World War II in Photos: The Eastern Front (The Atlantic)

[pokerfan]

The Eastern Front
Sep 18, 2011

The war on the Eastern Front, known to Russians as the "Great Patriotic War", was the scene of the largest military confrontation in history. More than 400 Red Army and German divisions clashed in a series of military operations over four years, along a front that extended more than 1,000 miles. Some 27 million Soviet soldiers and civilians and nearly 4 million German troops lost their lives along the Eastern Front during those years of brutality.


Three Russian war orphans stand amid the remains of what was once their home, in late 1942. After German forces destroyed the family's house, they took the parents as prisoners, leaving the children abandoned. (AP Photo)


A scene of devastation as an abandoned horse stands among the ruins of Stalingrad in December of 1942. (AP Photo)


The ruins of Stalingrad -- nearly completely destroyed after some six months of brutal warfare -- seen from an aircraft after the end of hostilities, in late 1943. (Michael Savin/Waralbum.ru)

This entry is Part 14 of a weekly 20-part retrospective of World War II (45 photos)
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/09/world-war-ii-the-eastern-front/100150

[treestar]

1. Wow, such sad pictures

[pokerfan]

4. It is well that war is so terrible...

... otherwise we would grow too fond of it. Robert E. Lee, Statement at the Battle of Fredericksburg (13th December 1862)

[SteveM]

2. The middle one could have been Richmond, 1865. nt

[pokerfan]

3. true

[Uncle Joe]

5. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, pokerfan.

[Swede]

6. K&R

[Blue_In_AK]

7. Powerful images.

The one of the kids is heartbreaking.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Total war

[Posteritatis]

9. The scope of the whole thing is just beyond comprehension. (nt)