As part of the “Memorable Dates” project, we introduce readers of our website to important historical events in the history of Russia. On the fifth day of the Vistula-Oder operation, January 17, 1945, Soviet troops, together with the 1st Polish Army, liberated Warsaw. The honor of being the first to enter the capital of Poland was given to our brothers in arms. Moscow saluted the valiant troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, including the 1st Polish Army, who liberated Warsaw, with 24 artillery salvos.
DEFEAT THE WARSAW-RADOM GROUP
Supreme Command Headquarters DIRECTIVE No. 220275 TO THE TROOPS COMMANDER
1st BELARUSIAN FRONT TO DEFEAT THE ENEMY'S WARSAW-RADOM GROUP
The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command orders:
1. Prepare and conduct an offensive operation with the immediate task of defeating the enemy’s Warsaw-Radom grouping and, no later than the 11th-12th day of the offensive, capturing the line of Petruwek, Zychlin, Lodz. Further develop the offensive in the general direction of Poznan.
2. Deliver the main blow with the forces of four combined arms armies, two tank armies, and one cavalry corps from the bridgehead on the river. Pilica in the general direction to Białobrzegi, Skierniewice, Kutno. Part of the forces, at least one combined arms army and one or two tank tanks, advance in the north-western direction with the aim of collapsing the enemy’s defenses in front of the right wing of the front and, with the assistance of the 2nd Belorussian Front, defeat the enemy’s Warsaw grouping and capture Warsaw...
Russian archive: The Great Patriotic War. Headquarters of the VKG: Documents and materials 1944-1945. M., 1999
WARSAW-POZNAN OPERATION
An important part of the Vistula-Oder operation was the Warsaw-Poznan operation carried out by the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front (Marshal Zhukov), during which it was planned to dismember and destroy the enemy group in parts. One of the objectives of the operation was to capture the capital of Poland, Warsaw.
The Warsaw-Poznan operation unfolded on January 14, and on the night of January 17, the defeat of the Warsaw group began. The 1st Army of the Polish Army crossed the Vistula north and south of the capital of Poland and broke into the city in the morning. On the Soviet side, the offensive was carried out by the 47th Army of General Perkhorovich from the north and the army of General Belov from the southwest. The 2nd Guards Tank Army of General Bogdanov also played an important role in the combined attack. By 12 noon, Soviet-Polish forces had completely liberated the destroyed, looted and deserted Warsaw.
Participants in these events recalled that on the streets of the Polish capital they saw “only ashes and ruins covered with snow. The city's inhabitants were exhausted and dressed almost in rags. Of the million, three hundred and ten thousand people of the pre-war population, only one hundred and sixty-two thousand now remain in Warsaw. After the incredibly brutal suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in October 1944, the Germans systematically destroyed all the historical buildings of the city...”
To reward direct participants in the liberation of Warsaw, at the request of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR, the medal “For the Liberation of Warsaw” was established, which was received by more than 690 thousand people.
THERE WAS NO TIME TO WRITE
By the morning of January 16, German resistance on both flanks was broken by Soviet troops. Soviet tanks cut communications deep in the rear of the 9th German Army. The enemy front trembled and wavered. In fact, the Warsaw operation was already won by units of the Soviet Army. Realizing the impossibility of holding Warsaw, the Nazis began to gradually withdraw their garrisons from Lazienki, Zoliborz, Wloch and the city center.
At 13 o'clock General Strazhevsky called me to the apparatus, briefly informed me about the beginning of the crossing of our troops in the Yablonaya area and proposed to conduct reconnaissance in force in front of the brigade's front.
The battle had to start in thirty minutes. In such conditions there is no time to write an order. We need to move on to personal control and organize the interaction of regiments simultaneously with the start of the battle...
It was a bright sunny day. The ice on the river shimmered like crystal in the rays of the already warming sun. Clearly visible from the command post, the Polish soldiers, scattered in a chain, ran forward without lying down. The enemy opened chaotic fire on them. Shells exploded on the river, breaking the ice. But by this time our advanced units had already reached the left bank and began storming the dam.
I sent squadrons from our right bank to support them. The ice darkened because of the multitude of people. The Polish national anthem, broadcast from the command post over the radio, sounded over the river.
Another minute - and the red banners of the squadron banners fluttered at the top of the dam...
By dawn on January 17, we broke into Jeziornaya and straddled the intersection of coastal highways to Warsaw.
General Strazhevsky, having familiarized himself with the situation, said jokingly:
Now go straight to the capital. Your lancers should be there first!..
For the first time in eighteen hours of continuous combat, I looked up from the phone to get into the car. I was reeling from fatigue.
Soon the 1st Separate Cavalry Brigade, pushing back small enemy barriers, entered Warsaw and in the Krolikarnia area united with units of the 6th Polish Infantry Division. And at 14:00 on January 17, the commander of the 1st Polish Army, General Poplawski, was able to send a historic telegram to the Provisional Polish Government in Lublin: “Warsaw has been taken!”
V. Radzivanovich - commander of the 1st Cavalry Brigade of the revived Polish Army. Before the war, he served in the Red Army, holding positions from squadron commander to chief of staff of a regiment and brigade, and from 1925 to 1937 he served in the border troops. By the time the Polish Army was formed in 1943, he commanded a guards mechanized brigade on the Southern Front.
BANNER OF POLAND OVER THE CITADEL
At 8 o'clock in the morning on January 17, the 4th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Division of Jan Rotkiewicz was the first to burst into the streets of Warsaw. Within two hours he had reached the largest and most popular Warsaw street, Marszałkowska. It was more difficult for the 6th Infantry Regiment, which was advancing on the left flank of the division: on Invalides Square it met fierce resistance from the Nazis, who were holed up in the old citadel, which served as a prison under tsarism. The enemy, apparently, expected to hold out for a long time behind its thick walls: consisting of selected SS men, its garrison was provided with ammunition, food and water for several months. And who knows, maybe the Nazis would have been able to delay the further advance of the regiment here, if not for the heroism of the soldiers and officers.
The soldiers brought a man to Lieutenant Anatole Shavara, commander of the 2nd company of the 4th Infantry Regiment, who wanted to tell him something very important. His thin face, unshaven for a long time, and the dirty rags in which he was dressed spoke better than any words about the difficult trials that befell the stranger. Unfortunately, the name of this Pole remains unknown.
