3-023-192 - British Pathe Ltd/Heritage Images

Operation Barbarossa - title card, 1941. Second World War. Operation Barbarossa, code-named after Frederick I "Barbarossa" ("red beard"), a 12th-century Holy Roman Emperor and Crusader, was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies. The plan was to put into action the Nazis' ideological goals of eradicating communism, and conquering the western Soviet Union to repopulate it with Germans. It was the largest and costliest land offensive in human history, with around 10 million combatants taking part, and over 8 million casualties by the end of the operation. From "Time To Remember - Operation Barbarossa", 1941 (Reel 1); documentary film about events of 1941, on the Eastern Front and at Pearl Harbour.