Having unexpectedly attacked the Soviet Union, the fascist command hoped to reach Moscow in a few months. However, the German generals met resistance as soon as they crossed the border of the USSR. The Germans took several hours to take the first outpost, but the defenders of the Brest Fortress held back the power of the huge fascist army for six days.
The siege of 1941 became
for the historical Brest Fortress, however, it was subjected to attacks even before that. The fortress was built by the architect Opperman in 1833 as a military structure. The war reached it only by 1915 - then it was blown up during the retreat of the Nikolaev troops. In 1918, after the signing, which took place in the Citadel of the fortress, it remained under German control for some time, and by the end of 1918 it was in the hands of the Poles, who owned it until 1939.
The real hostilities overtook the Brest Fortress in 1939. The second day of the Second World War began for the garrison of the fortress with the bombing. German aircraft dropped ten bombs on the citadel, damaging the main building of the fortress - the Citadel, or the White Palace. Then in the fortress there were several random military and reserve units. The first defense of the Brest Fortress was organized by General Plisovsky, who, from the scattered troops he had, managed to assemble a combat-ready detachment of 2,500 people and evacuate officer families in time. Against the armored corps of General Heinz, Plisovsky could only oppose an old armored train, several of the same tanks and a couple of batteries. Then the defense of the Brest Fortress lasted three full days
From September 14 to 17, while the enemy was almost six times stronger than the defenders. On the night of September 17, the wounded Plisovsky led the remnants of his detachment south, towards Terespol. After that, on September 22, the Germans handed over Brest and the Brest Fortress to the Soviet Union.
The defense of the Brest Fortress in 1941 fell on the shoulders of nine Soviet battalions, two artillery battalions and several separate units. In total, this amounted to about eleven thousand people, excluding three hundred officer families. The fortress was stormed by the infantry division of Major General Shliper, which was reinforced with additional units. In general, about twenty thousand soldiers were subordinate to General Schliper.
The attack began early in the morning. Due to the suddenness of the attack, the commanders did not have time to coordinate the actions of the fortress garrison, so the defenders were immediately divided into several detachments. The Germans immediately succeeded in capturing the Citadel, but they were not able to gain a foothold in it - the invaders were attacked by the Soviet units left behind, and the Citadel was partially liberated. On the second day of defense, the Germans offered
surrender, to which 1900 people agreed. The remaining defenders united under the command of Captain Zubachev. The enemy forces, however, were immeasurably higher, and the defense of the Brest Fortress was short-lived. On June 24, the Nazis managed to capture 1250 fighters, another 450 people were captured on June 26. The last stronghold of the defenders, the Eastern Fort, was crushed on June 29 when the Germans dropped a 1800-kilogram bomb on it. This day is considered the end of the defense, but the Germans cleared the Brest Fortress until June 30, and the last defenders were destroyed only by the end of August. Only a few managed to escape to Belovezhskaya Pushcha to the partisans.
The fortress was liberated in 1944, and in 1971 it was mothballed and turned into a museum. At the same time, a memorial was erected, thanks to which the defense of the Brest Fortress and the courage of its defenders will be remembered forever.
The famous Brest Fortress has become synonymous with unbroken spirit and resilience. During the Great Patriotic War the elite forces of the Wehrmacht were forced to spend 8 full days on its capture, instead of the planned 8 hours. What motivated the defenders of the fortress and why this resistance played an important role in the overall picture of the Second World War.
Early in the morning of June 22, 1941, the German offensive began along the entire line of the Soviet border, from the Barents to the Black Sea. One of the many initial goals was the Brest Fortress - a small line in the plan of Barbarossa. The Germans took only 8 hours to storm and capture it. Despite the loud name, this fortification was once the pride of Russian Empire, turned into simple barracks and the Germans did not expect to meet serious resistance there.
But the unexpected and desperate rebuff that the Wehrmacht forces met in the fortress went down in the history of the Great Patriotic War so vividly that today many believe that the Second World War began with an attack on the Brest Fortress. But it could happen that this feat would remain unknown, but the case decreed otherwise.
History of the Brest Fortress
Where the Brest Fortress is today, there used to be the city of Berestye, which is mentioned for the first time in The Tale of Bygone Years. Historians believe that this city originally grew around the castle, the history of which has been lost for centuries. Located at the junction of Lithuanian, Polish and Russian lands, it has always played an important strategic role. The city was erected on a cape formed by the Western Bug and Mukhovets rivers. In ancient times, rivers were the main communications for traders. Therefore, Berestye prospered economically. But the location on the very border entailed dangers. The city often moved from one state to another. It was repeatedly besieged and captured by Poles, Lithuanians, German knights, Swedes, Crimean Tatars and troops of the Russian kingdom.
Important fortification
The history of the modern Brest Fortress originates in imperial Russia. It was built by order of Emperor Nicholas I. The fortification was located at an important point - on the shortest land route from Warsaw to Moscow. At the confluence of two rivers - the Western Bug and Mukhavets - there was a natural island, which became the location of the Citadel - the main fortification of the fortress. This building was a two-story building, which housed 500 casemates. There could be 12 thousand people at the same time. Two-meter-thick walls reliably protected them from any weapons that existed in the 19th century.
Three more islands were created artificially, using the waters of the Mukhovets River and a man-made system of ditches. Additional fortifications were located on them: Kobrin, Volyn and Terespol. Such an arrangement suited the generals defending in the fortress very well, because it reliably protected the Citadel from enemies. It was very difficult to break through to the main fortification, and it was almost impossible to bring wall-beating guns there. The first stone of the fortress was laid on June 1, 1836, and on April 26, 1842, the fortress standard was raised over it in a solemn ceremony. At that time it was one of the best defensive structures in the country. Knowing the design features of this military fortification will help you understand how the defense of the Brest Fortress took place in 1941.
Time passed, and weapons improved. The range of artillery fire was increasing. What had previously been impregnable could now be destroyed without even getting close. Therefore, military engineers decided to build an additional line of defense, which was supposed to encircle the fortress at a distance of 9 km from the main fortification. It included artillery batteries, defensive barracks, two dozen strongholds and 14 forts.
unexpected find
February 1942 turned out to be cold. German troops rushed inland Soviet Union. The Red Army tried to hold back their advance, but most often they had no choice but to continue to retreat inland. But they didn't always fail. And now, not far from Orel, the 45th Wehrmacht Infantry Division was utterly defeated. We even managed to capture documents from the headquarters archive. Among them, they found a "combat report on the occupation of Brest-Litovsk."
Accurate Germans day after day documented the events that took place during the protracted siege in the Brest Fortress. The staff officers had to explain the reasons for the delay. At the same time, as was always the case in history, they went out of their way to exalt their own bravery and downplay the merits of the enemy. But even in this light, the feat of the unbroken defenders of the Brest Fortress looked so bright that excerpts from this document were published in the Soviet edition of Krasnaya Zvezda to strengthen the spirit of both the front fighters and the civilian population. But history at that time had not yet revealed all its secrets. The Brest Fortress in 1941 endured much more of those trials, which became known from the documents found.
Word to the Witnesses
Three years have passed since the capture of the Brest Fortress. After heavy fighting, Belarus was recaptured from the Nazis and, in particular, the Brest Fortress. By that time, stories about her had become almost legends and an ode to courage. Therefore, interest in this object was immediately increased. The powerful fortress lay in ruins. Traces of destruction from artillery strikes, at the first glance, told experienced front-line soldiers what hell the garrison stationed here had to face at the very beginning of the war.
A detailed survey of the ruins gave an even more complete picture. Literally dozens of messages from participants in the defense of the fortress were written and scratched on the walls. Many came down to the message: "I'm dying, but I don't give up." Some contained dates and last names. Over time, eyewitnesses of those events were also found. German newsreel and photo reports became available. Step by step, historians reconstructed the picture of the events that took place on June 22, 1941 in the battles for the Brest Fortress. The graffiti on the walls revealed something that was not in the official records. In the documents, the date of the fall of the fortress was July 1, 1941. But one of the inscriptions was dated July 20, 1941. This meant that resistance, albeit in the form partisan movement lasted almost a month.
