On January 27, the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by Soviet troops. There were less than 3 thousand people alive there, and, according to various sources, from 1.5 to 4 million people died in it.
On January 30, the Soviet submarine S-13 under the command of A.I. Marinesko sank the fascist liner Wilhelm Gustlov, on board of which there were more than 8 thousand Nazis.
On January 31, the vanguard of the 5th Shock Army crossed the Oder and captured the town of Kinitz. The appearance of Soviet troops here, 70 kilometers from Berlin, turned out to be a complete surprise for the Germans. But the further advance of the troops to Berlin was prevented by the threat of their encirclement by the Germans. Meanwhile, the Western allies are conducting separate negotiations with the Nazis in Bern (Switzerland), seeking to find a compromise with them.
Workers drop a sign installed by Fascist occupiers at the Kramatorsk plant in Donbass
February 1945
Finally surrounded by a group of Nazis in the area of Konigsberg. On February 411, the Yalta (Crimean) Conference of the heads of government of the three Allied powers took place: I.V. Stalin (USSR), F.D. Roosevelt (USA) and W. Churchill (England). Joint military plans were determined, as well as the post-war structure of Europe. The USSR agreed to enter the war against Japan 23 months after the end of the war in Europe.
The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front during the Lower Silesian operation advanced more than 100 km and captured one of the most important military-industrial areas Lower Silesia and reached the line along the Neisse River to complete the strike in the Berlin direction. Fierce fighting in the area of Breslau (Wroclaw). The East Pomeranian operation began, during which they captured Eastern Pomerania and the Baltic coast from Danzig (Gdansk) to the Pomeranian Bay. On February 13, Budapest was liberated by Soviet troops after repelling a German counteroffensive near Lake Balaton.
On February 18, during the completion of the Western Carpathian military operation, the troops of the 4th and 2nd Ukrainian fronts defeated 17 divisions and one brigade of fascists and liberated most of Slovakia and the southern regions of Poland. On February 19, the Allies broke through the German «Western Wall» on the Luxembourg border, and the Americans landed on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima.
On February 2627, the deputy commander of the Bandera Ukrainian Insurgent army (UPA) Mayevsky and other leaders of the Bandera met with the Soviet representative to negotiate the conditions for ending the armed struggle.
March 1945
On March 4, Finland declared war on Germany. After a month-long siege and fierce street battles with the Japanese, the Americans captured Manila (Philippines).
On March 5, conscripts born in 1929, that is, 16-year-olds, begin to be recruited into the German army.
On March 6, the Balaton defensive operation of the Red Army began, the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, reflecting the counteroffensive of German troops, began to defend in the area of Lake Balaton in Hungary. lasting until March 15.
On March 9, 84,000 Tokyo civilians were killed during the American bombing.
On March 16, the Vienna offensive operation of the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front began, the operation lasted until April 15.
On March 25, Allied troops crossed the Rhine. The troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front launched the Bratislava-Brno offensive operation in Czechoslovakia, it lasted until May 5. Fierce fighting continues in the Baltic States, the 3rd Belorussian Front has carried out three military operations against enemy troops in East Prussia.
On March 30, during fierce fighting, Soviet troops took Danzig (now Gdansk in Poland).
April 1945
On April 1, the completion of the liquidation by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front after a long siege of the encircled garrison of the Nazis and the occupation of the fortress city of Glogau on the Oder River.
On April 4, the Allies surrounded 21 German divisions in the «Ruhr pocket». Soviet troops took Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The completion by the troops of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian fronts of the liberation from the German invaders of the entire territory of Hungary.
On April 5, the USSR denounced the non-aggression pact with Japan.
On April 6, Soviet troops reached the outskirts of Vienna.
On April 9, the four-day operation to capture Konigsberg ended, the garrison capitulated.
April 11 death of Roosevelt. He was succeeded as President of the United States by G. Truman.
On April 13, Soviet troops took Vienna, the capital of Austria.
On April 16, the Berlin operation began with the troops of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts.
On April 18, British Prime Minister Churchill sent troops under Montgomery to Lubeck to prevent the occupation of Denmark by Soviet troops. Soviet troops broke through all three defensive lines on the outskirts of Berlin.
On April 25, the UN Constituent Assembly in San Francisco with the participation of representatives of 46 states. Adoption of the UN Charter. The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front crossed the Elbe and met with American troops near the city of Torgau. Soviet troops completed the encirclement of Berlin.
On April 28, Italian partisans executed Mussolini.
April 29 the surrender of German troops in Italy.
April 30, Hitlers suicide. Grand Admiral Doenitz replaced Hitler as head of the German state. Occupation by Soviet troops of the Reichstag building in Berlin, on which the Victory Banner is hoisted!
May 1945
On May 1, Order No. 20 of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin was issued in connection with the celebration of May 1. Soviet troops took the city of Brandenburg.
On May 2, the capture of Berlin by the troops of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts was completed.
On May 3, the anti-fascist uprising began in Prague.
On May 4, the German troops completely stopped fighting against the Anglo-American troops and continued their desperate resistance to the Soviet offensive.
On May 5, the occupation of the German naval base the port city of Svinemunde by the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front.
On May 6, the occupation of the fortress city of Breslau by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front.
On May 7, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front left for the Elbe River.
On May 8, the signing took place by representatives of the German High Command in Karlhorst (a suburb of Berlin) the act of unconditional surrender of the German armed forces. Celebration of Victory Day in Europe. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declaring May 9 a Victory Day. Occupation by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front of the city of Dresden. The cessation of resistance by the Kurland grouping of German troops, surrounded off the coast between the cities of Tukums and Libava. Liberation of the city of Olomouc.
ON MAY 9, THE SOVIET PEOPLE UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY VICTORIOUSLY ENDED THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR, DEFEATING HITLERS GERMANY AND ITS SATELLITES!
In accordance with the Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945 from 23 h. 01 min. according to the Central European time, all military operations ceased. According to Moscow time, this corresponded to 1 h. 01 min. on May 9. In Western countries, the celebration takes place on May 8. Modern bourgeois historians downplay and belittle the contribution of the USSR to the victory, claiming that the main force that defeated Nazi Germany was the American-British troops. I.V. Stalins address to the people on the radio in connection with the victory over Nazi Germany. Order of the Supreme Commander I. V. Stalin in connection with the victorious end of the Great Patriotic War. Termination of resistance of a group of German troops near the mouth of the Vistula River and on the Putziger-Nerung spit (northeast of Gdynia). Liberation by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front of the capital of Czechoslovakia the city of Prague. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the establishment of the medal «For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 19411945.