The siege of Danzig was launched by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in March 1945.

Background

On 14 January, the

2nd Belorussian Front The 2nd Belorussian Front (Russian: Второй Белорусский фронт, alternative spellings are 2nd Byelorussian Front) was a military formation, of Army group size, of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. Soviet army g ...

started an attack against the 2nd Army from their

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

Pułtusk Pułtusk (pronounced ) is a town in northeast Poland, by the river Narew. Located north of Warsaw in the Masovian Voivodeship, it had a population of about 19,000 . Known for its historic architecture and Europe's longest paved marketplace ( in ...

, and in the next ten days, they would advance quickly up the

Vistula river The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

. Danzig would eventually be reached in early March, and as it was an important strategic location and the last German stronghold in the region, the Soviets started coordinating attacks.

Course of the battle

Acknowledging the risk of Soviet arrival in the city, general

Karl-Wilhelm Specht __NOTOC__ Karl-Wilhelm Specht (22 May 1894 – 3 December 1953) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He served on the "Court of Military Hono ...

organised the defences. He was replaced by

Dietrich von Saucken Dietrich Friedrich Eduard Kasimir von Saucken (16 May 1892 – 27 September 1980) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 2nd Army and the Army East Prussia. Turning down an offer to escape by air, he surrendered to the Re ...

due to not agreeing to Hitler's policies on the defense of the city. The Soviets began massive

bombardment A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire or by dropping bombs from aircraft on fortifications, combatants, or towns and buildings. Prior to World War I, the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenseless or undefended objects, ...

s of Danzig on 15 March. A

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

unit was deployed in the Oliwa Forests (''Lasy Oliwskie'') on the 18th, which provoked the Soviets to enter it and start bloody fighting in the forest. The fight continued unitil 25 March and resulted in a Soviet victory. It is regarded as the most intense and bloody battle of the siege. On the 21st, the way to Nenkau was opened. On 22 March, they entered the city from the north (through

Zoppot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest city ...

). On the 24th, Praust was taken by the Soviets, though it wasn't an important strategic move, as the areas nearby were flooded and the main offensives were in the north and west. After the takeover of Glettkau on the 25th, Soviet tanks continued their advance towards Brösen, though it was stopped by the 62 Grenadier Regiment, which recently entrenched in the region. Intense fights would break out in the downtown in the next few days, though the fights within the city were more limited. In the following days,

Oliwa Oliwa ( la, Oliva; csb, Òlëwa; german: Oliva) is a northern district of the city of Gdańsk, Poland. From east it borders Przymorze and Żabianka, from the north Sopot and from the south with the districts of Strzyża, VII Dwór and Brętowo, ...

would become another centre for artillery as the Soviets progressed through the city. The 27th was an important date; Hagelsberg, a mountain in the region, was captured by the Soviets, as well as Neufahrwasser, an important port, was taken over. Now, the

gasworks A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space. Early gasworks Coal ...

in the

Gdańsk Shipyard The Gdańsk Shipyard ( pl, Stocznia Gdańska, formerly Lenin Shipyard) is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk. The yard gained international fame when Solidarity () was founded there in September 1980. It is situated on the w ...

were only 100 metres away from Soviet-occupied territory. Fights began in the remnants of German territory, and Śródmieście was burning. The lack of water and low accessibility caused the fire to continue, which did not give advantages for both sides. Mass bombardments and common Soviet attacks resulted in the divisions in the centre of the city to the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of the Vistula and its surroundings. The Germans continued fighting, finally surrendering on 30 March.

Aftermath

As the Germans surrendered, Danzig was left as ruins. The bombardments, constant battling and continuous fires resulted in most of the city's landmarks destroyed. On 30 March, the newly renamed Gdańsk was subject to the

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

which created the Gdańsk Voivodeship. Mass

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

of Germans from the city started shortly after the battle in order to rise the government's popularity and manifest the new administration system. By 1946, around 68% of the German population was gone.

References

{{Gdańsk 1945 in military history March 1945 events in Europe 1945 in Poland 1945 in Germany