The Upper Silesian offensive was a strategically significant

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

offensive on the Eastern Front of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in 1945. It was aimed at capturing the considerable industrial and natural resources located in

Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, locate ...

and involved forces of the

1st Ukrainian Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front (Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a ...

under Marshal

Ivan Konev Ivan Stepanovich Konev ( rus, link=no, Ива́н Степа́нович Ко́нев, p=ɪˈvan sʲtʲɪˈpanəvʲɪtɕ ˈkonʲɪf; – 21 May 1973) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union who led Red Army forces on the ...

. Due to the importance of the region to the Germans, considerable forces were provided to

Army Group Centre Army Group Centre (german: Heeresgruppe Mitte) was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army for ...

for its defence and the Germans were only slowly pushed back to the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

border. Fighting for the region lasted from mid January right until the last day of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945.

Prelude

After the end of the Soviet summer offensive of 1944 (

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп ...

), the frontline of the Eastern Front had stabilised roughly in the middle of Poland, running from

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...

on the Baltic coast over

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

via the

Vistula 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 ...

to the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretche ...

. Most of the pre-war German territory was still under control of the Third Reich at the end of 1944. On 12 january 1945, Soviet troops launched the simultaneous Vistula–Oder and Western Carpathian offensives. The front lines in Silesia had been established at the end of the Vistula–Oder offensive in January, during which Konev's troops had forced the German Seventeenth Army of General

Friedrich Schulz __NOTOC__ Friedrich Schulz (15 October 1897 – 30 November 1976) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. Awards * 1914 Iron Cross 2nd Cl ...

out of the industrial heartland of Upper Silesia around

Kattowitz Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most populo ...

. The Lower Silesian offensive operation, taking place in February, had seen the northern wing of Konev's forces make further gains, closing up to the

Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.Sudeten Mountains, still held by Schulz's troops, which formed a potential threat to the proposed Soviet advance on Berlin.

Operation Gemse: the German counter-attacks at Lauban and Striegau

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J31305, Auszeichnung des Hitlerjungen Willi Hübner

The commander of

, Field-Marshal

Ferdinand Schörner Ferdinand Schörner (12 June 1892 – 2 July 1973) was a German military commander who held the rank of ''Generalfeldmarschall'' in the ''Wehrmacht'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded several army groups and was the last Command ...

, began to build up Schulz's forces during February for a counter-attack against the

3rd Guards Tank Army The 3rd Guards Tank Army (russian: 3-я гвардейская танковая армия) was a tank army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 3rd Tank Army was created in 1942 and fought in the southern areas of ...

's spearheads, which had reached and taken Lauban during the Lower Silesian offensive. The LVI Panzer Corps and

XXXIX Panzer Corps The XXXIX Panzer Corps (german: XXXIX.Panzerkorps, also previously designated the ''XXXIX.Armeekorps (mot)'') was a German panzer corps which saw action on the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II. Operational history The Corps whos ...

were grouped under the command of General Nehring; a two-pronged attack began on 1 March, with the 17th Panzer and Führer Grenadier Divisions attacking in the north, and

8th Panzer Division The 8th Panzer Division was a formation of the ''Wehrmacht'' ''Heer''. The division was formed by reorganising the 3rd Light Division in October 1939. It was transferred to the west and fought in the Battle of France, in May 1940, and the Germ ...

to the south.Duffy, p. 139. The 3rd Guards Tank Army was initially taken by surprise, though by 3 March German forces found themselves threatened by Soviet counterattacks from Naumberg. As a result, Nehring decided on a more limited plan of encirclement. Rybalko's troops evacuated Lauban to avoid being cut off, and the town was retaken by the 6th Volksgrenadier Division. By 4 March, the encirclement was closed, though large numbers of Soviet troops were able to escape; within 4 days the trapped force had been destroyed (the fighting in Silesia has been characterised as "merciless", with German forces not taking prisoners).Beevor, p. 127. Despite the limited nature of the victory, the recapture of Lauban was presented as a great success by German

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

, with

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to ...

visiting the town on 9 March to give a speech on the battle. Schörner made preparations for a further attack to the south-east at

Striegau Strzegom (german: Striegau) is a town in Świdnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Strzegom administrative district (gmina). It lies approximately north-west of Świdnica, and west of th ...

, which was commenced on 9 March. Though there were not enough forces available for a double envelopment, the Germans were able to penetrate the Soviet lines and cut off elements of the

5th Guards Army The 5th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought in many critical actions during World War II under the command of General Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov. The 5th Guards Army was formed in spring 1943 from the 66th Army in recognition of ...

on the night of 11–12 March; there was an outbreak of panic amongst the trapped troops, who were massacred by Schörner's men as they tried to escape.Duffy, p. 141. Schörner began to organise a more ambitious offensive to the north to relieve the besieged city of Breslau, moving Nehring's divisions northwards from Lauban by rail, but Konev acted decisively to regain the initiative in Silesia. Shifting the

4th Tank Army The 20th Guards Combined Arms Army (originally designated as the 4th Tank Army, 4th Guards Tank Army in 1945, 4th Guards Mechanised Army in 1946, and the 20th Guards Army in 1960 within the Soviet Ground Forces) is a field army. In 1991, after t ...

from the northern flank of his Front, he redeployed it near Grottkau in order to spearhead a major attack into

, neutralising the threat to the left flank of his forces and taking the area around Ratibor.

