The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-06-23

e4 " ~~%eAsS London. The Maxi air ana tlsh Isles hes proved tncre extension Of American pAtr no guarantee that lt would {
 MiElsr he'd b shlnk about those thlnRS and probably dld, Ills relA~ tlons with the ., S> A. were Ue~ lorlDgAilng rapidly.
 oa tAe basis q past 0eeSlonS, there ls no reason Co believe that MR made Q reckless one ln choosing An elxske now at Russia. Russia held kha wheat on and minerals that Germany needed n she were eo face lonR wAr against Britain er Britain and America,
 Beyond NARi Reach
 vas sources Of British war NarenRGh--the United States aud < ahN RFttlah domtnions - were be- I yond thA reach Of NARi ooMberS, { m miahe continue to pour MN- enrlala Into England and the Middle KAxk vhlle the RAF intensified its homhArdment of the Ruhr and Nhlneland war industries,
 Mut with All Of Europe and Rus sla to draw upon. German efficiency | valahk restore the balance ot rNs eolrceS might prvosde the sinews that would win. or at worst create m long deadlock oWs Of which could come Q negoelMAea peace.
 The Na1la never forget that in eha pAsk HratAinS rulers feared Communism even more than NA1- sSm, Even la the face of ChOrchtll'S declared support of the Soviees against Germany, the Naxts might hone Co encourage . British peace movement Ns Q result of their drive Into Russia. A few hours after tho 0GEenAive started, the pro~NaHi npokesman In viehy hinted at such n move. He declared the attack Wns not merely 6 German war mwMlnsk Russia but Q European crusade against Communism, thus encouraging those who hope for Q peace settlement
 And any negotiated peace would hn e NaRi triumph,
 Decision Not simple
 The decision, however, was not as simple as that, Would Hitler dare the vast man-power and the distances of Russia that had dc. 3eAeed Napoleone Would he thrust Germany into . war on two frontsS
 As a matter of fact Germany cannck be forced to fight on two fronts until the British can launch an expeditionary force against a Nanl dominated continent, Such an expedition will be unlikely as long aS the British must face Q akrNng Axis army in North Africa, Thus tho war In the west becomes q holdlng operation for Germany d the NAx war machine moves against Russia.
 Nor Is 1t likely that tho German hlEh command entered the cam. nMlgm against the SovietS without knowing far more than the rest ot thN world about the Red army and tho Russian morale. They believed that they could lick the Soviet armed forces and lick them quick.
 Thsy must win the resources of Rrseie this summer, however, in order to profit by their gamble. ls they succeed, they may then choose Co strike swiftly at the British Isles before American aid can reach its peak.
 if they fail, then Hitler will have zone the way Of another corporal who almost conquered the world.
 That is why Hitler'S decision to fight Russia may be the biggest break of tho war.
 Canght Russia Asleep
 An of the German reports iron, the eastern front mephasised the nudeenness of the German otten- sivo end said it caught the Rus. slams by surprise, One reporter said that late Saturday evening he saw . Red plane flying over the frontier, apparently on reconnais. saree, but that the Russian pilo! apparently saw nothing as a result of the German eaSnouflage.
 The sero hour was exactly 2 .. m At which time the Nasi reporters Baid the German artillery lombard Fnant surpassed anything yet seer in European warfare. Dive hombers and other bomhers attacked simul. taxieously.
 One reporter describing the bon. baydment of the Soviet fortress s' Arest-xitovsk said:
 "At the Sero hour q hurricane oi firing began. Every German gur jcinsd in-heavy mortars and field guns end lons-range artihery--un' til the ground rocked. The bom' haRanent lasted almost an hour Germans fired everything they had Tie soviets were apparently taken hy surprise as there was c com plese absence of enemy artillery fire Not 6 single Russian shell fell be- hind cur Anes,"
 At several points German plo' neer and shock troops within fivt xnlnutes-cov by artillery tirt ' and artificial fog-had crossed :hl Fsver Bug in collapsible boats ane on rasts, the Naxi reporters said They worked their way acrosl ground which the Russians hat cleared on their side of the rivel to . depth of half a mile up < several miles.
 whe German barrage meanwhile had pushed forward and firet