The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
City’s pledge during Battle of Stalingrad
Wartime Dundonians gave cash to support the Soviets under siege
A Tayside man will visit the Russian city of Volgograd after uncovering links between Dundee and the city during the Second World War, when it was known as Stalingrad.
Kirriemuir resident Stephen Connor, a student at Dundee Russian School, has spent weeks looking into the efforts Dundonians made to support the Soviets under siege from the Nazis.
His completed research piece, Dundee And The Stalingrad Hospital Fund: Internationalism In Troubled Times, has now been published to great acclaim from a foundation that seeks to keep Stalingrad’s legacy alive.
The Stalingrad Foundation has invited him to visit Volgograd in April, where he will be taken to some of the key memorials, museums and other sites that commemorate the battle.
Stephen, who can read and speak Russian to A-Level standards, said: “I was absolutely delighted, chuffed to bits. It’s a weird thing to say but it’s a place I’ve always wanted to visit.
“Something world-changing happened there and I can’t wait to see it.”
The Battle of Stalingrad is the bloodiest in the history of warfare, with an estimated 1.8 to 2 million troops killed, wounded or captured in the fivemonth conflict spanning August 1942 to February 1943.
The failure of the Germans to claim Stalingrad, forcing them to withdraw vital forces from the Western Front, is cited as a turning point in the war.
And while most people know of the battle by name alone, few will realise the contribution Dundee made to both aiding the city and the Soviet Union as a whole as the bloc capitulated to the invading Nazi battalions.
Stephen’s essay, based on research from DC Thomson’s British Newspaper Archive and other city archives, details how Dundonians stood by the Soviets as early as August 1941, a few months after the Nazis breached the non-aggression pact signed with the USSR.
The Dundee branch of the Red Cross donated £2,500 (£127,000 today) to the Aid-to-Russia fund in 1941 and in May 1942 the Dundee British-Soviet Society was formed to formalise the city’s support for its Russian allies.
By March 1943, £1,000 (nearly £46,000) had been raised by Dundonians for the Stalingrad Hospital Fund to support medical efforts in the USSR.
By the time the war came to an end nearly £250,000 in today’s money had been raised for the Stalingrad Hospital Fund.
Stephen believes Dundee was the first place in the UK to formally pledge help to Stalingrad as thousands of soldiers lay wounded in its ruins and was among the biggest contributors to the fund.
In a time of fractured international relations, he hopes people will reflect on the human aspect of conflict.
He added: “I think this is a hidden chapter of the city’s history. I thought it was brilliant that the city was one of the first to speak out for Stalingrad.”
Dr Andriy Sukhodub, CEO of the Dundee Russian School, said: “Stephen is an excellent ambassador.
“We are very proud to have someone like him as a student and a teacher.”