The strength and courage of the Soviet people won the most terrible war of the last century. Their feat was everyday on the front line, in the rear, in the field, in partisan forests and swamps. The pages of the history of the Great Patriotic War are erased from the memory of people; peacetime and the gradual withdrawal of that heroic generation contribute to this. We must remember and pass on to the next generation the lessons of courage and the scale of the tragedy of the people. The blockade of Leningrad, the battle for Moscow, Stalingrad, the Kursk Bulge, the liberation of Voronezh and every battle of that war that helped to win back an inch of our native land at the cost of our own lives.
Situation on the front
The summer of 1942 was for Germans a second chance to restore initiative during the fighting. A large group of troops was blocked to the north (Leningrad), huge losses in the battle for Moscow significantly tempered Hitler's ardor and reduced his plans for the lightning capture of the USSR to a minimum. Now, each military operation was carefully planned, a regrouping of troops was carried out, ways to supply them and organize rear services were being prepared. Nazi atrocities in the occupied territories stirred up a wave of partisan movement and the largest enemy groups did not feel completely safe. Interruptions in supply, hundreds of derailed railway cars with manpower and equipment, the complete destruction of small German units, and the transfer of intelligence to regular units of the Soviet army greatly interfered with the invaders. Therefore, the operation "Blau" (on the Eastern Front) was developed taking into account all possible scenarios, but even with such a competent strategic approach, the Nazis did not take into account the stubbornness and courage of the defenders of Voronezh. This ancient Russian city stood in the way of Hitler, but its capture and destruction, according to the Germans, did not require a significant amount of time. So unexpected for them was the final battle in the city of Voronezh. His liberation was fully achieved as a result of active offensive operations in January 1943, but he remained "unconquered".
Hitler's new goals
Due to the large territory of the location of the military units, the Germans encountered a supply problem. The army was constantly in need of food, clothing and fuel. For replenishment, resource bases were needed, which at that time were concentrated in the hands of the enemy. The capture of the Caucasus would solve the problem of fuel and energy resources, but Hitler’s plans were understandable to the Soviet command, so significant counteraction forces concentrated in the eastern direction. Crossing the Don River with the subsequent destruction of the armed forces based in Voronezh would enable the fascists to successfully carry out Operation Blau and develop a full-scale attack on the city of Stalingrad. Therefore, in the south-eastern direction of the front, by the summer of 1942, huge forces of the fascist army were concentrated. More than half of all motorized formations and 35-40% of infantry units deployed on the Soviet-German front were put forward to realize the Führer’s dream of capturing the Caucasus. On June 28, 1942, the Germans launched Operation Blau, which was disrupted by Soviet troops near Stalingrad and in the city of Voronezh. Liberation from the Nazis was waiting for Kursk, Oryol, which were captured during the attack on Moscow.
Offensive on Voronezh
Since the beginning of the war, Voronezh, like all cities of the USSR, was transferred to martial law. Mass mobilization took place, a larger number of enterprises were reoriented to military products (more than 100 items: IL-2, Katyusha aircraft, armored trains, uniforms, etc.), the largest and most significant for the economy, were evacuated to the rear. Voronezh was preparing to repel a possible attack by the Nazis from the west. In the spring of 1942, intense bombing began, which destroyed the tram tracks. At that moment, it was the only functioning mode of transport. The historical center of the old city of Voronezh was badly damaged. Emancipation of Labor Street (formerly Vvedenskaya) with a church and monastery lost a significant number of historical monuments. The air defense division was created from girls living in the region and the city itself. Most of the men who were not mobilized into the regular army (workers, teachers, students) went into the militia, which took the first blow of the German military machine. In the Voronezh direction, the length of the front line was significant, which is why the German armies broke through the defenses and quickly approached the borders of the city. On July 6, the Nazis crossed the Don and entered the suburbs of Voronezh. At this stage, the German generals cheerfully reported on the capture of the city, they did not assume that they would not succeed in completely capturing it. The liberation of Voronezh on January 25, 1943 will be lightning fast due to the bridgeheads held all the time by the Soviet wars. By the time the Nazis attacked the city, most of it was destroyed by bombing, houses and factories were burning. Under these conditions, a mass evacuation of the population, hospitals, the most important parts of the property of production enterprises, and the removal of historical and cultural values was carried out .
