Message to Stalin on the Second Anniversary of the Nazi Attack on Russia

Two years ago tomorrow, by an act of treachery in keeping with the long record of Nazi duplicity, the Nazi leaders launched their brutal attack upon the Soviet Union. They thus added to their growing list of enemies the mighty forces of the Soviet Union. These Nazi leaders had underestimated the extent to which the Soviet Government and people had developed and strengthened their military power to defend their country and had utterly failed to realize the determination and valor of the Soviet people.

During the past two years the freedom-loving peoples of the world have watched, with increasing admiration, the history making exploits of the armed forces of the Soviet Union and the almost incredible sacrifices which the Russian people are so heroically making. The growing might of the combined forces of all the United Nations which is being brought increasingly to bear upon our common enemy testifies to the spirit of unity and sacrifice necessary for our ultimate victory.

This same spirit will, I am sure, animate us in approaching the challenging tasks of peace which victory will present to the world.

Marshal Joseph V. Stalin

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the U.S.S.R.,
The Kremlin, Moscow.