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On April 14, 2025 the collection of digitised archival documents, film and photo materials World War II in Archival Documents posted on the Presidential Library's portal was enriched with 200 documents covering the events of the Great Patriotic War in the period from 13 March to 13 April 1945.
Documents from the fonds of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation reflect the course of the largest offensive operations of the Red Army in the final period of the Great Patriotic War: Vienna offensive operation conducted by the forces of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts, East Pomeranian offensive operation (conducted by units of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts), offensive operation to retain and expand the bridgehead in the area of Küstrin, conducted by units of the 1st Belorussian Front, and Königsberg offensive operation of the 3rd Belorussian Front (part of the East Prussian offensive operation). The documents on these operations are represented in the Collection by combat orders, directives, orders, combat reports, summaries, reports of the command of the fronts and subordinate units, as well as information reports of the political departments of the 1st Ukrainian and 3rd Belorussian Fronts and report maps of combat operations of the Red Army units.
Also placed orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief J. V. Stalin with greetings to the troops of the 1st Ukrainian and 3rd Belorussian fronts.Stalin's orders with greetings to the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front who captured the city and fortress of Gdansk (Danzig) (30 March 1945), to the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front who captured the city of Bratislava (4 April 1945), to the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front who captured the city and fortress of Koenigsberg (9 April 1945), and to the troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front who captured the city of Vienna (13 April 1945).
The new addition includes photographs from the collections of the Russian State Military Archive and the Russian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents, depicting episodes of the Red Army liberation of cities and towns in Poland, Czechoslovakia and East Prussia. There are also fragments of sound recordings of Marshal of the Soviet Union A. I. Yeremenko's memoirs of 1970 about the liberation of the concentration camp Auschwitz and the town of Ratibor in Poland and Army General A. P. Beloborodov's memoirs of 1972 about the actions of the 43rd Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front during the storming of Koenigsberg.
Included are documents of Soviet intelligence agencies: agency reports (cipher telegrams) received from Soviet intelligence officers in Washington, London and Stockholm, in particular about German attempts to start separatist negotiations with the USSR's allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. Among the intelligence documents there is also a report of the USSR Commissar of State Security V. N. Merkulov sent to the USSR State Defence Committee, the USSR People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs and the USSR People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs on the intentions of the Polish emigration government in London to continue the struggle for Poland's borders with the USSR by force (7 April 1945).
From the documents of the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History are presented the report of the 7th Department of the Political Department of the 1st Belorussian Front "On the life of Soviet prisoners of war and prisoners of war of allied states in German captivity" (21-22 March 1945), sent to the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b), a personal message from J. V. Stalin to US President F. D. Roosevelt with an assessment of the separatist negotiations in Bern between representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States and representatives of Germany (3 April 1945).
Of interest are the documents from the holdings of the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation: correspondence of the USSR Commissar for Foreign Affairs V. M. Molotov with the US Ambassador to the USSR A. Harriman, concerning the negotiations between representatives of the English-American and German command in Bern (15-16, 21-22 March 1945); the draft note of the Soviet government on the convening of the Constituent Conference in San Francisco on 25 April 1945 for the establishment of the General International Organisation for the Maintenance of Peace and Security (24 March 1945).
The collection World War II in Archival Documents includes resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, including resolutions "On the USSR representatives in the Reparations Commission in Moscow" and "On the State Budget of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for 1945" (14 March 1945), "On the Soviet Delegation to the Conference in San Francisco" (22 March 1945), "Marking the death of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt" (13 April 1945).
Fragments of documentary films about the capturing of Königsberg and the liberation of Vienna in April 1945, filmed by cameramen of the 3rd Belorussian and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts, are also presented in the collection.
On March 13, 2025 the collection of digitized archival documents, films and photographic materials World War II in Archival Documents on the Presidential Library's portal has been enriched with 100 documents, presentating events of Second World War from February 14 to March 13, 1945.
The documents from the collections of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation provide information about the East Pomeranian and Lower Silesian offensive operations as well as the Balaton defensive operation of the Red Army. They include operational directives, combat orders, cipher messages, and combat reports from the commands of the 1st, 2nd Belorussian, and 1st and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts. Additionally, there is a map-plan for the offensive actions of the 1st Belorussian Front's troops to defeat the Pomeranian enemy group, as well as maps of the positions of troops and the combat operations of units from the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts.
Among the documents of the Central Committee of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, there are orders No. 288 and 290 from the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, J. V. Stalin, to the commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, G. K. Zhukov, regarding the awarding of formations and units that distinguished themselves in battles in Western Pomerania and the battles for the capture of the cities of Stargard, Naugard, and Poltsin on the Stettin front (dated March 4 and 5, 1945).
