Kosa Frisch Nehrung East Prussia map. Baltic "reserve" on the spit

May 2nd, 2011

From a message from the Soviet Information Bureau. Operational summary for25th of April:
“Troops of the 3rd BELARUSIAN Front25th of Aprilcaptured the last stronghold of the German defense on the Zemland Peninsula - a city and a fortress PILLAU — major port And a German naval base on the Baltic Sea, and also occupied populated areas LOCHSTEDT, NEUHAUSER, HIMMEL-REICH, PLANTAGE, KAMSTIGALL».

On Pillau Street after the fight

13.1. FIGHTING IN THE STREETS OF PILLAU

Unable to withstand the night onslaught, the enemy retreated to the city outskirts, but failed to gain a foothold there either. When at dawn the German soldiers did not receive their usual ersatz coffee, it became clear to them that the Wehrmacht's rear services had ceased their work, which meant that the hours of defending Pillau were already numbered. In the morning haze, the naval commandant's company and the demolition team left the city. Leaving the Front Harbor, their boat slowly passed along the burning bolwerk, on which stood thousands of German soldiers who had not yet lost hope of their salvation.

The boats of the Baltic Fleet were supposed to prevent them from leaving to the west.
WITH 9 to 25 April they made eight searches on the outskirts of Pillau. The results of the campaigns led to the conclusion that there were no large ships in the patrol forces. And this consideration was taken into account in the preparation of the landing operation planned for that time, for which it was necessary to allocate three quarters of all torpedo boats that were in service. Unfortunately, the boats were unable to put to sea from Kranz. In fact, the division of captain 2nd rank was assigned to carry out this task A.F. Krokhina, who knew nothing about the minefields hidden under the mirror surface of the bay
Frishes-Huff. As soon as the boats passed the coastal fortification with a white flag on a high flagpole, a huge column of water rose from under the bottom of the BK-212. Seven sailors were killed, five more were wounded, and the bleeding commander of the ship could barely stay afloat. Another explosion blew apart the stern of the lead boat “BK-102”. The division commander who was on it ordered: “Everyone leave the minefield in reverse in the wake column! Return to Zimmerbud base." The incident was immediately reported to the fleet commander, who canceled the operation off the coast of Pillau. Despite the failure, the sailors were preparing for new missions - for the landing on the Frische-Nerung spit.

Fort "Vostochny"

As soon as 10.00. the last salvo of rocket artillery died down, guard captain V.D. Kubanov with a shot from a rocket launcher he raised his battalion to attack. Having lingered in the trench for a second or two, he saw a small hill on a completely bare area. The trench running along it stretched to the eastern outskirts of Pillau, from where a machine gun fired at our left from a double-embrasure bunker, and on the right flank the Germans launched a counterattack. One of the companies, ahead of its neighbors, had already rushed forward and was fighting for the second trench, where the roar, clanging and shooting of machine guns, desperate screams and curses of opponents who were breaking each other were heard. Before jumping into the trench, the battalion commander quickly put a captured parabellum into his bosom and stabbed the red-haired German with his back to him. Everywhere there was brutal hand-to-hand combat, fleeting, like any close combat, where success depended not only on skillful actions, mutual assistance and composure, but also on physical effort and moral stress.

The path was open, and the guards battalion Kubanova burst onto the Koenigsberg Highway - the only straight, fairly wide street along almost its entire length, stretched along the peninsula, covered with a network of trenches. In Pillau there were more water barriers and narrow, crooked streets and alleys than in Königsberg, so rifle divisions were assigned offensive zones, rifle regiments - certain areas, battalions - city blocks, and assault groups - separate buildings. Both sides of the highway were barked with rifle and machine-gun fire from countless basement windows of stone buildings that the Germans had turned into a chain of embrasures. The distance to them was decent, and practically not a single grenade hit these window openings. Then Kubanov asked to roll out anti-tank guns for direct fire, leaving behind piles of burnt bricks.

All participants in the assault learned that the Red Army had closed the encirclement ring around Berlin. “Pillau will soon be ours!” - said the fighters. A wounded private of the 21st Guards Rifle Regiment Grigoriev tied a red star flag sewn by army tailors to the balcony of the first of the houses occupied by the guards.

The army, wedged into the city, split it into pieces. The northwestern outskirts were quickly captured by the 31st Guards Rifle Division in one breath. Climbing the slopes of sand dunes overgrown with sea buckthorn thickets, the fighters moved along the seashore. The enemy clung to every fold of the terrain, to pillboxes and bunkers scattered in the forest and on the coast. The battle was especially difficult at the shooting range - a deep ditch, from where the German infantry were knocked out with volleys of Katyusha rockets. From the city stadium, German anti-aircraft gunners fired from guns positioned as if in a parade, in a single row. And the closer the division came to the strait, the more stubborn the German resistance became.

The pine and chestnut alleys of the city park - favorite resting places for townspeople who spent their free time at the cozy tables of the Plantage restaurant - in the April days of 1945 were filled with abandoned trucks and cars, horse-drawn carts and military equipment. From behind the fallen trees that served as parapets stretched the gun barrels of tanks and cannons dug into the ground, and in front of them were yellow infantry trenches. In the far corner of the park, a water-filled ditch surrounded the horseshoe-shaped building of an ancient fort, the brick walls of which were cut through by numerous loopholes and embrasures. After unsuccessful attacks, one of the division's regiments, hiding behind a high cliff, walked around the fort. He was taken by the general's soldiers I.K. Shcherbiny by the evening of the same day. With access to the strait, the encirclement of Pillau was completed, on the streets of which there was a battle all day long.

