By the beginning of 1945the personnel, technical equipment and
weapons of the Soviet army reached the highest level in all the war years.
On the Soviet-German front the Soviet Army had 6.7 million people, 107.3
thousand guns and mortars, 12.1 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery
installations and 14.7 thousand war aircraft.
In mid January the Soviet troops launched a large-scale offensive
on the front from the Baltic Sea to the Danube.
THE VISTULA-ODER OPERATION
By the beginning of 1945 a powerful defense system had been
set up between the Vistula and the Oder by the Hitler Command, consisting
of seven borderlines and a great number of fortified lines and positions.
On the front from Warsaw to Jaslo defense was maintained by the main forces
of the "A" army group numbering up to 560,000 soldiers and officers,
some 5,000 guns and mortars, 1,220 tanks and storm guns. The army group
was backed by 630 war aircraft. It was decided to use strong frontal blows,
above all, to be delivered by the tank troops to split the enemy's grouping
into two parts, crush the main forces of the "A" army group and
complete the liberation of Poland. The troops had to advance at high speed
and arrive before the enemy could capture the defense lines. These actions
are known as the Vistula-Oder operation.
Утром 12 января Вило-Одерская операция началась. Начать наступление
предполагалось не ранее 20 января. Однако этот срок пришлось изменить,
поскольку немецкое командование 16 декабря нанесло удар по американо-английским
соединениям в Арденнах. Создалась тяжелая обстановка для союзников СССР.
Премьер-министр Великобритании У. Черчилль обратился за помощью к главе
Советского правительства И. В. Сталину. Советские войска открыли ураганный
огонь по противнику, нанося ему огромный урон. Немецкие войска, стремясь
избежать окружения, начали отступать.
The operation started on the morning of January 12. Initially
the offensive was planned to begin on January 20 or later. But the date
was changed because on December 16 the German command struck a blow at
the American-British units in the Ardennes. The Soviet allies found themselves
in a critical situation. The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill turned
to the head of the Soviet government Josef Stalin for help. Soviet troops
opened fierce fire on the enemy, causing heavy losses. To avoid being surrounded,
the Germans began to retreat. On January 16, the Soviet troops began to
press the enemy along the entire 250-km front line. It took them six days
to force their way farther to the West, covering 150 km and crossing the
Varta River on the move.
On January 17, the Soviet troops liberated the cities of Radomsko
and Czestochowa. The first to break into Czestochowa was a tank battalion
under the command of Major Khokhryakov, who received his second Gold Star
of the Hero of the Soviet Union for his resolute actions and personal courage.
On January 17, , the Soviet troops liberated the capital Warsaw
 though Hitler's
orders were that the city should not be surrendered whatever the cost.
To mark the liberation of the Polish capital the Presidium of the USSR
Supreme Soviet established the medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw",
which was conferred on more than 682 thousand Soviet and Polish soldiers
and officers. On January 18, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian and
the 1st Belorussian Fronts met in the area of Szydlowiec. This allowed
the Soviet troops to launch an assault along the frontline of over 500
km and break through the German defense lines on the Vistula. The enemy's
"A" army group sustained a heavy defeat. The Soviet Army was
moving rapidly toward German borders.
On January 19 the advance units entered Germany.
By the end of January the Soviet troops reached the Oder, forced
it and captured a position to the north and the south of Kustrin. The tankers
of the 44th guard brigade became famous for their heroic performance as
they moved forward in the advance unit of the 11th guard tank corps. The
brigade left behind the retreating German units, reached the stronghold
of the Mezeritz reinforced region and, without waiting for the corps' main
forces, broke through the enemy defenses in an audacious attack, got into
the enemy's rear and captured a position on the Oder. For their heroism
and quick action the brigade's entire personnel received government decorations,
eleven soldiers and officers were given the title of the Hero of the Soviet
Union, and the Brigade's Commander Colonel I. Gusakovsky received his second
"Gold Star" medal.
Within the 23 days of the offensive the 500-km-deep defenses
between the Vistula and the Oder were crushed. The Vistula-Oder operation
was of paramount military and political importance. The Soviet troops with
the participation of the 1st Polish Army and guerillas liberated a considerable
part of Polish territory. War moved on to German territory and was waged
now 60 km from its capital Berlin. The enemy sustained heavy losses: 35
divisions were destroyed, and 25 lost from 50 to 70 percent of their personnel.
