In the early 1940s, many flats of Soviet citizens in the cities were equipped with radio outlets. These were connected to radio speakers made at the factories of the USSR People’s Commissariat of Electrical Industry (NCEI). In smaller settlements, broadcasting loudspeakers were mounted on street poles, central squares, in front of village councils, post offices and railway stations.
On June 22, 1941, thousands of loudspeakers informed the citizens of the Soviet Union of the German attack and the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. On that day the radio broadcast several messages. At noon the first of these was a speech by Vyacheslav Molotov, the People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs. He called Hitler’s actions “treachery unprecedented in the history of civilized nations”.
Every hour on 22 June the radio repeated the announcement of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War by Yuri Levitan, the announcer of the Soviet Information Bureau. It ended with the famous phrase, “The enemy will be defeated! Victory will be ours!” The voice of Yuri Levitan became the symbol of Soviet radio. Throughout the Great Patriotic War, Soviet citizens expected daily reports from Sovinformbureau. They always listed the settlements liberated in the course of the fighting and reported on the major battles and military operations of the Red Army.
On 3 July, 1941 the Sovinformbureau radio network broadcast an address by Joseph Stalin, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the USSR. It began with the words, “Comrades, citizens, brothers and sisters! Men of our Army and Navy! My words are addressed to you, dear friends.” Stalin’s speech lasted 20 minutes, and its purpose was to acknowledge the real danger of the situation and to commemorate the famous victories of the Russian army.
In his speech Stalin repeatedly called the USSR a peace-loving state, but urged the Soviet people to tune in to the war mood, “What measures must be taken to smash the enemy? Above all, it is essential that our people, the Soviet people, should appreciate the full immensity of the danger that threatens our country and give up all complacency, casualty, and the mentality of peaceful constructing work, that was so natural before the war, but which is fatal today, when war has radically changed the whole situation. The enemy is cruel and implacable.”
Four war years later, on 9 May, 1945, victory in the Great Patriotic War was announced by Yuri Levitan via those loudspeakers.
On June 22, 1941, thousands of loudspeakers informed the citizens of the Soviet Union of the German attack and the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. On that day the radio broadcast several messages. At noon the first of these was a speech by Vyacheslav Molotov, the People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs. He called Hitler’s actions “treachery unprecedented in the history of civilized nations”.
Every hour on 22 June the radio repeated the announcement of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War by Yuri Levitan, the announcer of the Soviet Information Bureau. It ended with the famous phrase, “The enemy will be defeated! Victory will be ours!” The voice of Yuri Levitan became the symbol of Soviet radio. Throughout the Great Patriotic War, Soviet citizens expected daily reports from Sovinformbureau. They always listed the settlements liberated in the course of the fighting and reported on the major battles and military operations of the Red Army.
On 3 July, 1941 the Sovinformbureau radio network broadcast an address by Joseph Stalin, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the USSR. It began with the words, “Comrades, citizens, brothers and sisters! Men of our Army and Navy! My words are addressed to you, dear friends.” Stalin’s speech lasted 20 minutes, and its purpose was to acknowledge the real danger of the situation and to commemorate the famous victories of the Russian army.
In his speech Stalin repeatedly called the USSR a peace-loving state, but urged the Soviet people to tune in to the war mood, “What measures must be taken to smash the enemy? Above all, it is essential that our people, the Soviet people, should appreciate the full immensity of the danger that threatens our country and give up all complacency, casualty, and the mentality of peaceful constructing work, that was so natural before the war, but which is fatal today, when war has radically changed the whole situation. The enemy is cruel and implacable.”
Four war years later, on 9 May, 1945, victory in the Great Patriotic War was announced by Yuri Levitan via those loudspeakers.
