Liberation of Koenigsberg from the Nazis in WWII: date, participants. Fights for the liberation of Koenigsberg, what kind of front? Medal for the liberation of Koenigsberg

The liberation of Koenigsberg from the fascists became one of the main successful operations carried out by the Red Army in the territory directly belonging to Germany. From its result, all the future actions of the allies depended on the final recovery of Europe from Nazism in many ways. Therefore, the liberation of Koenigsberg was an important milestone in the chain of victorious march of our army. And it is symbolic that the city with the nearby territory, soon after the collapse of the Nazi regime, was included in the USSR.

A Brief History of East Prussia

The lands of East Prussia, once belonging to the Baltic tribe of the Prussians, began to undergo active German military colonization since the 12th century. Then arose the state of the knights of the Teutonic Order, who almost completely eradicated and assimilated the local population and posed a threat to Poland, Lithuania and Russia.

The city of Koenigsberg, formerly known as Twangste, received its name in 1255 in honor of the Czech king Przemysl Ottokar II.

In the 15th century, the last Grand Master of the Hohenzollern family founded the secular duchy of Prussia on these lands, which was later united by a personal union with the Elector of Brandenburg. This state was called the kingdom of Prussia, and the lands directly belonging to the Teutonic Order, with its capital in Koenigsberg, began to be called East Prussia.

Later, these territories were included consistently in the Germanic empire, the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich.

Battles on the Soviet-German Front

In 1944, German fascist troops were finally forced out of the territory of the USSR during the persistent battles. The liberation of the countries of eastern and central Europe from Nazism began. The Soviet army came directly to the German territory, in particular, to East Prussia.

On January 13, 1945, the Soviet Army launched the East Prussian operation. The troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front, under the command of Marshal Rokossovsky, the 3rd Belorussian Front under the command of General Chernyakhovsky and then Marshal Vasilevsky, and the 1st Baltic Front led by General Baghramyan took part in it. The operation of ground forces from the sea covered the Baltic fleet under the leadership of General Tributs. The total number of military personnel in this direction exceeded 1.6 million people.

The Soviet troops were opposed by Army Group "Center" and "North" under the leadership, respectively, of Colonels-General G. Reinhardt and L. Rendulich. They included about 580 thousand people.

In the course of a successful offensive operation, the Red Army carried out a decisive breakthrough, a number of strategically important points and cities were occupied. But the key to all of East Prussia was the impenetrable Koenigsberg.

Thus, the Great Patriotic War continued. The liberation of Koenigsberg was to become one of its key stages.

Preparing Germans for Defense

As soon as it became clear that the battle for the liberation of Koenigsberg would soon begin, the German command ordered to strengthen the strengthening of the almost impregnable city. They began building barricades.

Increased natural strengthening of the city, consisting of three rings erected in different historical periods. In addition, Koenigsberg had an external defensive line and a well-fortified citadel.

Restoration work was also carried out after the devastation, which, due to the bombing of British aviation, was obtained by Koenigsberg (1944). The liberation of the city promised to be very difficult.

The forces of the parties

The liberation of Koenigsberg from the Nazis was made possible by a successful operation conducted under the command of Marshal Vasilevsky. He was also subordinated to the units commanded by General Baghramyan. The main marshal of aviation Novikov commanded from the sky. It was their concerted actions that ensured the liberation of Koenigsberg. Which front was responsible for this operation? Most intensively involved in it was the 3rd Belorussian, which included the 1st Baltic.

The total number of Soviet troops that took part in the operation was 137,000 men. In addition, there were 2,174 aircraft and 538 tanks.

The defense of Koenigsberg was led by Wehrmacht General Otto von Liash. At his disposal were 130 thousand soldiers, which is not much less than the number of opposing Soviet troops. But in the tanks and aviation, the German army in this area was significantly inferior. She had, respectively, 108 and 170 units of equipment.

Thus, with approximate equality in manpower in this sector, the Soviet army had a considerable preponderance in technique over the Wehrmacht troops. This again shows the cardinal difference between the situation at the beginning of the war and the situation that developed by 1945.

On the eve of the operation

Before the liberation of Koenigsberg, Soviet troops carried out shelling of the fortified positions of the enemy. This took almost the entire first week of April. In addition, air strikes were carried out by aircraft of our aviation against strategic targets located in the city. But still, the bombing data was less destructive than the bombardment of British aviation, which took place during the whole of 1944.

In turn, the Germans tried as quickly as possible to patch every gap in the defense, punched by Soviet shells.

The leadership of the Wehrmacht understood that if his soldiers did not defend every scrap of land to the last drop of blood, to the last warrior, the days of the Third Reich were numbered. But, as we know from history, even the unprecedented self-sacrifice of ordinary German warriors could not save this monstrous machine of genocide and repression from destruction.

Storming the city

Then, directly, the liberation of Koenigsberg began. The date of April 6, 1945 is its beginning.

The blow was simultaneously inflicted from the north and south of the city. The day, as usual, began with the shelling of enemy positions. Towards twelve o'clock in the afternoon tanks and infantry went on the offensive. A significant role in the operation was assigned to assault units, which made a great contribution to the liberation of Koenigsberg (1945).

The Germans resisted desperately, but the Soviet troops smashed one defensive barrier after another. The railway station and port were seized. On the offer to surrender, the Wehrmacht soldiers responded with a resolute refusal. An attempt was made to organize an organized retreat, but Soviet troops intercepted German units intending to translate this plan into reality.

Finally, on April 9, 1945, General Otto von Lyash, having understood the futility of resistance, signed the capitulation, and ordered all troops under his command to lay down their arms. The sweep of the city from the Wehrmacht fighters who did not obey the order of the order continued throughout the next day.

