Vistula-Oder operation
1941: Białystok-Minsk - Dubno-Lutsk-Rivne - Smolensk - Uman - Kiev - Odessa - Leningrad blockade - Vyazma-Bryansk - Kharkov - Rostov - Moscow - Tula
1942: Rzhev - Kharkiv - Company Blue - companies Braunschweig - company Edelweiss - Stalingrad - Operation Mars
1943: Voronezh-Kharkov - Operation Iskra - North Caucasus - Kharkov - Citadel Company - Oryol - Donets-Mius - Donbass - Belgorod-Kharkov - Smolensk - Dnepr
1944: Dnepr-Carpathians - Leningrad-Novgorod - Crimea - Vyborg-Petrozavodsk - Operation Bagration - Lviv-Sandomierz - Jassy-Kishinew - Belgrade - Petsamo-Kirkenes - Baltic States - Carpathians - Hungary
1945: Courland - Vistula-Oder - East Prussia - West Carpathians - Lower Silesia - East Pomerania - Lake Balaton - Upper Silesia - Vienna - Oder - Berlin - Prague
The Vistula-Oder Operation ( Russian Висло-Одерская операция , Wislo-Oderskaja operazija ) is the name of an offensive on the German-Soviet Eastern Front of World War II . The Red Army began a new on January 12, 1945 strategic operation on the 1,200 km wide front between the Baltic Sea and the Carpathian Mountains . It ended on February 3, 1945. In the course of this operation, two main thrusts developed: via Warsaw and Posen to Küstrin and from the Sandomierz bridgehead to Silesia along the Oder.
Situation before the offensive from a German perspective
The beginning of 1945 was caught in the tension between three theaters of war: in the west the Ardennes offensive was coming to an end, in the south-east the battle for Budapest and Hungarian oil had not yet been decided, and on the eastern front the preparations of the Soviet army were clearly complete.
“On January 9th - one day after Hitler told Commander-in-Chief West v. Rundstedt had given authorization to evacuate the West Ardennes, Guderian arrived at Hitler's headquarters near Frankfurt after a sightseeing trip to the Eastern Front . ”Guderian asked Hitler to give up Italy , Norway , the Balkans and the Baltic States [Courland] and to“ collect all available reserves to keep the Russians out of Germany. ”The Eastern Front had hardly been reinforced since autumn 1944.
On the front between the Baltic Sea and the Carpathian Mountains there were 75 of the 287 German divisions, "and indeed much weaker divisions than in the west." According to Stalin's information in Yalta , he had assembled 180 divisions, "which, at the main points of the Germans, were men and tanks [... ] were six times superior. "
After a further discussion with Guderian, Hitler ordered the 6th Panzer Army to be withdrawn from the Ardennes. Rundstedts will stay "so that we can keep the initiative there." The Eastern Front will not be reinforced and he will not allow any retreats.