Defense of the Brest Fortress
By the time the fire of the Second World War flared up, the Brest Fortress was no longer a strategically important object. But since it is not worth neglecting the material resources already available, it was used as a barracks. The fortress turned into a small military town where the families of commanders lived. Among the civilian population permanently residing in the territory were women, children and the elderly. About 300 families lived outside the walls of the fortress.
Because of the military exercises planned for June 22, rifle and artillery units and the highest commanders of the army left the fortress. The territory was left by 10 rifle battalions, 3 artillery regiments, air defense and anti-aircraft defense divisions. Less than half of the usual number of people remained - approximately 8.5 thousand people. National composition defenders would do honor to any UN meeting. There were Belarusians, Ossetians, Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Tatars, Kalmyks, Georgians, Chechens and Russians. In total, among the defenders of the fortress were representatives of thirty nationalities. They were approached by 19 thousand well-trained soldiers who had considerable experience in real battles in Europe.
Soldiers of the 45th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht stormed the Brest Fortress. It was a special unit. It was the first to triumphantly enter Paris. Soldiers from this division went through Belgium, Holland and fought in Warsaw. They were considered almost an elite german army. The 45th division always quickly and accurately carried out the tasks assigned to it. The Fuhrer himself singled her out among others. This is a division of the former Austrian army. It was formed in Hitler's homeland - in the district of Linz. It diligently cultivated personal loyalty to the Fuhrer. A quick victory is expected of them, and they do not doubt it.
Fully prepared for a fast assault
The Germans had a detailed plan for the Brest Fortress. After all, just a few years ago they had already won it from Poland. Then Brest was also attacked at the very beginning of the war. The assault on the Brest Fortress in 1939 lasted two weeks. It was then that the Brest Fortress was bombed for the first time. And on September 22, the whole of Brest was pompously handed over to the Red Army, in honor of which they held a joint parade of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht.
Fortifications: 1 - Citadel; 2 - Kobrin fortification; 3 - Volyn fortification; 4 - Terespol fortification Objects: 1. Defensive barracks; 2. Barbicans; 3. White Palace; 4. Engineering management; 5. Barracks; 6. Club; 7. Dining room; 8. Brest gates; 9. Kholmsky gate; 10. Terespol gates; 11. Brigid Gate. 12. The building of the border outpost; 13. Western fort; 14. Eastern Fort; 15. Barracks; 16. Residential buildings; 17. North-Western Gate; 18. North gate; 19. East gate; 20. Powder magazines; 21. Brigid Prison; 22. Hospital; 23. Regimental school; 24. Hospital building; 25. Strengthening; 26. South gate; 27. Barracks; 28. Garages; 30. Barracks.
Therefore, the advancing soldiers had all the necessary information and a diagram of the Brest Fortress. They knew about the strong and weaknesses fortifications, and had a clear plan of action. At dawn on June 22, everyone was in their places. Installed mortar batteries, prepared assault squads. At 4:15 the Germans opened artillery fire. Everything was very clearly defined. Every four minutes, the line of fire was advanced 100 meters forward. The Germans diligently and methodically mowed down everything that could be obtained. detailed map The Brest Fortress served as an invaluable help in this.
The bet was made primarily on surprise. Artillery bombardment was to be short, but massive. The enemy needed to be disoriented and not given the opportunity to put up a cohesive resistance. For a short attack from nine mortar batteries, they managed to fire 2880 shots at the fortress. No one expected a serious rebuff from the survivors. After all, in the fortress there were rear guards, repairmen, and families of commanders. As soon as the mortars subsided, the assault began.
South Island attackers passed quickly. Warehouses were concentrated there, and there was a hospital. The soldiers did not stand on ceremony with bedridden patients - they finished off with rifle butts. Those who could move independently were killed selectively.
But on the western island, where the Terespol fortification is located, the border guards managed to orient themselves and adequately meet the enemy. But due to the fact that they were scattered in small groups, it was not possible to hold back the attackers for a long time. Through the Terespol Gate of the attacked Brest Fortress, the Germans broke into the Citadel. They quickly occupied some of the casemates, the officers' canteen and the club.
First failures
At the same time, the newly appeared heroes of the Brest Fortress begin to gather in groups. They draw their weapons and take up defensive positions. Now it turns out that the Germans who have broken through ahead are in the ring. They are being attacked from the rear, with undiscovered defenders waiting ahead. The Red Army purposefully shot officers among the attacking Germans. Discouraged by such a rebuff, the infantrymen try to retreat, but then they are met with fire by the border guards. German losses in this attack amounted to almost half of the detachment. They retreat, and settle in the club. This time already as besieged.
Artillery cannot help the Nazis. It is impossible to open fire, as the probability of shooting your own people is too high. The Germans are trying to break through to their comrades stuck in the Citadel, but Soviet snipers force them to keep their distance with accurate shots. The same snipers block the movement of machine guns, preventing them from moving to other positions.
By 7:30 in the morning, it would seem that the shelled out fortress literally comes to life and completely comes to its senses. The defense is already organized along the entire perimeter. The commanders hastily reorganize the surviving fighters and place them in position. No one has a complete picture of what is happening. But at this time, the fighters are sure that they just need to hold their positions. Hang on until help arrives.
Complete isolation
The Red Army soldiers had no connection with the outside world. Messages sent over the air went unanswered. By noon the city was completely occupied by the Germans. The Brest fortress on the map of Brest remained the only center of resistance. All escape routes were cut off. But contrary to the expectations of the Nazis, the resistance only grew. It was quite clear that the attempt to capture the fortress immediately failed. The advance faltered.
At 13:15 German command throws a reserve into battle - 133rd infantry regiment. It does not bring results. At 14:30, the commander of the 45th division, Fritz Schlieper, arrives at the site of the Kobrin fortification occupied by the Germans to personally assess the situation. He becomes convinced that his infantry is not able to take the Citadel on their own. Schliper gives the order at nightfall to withdraw the infantry and resume shelling from heavy guns. The heroic defense of the besieged Brest Fortress is bearing fruit. This is the first retreat of the illustrious 45th division since the start of the war in Europe.
The Wehrmacht forces could not just take and leave the fortress as it is. In order to move forward, it was necessary to occupy it. The strategists knew this, and this has been proven by history. The defense of the Brest Fortress by the Poles in 1939 and the Russians in 1915 served the Germans good lesson. The fortress blocked important crossings across the Western Bug River and access roads to both tank highways, which were crucial for the transfer of troops and supplying the advancing army with supplies.
According to the plans of the German command, troops aimed at Moscow were to go through Brest without stopping. The German generals considered the fortress a serious obstacle, but they simply did not consider it as a powerful defensive line. The desperate defense of the Brest Fortress in 1941 made its own adjustments to the plans of the aggressors. In addition, the defending Red Army soldiers did not just sit in the corners. Time after time they organized counterattacks. Losing people and rolling back to their positions, they reorganized and again went into battle.
Thus passed the first days of the war. The next day, the Germans gathered the captured people, and, hiding behind women, children and the wounded from the captured hospital, began to cross the bridge. Thus, the Germans forced the defenders to either let them through or shoot their relatives and friends with their own hands.
Meanwhile, artillery fire resumed. To help the besiegers, two super-heavy guns were delivered - 600 mm self-propelled mortars of the Karl system. It was such an exclusive weapon that they even had their own names. In total, only six such mortars were produced in history. Two-ton projectiles fired from these mastodons left craters 10 meters deep. They knocked down the towers at the Terespol Gate. In Europe, the mere appearance of such a "Karl" at the walls of a besieged city meant victory. The Brest fortress, how long the defense lasted, did not even give the enemy a reason to think about the possibility of capitulation. The defenders continued to shoot back even when seriously wounded.
