Eastern Front (World War II) Facts for Kids

Eastern front in 1943 and 1944

The Eastern Front during World War II was the conflict between the Axis countries and the Soviet Union. It began in 1941 with Operation Barbarossa, and ended in 1945 when the Soviet soldiers captured Berlin. Both the Axis countries and the Soviet Union had a lot of soldiers, and the fighting was very brutal. It is also called "The Great Patriotic War" in the Soviet Union, and it is sometimes called "The Soviet-German War" in Europe and America.

Most of the Axis soldiers who died in World War II died on the Eastern Front. Millions of Soviet soldiers also died. Many war crimes were committed, mostly by the Axis soldiers. The Eastern Front was the most important conflict in Europe during World War II.

Images for kids

Semyon Timoshenko and Georgy Zhukov in 1940
Situation in Europe by May/June 1941, immediately before Operation Barbarossa
German armored spearhead in the Kalmyk steppe north of Stalingrad, September 1942
German infantry in Russia, June 1943
Europe at the height of German military expansion, 1942
A map of the South Western Front (Ukrainian) at 22 June 1941
Soviet children during a German air raid in the first days of the war, June 1941, by RIA Novosti archive
Wehrmacht soldiers pulling a car from the mud during the rasputitsa period, November 1941
The Soviet winter counter-offensive, 5 December 1941 to 7 May 1942: Soviet gains German gains
German soldiers surrendering to the Red Army units near Vitovka village, 1941
A Soviet junior political officer (Politruk) urges Soviet troops forward against German positions (12 July 1942).
German infantry and a supporting StuG III assault gun during the advance towards Stalingrad, September 1942
Soviet soldiers pushing a 45 mm (1.8 in) anti-tank gun on the road, 1 August 1943
The Battle of Prokhorovka was one of the largest tank battles ever fought. It was part of the wider Battle of Kursk.
Loading a Soviet "Katyusha" rocket launcher
Roza Shanina was a graduate of the Central Women's Sniper Training School. About 800,000 women served in the Soviet Armed Forces during the war.
Soviet and Polish Armia Krajowa soldiers in Vilnius, July 1944
The Red Army is greeted in Bucharest, Romania, August 1944.
Soviet soldiers advance through the streets of Jelgava, Latvia, mid-1944.
Soviet advances from 1 January 1945 to 11 May 1945: to 30 March 1945 to 11 May 1945
German refugees from East Prussia, February 1945
14,933,000 Soviet and Soviet-allied personnel were awarded the Medal for Victory over Germany.
Soviet soldiers celebrating the surrender of the German forces in Berlin, 2 May 1945
Citizens of Leningrad during the 872-day siege, in which about one million civilians died
Adolf Hitler led Germany during World War II.
Hitler with generals Friedrich Paulus, Adolf Heusinger and Fedor von Bock in Poltava, German-occupied Ukraine, June 1942
Joseph Stalin led the Soviet Union during World War II.
Homeless Russian children in occupied territory (about 1942)
Soviets bury their fallen, July 1944
World War II military deaths in Europe by theatre, year
A German war cemetery in Estonia

Eastern Front (World War II) facts for kids

Images for kids

See also