Klęska w przededniu zwycięstwa. Nieudane sowieckie szturmy na Festung Breslau – luty–kwiecień 1945 roku

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Tomasz  
Głowiński
Klęska w przededniu zwycięstwa. Nieudane sowieckie szturmy na Festung Breslau – luty–kwiecień 1945 roku
[Defeat on the eve of victory. Failed Soviet assaults at Festung Breslau - February-April 1945]
s. 113–133; pp. 113–133
Keywords: Festung Breslau , Wrocław
Abstract

As the author states: “Winners since mid-January 1945, in all directions of their actions, the Soviets became embroiled in bloody, unresolved, three-month fights for Wrocław, whose acquisition had a propaganda-prestigious rather than military dimension for them, while failure to do so meant severe defeat.” Then presents the course of the fight. In conclusion, he states:

“Poorly prepared and carried out assaults not only led to huge losses of attackers (about 20% of the baseline of the 6th Army), but also to prolonged fighting, including the increase in civilian losses, estimated during the evacuation at 90,000. frozen, and in fighting about 80,000 killed.

However, the highest price for stopping both assaults at Festung Breslau was paid by the city itself, especially its southern and western districts, which during three months of fierce fighting became their field. The most severe losses were suffered by buildings of elegant residential districts located on the axis of the main, representative avenues leading from the city to the south and west – especially along Powstańców Śląskich Street, which does not exist today, Victoriastrasse and Legnica Street. As a result of fierce fighting, but also the deliberate demolition of defenders, entire quarters of buildings disappeared from this part of the city – mostly tenement houses from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The scale of destruction was enormous. While all of Wrocław lost about 68% of its housing substance during the three-month war, the southern and western districts, i.e. the areas of the two major Soviet assaults, suffered 90% and their destruction essentially affected the overall losses of the city”.

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