On Pillau Street after the fight

The enemy did not allow us to break through to the city center, fighting for every house, street and block. It was impossible to take even a few steps without the explosion causing the corner of a building or an entire wall to collapse. In the military town of Himmelreich, where soldiers of the Pillau garrison lived after the First World War, German marines, communications and airfield service units defended themselves. In the brick barracks, hospital, bakery and gym, the walls were strengthened, the windows were bricked up and the roofs were covered with a layer of sand. The soldiers of the Guards Rifle Divisions could not raise their heads under the dagger fire of German snipers and machine gunners, chained to the walls of houses.

Frontal attacks were unsuccessful. Only after heavy artillery made holes in the barracks did the guards burst in. By noon, when the fighting moved to the city cemetery, prisoners began to be brought to the military camp, of which there were especially many that day. The soldiers and commanders of the 84th Guards Rifle Division walked for about a day along a path that in peacetime an ordinary pedestrian would have covered in half an hour. The enemy fired from everywhere: from the forts of the fortress, from the Frische-Nerung spit, from the windows of stone houses, from warships stationed in the roadstead.

From the dossier:
84th Guards Rifle Divisionwas formed inJuly 1941in Moscow as the 4th division of the people's militia. Workers, engineers and employees of the capital distinguished themselves in battles so much that their unit was transformed into a rifle and then into a guards division, receiving the honorary name"Karachaevskaya", awarding the Order of the Red Banner and Suvorov II degree. During the war years, she participated in six offensive operations. Seven people from the division became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

At the railway station

On the railway, the division captured trains with wounded Germans. Many wounded were in dugouts dug right next to the railroad tracks. When Karebin I looked into one of them, and from somewhere in the depths, illuminated by battery lights, a woman in a white robe appeared. She addressed him in pure Russian: “You have no right to come here, this is a hospital for the wounded. According to the convention of the League of Nations, they enjoy immunity." They answered her: “We won’t touch the wounded, but let’s see if there are any healthy Germans among them.”

Staff Sergeant's Department V.P. Gordeeva lay down near the bunker, from where a German machine gunner was constantly scribbling, and it seemed there was no way to raise the soldiers, who were left almost without ammunition and hand grenades, to attack. Having crawled his way to the bunker, the former sailor of the Pinsk flotilla covered the embrasure with concrete slabs. The next moment he threw the last hand grenade into the opened door. Stunned by the unexpected attack, the German garrison surrendered. For this feat V.P. Gordeev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Lieutenant's soldiers Chernysheva They walked through courtyards and alleys to the back door of the building, knocked out doors and windows with grenades and burst inside the house. First of all, they captured the attic, through which they could enter other entrances. Under the cover of submachine gunners, the Roxists set fire to the upper floors to drive out the Germans holed up there. On command the platoon ran behind Chernyshev along the road, to the left and right of which there were warehouses, one of them was on fire. The soldiers stopped at an intersection where three dead infantrymen lay. “Sergeant Major! - shouted Chernyshev. “I’m first, everyone follows me.” And you are the last one. Shoot those who don't run." And while the German sniper was choosing a new target, they managed to overcome the dangerous space. Making our way from house to house, Chernyshev broke into a bunker with wounded German officers. Their faces froze in fear. Jackets with orders and medals hung on the chairs.

Having posted a guard, the infantrymen occupied the basement of a residential building. Night attacks exhausted the soldiers. After dining on captured food and drinking schnapps, they fell asleep. Dozing Chernysheva the soldier woke him up: “Comrade Lieutenant, they are asking you which regiment you are from.” - “Who is asking me?” “I’m asking you,” answered the adjutant of the division commander. “The command needs to know which units were the first to reach the shore of the strait.”

On this day, the 1st Air Army conducted 1,292 sorties, losing five of its crews. Almost touching the peaked roofs of houses, the pilots had difficulty choosing targets. From the air it was difficult to determine which neighborhoods were still in enemy hands. Seeing that they were about to bomb the 23rd Guards Tank Brigade, the chief of staff of the guard battalion, senior lieutenant A.I. Marusich ordered the radio operator to transmit in clear text: “Red Star Falcons, there are under you Soviet troops, the Germans are at the crossing in such and such a square.” The message had to be repeated by firing red rockets into the air. And only after that the planes, having made a few more circles over the tankers, waved their wings at them and flew off to the Frische-Nerung spit.

On the station square, the Germans knocked out the crew of the T-34. The wounded tankers were rescued by infantrymen who carried them to safety. Sergeant Nepomnyashchikh caught a German battery in the gun sights. After the first shots, one of the cannons flew into the air, and then the other. Carried away by the battle, he did not notice the enemy soldiers approaching from the flank. “Grenades for battle!” - commanded Nepomnyashchikh and fired back with a machine gun until infantrymen came to his aid. Through the dense stripes of explosions they shouted “Hurray!” rushed to storm the station, from where wires ran to the mined piers of the Inner Harbor. The explosion was prevented by one of the Soviet soldiers who opened fire on the German sappers.

TO13.30. 25.04.
"31st Guards. sd. - has captured the fort southeast of Plantage and is fighting for unnamed quarters 300 meters to the south.
1st Guards sd. — took possession of a group of barns and a cemetery.
84th Guards sd. — waged stubborn street battles in the neighborhoods.
26th Guards sd. — cleared the center and southern part of the city.
5th Guards sd. — captured height 27.8 and fought to destroy centers of resistance on the cape southeast of Pillau.”