Structure of the opposing forces
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
185th Rifle Division - Colonel Mikhail Maxsimowitsch Muzykin | |||
234th Rifle Division - Colonel Afanasi Ivanovich Seljukov | |||
328th Rifle Division - Colonel Ivan Grigoryevich Pavlovsky | |||
![]() |
|||
60th Rifle Division - Major General Viktor Georgievich Chernov | |||
76th Rifle Division - Major General AN Gerwasiev | |||
175th Rifle Division - Major General Zechar Petrovich Wydrigan | |||
![]() |
|||
260th Rifle Division - Colonel JP Gorschenin | |||
132nd Rifle Division - Colonel Ivan Vasilyevich Soloviev | |||
143rd Rifle Division - Major General Mitrofan Moisewitsch Zaikin | |||
1st Polish Army (General Zygmunt Berling ) | |||
1st Polish Division - Major General Wojciech Bewziuk | |||
2nd Polish Division - Major General Jan Rotkiewicz | |||
3rd Polish Division - Brigadier General Stanislaw Zajkowski | |||
4th Polish Division - Brigadier General Bolesław Kieniewicz | |||
6th Polish Division - Brigadier General Giennadi Szejpak | |||
Polish 1st Panzer Brigade - Colonel Aleksandr Petrovich Malyutin | |||
Polish 2nd Panzer Brigade - Colonel Władimir Radziwanowicz | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
146th Rifle Division - Major General SI Karapetyan | |||
265th Rifle Division - Major General Danil Efimovich Krasilnikov | |||
364th Rifle Division - Colonel Ivan Andreevich Vorobyev | |||
![]() |
|||
23rd Guards Rifle Division - Major General Pavel Mendeleevich Shafarenko | |||
52nd Guards Rifle Division - Major General Nestor Dmitriwitsch Kosin | |||
33rd Rifle Division - Major General Vasily Ivanovich Smirnov | |||
![]() |
|||
150th Rifle Division - Major General WM Shatilov | |||
171st Rifle Division - Colonel AP Negoda | |||
207th Rifle Division - Colonel WM Asafov | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
12th Guards Rifle Division - Colonel Dmitri Kuzmich Malkov | |||
75th Guards Rifle Division - Major General Vasily Akimowitsch Gorischin | |||
415th Rifle Division - Colonel Pavel Ivanovich Moshalkov | |||
![]() |
|||
82nd Rifle Division - Colonel Timofei Dmitrievich Dudorov | |||
212th Rifle Division - Colonel Sergei Mikhailovich Maslow | |||
356th Rifle Division - Major General MG Makarov | |||
![]() |
|||
23rd Rifle Division - Colonel Ilya Mikhailovich Podberesina | |||
311st Rifle Division - Major General Boris Alexandrovich Vladimirov | |||
397th Rifle Division - Colonel Nikolai F. Andonov | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
19th Guards Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Andrei G. Baranov | |||
20th Guards Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Alexei Ignatievich Anfimov | |||
21st Guards Mechanized Brigade | |||
![]() |
|||
40th Guards Tank Brigade | |||
44th Guards Tank Brigade - Colonel Josif Irakljewitsch Gusakowski | |||
45th Guards Tank Brigade | |||
27th Guards Mechanized Rifle Brigade | |||
![]() |
|||
36th Tank Brigade - Colonel Ivan Sharikov | |||
65th Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Arkady T. Pavlushko | |||
20th Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Nikolai Pavlovich Konstantinov | |||
12th Mechanized Rifle Brigade - Colonel Yefim Ivanovich Sharov | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
19th Mechanized Brigade | |||
35th Mechanized Brigade | |||
37th Mechanized Brigade | |||
![]() |
|||
47th Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Nikolai Weniaminowitsch Kopilov | |||
50th Mechanized Brigade - Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail S. Piskunov | |||
65th Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Ivan T. Potapov | |||
33rd Guards Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Pawel Z. Shamardin | |||
![]() |
|||
58th Guards Panzer Brigade - Colonel Pyotr S. Piskarew | |||
59th Guards Panzer Brigade - Colonel Atanasi S. Turenko | |||
60th Guards Panzer Brigade - Colonel Ivan Yakovlevich Stepanov | |||