Deployments

Red Army

*Southern wing of

(Marshal

) **

(Colonel-General

Pavel Rybalko Pavel Semyonovich Rybalko (23 October 1894 – 28 August 1948; russian: Па́вел Семёнович Рыба́лко, uk, Павло Семенович Рибалко) was a commander of armoured troops in the Red Army during and following Wo ...

) **

(General

Dmitry Lelyushenko Dmitry Danilovich Lelyushenko (russian: Дми́трий Дани́лович Лелюше́нко; ( – July 20, 1987) was a Soviet military commander, the highest rank achieved being that of an Army General (1959). Twice the Hero of the Soviet ...

) ** 21st Army (General Dmitry Gusev) **

60th Army The Red Army's 60th Army was a Soviet field army during the Second World War. It was first formed in reserve in the Moscow Military District in October 1941, but soon was disbanded. It was formed a second time in July 1942, and continued in serv ...

(General Pavel Kurochkin) ** 59th Army (Major-General Ivan Korovnikov) *Northern wing of

4th Ukrainian Front The 4th Ukrainian Front (Russian: Четвёртый Украинский фронт) was the name of two distinct Red Army strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The front was first formed on 20 October 1943, ...

(Army-General

Ivan Yefimovich Petrov Ivan Yefimovich Petrov (russian: Иван Ефимович Петров; – 7 April 1958) was a Soviet Army General from 1941. Early military career Born in Trubchevsk in 1896, he began his military service in the Red Army in 1918, the year whe ...

) ** 38th Army (General

Kirill Moskalenko Kirill Semyonovich Moskalenko (russian: Кирилл Семёнович Москаленко, uk, Кирило Семенович Москаленко; May 11, 1902 – June 17, 1985) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union. A member of the Soviet Arm ...

)

Wehrmacht

Divisional assignments to Corps as of 31 Dec. 1944.Gunter, p. 293. Units tended to move between Corps depending on situation. *

Army Group A Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) was the name of several German Army Groups during World War II. During the Battle of France, the army group named Army Group A was composed of 45½ divisions, including 7 armored panzer divisions. It was responsibl ...

(General

Josef Harpe Josef Harpe (21 September 1887 – 14 March 1968) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 9th Army. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. Harpe served on the ...

until 20 Jan 1945) until 25 Jan. 1945 then renamed

(later Army Group Schörner) (Field-Marshal

) ** Ninth Army (General Heinrich von Lüttwitz) *** LVI Panzer Corps / ''Korpsgruppe Schlesien'' (General

Rudolf Koch-Erpach Rudolf Koch-Erpach (9 April 1886 – 28 November 1971) was a German general during World War II who commanded the LVI Panzer Corps and the 1st Army. Biography Koch-Erpach was born in Munich, and eventually rose to the rank of general. In 1 ...

) ****incl. 17 ID, 214 ID *** VIII Army Corps (General

Walter Hartmann __NOTOC__ Walter Hartmann (23 July 1891 – 11 March 1977) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. During the evacuation of ...

) ****incl. 251 ID, 6 VGD **

4th Panzer Army The 4th Panzer Army (german: 4. Panzerarmee) (operating as Panzer Group 4 (german: 4. Panzergruppe) from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, when it was redesignated as a full army) was a German panzer formation during World War ...

(General

Fritz-Hubert Gräser __NOTOC__ Fritz-Hubert Gräser (3 January 1888 – 4 November 1960) was a German general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Awards * Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Clas ...

) ***

XXXXVIII Panzer Corps XXXXVIII Panzer Corps (also: XXXXVIII Army Corp or XXXXVIII. Armeekorps), was a corps-level formation of the German Army which saw extensive action on both the Eastern and Western Fronts during World War II. History The corps was originally f ...

(General

Maximilian von Edelsheim __NOTOC__ Maximilian von Edelsheim (6 July 1897 – 26 April 1994) 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, Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leave ...

) ****incl. 68 ID, 168 ID, 304 ID ** Seventeenth Army (General

) *** LIX Corps (General

Edgar Röhricht __NOTOC__ Edgar Röhricht (16 June 1892 – 11 February 1967) was a German general during World War II who commanded the LIX. corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Röhricht was surrendered to the Allied troops in 194 ...

later

Georg Ritter von Hengl Georg Ritter von Hengl (21 October 1897 – 19 March 1952) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded the XIX Mountain Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. During World War I, ...

) ****incl. 359 ID, 371 ID, 544 VGD ***

XI SS Corps The XI SS Corps (German: ''XI. SS-Armeekorps'' later ''XI. SS-Panzerkorps'') was a Waffen-SS corps created on July 24, 1944 in southern Poland on the basis of the remains of the headquarters of the defeated V Army Corps and employed on the Eas ...

(''SS-

Obergruppenführer ' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...

