The occupation of Odessa lasted 907 days. During this time, tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel were killed. Many were forced to flee not only from the invaders, but also from those who took the side of the enemy and began to participate in mass crimes against ordinary citizens.
The liberation of Odessa put an end to the actions of the invaders. It took place during March-April 1944 and was called the Odessa operation, which was part of the offensive movement of the Soviet troops.
Odessa operation
A military operation was carried out by the 3rd Ukrainian Front with the support of additional forces. It was commanded by R.Ya. Malinovsky. The purpose of the operation was to defeat the forces of the enemy's maritime group, which concentrated between the Southern Bug and the Dniester. And also to free the Black Sea coast and the city of Odessa. The Dnieper-Carpathian offensive was carried out from 12.24.1943 to 04.17.1994. Odessa Liberation Day entered this period of the Soviet offensive.
The situation before the start of the operation
Odessa was occupied in October 1941 by German-Romanian troops. By January 1944, the Red Army troops began their operation, in connection with which the German command decided to liquidate the Romanian administration in Odessa and send their troops into the city. This led to mass arrests and executions. For several days, the bodies of dead people hung on poles and trees.
The liberation of Odessa became possible due to the fact that the Red Army was able to go to the shores of the Southern Bug and capture the German crossings. For the troops of the Wehrmacht, the retention of the Odessa port was of great strategic importance, since it was used to communicate with the occupied Crimea.
The liberation day of Odessa was delayed due to the creation of a solid defense by the Germans. To do this, they used the old defenses of the Soviet troops, which in 1941 were able to hold the city for two and a half months from the entrance of the enemy.
Forces of the parties
The liberation of Odessa was extremely important for the USSR, since this would deprive the Germans of the opportunity to transfer their forces through the port. For the operation, about 470 thousand troops were involved. At their disposal were more than 400 tanks and self-propelled guns, 12 thousand artillery and mortars, more than 400 aircraft. Most of the people and weapons belonged to the 3rd Ukrainian Front.
The liberation of Odessa could not allow the German and Romanian troops, who did their best to prevent this. The total number of their troops was about 350 thousand soldiers. They were part of the German and Romanian divisions. Of technology, they had 160 tanks and guns, more than 3 thousand mortars and guns. Aviation consisted of 400 German aircraft and 150 Romanian aircraft.
For the troops, the banks of the rivers (the largest Southern Bug and Dniester, small Tiligul and others) became the main line of defense. The strongest defense center was also Odessa itself, in which the "Fuhrer Fortress" was located.
The opposition of the Red Army from the Wehrmacht was concentrated as follows:
- in Odessa, Nikolaev, Berezovka tanks and artillery were located;
- infantry was stationed along rivers, bays, lagoons;
- minefields and obstacles were created on the western shores of the Southern Bug, as well as around Odessa.
Main events
The liberation of Odessa in 1944 began with the forcing of the Southern Bug River. The forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front had to confront the armies of the Wehrmacht and Romania. In the first weeks of March, Soviet troops managed to approach the banks of the river. By March 18, the forcing of the Southern Bug began, which took place rather rapidly and ended on the 28th. The Germans were unprepared for such a turn of events, and Ukrainian troops launched an equally swift attack on the south.
Having crossed to the other side of the river, the Soviet troops on the same day liberated Nikolaev. This led to the fact that the German army was forced to start a retreat, and the liberation of Odessa from the Nazi invaders became a very real task.
By early April, the enemy was surrounded, which was made possible by taking the Razdelnaya and Ochakova stations under Soviet control.
By April 9, Soviet soldiers appeared in the northern regions of Odessa. On the night of April 9-10, a night assault was carried out in collaboration with local partisans, and by morning the city was liberated. Further, the offensive went west, towards the Dniester.
The Ukrainian front was able to go to the left bank of the Dniester and liberate Transnistria, Moldova. During this time, the Germans lost about 37 thousand soldiers, some of whom were killed in battle, and some were captured.
Stages of liberation of Odessa region
The liberation of Odessa 1944 was not limited only to the city. From the German-Romanian occupiers liberated the entire region.
Steps to free the area:
- From March 5 to March 22, the Uman-Botoshansk operation took place, as a result of which the northern lands of the Odessa region were recaptured.
- From March 6 to March 18, the Southern Bug was crossed at the end of the Bereznegovato-Snigirevskaya operation. The Odessa operation began, which took place from March 28 to April 10. Then until August came a tactical pause in the offensive.
- From August 20 to 29, during the Iasi-Chisinau operation, the Izmail region, which is today part of Odessa, was recaptured.
City liberation
It is already known that April 10 is the day of liberation of Odessa. In order to make this possible, incredible efforts have been made. The enemy managed to organize a strong defense, using a complex natural terrain, water barriers. Moreover, at that time there was disgusting weather, which made it difficult to approach the city on the road.
The approach to the city began on April 4. Soviet troops phased all the water barriers, which consisted of Tiligulsky, Adzhalsky, Big Adzhalsky estuaries. By April 9, individual units reached the northern outskirts of the city, and the assault on Odessa began, which took place simultaneously from land, sea and air.
When the guards entered Odessa, fierce battles began for each house, which lasted all night. By the morning of April 10, fighting reached the central streets of the city. The banner of the Red Army hoisted above the opera house became a symbol of the fact that the city was liberated. The price of this operation was the thousands of dead soldiers and civilians who could not see the final victory over fascism.
Memorable places in Odessa
The liberation of Odessa (April 10, 1944) is reflected in many books, memoirs, documentaries. In the city itself there are many monuments, memorials dedicated to this event.
Main monuments and their locations:
- monument to R.Ya. Malinovsky in the square on Preobrazhenskaya street;
- Victory Wings memorial on April 10th square;
- a memorial place (31 Melnitskaya Street), where on 04/09/1944 partisans defeated a column of German troops;
- memorial place (Preobrazhenskaya street, house 77), where on March 2, 1944 V.D. was mortally wounded Avdeev;
- mass grave (Tiraspol highway) for ten soldiers who died on 04/10/1944 during the liberation of the city together with their captain Gavrikov;
- mass grave with an obelisk (Skoda Gora) in memory of the 56 victims of fascism, who were shot by the retreating punitive on 09/09/1944;
- grave M.M. Bad in the Fair Square.
Odessa streets in honor of the liberators
April 10 (the day of the liberation of Odessa) was remembered by many for life. In order to commemorate the liberators of the city, streets were named after them.
The names of military personnel in whose honor the streets in Odessa are named:
- V.D. Avdeev-Black Sea (Kiev region);
- M.I. Nedelin (Kiev region);
- V.D. Tsvetaev (Illichivsk district);
- I.I. Shvygin (Primorsky district);
- I.A. Pliev (Illichivsk district);
- N.F. Krasnov (Kiev region);
- IN AND. Chuykov (Kiev region).