13.2. LIBERATION OF CUMSTIGALL AND RUSSIAN EMBANKMENT

Soldiers of the 26th Guards Rifle Division fought stubborn battles in Fort Stille and residential areas adjacent to Rybnaya Harbor. To their left the regiments of the 5th Guards Rifle Division were advancing. Having overcome sandy hills and orchards, they defeated the 277th German Grenadier Regiment, which was defending the village of Kamstigall, known already in the 15th century as a place of residence for fishermen. On the eve of World War II, families of sailors and foremen of the German Navy settled here. Major's Guard Battalion Zavyalova surrounded two German companies and forced them to surrender. Lieutenant's soldiers Goncharova blockaded and destroyed the garrisons of eight houses. The soldiers of this company are Sgt. Bordinsky with the privates Pastukhov and Nikhovsky— in one of the houses three machine gun emplacements with crews were destroyed. By evening, the Red Army soldiers broke into the Kamstigall coastal anti-aircraft battery and, having destroyed its garrison in hand-to-hand combat, went to the shore of the Königsberg Sea Canal, where, as far as the eye could see, towered the masts and hulls of burnt and sunken ships. Tanks passed along the piers of the Sea Harbor, destroying the barricades of yachts, boats and boats with German soldiers with shells and machine-gun bursts. The garrison of a three-story bunker (a square with sides of 21 meters and a wall thickness of 2.5 meters) of the Stockhouse air defense was burned out by a flamethrower jet. These reinforced concrete "shelter houses" were built in 1944 in several cities in Germany at once. There were only four of them in Berlin.

On the approaches to the Sea Harbor

When parts of the division made their way to Russian Embankment, named after the soldiers Russian empress Elizaveta Petrovna— builders of a stone dam to shelter sailing ships entering Pillau, the path of the infantrymen was blocked by German tanks. Guard gun commander sergeant V. Plaus rolled out the cannon for direct fire and knocked out the first tank with five shots. The crew in their hands rolled the gun onto the dam and set another car on fire. The crew of the third tank surrendered. For your feat Plaus was nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which he never received. The infantry captured submarines that did not have time to complete their repairs at the Schichau shipyard.

Ruins of Pillau after the battle

From the combat report of the chief of staff of the 3rd Belorussian Front.
TO18.00 25.04 .
"31st Guards. sd. — fought for a grove and an unnamed height 300 meters northwest of the fortress.
1st Guards sd. - fights for the fortress.
84th Guards sd. — has captured the railway station and continues its advance to the south.
26th Guards sd. — cleared the southern outskirts of the city center.
5th Guards sd. — was fighting in the area of ​​the shipyard and part of its forces is clearing individual buildings one kilometer to the southwest.”

It has no borders with “big” Russia. Few people are familiar with the geography of the Kaliningrad region, just as we are in relation to the rest of our large country. Tourists are interested in the location of the region near the Baltic Sea and the history of the region: despite the accelerated construction of “modern” architecture, many “living” monuments of pre-war architecture remain in the city. The Baltic Spit is an exception and even a very big one.

Place for recreation or tourism among the ruins of military buildings

But, paradoxically, few people even among the residents of the region know that we have two spits in our region, and even more so have been on both. But as a rule, the Curonian Spit nature reserve, which almost every tourist in our region knows about and has visited, is of particular interest. Why? You can find out about this if you read the article to the end.

"Legacy of War"

It's about about the Baltic Spit- more precisely the Russian part of it. You will find it without problems using the coordinates 54.62952722262048 ,19.88005012170156 . Unlike its “tourist” Curonian, its sister is practically unknown to tourists. It has not had a tourist focus since the war itself, and in fact was closed to visits even by residents of the region.

The Neutif airfield located here (named by the Germans because of the village near it - now the village of Kosa), which survived and was given to the Soviet troops in excellent condition (there was even a runway heating function here at that time, and many more technical nuances), was practically used by the military for more than 40 years, until it fell into disrepair, and before its disbandment, seaplanes landed and took off here, using the German special harbor built near the Neutief.

"Closed object"

Somewhere in the mid-nineties, the “regime” history of this territory ended. Only certain categories of citizens could get here. To get into the Baltic urban district, you had to cross a checkpoint specially created at the entrance and present a passport or military ID. At the beginning of 2010, it was removed, or rather people and fences were removed, but the building itself and the places of transport stops remained - one of the favorite places of duty of the local State Traffic Safety Inspectorate.

"Outpost"

The building of the former K.P.P. known to many - a clear reference point for everyone when we are talking about Baltiysk and the Baltic highway. In the area of ​​2 km before and after it there are trips to the most favorite vacation spots in the Baltiysk area on the beaches. Even more likely not favorites, but more accessible - which can indirectly be understood by the massive number of vacationers. Our vacation in this area somehow exceeded the limit of 40 people in terms of the number of vacationers from our company alone!!! And many communities (car clubs, websites and other groups of people) organize multi-day trips to these places. So the very fact of the elimination of this checkpoint opened and facilitated access for tourists to the luxurious beaches of the once “closed” city and the Russian part of the Baltic spit.

"Glacier+wind+sand=?"

But what is the Baltic Spit? It is also known to many as the Vistula Spit - the Polish name for the spit, which in Polish is written as "Mierzeja Wiślana". Less common and practically little known, except for people interested in history or who took part in hostilities here during WWII, the old German name is "Frische Nehrung" , in translation "Fresh braid" or "A country that has just risen from the sea". Essentially, the result of the work of two forces of nature is a special type of phenomenon, which is a special accumulative formation in the sea: underwater sea currents near the shore and waves at sea carry sand closer to the shores, and air currents winds carry sand further onto the spit, so-called ash deposits, or in a more understandable word, dunes, are formed. The vegetation of the spit dunes greatly helps prevent the movement of huge masses of sand. The highest point of the spit is 34 meters.

