In June 1941, JG 51 was transferred East to take part in Operation Barbarossa with 1 "staffel". On the morning of the 22 June, Bär and his wingman "Oberfeldwebel" Heinrich Höfemeier were escorting a damaged Heinkel He 111 over German lines when they made contact with 18 Tupolev SB bombers from the 39 SBAP ("Skorostnoy Bombardirovohchnyy Aviatsionny Polk"—high speed bomber aviation regiment) and 10 SAD ("Smeshannaya Aviatsionnaya Diviziya"—composite aviation regiment). The German pilots attacked; Höfemeier claimed four, Bär two—though the former was wounded in the arm. The Germans noted the vulnerability of the Soviet aircraft which lacked self-sealing fuel tanks and had a propensity to burst into flames. More JG 51 Bf 109s appeared and claimed six more. None of the 18 Tupolev SB bombers from the 39 SBAP or 10 SAD aircraft returned home. Bär had achieved his 19th and 20th victories.