Who you are? - the guarantor asked him.
Soldier of the Ludova Army. Partisan, took part in the Warsaw Uprising.
What do you want to communicate?
I'll show you the passage in the fortress wall. Give me a few zholnezhi and I will take them there.
Okay, I'll go with you myself! - answered the guarantor. Where, crawling, where they dashed, they got closer to the citadel and went around the snow-covered fortress wall.
“You see, a little to the left,” the conductor pointed his finger at the blackened hole in the wall. - They made a passage to go to the Vistula for water.
And of course, they covered it with a machine gun?
Yes, he is in that pillbox, on the right. If you capture it, you can break into the fortress.
A few minutes were spent drawing up a bold plan, then the company began to implement it.
The liquidation of the firing point was entrusted to the platoon of the cornet Zabinka, reinforced with a 45-mm gun. The platoon's rush was so sudden that the pillbox was captured before its inhabitants had time to raise the alarm.
Meanwhile, a handful of brave men, led by a partisan guide, loaded with boxes of dynamite, made their way to the main gate of the fortress. A few minutes later there was a strong explosion, and the heavy cast-iron gate leaves flew into the air. Without delay, two battalions of the 6th Infantry Regiment rushed to storm the citadel. After a hot firefight and lightning-fast hand-to-hand combat, the Nazis stopped resisting. More than two hundred enemy soldiers were captured here. The national banner of Poland soared above the citadel.
S. Poplavsky, a Pole by nationality, who joined the Red Army back in 1920, was a participant in many battles of the Great Patriotic War, commander of a rifle corps. The 1st Polish Army, which he commanded, together with Soviet troops as part of the 1st Belorussian Front, participated in the liberation of their native Polish land.
IN TWO STAGES
The history of the liberation of Warsaw consists of two stages.
Stage 1 - 1944.
During the Belarusian offensive operation on July 31, 1944, the troops of the right wing of the 1st Belorussian Front (Army General K.K. Rokossovsky) approached the outskirts of Warsaw. On August 1, an uprising broke out in the city under the leadership of the Home Army (General T. Bur-Komorowski), controlled by the Polish exile government, aimed at seizing political power in the country and preventing the people's government, the Polish Workers' Party and the Ludowa Army from taking over the leadership of the state. A patriotic impulse gripped the townspeople, regardless of political affiliation. Fierce fighting broke out in the city between the rebels and German troops (about 200 thousand people died during the uprising). To help the rebels, units of the Polish Army, part of the 1st Belorussian Front, with the support of Soviet troops, crossed the Vistula within the city on September 15 and captured several bridgeheads on its left bank. However, it was not possible to keep them - General Bur-Komorowski refused to cooperate with his compatriots, and on October 2 the rebels capitulated. The uprising was brutally suppressed.
2nd stage - 1945.
During the Warsaw-Poznan offensive operation carried out by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front (Marshal G.K. Zhukov), the 1st Army of the Polish Army received the task of launching an offensive on the 4th day of the operation and in cooperation with troops 47, 61 and 2 1st Guards Tank Army of the Front to capture Warsaw. The Soviet 47th Army, going on the offensive on January 16, pushed back the Nazi troops beyond the Vistula and immediately crossed it north of Warsaw. On the same day, the 2nd Guards Tank Army was brought into battle in the zone of the 5th Shock Army. Having made a rapid dash of 80 km in one day, she reached the Sochaczew area and cut off the escape routes for the enemy group in Warsaw. On January 17, troops of the 47th and 61st armies, together with the 1st Army of the Polish Army, liberated Warsaw.
For the exemplary performance of combat missions during the Warsaw-Poznan offensive operation, many formations and units of the front were awarded orders and received honorary names: “Warsaw”, “Brandenburg”, “Lodz”, “Pomeranian” and others.
Residents of Warsaw on the destroyed streets of the city after liberation.
"THE CITY IS DEAD"
On January 17, the 1st Belorussian Front found itself on the same line with the 1st Ukrainian Front. On that day, troops of the 1st Army of the Polish Army entered Warsaw. Following them, the flank units of the 47th and 61st armies of the Soviet troops entered.
To commemorate this event, the Soviet government established the medal “For the Liberation of Warsaw,” and a little later such a medal was established by the Polish government.
As after the defeat of the German troops near Moscow, Hitler carried out further executions of his generals for the defeat in the Warsaw region. The commander of Army Group A, Colonel General I. Harpe, was replaced by Colonel General F. Scherner, and the commander of the 9th Army, General S. Luttwitz, was replaced by Infantry General T. Busse.
After examining the tormented city, the Military Council of the 1st Belorussian Front reported to the Supreme Commander:
“Fascist barbarians destroyed the capital of Poland - Warsaw. With the ferocity of sophisticated sadists, the Nazis destroyed block after block. The largest industrial enterprises were wiped off the face of the earth. Residential buildings were blown up or burned. The city economy has been destroyed. Tens of thousands of inhabitants were destroyed, the rest were expelled. The city is dead."
Listening to stories about the atrocities that the German fascists committed during the occupation and especially before the retreat, it was difficult to even understand the psychology and moral character of the enemy troops.
Polish soldiers and officers experienced the destruction of Warsaw especially hard. I saw how battle-hardened warriors cried and swore an oath to punish the enemy who had lost his human form. As for the Soviet soldiers, we were all bitter to the extreme and determined to firmly punish the Nazis for all their atrocities.
The troops boldly and quickly broke all enemy resistance and rapidly moved forward.
24 VOLLOWS OF 324 GUN
ORDER OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-CHIEF
To the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov
To the Chief of Staff of the Front, Colonel General Malinin
Today, January 17, at 19 o'clock, the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, on behalf of the Motherland, salutes the valiant troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, including the 1st Polish Army, which captured the capital of Poland, the city of Warsaw, with twenty-four artillery salvoes from three hundred and twenty-four guns.
For excellent military operations, I express my gratitude to the troops you led, including the troops of the 1st Polish Army, who took part in the battles for the liberation of Warsaw.
Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in battles for the freedom and independence of our Motherland and our allied Poland!
Death to the German invaders!
