June 22

At quarter past 12 the entire country heard [foreign minister] Comrade Molotov’s speech. He announced that at four o’clock this morning, without any formal declaration of war, the German army launched an attack along the western border. Their aeroplanes bombed Kiev, Zhytomyr, Odessa, Kaunas and other cities, leaving 200 people dead. At five o’clock the German consul announced on behalf of his government that our countries are at war. So, what we dreaded more than anything has come to pass. We will win, but victory will not come easily.

June 23

Work began early this morning. They’re hurrying to construct a gas-proof shelter in the courtyard, which will take up the whole of the basement, and dismantling all of the partitions in the attic because they’re wooden, and if a bomb causes a fire in the attic they will be the perfect fuel.

June 25

Fierce fighting is continuing on the front line. The odds are in our favour. German soldiers are going into battle drunk. Germany’s economic situation is worsening by the day. Even if their army were considerably better armed than ours we would still defeat them, because the Nazi army lacks unity: they don’t want to fight the Soviet Union.

July 1

Vast numbers of [German] paratroopers are being deployed, but thanks to the vigilance of Soviet citizens, workers and collective farm workers, the majority of them are apprehended. But many of them have not yet been caught. They are wandering the streets of our city dressed as policemen or wearing civilian clothing… tasked with gathering intelligence, blowing up key targets, setting fire to collective farms, spreading false rumours, sowing panic and damaging our radio, telegraph and telephone networks.