Breslau (Wrocław), the largest city in eastern Germany, was declared a fortress by Hitler in the summer of 1944. In January 1945 Gauleiter Karl Hanke ordered everyone unfit to fight to leave the city, and many died in the columns in the freezing cold. On 13 February Soviet troops closed the ring around it; the fortress did not capitulate until 6 May, and by Polish estimates about 70 per cent of its buildings were destroyed. The city then came under Polish administration.
1945
- 13 February 1945EventThe siege of Breslau beginsOn 13 February 1945 troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front closed the ring around Breslau (Wrocław). The siege of Festung Breslau lasted until 6 May.
- 13 February – 6 May 1945BattleSiege of BreslauFrom 13 February to 6 May 1945 the Red Army besieged Festung Breslau. The fortress capitulated on 6 May, with about 70% of the city destroyed.
People
Born or died here
- Dietrich BonhoefferLutheran pastor and theologian, lecturer at the University of Berlin, head of the Confessing Church seminary at Finkenwalde (1935–1937), Abwehr agent (1940–1943)
- Nikolaus von FalkenhorstCommander of XXI Army Corps (1939–1940), commander of the invasion of Norway (1940), Wehrmacht Commander-in-Chief in Norway (1940–1944), Colonel General (1940)
- Walther von LüttwitzCommander of III Army Corps (1916–1918), commander of the troops in Berlin and the Mark (1918–1919) and of Reichswehr Group Command No. 1 (1919–1920), leader of the putsch (1920)