30th Guards Mechanized Brigade - Major General Mikhail Z. Kiselew | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
230th Rifle Division - Colonel LK Shishikov | |||
248th Rifle Division - Colonel Nikolai Sakharovich Galay | |||
301st Rifle Division - Colonel PI Ivanov | |||
![]() |
|||
89th Guards Rifle Division - Major General Mikhail Petrovich Serugin | |||
94th Guards Rifle Division - Colonel Grigory Nikolaeevich Shostatsky | |||
266th Rifle Division - Major General SM Fomichenko | |||
![]() |
|||
60th Guards Rifle Division - Major General WP Sokolow | |||
295th Rifle Division - Major General AP Dorofejew | |||
416th Rifle Division - Major General DM Syzranov | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
35th Guards Rifle Division - Colonel Grigoryev | |||
47th Guards Rifle Division - Lieutenant General Vasili M. Tschugejew | |||
57th Guards Rifle Division - Major General PJ Saliyuk | |||
![]() |
|||
39th Guards Rifle Division - Colonel EJ Marschenko | |||
79th Guards Rifle Division - Major General Leonid Ivanovich Bagin | |||
88th Guards Rifle Division - Major General GJ Pankow | |||
![]() |
|||
27th Guards Rifle Division - Major General Viktor S. Glebow | |||
74th Guards Rifle Division - Major General Dmitry I. Bakanov | |||
82nd Guards Rifle Division - Major General Georgi I. Khetargurov | |||
![]() |
|||
48th Guards Tank Brigade - Lieutenant Colonel Vasily I. Makarov | |||
49th Guards Tank Brigade - Colonel Tikhon Porfirevich Abramov | |||
66th Guards Tank Brigade - Colonel Arkady T. Pavlushko | |||
34th Guards Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Nikolai Petrovich Ohman | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
77th Guards Rifle Division - Major General Vasily Semyonovich Askalepov | |||
4th Rifle Division - Colonel Viktor Dmitrievich Kizelev | |||
64th Rifle Division - Major General TK Skwrjlew | |||
![]() |
|||
41st Rifle Division - Colonel Stepan Ivanovich Chernyak | |||
134th Rifle Division - Major General Vladimir Filippovich Stenin | |||
247th Rifle Division - Major General Grigory Denisovich Muchin | |||
274th Rifle Division - Major General Vasily P. Shulga | |||
![]() |
|||
312nd Rifle Division - Major General Alexander Gavrilowitsch Moisewski | |||
370th Rifle Division - Major General Pyotr Savitsch Gavrilevsky | |||
117th Rifle Division - Major General Jermolai G. Koberidze | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
89th Rifle Division - Nveri Geworkowitsch Safarjan | |||
339th Rifle Division - Colonel Gavrili Tarasovich Wasilenko | |||
383rd Rifle Division - Colonel Mikhail Gorbachev | |||
![]() |
|||
323rd Rifle Division - Maj. General WT Maslow | |||
95th Rifle Division - Colonel SK Artemyev | |||
![]() |
|||
49th Rifle Division - Major General PK Bogdanovich | |||
222nd Rifle Division - Colonel Gregori Petrovich Savchuk | |||
362nd Rifle Division - Major General Mikhail Alexsandrovich Jenschin | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
3rd Guards Cavalry Division - Major General Mikhail Danilowitsch Jagodin | |||
4th Guards Cavalry Division - Major General Boris Stepanovich Melnik | |||
17th Guards Cavalry Division - Major General Paul Trophimowitsch Kursakov | |||
![]() |
|||
14th Guards Cavalry Division - Major General Gregori Koblow | |||
15th Guards Cavalry Division - Major General Ivan Terentyevich Chalenko | |||
16th Cavalry Division - Major General Gregori A. Below |
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
225th Rifle Division - Colonel Mikhail Alexandrovich Pisochyn | |||
229th Rifle Division - Colonel Athanasios S. Pypirew | |||
285th Rifle Division - Colonel Nikolai Fyodorovich Sukharev | |||
![]() |
|||
72nd Rifle Division - Major General Ilya Ivanovich Yastryebov | |||
120th Rifle Division - Major General Ivan Pavlovich Govorov | |||
125th Rifle Division - Colonel Vasily Kondratievich Zinoviev | |||
![]() |
|||
128th Rifle Division - Colonel Ephraim Ignatievich Dolgov | |||
282nd Rifle Division - Major General Grigory Sholev | |||