Front line
The liberation of Voronezh from the Nazi invaders began on the left bank of the river. Coming from the south and west, the Nazis did not meet with a proper rebuff, so they considered the city captured. The right-bank part
of the Voronezh River was not fortified for defensive battles, regular units of the Soviet army were far away, their transfer required time and bridgeheads for basing. In the city there were parts of the NKVD, a militia battalion, 41 regiments of border guards and anti-aircraft gunners, who took the brunt of the attack. Most of these compounds moved to the left bank of the river and began to build fortifications. The task of the rest was to delay the advance of the Nazis. This made it possible to defend the crossing of the Voronezh River and slow down the advance of the German units until the approach of the reserve units. In conditions of urban battle, Voronezh exhausted the enemy and retreated to the left-bank borders. By order of Stalin, a reserve brigade of 8, consisting of Siberians, was sent to Voronezh. The Germans managed to gain a foothold on the right bank, but their further advance was stopped by the river, or rather the impossibility of forcing it. The front line stretched from Art. The spawn before the confluence of the river. Voronezh to the Don. The positions of Soviet soldiers were located in residential areas and factory floors, this ensured a good disguise. The enemy did not see the movement of units, command posts and could only guess from the density of fire about the number of defenders. An order came from the Supreme Commander’s headquarters to detain the Nazis on the Voronezh River and not to surrender their positions. The Soviet information bureau reported the conduct of hostilities rather vaguely. Information on heavy fighting in the Voronezh direction was announced.
Defense
Since July 4, 1942, fierce battles were fought in the right-bank part of the city. Several units of Soviet soldiers, officers, militias, part of the NKVD, anti-aircraft gunners operated in the center of Voronezh. Using urban buildings as a cover, they crossed to the right bank and destroyed the Nazis. The crossing was carried out with massive support of artillery, which was fixed on the left bank. Fighters from the river immediately rushed into battle against superior enemy forces, which had an advantage in location. The right bank was steep enough, which made it difficult to move units. The desperate courage of these people led to the fact that on July 6-7, fights took place on the streets: Pomyalovsky, Stepan Razin, Revolution Avenue, Nikitinskaya, Engels, Dzerzhinsky, Emancipation of Labor. Voronezh did not surrender to the invaders, but the offensive had to be stopped, the units suffered too much loss during the crossing. The surviving fighters returned to the left bank on July 10, their main task was to strengthen their defensive positions and prepare bridgeheads for the next offensive. The liberation of Voronezh began precisely from the moment of this offensive and lasted a long seven months.
Hotspots on the map
The liberation of Voronezh continued, the left-bank defense line kept the enemy from capturing the entire city. Offensive operations did not stop, reinforcements arrived and Soviet troops based in the city continued to destroy the Nazis. The front line changed several times a day, the struggle went on for every quarter, street, house. German tank and infantry divisions repeatedly tried to cross the Voronezh River. The liberation of the left bank from the defenders meant the subjugation of the city, its capture. Otrozhensky bridges, the Semiluksky ferry were subjected to constant shelling, bombing and tank attacks. The defenders did not just stand to death, they restored damaged structures under shelling and during raids. After the counterattacks by the Nazis, the Soviet units left the right bank, carrying out the wounded, refugees marched, at that time the Germans tried to attack or rush behind the marching convoy. It was not possible to force the Voronezh River across the railway bridge either, Soviet soldiers, realizing that they could not hold back the enemy’s onslaught for a long time, jammed the bridge with a burning train. At night, the central span was mined and blown up. The liberation of Voronezh from the Nazi invaders was due to the created bridgeheads, which could be relied on by the advancing units of the Soviet army. Holding at the cost of their own lives, positions on Chizhovka and near Shilovo, soldiers destroyed large enemy groups. These bridgeheads were in the right-bank part of the city, the Germans managed to gain a foothold on them and put up powerful resistance. Soldiers nicknamed Chizhovka “the Valley of Death”, but capturing and holding it, deprived the Germans of strategic advantage, fettered their actions in the central part of the city.