Supreme Commander
Marshal of the Soviet Union I. STALIN
Russian archive: The Great Patriotic War. USSR and Poland. M., 1994
It was taken after a short siege on September 28, 1939. From that moment until the liberation of Warsaw by Soviet troops in 1945, more than 800 thousand of its inhabitants died, 82% of city buildings turned into ruins, and 90% of architectural monuments were destroyed. Polish patriots twice unsuccessfully rebelled against the occupiers - in 1943 and 1944. The first time, Jews driven into the Warsaw ghetto tried to organize resistance to the fascists, and the second time, the Polish population of the city took up arms. Below we will talk in more detail about this tragic episode.
On the approaches to Warsaw
The liberation of Warsaw from the Nazis was preceded by a large-scale military operation "Bagration", carried out by the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front, commanded by a native of the Polish capital - Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky (his portrait is given below). Its result was the expulsion of the Nazis from Belarusian soil, after which in July 1944, Soviet troops approached Warsaw.
A further offensive was continued in mid-September of the same year. But, despite the efforts made, it was not possible to capture the entire city, but only one of its districts, called Prague. Having strengthened their positions along the banks of the Vistula, the Red Army over the next months increased its strength and prepared for a decisive offensive. In the last days of November, an order was received from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Headquarters to resume military operations to liberate Warsaw.
Destruction of the Polish capital
In turn, the Germans, realizing the proximity of a decisive assault, intensively prepared for the defense of the city. Even earlier, Hitler had proclaimed the Polish capital a fortress of special strategic importance, and paid special attention to the selection of officials who led its garrison.
Shortly before the start of the main events, he appointed SS Standartenführer Paul Otto Goebel as commandant of Warsaw, who, after taking office, received Himmler’s personal order to destroy all city buildings, with the exception of those of interest as defensive structures. The personnel of the units defending the capital were to be housed in the basements of destroyed buildings. Despite the fact that this barbaric order was not carried out in full, after the liberation of Warsaw, Soviet soldiers and officers were presented with the horrifying sight of an almost completely destroyed city.
A city turned into a fortress
It is not for nothing that the Medal for the Liberation of Warsaw is considered one of the most honorable awards for military feats during the liberation of Europe from the Nazis. After all, victory in this part of the battle against fascism came at an incredibly heavy price.
Suffice it to say that 17 thousand Wehrmacht soldiers were sent to defend the city, who had 345 guns and mortars at their disposal. Military historians have calculated that for every kilometer of the defensive line there was an average of up to 300 manpower, 8 guns and 1 tank. In addition, the German command took all measures to conduct a perimeter defense of the fortress.
Intelligence officers who became politicians after the war
Before the start of the offensive, the forces of the 1st Army of the Polish Army, which also took part in the liberation of the city and was stationed on the opposite bank of the Vistula, carried out a number of reconnaissance operations. It is interesting to note that the groups that carried out raids on territory occupied by the enemy included two officers who later became world famous.
One of them was Wojciech Jaruzelski, the future president of Poland and Mark Epstein, who was destined to become a general in the Israeli armed forces and the ambassador of this state to the United States. Thanks to their heroism, the Command Headquarters received comprehensive data on the number of enemy forces and the places most vulnerable during the assault.
Order to begin the offensive
The liberation of Warsaw by Soviet troops was part of a large-scale offensive, as a result of which it was planned to push German troops back to the Oder. Subsequently, military historians called it the Vistula-Oder operation. According to the plans of the command, its start was planned for January 20, 1945, but due to a number of failures that befell the forces of the anti-Hitler coalition at that time, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, through his ambassador, turned to Stalin with a request to speed up the start of the offensive. For this reason, the deadline specified in the order was postponed 8 days earlier.
From documents that fell into the hands of historians after the war, it is known that German intelligence, having information about the scale and timing of the upcoming offensive, reported to the headquarters of the Wehrmacht ground forces, but there the data received was considered unlikely and was not taken into account. Hitler himself reacted equally frivolously to the reports received, believing that this was just the result of Soviet disinformation.
The start of a massive offensive
According to the order received from the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the general offensive began on January 12, 1944 and covered the entire territory from the Baltic to the Carpathian Mountains. At the same time, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, which directly participated in the liberation of Warsaw, were located on the eastern bank of the Vistula, occupying the territory between the cities of Pulawy and Magnuszew.
From there, the main attack on the garrison guarding the city was entrusted to units of the 61st Army, which, launching an offensive from the Pulaw and Warki bridgeheads, threw the enemy back a considerable distance. At the same time, units of the 47th Army bypassed Warsaw and attacked from the direction of the city of Blonie. This maneuver made it possible to dismember the German group and subsequently destroy it piece by piece.
Battles for Warsaw
The liberation of the Polish capital was called the Warsaw-Poznan operation in the history of the war. It began at dawn on January 14 and developed very rapidly. Parts of the 9th and 11th Tank Corps drove the Germans out of Radom, and at that time the 1st Guards Tank Army reached the Pilica River. The next day, the 2nd Tank Army, having made a powerful throw of 85 km, cut off the retreat routes for the Warsaw German group.
In accordance with the general disposition, on March 16, units of the Polish Army entered the battle, crossing the Vistula, to the sounds of the national anthem, which was broadcast through powerful loudspeakers. Despite the fact that many of them died under German artillery fire, it was no longer possible to turn the tide of events, and soon the city dam was under the control of the attackers. After this, the Polish cavalry was thrown at the enemy.
Throughout the day and the following night, the offensive developed with incredible speed, and by morning the Germans were driven out of a number of villages located in the immediate vicinity of Warsaw. These included: Pyaski, Belyaeva, Benkova, Opach, Obory and Kopyty. Realizing the futility of further resistance, on January 17, 1945, the Nazis began to retreat, and by the end of the day the liberation of Warsaw was completed. The victorious troops occupied the Polish capital.
The Motherland appreciated the courage and heroism of the participants in the Warsaw-Poznan operation. Exactly one month after Victory Day, which marked the end of the greatest of wars, a medal for the liberation of Warsaw was established by decree of the Soviet government. The list of those awarded in the post-war years constantly increased, since many of the participants in those battles were transferred to other units, and at that time their trace was lost, and some died. Data about them was restored only after a significant period of time. According to official data, the list of those awarded the medal “For the Liberation of Warsaw” amounted to 701,710 people.
An episode of the war that caused controversy among contemporaries
For all the heroism of Soviet soldiers and officers shown in the Warsaw-Poznan operation of 1945, the liberation of Warsaw is still considered one of the most controversial episodes in the entire Second World War. And the reason for this lies in a number of issues related to the political confrontation between the Soviet Union and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.
