The reality of the 'Ostfront' slowly emerges

1st July 1941: Notifications of casualties and letters home tell of hard fighting

A German casualty of Barbarossa, the image has been coloured post war.

In Germany the general population were beginning to learn something of the war in Russia. The announcement of the war on the 22nd June had at first been greeted with ‘nervousness and dismay’ amongst many, according to one SS report on public attitudes.

Nazi propaganda about Soviet Russ…