The first prisoners
However, at 10 a.m., the Germans take their first breather and offer to surrender. This continued in each of the subsequent breaks in the shooting. Persistent proposals to surrender sounded from German loudspeakers throughout the area. This was supposed to undermine the morale of the Russians. This approach has borne some fruit. On this day, about 1900 people came out of the fortress with their hands up. There were many women and children among them. But there were also soldiers. Basically - reservists who arrived at the training camp.
The third day of defense began with shelling, comparable in power to the first day of the war. The Nazis could not but admit that the Russians were defending themselves courageously. But they did not understand the reasons that made people continue to resist. Brest was taken. Help is nowhere to be found. However, initially no one planned to defend the fortress. In fact, it would even be a direct disobedience to the order, which said that in the event of hostilities, the fortress should be immediately abandoned.
The soldiers who were there simply did not have time to leave the facility. The narrow gate, which was the only way out at that time, was under aimed German fire. Those who failed to break through initially expected help from the Red Army. They did not know that German tanks were already in the center of Minsk.
Not all women left the fortress, heeding the exhortations to surrender. Many stayed behind to fight their husbands. German attack aircraft even reported to the command about the women's battalion. However, the fortress never had women's divisions.
premature report
On the twenty-fourth of June, Hitler was informed about the capture of the Brest-Litovsk fortress. On that day, stormtroopers managed to capture the Citadel. But the fortress has not yet surrendered. In the evening of the same day, the surviving commanders gathered in the building of the engineering barracks. The result of the meeting is Order No. 1 - the only document of the besieged garrison. Because of the assault that had begun, they did not even have time to finish it. But it is thanks to him that we know the names of the commanders and the numbers of the fighting units.
After the fall of the Citadel, the eastern fort became the main center of resistance in the Brest Fortress. The attack aircraft try to take the Kobrin shaft repeatedly, but the artillerymen of the 98th anti-tank division firmly hold the line. They knock out a couple of tanks and several armored vehicles. When the enemy destroys the guns, the fighters with rifles and grenades go into the casemates.
The Nazis combine assaults and shelling with psychological treatment. With the help of leaflets scattered from aircraft, the Germans call for surrender, promising life and humane treatment. Through the loudspeakers they announce that both Minsk and Smolensk have already been taken and there is no point in resistance. But the people in the fortress simply do not believe in it. They are waiting for help from the Red Army.
The Germans were afraid to enter the casemates - the wounded continued to shoot. But they couldn't get out either. Then the Germans decided to use flamethrowers. Brick and metal melted from the terrible heat. These streaks can still be seen on the walls of the casemates today.
The Germans put forward an ultimatum. His surviving fighters are carried by a fourteen-year-old girl - Valya Zenkina, the daughter of a foreman, who was captured the day before. The ultimatum says that either the Brest Fortress, down to the last defender, surrenders, or the Germans will wipe out the garrison from the face of the earth. But the girl did not return. She chose to stay in the fortress along with her.
Current Issues
The period of the first shock passes, and the body begins to demand its own. People understand that they have not eaten anything all this time, and the food warehouses burned down during the very first shelling. Worse, the defenders have nothing to drink. During the first artillery shelling of the fortress, the water supply system was disabled. People suffer from thirst. The fortress was located at the confluence of two rivers, but it was impossible to reach this water. Along the banks of rivers and canals are German machine guns. The attempts of the besieged to reach the water are paid with their lives.
The cellars are overflowing with the wounded and the families of command personnel. It is especially difficult for children. The commanders decide to send women and children into captivity. With white flags, they get out into the street and go to the exit. These women did not stay in captivity for long. The Germans simply let them go, and the women went either to Brest or to the nearest village.
On June 29, the Germans call in aircraft. This was the date of the beginning of the end. Bombers drop several 500kg bombs on the fort, but it holds its own and continues to snarl with fire. After lunch, another super-powerful bomb (1800 kg) was dropped. This time, the casemates pierced right through. Following this, attack aircraft broke into the fort. They managed to capture about 400 prisoners. Under heavy fire and constant assaults, the fortress held out in 1941 for 8 days.
One for all
Major Pyotr Gavrilov, who led the main defense in this area, did not surrender. He took refuge in a hole dug in one of the casemates. The last defender of the Brest Fortress decided to lead his own war. Gavrilov wanted to hide in the northwestern corner of the fortress, where there were stables before the war. During the day, he buries himself in a pile of manure, and at night he carefully crawls out to the canal to drink water. The major feeds on the compound feed left in the stable. However, after several days of such a diet, acute pains in the abdomen begin, Gavrilov quickly weakens and begins to fall into oblivion at times. Soon he is captured.
About how many days the defense of the Brest Fortress lasted, the world will learn much later. As well as the price the defenders had to pay. But the fortress began to acquire legends almost immediately. One of the most popular was born from the words of one Jew - Zalman Stavsky, who worked as a violinist in a restaurant. He said that one day, while going to work, he was stopped by a German officer. Zalman was taken to the fortress and led to the entrance to the dungeon around which the soldiers gathered, bristling with cocked rifles. Stavsky was ordered to go down and take the Russian soldier out of there. He obeyed, and below he found a half-dead man, whose name remained unknown. Thin and overgrown, he could no longer move independently. Rumor attributed to him the title of the last defender. This was in April 1942. It has been 10 months since the beginning of the war.
From the shadow of oblivion
A year after the first attack of the fortification, an article was written about this event in the Red Star, where the details of the protection of the soldiers were revealed. In the Moscow Kremlin, they decided that she could raise the militant ardor of the population, which had subsided by that time. It was not yet a real memorial article, but only a warning about what kind of heroes those 9 thousand people who fell under the bombing were considered. The figures and some names of the dead soldiers, the names of the fighters, the results of the fact that the fortress was surrendered and where the army is moving further were announced. In 1948, 7 years after the end of the battle, an article appeared in Ogonyok, which already looked more like a memorable ode to the dead people.
In fact, the presence of a complete picture of the defense of the Brest Fortress should be credited to Sergei Smirnov, who at one time set out to restore and organize the records that were previously stored in the archives. Konstantin Simonov took the initiative of the historian and a drama, a documentary and a feature film were born under his direction. Historians conducted a study in order to get as many documentary shots as possible and they succeeded - the German soldiers were going to make a propaganda film about the victory, and therefore the video material was already there. However, he was not destined to become a symbol of victory, because all the information was stored in the archives.
Around the same time, the painting “To the Defenders of the Brest Fortress” was painted, and since the 1960s, poems began to appear where the Brest Fortress is exhibited as an ordinary entertaining city. They were preparing for a scene based on Shakespeare, but did not suspect that another "tragedy" was brewing. Over time, songs have appeared in which, from the height of the 21st century, a person looks at the hardships of soldiers a century earlier.
At the same time, it is worth noting that propaganda was carried out not only from Germany: propaganda speeches, films, posters that prompt action. This was also done by the Russian Soviet authorities, and therefore these films also had a patriotic character. Courage was sung in poetry, the idea of a feat of small military troops on the territory of the fortress, caught in a trap. From time to time, notes appeared about the results of the defense of the Brest Fortress, but the emphasis was on the decisions of the soldiers in conditions of complete isolation from the command.
Soon, the Brest Fortress, already known for its defense, had numerous poems, many of which went to songs and served as screensavers for documentaries during the Great Patriotic War and chronicles of the advance of troops to Moscow. In addition, there is a cartoon that tells about the Soviet people as foolish children (lower grades). In principle, the viewer is explained the reason for the appearance of traitors and why there were so many saboteurs in Brest. But this is explained by the fact that the people believed the ideas of fascism, while sabotage attacks were not always carried out by traitors.
In 1965, the fortress was awarded the title of "hero", in the media it was referred to exclusively as the "Brest Hero Fortress", and by 1971 a memorial complex was formed. In 2004, Beshanov Vladimir published the complete chronicle of the Brest Fortress.
