Never Was Magazine

[Never Was Magazine]

When the World Held its Breath: Altona

What if Hitler had spared the Soviet Union in favor of a Mediterranean strategy?

On June 14, 1941, German commanders amassing their forces on the Soviet border received the message “Dortmund”. The name of the city on the River Ruhr was the prearranged codeword that the final preparations for Operation Barbarossa were to begin as a prelude to the commencement of the invasion of the Soviet Union. From this moment on, there could be no turning back. This was the culmination of…

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[Never Was Magazine]

When the World Held Its Breath: First Lightning

In our latest republication from Sea Lion Press, Paul Hynes wonders: What if the Soviet Union had attacked Germany first?

For Germans awaking on the Sunday morning of June 22, 1941, the news that their country was at war with the Soviet Union was delivered to them with the usual bombast and lies of Nazi propaganda. They were told that this new war was not an invasion but a preemptive strike, one necessary to deal with the “Soviet Russian-Anglo-Saxon plot” to destroy Germany that was nearing completion. In his…

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[Never Was Magazine]

When the World Held Its Breath: Fixed Bayonets

When the World Held Its Breath: Fixed Bayonets

As Barbarossa began, Soviet troops at the front were often asleep.

When the Germans struck, their stocks of ammunition and fuel were low without any preparation for a fight and the stockpiles available were often either destroyed or captured within the first days of the conflict. The Red Air Force planes were arranged in neat rows for the Luftwaffeto destroy, leading to over a thousand planes…

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