City

Brześć in the war

4 articles · 1939–1944

Brześć, before the war the capital of the Polesie voivodeship, was taken by Guderian's corps in September 1939, and on 22 September the Germans handed it over to the Red Army at a joint ceremony. On 22 June 1941 Brześć was in the front line of the German attack on the USSR; the fortress held out for about a week. In October 1942 the Germans liquidated the ghetto, murdering an estimated 16,000 people. The Red Army captured the city on 28 July 1944.

1939

19 September 1939EventGerman and Soviet troops meetThe Red Army took Wilno and met the Wehrmacht near Lwów and Brest. On 22 September Guderian handed Brest over to Krivoshein’s tank brigade.

1941

22 June – 9 July 1941BattleBattle of Białystok–MinskFrom 22 June to 9 July 1941 Army Group Centre encircled the Western Front's main forces at Białystok and Minsk. The Germans claimed over 320,000 prisoners.

1944

22 June – 29 August 1944BattleOperation BagrationFrom 22 June to 29 August 1944 four Soviet fronts destroyed Army Group Centre in Belarus and reached the Vistula, the Narew and East Prussia.
28 July 1944EventThe capture of BrześćOn 28 July 1944 the 1st Belorussian Front took Brześć on the Bug. German divisions encircled near the city were shattered; their remnants escaped west.