“The beginning of the formation of the spit is considered to be about six thousand years ago. The result was that when the Valdai glacier retreated, which occurred due to the movement of the Earth’s crust and the water level of the Baltic Sea, the Kaliningrad (Vistula or frishe) gulf was formed, and subsequently this contributed to the formation and the braid itself."

Shaped like a spit, a strip of narrow land almost sixty-five kilometers long separates the Kaliningrad Bay from the Baltic Sea ( Frishe Gulf) most of them - almost thirty-five kilometers - belong to Russian Federation(Kaliningrad region), the rest, about thirty kilometers, is the Polish part. The width of the spit is from 350 to 1850 meters in the middle and in the south and about eight to nine kilometers in the northern part. Most of the spit are dunes, partially covered with forest and kilometer-long beach areas with clean sand - “like in the desert.”

"Water Barrier"

You can get to our part only by water, by ferry (on our website there is a section about this), because It is separated from Baltiysk by a shipping canal; the spit is adjacent to the mainland in southwestern Poland. In Poland it is often called the Amber Coast; the spit on the Polish side is one of the most popular tourist regions not only in Pomerania (a region of Poland), but throughout Poland. The settlements of Krynica Morska or Stegna in the summer are overcrowded with a huge number of tourist groups and individual travelers. It is believed that the beginning of the Vistula Spit is located at the height of the village "Mikoshevo", located at the mouth of the Bold Vistula River, on its right side. However, it actually starts between Sopot and Gdansk.

"Wild Character"

Tourism on the spit is weak or rather poorly developed. Among the tourist services - bicycle rental and housing rental, a museum and everything else - so to speak - as you organize yourself - fortunately there is where to climb and see: Remains of fortifications and the Neutif airfield, remains of fortifications and a harbor, wild forests, which are home to about a hundred rare birds from the Red Book....In general outline here you will not find a cultural pastime - this is a vacation in the “wild” nature not far from civilization, in the tranquility and beauty of untouched beaches and forests.

"It will remain after us"

But we should not forget against the backdrop of our vacation here that after such a vacation, many tourists consider it their duty not to collect garbage behind them, but, on the contrary, either throw it near the vacation spot, or bury it there - among the dunes. If We rest in this way, then soon there will be nothing left of this beauty. Therefore, when going on a hike, on vacation, or for your own reasons to this corner of nature, take care to bring your vacation spot to its original state - no one asks you to transport garbage by ferry, but at least take it to the garbage container so that rare volunteers and other tourists did not collect it for you. The inhabitants of the spit already have a lot of problems in terms of infrastructure due to “life across the crossing” - and there is no point in making their life even harder.

In other words, the Baltic Spit is “our local Vatican” (a state within a state). And when you come here, you need to respect the order of these places....and take care of them.

From a message from the Soviet Information Bureau. Operational summary forApril 18th:
“The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front continued fighting to destroy the remnants German troops, thrown back in the area of ​​​​the port of Pillau. In other sectors of the front there are local battles and searches for scouts.”

7.1. SUCCESSES AND DEFEATS OF THE 2ND GUARDS ARMY

On the fifth day of the offensive, the 3rd Belorussian Front occupied most of Samland. Success accompanied the 2nd Guards Army. Its soldiers broke through three fortified lines, capturing two hundred and twenty-eight settlements and more than thirteen thousand Nazis. But our army’s own forces were already drained of blood, and human losses amounted to about five thousand wounded and killed.

From the dossier:
2nd Guards Armywas deployed behind the country's lines inOctober 1942. Considering that the Headquarters set a rather strict deadline for completing the formation of the army, combat training, manning and putting together units were carried out at an accelerated pace. The army took part in Battle of Stalingrad, defended the lines along the Mius River, liberated Ukraine and Crimea. As part of the 1st Baltic Front, she took part in the Siauliai and Memel offensive operations. INDecember 1944was transferred to the 3rd Belorussian Front, as part of which it took part in the East Prussian operation.

Commander of the 2nd Guards Army, General P.G. Chanchibadze

When in the morning April 17 army commander general P.G. Chanchibadze gave the order to storm Pillau, it seemed to him: one more attack, a little more effort - and the city would be taken. However, disappointing reports came from the front lines. The infantry failed, diluted with untrained reinforcements. Commanders complained that after Königsberg it became much more difficult to raise attack lines; When firing even with one enemy machine gun, the soldiers lay down and required the help of artillery or aircraft to suppress the firing point. At the same time, the Germans fought in an organized manner, with ferocity, throwing into battle the remnants of broken divisions, battle groups and Volkssturm - old men and teenagers - with faustpatrons - a formidable melee weapon.

Having lost 334 soldiers and officers in a day, the commander of the 2nd Guards Army stopped the offensive, reporting this to the Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky, who knew P.G. Chanchibadze With summer 1941, when, as a regiment commander, Porfiry Georgievich managed to get out of the encirclement and save the regimental banner. Stalin highly appreciated the courage of his fellow countryman, appointed him commander of a division, then a corps and, finally, commander of the army.

The protracted assault on Pillau was hardly part of the commander’s calculations
3rd Belorussian Front and could cause displeasure among the Supreme Commander himself. The whole world watched with bated breath as three Soviet fronts launched an attack on Berlin, and the Information Bureau reports were full of the names of the captured cities - closer and closer to the capital of Nazi Germany. At the same time, unimaginable chaos reigned on the highways leading to American positions. They were filled with tanks, self-propelled guns, and vehicles of various purposes and types. One German division after another hurried to surrender. And, as an English war correspondent wrote, the flow of Wehrmacht soldiers was so great that it interfered with the movement of American troops and delayed military operations.