The history of the creation of the complex
The museum "The Fifth Fort of the Brest Fortress" owes its existence to the Communist Party, which proposed its creation for the 20th anniversary of the memory of the defense of the fortress. Funds had previously been collected by the people, and now it only remained to get approval to turn the ruins into a cultural monument. The idea was born long before 1971 and, for example, back in 1965 the fortress received the Hero Star, and a year later a creative team was formed to design the museum.
She did a large-scale work, up to instructions on what facing the obelisk bayonet should have (titanium steel), the main color of the stone (gray) and necessary material(concrete). The Council of Ministers agreed to the implementation of the project, and in 1971 a memorial complex was opened, where sculptural compositions are correctly and accurately located and battlefields are presented. Today they are visited by tourists from many countries of the world.
Location of monuments
The formed complex has a main entrance, which is a concrete parallelepiped with a carved star. Polished to a shine, it stands on a shaft, on which, from a certain angle, the abandonment of the barracks is especially striking. They are not so much abandoned as left in the condition in which they were used by soldiers after the bombing. Such a contrast emphasizes the state of the castle. Casemates of the Eastern part of the fortress are located on both sides, and the Central part is visible from the opening. Thus begins the story that the Brest Fortress will tell the visitor.
A feature of the Brest Fortress is the panorama. From the elevation you can see the citadel, the river Mukhavets, on the coast of which it is located, as well as the largest monuments. The sculptural composition “Thirst” is impressively made, praising the courage of soldiers left without water. Since the water supply was destroyed in the first hours of the siege, the soldiers, themselves in need of drinking water, gave it to their families, and the rest was used to cool the guns. It is precisely this difficulty that they mean when they say that the fighters were ready to kill and go over the corpses for a sip of water.
The White Palace, depicted in the famous painting by Zaitsev, is surprising, which even before the start of the bombing in some places was destroyed to the ground. During the Second World War, the building served as a dining room, a club and a warehouse at the same time. Historically, it was in the palace that the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, and according to myths, Trotsky left the famous slogan “no war, no peace”, imprinting it over the billiard table. However, the latter is not provable. During the construction of the museum near the palace, approximately 130 people were found dead, and the walls were damaged by potholes.
Together with the palace, the ceremonial area is a single whole, and if you take into account the barracks, then all these buildings are entirely preserved ruins, untouched by archaeologists. The scheme of the memorial Brest Fortress designates the area most often with numbers, although it has a considerable length. In the center are plates with the names of the defenders of the Brest Fortress, the list of which has been restored, where the remains of more than 800 people are buried, and ranks and merits are indicated next to the initials.
Most visited attractions
The eternal flame is located near the square, over which the Main Monument rises. As the diagram shows, the Brest Fortress encircles this place, making it a kind of core memorial complex. The Post of Memory, organized under Soviet rule in 1972, has been serving next to the fire for long years. Yunarmiya members serve here, whose shift lasts for 20 minutes and you can often get to a shift change. The monument also deserves attention: it was made from reduced parts made from plaster at a local factory. Then casts were taken from them and enlarged 7 times.
The engineering department is also part of the untouched ruins and is located inside the citadel, and the Mukhavets and Western Bug rivers make an island out of it. A fighter was constantly in the Office, who did not stop transmitting signals over the radio station. And so the remains of one soldier were found: not far from the equipment, until the last breath, which did not stop trying to contact the command. In addition, during the First World War, the Engineering Department was only partially restored and was not a reliable shelter.
The garrison temple has become an almost legendary place, one of the very last to be captured by enemy troops. The temple originally served Orthodox Church However, by 1941 there was a regimental club there. Since the building was very profitable, it was it that became the place for which both sides fought hard: the club passed from commander to commander and only at the very end of the siege remained with German soldiers. The temple building was restored several times, and only by 1960 was included in the complex.
At the very Terespol Gates there is a monument to "Heroes of the Border ...", created according to the idea of the State Committee in Belarus. A member of the creative committee worked on the design of the monument, and the construction cost 800 million rubles. The sculpture depicts three soldiers defending themselves from enemies invisible to the eye of the observer, and behind them are children and their mother giving precious water to a wounded soldier.
underground stories
The dungeons, which have an almost mystical aura, have become an attraction of the Brest Fortress, and legends of various origins and content circulate around them. However, whether they should be called such a loud word - still needs to be figured out. Many journalists made reports without first checking the information. In fact, many dungeons turned out to be manholes, several tens of meters long, not at all “from Poland to Belarus”. The human factor played a role: those who survived mention the underground passages as something big, but often the stories cannot be substantiated by facts.
Often, before looking for ancient passages, you need to study the information, thoroughly study the archive and understand the photographs found in newspaper clippings. Why is it important? The fortress was built for certain purposes, and in some places these passages may simply not exist - they were not needed! But there are certain fortifications worth paying attention to. A map of the Brest Fortress will help with this.
Fort
When building forts, it was taken into account that they should only support infantry. So, in the minds of the builders, they looked like separate buildings that are well armed. The forts were supposed to protect the areas between themselves, where the military was located, thus forming a single chain - the line of defense. In these distances between the fortified forts, there was often a road hidden on the sides by an embankment. This mound could serve as walls, but not a roof - there was nothing to keep it on. However, the researchers perceived it and described it as a dungeon.
The presence of underground passages as such is not only not logical, but also difficult to implement. The financial costs that the command would incur absolutely did not justify the benefits of these dungeons. Much more effort would have been spent on the construction, but it would be possible to use the moves from time to time. You can use such dungeons, for example, only when the fortress was defending. Moreover, it was beneficial for the commanders that the fort remained autonomous, and did not turn into part of a string that provides only a temporary advantage.
There are certified written memoirs of the lieutenant, describing his retreat with the army through the dungeons, spread out in the Brest Fortress, according to him, for 300 meters! But in the story, it was mentioned in passing about the matches with which the soldiers lit the way, but the size of the passages described by the lieutenant speaks for itself: such lighting would hardly be enough for such a distance, and even taking into account the way back.
Old communications in legends
The fortress had storm drains and sewers, which made it from the usual heap of buildings with large walls a real stronghold. It is these passages of technical purpose that can be most correctly called dungeons, since they are made as a smaller version of the catacombs: a network of narrow passages branched over a long distance can only let one person of average build through. A soldier with ammunition will not pass through such cracks, and even more so, several people in a row. This is an ancient sewage system, which, by the way, is on the map of the Brest Fortress. A person could make his way along it to the place of clogging and clean it so that this branch of the highway could be used further.
There is also a lock that helps maintain the right amount of water in the fortress moat. He, too, was perceived as a dungeon and took the form of a fabulously large manhole. You can list numerous other communications, but the meaning will not change from that and they can only be considered dungeons conditionally.
Ghosts avenging from the dungeons
Already after the fortification was handed over to Germany, legends about cruel ghosts avenging their comrades began to be passed from mouth to mouth. Such myths had a real basis: the remnants of the regiment hid for a long time through underground communications and shot at night watchmen. Soon, the descriptions of the unmissable ghosts began to frighten so much that the Germans wished each other to avoid the Frau Mit Avtomat, one of the legendary avenging ghosts.
Upon the arrival of Hitler and Benito Mussolini, everyone's hands were sweaty in the Brest Fortress: if ghosts fly out of there while these two brilliant personalities pass by the caves, trouble cannot be avoided. However, this, to the considerable relief of the soldiers, did not happen. At night, the frau did not cease to be atrocious. She attacked unexpectedly, always swiftly, and just as unexpectedly hid in the dungeons, as if she was dissolving in them. From the descriptions of the soldiers it followed that the woman had a dress torn in several places, tangled hair and a dirty face. Because of her hair, by the way, her middle name was "Kudlataya".
