Video: Germans bomb Stalingrad (at 8:59)

(Sunday, August 23, 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad, part of the Eastern Front of World War II) — The Germans launched the Battle of Stalingrad today with a massive strategic bombing that caused a firestorm, killing thousands and turning Stalingrad into a vast landscape of rubble and burnt ruins.

Ninety percent of the living space in the Voroshilovskiy area was destroyed by Aug. 26.  Between Aug. 23-26, 1942, Soviet reports indicate 955 people were killed and another 1,181 wounded as a result of the bombing.

Video: Germans bomb Stalingrad (continued)