Operation Barbarossa: The German Invasion of the USSR

The turning point in the Nazis’ plan to “solve the Jewish problem” began with Operation Barbarossa. The massive military invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 was intended to wind up the war by the winter and was part of Hitler’s plan to provide the German nation with “living space”. By the middle of August 1941, the scope of the murders had been widened to include all Jews. In less than half a year, about half a million Jews had been murdered within the areas of the Soviet Union conquered by the Nazis. Eighty years after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, renowned Holocaust historian, and Yad Vashem Academic Advisor, Prof. Yehuda Bauer will examine this decisive event in the history of the Holocaust.