The story had a real basis, since the wives of the commanders were also under siege. They were trained to shoot, and they did it masterfully, without a miss, they had to pass the TRP norms. In addition, being in good physical shape and being able to handle various types of weapons was in honor, and therefore some woman blinded by revenge for her loved ones could well do this. One way or another, the frau mit automatic was not the only legend among German soldiers.
After the start of the Great Patriotic War, the garrison of the Brest Fortress for a week heroically held back the onslaught of the 45th German Infantry Division, which was supported by artillery and aviation.
After a general assault on June 29-30, the Germans managed to capture the main fortifications. But the defenders of the fortress continued to fight bravely in separate areas for almost three more weeks in the face of shortages of water, food, ammunition and medicines. The defense of the Brest Fortress was the first, but eloquent lesson that showed the Germans what awaits them in the future.
Fights in the Brest Fortress
The defense of the old fortress near the city of Brest, which had lost its military significance, was included in the USSR in 1939, is an undoubted example of steadfastness and courage. The Brest Fortress was built in the 19th century as part of a system of fortifications built on the western borders of the Russian Empire. By the time of the German attack on the Soviet Union, it could no longer perform serious defensive tasks, and its central part, as part of the citadel and three adjacent main fortifications, was used to accommodate the border detachment, border cover units, NKVD troops, engineering units, a hospital and auxiliary units. By the time of the attack, there were about 8,000 military personnel in the fortress, up to 300 families of commanders, a certain number of people who were undergoing military training, medical personnel and personnel of household services - in all likelihood, more than 10 thousand people.
At dawn on June 22, 1941, the fortress, primarily the barracks and residential buildings of the command staff, was subjected to powerful artillery fire, after which the fortifications were attacked by German assault detachments. The assault on the fortress was carried out by battalions of the 45th Infantry Division.
The German command hoped that the surprise attack and powerful artillery preparation would disorganize the troops stationed in the fortress and break their will to resist. According to calculations, the assault on the fortress was to be completed by 12 noon. However, the German staff miscalculated.
Despite the surprise, significant losses and the death of a large number of commanders, the personnel of the garrison showed courage and stubbornness unexpected for the Germans. The position of the defenders of the fortress was hopeless.
Only a part of the personnel managed to leave the fortress (according to the plans, in case of a threat of the outbreak of hostilities, the troops were to take positions outside it), after which the fortress was completely surrounded.
They managed to destroy the detachments that broke into the central part of the fortress (the citadel) and take up defense in strong defensive barracks located along the perimeter of the citadel, as well as in various buildings, ruins, cellars and casemates both in the citadel and on the territory of the adjacent fortifications. The defenders were led by commanders and political workers, in some cases by ordinary soldiers who took command.
During June 22, the defenders of the fortress repulsed 8 enemy attacks. German troops suffered unexpectedly high losses, so by evening all the groups that had broken through to the territory of the fortress were withdrawn, a blockade line was created behind the outer ramparts, and hostilities began to take on the character of a siege. On the morning of June 23, after shelling and aerial bombardment, the enemy continued to attempt an assault. The battles in the fortress took on a fierce, protracted character, which the Germans did not expect at all. By the evening of June 23, their losses amounted to more than 300 people killed alone, which was almost twice the losses of the 45th Infantry Division for the entire Polish campaign.
In the following days, the defenders of the fortress continued to stubbornly resist, ignoring the calls for surrender transmitted through radio installations and the promises of truce truants. However, their strength gradually dwindled. The Germans brought up siege artillery. Using flamethrowers, barrels of combustible mixture, powerful explosive charges, and according to some sources, poisonous or asphyxiating gases, they gradually suppressed pockets of resistance. The defenders experienced a shortage of ammunition and food. The water pipeline was destroyed, and it was impossible to get to the water in the bypass channels, because. the Germans opened fire on anyone who appeared in sight.
A few days later, the defenders of the fortress decided that the women and children who were among them should leave the fortress and surrender to the mercy of the winners. But still, some women remained in the fortress until the last days of hostilities. After June 26, several attempts were made to break out of the besieged fortress, but only separate small groups were able to break through.
By the end of June, the enemy managed to capture most of the fortress, on June 29 and 30 the Germans launched a continuous two-day assault on the fortress, alternating attacks with shelling and air bombardments using heavy bombs. They managed to destroy and capture the main groups of defenders in the Citadel and the Eastern redoubt of the Kobrin fortification, after which the defense of the fortress broke up into a number of separate centers. A small group of fighters continued to fight in the Eastern Redoubt until July 12, and later - in the caponier behind the outer rampart of the fortification. The group was headed by Major Gavrilov and Deputy Political Commissar G.D. Derevyanko, being seriously wounded, were captured on July 23.
Separate defenders of the fortress, hiding in the basements and casemates of the fortifications, continued their personal war until the autumn of 1941, and their struggle is covered with legends.
The enemy did not get any of the banners military units who fought in the fortress. The total losses of the 45th German Infantry Division, according to the divisional report, amounted to 482 killed on June 30, 1941, including 48 officers, and over 1000 wounded. According to the report, the German troops captured 7,000 people, which, apparently, include everyone who was captured in the fortress, incl. civilians and children. The remains of 850 of its defenders are buried in a mass grave on the territory of the fortress.
Smolensk battle
In the middle of summer - early autumn of 1941, Soviet troops carried out a complex of defensive and offensive operations in the Smolensk region, aimed at preventing the enemy from breaking through in the Moscow strategic direction and known as the Battle of Smolensk.
In July 1941, the German Army Group Center (commander - Field Marshal T. von Bock) sought to fulfill the task set by the German command - to surround the Soviet troops defending the line of the Western Dvina and Dnieper, to capture Vitebsk, Orsha, Smolensk and open the way to Moscow .
In order to frustrate the enemy's plans and prevent his breakthrough to Moscow and the central industrial regions of the country, the Soviet High Command from the end of June concentrated troops of the 2nd strategic echelon (22nd, 19th, 20th, 16th and 21st I army) along the middle reaches of the Western Dvina and the Dnieper. In early June, these troops were included in the Western Front (commander - Marshal of the Soviet Union S. K. Timoshenko). However, only 37 divisions out of 48 took up positions at the start of the German offensive. 24 divisions were in the first echelon. Soviet troops were unable to create a solid defense, and the density of troops was very low - each division had to defend a strip 25–30 km wide. The troops of the second echelon were deployed 210-240 km east of the main line.
By this time, formations of the 4th Panzer Army had reached the Dnieper and the Western Dvina, and the infantry divisions of the 16th German Army from Army Group North had reached the sector from Idritsa to Drissa. Over 30 infantry divisions of the 9th and 2nd armies of the German Army Group "Center", delayed by battles in Belarus, lagged behind the mobile troops by 120-150 km. Nevertheless, the enemy launched an offensive in the Smolensk direction, having a 2-4-fold superiority over the troops of the Western Front in manpower.
and technology.
The offensive of the German troops on the right wing and in the center of the Western Front began on July 10, 1941. A strike force consisting of 13 infantry, 9 tank and 7 motorized divisions broke through the Soviet defenses. Mobile formations of the enemy advanced up to 200 km, surrounded Mogilev, captured Orsha, part of Smolensk, Yelnya, Krichev. The 16th and 20th armies of the Western Front found themselves in an operational encirclement in the Smolensk region.
On July 21, the troops of the Western Front, having received reinforcements, launched a counteroffensive in the direction of Smolensk, and in the zone of the 21st Army, a group of three cavalry divisions raided the flank and rear of the main forces of Army Group Center. From the side of the enemy, the approaching infantry divisions of the 9th and 2nd German armies entered the fight. On July 24, the 13th and 21st armies were merged into the Central Front (commander - Colonel General F.I. Kuznetsov).
It was not possible to defeat the enemy’s Smolensk grouping, however, as a result of intense fighting, the Soviet troops thwarted the offensive of the German tank groups, helped the 20th and 16th armies to get out of the encirclement across the Dnieper River and forced the Center Army Group on July 30 to go on the defensive. At the same time, the Soviet High Command united all the troops of the reserve and the Mozhaisk line of defense (39 divisions in total) into the Reserve Front under the command of General of the Army G.K. Zhukov.