To oppose the advancing Soviet troops the Hitler Command had to transfer
29 divisions and 4 brigades from other directions of the Soviet-German
Front, from inside of Germany and from the Western Front and to stop its
offensive in the west. In this way the Soviet Army helped its allies.
THE EASTERN-PRUSSIAN OPERATION
Eastern Prussia had a most powerful defense system, including concrete
fortifications. The Heilsberg reinforced area alone had over 900 long-term
defense structures, covered with anti-tank trenches. The enemy grouping
numbered up to 45 divisions with 580 thousand soldiers and officers, 8,200
guns and mortars, some 700 tanks and assault guns. The defense of East
Prussia involved 200 thousand Volkssturm members. Ground troops were supported
by 775 war aircraft. By the beginning of the offensive the Soviet troops
had 1,669 thousand men, 25,426 guns and mortars, 3,859 tanks and self-propelled
artillery installations, and 3,097 war aircraft.
On January 13, the Soviet troops launched an offensive. A thick
and dense fog hung over the battlefield. Using the fog as a cover, the
enemy let the infantry and tanks come close, then opened fire and started
a counterstroke. This hampered the advance, but the Soviet offensive grew
increasingly stronger.
On January 21, the Soviet troops liberated Gumbinnen, and on
the following day Insterburg. The enemy put up stubborn resistance and
it took many hours of fierce fighting to seize Gumbinnen. The defeat of
the enemy near Insterburg opened the road to Konigsberg and forced the
Germans to retreat from the area of the Masurian Lakes. The Soviet Army
began to pursue the enemy.
On February 10, Soviet troops began to liquidate the enemy grouping,
pressed against the gulf to the southwest of Konigsberg. During these days
extraordinary energy and courage were displayed by the 38-year-old Commander
of the Front General I. Chernyakhovsky.
On February 18, General Chernyakhovsky received a fatal wound
on the battlefield near Malsak. The General was buried in Vilnius.
On March 29, the enemy grouping located southwest of Konigsburg
ceased to exist. It took 48 days to crush the grouping. Only a small part
of the enemy units managed to cross the gulf and reach the bay bar, Frische-Nherung.
On April 6, , the Soviet troops began the storming of Konigsburg.
On April 9, the Germans defending Konigsburg surrendered.
On April 13-25 the remainder of the Eastern-Prussian German
grouping concentrated on the Zemland peninsula was crushed by Soviet troops.
The ground troops were backed by Baltic Fleet aircraft, war ships and submarines.
During the East-Prussian operation more than 25 enemy divisions were destroyed,
12 divisions lost from 50 to 75 percent of their personnel. The Soviet
Army took over the whole of East Prussia and liberated a large part of
Poland's northern regions.
THE CARPATHIAN-PRAGUE DIRECTION
In the first half of January the Soviet troops launched an offensive
on the frontline of the Vistula and Ondava rivers. Military operations
were resumed in the southern regions of Slovakia. The troops had to advance
in the severe winter conditions through mountains and forests. In January-February
the Soviet Army liberated Poland's southern regions and a large part of
Slovakia.
In January-February the Soviet Army liberated Poland's southern
regions and a large part of Slovakia.
By the end of February the Soviet troops got to the upper reaches
of the Vistula and became engaged in the fighting at the approaches to
the Moravska-Ostrava industrial area and on the western slopes of the Slovakian
mining area on the River Gron.
On March 25 the Soviet troops delivered the first strikes against
the enemy to the north of the Danube. After the surprise forced crossing
of the River Gron, they rushed to the West, liberating one region of Czechoslovakia
after another.
On April 4 the Soviet troops liberated the Slovakian capital
Bratislava and then developing the offensive the city of Brno.
FROM BUDAPEST TO VIENNA
From December 26, 1944, Soviet troops were engaged in the fighting
aimed at liquidating the enemy grouping surrounded near Budapest. The main
units fought on the outer front of the encirclement, and part of the Soviet
troops turned the front to the east against the enemy units defending the
western part of the city, Buda.  The
German Command ordered the Budapest garrison to defend the city to the
last soldier, hoping to use the blows from the outside to break through
the encirclement and restore the defense on the Danube. To reach this goal,
the enemy struck three counterblows. The bloody fighting persisted to the
west of Budapest for more than a month.