The fact is that from the first days of the occupation of Poland, an underground patriotic organization called the Home Army entered the fight against enemies on its territory. All its actions were coordinated from London by the Polish government in exile located there, headed by Stanislaw Mikolajczyk.
Churchill's far-reaching plans
When in the summer of 1944, Soviet troops approached the Vistula, and it became obvious that the assault on the Polish capital would begin in the coming days, Winston Churchill began to encourage the leaders of the Home Army to raise uprisings in a number of large cities of the country, and primarily in Warsaw. However, his efforts were not aimed at helping the Red Army.
Even before her approach, the British Prime Minister tried to create pro-British authorities in Poland, which, by declaring the country independent, would take it out of the sphere of Soviet influence. As it turned out later, it was assumed that even in the event of the forcible creation of a pro-Soviet administration in the country, it was intended to provide armed resistance to it with the forces of the same underground Home Army. Simply put, the British tried to take advantage of the situation to “take over” Poland, which at that moment was easy prey for its liberators, whoever they were.
The tragic outcome of the uprising
The signal for the start of the uprising was given on July 31 by the commander of the Home Army, General Tadeusz Komorowski. The Poles' calculations were based mainly on two factors - surprise, which played a certain role at the initial stage, and the help of Soviet troops, who were stationed at that moment on the opposite bank of the Vistula. And this is where they made their fatal mistake. Contrary to their expectations, units of the 1st Belorussian Front suddenly interrupted their attack on Warsaw and left the rebel Poles alone with superior German forces.
In this situation, the heads of government of Great Britain and America turned to Stalin with a request to immediately resume the offensive and support the Warsaw Uprising. To this they received a response, which stated that the Red Army formations, having made a throw of almost 500 km, needed rest and were temporarily unable to continue military operations. In addition, without explaining the reasons, Stalin prohibited Allied aircraft that were delivering weapons and ammunition to the rebels from arriving at Soviet airfields.
As a result, the Poles alone could not resist the large German garrison and surrendered on October 2. Despite the declared surrender, most of them were shot. The total number of Poles who died as a result of the uprising was 150 thousand people. When the Home Army was completely destroyed, Soviet troops resumed their offensive, which ended with the liberation of Warsaw on January 17, 1945.
Negotiations stalled
In the post-war period, a firmly rooted tendency among Western historians was to blame Stalin for stopping the advance of Soviet troops, which resulted in the defeat of the Warsaw Uprising. Formally, this is true, but one should also take into account the reasons that prompted him to make such a decision, and they were very significant.
Back in early August 1944, in Moscow, Stalin met with the head of the Polish government in exile, Stanislaw Mikolajczyk, who had flown in from London (his photo is shown above), who informed the Soviet leader about the impending uprising and asked for support. However, when it came to the formation of the future government, he categorically refused to take into account the interests of the Soviet side.
Then Stalin proposed a compromise - the creation of a coalition government, which would include an equal number of pro-Soviet and pro-English-minded Polish politicians. Mikolajczyk categorically rejected this option. In fact, it turned out that he imagined the future of his country in accordance with the interests of England, but at the same time paid for with the blood of Soviet soldiers. That is, the Russians must achieve victory for them, and the British must reap its fruits.
We got what we wanted
It is quite natural that Stalin could not support such a development of events, and on August 4, Soviet troops froze on the approach to the Polish capital. To the credit of the Soviet leader, it should be said that even in such a situation, he left Mikolajczyk a chance to save the Home Army from certain death and on August 9, just before flying to London, calling him to his place, he again repeated the proposal to create a coalition government. But the Polish leader continued to persist, which is why he signed the death warrant for thousands of his compatriots.
Thus, in response to accusations of the Soviet Union of betraying the interests of Poland, one can argue that Stalin simply gave the Poles the opportunity to decide their own destiny, relying on the allies they chose for themselves. If, on Churchill’s orders, they decided to start an uprising, they should first of all soberly assess their capabilities. In this situation, the Soviet Union only stepped aside, not supporting the Home Army, but also not preventing it from acting independently.
Supreme Command Headquarters DIRECTIVE No. 220275 TO THE TROOPS COMMANDER
1st BELARUSIAN FRONT TO DEFEAT THE ENEMY'S WARSAW-RADOM GROUP
The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command orders:
1. Prepare and conduct an offensive operation with the immediate task of defeating the enemy’s Warsaw-Radom grouping and, no later than the 11th-12th day of the offensive, capturing the line of Petruwek, Zychlin, Lodz. Further develop the offensive in the general direction of Poznan.
2. Deliver the main blow with the forces of four combined arms armies, two tank armies, and one cavalry corps from the bridgehead on the river. Pilica in the general direction to Białobrzegi, Skierniewice, Kutno. Part of the forces, at least one combined arms army and one or two tank tanks, advance in the north-western direction with the aim of collapsing the enemy’s defenses in front of the right wing of the front and, with the assistance of the 2nd Belorussian Front, defeat the enemy’s Warsaw grouping and capture Warsaw...
Russian archive: The Great Patriotic War. Headquarters of the VKG: Documents and materials 1944-1945. M., 1999
WARSAW-POZNAN OPERATION
An important part of the Vistula-Oder operation was the Warsaw-Poznan operation carried out by the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front (Marshal Zhukov), during which it was planned to dismember and destroy the enemy group in parts. One of the objectives of the operation was to capture the capital of Poland, Warsaw.
The Warsaw-Poznan operation unfolded on January 14, and on the night of January 17, the defeat of the Warsaw group began. The 1st Army of the Polish Army crossed the Vistula north and south of the capital of Poland and broke into the city in the morning. On the Soviet side, the offensive was carried out by the 47th Army of General Perkhorovich from the north and the army of General Belov from the southwest. The 2nd Guards Tank Army of General Bogdanov also played an important role in the combined attack. By 12 noon, Soviet-Polish forces had completely liberated the destroyed, looted and deserted Warsaw.
Participants in these events recalled that on the streets of the Polish capital they saw “only ashes and ruins covered with snow. The city's inhabitants were exhausted and dressed almost in rags. Of the million, three hundred and ten thousand people of the pre-war population, only one hundred and sixty-two thousand now remain in Warsaw. After the incredibly brutal suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in October 1944, the Germans systematically destroyed all the historical buildings of the city...”
