Company Munich
The company Munich ( Romanian Operaţiunea Munich ) was the code name of a joint German-Romanian military operation in the initial phase of the German-Soviet war (July 1941) with the primary goal of recapturing Bessarabia , the north Bukowina and the Herza area , which a year earlier after an ultimatum from Romania to the Soviet Union . The operation was successfully completed after 24 days. The invasion was followed by genocide against the Jewish population of Bessarabia.
prehistory
On June 22, 1941, the German Reich began the attack on the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa . Hitler's ally, the Kingdom of Romania under the leadership of President Ion Antonescu , the offensive over the Prut was not scheduled to begin until the beginning of July. At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War , the 480 km long Soviet-Romanian border in the area of the Moldavian SSR was secured by the armed forces of the Odessa Military District (364,700 men, 950 aircraft, 769 tanks, 5,554 artillery pieces and grenade launchers). On June 25, the Odessa Military District was after the directive Stawka in Southern Front renamed. In addition to the existing 9th Independent Army, the 18th Army has now also been activated.
The Commander-in-Chief of the German Army Group South , Field Marshal von Rundstedt , ordered Colonel General von Schobert to begin the offensive on the morning of July 2 on June 24. The German 11th Army, which was concentrated in the Jassy area, was to penetrate the Soviet defense in the Balta area and later attempt to surround and encircle the left wing of the Soviet south- western front, which was still advanced to the west, by advancing to Vinnitsa in cooperation with the 17th Army .
Opposing forces
South front
(Army General IV Tyulenev )
18th Army (General AK Smirnow )
- 17th Rifle Corps ( IW Galanin ) with 96th and 60th Mountain and 164th Rifle Divisions
- 16th mechanized corps (AD Sokolow) with 15th and 39th armored and 240th motorized divisions
- 55th Rifle Corps ( KA Korotejew ) with 130th, 169th and 189th rifle divisions
- 10. fortified space
9th Army (Lieutenant General JT Tscherewitschenko )
- 35th Rifle Corps (IF Daschitschew) with 30th Mountain, 95th, 176th Rifle Divisions
- 48th Rifle Corps ( R. Malinowski ) with 74th, 116th and 150th Rifle Divisions
- 2nd mechanized corps ( JW Nowoselski ) with 11th and 16th armored and 15th motorized divisions
- 18th mechanized corps ( PW Woloch ) with 44th and 47th armored and 218th motorized divisions
- 2nd Cavalry Corps ( PA Below ) with 5th and 9th Cavalry Divisions
- 14th Rifle Corps (DG Jegorow) with 25th and 51st Rifle Divisions
- 80th and 82 fortified room (on the Dniester)
Danube Flotilla (Rear Admiral NO Abramow)
Army Group Antonescu
Romanian 3rd Army ( Corps General Petre Dumitrescu )
- Mountain Corps, General Avramescu (1st, 2nd and 4th Mountain Brigade and 7th Infantry Division)
- Cavalry Corps, General Mihail Racovita (6th Infantry Division, 5th, 6th and 8th Cavalry Brigade)
- IV Army Corps, General Sănătescu (13th and 14th Infantry Divisions)
- Reserve: 1st Armored Division
German 11th Army (Colonel General Eugen von Schobert )
- XI. Army Corps (General of the Infantry von Kortzfleisch ) with the 22nd , 46th and 239th Infantry Divisions
- XXX. Army Corps (General of the Infantry von Salmuth ) with 76th and 198th Infantry Divisions
- LIV. Army Corps (General of the Cavalry Hansen ) with the 50th and 170th Infantry Divisions
- 4th Air Corps (Lieutenant General Pflugbeil )
Romanian 4th Army ( Corps General Nicolae Ciupercă )
- III. Army Corps, General Atanasiu (15th Infantry and 35th Reserve Divisions)
- V. Army Corps, General Sion (Guard Division and 21st Infantry Division)
- XI. Army Corps, General Constantinescu (4th Infantry Division and 1st and 2nd Fortress Brigade).
- Reserve: 5th Infantry Division
- II Army Corps, General Nicolae Macici (Danube Group with 9th and 10th Divisions)
course
The offensive began on July 2, 1941. At the beginning of the offensive, the Soviet southern front had around 15 rifle divisions as well as 3 cavalry, 6 armored and 3 motorized divisions. The German-Romanian troops consisted of 7 German divisions and 13 Romanian divisions. The Romanian Mountain Corps under Major General Avramescu had the order to reach Chernivtsi on the northern section , to occupy the Bukovina and to advance the attack in the direction of Kamenez-Podolski . The Soviet 17th Rifle Corps, which was in the front line and previously subordinated to the 12th Army , was 75 km wide in the area southwest of Chernivtsi. The task was to prevent the enemy from advancing via Radautz on the Glybokaya - Chernivtsi railway line. The German 239th and Romanian 8th Infantry Divisions attacked the positions of the 176th Rifle Division at ștefăneşti (Botoşani) , which had to retreat across the Prut to Mogilew-Podolski . The troops of the Soviet 12th and 26th Armies, which secured the southern flank of the southwestern front on the eastern Carpathian Front, faced the Hungarian troops outside of heavy fighting, but had to dismantle quickly to avoid the encirclement.
By the evening of July 4th, parts of the German XI. and XXX. Army corps on the Stolnichena, Zaikany, Schuchulia, Kulugar-Sosch and Busila lines and pushed through to Balti . On July 5, Chernivtsi , the capital of northern Bukovina, was captured by the Romanian 3rd and 23rd Vânători Battalions. The Romanian 14th Division that at XXX. German corps was long-term stopped before Balti. The Romanian 5th Division, which is on the right wing of the German LIV. Corps was thrown back by Soviet cavalry in the Zgardesti-Mandresti area. The Romanian 1st Panzer Division received instructions to advance south in the direction of Mosana and Soroca and to cut off the retreat of the Soviet troops retreating in the direction of Mogilev by July 10 and reached the right bank of the Dniester at Soroca .
On July 16, Kishinev , the capital of Bessarabia, was captured after heavy fighting by the Romanian 1st Panzer Division (Divizia 1 Blindată), which were mainly equipped with 126 light R-2 tanks.
After the fall of Kishinev, the Antonescu Army Group was disbanded, and the German 11th Army also took command of the Romanian 3rd Army (cavalry and mountain corps) and the IV Corps (6th, 8th, 13th and 14th infantry -Division). On the other hand, the Romanian 5th and 15th Infantry and 1st Panzer Divisions remained under the direct command of the Romanian General Staff. The Romanian 4th Army with the III. Corps (11th and 35th Infantry and Border Guard Divisions) and the V Corps (21st Infantry and Guard Division) as well as the 7th Infantry Division remained as reserves on the southern border.
Finale
Until July 26, the entire region was under Romanian-German control. The losses of the troops on the Soviet southern front amounted to 8,519 dead, 9,374 wounded and 17,893 missing and prisoners, according to their own statements. The total losses of the Romanian troops amounted to around 23,000 people, the German losses are not known in detail. On August 17th, Bessarabia and northern Bukovina were officially reintegrated into the Romanian state.
See also
literature
- Mark Axworthy, Cornel Scafes, Cristian Craciunoiu: Third Axis Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941-1945. Arms & Armor Press, London 1995, ISBN 1-85409-267-7 .
- Alesandru Dutu / Florica Dobre7Leonida Loghin: Armata Română în al doilea război mondial (1941-1945) , Dictionar enciclopedic, Editura enciclopedică, Bucharesti 1999.