market. why don't what's really happening to the global economy with much stronger no holds barred look at the global financial headlines. report on our. welcome back to join us here watching our three live from moscow these are the top stories continues its bombardment in support of libyan uprising people in an opposition held by ghazi cry out against alleged atrocities committed by rebel forces meanwhile cracks emerge in the coalition strategy in libya with countries that backed the intervention now casting doubt over the mission. president obama confronts his decision to withdraw ground troops currently deployed in afghanistan one third will be pulled out by next summer people in

a war torn country fear that fewer american soldiers will not mean less bombing of their homes and it intensified u.s. drone attacks. the second bailout for greece is crippled economy takes center stage at a meeting of e.u. leaders in brussels on thursday and public anger grows as a greek prime minister pushes for even more cuts at home to secure financial aid. while next we talk to those who still remember nazi germany's first offensive against the soviet union which took place in the city of brest in modern. and dressed fortress today it's on the territory of the sovereign republic of belarus formerly the soviet republic of belarus a fortress was once the westernmost outpost of the soviet empire each day schoolchildren in the town of brest take part in a ceremony by a local monument to commemorate what happened there. on june twenty second one hundred forty one german fashion forces invaded the soviet union without

a declaration of war the defenders of the breast fortress found themselves in a dead end situation it is here that the myth about the invincibility of the german army was broken after the end of the war and the rest fortress as a name became synonymous to perseverance courage and belief in victory for years to come. the early hours of june twenty second nineteen forty one german artillery unleashes a massive barrage from the breast garrisoned. german warplanes some ultimately dropped hundreds of bombs on the fortress soon after infantry assault groups launched the initial ground attack.

is one of the officers in charge of the fortress defenses. his daughter i so often visits the monument to her father on the outskirts of rest. was he look like me at the even today i guess nervous when i come here was fail me if i see those events in my mind's eye as if they were yesterday. today children play war in the old case mates but in the first days of the real war the unit under the command of luggin or shove lawsky was holding out in one of them within two days the defenders had exhausted their ammunition. daughter saw the germans trying to counter her father. of the sudden it was a noise in seeing the truth on ahead. he had chum times the railings and plunged into the river by the germans began firing ask him present death in captivity he shouted those were the last words he addressed to his soldier adamantly.

in accordance with their plan to attack the soviet union the germans had amassed three armies close to the border among these army groups or was the most powerful its mission was to encircle and destroy soviet troops and belorussia and move on to moscow vyas months. the german strategy relied on surprise attack to demoralize the adversary from the opening seconds. the sound of the explosions was deafening before that i had seen war only in films . i thought it was an earthquake i just couldn't believe there was a war going on. the first hours of june twenty second one thousand nine hundred one from cancer can make of a member of the military band asleep in his barracks on the second floor abreast

fortress. within minutes of the attack bullets and shells fragments had riddled the barracks wall. i remember just all over the place. well. i could barely breathe iraq myself open a blanket. then i heard an order from your rifles and get downstairs. i barely had time to pull my clothes before listening downstairs with my platoon. with. only a few hours later the german plan to move through the russian territory had stalled . every week covered from the initial shock to soviet soldiers remaining in the garrison offered stubborn resistance despite being up numbered nearly two to one by their attackers. and one of our rifle regiments counterattacks the german soldier tried to roll back to the gates.

they were met with a shower of bullets there too. many of the fastest started there. at the beginning of the huns edmund shown back was born in munich on june twenty second one nine hundred forty one he was among the german troops who entered the russia. shortly before that he had been called up from high school and sent to the eastern front to serve in a panzer unit. a huge fourth terrifying wave of german uphill removed from all sides. into russian territory and when they were done we knew we had to go in. another tanks initially. i saw the first horribly injured german soldiers and it wasn't just me we all knew what would happen and it was terrible. today the border between

belarus and poem follows the same line along which soviet front your post were once deployed. it was they who bore the brunt of the nazi invasion for several days small arms were the only weapons the border guards can't nevertheless they held up the advance of german troops and tanks for some time and they billing the fortress garrison to organize its defense. yes and come on the german command allowed thirty minutes for the destruction of the frontier posts but some held out from one to seven days repulsing want to tack after another. these pill boxes on the board were built shortly before the war but they were never used supplies and ammunition for the machine guns had been scheduled to arrive the day after the nats invasion of soviet territory. was in command of one of the pill boxes he was officer on duty the day before the start of

the war this picture shows or so i would encourage his friend nikolai a fellow servicemen returning from a night of dancing in breastplate on june twenty first. the news. brother mir. i have something terrible to tell you. choose thoughts. when i was there my girlfriend told me. that a war would break out tomorrow on four in the morning. on his nine hundred thirty nine two years before the start of the war. between the soviet union and germany have become noticeably warmer foreign ministers of the two states moto than ribbentrop sign a non-aggression pact. in

