Having just read and reviewed an excellent account of the operation that finally put paid to Hitler’s ambition on the eastern front - Operation Bagration - this accounts of the opening of Hitler’s plans for securing Lebensraum in the east is particularly timely. The symmetry of the horrors visited upon the invaded in Operation Barbarossa and, later in Operation Bagration, on the invaders is brought into stark relief. Given the current situation in Eastern Europe (2025) the two operations do much to explain the deep and irreconcilable feelings held by the inhabitants of these lands that have been fought over so many times.

The author tends to focus upon the narrative accounts that have survived, so that small scale operations feature - possibly at the expense of a more strategic overview. However, there is no shortage of broad brush strategic accounts that highlight the encirclements of vast numbers of Soviet troops and thrusts into the Russian interior by this or that Panzer army. This account fills the gaps that can only come from examining just what these advances and battles meant to soldiers and airmen on both sides and, most especially, on the inhabitants of these conquered lands.

The author spares no details of what Hitler’s orders meant for Soviet citizens, particularly the Commisars charged with maintaining the adherence to Soviet political priorities, who were kills in large numbers. But what may come as a surprise to many is the fate of many Jews once Soviet troops had left or been defeated. Many Jews were killed in these hours and days following the departure of the Soviet forces not by German soldiers but by the citizens in the countries concerned. The book makes clear that the German forces soon set up their own systems to oppress and to round up the Jews with fatal consequences for many but some of the more horrific actions were taken by fellow citizens in the Baltic states, Poland, Ukraine and Byelorussia.

This book is not an easy read, but it provides an account that needs to be part of our collective conscience, for the penalty of failing to heed the lessons of history is to repeat the failures, as we see playing out today in Ukraine.

Richard Hargreaves is not new to the Second World War or the Eastern Front as this is his fourth monograph on this period of history. As someone with an intimate understanding of this particular period of the Second World War and the Easter Front - specifically, Operation Barbarossa and the war's initial period - I did not think there would be much value to another text covering territory that numerous other historians, journalists, and hobbyists have already published many volumes on. Yet, I stand corrected.

The biggest value to 'Opening the Gates of Hell' is the vast amount of eye-witness accounts the author has unearthed. From German, Soviet, and Romanian soldiers, officers, and commanding generals to Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Jewish, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian men, women, and children, the reader is offered a montage of experiences from the unfolding invasion. An essential aspect that often gets lost in operational histories or those devoted to the Holocaust by Bullets or the Holocaust in general is the significant level of interconnectedness between the unfolding massacres of civilians and the German advance during the first few days and weeks of Operation Barbarossa, which often military personnel either witnessed, encouraged, or directly participated in themselves.

Readers should be warned that this is not an easy read. It is easily one of the most difficult, raw, and emotionally draining texts written about Operation Barbarossa and the title of this book accurately reflects the events that readers will be exposed to. Hargreaves follows all three army groups and traces their advances, clashes with Red Army forces, and their experiences in unearthing atrocities perpetrated by the NKVD as they massacred prisoners who either could not be evacuated or were simply slated for execution, and the ensuing retribution by locals against Jews as the face of the 'Judeo-Bolshevik' regime.

German and Red Army actions are described in minute detail at times and frontline accounts help give color to the chaotic conditions Red Army forces experiences on the ground and in the air as the Germans enjoyed initial surprise and numerical advantage against peacetime forces who were more often than not scrambling to figure out what they needed to do and then further scrambled to gather up the forces to make a worthwhile stand or counteroffensive on the ground while in the air desperate attacks by bombers without fighter escort resulted in ever-increasing German kill counts.

The one weakness that I would point out is some additional information could have been provided about the operational experiences of these three army groups as often the attention is more so on the tactical and immediate actions on the ground taking place in a wide variety of places along a rather long frontline. But there are other volumes that could provide that information; the value of this volume rests in its readability and the wealth of primary source eye-witness accounts the author was able to unearth and bring together into a coherent narrative. This is a highly recommended work for those interested in the Second World War and, more specifically, Operation Barbarossa.

Almost a minute by minute account of the start of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of Soviet Russia - Hargreaves vividly evokes the confusion, mismanagement and speed of events as the bewilded Soviet forces are over run, while Stalin refuses to accept the reports from his frontline commanders.
Covering an enormous geographical distance, the depth of research is astounding.
This should become a required text for those interested both in the past and the future of conflicts between east and west.
Highly recommended.