291st Rifle Division - Major General Vasily Kasimirowitsch Zajaczkowski | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
218th Rifle Division - Colonel Pyotr Savelyevich Jereschenko | |||
273rd Rifle Division - Colonel Dmitry Pavlovich Sinkin | |||
![]() |
|||
181st Rifle Division - Colonel Leonid Petrovich Dikji | |||
309th Rifle Division - Colonel Boris Dawidowitsch Lev | |||
359th Rifle Division - Colonel Pyotr Pavlovich Kosolapov | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
58th Rifle Division - Major General Vasily Akimowitsch Samsonov | |||
253rd Rifle Division - Colonel Yefim Pavlovich Eppin | |||
329th Rifle Division - Colonel Fyodor Abashev | |||
![]() |
|||
127th Rifle Division - Major General Semyon Mladyenchev | |||
287th Rifle Division - Major General Josif Pankratow | |||
389th Rifle Division - Major General Leonid A. Kolobov | |||
![]() |
|||
106th Rifle Division - Major General Jemjelian Wasilenko | |||
149th Rifle Division - Major General Andrei Archipovich Orlov | |||
197th Rifle Division - Major General Fyodor Danilovsky | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
147th Rifle Division - Colonel Grigory Dudnik | |||
350th Rifle Division - Major General Grigori Wiechin | |||
![]() |
|||
6th Guards Rifle Division - Colonel Georgi Ivanov | |||
112th Rifle Division - Colonel Dmitri Tikhonovich Zhukov | |||
280th Rifle Division - Major General Yefim Lashchenko | |||
![]() |
|||
172nd Rifle Division - Major General Anatoly A. Krasnov | |||
121st Rifle Division - Major General Logwin Danilowitsch Tscherwoni | |||
395th Rifle Division - Colonel Alexei Korusjewitsch | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
51st Mechanized Guards Brigade - Colonel Dmitri Gavrilovich Sukhovarov | |||
52nd Guards Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Ludwig I. Kuristow | |||
53rd Mechanized Guards Brigade - Colonel Vasily Vladimirov Archipov | |||
![]() |
|||
54th Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Ivan Ilyich Chugunkov | |||
55th Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Dawid Abramowitsch Dragunski | |||
56th Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Sachari Slusarenko | |||
23rd Tank Brigade - Colonel Alexandr Golovachev | |||
![]() |
|||
69th Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Sergei Litvinov | |||
70th Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Ivan Ivanov | |||
71st Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Alexandr Kolchev | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
61st Guards Tank Brigade - Colonel Vasily Saizew | |||
62nd Guards Tank Brigade - Colonel Sergei Alexejewitsch Denisov | |||
63rd Guards Tank Brigade - Colonel Mikhail G. Fomichev | |||
29th Panzer Brigade - Colonel Andrei Illarionovich Efimov | |||
![]() |
|||
16th Guards Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Vsevolod Jesupowitsch Rywschow | |||
17th Guards Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Leonid D. Churilov | |||
49th Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Pyotr Turkin | |||
![]() |
|||
10th Guards Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Vasily Buslavyev | |||
11th Guards Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Fyodor Brikov | |||
12th Guards Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Grigory Borisenko | |||
![]() |
|||
91st Mechanized Brigade - Colonel Viktor Ivanovich Tutushkin | |||
93rd Mechanized Brigade - Major Alexei Dementiev | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
111th Rifle Division - Colonel PK Tschiwalew | |||
116th Rifle Division - Major General VA Smirnov | |||
213th Rifle Division - Major General IJ Buslayev | |||
![]() |
|||
50th Rifle Division - Colonel Nikolai A. Rubanov | |||
254th Rifle Division - Major General Mikhail K. Putejko | |||
294th Rifle Division - Colonel Ivan Perepelitsa | |||
![]() |
|||
31st Rifle Division - Colonel Ivan Fedotowitsch Chilchewski | |||
214th Rifle Division - Major General Grigory Nikitich Zhukov | |||