september one nine hundred thirty nine german troops invaded. this is german commander hans good video on his tanks captures the breast fortress at that time part of polish territory. this is rare footage joined it in german military for a in accordance with a secret deal to divide your german military hands breast over to soviet troops in less than two years' time goody on will again launch an assault on breast fortress fighting against the same troops you know solicits in the interim dispenser units will have gained valuable experience and successful offensive operations in europe . and. ashore and we have the most insane knowledge communicate between the time. hedge funds. and that allowed us to react small quickly the the russian tanks couldn't communicate with each other. whereas we could for

example withdraw and then attack from the science. june twenty fourth one of the most tragic days for the defenders of the fortress during another attempted assault nancy hughes the russian officers wife and children as a human shield on this bridge. they told us women and children to lie down on the bridge close to monterey pieces. can you imagine four or five guns firing it's a time it can shatter your brain like. my son slava has one of his it. now he can't hit anything it's all in that's here you know i saw my daughter's hand nina turning grey. after another. she was only a little kid. alexander was only six years old in

one nine hundred forty one he and his parents were living in breast fortress he spent two days in the so-called polar magazine at the start of the war he was wounded and lost his entire family. at all since and the gravity of the situation the children didn't. who. was standing in. with that's when we got scared over who. and when i was told my mother and sister killed while sitting right here. i took myself away as far as i cooled on the feet of those who were there in the silicon. in essence the entire territory of the fortress. this is a monument to the victims of the wars of first days now this building houses a museum. at its center

a famous exhibit and alarm clock the stop kicking as soon as the war began. another exhibit is dedicated to the children of red army commanders who fought in the fortress many of them were murdered by s.s. task forces in one thousand nine hundred two a year after german troops attacked the soviet union. forces. also in the one nine hundred forty two and the fascists massacred fifty four children at an orphanage they have breast and their parents had already died in the war. my friends on the command was the children's teacher was she and the children the forced out of the orphanage and skillets oath them just. a vigil of common ration and sorrow takes place each year in the breast fortress on the night of june twenty first candles are lit in the embers yours veterans come here from all over the former soviet union

a slide show features pictures of the red army commanding officers who took part in the defense of breast fortress after the ceremony border guard soldiers float a reason in the western move river to commemorate the people whose lives were cut short in brest fortress in june one thousand nine hundred one the names of many of them are still unknown.

download the official auntie application. i pod touch from the saps to. watch on t.v. on the go. video on demand policies my fuel costs and feet now in the palm of your. question. the second mid-day eight hours after the german attack most of the surviving defenders of the breast fortress moved into cellars under the barracks. and his comrades spent about three days there back in the nineteenth century cellars

withstood direct hits in the aerial bombardment. for the year there was a hospital for the wounds here. while the makeshift mortuary was over there at the end of the corridor more. german command demanded that the defenders lay down their arms and surrender when they turned on the ultimatum german assault groups used flame throwers to flush them out. the heat was so intense that even bricks began to melt. the fighters continued their resistance as the shifted from one place to another. this is how the german war correspondents pro-trade the event but cameraman were unable to film an emerging from sellers with a hand. was raised as a sign of surrender none of them did that. there were russians so brenda german shepherd through loudspeaker. we know that we'll let you live

don't be afraid they said. when some of the spotted the loud speaker they hit it with a burst of machine gun fire as that was the end of the propaganda. a shortage of water was the biggest problem the defenders faced and western river was nearby but german troops were in control of all approaches to it still have another fighters managed to reach the river several times under the cover of darkness. to reach the west we were sometimes crawling sometimes running. helmets then we were told by trying to make no noise we had to do with the germans fired flares old time they certainly would have opened fire if they. know days

mining engineers look for wartime ammunition in the western. one of the latest finds is a german two hundred ten millimeter artillery shell. is just as dangerous today as it was sixty eight years ago. careful slowly slowly don't turn it over and most of the shell could go off at any moment if it's not handled properly if it does judging by its size it will obliterate everything within a radius of about five hundred meters. on the average day divers pick up three to ten objects relating to the first days of the war. in the nineteenth century the breast fortress was long considered impenetrable they outer walls were two meters thick. in the twentieth century it was in effect a death trap for the seven thousand strong soviet garrison. from the start of the

war all the fortresses gates were continuously under artillery and machine gun fire they were also blocked by attacking enemy troops as a result fewer than half of the men who were here on june twenty second were able to leave the fortress and protect the border. operation barbarossa the german plan to seize soviet territory was ready in december nineteen forty but most of the soviet leaders as soon but hitler would target britain first before unleashing any attack on the soviet. one but a. stalin was already aware of the. february not in one little problem was that the germans regularly postponed the. initially it was i proven my fifteen meanwhile stalin was desperately trying to delay war until.