On August 8, German troops resumed their offensive, this time to the south - in the zone of the Central, and then the Bryansk Front (created on August 16, commander - Lieutenant General A. I. Eremenko), in order to secure their flank from the threat Soviet troops from South. By August 21, the enemy managed to advance 120-140 km and wedged between the Central and Bryansk fronts. In view of the threat of encirclement, on August 19, the Headquarters allowed the withdrawal of the troops of the Central and the troops of the Southwestern Fronts operating south of the Dnieper. The armies of the Central Front were transferred to the Bryansk Front. On August 17, the troops of the Western Front and two armies of the Reserve Front went on the offensive, inflicting significant losses on the Dukhovshchinskaya and Yelninskaya enemy groups.
The troops of the Bryansk Front continued to repel the offensive of the 2nd German Panzer Group and the 2nd German Army. A massive air attack (up to 460 aircraft) on the 2nd Panzer Group of the enemy could not stop its advance to the south. On the right wing of the Western Front, the enemy delivered a strong tank attack on the 22nd Army and on August 29 captured Toropets. The 22nd and 29th armies retreated to the eastern bank of the Western Dvina. On September 1, the 30th, 19th, 16th and 20th armies launched an offensive, but did not achieve significant success. By September 8, the defeat of the enemy grouping was completed and the dangerous ledge of the front in the Yelnya region was liquidated. On September 10, the troops of the Western, Reserve, and Bryansk Fronts went over to the defensive along the Subost, Desna, and Western Dvina rivers.
Despite the significant losses suffered during the Battle of Smolensk, the Soviet army managed to force the German troops for the first time during the Second World War to go on the defensive in the main direction. The battle of Smolensk was an important stage in the disruption of the German plan for a lightning war against the Soviet Union. Soviet army won time to prepare the defense of the capital of the USSR and subsequent victories in the battles near Moscow.
Tank battle in the area of Lutsk-Brody-Rivne
From June 23 to June 29, 1941, during the border clashes in the Lutsk-Brody-Rivne region, a tank battle took place between the advancing German 1st Panzer Group and the mechanized corps that were counterattacking. Southwestern Front together with the combined arms formations of the front.
Already on the first day of the war, the three corps that were in reserve received an order from the front headquarters to advance northeast of Rovno and strike, together with the 22nd mechanized corps (which was already there), on the left flank of the von Kleist tank group. While the reserve corps approached the place of concentration, the 22nd corps managed to suffer heavy losses during the battles with German units, and the 15th Corps, located to the south, failed to break through the dense German anti-tank defenses. The reserve corps approached one by one.
The 8th corps was the first to approach the place of the new deployment with a forced march, and he immediately had to go into battle alone, since the situation that had developed by that time in the 22nd corps was very difficult. The approaching corps included T-34 and KV tanks, and the military contingent was well prepared. This helped the corps to maintain its combat effectiveness during the battles with superior enemy forces. Later, the 9th and 19th mechanized corps approached and also immediately entered into hostilities. The inexperienced crews of these corps, exhausted by 4-day marches and continuous German air raids, found it difficult to resist the experienced tankers of the German 1st Panzer Group.
Unlike the 8th Corps, they were armed with the old T-26 and BT models, which were significantly inferior in maneuverability to the modern T-34, moreover, most of the vehicles were damaged during air raids on the march. It so happened that the front headquarters was not able to collect all the reserve corps for a powerful strike at the same time, and each of them had to join the battle in turn.
As a result, the strongest tank grouping of the Red Army lost its striking power even before the really critical phase of the fighting on the southern flank of the Soviet-German front arose. Nevertheless, the front headquarters managed to preserve the integrity of its troops for a while, but when the forces of the tank units were running out, the headquarters gave the order to retreat to the old Soviet-Polish border.
Despite the fact that these counterattacks did not lead to the defeat of the 1st Panzer Group, they forced the German command, instead of attacking Kyiv, to turn its main forces to repulse the counterattack and prematurely use their reserves. Soviet command won time for the withdrawal of the Lvov group of troops, which was under the threat of encirclement, and the preparation of defense on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Defense of the Brest Fortress (defense of Brest) is one of the very first battles between the Soviet and German armies during the Great Patriotic War.
Brest was one of the border garrisons on the territory of the USSR, it covered the path to the central highway leading to Minsk. That is why Brest was one of the first cities to be attacked after the German attack. The Soviet army held back the onslaught of the enemy for a week, despite the numerical superiority of the Germans, as well as support from artillery and aviation. As a result of a long siege, the Germans were still able to capture the main fortifications of the Brest Fortress and destroy them. However, in other areas the struggle continued for quite a long time: small groups that remained after the raid resisted the enemy with their last strength.
The defense of the Brest Fortress became an important battle in which the Soviet troops were able to show their readiness to defend themselves to the last drop of blood, despite the advantages of the enemy. The defense of Brest went down in history as one of the bloodiest sieges and at the same time as one of the greatest battles that showed all the courage of the Soviet army.
Brest Fortress on the eve of the war
The city of Brest became part of the Soviet Union shortly before the start of the war - in 1939. By that time, the fortress had already lost its military significance due to the onset of destruction and only reminded of past battles. The Brest Fortress was built in the 19th century. and was part of the defensive fortifications of the Russian Empire on its western borders, however, in the 20th century. it ceased to be of military importance.
By the time the war began, the Brest Fortress was mainly used to accommodate garrisons of military personnel, as well as a number of families of the military command, there was also a hospital and utility rooms. By the time of the perfidious German attack on the USSR, about 8,000 military personnel and about 300 command families lived in the fortress. There were weapons and supplies in the fortress, but their number was not designed for military operations.
Assault on the Brest Fortress
The assault on the Brest Fortress began on the morning of June 22, 1941, simultaneously with the start of the Great Patriotic War. The barracks and residential buildings of the command were the first to be subjected to powerful artillery fire and air strikes, since the Germans wanted, first of all, to completely destroy the entire command staff, who was in the fortress, and thereby introduce confusion into the army, disorient it.
Although almost all the officers died, the surviving soldiers were able to quickly orient themselves and create a powerful defense. The surprise factor did not work as expected, and the assault, which was supposed to end by 12 noon, dragged on for several days.
Even before the start of the war, the Soviet command issued a decree according to which, in the event of an attack, the military must immediately leave the fortress itself and take up positions along its perimeter, but only a few managed to do this - most of the soldiers remained in the fortress. The defenders of the fortress were in a deliberately losing position, but they did not give up their positions and did not allow the Germans to quickly and unconditionally take control of Brest.
The course of the defense of the Brest Fortress
The Soviet soldiers, who, contrary to their plans, could not quickly leave the fortress, quickly organized a defense and within a few hours drove the Germans out of the territory of the fortress, who managed to get into its central part. The soldiers occupied the barracks and various buildings along the perimeter in order to most effectively organize the defense of the fortress and be able to repel enemy attacks from all flanks. Despite the absence of the commanding staff, volunteers were quickly found from among ordinary soldiers who took over the leadership of the operation.
On June 22, 8 attempts were made to break into the fortress by the Germans, but they did not give a result. Moreover, the German army, contrary to all forecasts, suffered significant losses. The German command decided to change tactics: instead of an assault, a siege of the Brest Fortress was now planned. The troops that had broken through inside were withdrawn and sorted around the perimeter of the fortress in order to start a long siege and cut off the Soviet troops from the exit, as well as disrupt the supply of food and weapons.
On the morning of June 23, the bombardment of the fortress began, after which an assault was again attempted. Groups of the German army broke through, but faced fierce resistance and were destroyed - the assault failed again, and the Germans had to return to siege tactics. Long battles began, which did not subside for several days and greatly exhausted both armies.