Scheme of the attack of the 3rd Belorussian Front on Samland

In this situation from Vasilevsky decisive action was required. And he had no choice but to bring fresh forces into the battle, instructing the army Chanchibadze defense of the Baltic coast. The 11th Guards Army, located north of Fischhausen, was moved forward, and its commander was given the task of taking Pillau in two days.

7.2. 11TH GUARDS ARMY - TO STORM PILLAU

Commander of the 11th Guards Army, Army General Kuzma Nikitovich Galitsky

Having received the combat order, the generalK.N. Galitsky with a group of staff officers arrived at the command post of the 2nd Guards Army to learn as much as possible about the enemy’s defenses and the procedure for changing troops. However, a serious conversation did not happen. “The army leadership was in too optimistic a mood,” wrote K.N. Galitsky, without hiding his resentment towards his comrades, who sincerely believed that the most difficult trials were already behind them.

Command of the 11th Guards Army (from right to left): Major General of the Engineering Troops V.I. Zverev, Lieutenant General of Artillery P.S. Semenov, Lieutenant General I.I. Semenov, Colonel General K.N. Galitsky, Major General of Tank Forces P.N. Kulikov,
Major General V.G. Guziy, Colonel D.F. Romanov, Colonel Yu.B. Ibatulin

From a report to the chief of staff of the 3rd Belorussian Front:
“The army is in the same area. By 12.00. the order was received to begin preparations for the march. The officers are conducting reconnaissance. After lunch, units of the rifle divisions began to march. There were no losses for 16.04.”

Road to Pillau

The soldiers were informed that there was a long march ahead. No one knew where, so many assumed that they would be thrown into the assault on Berlin. The entire road leading from Königsberg to Pillau was clogged with columns of artillery, tanks and self-propelled guns, trucks and cars. “A major with an artilleryman’s emblem burst into this traffic jam and began to give orders to the drivers to take right side roads and let the armored car pass. The drivers were in no hurry to carry out this order, especially since it was almost impossible to maneuver the cars back or forward. Then the major began to shout: “I order the release left side roads! Let the front commander pass! - recalled Katyusha gunner Sgt. I.G. Bratchenko. “The drivers began to move and began to slowly clear the left side of the road. And now an armored car appeared, and behind it a Jeep. The commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union, sat in it Vasilevsky. On the shoulders was a cloak-cape, from under which one could see the field marshal's shoulder straps. He was wearing a cap. Plump, pleasant face. Vasilevsky nodded his head slightly, the armored car moved off, and behind it the Jeep.”

The infantry moved along the side of the road, overcoming slush and impassability. The soldiers overtook military equipment, and then stopped and waited for the convoys, every now and then shaking roadside sand out of their boots. Only officers were allowed to wear untucked trousers. During a short halt, the best Moscow chefs who served in the guards divisions prepared food. Despite the strict ban, instead of ammunition, the boxes carried alcohol, flour, butter, sugar, meat and chocolate. The soldiers drank milk with fresh bread and ate cheese.

Coming towards them in an endless line - on carts, on foot with backpacks on their backs - were the inhabitants of Samland and, separately from them, in striped jackets, former slaves. Clinking their bowler hats tied to their belts and heavily shuffling their unruly feet on the ground, the Wehrmacht soldiers and officers walked to the assembly points. Waiting in the back of a Studebaker for the traffic jam to clear up, N.T. Tishchenko I saw how cavalrymen appeared from somewhere, pushed back the guards and, having chopped up the captured Vlasovites, just as quickly disappeared around the bend.

On the Zemland Peninsula

As soon as it got dark, hundreds of multi-colored rockets flew into the air, illuminating the front line. Single shots were followed by a barrage of fire. This went on for over an hour. As it turned out, it was a spontaneous fireworks display on the occasion of the capture of the city of Fischhausen.

All night in the drizzling rain, sometimes drowning knee-deep in mud, the general's divisions Galitsky took their positions and by morning April 18th changed parts
2nd Guards Army. Exhausted by the difficult transition, the soldiers fell into bed without touching breakfast, which was postponed to eleven o’clock in the afternoon.

It seemed that an attack on Pillau was out of the question. The artillery fell behind, the infantry units were stretched out on the march, and when the fog cleared, army intelligence reported that information about the enemy differed from that which had been received
from the 2nd Guards Army. As it turned out later, the approaches to the first lines of trenches were covered by bunkers, two dozen guns and six Panthers half dug into the ground. In addition, for every hundred meters of the ground front there were up to 18-20 machine guns, and the same number of submachine gunners.

To identify enemy batteries, “listeners-scouts” sat in the trenches. Possessing musical ear, they knew firsthand the sound differences of German artillery. A balloon was also raised into the sky with observers who were never able to see the huge amount of weapons and equipment that was hidden under the green cover of the Pillau Peninsula.

“Are you settled? - the general asked on the phone Galitsky corps commanders. - Very good. Study the enemy's defense. An assault is coming. At the first stage, with a “piston strike” along the sea coast and the shore of the bay, break through the enemy’s defenses, capture the city and fortress of Pillau and force the sea strait. At the second stage, together with the troops of the 43rd Army, take possession of the Frische-Nerung spit."