August, September 42
Fierce clashes occurred on the hospital grounds and on campus. The area of the city park and agricultural institute is riddled with bullets and shells, every patch of land is saturated with the blood of Soviet soldiers who fought for the liberation of Voronezh. Photos of places of military glory retained all the scale and brutality of the fighting. The witness and monument of those days is the Rotunda (showroom of the surgical department), this is the only surviving building on the territory of the regional hospital. The Germans turned each corps into a fortified firing point, which did not allow Soviet soldiers to capture this strategically important object. Contractions continued for a month, their result was the stabilization of the front line, the Nazis were forced to retreat. The liberation of Voronezh, its right-bank part, lasted 212 days and nights. The fighting took place in the city, on its outskirts, in settlements along the entire length of the river.
The liberation of Voronezh from the Nazi invaders
Operation "Small Saturn" was carefully planned and prepared by the Soviet command. In the history of military affairs it is often called "Stalingrad on the Don", it was carried out by outstanding military leaders: P. S. Rybalko, G. K. Zhukov, A. Vasilevsky, K. S. Moskalenko, I. D. Chernyakhovsky, F. I. Golikov. For the first time, offensive operations were carried out from bridgeheads, which served to rearrange units and remained full-fledged rear structures during the fighting. The liberation of Voronezh on January 25 was the result of the Voronezh-Kastornensky operation (January 24, 1943 - February 2). The 60th army, under the command of I. Chernyakhovsky, captured the city and completely cleaned it of enemy units. The actions of the Soviet military forced the Nazis to flee the city, leaving their positions, before the possibility of encirclement, the Nazis tried to preserve the combat-ready parts of the army. Long, exhausting battles in urban conditions significantly reduced the size of the German group and undermined its fighting spirit. In the bulletins of the information bureau dated 26.01.01, the following message was heard: as a result of the offensive operation of the Soviet troops by the forces of the Voronezh and Bryansk fronts, Voronezh was liberated on January 25, 1943. Photos and videos of that day reflect an unprecedented scale of destruction. The city was completely destroyed, its inhabitants either left or were killed by the Nazis. The ruins of the remaining houses were so quiet that people shuddered at the noise of their own steps.
Destruction
Hitler Voronezh was needed as a convenient springboard for further offensive operations in the eastern direction. The Nazis were unable to capture the city, so when they left the right-bank part, they received an order to mine all the remaining tall buildings. Powerful explosions destroyed museums, churches, the palace of pioneers, and administrative buildings. All valuables left in the city were exported to the west, including a bronze monument to Peter 1 and Lenin. Housing stock was destroyed by 96%, tram tracks and power lines were destroyed, communications did not function. The historic city center with its wooden buildings burned down during the bombing, stone and brick buildings, factory floors turned into ruins fortified for defense. Hitler wrote that he wiped Voronezh off the face of the earth, it would take 50-70 years to restore it incompletely, he was pleased with this result. Civilians returning from evacuation rebuilt the city literally brick by brick, many buildings were mined, which led to civilian casualties. Voronezh was one of the 15 most destroyed cities during the Great Patriotic War. A special decree allocated funds and building materials for its restoration. Voronezh did not surrender to the Germans and the devastation, it is saturated with the spirit of that war, covered with mass graves of its defenders, but lives and develops.
Value for the front
The units defending Voronezh carried out several important tasks simultaneously. They connected a large group of enemy troops, which included not only German units, but also their allies in this war. The Italian, Hungarian armies were defeated during the offensive operation in the Voronezh direction. After such a defeat, Hungary (which did not know such massive defeats before this day) withdrew from the alliance with Germany and the war on the eastern front. Defenders of Voronezh covered Moscow in a southerly direction and defended the transport network necessary for the country. The defenders of the city did not give Hitler the opportunity to capture him with one blow and pulled back on themselves part of the group, which was supposed to go to Stalingrad. In the Voronezh direction, 25 German divisions were destroyed, more than 75 thousand soldiers and officers surrendered. Under the Nazi occupation of the region and the city, mass brutal massacres of civilians led to the formation of a partisan movement. After the liberation, these detachments joined the regular units of the Soviet army. The day of the liberation of Voronezh was for many millions of people not only a holiday, but also the beginning of a lot of creative work. The restoration of the city required new exploits from its inhabitants, but by 1945 life in the “unconquered” was in full swing.