Matthias Kleinheisterkamp Matthias Kleinheisterkamp (22 June 1893 – 29 April 1945) was an SS-''Obergruppenführer'' during World War II. He commanded the SS Division Totenkopf, SS Division Nord, SS Division Das Reich, III SS Panzer Corps, VII SS Panzer Corps, IV SS P ...

) ****incl. 78th ''Sturm'' Division, 320 VGD, 545 VGD **

1st Panzer Army The 1st Panzer Army (german: 1. Panzerarmee) was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II. When originally formed on 1 March 1940, the predecessor of the 1st Panzer Army was named Panzer Group ...

(Colonel-General

Gotthard Heinrici Gotthard Fedor August Heinrici (25 December 1886 – 10 December 1971) was a German general during World War II. Heinrici is considered as the premier defensive expert of the ''Wehrmacht''. His final command was Army Group Vistula, formed from t ...

to 19 March, then General

Walther Nehring Walther Nehring (15 August 1892 – 20 April 1983) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the Afrika Korps. Early life Nehring was born on 15 August 1892 in Stretzin, West Prussia. Nehring was the descendant of ...

) ***

XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to: * 11th Army Corps (France) * XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * XI ...

(General Horst von Mellenthin to 19 March, then General Rudolf von Bünau) ****incl. 75 ID, 253 ID, 100 JD *** XXXXIX Mountain Corps (General

Karl von Le Suire __NOTOC__ Karl Hans Maximilian von Le Suire (8 November 1898 – 18 June 1954) was a German general during World War II who commanded the XXXXIX Mountain Corps. He was responsible for the Massacre of Kalavryta, in Greece. Life and career Karl v ...

) ****incl. 254 ID, 97 JD, 101 JD, 1 SkiJD ** 1st Hungarian Army (Colonel General Miklocz)Gunter p. 21. *** XVII Corps (General

Wilhelm Fahrmbacher Wilhelm Fahrmbacher (19 September 1888 – 27 April 1970) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded several corps, including VII Corps, XXV Corps and LXXXIV Corps, fighting on both the Eastern Front and ...

) ****incl. 3 GebD, 4 GebD Also present: 8th, 16th, 17th,

19th 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

and

20th 20 (twenty; Roman numeral XX) is the natural number following 19 and preceding 21. A group of twenty units may also be referred to as a score. In mathematics *20 is a pronic number. *20 is a tetrahedral number as 1, 4, 10, 20. *20 is the ba ...

Panzer Divisions. These tended to pass between Corps. Also Führer Begleit Division,Gunter p. 255. 18th SS Div., 20th SS GD, and Panzer Division Hermann Göring.Gunter p. 222. *Air support from

Luftflotte 4 ''Luftflotte'' 4For an explanation of the meaning of Luftwaffe unit designation see Luftwaffe Organisation (Air Fleet 4) was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on March 18, 1939, from Luftwaffenkomm ...

The offensive

Konev launched his main attack on 15 March. The 4th Tank Army broke through the German lines west of Oppeln and drove directly southward, heading for Neustadt. A subsidiary attack by the 4th Guards Tank Corps fanned out to take

Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to: * 11th Army Corps (France) * XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * XI ...

, holding the lines near Oppeln, was now threatened with encirclement. In the south, the 38th Army attacked German troops of the LIX Corps defending with their backs to the highlands of

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The ...

. By means of a limited tactical withdrawal on 10 March, Heinrici was able to minimise the damage inflicted by the preparatory bombardment, and the front in this sector remained firm.Duffy, p. 147.

The encirclement at Oppeln

The LVI Panzer Corps positioned near Oppeln also started to pull back, but the 20th Grenadier (Estonian) Division of the SS and 168th Infantry Division found themselves trapped by the advance of the 4th Tank Army and 59th Army which linked up near Neustadt. By the 22nd, Soviet forces of the 59th and 21st Armies succeeded in reducing the Oppeln 'cauldron' (german: Kessel), claiming to have killed 15,000 and captured a further 15,000 of the German troops trapped there.Beevor, p. 129. Konev launched further attacks on 24 March, and by 31 March, when Ratibor and Katscher were taken, was able to declare the offensive phase of operations over.Duffy, p. 146.

Aftermath

The Upper Silesian Offensive succeeded in stabilising Konev's left flank in preparation for the advance on Berlin, and removed the threat of any German counter-attacks from

. The lines in Silesia remained largely unchanged until the end of the war, when Schoerner's force surrendered.

Notes

References

* Beevor, A. ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945'', Penguin Books, 2002, *Duffy, C. ''Red Storm on the Reich: The Soviet March on Germany, 1945'', Routledge, 1991, . * David M. Glantz
The Soviet-German War 1941–45
Myths and Realities: A Survey Essay. *Georg Gunter, ''Last Laurels: The German Defence of Upper Silesia'', Helion & Company, 2002, .

Prelude

Operation Gemse: the German counter-attacks at Lauban and Striegau

Deployments

Red Army

Wehrmacht

The offensive

The encirclement at Oppeln

Aftermath

Notes

References

Further reading