Gdańsk 1945 year described by the Germans.
It was never possible to determine reliably, How many people stayed in Gdańsk at that time. 17 March was organized a census of the population, But of course it could be carried out in a very insufficient way. At that time, Gauleiter estimated the population of the Danzig-Gotenhafen abutment on 600 000 up to about a million people. Because the fertile agricultural areas of Werder and Lowlands could not be included in the defensive zone, The supplies in the fortress itself were not naturally enough, To survive a monthly siege – Even if it was possible military. At the beginning of March in Gdańsk it was around 16.000 wounded, and in the whole area of the fortress around 20.000. Every day from East Prussia and Kurland came around L..000 wounded, And from West Prussia around 800. Some of them, together with refugees, She was exported every day by sea, but the influx was much larger than the outflow.
I will never forget the impression, which I had at the end of January, When I took my wife and the youngest daughter on board “Deutschland”, which was filled with refugees and waited for the order to leave. This order, expected for 30 January, He was delayed, Because “Wilhelm Gustloff”, who left Gotenhafen the day before, fell victim to the Soviet submarine. Refugees on board “Deutschland” and two other ships of the same size they knew nothing about it. Only military command was informed.
Icy wind, turning the snow, He whistled through the Holm Island in the Gdańsk port and through Troyl, where refugee ships were moored. Evening was falling, they meant a kilometer road to Troyl, Desperate people, Mainly women and children, who unable to go further, They sat in the snow on suitcases or backpacks, which they brought with them and waited for help. Others pulled their belongings behind them, packed in sacks, on ropes like a hand sleigh. The tragedy is all the more depressing, that from time to time only the silent scow was heard, and besides, only the icy wind whistled and off. Along with “Deutschland” The deported, among others. members of the teaching staff of the University of Technology and the wife and children of Gdańsk employees. Deutschland” It landed without obstacles in Kiel, it was only sunk later.
In the first days of March, the General Command of the 20th. A. K. (gen. Specht) He left the barracks in the White Tower in Gdańsk and moved to the building of the Polish Naval School in Adlershorst. On the day 18 Marc went to the bunkers on the head of Heli, where the command staff later went 2 Army. In the meantime, General Colonel Weiß was replaced by General von Saucken. Weiß's headquarters was initially in Pelonken near Oliwa, Then she was transferred to Westerplatte and Bohnsack, But of course she couldn't stay there, When Gdańsk was flames.
22 March Soviet army through Groß-Catz reached the sea between Adlershorst and Sopot. This way was separated “Gotenhafen Fortress” from “Gdańsk fortress”. The final battle of both “fortress, which were not the fortresses” It was fought separately from now on. 24 mark 1945 r. The Russian Marshal Rokossowski ordered the leaflet from the air from the air on Gdańsk and Gotenhafen and Gotenhafen, in which it was written:
Marshal Rokossian
to the garrison in Gdańsk and Gdynia generals, officers and soldiers 2. German army!
My troops took yesterday, 23 mark, Sopot and divided a closed group of forces into two parts. Garrison Gdańsk and Gdynia are separated from each other. Our artillery firms ports in Gdańsk and Gdynia and entering them. The iron ring of my troops around you is increasingly narrowing.
In these circumstances, your resistance is in vain and will only lead to your fall and the fall of hundreds of thousands of women, children and old people.
I call you to:
1. Immediately stop resisting and undergoing white flags individually, in a group, platoon, firmly, Battalionowo and Pułkowo.
I guarantee life and personal property of all these, who give up.
All officers and soldiers, who will not pick up their arms, will be destroyed in the upcoming storm.
You will be fully responsible for victims among civilians.
Troops 2 Belarusian Front Marshal of the Soviet Union K. Rokossowski 24 mark 1945 r. (Original available)