SOVIET VICTORIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 November 1943, Page 3

SOVIET VICTORIES

AND PLIGHT OF NAZI GERMANY SURVEY BY MARSHAL STALIN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ALLIED HELP (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, November 6. Marshal Stalin, speaking at a festival meeting in Moscow on the eve of the 26th anniversary of the “October” Revolution, said: “Ever since we started gaining big victories the enemy has been unable to show a single success. The past year has proved that we can beat the enemy in the summer as well as in the winter. We have liberated in the south one million square kilometres, that is, two-thirds of the tem-porarily-occupied territory. We have pushed the enemy back from Vladikavkaz to Kherson, from Stalingrad to Kiev, from Voronezh to Gomel, from Rzhev to Orsha. Our troops have crossed four strong water barriers. At present the Red Army is defeating the enemy on the right bank of the Dnieper. “Thq Red Army has increased its numerical strength. The German losses on the other hand were at least 4,000,000 casualties on the Soviet front, and of these 1,800,000 were killed. The Germans lost 14,000 aircraft, 20,000 tanks, and at least 40,000 guns. At the beginning the Germans had sufficient army groups, but now their forces are very much watered down. Our summer campaign has shown that the German total mobilisation failed, whereas our forces grew steadily. During the war all of our industries have increased production. “Under the impact of war the Bolshevik Party has become the inspiration and main organiser of the whole war effort, and the ties between the party and the nation have been strengthened. Our country thus has survived all its difficulties and become stronger. Lenin’s words that war is a test of the people have received confirmation. The Soviet State will come out of the war even stronger than before. “The retreating Germans are devastating our country. The Soviet people will demand that they redeem these crimes. ENTIRE SITUATION CHANGED “This year was the most critical of the entire war, and the results achieved by the Red Army have changed the entire situation. Friendship and collaboration with our allies have been strengthened greatly, as can be seen by the outcome of the Moscow conference. “Now the Allies are determined to deal decisive blows at the bnemy. The German industrial centres are being bombed, and by this our efforts are being facilitated. Our allies’ Mediterranean operations have also aided the Red Army. These Mediterranean operations are not quite a second front, but they are something like it. We will not have to wait very long now for a real second front. “The anti-Hitlerite coalition stands on firm foundations. Already the defeat in the east and the blows of our allies in the west are shattering Germany. Already Italy has completely fallen out of the war. Other satellites would very much like to leave the ranks; they had hoped for a short war and quick profits. POST-WAR TASKS Speaking of the organisation of postwar Europe, Marshal Stalin stressed five tasks which faced the Allies: (1) To liberate the peoples of Europe. (2) To give them the right and freedom to organise their State life in accordance with their own wishes. (3) Heavy punishment for those responsible for crimes and atrocities. (4) Establishment of an order which would exclude the possibility of new German aggression. (5) Establishment of durable co-op-eration of the peoples for restoration of the areas which had suffered under the German Fascist yoke. Marshal Stalin warned the Red Army and Soviet people that they could not rest on their laurels, for the final victory would not be achieved easily and would demand hard fighting. “The enemy must be completely expelled and the peoples of Europe must be liberated,” he said.