Posen ’45: Bastion on the Warthe
During 12 and 14 January 1945, the Russian Army broke out from the River Vistula and headed for the Oder on their way to Berlin, sweeping away the defending German, which retreated in disarray. In an attempt to slow the Russian assault, Hitler declared several vital cities to be Fortresses. Posen was one of them.
POSEN ’45: BASTION ON THE WARTHE is the account of the month-long siege of the city of Posen at the beginning of 1945. Declared a Festung (Fortress) by Hitler on 20 January, its soldiers were to defend the city to the death. The city’s defence lay in the hands of a collection of 15,000 German and Latvian troops, supported by a few Sturmgeschütze, one Tiger I, two Panthers, one Hetzer, and a few SPWs.
The first Russian units reached Posen on 22 January and cut it off from the rest of the German forces. During the next month of bitter fighting, 36,000 Soviet troops and supporting units fought through a number of forts and fortifications that had been constructed in the late 1800s, and across the city, until the last German fighters surrendered in the Citadel on 23 February 23. There followed a period of extreme brutality, where the German survivors were subjected to beatings and murders, as well as a gruelling propaganda march through the city, followed by hard labour in the Soviet Union, from which many did not return.
This book tells the story of the organisation of the defence, the rounding up of retreating German soldiers, vicious day-to-day urban combat, several breakouts and their fates, surrender, and the aftermath. It is also an excellent collection of first-hand accounts from many soldiers that illustrates the brutal fighting in the city. Included in great detail is the part played by the lone Tiger I, which moved from one critical spot to another until it was immobilised. The text is supported by several very detailed maps that allow the reader to follow the fighting street by street.
Book Data
Author: Günther Baumann
ISBN: 9781927332115
Language: English
Pages: 480
Photos: 48
Maps: 45
Physical: Hardcover, 230x150mm, portrait
Chapters
Introduction
I. The Situation
A. Germany’s Situation at the Beginning of 1945
B. The Situation at the Beginning of the Soviet Offensive in January 1945
II. Fighting in Sector East and Encirclement of the City
III. The Fighting in Sector West
IV. Penetration into the Southern Part of the City
V. The Penetration in the Southwest
VI: The Breakout in Sector West
VII: Fighting in Sector North
VIII: The Fighting for the Rail Facilities and the Schloß
IX: The Situation in the Fortress
X: Change of Command
XI: The Soviets
XII: Battle Sector Centre
XIII: The Events in Sector North During February
XIV: Breakout North
XV: Sector East in February and the Warthe Bridgeheads
XVI: Breakouts in the East and the Rearguards
1. Fort Roeder (I)
2. The Breakout East
3. The Rearguards
XVII: The Situation Before the Final Battle
XVIII: Final Battle for the Kernwerk
1. Fighting on the Fore Field
2. The Final Battle
3. Conditions Inside the Kernwerk During the Final Battle
4. The End
XIX: Horror and Fear
1. The Capture
2. The Propaganda Marches
3. The Wounded
XX: The Prisoner of War Camps in Posen
XXI: Where Are They?
XXII: The Poles
Last Tidings from Fortress Posen
Appendices
Bibliography
Index of Names
Index of Places
Index of Units