To reward direct participants in the liberation of Warsaw, at the request of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR, the medal “For the Liberation of Warsaw” was established, which was received by more than 690 thousand people.
THERE WAS NO TIME TO WRITE
By the morning of January 16, German resistance on both flanks was broken by Soviet troops. Soviet tanks cut communications deep in the rear of the 9th German Army. The enemy front trembled and wavered. In fact, the Warsaw operation was already won by units of the Soviet Army. Realizing the impossibility of holding Warsaw, the Nazis began to gradually withdraw their garrisons from Lazienki, Zoliborz, Wloch and the city center.
At 13 o'clock General Strazhevsky called me to the apparatus, briefly informed me about the beginning of the crossing of our troops in the Yablonaya area and proposed to conduct reconnaissance in force in front of the brigade's front.
The battle had to start in thirty minutes. In such conditions there is no time to write an order. We need to move on to personal control and organize the interaction of regiments simultaneously with the start of the battle...
It was a bright sunny day. The ice on the river shimmered like crystal in the rays of the already warming sun. Clearly visible from the command post, the Polish soldiers, scattered in a chain, ran forward without lying down. The enemy opened chaotic fire on them. Shells exploded on the river, breaking the ice. But by this time our advanced units had already reached the left bank and began storming the dam.
I sent squadrons from our right bank to support them. The ice darkened because of the multitude of people. The Polish national anthem, broadcast from the command post over the radio, sounded over the river.
Another minute - and the red banners of the squadron banners fluttered at the top of the dam...
By dawn on January 17, we broke into Jeziornaya and straddled the intersection of coastal highways to Warsaw.
General Strazhevsky, having familiarized himself with the situation, said jokingly:
Now go straight to the capital. Your lancers should be there first!..
For the first time in eighteen hours of continuous combat, I looked up from the phone to get into the car. I was reeling from fatigue.
Soon the 1st Separate Cavalry Brigade, pushing back small enemy barriers, entered Warsaw and in the Krolikarnia area united with units of the 6th Polish Infantry Division. And at 14:00 on January 17, the commander of the 1st Polish Army, General Poplawski, was able to send a historic telegram to the Provisional Polish Government in Lublin: “Warsaw has been taken!”
V. Radzivanovich - commander of the 1st Cavalry Brigade of the revived Polish Army. Before the war, he served in the Red Army, holding positions from squadron commander to chief of staff of a regiment and brigade, and from 1925 to 1937 he served in the border troops. By the time the Polish Army was formed in 1943, he commanded a guards mechanized brigade on the Southern Front.
BANNER OF POLAND OVER THE CITADEL
At 8 o'clock in the morning on January 17, the 4th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Division of Jan Rotkiewicz was the first to burst into the streets of Warsaw. Within two hours he had reached the largest and most popular Warsaw street, Marszałkowska. It was more difficult for the 6th Infantry Regiment, which was advancing on the left flank of the division: on Invalides Square it met fierce resistance from the Nazis, who were holed up in the old citadel, which served as a prison under tsarism. The enemy, apparently, expected to hold out for a long time behind its thick walls: consisting of selected SS men, its garrison was provided with ammunition, food and water for several months. And who knows, maybe the Nazis would have been able to delay the further advance of the regiment here, if not for the heroism of the soldiers and officers.
The soldiers brought a man to Lieutenant Anatole Shavara, commander of the 2nd company of the 4th Infantry Regiment, who wanted to tell him something very important. His thin face, unshaven for a long time, and the dirty rags in which he was dressed spoke better than any words about the difficult trials that befell the stranger. Unfortunately, the name of this Pole remains unknown.
Who you are? - the guarantor asked him.
Soldier of the Ludova Army. Partisan, took part in the Warsaw Uprising.
What do you want to communicate?
I'll show you the passage in the fortress wall. Give me a few zholnezhi and I will take them there.
Okay, I'll go with you myself! - answered the guarantor. Where, crawling, where they dashed, they got closer to the citadel and went around the snow-covered fortress wall.
“You see, a little to the left,” the conductor pointed his finger at the blackened hole in the wall. - They made a passage to go to the Vistula for water.
And of course, they covered it with a machine gun?
Yes, he is in that pillbox, on the right. If you capture it, you can break into the fortress.
A few minutes were spent drawing up a bold plan, then the company began to implement it.
The liquidation of the firing point was entrusted to the platoon of the cornet Zabinka, reinforced with a 45-mm gun. The platoon's rush was so sudden that the pillbox was captured before its inhabitants had time to raise the alarm.
Meanwhile, a handful of brave men, led by a partisan guide, loaded with boxes of dynamite, made their way to the main gate of the fortress. A few minutes later there was a strong explosion, and the heavy cast-iron gate leaves flew into the air. Without delay, two battalions of the 6th Infantry Regiment rushed to storm the citadel. After a hot firefight and lightning-fast hand-to-hand combat, the Nazis stopped resisting. More than two hundred enemy soldiers were captured here. The national banner of Poland soared above the citadel.
S. Poplavsky, a Pole by nationality, who joined the Red Army back in 1920, was a participant in many battles of the Great Patriotic War, commander of a rifle corps. The 1st Polish Army, which he commanded, together with Soviet troops as part of the 1st Belorussian Front, participated in the liberation of their native Polish land.
IN TWO STAGES
The history of the liberation of Warsaw consists of two stages.
Stage 1 - 1944.
During the Belarusian offensive operation on July 31, 1944, the troops of the right wing of the 1st Belorussian Front (Army General K.K. Rokossovsky) approached the outskirts of Warsaw. On August 1, an uprising broke out in the city under the leadership of the Home Army (General T. Bur-Komorowski), controlled by the Polish exile government, aimed at seizing political power in the country and preventing the people's government, the Polish Workers' Party and the Ludowa Army from taking over the leadership of the state. A patriotic impulse gripped the townspeople, regardless of political affiliation. Fierce fighting broke out in the city between the rebels and German troops (about 200 thousand people died during the uprising). To help the rebels, units of the Polish Army, part of the 1st Belorussian Front, with the support of Soviet troops, crossed the Vistula within the city on September 15 and captured several bridgeheads on its left bank. However, it was not possible to keep them - General Bur-Komorowski refused to cooperate with his compatriots, and on October 2 the rebels capitulated. The uprising was brutally suppressed.