373rd Rifle Division - Major General Kuzma Ivanovich Sazonov | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
13th Guards Rifle Division - Major General Dmitri Scherebin | |||
95th Guards Rifle Division - Major General Andrei Ivanovich Olejnikov | |||
97th Guards Rifle Division - Colonel Anton Prokofievich Garan | |||
60th Rifle Division - Major General Vasily Sokolov | |||
![]() |
|||
9th Parachute Rifle Division - Colonel Pavel Ivanovich Shumeyev | |||
14th Rifle Division - Colonel FA Taranyuk | |||
78th Rifle Division - Major General Alexander G. Motov | |||
![]() |
|||
15th Guards Rifle Division - Major General Pyotr Tschirkow | |||
58th Guards Rifle Division - Major General Vladimir Rusakov | |||
118th Rifle Division - Major General Mikhail Sukhanov | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
80th Rifle Division - Colonel Dmitri Naumowitsch Kuzmin | |||
135th Rifle Division - Colonel Filipp N. Romashin | |||
314th Rifle Division - Colonel Pyotr Filimonovich Yefimenko | |||
![]() |
|||
13th Rifle Division - Major General Sergei Nikolayevich Alexandrov | |||
92nd Rifle Division - Major General Matvey V. Vinogradov | |||
286th Rifle Division - Major General Mikhail Danilovich Grishin | |||
245th Rifle Division - Major General Vladimir A. Rodionov | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
107th Rifle Division - Colonel Vasily Yakovlevich Petrenko | |||
336th Rifle Division - Colonel Lazar V. Greenwald-Mucho | |||
![]() |
|||
246th Rifle Division - Colonel Dmitry L. Kazarinov | |||
302nd Rifle Division - Colonel Nikolai Panteleimonovich Kucherenko | |||
322nd Rifle Division - Major General Pyotr Ivanovich Subov | |||
![]() |
|||
100th Rifle Division - Major General Fyodor Mikhailovich Krasavin | |||
148th Rifle Division - Colonel Mikhail Ivanovich Pinnacles | |||
304th Rifle Division - Colonel Gaibek Demirbekowitsch Zamanov |
course
Konev's major offensive across the Vistula to Silesia
On January 12, 1945 the 1st Ukrainian Front under Marshal Konew attacked the front of the German 4th Panzer Army under General Grasses in the Sandomierz-Silesian Operation from the Vistula bridgeheads of Baranow and Sandomierz . The section of the XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps east of Pinschow was just like the section of the XXXXII. Army corps breached east of Kielce . The XXIV Panzer Corps ( 16th and 17th Panzer Divisions ) pulled forward to counter-attack resisted steadfastly, but was immediately enclosed in the Kielce area by the broken armored wedges of the Soviet 3rd Armored Guard and 4th Panzer Army . Troops of the Soviet 52nd Army occupied Czestochowa on January 17th , the 3rd Armored Guard Army on January 18th Petrikau .
By January 18, the Soviet troops had broken into Army Group A to a depth of 300 km to a depth of 150 km and had overrun the main forces of the German defense. After fighting with Soviet army troops and Polish partisans, cut off German troops tried to re-establish contact with the German front, which had meanwhile been pushed far to the west. The XXXXII. Army corps was largely destroyed by January 23, the commanding General Recknagel was shot by partisans between Petrikau and Tomaszów . In a "wandering basin" the German "Corps Group Nehring" (Gen. Kdo. XXIV. Panzer Corps) withdrew with heavy losses in several days of fighting over the Warta to the Oder in the Glogau area.
On January 19, the first Soviet troops crossed the borders of the German Reich, after which the battle for the Silesian industrial area , which was defended by the German 17th Army , began. Soviet bombers attacked Wroclaw . Cracow was defeated by the Soviet 59th Army on the same day. On January 27, 1945, units of the Soviet 60th Army liberated the survivors of the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps . The 100th Rifle Division crossed the Vistula from the north and covered the flank of the 107th, 148th and 322nd Rifle Divisions advancing from the south.
