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German infantry during the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. [LCID: 15582]

Invasion of the Soviet Union, June 1941

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched a surprise attack against the Soviet Union, its ally in the war against Poland. By the end of the year, German troops had advanced hundreds of miles to the outskirts of Moscow. Soon after the invasion, mobile killing units began the mass murder of Soviet Jews. German military and civilian occupation policies led to the deaths of millions of Soviet prisoners of war and Soviet civilians.