The Fuehrer and Commander-in-Chief of the German Armed Forces
OKW/WFSt/Abt.L (I) Nr. 33 408/40 gK Chefs.
SECRET
The Fuehrer's Headquarters
18 December 40
(only through officer)
9 copies, 4th copy
Directive Nr. 21 Case Barbarossa
The German Armed Forces must be prepared to crush Soviet Russia in a quick compaign before the end of the war against England (case Barbarossa).
For this purpose the Army will have to employ all available
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units with the reservation that the occupied territories will have to be safeguarded against surprise attacks.
For the Eastern campaign the Airforce will have to free such strong forces for the support of the Army that a quick completion of the ground operations may be expected and that damage of the eastern German territories will be avoided as much as possible. This concentration of the main effort in the East is limited by the following reservation: That the entire battle and armament area dominated by us must remain sufficiently protected against enemy air attacks and that the attacks on England and especially the supply for them must not be permitted to break down.
Concentration of the main effort of the Navy remains unequivocally against England also during an Eastern campaign.
If occasion arises I will order the concentration of troops for action against Soviet Russia eight weeks before the intended beginning of operations.
Preparations requiring more time to start are—if this has not yet been done—to begin presently and are to be completed by 15 May 1941.
Great caution has to be exercised that the intention of an attack will not be recognized.
The preparations of the High Command are to be made on the following basis:
I. General Purpose:
The mass of the Russian Army in Western Russia is to be destroyed in daring operations by driving forward deep wedges with tanks and the retreat of intact battle-ready troops into the wide spaces of Russia is to be prevented.
In quick pursuit a (given) line is to be reached from where the Russian Airforce will no longer be able to attack German Reich territory. The first goal of operations is the protection from Asiatic Russia from the general line Volga-Archangelsk. In case of necessity, the last industrial area in the Urals left to Russia could be eliminated by the Luftwaffe.
In the course of these operations the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet will quickly erase its bases and will no longer be ready to fight.
Effective intervention by the Russian Airforce is to be prevented through forceful blows at the beginning of the operations.
II. Probable Allies and their tasks.
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2. It will be the task of Rumania, together with the forces
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concentrating there, to pin down the opponent on the other side
and, in addition, to render auxiliary services in the rear area.
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[Page 8, par. IV]
IV. It must be clearly understood that all orders to be given by the commanders-in-chief on the basis of this letter of instructions are precautionary measures, in case Russia should change her present attitude toward us. The number of officers to be drafted for the preparations at an early time is to be kept as small as possible. Further co-workers are to be detailed as late as possible and only as far as each individual is needed for a specific task. Otherwise, the danger exists that our preparations (the time of their execution has not been fixed) will become known and thereby grave political and military disadvantages would result.
V. I am expecting the reports of the commanders-in-chief on their further plans based on this letter of instructions.
The preparation planned by all branches of the Armed Forces are to be reported to me through the High Command, also in regard to their time.
[signed] Hitler
[initialed by: Jodi, Keitel, Warlimont and one illegible.] Distribution:
Ob. d. H. (Op. Abt.)—1. copy Ob. d. M. (Ski.)—2. copy '
Ob. d. L. (Lw.Fue.St.)—3. copy OKW:
WFSt.—U. copy Abt.—5-9. copy