fortress where the first assault was launched actually consisted of several forts situated on islands around the main fortification in. the eastern seaboard for the most stubborn resistance. most of the fortress defenders still expected reinforcements down to the end they did know they were already well behind enemy lines germans has seized the town of brest within hours. abreast residents lived under occupation for nearly three years when the germans came she was told that she was now and. a second rate person. that. even public tell this in hospitals could not be used but everybody johns had decent troops the obvious we're not so lucky. they don't name every way you could see a sign saying. it's only. now entering its already during the first days of the war many people in breast and its environs

started sneaking out of town. in the forcible russia they form groups of guerrilla warfare. learn new skills and those a machine gun are here in the forest dugouts in june nine hundred forty one head of . children women was hiding in there and if all of us lived here and all of us were helping each other. the partisans stayed in the force for about three years and the day time they carried out reconnaissance and secret monitoring of the enemy in the evening they were engaged in special operations. forces use this railway to bring military hardware to the frontline. exposes were placed under this truck so that nobody could see them and. the german sent reconnaissance parties to check the tracks but that didn't help

a lot of scouts a little as the train came closer we singled out the wagon carrying military equipment to be blown up. quick and the wagon was no more. this imagery for soldiers of the german forty fifth division appeared soon after the assault on the fortress and takeover of the town of brest german troops had already swept across poland france and much of europe but in storming the russia they encountered the most ferocious resistance to date. and. the best bit solace that all weapons were the best in the worlds. we were the strongest anyone invest and we believed it. mostly because of all successes in western europe bloody operation in france but it was far from the truth and film. these four soviet memorials commemorate fighters whose bodies have been recovered

by search parties since the war searching for missing soldiers is a long and complicated process. first the head of a search group asks locals where exactly the fighting took place. what with there are also. many of our fighters particularly the partisans died in this home and i'll just move to the woods you can see the dead lying in creeps of tennille child they never made it out of the forest. then a group of volunteers sets out on an expedition they call the site a meter after meter. weapons and other objects made of metal really well underground. this is a soviet helmet it was a direct hit. you can see where the shot entered and exited. the returns to base the objects are carefully examined the latest expedition has

turned up. a flask. but the searchers regard so-called medallions as the most valuable. these are small cases containing all important papers they carry the information that will help identify the soldier his age rank and the name of town or village where he was called up. or it's just so happens that we're from the same place as the dead soldier we're going to look for his relatives now one more fallen soldier has a name. if papers identifying the dead are found they are sent to officials a state archive each year adds more names to the list of breast fortress defenders . this is the personal record of one of the fighters still. keep his

identity was verified just a few years ago. no his name is inscribed on the memorial wall in the central alley of breast fortress it has replaced another plate saying unknown soldier studies lost his niece is his only surviving relative just recently did she learn of her uncle's fate. then yes not seek that which people once or at least see the grief of somebody they loved least flower whisenant and think about a person there is nothing more painful than the witnessing so when my uncle's name was finally written on the memorial plate it was a very touching moment for my family. the last defenders of breast fortress repelled german attacks for nearly a month in the one nine hundred sixty s. the museum received a fragment of the inner wall of one of the case mates of the eastern for an inscription discovered on it dates from july twentieth one thousand nine hundred forty one scribbled with

a knife and said farewell my. i'm dying but i'm not surrendering. but. nobody surrendered in their own accord. all of those captured people that if it was their will run able to use their weapons. but nobody raised their hands before to the death to the last minute there were. hitler and mussolini arrived in august one hundred forty one for a visit to breast fortress despite official reports claiming that there were no surviving unpresidential defenders. that security precautions were put in place. on the eve of the top level visits to german soldiers patrolling an area near the fortress had disappear. for hitler and you silly me entered the fortress through a bridge that used to be right here where hitler saw here is known to have made a strong impression on him and even took

a stone lying amongst the ruins with them. after the fall of berlin the stone was found in hitler's office at the chancellor e. of the third reich. church in brest fortress. there are traces of shells on the walls and inside the dome. it was from here that the defenders of brest fortress launched their first counterattack. scores of german and soviet soldiers died here. the time has come for mutual forgiveness. we must live in peace. it's not always to forget the past it must not be forgotten. as we might forgive. children now play invest fortress where military hardware dating back to the one nine hundred forty s. is on display they knew about that war only from books and films. on holidays

veterans told tourists about the war. of another survivors of the first battles in the fortress regard these rooms as the cornerstone of their faith in the ultimate victory over fashions troops can think of as comrades lived to see that victory in one thousand nine hundred five nearly four years after those tragic events and rest fortress. home.