Side offensives against East Prussia
On January 13, the 3rd Byelorussian Front under General Tschernjachowski from the Pilkallen area on the northern eastern front also faced the front of the German 3rd Panzer Army on the eastern border of East Prussia with the aim of breaking through to Koenigsberg . On January 14, the offensive of the 2nd Belarusian Front under General Rokossowski followed from the bridgeheads at Serok and Rozan over the Narew with the aim of overrun the province of East Prussia from the south and to break through to the Baltic Sea at Elbing . The German 3rd Panzer Army under Colonel General Raus was pushed back over the Memel to the Pregel and Angerapp . The front of the German 2nd Army under General Weiß am Narew had also been breached and thrown back over the southern border of East Prussia to Osterode by January 21st . The still intact front of the German 4th Army under General der Infanterie Hoßbach between Augustow and Lomscha am Bobr had to be dismantled in a hurry so as not to be cut off. From January 19 and 24, the Soviet troops pushed across the East Prussian border on a broad front between Soldau - Neidenburg - Willenberg and Goldap .
Zhukov's main attack on Poznan via Lodz
"On January 14th [took place] from the bridgeheads of Magnuszew and Pulawy", in the middle of the front in the area on both sides and south of Warsaw the attack of the 1st Belarusian Front under Marshal Zhukov from the bridgehead of Warka against the German 9th Army (General von Lüttwitz ). Together with the troops from Konev's front, a total of 163 rifle divisions and tank brigades with 7042 tanks and assault guns were on the offensive from the three bridgeheads of Baranow, Pulawy and Magnuszew (Warka) that had been captured in September 1944. The Soviet 47th Army and the Polish 1st Army comprised Warsaw, which could be captured by the evening of January 17th. The 8th Guards Army under General Tschuikow, which together with the 5th shock army took up from the Magnuszew bridgehead , broke through the front of the 8th Army Corps on both sides of the Pilica and pushed through to Tomaszow . Counterattacks by the German 19th and 25th Panzer Divisions against the Soviet tank masses that had broken through were unsuccessful. The attack of the Soviet 33rd Army from the Pulawy bridgehead was aimed at the city of Radom , which was surrounded and captured by January 16, together with the 69th Army advancing south . The 1st and 2nd Guards Panzer Army led after the break-in on the front of the German XXXXVI. Panzer Corps made the operational breakthrough in the direction of Kutno and Lodz, in the second phase north of the Warta via Posen to the Oder.
The catastrophic situation in the Generalgouvernement forced the Wehrmacht High Command to release the "Greater Germany" tank corps, which was urgently needed in East Prussia . From January 15, the Hermann Göring parachute division and the Brandenburg armored infantry division were relocated to Kalisz .
The city of Lodz was liberated on January 19th in cooperation of the 29th Guards Rifle Corps of the 8th Guards Army with the 9th Mechanical Corps approaching from the south. From January 25, 1945, the approximately 30,000 to 63,000 defenders of the city of Posen, which was declared a " fortress ", were included. The battle for Poznan that followed until the last defenders surrendered lasted until February 23, 1945.
The Soviet advance in East Prussia and west of the Vistula occurred in half the time estimated by the Soviet High Command . Their peaks reached the Oder on February 2nd (beginning of the Yalta conference) .
Reaction on the German side
Hitler only became aware of the situation more than a week after the start of the attack operations: "On January 22nd, Hitler, who was now desperate to find reserves, approved the evacuation of Memel , but he still refused to give up Kurland ."
The immediate transfer of the 6th Panzer Army from west to east was ordered. From the Palatinate and the Alsace were 21 tanks - and the 25th Panzer Grenadier Division extracted and moved to the threatened or front. Hitler realized that he had lost the advantage of the inner line : “There is no point in hypnotizing yourself into something and saying: I need it here, so it has to be that way. In the end, I have to reckon with things as they are. The deployment of a really considerable force from the west is unthinkable 6 to 8 weeks ago. "
Final phase of the offensive
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/FestungBreslau6V1945.jpg/220px-FestungBreslau6V1945.jpg)
At the end of January Rokossowski's 2nd Byelorussian Front reached Gdansk Bay and cut off the 25 divisions in East Prussia. Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front conquered the Upper Silesian industrial area after Krakow and surrounded Wroclaw . Zhukov's tanks (1st Belarusian Front) rolled through central Poland and crossed the German borders in Neumark . The 4th Ukrainian Front under Colonel General Ivan Petrov conquered southern Poland and northern Czechoslovakia (today's northern Slovakia ).