The army commanders spent the entire day on the front line, bit by bit, accumulating information about the Germans in detail and solving the problem of how to overcome the marshy, slightly more than two kilometers wide, flat isthmus, where, according to their calculations, each advancing regiment had about four hundred meters of front line, or one hundred and twenty meters per battalion, and only one meter for each soldier. The neutral zone turned out to be so narrow that in some places the opponents literally looked into each other’s eyes.

In the coming twilight Galitsky ordered to conduct reconnaissance in force and seize the anti-tank ditch. If successful, the commanders of the two corps were ready to bring the main forces into battle, and if the attack failed, they were ready to at least gain a foothold on the edge of the forest. When, after the “liquid” artillery barrage, the command was heard: “For the Motherland, attack!” - rifle battalions, clinging to the broken line of the highway, stretched forward, not yet knowing that the entire land of the peninsula was targeted by German field and naval artillery; she unleashed a firestorm of two thousand mines and shells on the guardsmen. Unable to quickly dig in, the infantrymen of the 18th Guards Rifle Division suffered heavy losses. A quarter of the armored vehicles covering the infantry were shot down and burned. The tankers had a hard time surviving the death of Guard Senior Lieutenant IN AND. Cheslavsky. Mortally wounded, he commanded a tank company until his fighting vehicle could move forward.

Advancement along the seashore turned out to be more successful. In a short hand-to-hand battle, the 31st Guards Rifle Division recaptured the rescue station from the Germans, capturing soldiers of the 32nd German Infantry Division, one of the regiments of which was commanded by the great-grandson of the famous chancellor Bismarck. As it turned out, the Germans knew about the “Russian” offensive and were preparing for it. There were Nazi officers in the trenches, opening fire on everyone who left the front line without permission. The German command developed the following tactics: keep as few soldiers and officers as possible at the front line, and concentrate them in the depths of the defense. There was a “special headquarters” in Pillau Wenke", engaged in the evacuation of soldiers who were not included in the formed units and units due to their low moral qualities.

The Vlasov soldiers from the Wehrmacht sapper construction battalion were also captured at the rescue station. Those who joined the “Russian liberation army"understood that they had betrayed their duty and oath, justifying themselves by saying that Stalin And Soviet authority abandoned them when they were captured. These people still had hope of returning home, and therefore, at the beginning of the battle, “Russian soldiers of the German army” went over to the side of the Soviet troops. But not everyone is lucky. In the army Galitsky The Vlasovites were not favored; they were subjected to lynching right on the battlefield.

Already at night general K.N. Galitsky stopped the attacks and withdrew the troops to their previous positions. The plan failed “due to the unpreparedness of the artillery,” which, after the assault on Koenigsberg, left most of the large-caliber shells in the rear and now suffered due to their lack. And since instead of one corps, as it turned out, all corps would participate in the assault, they decided to borrow shells from neighboring armies, but they were unable to collect them in warehouses a hundred kilometers from the front line.

There was another reason why Galitsky rescheduled the attack the next morning. It was necessary to “make a decisive turn in the mood of the personnel”, to get rid of “the complacency, arrogance and mischief that took place among individual soldiers and officers.” Thus, in one of the political reports it was noted that the new combat mission was unexpected for the self-propelled gun regiment, who believed that the war had already ended for them.

7.3. START OF THE ATTACK ON PILLAU

After the report to the front commander Galitsky they were allowed not to rush army formations into battle and thereby incur unjustified casualties. However, the new deadline for the army’s readiness for an offensive Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky installed hard - no later twentieth of April.

"DuringApril 19and innight of 20.04Corps commanders:
In connection with the ongoing shelling from the sea, shelter the personnel by digging trenches, building dugouts and other shelters. The artillery commander must prevent enemy ships from approaching the shore and shooting down our battle formations.
Continue studying the enemy, his fire system, and engineering structures. All unit commanders should be at their observation posts, being on the battlefield, and not in the deep rear. Provide hot food for personnel three times a day. Select tents from rear institutions and transfer them to combat units.
Prepare one or two night attacks by tank landing forces.”

Foggy morning April 19 German infantry surrounded the positions of the 31st Guards Rifle Division. Due to the sudden attack, the guards wavered and began to retreat. Fighting off the advancing enemy, a group of soldiers and commanders took refuge in the headquarters dugout, which stood on the bank of the stream. A day later, the survivors, together with the seriously wounded deputy regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel A.P. Lagunov, were able to get through to their own. The Germans learned from the prisoners that they were fighting the 11th Guards Army.

Her commander Kuzma Nikitovich Galitsky throughout the war he saw in a dream a horse very similar to the one he rode back in the early thirties, when he served in the Moscow Proletarian Division. She had a white star on her forehead and slender legs in “white stockings.” Galitsky joined the Red Army during the Civil War, he was not superstitious. But the dreams repeated again and again. And every time he woke up, he experienced a surge of spiritual and vitality, knowing that the image of a horse is a symbol of good luck, which did not leave him from the first days of the war, which he began as the commander of the legendary Iron Samara-Ulyanovsk Red Banner Rifle Division on the Western Front, and later commanded a corps and army.

Autumn 1943, leading the 1st Baltic Front, I.X. Baghramyan asked Headquarters to appoint him as his successor in the 11th Guards Army Galitsky, who, in his opinion, was distinguished by firmness of views, perseverance in achieving his goals, and the ability to quickly understand the combat situation. The situation was quite delicate. Stalin wanted to transfer the army to the Hero of the Soviet Union NOT. Chibisov, who became a lieutenant general after the Finnish campaign, when Baghramyan was just a colonel. But the Supreme Commander-in-Chief still agreed with the proposal and sent Galitsky to a new duty station.