Despite the onslaught of the German army, as well as shelling and bombing, the Soviet soldiers held the line, although they lacked weapons and food. Delivery stopped after a few days drinking water, and then the defenders decided to release women and children from the fortress so that they would surrender to the Germans and remain alive, but some women refused to leave the fortress and continued to fight.
On June 26, the Germans made several more attempts to break into the Brest Fortress, they managed to do this partially - several groups broke through. Only by the end of the month, the German army was able to capture most of the fortress, killing Soviet soldiers. However, the groups, scattered and having lost a single line of defense, still continued to offer desperate resistance even when the fortress was taken by the Germans.
The meaning and results of the defense of the Brest Fortress
The resistance of individual groups of soldiers continued until the autumn, until these groups were destroyed by the Germans and the last defender of the Brest Fortress died. During the defense of the Brest Fortress, Soviet troops suffered colossal losses, but at the same time, the army showed genuine courage, thereby showing that the war for the Germans would not be as easy as Hitler expected. The defenders were recognized as heroes of the war.
Since February 1941, Germany began the transfer of troops to the borders of the Soviet Union. At the beginning of June, reports were already almost continuously coming from the operational departments of the western border districts and armies, indicating that the concentration of German troops near the borders of the USSR was completed. The enemy in a number of sectors began to dismantle the wire obstacles he had previously set up and to clear mine strips on the ground, clearly preparing passages for his troops to the Soviet border. Large tank groupings of the Germans were withdrawn to the starting areas. Everything pointed to the imminent start of the war.
At half past midnight on June 22, 1941, a directive signed by People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR S.K. Timoshenko and Chief of the General Staff G.K. It said that during June 22-23, a surprise attack by German troops on the fronts of these districts was possible. It was also pointed out that the attack could begin with provocative actions, so the task of the Soviet troops was not to succumb to any provocations. However, the need for the districts to be in full combat readiness, to meet a possible surprise attack by the enemy, was further emphasized. The directive obligated the commanders of the troops: a) during the night of June 22 to covertly occupy the firing points of the fortified state border; b) before dawn, disperse all aviation, including military aviation, over field airfields, carefully disguise it; c) put all units on combat readiness; troops to keep dispersed and disguised; G) air defense bring to combat readiness without additional lifting of assigned staff. Prepare all measures to darken cities and objects. However, the western military districts did not have time to fully implement this order.
The Great Patriotic War began on June 22, 1941 with the invasion of the army groups "North", "Center" and "South" in three strategic directions, aimed at Leningrad, Moscow, Kyiv, with the task of dissecting, encircling and destroying the troops of the Soviet border districts and go to the line Arkhangelsk - Astrakhan. Already at 4.10 am, the Western and Baltic special districts reported to General base about the beginning of the hostilities of the German troops.
The main striking force of Germany, as in the invasion in the west, was four powerful armored groups. Two of them, the 2nd and 3rd, were included in the Army Group Center, designed to be the main offensive front, and one each - to the composition of the army groups "North" and "South". At the tip of the main strike, the activities of the armored groups were supported by the power of the 4th and 9th field armies, and from the air - by the aviation of the 2nd air fleet. In total, Army Group Center (commanded by Field Marshal von Bock) consisted of 820 thousand people, 1800 tanks, 14300 guns and mortars and 1680 combat aircraft. The plan of the commander of Army Group Center, which was advancing in the eastern strategic direction, was to inflict two converging attacks on the flanks of Soviet troops in Belarus in the general direction of Minsk with tank groups, to surround the main forces of the Western Special Military District (from June 22 - Western front) and destroy them with field armies. In the future, the German command planned to move mobile troops to the Smolensk region to prevent the approach of strategic reserves and their occupation of defense at a new line.
The Hitlerite command hoped that by inflicting a surprise strike with concentrated masses of tanks, infantry and aviation, it would be possible to stun the Soviet troops, crush the defenses and achieve decisive strategic success already in the first days of the war. The command of the Army Group "Center" concentrated the bulk of the troops and military equipment in the first operational echelon, which included 28 divisions, including 22 infantry, 4 tank, 1 cavalry, 1 security. A high operational density of troops was created in areas of defense breakthrough (the average operational density was about 10 km per division, and up to 5-6 km in the direction of the main attack). This allowed the enemy to achieve a significant superiority in forces and means over the Soviet troops in the direction of the main attack. The superiority in manpower was 6.5 times, in the number of tanks - 1.8 times, in the number of guns and mortars - 3.3 times.
The blow of this armada was taken by the troops of the Western Special Military District located in the border zone. The Soviet border guards were the first to enter the battle with the advanced units of the enemy.
The Brest Fortress was a whole complex of defensive structures. The central one is the Citadel - a pentagonal closed two-story defensive barracks with a perimeter of 1.8 km, with walls almost two meters thick, with loopholes, embrasures, casemates. The central fortification is located on an island formed by the Bug and two branches of the Mukhavets. Three artificial islands are connected with this island by bridges, formed by Mukhavets and ditches, on which there were the Terespol fortification with the Terespol gates and a bridge over the Western Bug, Volynskoye - with the Kholmsky gates and a drawbridge over Mukhavets, Kobrinskoye - with the Brest and Brigitsky gates and bridges over Mukhavets .
Defenders of the Brest Fortress. Soldiers of the 44th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd rifle division. 1941 Photo from the BELTA archive
On the day of the German attack on the Soviet Union in the Brest Fortress, 7 rifle battalions and 1 reconnaissance, 2 artillery divisions, some special forces of rifle regiments and units of corps units, training camps of the 6th Oryol Red Banner and 42nd rifle divisions of the 28th rifle corps 4th Army, units of the 17th Red Banner Brest Border Detachment, 33rd Separate Engineer Regiment, part of the 132nd Battalion of the NKVD troops, unit headquarters (the headquarters of divisions and the 28th Rifle Corps were located in Brest). The units were not deployed in combat and did not occupy positions at the border lines. Some units or their units were in camps, at training grounds, at the construction of a fortified area. By the time of the attack, there were from 7 to 8 thousand Soviet soldiers in the fortress, 300 families of military personnel lived here.
From the first minutes of the war, Brest and the fortress were subjected to massive air bombardments and artillery fire. The German 45th Infantry Division (about 17 thousand soldiers and officers) stormed the Brest Fortress in cooperation with the 31st and 34th Infantry Divisions of the 12th Army Corps of the 4th German Army, as well as 2 tank divisions 2nd Panzer Group of Guderian, with the active support of aviation and reinforcement units, which were armed with heavy artillery systems. The aim of the enemy was, using the surprise of the attack, to capture the Citadel and force the Soviet garrison to surrender.
Before the start of the assault, the enemy conducted a hurricane aimed shelling of the fortress for half an hour, moving a flurry of artillery fire every 4 minutes 100 meters deep into the fortress. Percussion followed. assault groups enemy, which, according to the plans of the German command, were to capture the fortifications by 12 noon on June 22. As a result of shelling and fires, most of the warehouses and the material part, many other objects were destroyed or destroyed, the water supply system stopped working, communications were interrupted. A significant part of the fighters and commanders was put out of action, the garrison of the fortress was divided into separate groups.
In the first minutes of the war, border guards on the Terespol fortification, Red Army soldiers and cadets of regimental schools of the 84th and 125th rifle regiments, located near the border, on the Volyn and Kobrin fortifications, entered into battle with the enemy. Their stubborn resistance allowed about half of the personnel to leave the fortress on the morning of June 22, withdraw several guns and light tanks to the areas where their units were concentrated, and evacuate the first wounded. 3.5-4 thousand Soviet soldiers remained in the fortress. The enemy had almost 10-fold superiority in forces.
