The destruction of the East Prussian group of Germans continues

On the night of March 17, our heavy bombers attacked the Moravska Ostrava railway junction in Czechoslovakia, according to a publication in the Izvestia newspaper.

Also during that day, southwest of Konigsberg, Soviet soldiers, continuing their battles to destroy the East Prussian group of Germans, occupied the settlements of Brandenburg, Poplitten, Pershken, Legnitten, Praussen, Pannwitz, Vornik, Vorder-Freudenthal, Deutsch Tirau, Bilshefen.

There were exactly 53 days left until the Great Victory.

"The prisoners report that the German command has allocated special SS detachments tasked with shooting soldiers and officers on the spot who voluntarily leave their positions or try to surrender. Nevertheless, there have been a number of cases when groups of Germans stop resisting, drop their weapons and surrender," the newspaper writes.

However, on March 17, the President of the Czechoslovak Republic, Eduard Benes, and his wife arrived in Moscow on their way home from London. He was accompanied by the Czechoslovak Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and other diplomats. From Baku, Benes was accompanied by Molochkov, Head of the Protocol Department of the USSR NKID, and Abramov, Assistant to the head of the 4th European Department of the USSR NKID.

The material was published as part of the Izvestia special project "80 days to Victory."

All articles of Izvestia during the Great Patriotic War can be found in the electronic archive.