Battle of Breslau (1945)

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The Battle of Breslau, otherwise known as the Siege of Breslau was a four months long siege of the city of Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) in Lower Silesia, Germany. The city was besieged by the Soviet 6th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front under Marshal Ivan Konev from February 13, 1945 and the siege lasted until the final days of World War II.

[edit] History

On July 25, 1944 Adolf Hitler declared the city of Breslau a Festung (fortress) that was to be defended at all costs. On January 19, 1945, the Gauleiter of Silesia Karl Hanke ordered the civilian inhabitants of the city to evacuate to German heartland, mostly to Dresden. At the same time the Wehrmacht, aided by the Volkssturm and slave labourers started to convert the city into a military fortress, capable of lengthy defence against a possible Soviet assault. Much of the city centre was demolished and turned into an airfield. On February 13 the Soviet forces laid siege to the city and the battle started.

On February 15 of that year, the Luftwaffe started an airlift to aid the besieged garrison. For 76 days, until May 1, the German air force made more than 2000 sorties with supplies and food, more than 1638 tons of supplies were delivered. During the battle in the heavily-bombarded city, both sides resorted to setting entire districts on fire. Finally, on May 6, only two days before the unconditional surrender of Germany in World War II, General Hermann Niehoff, the German commander of the Festung Breslau surrendered the city to the Soviets.