Thread by @RealLoriSpencer

On this 80th anniversary of the turning point of #WWII — it’s a great time to watch this series.

#Leningrad #Russia #Nazis

https://twitter.com/RealLoriSpencer/status/1614578641899524098

This is the only American Cold War era documentary series I’ve ever seen that does not demonize the Soviets, or make Stalin into Lucifer.

Burt Lancaster spared no expense on research and made sure this 20-part documentary was accurate in every detail.

The footage you see here was edited from over 3.5 million feet of film taken by Soviet camera crews from the first day of the war during Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941 through August 1945.

Most of these films have never been seen outside this documentary series.

Burt Lancaster had the full cooperation of the Soviet Union in making this film. It was shot on location in #Russia with a Russian crew.

The full series aired on TV in both the #USSR and the #USA — a remarkable brief moment of Cold War cooperation between the superpowers.

Appearing in exclusive interviews here:

Russian Commanders like Georgi Zhukov and Vasily Chuikov. Other interviews shot for the series included Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev and Averell Harriman, who was U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union during World War II.

The series debuted on June 22, 1978 — 37 years after Operation Barbarossa began.

When the Soviets invaded #Afghanistan in 1979, several American TV stations, responding to public outcry, halted airings.

“The Unknown War” series was released on a 5-disc DVD set in 2011.

For those interested in the Siege of #Leningrad on this 80th anniversary, it’s covered in Episode 3.

But why was it called “The Unknown War,” you ask?

American Co-producer Fred Weiner had dreamed up the idea of the television series after a 1976 visit to #Russia that impressed him with his own ignorance of the sacrifice and heroism of the Russians in the Second World War.

It’s “unknown” because Americans weren’t told of #Russia’s heroism.

If you grew up during the Cold War, you probably were taught in school that 🇺🇸 and 🇬🇧 beat the #Nazis.

That’s not true.

#Russia did the heavy lifting on the Eastern front, and suffered the heaviest losses.

“We were deeply moved with the friendly spirit of it," said the American producer on working with the Soviets to produce this series.

“We saw they had sincere wishes for the truth . . . they wanted to tell Americans about the sacrifices of the Soviet Union during the war."

“No one got closer to the front-line action than these photographers. Some of the sequences are positively unbelievable. In some cases, they went beyond their own lines to film things."

The rare Soviet war footage was shot by a special, 250-member film unit embedded w/ troops.

The Red Army’s film crew’s work was so dangerous, in fact, that 50 of the 250 photographers perished in service to bring you the footage you see here.

'At first, I was unhappy with the title, "The Unknown War," said Russian co-producer Karmen, "Because this war was known so well by us. But now I am happy, this is a clever thing, a little ironic, but aimed at the postwar generations who know nothing of the war."

He takes a drag on an American filter 🚬 and lounges back a little farther.

“I was talking recently with some young Americans and asked them what they knew of the war. They asked me if that was the time the Americans and British fought the Russians!"

In 1978, the young Americans' reaction was a bizarre aberration to this proud Soviet.

“Look," he emphasized, "this is a country where 20 million people lost their lives in World War II. This is incomprehensible to the American people."

Learn more about the story behind this historic film series in the Dec. 22, 1977 issue of the Washington Post:

washingtonpost.com/archive/lifest…

And what did the Soviets think of it when it first aired on TV in the #USSR?

Here’s one reaction from a Czech who remembers how it changed his life as a kid:

It changed perspectives on our side of the Cold War, too.

This review from an American Vietnam war veteran:

I’ll give the last word in this epic thread (which is almost as long as the 20-hour documentary itself!) about “The Unknown War” to this Russian viewer who sums it up quite beautifully!

“The Unknown War” is available for streaming on Tubi, Amazon, Apple, YouTube and other digital platforms for a small fee.

A free, lower-quality version taped from TV on VHS 📼 is available in its entirety for free — all 20 episodes — here:

youtube.com/playlist?list=…

In 1978, many veterans of #WWII were still living. This film was made for them.

Seeing all the elderly Soviet widows placing flowers 💐 on their husband’s graves just breaks your damn heart. 💔

(Episode 2, at 25:05)

#Hitler didn’t intend to simply take #Leningrad — he intended to erase it from the face of the earth, killing all inhabitants.

Hitler’s reason was that he wanted to “destroy all remnants of their revolution.”

This is explained in Ep. 3, on #Leningrad

Hitler lusted after the #Donbas region of #Russia for the same reason the Western empires and the #NazisInUkraine want to conquer it now: resources.

Episode 4 covers #Ukraine in #WWII, and contains rare footage of the territory where blood spills now.

The #Ukraine-specific portion of this documentary starts at around the 7 minute, 10 second mark.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the FBI stalked Burt Lancaster for decades, suspecting him of #communist sympathies.

His FBI file seems to have begun in 1963 but the United States government started tracking his activities nearly 15 years earlier.

grunge.com/629693/why-the…

The timing of J. Edgar Hoover opening an investigation of Burt Lancaster coincided rather suspiciously with his starring in the 1963 political thriller “Seven Days in May,” at the behest of President Kennedy (who assisted in getting the novel made into a movie).

Part 5 of “The Unknown War” unearths long-lost footage from the spring 1942 battles in #Kharkov (#Kharkiv), #Donetsk, #Mariupol, and the port of #Azov — hotly-contested areas of #Ukraine in the war today.

(Starts at 8 minutes, 50 sec.)

At around 11 minutes 40 seconds you’ll see the battles for control of #Crimea — home of the Soviet Black Sea fleet in #WWII.

In 1962, someone from the CIA forwarded a letter to the FBI in which an unnamed person "noted with alarm" that Burt Lancaster "was among those in Hollywood who desired to make pictures with strong social commentary."

His FBI file (declassified in 1996) states that Burt Lancaster was investigated "for affiliation with the #Communist Party of America in the 1940s, for alleged homosexual behavior in the 1950s, and participating in the activities of the Civil Rights Congress in the 1960s."

Burt Lancaster’s FBI file was publicly released two years after his death.

A stroke in 1990 had forced him to retire; four years later he died from a heart attack at age 80. His final film role was in the Oscar-nominated Field of Dreams.

Cheers, Burt. You were a true American!