With the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Second World War expanded to the vast steppes of western Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. With the bulk of the German Wehrmacht committed to the eastern front, this became the focal point and contribution of the Allies’ eastern member to expel the Nazi invader and destroy German national socialism. With the current conflict in Ukraine, the seeds of that war were planted during the four years of savage fighting in the freezing depths of a Siberian winter and the heat of a waterless summer.