After the snowstorms that raged from January 26th to 29th, General Chuikov's units advanced as far as the Oder. The decisive success of the offensive was achieved in the center of the operation on both sides of Küstrin . On February 1st, advance divisions of the 8th Guard Army reached the still frozen river. On February 2, the 4th Guards Rifle Corps (Major General Glasunow) formed a small bridgehead on the western bank near Neu Manschnow . Bersarin's 5th shock army reached the Oder to the north-west of Küstrin. The 1st mechanical corps under Lieutenant General Kriwoschein built another small bridgehead near Genschmar on the Kalenziger Bunst. On the same day, the 8th Mechanical Guard Corps (Major General Dremow) and the 11th Guard Armored Corps (Colonel Babadschanjan) reached the Oder. The units crossed formed the first strong bridgeheads south and north of Küstrin near Güstebiese and Kienitz. “Apart from the fact that an icy river did not form a natural obstacle , it did not seem to be defended at all where it is closest to Frankfurt and Küstrin Berlin.” However, the edge of the Oderbruch remained largely under German control.
Location at the end of the offensive
On February 4, 1945, the fighting in the northern area from Koenigsberg to the Carpathian Mountains had largely come to a standstill. New fronts formed: two basins in East Prussia on the Baltic Sea, the northern part of Courland was able to hold out, in Silesia as far as Küstrin the line of defense ran around or along the Oder , from Küstrin through the south of Pomerania to Danzig. In Hungary the fighting continued unabated. Budapest fell on February 14, 1945 .
In the briefing on January 27, 1945 with Göring and Jodl , Hitler's hope was that "with every step the Russians took closer to Berlin, the Western powers would be brought one step closer to a compromise." As an immediate measure, the Berlin Volkssturm was on the Eastern Front relocated and Heinrich Himmler appointed commander-in-chief of an army group in the Vistula to consolidate the new front on the Oder. More than half of the tank divisions were withdrawn from the western front.
Hitler now gave priority to the Eastern Front in production as well: In February 1945, “1,675 new or repaired tanks and assault guns went to the East, while only 67 to the Western Front in the same period of time. [...] Through this drastic redistribution, Hitler hoped the Eastern Front to stabilize before the British-American armies could renew their offensive on the Rhine. "(Wilmot, 714.)
In March 1945, in the battle for Küstrin , the Wehrmacht tried in vain to remove the bridgeheads between which the supply line to the city ran. On March 22nd, the Soviet troops succeeded in uniting the two bridgeheads. The 1st Belarusian Front finally consolidated the Oder bridgehead to 44 km wide and 7-10 km deep by the beginning of April, which stretched from Lebus in the south to north of Kienitz .
Effects
The Soviet troops were exhausted after the offensive and did not take the opportunity to advance further into Berlin. They could "not make a breakthrough [on Berlin] [...] as long as they had not organized the supply traffic through devastated Poland." (Wilmot, 740) In the next few weeks the Soviet fronts cleared their rear area: In the battle for East Pomerania (February 10 to April 4, 1945) they invaded the Baltic Sea, the East Prussian operation was largely concluded on April 9, 1945 with the conquest of Königsberg , Danzig was occupied at the end of March 1945 and the Lower Silesian Operation and the West Carpathian Operation were the German troops pushed back into Czechoslovakia. Despite the military success of the Soviet fronts, the overall situation was reversed: for the time being, the German armies on Oder and Neisse had been able to set up a new line of defense, while now - from the beginning of February 1945 - the Western Allied armies broke into Germany.
