Operation Barbarossa, code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, aimed at a quick capture of the European territory of the USSR. Moscow was to be captured before the start of winter. The calculation was that this would break the morale of the Soviet people and the war would be over.
The first period of the Great Patriotic War really did not develop in favor of the Red Army. Good preparation for the invasion of the territory of the USSR led to serious losses of equipment and personnel. In the fall of 1941, fascist troops approached Moscow; in some sectors of the front, only 30 km remained to the capital. However, the Soviet command managed to organize defense and defend the city.
Operation Barbarossa failed, and the war dragged on. The Wehrmacht was completely unprepared to wage war in the winter. The German soldiers had very high quality uniforms, but only summer ones. The winter of 1941 turned out to be abnormally cold — the temperature dropped below 40 degrees.
A large number of German vehicles were frozen in the mud, the tanks would not start, and the machine guns failed. German boots with metal rivets could not protect against frost. The Nazis took away warm clothes from the population, and in Germany, they began to produce winter uniforms, including felt boots. However, there were not enough raw materials and production capacities for their mass production.
The enemy came up with a cheap alternative — ersatz winter boots. These were special shoes made of pressed straw to protect against the cold in the manner of Russian felt boots. This footwear was put over shoes, and was usually used during guard duty. However, walking in ersatz boots was extremely inconvenient.
Prisoners of concentration camps, for example the Ravensbrück women’s camp, made such straw shoes by hand. For 14 hours, women and girls, who were weakened by hunger, wove ersatz boots, so that their hands began to bleed because of the the hard straw. Prisoners who refused to work were executed. At present, German ersatz boots are a rather rare exhibit. The collection of the Lipetsk Regional Museum of Local Lore has four samples of such shoes.
The first period of the Great Patriotic War really did not develop in favor of the Red Army. Good preparation for the invasion of the territory of the USSR led to serious losses of equipment and personnel. In the fall of 1941, fascist troops approached Moscow; in some sectors of the front, only 30 km remained to the capital. However, the Soviet command managed to organize defense and defend the city.
Operation Barbarossa failed, and the war dragged on. The Wehrmacht was completely unprepared to wage war in the winter. The German soldiers had very high quality uniforms, but only summer ones. The winter of 1941 turned out to be abnormally cold — the temperature dropped below 40 degrees.
A large number of German vehicles were frozen in the mud, the tanks would not start, and the machine guns failed. German boots with metal rivets could not protect against frost. The Nazis took away warm clothes from the population, and in Germany, they began to produce winter uniforms, including felt boots. However, there were not enough raw materials and production capacities for their mass production.
The enemy came up with a cheap alternative — ersatz winter boots. These were special shoes made of pressed straw to protect against the cold in the manner of Russian felt boots. This footwear was put over shoes, and was usually used during guard duty. However, walking in ersatz boots was extremely inconvenient.
Prisoners of concentration camps, for example the Ravensbrück women’s camp, made such straw shoes by hand. For 14 hours, women and girls, who were weakened by hunger, wove ersatz boots, so that their hands began to bleed because of the the hard straw. Prisoners who refused to work were executed. At present, German ersatz boots are a rather rare exhibit. The collection of the Lipetsk Regional Museum of Local Lore has four samples of such shoes.