The Germans at the Terespol Gates of the Brest Fortress. June, 1941 Photo from the BELTA archive
On the first day of fighting, by 9 o'clock in the morning, the fortress was surrounded. Forward units of the 45th German division They tried to capture the fortress on the move. Through the bridge at the Terespol Gates, enemy assault groups broke into the Citadel, captured the building of the regimental club (the former church), which dominated other buildings, where spotters of artillery fire immediately settled. At the same time, the enemy developed an offensive in the direction of the Kholmsky and Brest Gates, hoping to link up there with groups advancing from the direction of the Volyn and Kobrin fortifications. This plan was thwarted. At the Kholmsky Gate, soldiers of the 3rd Battalion and headquarters units of the 84th Infantry Regiment entered into battle with the enemy, at the Brest Gates, soldiers of the 455th Infantry Regiment, the 37th Separate Communications Battalion, and the 33rd Separate Engineer Regiment launched a counterattack. With bayonet attacks, the enemy was crushed and overturned.
The retreating Nazis were met with dense fire by Soviet soldiers at the Terespol Gate, which by this time had been recaptured from the enemy. Border guards of the 9th frontier post and staff units of the 3rd border commandant's office - the 132nd NKVD battalion, soldiers of the 333rd and 44th rifle regiments, and the 31st separate autobattalion entrenched here. They held the bridge over the Western Bug under aimed rifle and machine-gun fire, and prevented the enemy from establishing a pontoon crossing across the river to the Kobrin fortification. Only a few of the German submachine gunners who broke through to the Citadel managed to hide in the club building and the neighboring canteen building. The enemy here was destroyed on the second day. Subsequently, these buildings repeatedly passed from hand to hand.
Almost simultaneously, fierce battles unfolded throughout the fortress. From the very beginning, they acquired the character of the defense of its individual fortifications without a single headquarters and command, without communication and almost without interaction between the defenders of different fortifications. The defenders were led by commanders and political workers, in some cases by ordinary soldiers who took command. In the shortest possible time, they rallied their forces and organized a rebuff to the Nazi invaders.
By the evening of June 22, the enemy entrenched himself in the part of the defensive barracks between the Kholmsky and Terespolsky gates (later used it as a bridgehead in the Citadel), captured several compartments of the barracks at the Brest Gates. However, the enemy's calculation of surprise did not materialize; defensive battles, counterattacks, Soviet soldiers pinned down the enemy forces, inflicted heavy losses on him.
Late in the evening, the German command decided to withdraw its infantry from the fortifications, create a blockade line behind the outer ramparts, so that on the morning of June 23, again, with shelling and bombardment, begin the assault on the fortress. The battles in the fortress took on a fierce, protracted character, which the enemy did not expect at all. On the territory of each fortification, the Nazi invaders met the stubborn heroic resistance of Soviet soldiers.
On the territory of the Terespol border fortification, the defense was held by the soldiers of the driver courses of the Belarusian border district under the command of the head of the courses, senior lieutenant F.M. cavalry courses, a sapper platoon, reinforced outfits of the 9th frontier post, a veterinary hospital, training camps for athletes. They managed to clear most of the territory of the fortification from the enemy that had broken through, but due to a lack of ammunition and heavy losses in personnel they couldn't keep her. On the night of June 25, the remnants of the groups of Melnikov, who died in battle, and Chernoy crossed the Western Bug and joined the defenders of the Citadel and the Kobrin fortification.
By the beginning of hostilities, the Volyn fortification housed the hospitals of the 4th army and the 28th rifle corps, the 95th medical battalion of the 6th rifle division, there was a small part of the regimental school for junior commanders of the 84th rifle regiment, outfits of the 9th and frontier posts. Within the boundaries of the hospital, the defense was organized by the battalion commissar N.S. Bogateev, military doctor of the 2nd rank S.S. Babkin (both died). German submachine gunners who burst into hospital buildings brutally dealt with the sick and wounded. The defense of the Volyn fortification is full of examples of the dedication of soldiers and medical staff who fought to the end in the ruins of buildings. Covering the wounded, the nurses V.P. Khoretskaya and E.I. Rovnyagina died. Having captured the sick, the wounded, medical staff, children, on June 23 the Nazis used them as a human barrier, driving machine gunners ahead of the attacking Kholmsky Gate. "Shoot, don't pity us!" shouted the Soviet patriots. By the end of the week, the focal defense on the fortification had faded. Some fighters joined the ranks of the Citadel's defenders, few managed to break through from the enemy ring.
The course of the defense required the unification of all the forces of the defenders of the fortress. On June 24, a meeting of commanders and political workers was held in the Citadel, where the issue of creating a combined battle group, forming units from soldiers was decided different parts, the approval of their commanders who stood out during the hostilities. Order No. 1 was issued, according to which the command of the group was assigned to Captain Zubachev, and Regimental Commissar Fomin was appointed his deputy. In practice, they were able to lead the defense only in the Citadel. Although the command of the combined group failed to unify the leadership of the battles throughout the fortress, the headquarters played a large role in intensifying the hostilities.
The Germans in the Brest Fortress. 1941 Photo from the BELTA archive
By decision of the command of the combined group, attempts were made to break through the encirclement. On June 26, a detachment of 120 people headed by Lieutenant Vinogradov went on a breakthrough. 13 soldiers managed to break through the eastern line of the fortress, but they were captured by the enemy. Other attempts to break out of the besieged fortress turned out to be unsuccessful, only separate small groups were able to break through. The remaining small garrison of Soviet troops continued to fight with extraordinary stamina and perseverance.
The Nazis systematically attacked the fortress for a whole week. Soviet soldiers had to fight off 6-8 attacks a day. Next to the fighters were women and children. They helped the wounded, brought cartridges, participated in hostilities. The Nazis set in motion tanks, flamethrowers, gases, set fire to and rolled barrels with a combustible mixture from the outer shafts.
Being completely surrounded, without water and food, with an acute shortage of ammunition and medicines, the garrison bravely fought the enemy. Only in the first 9 days of fighting, the defenders of the fortress put out of action about 1.5 thousand enemy soldiers and officers. By the end of June, the enemy captured most of the fortress, on June 29 and 30, the Nazis launched a continuous two-day assault on the fortress using powerful air bombs. On June 29, Andrei Mitrofanovich Kizhevatov died covering a breakthrough group with several fighters. In the Citadel on June 30, the Nazis seized the seriously wounded and shell-shocked Captain Zubachev and the regimental commissar Fomin, whom the Nazis shot near the Kholmsky Gate. On June 30, after a long shelling and bombing, which ended in a fierce attack, the Nazis captured most of the structures of the Eastern Fort, captured the wounded.
As a result of bloody battles and losses incurred, the defense of the fortress broke up into a number of isolated pockets of resistance. Until July 12, the Eastern Fort continued to fight small group fighters led by Pyotr Mikhailovich Gavrilov, until he, seriously wounded, together with the secretary of the Komsomol bureau of the 98th separate anti-tank artillery battalion, deputy political instructor G.D. Derevyanko, were captured on July 23.
But even later on the 20th of July, Soviet soldiers continued to fight in the fortress. The last days of the struggle are covered with legends. These days include the inscriptions left on the walls of the fortress by its defenders: "We will die, but we will not leave the fortress", "I am dying, but I do not give up. Farewell, Motherland. 07/20/41". None of the banners of the military units that fought in the fortress went to the enemy.
Inscriptions on the walls of the Brest Fortress. Photo from the BELTA archive
The enemy was forced to note the steadfastness and heroism of the fortress defenders. In July, the commander of the 45th German Infantry Division, General Schlipper, in his "Report on the occupation of Brest-Litovsk" reported: "The Russians in Brest-Litovsk fought exceptionally stubbornly and persistently. They showed excellent infantry training and proved a remarkable will to resist."
The defenders of the fortress - warriors of more than 30 nationalities of the USSR - fulfilled their duty to the Motherland to the end, committed one of greatest feats Soviet people in the history of the Great Patriotic War. The exceptional heroism of the fortress defenders was highly appreciated. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to Major Gavrilov and Lieutenant Kizhevatov. About 200 defense participants were awarded orders and medals.