The Soviet Army attacked Berlin on April 16, 1945 .
The fighting was very costly for both warring parties. According to its own information, the Red Army lost 193,125 soldiers (43,251 dead and missing and 149,874 wounded), 1,267 tanks, 374 guns and 343 aircraft.
Remarks
- ^ According to reports from OKH v. Rundstedt 2,299 new or restored tanks and assault guns had been assigned, but only 921 Guderians for the Eastern Front. Half of Guderian's tanks "stood on the south wing, covering Hungary's oil and bauxite and blocking the road to Vienna." (Wilmot, 666 f.).
- ↑ He justified this with the control of the Baltic Sea and pointed out "the crucial importance of the Gdańsk Bay for maintaining sea warfare (only submarine training areas)". ( Führer-Marine Conferences January 21, 1945 , Wilmot, 670.)
- ↑ It was the only industrial center spared from air raids and in December 1944 had supplied 60% of the coal production. Speer declared that he could now “only provide a quarter of the coal and a sixth of the steel that had been produced in January 1944.” (Speers report to Hitler, January 30, 1945. In February 1945 it was 7 Millions of tons of coal and around 0.5 million tons of steel, a fifth of the amount in the summer of 1944. Source: Speer-Akten. Wilmot, 671 and 710). Three new synthetic fuel refineries that had just started production were also lost.
- ↑ Hitler named the association not after its current operating room, but after the line that he would have to conquer in the future - here after the recently lost Vistula front.
- ↑ On February 4th, the US troops took the first of the Roertalsperren , which they had attacked when the Ardennes offensive began. The major offensive on the Rhine began on February 8, 1945.
literature
- Erich Kuby : The Russians in Berlin 1945 , Scherz Verlag, Munich 1965.
- Heinz Magenheimer : Defensive battle on the Vistula in 1945. Preparation, procedure, experiences (= individual publications on the military history of the Second World War , Volume 20). Rombach Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1976, ISBN 3-7930-0179-2 .
- Chester Wilmot : The Struggle for Europe , Gutenberg Book Guild, Zurich 1955.
- Alexei W. Isajew: Vistula-Oder Operation from 1945 Fighting in the Cave of the Beast , Yauza-Edition, Moscow 2007.
Web links
- United International Biographical Center: Soldier 20 weka. Vistula-Oder Operation 1945 (Russian)
- The liberation of Poland secret documents published by the Russian Ministry of Defense (russ.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://wwii-soldat.narod.ru/OPER/ARTICLES/034-visla.htm
- ↑ Chester Wilmot : The fight for Europe , Gutenberg Book Guild, Zurich 1955, p. 666.
- ^ Führer situation discussions, fragment 33, January 10, 1945 (Wilmot, p. 668.)
- ↑ WI Festjkow / KA Kalashnikov: Красная Армия в победах и поражениях 1941-1945, Moskwa 2003, pp. 150-160.
- ↑ OKW war diary, Volume IV, p. 1886. Note: The Heinrici army group was not hit by the Soviet attack on January 12, but is included here for completeness.
- ^ Ernst Piper: January 27, 1945: The Red Army liberates Auschwitz
- ^ Wolfgang Paul: The final battle for Germany , Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1978, p. 47. ISBN 3-453-00835-9 .
- ^ Barr: Panzerkrieg, Kaiser Verlag 2000, p. 163.
- ↑ Führer situation discussions, fragment 24, January 27, 1945. , Wilmot, 670.
- ↑ Tony Le Tissier: Breakthrough on the Oder, Augsburg 1997, p. 61 f.
- ↑ Erich Kuby: The Russians in Berlin 1945 , Scherz Verlag, Munich 1965, p. 24.
- ^ GF Krivošeev (Ed.): Soviet casualties and combat losses in the twentieth century. Greenhill Books, London 1997, p. 253 u. 263. ISBN 1-85367-280-7 .