Soviet troops captured the city of Danzig

The troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front completed the defeat of the Danzig group of Germans and on March 30 stormed the city and fortress of Danzig, the most important port and naval base of the Germans on the Baltic Sea. This is reported by the Izvestia newspaper.

"The enemy has prepared the city for a long-term defense. The approaches to it were covered by a powerful fortified area consisting of three defensive lines. The Germans turned all the settlements in the area into strongholds, reinforced concrete pillboxes, casemates for field and coastal artillery, and underground shelters for personnel were built. The stone buildings are adapted for firing points and are interconnected by passages," the newspaper reported on March 31, 1945.

On the streets of the city, German troops dug trenches and built barriers, behind which guns for direct fire were installed. The city was defended by large forces of German troops, supported by artillery fire from warships.

"The prisoners reported that Hitler had given his troops the strictest order to defend Danzig to the last soldier! The Germans expected to hold down large Red Army forces near Gdansk for a long time. However, the Nazis' plans were thwarted by the skillful and decisive actions of the Soviet troops. Our infantrymen and tankers, supported by artillery and aircraft, advancing from the south, west and north, broke through the German defenses and cleared the enemy troops block by block," the newspaper notes.

There were exactly 40 days left until the Great Victory.

In the battles for the city, the Germans lost more than 49,000 soldiers and officers captured and killed. Many tanks, hundreds of guns, mortars and other enemy weapons were destroyed.

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.