The Battle of Stalingrad newsreel on the Presidential Library’s website

On the 70th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi forces in the Battle of Stalingrad, celebrated February 2, 2013, the Presidential Library’s website www.prlib.ru provides free access to unique frontline newsreels of 1943.

Filming made by military operators on the front, depict the heroism of Soviet troops: soldiers and officers of the 2nd Shock Army under General Vasily Chuikov and of the 64th Army under General Mikhail Shumilov. Newsreel footage digitized and made available to the public for viewing on the website of the first national electronic library in the country, not only demonstrates the "trench truth" - harassing street fighting, but also has preserved the living voice of military leaders. Thus, the commander of the Stalingrad Front, General Andrei Eremenko, while at the command center, says: "The Battle of Stalingrad is unrivaled both by the duration of attacks, and the introduction of materiel. 90 days of continuous attack, the enemy has been attacking for 3 months ... But never will fascist scum seize this stronghold."

The defeat of Hitler's army near Stalingrad was one of the crucial events of the Great Patriotic War. It was a turning point, after the Battle of Stalingrad Hitler's armies began to surrender their positions. The newsreel available on the Presidential Library’s website depicts the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Tehran giving over to the President of the Soviet People's Commissars of the USSR Joseph Stalin the honorary sword - a gift of King George VI to the citizens of Stalingrad to commemorate the heroic defense of the city.

The Presidential Library as a major repository of documents on the history of the country conducts the systematic and extensive work on the revealing to the public of unique materials from the Russian Archive of Film and Photo documents. Publication on the web site of newsreel of the Battle of Stalingrad followed the provision of access to the materials on the life of Leningrad during the blockade.