The Collection includes photographs from the collections of the Russian State Military Archive and the Russian State Archive of Film and Photographic Documents. These photographs capture episodes of military operations on the territory of Poland, in the cities of Breslau and Poznan. The order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief No. 284, which was posted from the Russian State Military Archive holdings, also welcomes the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front after they captured the city of Poznan and its fortress on February 23, 1945.
The documents of the Soviet intelligence services are represented by secret messages (cipher telegrams) received from Soviet agents in Washington. In addition, there are materials about attempts by German representatives to contact the representatives of the UK and the US in Ireland and Sweden. A translation of the report from the German mission in Stockholm to the German Foreign Ministry on the results and significance of the Crimea Conference is also included (these documents are kept in the archives of the Foreign Intelligence Service in Russia).
The holdings of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History contain a memorandum from the Deputy Head of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army, I. V. Shikin, to the Head of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks), G. F. Alexandrov, about the German prisoner of war camp in Thorn, Poland (February 19, 1945). Additionally, there are resolutions from the Poltava and Ternopil Regional Committees of the Communist Party of Ukraine regarding the fight against Ukrainian-German collaborators (February 24 and 28, 1945) and other related documents.
The Collection includes documents from the Russian State Archive of Modern History, including a note from N. G. Kuznetsov, the People's Commissar of the Navy of the Soviet Union, to I. V. Stalin requesting material resources to support the construction of the main naval base for the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol on February 25, 1945, and a note from the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Ukraine, N. S. Khrushchev, to J. V. Stalin regarding the political and socio-economic situation in Poland and measures to assist the Polish government in rebuilding their cities on March 12, 1945.
Of interest are documents from the Archives of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation related to the preparation of the member states of the anti-Hitler coalition for the international conference in San Francisco (April 25 - June 26, 1945). These documents are supplemented by a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated March 13, 1945, "On the Composition of the Soviet Delegation to the Conference in San Francisco", which is stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation.
The Collection also includes original manuscripts of poems by E. A. Poetov, which are kept in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. These include works by Dolmatovsky and S. P. Gudzenko, written in mid-February 1945, such as On the Street, Revenge, They Will Return to Our Homes..., and Buda.
Additionally, there are fragments of documentary footage about the battles fought by Soviet troops in East Prussia in January 1945 and the liberation of Budapest, the capital of Hungary, in February 1945. These materials are part of the collection of the Russian State Archive of Film and Photographic Documents.
On Febrary 13, 2025 the collection of digitized archival documents, film, and photographic materials titled World War II in Archival Documents, which was posted on the Presidential Library's portal, has been expanded with more than 80 new documents covering key events from the Great Patriotic War between January 28 until February 13, 1945.
On February 13, 1945, the Budapest Offensive, conducted by the forces of the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts of the Red Army, resulted in the complete liberation of Budapest. This final stage of the operation is documented in records from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.
These are combat orders and operational directives from the front command for the offensive on Budapest, a map showing the encirclement and elimination of the enemy group in Budapest by the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front during December 1944 and February 1945. Additionally, there is a combat report from the headquarters of the 2nd Ukrainian Front to Supreme Commander J. V. Stalin regarding the complete capture of Budapest.
In the order issued by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, No. 277, gratitude was expressed to the Red Army troops who distinguished themselves during the liberation of Budapest. It was stated that during the battles in Budapest, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front captured over 10,000 enemy soldiers and officers, including the German commander of the Budapest force group, Colonel-General Pfeffer Wildenbruch, and his staff. They also seized a significant amount of weapons and military equipment. The archive of the Political Directorate of the Second Ukrainian Front contains information about the Jewish ghetto in Budapest, which was organized by the Nazis in collaboration with the Germans.
Among the documents of the Central Army of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation are combat reports, orders, summaries, and maps from the headquarters of the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts and their subordinate units during the Vistula-Oder Offensive Operation (which ended on February 3, 1945).
Also included are photographs from collections of the Russian State Military Archive and Russian State Archive of Film and Photographic Documents that capture episodes of the Red Army's liberation of cities and towns in East Prussia, Poland, and Budapest. Photos from the Yalta Conference, held from February 4-11, 1945, between the leaders of the USSR, Great Britain, and the USA, are also posted, as are documents from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation covering the Yalta conference.
The documents of the Soviet intelligence services include secret service messages, or cipher telegrams, received from Soviet agents in Washington. One such document is a special message from Deputy People's Commissar of State Security B. Z. Kobulov to J. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov and L. P. Beria regarding Great Britain's concerns about the development of Soviet-French relations. This message was sent on January 28, 1945 and is archived at the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.
