(EDITORIAL) When Hitler broke faith and launched war on Russia two years ago, he had assured the German people that he could smash the Russian war-machine in ten weeks, but to-day we have the amazing spectacle of an invincible Russian fighting, substantially, upon her sole strength… Hitler, after the first assault, nearly admitted having made a mistake, but in reality foreign observers besides Nazi spies had under-estimated Russia’s strength and taken for granted that the German Army would work its way like a knife through butter.

But in 25 years Russia had changed from being an illiterate and superstitious country into a first-rate Power and we have had proof that Russia has been wise not only in the ordering of her defences and equipment, but also shrewd in the shaping of her diplomacy…Speaking on August 23, 1941, Mr. Winston Churchill said in Parliament, after paying a tribute to the heroism of Russia: “For the first time Nazi blood is flowing in a fearful flood. Certainly a million and a half, perhaps two million have bit the dust on the endless plain of Russia.” — Dawn Delhi

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2018