Army Galitsky It was distinguished by its high combat effectiveness and always attacked in the direction of the main attack. Unlike others, it had a stable composition: nine rifle divisions, consolidated into three corps, its own self-propelled and field artillery, anti-aircraft, sapper and other units.

For military merits, Colonel General Galitsky was awarded eleven military orders. For successful leadership of troops in the assault on Koenigsberg, personal courage and courage April 19, 1945 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The start date of the operation was postponed, and A.V. Vasilevsky entrusted to an experienced army general I.X. Bagramyan be constantly at the command post
11th Guards Army, in order to eliminate possible mistakes and blunders.
“I peered with interest at the stooped figure Kuzma Nikitovich, in his pale face, in his squint light eyes, expressing concentration and purposefulness, and did not see any special changes in him... or in appearance
(except for his very thinning blond hair), nor in his demeanor. He was, as usual, reserved, dry and self-confident,” recalled I.X. Baghramyan.

From the combat order of the commander of the 11th Guards Army:
« 04/20/45- launch an offensive, regardless of the weather.
The troops are fully ready to7.00 20.04.45 .
Beginning of artillery preparation in8.20 20.04. 45.
The beginning of the attack of infantry and tanks -9.00 20.04.45.
Report personally to the commander in charge of the readiness of the troops for an offensive.7.00 20.04.45. »

All night the artillerymen dug in the guns, laid communications and unloaded boxes of shells that were being transported from the army rear, many tens of kilometers from the front line. During the operation, the automobile battalions “circled the globe nine times,” saturating every piece of land on the distant approaches to Pillau to the limit with thousands of tons of ammunition and military equipment.

7.4. DEFENSE BOARDS PILLAU

Pillau Defense Lines - map

The very nature of the peninsula, covered on three sides by the sea, strait and bay, served as a natural line of defense. Fine-grained sands made it possible to quickly dig in and carry out excavation work. The dunes overgrown with bushes and trees were unsuitable for the movement of military equipment. High cliffs stretched along the sea coast. Besides, spring 1945 It turned out to be cold, with rain, low clouds and morning fogs, which interfered with the actions of Soviet aviation.

Called “Königsberg in miniature,” Pillau traced its history back to an ancient Prussian settlement, destroyed back in the 13th century by the crusading knights, who, however, did a lot to breathe life into this once abandoned corner of Europe. Winter 1945 the city and harbor of Pillau were declared a fortress, the northern border of which ran along defensive line “A” near the village of Tenkitten (now the village of Beregovoye), and the southwestern border a few kilometers from the city along the Frische-Nerung spit. In the area of ​​the fortress, declared a restricted zone, the commandant's office, SS troops and police established a protective cordon and carried out checks of all units and institutions, detained retreating troops and soldiers and sent them to headquarters Shulna, engaged in the formation of consolidated units. The headquarters of the Pillau fortress had the following tasks: “to defend your area from unexpected enemy attacks both from the sea and on land, to eliminate the activities of enemy paratrooper agents, to block the possibility of landing parachute units, and to fight espionage and acts of sabotage. The military garrison is entrusted with the defense of the fortress to the last soldier.”

IN March 1945 Hitler appointed commander of the 55th Army Corps
lieutenant general Chill Commandant of the Pillau fortress. The telegram he received from the commander of the Northern Army Group said: “I hereby oblige you to hold this fortress until last chance. In accordance with the order Hitler for No. 11, you are responsible on your honor for the fulfillment of the task entrusted to you. Your release from this task - to hold the Pillau fortress - can only follow through me, after receiving consent from Hitler" The State Commissioner of Defense of East Prussia appointed Kreisleiter as his representative and representative of the National Socialist Party of the Pillau Fortress Matthes. It was necessary to organize the defense of the city and harbors in such a way as to protect them even with insignificant forces, repelling ground attacks and landings of Soviet troops. After the fall of the capital of East Prussia, the enemy’s defense was reduced to holding Pillau in order to have time to transport a huge number of wounded, civilians, valuables and weapons to the West, and to pin down units
3rd Belorussian Front on the Pillau Peninsula, retaining in its hands the naval base necessary for the operations of the German fleet in the northeastern part of the Baltic Sea.

The German forward line of defense, crossing the peninsula southwest of Fischhausen, included three main trenches, several rows of barbed wire, direct fire guns, dug-in tanks, rubble and an anti-tank ditch.

Actually, the defense of Pillau consisted of coastal anti-aircraft batteries and old forts. The system of impregnable borders relied on these barriers. The first of them is two continuous trenches connected by communication passages with four dozen infantry dugouts and shelters with wire fences and minefields and a deep ditch with cells and machine gun platforms at a distance of fifteen meters from each other. So the ditch itself was a third trench at the same time. Behind it was artillery of all types and calibers: anti-tank, anti-aircraft, long-range, mortar batteries. Further, in the depths of the forest, a large number of dugouts, collapsible houses, warehouses and shelters for horses were erected.

At the narrowest point of the peninsula, on hilly, treeless terrain, there was a second kilometer-long defense line. Near the walls of the ancient knight's castle of Lochstedt, a wide anti-tank ditch was dug with observation towers and trenches, behind which there were about one and a half hundred dugouts in the forest. In open and well-camouflaged pits there were staff cars, for the transportation of which a railway line was built. The entire forest area was filled to capacity with warehouses, repair shops and mobile radio and power stations. All this was covered by a large minefield and artillery stationed on the “seven hills.”