So there was a liberation of Koenigsberg. It was given to the Soviet troops with relatively little blood, but this in no way detracts from the significance of this event within the framework of the Great Patriotic War in particular and World War II as a whole.

Losses of the parties

During the operation for the liberation of the city of Konigsberg, 42,000 German soldiers were killed, about 92,000 were taken prisoner. In addition, the Soviet army received captured weapons, namely: two thousand pieces of artillery pieces, 128 aircraft and 1652 mortars.

Among the Soviet troops losses were much smaller, they amounted to 3,200 soldiers killed. This indicated that our generals learned to win not because of the strength of the troops and the considerable number of dead soldiers, as was the case at the beginning of the war, but because of the existence of a brilliant plan of action. This fact characterized the Red Army from a qualitatively new side.

For the inhabitants of Koenigsberg itself, the situation looked much worse. 80% of the city was almost completely destroyed during the assault, as well as bombardments from the sky, including those carried out by the Royal Air Force of Britain during 1944. Of the 316,000 inhabitants of the population of Koenigsberg at the beginning of the war, after the storming in the city there were only 200,000, and they were soon deported to other territories.

Operation value

The liberation of Koenigsberg in the Second World War made it possible to create a springboard for the further advance of the Soviet army. On April 25, the last significant German military force in the region was defeated - the Zemland forces grouping. On this East-Prussian operation was successfully completed.

Further events are known to everyone: the continuation of the Allied offensive, the assault of Berlin, the suicide of Hitler and the complete surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945. Of course, to achieve this result, one capture of Koenigsberg was not enough, but this event is a worthy link in the chain of victories such as the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of the Kursk Bulge and the landing of the Allies in Normandy.

The significance and peculiarity of the victory at Koenigsberg for the Soviet Army is perfectly demonstrated by the fact that on its occasion in Moscow a 24-times volley of 324 cannons was given. In addition, a special badge (medal) was instituted to perpetuate the memory of this successful battle for our troops, which we will discuss in more detail below.

Kaliningrad is a Russian city

The further fate of the city is well known. Koenigsberg in 1946 was renamed Kaliningrad, in honor of the deceased party leader M. I. Kalinin in the same year, and was included together with a significant part of East Prussia first in the RSFSR, and after the collapse of the USSR - into the Russian Federation. Most of the German population of the region was deported to Germany. The region, now called Kaliningrad, was inhabited by residents from other regions of the USSR, mainly the RSFSR, as well as the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR. The city of Kaliningrad was rebuilt very quickly, people from all over the Union took part in eliminating the devastation caused by the war.

At the moment the Kaliningrad region is a significant industrial and resort region of the Russian Federation. Machine building and shipbuilding are developed. In addition to architectural monuments, at present there is little evidence of the former domination of the Germans in the region.

Medal "For the capture of Koenigsberg"

Already two months after the capture of the city by Soviet troops, a decree of the government of the USSR established a medal for the liberation of Koenigsberg. It was introduced in order to perpetuate the feat of fighters. Awarding this distinction was subject to the release of Koenigsberg, involved from January 23 to April 10, 1945 as part of the East Prussian operation in the storming of the city.

The medal was minted from brass. It was a standard circle shape. On the front side the inscription "For the capture of Koenigsberg" is engraved. At the top is a star, and below is a laurel branch. On the reverse side is the date when the liberation of Koenigsberg occurred on April 10, 1945. The diameter of this breastplate is 32 mm.

This medal is located on the chest, after the sign of distinction for the capture of Budapest and before the medal for the capture of Vienna. That is, in this case, the principle of chronological correspondence is observed.

List of medal-winners of the participants in the liberation of Koenigsberg

Since the establishment of many fighters received a medal for the liberation of Koenigsberg. The list of awardees for all time exceeds 760 thousand people.

Many fighters now do not remember by name. But among the medal winners there were well-known people such as Baikov Yevgeny Grigorievich (senior sergeant), Lapidus Viktor Lvovich (lieutenant colonel), Valentina Fedorovna Neplyueva (sergeant), Ivan Maximovitch (junior sergeant), Ivan Denisovich Statsenko (junior lieutenant), Troitsky Viktor Pavlovich (sergeant), Khudyakov Nikolai Vasilyevich (corporal), Yanovsky Petr Grigoryevich (lieutenant colonel), Mashanov Ivan Savvateevich (foreman). The liberation of Koenigsberg from 1944-1945 is the business of each of them. The blood and sweat of these fighters sprinkled the fields of East Prussia. Each of them participated in the liberation of Koenigsberg.

The exploit of these fighters, and hundreds of thousands of those whom we can not mention here, is invaluable. The Medal for the Liberation of Koenigsberg is only a small part of the award that these wars deserved, at the cost of their own health and life, who fulfilled their duty to the Motherland.

At the moment, rewarding this distinction for natural reasons is no longer carried out.

Results

One of the key moments of the end of the Second World War was the liberation of Koenigsberg. What kind of front for the scale of hostilities unfolded in the territory of East Prussia! And at the same time, the Koenigsberg operation is the best example of how you can capture a well-fortified city with the least losses of personnel.

It was this victory of the Soviet Army that became decisive in the entire East Prussian operation and provided an unhindered path to Berlin. In addition, the successful completion of the fighting at Koenigsberg allowed in the future to include the city and nearby territories in Russia, of which the Kaliningrad region is an integral part today.

And of course, the feat of hundreds of thousands of fighters who shed their blood during the assault on Koenigsberg will never be forgotten. Their great sacrifice will always be remembered by the Motherland.