Brestskaya Krepost'

This thread is dedicated to the discussion of Brestskaya Krepost' (or the Brest Fortress),
one of the first Soviet locations that met the Wehrmacht with fierce resistance. Even
after the German armies had gone deep into Soviet territory, advancing with never-before-known
speed as part of the Blitzkrieg, Brestskaya Krepost' refused to fall into the hands of the
German invaders, holding on for 1 and a half weeks from the start of the war, the Wehrmacht
still proceeding to advance further into the SU. The defenders of the fortress, 3,500 strong,
consisted mostly of regular infantry soldiers, border guards and NKVD men. They faced
elements of the 45th Austrian Infanty Division along with the 2nd Panzer Group under
Heinz Guderian (in total, around 20 000 people). The Germans planned to secure the
area in 12 hours (!).

Heavily outnumbered, practically unsupplied, surrounded by the enemy, starving,
thirsty, the fortress defenders fought on for days

The fortress eventually went into German hands on the 30th of June 1941.

Recaptured by the Soviet forces in 1944, the site now is a reminder of the beginning
of the greatest and bloodiest war in human history. The events of the fortress defense
were not publicized in the Soviet Union until after the death of Stalin.

The Museum of the Defence of the Brest Fortress was opened in 1956, while the
Brest Fortress Memorial Complex was opened in 1971.

German soldiers conducting artillery fire. Brest fortress. 1941.


This is what the fortress looks like now.


Soviet soldiers on the offense at Brestskaya Krepost'.


"I'm dying but I won't surrender. Farewell, Motherland. 20.VII.41."



A memorial to the fallen soldiers of the Special 132th NKVD batallion.


This is how the fortress looked like before the war.


Soviet border guards on a riverbank near the fortress. June 1941.


The Brest Fortress Memorial.


Close-up.


Ruined army barracks at the Brest fortress, preserved in their wartime state, along with a mini-memorial to the defenders. (photo taken in the evening, barracks barely visible in the background, apologies)



'The Defenders of the Brest Fortress' - P. Krivonogov


The Eternal Fire Memorial (as part of the whole Memorial complex). The letters on the bottom read 'They fought to the death. Let us honour them'. Or, if translated word-to word, 'The fought to the death. Honour the heroes.'


The map from the secret appendix to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact showing the new German-Soviet border after September 1939; the town of Brest can be seen as located on next to the border.

 

The concrete slab which states "im dying but will not surrender....." is now located at the Moscow war museum. In 2005 I had the privilege visiting the Museum and noticed a number of elders wipe their eyes upon reading this slab...

 

Didn't Guderian's troops capture Brest from the Poles in 1939 and had to hand it over to the Soviets & withdraw to the demarcation line?

 

I live near that museum Victory Park is 2 minutes away from my house So I've been there quite often (on the 9th of May in particular - they've got free admission ) and I've seen that stone slab...they've got fragments of the Reichstag columns with the 'My pobedili' and 'ya doshel' writings on them..they've also got the flag that Egorov and Kantaria (it was Kantaria, wasn't it? %) ) hung on the Reichstag. That's just the best museum in the world, in my opinion

 

I think so, but I'll have to check once more That must have been one of the main points of the Molotov-Ribbnentrop Pact. The SU had 52% of Poland along with Brest. The Germans had the rest, by agreement.

By the way, congrats on reaching 1000! Wessex Wyvern, you've just been awarded the Order of the Great Patriotic War 1st Class, and I've only got a purple heart *sob* Anyway, congrats again

 

Wow those are some statues in Russia. I love it when forum members post images about stuff like that. Such great history to study here thanks.

 

This statue-(THIRST) is very moving. Brest for one reason or another did not have enough water stored for its defenders. Fortress sits on the water edge and the statue depicts a thirsty soldier reaching for water that is so close ,yet so far.

Brest ended up being a trap for Russians.

 

From the RKKA website a Russian map of the defences.

http://www.armchairgeneral.com/rkkaww2/maps/1941W/Brest/brest_rus41.JPG

 

RKKA website, Brest panorama.
http://www.armchairgeneral.com/rkkaww2/maps/1941W/Brest/brest_panorama.jpg

 

diagram of the assault.
http://www.armchairgeneral.com/rkkaww2/maps/1941W/Brest/brest_ger1.jpg

 

Bit on You Tube.

YouTube - Soviet Citadel of Brest-Litovsk is Captured (Jun 1941)

 

[SIZE=12pt]Robert Kershaw in [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]his[/SIZE] [SIZE=12pt]book “War Without Garlands- Operation Barbarossa 1941-1942” provides quite a detailed story of the defence.[/SIZE]

 

I saw The Russian movie on Youtube a few months back.
Seems like The Russians have made A LOT of good WW2 movies.
Anyway...was it Fortress Brest...??
Was a fabulous watch...touching scenes of humanity and love and a sense of a beautiful Rural Russian life that is now gone.
The action scenes were great.
I forget the little boys name (sasha maybe) but you saw him become a "man". I was not aware of how many "civilians" were living there.
I think Stalingrad was the payback for Brest. They really got wiped out.
I suppose there was a lot of "that".

 

I own the movie Denny. I also enjoyed it very much....

 

Wow, how come I missed this fine thread about the Russian "Eben Mael" ? Thanks for reviving this Slon

 

what is the title of the film about the fitress?
When was it produced?

 

Here it is. It's a 2010 Belarus film production . It's in Russian with English subtitles.

Enjoy friend!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J_wyXGa9dc

 

Yeah...that is it.!
A wonderful film...enjoy.
thanks skipper

 

Glad I could help Denny.