2nd stage - 1945.
During the Warsaw-Poznan offensive operation carried out by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front (Marshal G.K. Zhukov), the 1st Army of the Polish Army received the task of launching an offensive on the 4th day of the operation and in cooperation with troops 47, 61 and 2 1st Guards Tank Army of the Front to capture Warsaw. The Soviet 47th Army, going on the offensive on January 16, pushed back the Nazi troops beyond the Vistula and immediately crossed it north of Warsaw. On the same day, the 2nd Guards Tank Army was brought into battle in the zone of the 5th Shock Army. Having made a rapid dash of 80 km in one day, she reached the Sochaczew area and cut off the escape routes for the enemy group in Warsaw. On January 17, troops of the 47th and 61st armies, together with the 1st Army of the Polish Army, liberated Warsaw.
For the exemplary performance of combat missions during the Warsaw-Poznan offensive operation, many formations and units of the front were awarded orders and received honorary names: “Warsaw”, “Brandenburg”, “Lodz”, “Pomeranian” and others.
Residents of Warsaw on the destroyed streets of the city after liberation.
"THE CITY IS DEAD"
On January 17, the 1st Belorussian Front found itself on the same line with the 1st Ukrainian Front. On that day, troops of the 1st Army of the Polish Army entered Warsaw. Following them, the flank units of the 47th and 61st armies of the Soviet troops entered.
To commemorate this event, the Soviet government established the medal “For the Liberation of Warsaw,” and a little later such a medal was established by the Polish government.
As after the defeat of the German troops near Moscow, Hitler carried out further executions of his generals for the defeat in the Warsaw region. The commander of Army Group A, Colonel General I. Harpe, was replaced by Colonel General F. Scherner, and the commander of the 9th Army, General S. Luttwitz, was replaced by Infantry General T. Busse.
After examining the tormented city, the Military Council of the 1st Belorussian Front reported to the Supreme Commander:
“Fascist barbarians destroyed the capital of Poland - Warsaw. With the ferocity of sophisticated sadists, the Nazis destroyed block after block. The largest industrial enterprises were wiped off the face of the earth. Residential buildings were blown up or burned. The city economy has been destroyed. Tens of thousands of inhabitants were destroyed, the rest were expelled. The city is dead."
Listening to stories about the atrocities that the German fascists committed during the occupation and especially before the retreat, it was difficult to even understand the psychology and moral character of the enemy troops.
Polish soldiers and officers experienced the destruction of Warsaw especially hard. I saw how battle-hardened warriors cried and swore an oath to punish the enemy who had lost his human form. As for the Soviet soldiers, we were all bitter to the extreme and determined to firmly punish the Nazis for all their atrocities.
The troops boldly and quickly broke all enemy resistance and rapidly moved forward.
24 VOLLOWS OF 324 GUN
ORDER OF THE SUPREME COMMANDER-CHIEF
To the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union Zhukov
To the Chief of Staff of the Front, Colonel General Malinin
Today, January 17, at 19 o'clock, the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, on behalf of the Motherland, salutes the valiant troops of the 1st Belorussian Front, including the 1st Polish Army, which captured the capital of Poland, the city of Warsaw, with twenty-four artillery salvoes from three hundred and twenty-four guns.
For excellent military operations, I express my gratitude to the troops you led, including the troops of the 1st Polish Army, who took part in the battles for the liberation of Warsaw.
Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in battles for the freedom and independence of our Motherland and our allied Poland!
Death to the German invaders!
Supreme Commander
Russian archive: The Great Patriotic War. USSR and Poland. M., 1994
A newspaper illustration shows a parade of the Polish Army in Warsaw in January 1945.
On one day - January 17, 1945, Warsaw and Pest - part of Budapest - were liberated from the Nazis.
Warsaw was liberated on January 17, 1945 by the troops of the 1st Army of the Polish Army, followed by the troops of Marshal Zhukov. The city was in ruins, there was practically no population.
Literally 12 years ago, official Polish historians wrote the truth about the events of 1944-45. In particular, they recognized that Warsaw was destroyed not by Soviet aviation, but by special groups of German demolitions.
M. Tymovsky, J. Kenevich, E. Holzer “History of Poland”, M., “The Whole World”, 2004:
“In 1943, the Nazis razed the territory of the Warsaw ghetto to the ground. New destruction occurred during the Warsaw Uprising. After the surrender of the rebel forces, the remaining population, about 600 thousand people, was expelled by the Nazis from Warsaw, and over the next few months the empty city was methodically destroyed. About 80% of the buildings were destroyed, archives, libraries, and most of the museum collections were burned. Only on January 17, 1945, the Red Army and the First Army of the Polish Army, which fought next to it, entered the city, which was complete ruins.”
V. Nikolsky “GRU during the Great Patriotic War”, M., Eksmo, 2005:
“On January 17, 1945, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front liberated Warsaw. The capital of Poland lay in a heap of ruins. In the former large European city there are hardly a few dozen houses left suitable for habitation. Monuments, museums, theaters - everything was destroyed, obviously, by special demolition teams, since, as was later established, only part of the buildings suffered from artillery shelling and air bombing.”
In Budapest – i.e. in Buda and Pest - the Nazis did not blow up houses - because the Hungarians remained their faithful allies. In addition, the barbaric plan of the Nazis to destroy all prisoners of the Jewish ghetto was thwarted as a result of the heroic offensive of the Soviet troops. Pest was liberated on the night of January 17-18, 1945.
A. Vasilchenko “100 days in bloody hell. Budapest..”, M., 2008:
“On January 17, the decisive battle began on the Pest side. At 19:35, Pfeffer-Wildenbruch finally received permission to leave the eastern part of the Hungarian capital (Pest itself). There was already talk of merging the German units that were located in Buda and Pest. At the same time, it was a miracle that the Germans were able to transfer armored vehicles over the almost destroyed bridges to Buda within one day. On the same day, the Erzsebet Bridge was blown up by the Germans. They were afraid that he would fall into the hands of Soviet soldiers."
The Soviet army began fighting in the Budapest ghetto with an unexpected night assault on January 18, 1945. Soviet soldiers saved thousands of lives of Hungarian Jews at the cost of their own lives. This feat was forgotten, and Europeans then began to consider these soldiers as occupiers, and the fascists who rebelled in Hungary in 1956 as democrats who fought against Soviet tyranny.
