“The whole of Belorussia will be free soon!”: The Presidential Library highlights the 75th anniversary of Operation Bagration

One of the largest offensive operations of the Soviet Army against the forces of Nazi Germany called ‘Bagration’ was launched 75 years ago - on June 23, 1944. Belorussia, Eastern Poland and part of the Baltics were completely liberated as a result of the operation. It put an end to Hitler’s plans to conquer the USSR and strengthened the belief of our people that they were close to victory.

The Presidential Library’s electronic collections feature unique documents, photographs and video materials, which spotlight the largest and bloodiest war of the 20th century, as well as Operation Bagration. Most of them are available on the library’s portal in the collection Memory of the Great Victory.

The general staff began developing the strategy of the operation in the spring of 1944. By that time, the front line on the territory of Belorussia was a huge salient with an area of ​​about 250,000 square kilometers stretching to the east - a so-called ‘Belorussian Balcony’. The Red Army was to strike it from different points, force the Germans leave the republic and open the way to Poland and East Prussia. The troops of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Belorussian Fronts and the 1st Baltic Front were sent to carry out this plan. The operation was bold and unexpected. Berlin was so confident of its power that three days before the advance of our soldiers, Field Marshal Ernst Busch took leave, believing that nothing could change in his absence: during the occupation the Nazis had constructed a complex of defensive fortifications, the positions were guarded by the elite Army Group Centre. Later Hitler would recall Busch’s fault and replaced him with another experienced commander — Walter Model.

On June 22, 1944 — three years after the beginning of the Great Patriotic War — the Red Army undertook a reconnaissance by fire. The next morning, the operation code-named ‘Bagration’ began. It should be noted that its participants had success right from the very first minutes. The collection of reports of the Soviet Information Bureau (1945) on the Presidential Library’s portal proves that.

After just a few days, the invaders understood: resistance was futile. More details are given in the report of the Soviet Information Bureau of June 27, 1944: in the south-west of Vitebsk our troops destroyed the encircled enemy forces. German losses were over 20,000 men killed on the battlefield. More than 10,000 German soldiers and officers were taken prisoners.

An invaluable contribution towards the success of the operation was made by partisans, who decided to push the invader, who had brought suffering and death, out of the fatherland once and for all. While the regular army was planning the offensive, they swung into action. You can study the statistics provided by the Soviet Information Bureau.

The partisan movement instilled an animal fear into the Nazis. The ‘national troops’ had a serious advantage: they could fight in rather hard conditions - among swamps and dense forests. The Germans could not compete with them. What is more, partisans not only killed and captured Wehrmacht soldiers and officers, but also carried out serious information work among the local population. They published their own newspapers, in which they reported on the course of the battles for the liberation of their native land, and appealed for fellow countrymen to make their own contribution to this great cause. Digital copies of rare publications can be found on the Presidential Library’s portal in a special section of the collection “Memory of the Great Victory”.

The article Successful Offensive of the Red Army published in Patriot Rodiny (Fatherland’s Patriot) newspaper of June 25, 1944 contained the first news about the liberation of several localities. A week later, new, even more impressive achievements of the Soviet troops were announced in another partisan publication Smert Fashizmu (Death to Fascism). It read in part: “The Red Army troops approached Minsk - the capital of Belorussia, and the cities of Baranavichy and Molodechno. As the Red Army advances to the west, the native land and thousands of Soviet citizens get free of the Nazi slavery. The whole of Belorussia will be free soon!”

However, this was still a distant future. As the Wehrmacht soldiers retreated and lost battles, they became even more cruel. Now they followed the logic: if you can’t hold - destroy. This applied to both people and their houses – the June issue of Partizanskaya Pravda (1944) reported.

Partisans helped people, who were made homeless. They established a network of special camps. People, who could not fight were safe there and had everything necessary. A detailed account is provided in the documentary film Minsk. Hero City (2015), which can be viewed on the Presidential Library’s portal.

Times were hard and it was extremely important to intensify the attack and make the enemy understand that he could no longer frighten or inflict a defeat. In order to support the population in a difficult, crucial moment and raise the morale, the national troops appealed to the people through the above-mentioned publication Smert Fashizmu.

...The outcome of Operation Bagration, which had lasted for two months, was the biggest defeat of the Nazi armed forces during World War II. Army Group Centre was destroyed, the ranks that Berlin had to provide for the battle were depleted. The Red Army cleared its way for an advance on Poland, and then on Germany. During the operation, our losses amounted to about 180,000 casualties, the German losses, according to different sources, varied from 400,000 to 500,000 killed soldiers and officers. Less than a year remained before the victory of our country in the Great Patriotic War.