On February 13 the Hungarian capital was liberated. The enemy's
massive forces, which had tried to break through the encirclement, were
destroyed on the following day near the city. More than 350 thousand soldiers
and officers were decorated with the medal "For the Seizure of Budapest"
established to mark the victory. Many units were named after the city.
Along with Soviet troops, units of the Rumanian corps as well as over 2,500
Hungarian soldiers and officers of the Budaisk voluntary regiment were
engaged in the fighting for Budapest.
On March 6 the German troops launched a counteroffensive. The
Nazi leaders sought at any cost to throw the Soviet troops behind the Danube
and retain the oil-rich areas south of Vienna and west of Lake Balaton.
They concentrated massive forces southwest of Budapest and transferred
several tank and infantry divisions from the western part of Germany and
from Italy. The 6th SS tank army arrived from the Western Front.
On March 15 the enemy advance was stopped. The German tanks
did not manage to break through to the Danube.
On March 16 the Soviet Army began the Viennese operation, which
resulted in a German retreat.
On March 25 Soviet troops sent the enemy flying.
On April 4 the Soviet Army completed the liberation of Hungarian
territory. Later the Presidium of the Hungarian People's Republic declared
this day (April 4) a national holiday. More than 140,000 Soviet soldiers
and officers lost their lives for the liberation of Hungary.
On April 13 the Soviet troops fully cleared Vienna from the
Nazis. This was the sixth European capital liberated by the Soviet Army.
The units that displayed courage in the fighting for Vienna were named
after the city. The Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet established the
medal "For the Seizure of Vienna" and decorated with it more
than 270,000 soldiers and officers. More than 26,000 were killed in action,
liberating Austria from Nazism.
THE STORMING OF BERLIN
On the morning of April 16 the Soviet troops launched an offensive.
 The operation
involved 2.5 million personnel, 41,600 guns and mortars, 6,250 tanks and
self-propelled artillery guns, 7,500 war aircraft, including 800 long-range
aircraft. A great number of artillery guns and tanks were concentrated
on the directions of the main strikes. A key role was played by the famed
Russian "Katyusha" rockets.
On April 25, the Soviet and American troops met on the Elba
in the area of Torgau.
By April 29, the Soviet troops took over a large part of the
city and reached its center. On the day before the Division of General
V.Shatilov took by storm the Moabit prison, where the Nazis had murdered
the prominent Tatar poet Musa Dzhalil. The surviving prisoners were set
free by the Soviet Army.
On April 30 Soviet troops began storming the Reichstag. Clashes
took place in the building's halls, rooms and on the staircases. The enemy
put up fierce resistance, but the Soviet soldiers pressed forward.
On the early morning of May 1 a red banner was flying on the
Reichstag near the sculpture groups.  The
banner was erected by M. Yegorov and M. Kantaria. Thousands of soldiers
and officers, who had stormed the Reichstag, were decorated with orders
and medals. Officers A. Davydov, S. Neustroev, K. Samsonov, sergeants M.
Yegorov, M. Kantaria and many others received the title of the Hero of
the Soviet Union.
On May 8, in Karlshorst in a Berlin suburb, at 22 hours 43 minutes
Central European time the Act for unconditional capitulation of the German
Armed Forces was signed by the former Chief of Staff of the Wehrmacht Supreme
Command Field Marshal Keitel,  Commander-in-Chief
of the Navy Admiral Friedeburg and Colonel General of the Air Forces Stumpf,
who had been authorized by Doeniz (appointed by Hitler as Reigh Chancellor
and Commander-in-Chief). The signing ceremony was attended by Marshal of
the Soviet Union G. Zhukov, Chief Marshal of the British Royal Air Force
Tedder, and also, as witnesses, by American General Spaatz and French General
Lattre de Tassigny.
On May 8 the Berlin operation was over. The Soviet people rejoiced
at the news of the seizure of Berlin. By 25 salvoes from 324 guns Moscow
hailed the courageous Soviet soldiers who had seized Berlin.
_____________________________________________________________________
With the use of photos from the book
"Great Patriotic War in Photos and Films".
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