Caesar Solodar “Wild Wormwood”, 1986:
“On January 17, Hero of the Soviet Union General Afonin ordered a strike towards the ghetto. A sudden blow was certainly required. The enemy's cruelty was known: he did not leave his prisoners alive. In one town near Budapest, the Nazis machine-gunned many thousands of ghetto prisoners just before the arrival of the Soviet Army. There was no time to hesitate. At night, our sappers cut all the cables and wires leading to the ghetto - after all, explosive mechanisms could be activated through them. Early in the morning of January 18, our soldiers destroyed the fascist machine-gun nests with grenades and broke open the ghetto wall. The Nazis did not have time to carry out their brutal plan. But they resisted. Most of our people who liberated the Budapest ghetto died in subsequent battles for the Hungarian capital.”
On January 17, 1945, the capital of Poland, Warsaw, was liberated by the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front and the 1st Army of the Polish Army. The city was under German occupation since September 28, 1939.
Since 1940, resistance forces operated on Polish territory and continuously fought against the occupiers. Various armed formations fought for the liberation of the country: the Ludova Guard, the Ludova Army, the Home Army, and the Cotton Battalions. There were also mixed partisan detachments led by Soviet officers who, for various reasons, found themselves in enemy territory. These groups consisted of people of different political views, but united by one goal of fighting a common enemy. The main forces were: the Home Army (AK), oriented towards the Polish emigrant government in London, and the pro-Soviet Army of Ludowa. The attitude of the AK representatives towards the Soviet troops that entered the territory of Poland was well characterized by the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky. He recalled that the AK officers, who wore Polish uniforms, behaved arrogantly, rejected the proposal to cooperate in battles against the Nazi troops, stated that the AK obeyed only the orders of the Polish London government and its authorized representatives... They defined their attitude towards us as follows: “Against We will not use weapons against the Red Army, but we also don’t want to have any contacts.” But later the “Akovites” repeatedly opposed units of the Red Army, incl. committing terrorist acts and sabotage in the rear of the advancing Soviet troops.
On August 1, 1944, the AK forces, in accordance with their plan, code-named “Storm,” launched an uprising in Warsaw with the goal of liberating it without the help of Soviet troops and providing the Polish exile government with the opportunity to return to Poland. If successful, this could be used by the Polish émigré government as an argument in the political struggle with the Polish Committee of National Liberation, created in July 1944, and the Home Rada of the People, as well as in negotiations with the allies, primarily the USSR, on the post-war state structure of Poland.
But the well-armed German garrison of Warsaw, numbering about 15 thousand people, put up serious resistance. Soon it was reinforced by SS and police units and increased to 50 thousand people. An attempt by the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front to cross the Vistula and connect with the rebels ended in failure. The Red Army, drained of blood after the Belarusian operation, and the 1st Army of the Polish Army operating within it could not fully provide assistance to the rebels. On October 2, the AK command capitulated. The uprising, which lasted 63 days, was defeated. Almost 90% of Left Bank Warsaw was destroyed.
The beginning of the offensive of Soviet troops in Poland was scheduled for January 20, 1945. But on January 6, in connection with the major failure of the Anglo-American forces in the Ardennes, British Prime Minister W. Churchill turned to I.V. Stalin with a request to provide assistance and urgently carry out an offensive “on the Vistula front or somewhere else.” To support the allies, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command had to limit the preparation time for the war, the start of which was postponed to January 12. An important part of this operation was the Warsaw-Poznan operation carried out by the forces of the 1st Belorussian Front, during which it was planned to dismember and destroy the enemy group in parts. One of the objectives of the operation was the liberation of the capital of Poland. The first troops to enter the city were the 1st Army of the Polish Army.
On January 14, in order to encircle the enemy’s Warsaw group, the 61st Army of Colonel General P.A. began to attack. Belova. She struck south of the city. The next day, covering Warsaw from the north, the 47th Army of Major General went on the offensive. During the day, she advanced to a depth of 12 km and reached the river. Vistula. At 8 o'clock in the morning on January 16, from the bridgehead on the left bank of the river. Pilitz, the 2nd Guards Tank Army was introduced into the breakthrough, which began to develop an offensive in the direction of Sokhachev, pursuing enemy units defeated in previous battles and covering the right flank of the 46th Tank Corps of the Nazis. The enemy command, fearing the encirclement of its troops in the Warsaw area, began to hastily withdraw them in a northwestern direction.
Tankers looked out of the hatches. For such a solemn occasion, they wore confederate helmets instead of leather helmets. “Long live Polish tank crews!”, “Long live people’s Poland!” - sounded in Russian. “Never mind the fraternity of armor!”, “Never mind the ignorant Army of Radtsensk!” - rushed back in Polish. The tanks crossed the bridge safely.”
The reconnaissance groups of the 2nd and 3rd Uhlan regiments managed to cling to the opposite bank and, pushing back the Germans, seized a bridgehead. The commander of the cavalry brigade, Colonel Wladzimierz Radziwanovich, immediately transported his main forces there. Acting energetically and assertively, by the end of the day the cavalry brigade liberated the suburban villages of Oborki, Opacz, and Piaski, which allowed the Polish 4th Infantry Division to advance to its original positions in the Gura Kalwaria area.
In the center of the operational formation of the Polish army, the 6th Infantry Division of the Polish Army was advancing on the capital. Here the Nazis resisted especially stubbornly. Colonel G. Sheypak made the first attempt to cross the Vistula on the ice on the afternoon of January 16th. The enemy met the attackers with strong artillery fire. Shells and mines exploded, forming large holes and blocking the soldiers' path. But as soon as they lay down, a barrage of machine-gun fire fell on them. We had to pause the offensive and resume it only in the dark.
The offensive of the 47th and 61st Soviet armies developed very successfully. Gura Kalwaria and Piaseczno were liberated. The population of Piaseczno, young and old, poured into the streets, greeting Soviet and Polish units with jubilant exclamations. The main forces of the 2nd Guards Tank Army moved forward rapidly. It was necessary to accelerate the advance of the advanced units of the 1st Army of the Polish Army.
A flying rally was held in Piaseczno. This is how S. Poplavsky recalls this: “One of the regiments of the 3rd Infantry Division passed through the city - the other two regiments were already fighting in the foothills of Warsaw. Three tanks stopped on the square with a group of paratroopers on their armor. When Yaroshevich and I approached them, we saw an officer who was surrounded by residents of the surrounding streets.
