effect on the soldiers' morale that many commanders disobeyed it, and 3 months later it was  dropped. 

Note that official Russian history today refuses to acknowledge such barbarity committed within the Red Army. The same goes for the notorious "human wave" attacks, which are a no-topic in Russia today.

Blocking detachment

VVS ace Alexey Maresyev.

At the beginning of the war Alexey was shot down and lost both legs, but was determined to return to the air force. 

It was unthinkable and unprecedented. To convince medical examiners that he could fly, he learned how to dance waltz. Despite all odds and regulations, he returned to flying and became an ace with 11 confirmed kills. 