Another document is a memo from F. F. Kuznetsov, head of the intelligence directorate of the Red Army General Staff, to J. Stalin regarding the proposed transfer of the 6th SS Panzer Army from the Western European to the Soviet-German front. This memo was written on January 30, 1945 and are available in the Russian State Archives of Modern History.
The holdings of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History include documents from the Department of Propaganda and Agitation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), including a memo from the deputy head of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army, I. V. Shikin, addressed to the head of the department, G. F. Alexandrov, regarding the situation at the Auschwitz concentration camp and its liberation by the Red Army on February 9, 1945.
The collection also includes resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars (government) of the USSR, preserved in the State Archives of the Russian Federation, such as On the Stalin Prizes for Outstanding Work in the Fields of Science, Invention, Art, and Literature for the Years 1943-1944, dated January 29, 1945, and On the Organization of Printing Banknotes for the Allied Command in Germany, dated February 10, 1945.
On January 23, 2025 the collection of digitized archival documents, film, and photographic materials titled World War II in Archival Documents, which was posted on the Presidential Library's portal, has been expanded with more than 200 new documents covering key events from the Great Patriotic War between November 7, 1944 and January 27, 1945.
These documents describe the large-scale offensive operations of the Red Army in Hungary and East Prussia during this time period, as recorded in documents from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of Russia. These documents include directives from the Supreme Soviet Command's headquarters and operational reports from the General Staff of the Soviet Army.
The new arrivals also include fragments from the documentary Winter and Spring of 1945 about the German offensive operation in the Ardennes and the start of the Vistula-Oder offensive by the Red Army. The exhibition also includes photographs that depict episodes of the liberation of Warsaw and Krakow.
The documents of the Soviet intelligence services are represented by secret messages (ciphered telegrams) received from agents of the Soviet intelligence abroad - from London, Washington and Bucharest. One of these documents is a memorandum from the Deputy People's Commissar for State Security of the USSR, B. Z. Kobulov, to the State Defense Committee of the USSR regarding the health of Adolf Hitler, the role of Heinrich Himmler in the domestic policy of the Third Reich, and the military and political plans of Nazi Germany, dated January 13, 1945.
The documents of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI) mainly consist of resolutions of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and documents from the personal file of J. Stalin. These include personal messages from J. Stalin to the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, regarding the conclusion of the tripartite Anglo-Franco-Soviet Pact on December 7, 1944; joint policies regarding Yugoslavia on December 12, 1944; and the recognition of the Provisional National Government of Poland in Lublin by the Soviet Union on January 3, 1945, among other documents.
Documents from the archives of the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation are of particular interest: cipher telegrams from V.M. Molotov, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, to F.T. Gusev, the USSR ambassador to Great Britain, and A.A. Gromyko, the USSR ambassador to the United States, containing the texts of messages from Stalin to Winston Churchill and F. Roosevelt in January 1945. Additionally, there is a plan of action from the Soviet Foreign Ministry related to preparations for the Yalta Conference between the leaders of the Allied powers.
The Collection also contains decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GA RF), regarding the awarding of orders and medals of the USSR to officers, sergeants, and enlisted personnel of the Red Army, as well as senior command staff members of the armed forces of Great Britain and the United States, and officers of the French military unit "Normandy", including the awarding of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Documents from the collections of the Russian State Archive of Economics (RGAE) reflect the activities of Soviet economic and planning authorities to rebuild industry and infrastructure in the regions of the RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, Byelorussian SSR, Karelo-Finnish SSR, Lithuanian SSR, Moldavian SSR, and Estonian SSR after they were liberated from occupation. Additionally, important documents related to the development of weapons and aircraft construction are presented, including orders from the USSR People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry regarding the creation of prototype launch devices for T. Chelomeya's catapult cannon to launch objects weighing 2.2-2.5 tons, dated December 9, 1944. There is also information about conducting factory tests on the experimental aircraft BI designed by T. Bolkhovitinov, dated December 12, 1944, and the release of Yak-3 aircraft equipped with VK-105PF engines and armed with three 20-caliber Berezin cannons at Plant No 292 of Narkomaviaprom, dated December 30th, 1944; the repor "On the Construction of a Jet Aircraft by T. Yakovlev" is also presented. Additionally, there are reports from various departmental research institutes related to military developments such as the construction of military roads in swampy areas, improvements to military uniforms, and methods for treating frostbite (based on materials from the Russian Academy of Defence in Samara).