THE HOUR OF COURAGE
HAD STRUCK THE CLOCK
We know what’s at stake and how great the foe’s power, /
And what is now coming to pass. /
The hour of courage has struck on the clock /
And our courage will hold to the last. /
The bullets can kill us, but cannot deter; /
Though our houses will fall, we shall remain.
ANNA AKHMATOVA, 1942
The Nazi onslaught on Stalingrad
commenced with a bloody vengeance. The sky turned brown from the dust of
fragmented buildings, the ground vibrated because of the power of the
explosions. The Fascist army's advance continued but faced the most
ferocious resistance imaginable. The horror of fighting the Soviet
troops on their favoured terrain, the approaching Russian winter, fast
became a reality for Hitler's Generals. While German tanks entered the
outskirts of Stalingrad the Soviets dug in preparing to fight for every
district, every street, every house.
Almost six months later , 2 February 1943 and the defeat of the
Nazi forces which had sought to encircle and destroy Stalingrad was
complete. Out of each Red Army division sent to defend the city no more
than a few hundred soldiers survived, 1.1 million casualties, of which
485,751 lost their lives.
For Hitler the defeat at Stalingrad was the beginning of the end. The
story of the Red Army's sacrifice had a powerful effect across the
world, especially on resistance movements in occupied Europe. The
Russians who had taken the brunt of the German onslaught since 1941 were
now turning the tide and a year later would be joined by the Allied
forces opening up the second front with the D-Day landings landings at
Normandy.
Philosophy Football's 1942-2012 Stalingrad range marks the battle's
70th Anniversary. Inspired by Anna Akhmatova's poem the designs are
based on a medal, a fuselage, a propaganda poster, a book title from the
time and the slogan with which the Russian people greeted their
eventual victory. " Nobody is forgotten. Nothing is forgotten!"
“For us there is no land beyond the Volga,”
A superb range of Stalingrad anniversary T-shirts can be obtained at
