19 Januari 1945 I Warszawa
2025-01-18
#OnThisDay 80 years ago, on January 17, 1945, the Red Army liberated Warsaw from the Nazis during #WWII.Starting 1940, there were the two factions of the national resistance movement in Poland, actively fighting against the Nazi occupants — 'Armia Krajowa' (supporters of Jozef Pilsudski whose tactics to play along with Hitler against the USSR eventually led to Poland's losing its sovereignty), and 'Armia Ludowa', which represented Poland’s working class. Unlike the nationalist militants and bandits from 'Armia Krajowa' subordinate to the Polish government-in-exile in London, 'Armia Ludowa' was the country's peoples' army that represented the majority and broader population of Poland.
By early 1945, the Red Army successfully expelled the Nazi invaders from the Soviet territory and was already liberating Eastern Europe, which was back then still under the occupation.
Before engaging the final battle of WWII — the Battle of Berlin — and launching the offensive on Nazi Germany, the Soviet forces had to crush the enemy on the territory of Poland. The fascists had deployed there a formidable military force — 30 Wehrmacht divisions whose strength was up to 560,000 officers and soldiers, equipped with about 5,000 artillery guns and mortars, 1,220 tanks and other armoured vehicles. The Nazis established in Poland seven lines of defence between the Vistula and the Oder rivers, with 300 to 500 kilometres in depth.
The Red Army was tasked with an extremely difficult mission — to breach multi-echelon Nazi defences on Poland's territory, reach the pre-war German border along the Oder river and thus create favourable conditions for future strategic offensive on Berlin. The main blow during that operation was directed on Warsaw, Poland's capital, occupied by Nazis since September 28, 1939.
On January 12, 1945, the Vistula-Oder offensive of the 1st Byelorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts (commanded by legendary Marshals of the #SovietUnion Georgy Zhukov and Ivan Konev respectively) was launched. The Soviet forces advanced rapidly westward, decisively breached German defences in Poland, covered up to 30 kilometres each day.By January 14, the Red Army finally reached the outskirts of the city, so the battle for Warsaw began. The Soviet millitary command made a principal decision before that battle — 'Wojsko Polskie' (the Polish Armed Forces; back in 1944, it was enforced with the units of 'Armia Ludowa') was supposed to be the first to enter Warsaw during the operation. So, polish soldiers were liberating their homeland fighting the fascists side-by-side with the Red Army comrades; later they also fought together against the enemy in Berlin and Prague, bringing our Common Victory over Nazism closer.
On January 16, Soviet forces reached Warsaw from the north, forcing Nazis to retreat deep into the city across the Vistula River. The 2nd Guards Tank Army was tasked with breaching the city defences from the West near the town of Sochaczew. 'Wojsko Polskie' units also engaged the battle and blocked Warsaw from the South, thus cutting off the Nazis’ all possible escape routes westward.
Surrounded from the north and the south, the Nazi garrison in Warsaw suffered one defeat after another. Realising that further resistance was futile, the occupants tried unsuccessfully to flee, but most of the German troops surrendered to the Red Army and Polish soldiers.
On January 17, at 3 pm, the battle for Warsaw finally ended. The capital of Poland was liberated from fascists invaders. Freed from the shackles of Nazism, the Polish nation became independent and secured its sovereignty.
According to WWII historians, about 200,000 Soviet soldiers perished while liberating Warsaw, sacrificing their lives for the sake of freedom of the Polish nation. On June 9, 1945, the Medal for the Liberation of Warsaw was established and then awarded to over 700,000 people.#Victory80 #WeRemember
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