Pan, tell me where and by what miracle did the Polish soldiers come from? - an old man with a wedge beard and wearing pince-nez asked him.
There is a white eagle on the tanks... Are they really Polish? - The woman, thin as a skeleton, stared with large, moist eyes at the emblem that adorned the armor.
The Germans shouted on the radio day and night that there was no Polish army at all, and that Soviet troops would never take Warsaw,” added a boy of about fifteen with his arm in a dirty sling.
The officer patiently answered questions, explaining that the formidable combat vehicles with a white eagle on the armor, and fair-haired guys in tank helmets, and machine gunners in helmets - all this is a part of the new people's army - the Polish Army, which came to rescue their native land from under the fascist yoke." .
At 8 o'clock in the morning on January 17, the 4th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Division of Jan Rotkiewicz was the first to burst into the streets of Warsaw. After only 2 hours, he advanced to the largest and most popular Warsaw street - Marszałkowska. It was more difficult for the 6th Infantry Regiment, which was advancing on the left flank of the division: on Invalides Square it met fierce resistance from the Nazis, who were holed up in the old citadel. Only thanks to the heroism of soldiers and officers was it possible to capture this important stronghold. The 6th Regiment then advanced to Trzecha Krzyzy Square. A battalion under the command of Soviet officer Alexander Afanasyev was advancing ahead. During a fierce battle, it was possible to destroy an entire enemy unit that had settled in the ruins of a corner building, while capturing serviceable guns, machine guns and ammunition. Working together, the regiments of the 6th and 2nd divisions defeated the enemy in Saxon Park, and one of the battalions of the 16th Infantry Regiment drove the Nazis out of Palace Square with an unstoppable attack.
The battles for an important stronghold - the Main Station - were very difficult. The enemy clung to every wing of the building, to every corner. The shooting in this part of the city gradually died down - the enemy was retreating. But groups of German snipers and machine gunners were still firing from dilapidated buildings, ruins and barricades.
At this time, the 1st Cavalry Brigade, through Powsin and Sluwiec, had already broken into the urban area of Mokotów, the 1st Infantry Division, advancing through Grabice and Czarny Las, reached the Okęcie area, and the 4th Division, having circled the city from the south, occupied Krenczki, Petruvek.
The battle for the capital of Poland was nearing its end. Surrounded on both sides by Soviet troops who closed the encirclement ring in Sochaczew, and then dismembered by attacks from Polish units, the fascist group in Warsaw was defeated in street battles. Many Nazis, seeing the hopelessness of resistance, fled from the city, others continued to fight with the despair of the doomed, some surrendered. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon Warsaw was liberated.
Following the 1st Army of the Polish Army, units of the 47th and 61st armies of the Soviet troops entered Warsaw.
“The fascist barbarians destroyed the capital of Poland, Warsaw,” the military council of the front reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.”
He recalled: “With the ferocity of sophisticated sadists, the Nazis destroyed block after block. The largest industrial enterprises were wiped off the face of the earth. Residential buildings were blown up or burned. The city economy has been destroyed. Tens of thousands of inhabitants were destroyed, the rest were expelled. The city is dead. Listening to the stories of Warsaw residents about the atrocities that the German fascists committed during the occupation and especially before the retreat, it was difficult to even understand the psychology and moral character of the enemy troops.”
Chief of Staff of the 1st Belorussian Front, Colonel General M.S. Malinin reported to the Chief of the General Staff, General of the Army, that the enemy had left Warsaw mined. “During mine clearance, 5,412 anti-tank mines, 17,227 anti-personnel mines, 46 land mines, 232 “surprises”, over 14 tons of explosives, about 14 thousand shells, aerial bombs, mines and grenades were removed, collected and detonated.”
The liberation of Warsaw allowed the Red Army to significantly advance towards the German border and played an important role in the post-war relations of the USSR with Poland.
As a result of the 4-day offensive, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front defeated the main forces of the enemy’s 9th Army and not only broke through its tactical defense zone, but also captured the rear army zone (100-130 km). The defense breakthrough, which began in three directions, by January 17 merged into a single attack along the entire 270-kilometer front. The remnants of the defeated enemy formations, under the blows of Soviet troops, hastily retreated to the west. The enemy reserves brought into the battle - the 19th and 25th tank divisions and part of the forces of the 10th motorized division - suffered up to 50% losses and did not have a significant impact on the course of the operation.
However, despite the successful completion of the breakthrough of the enemy defense, the front forces failed to encircle and destroy the main forces of the German 46th and 56th tank corps: the first in the Warsaw area, the second between the Magnuszew and Pulawy bridgeheads.
In both cases, the enemy troops managed to escape the complete defeat that threatened them.
The first stage of the Vistula-Oder operation, during which the capital of Poland, Warsaw, was liberated, was successfully completed. The German command did not expect such a rapid and deep advance of the Soviet troops and hastened to blame the commander of Army Group A, Colonel General J. Harpe and the commander of the 9th Army, General of Tank Forces S. Lüttwitz, for this disaster on the Vistula. They were removed from their posts and replaced respectively by Colonel General F. Schörner and General of Infantry T. Busse. The new command hoped to gain a foothold on defensive lines prepared in depth and delay the advance of the Red Army.
For the liberation of Warsaw, a reward was established - the medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw". It was awarded to military personnel of the Red Army, Navy and NKVD troops - direct participants in the battles of January 14-17, 1945, as well as the organizers and leaders of military operations during the liberation of this city. More than 690 thousand people received the medal “For the Liberation of Warsaw”.
In memory of the victory and as a symbol of the military friendship of the two fraternal armies, a granite monument was erected in the suburbs of Warsaw - Prague. The Poles called it "Brotherhood of Armor". The words are carved on granite in two languages - Polish and Russian: “Glory to the heroes of the Soviet army - comrades in arms who gave their lives for the freedom and independence of the Polish people!”
Today, the Polish government calls the liberation of Poland by Soviet troops a “new occupation” and tries to put the actions of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union on the same level. But the names of almost 580 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers of the Red Army, who in 1944-45, cannot be thrown out of history. gave their lives for the right of the Poles to have their own state.
Elena Nazaryan,
junior researcher at the Research Institute
Institute (military history) of the Military Academy
General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, Candidate of Historical Sciences