Third powerful band defense near the village of Neuhäuser (now the village of Mechnikovo) consisted of three trenches and an anti-tank ditch, surrounded by five minefields.

The next two lines of defense ran along the city streets, cut by a web of trenches and communication passages. Most of the stone buildings and extensions were prepared for fire: the walls of the first floors were reinforced, the windows were walled up, the attics were covered with earth, and shelters and warehouses were in the basements. Breaks were made and anti-tank guns were installed. Positions for machine gunners and snipers were created on the upper floors, stairwells and attics of buildings. The streets were blocked off with barricades of broken equipment, carts, telegraph poles and household belongings. On both sides of the railway there were wooden logs in five rows.

The citadel and forts of Pillau, although old buildings, could withstand high-power shells. And if the Soviet generals had already seen such fortification in Koenigsberg, then they knew nothing about the defense of the sea coast. Russian intelligence I was interested in it even on the eve of the First World War, when agents of the Navy Department visited Pillau under the guise of tourists and businessmen. But only in the mid-30s of the 20th century did Soviet intelligence become aware of the construction of eight anti-aircraft coastal batteries with a caliber of 105-150 millimeters. Their forty-nine-kilogram shells penetrated the armor of ships, tanks and aircraft. These were batteries, mechanized with the latest technology: with armored doors, with two-meter walls and ceilings, which, in addition to radars and rangefinders, had their own underground facilities: repair shops, artillery cellars, an engine room, a switchboard, a radio room, a boiler room, a washbasin, a dining room, sleeping quarters for soldiers and separately for officers, spare water tanks, fuel storage, water supply, sewerage, ventilation, heater for heating the air. The batteries were camouflaged with networks of artificial leaves and pine needles that did not fade from sunlight. Relying on the highway and railway, the enemy could maneuver forces, form and send new units into battle.

The small width of the Frische-Nerung spit allowed the enemy to create eight more lines of defense, located at a distance that excluded shelling of Pillau. Each line consisted of one or two lines of trenches, equipped with rifle and machine-gun positions and covered with rubble. The spit was equipped with up to 20 coastal and 12 anti-aircraft batteries, which could be used to fight Soviet tanks. Thus, the four-gun Neutif battery kept the area under fire, starting from Fischhausen, the entire Peise Peninsula and to Heiligenbeil.

Up to 50 artillery, mortar and rocket batteries with a total number of 306 guns and about 90 tanks and assault guns fired at the Soviet troops. In addition, a large number of guns transported across Friches Huff Bay were repaired in Pillau's workshops. Only a shortage of shells prevented the enemy from making full use of all this firepower. Already in post-war years Soviet sappers discovered well-camouflaged underground warehouses with hundreds of thousands of shells, due to various reasons, which did not fall into the hands of German artillerymen. To defend Pillau, the Nazis also transferred a regiment of chemical mortars here. They were installed on special stands. However, in that situation, the Wehrmacht command did not dare to give the order to use chemical weapons.

German bunker

The Germans, fearing a blockade from both land and sea, created a three-month supply of food in Pillau. To do this, the commandant of the fortress had to requisition all the warehouses of the northern group of armies, the Zemland group of troops, aviation and navy located in the city. In one of the hills on the outskirts of Pillau, special storage facilities were built, which later burned down during the assault, where they could enter by rail and immediately begin unloading
three or four carriages. The destruction of industrial enterprises and the dismantling of machine tools and other equipment was stopped.

In Pillau and on the Frische-Nerung spit, about 40 thousand soldiers and officers from the remnants of ten infantry divisions, a tank division, an anti-aircraft and motorized division " Greater Germany", other units, formations and combat groups. IN recent months war admiral Dennitz called on the sailors and officers of Pillau to fulfill their duty and transferred up to three thousand people - all who could be dispensed with on the ships - to the marine corps to form separate battalions, assigned to infantry divisions to “raise their combat effectiveness.” This entire group suffered significant losses in previous battles, but retained its combat stability, although it was noticeable that the “West Germans” fought with less tenacity in East Prussia.

German coastal artillery positions

From a memo to the headquarters of the German group about the situation in Pillau:
“The appearance of military personnel is currently unacceptable
and does not inspire confidence among refugees. Soldiers and officers walk the streets with women throughout the day. There is chaos and clutter in parking lots, property warehouses and homes. During air raids, chaos ensues. The riders abandon their carts in the street, and frightened horses rush along the streets. Military personnel are the first to seize the opportunity to enter air-raid shelters in the most brutal manner. In order to establish discipline and order, it is necessary, contrary to the wishes of civil and party organizations, to divide Pillau into areas in which civilians and military personnel would be kept apart."

IN April days 1945 A rumor spread in German headquarters that Germany was about to receive “the support of a major power.” This was caused by the death of the US President Roosevelt, which awakened Hitler hopes for a miracle similar to the one that once saved Frederick the Great from defeat in the Seven Years' War.

Despite Soviet artillery fire and air strikes, the pace of evacuation from Pillau increased. IN April days 1945 Another 90 thousand wounded Wehrmacht soldiers and officers and about 43 thousand civilians were taken from here. Only foreign workers and prisoners of war were denied salvation - they were shot by the SS on the Baltic coast. One of the last ships, whose holds, decks and superstructures were filled to the limit with refugees from Pillau, was the ship "Mars" with graceful hull lines, more like a yacht than a military hospital. Its rooms were paneled in mahogany and had ornate ceilings. Residents of the Kaliningrad region are more familiar with the post-war life of the ship. He became famous as the scientific ocean vessel "Vityaz". And in 1994 after restoration work, an exposition of the Museum of the World Ocean opened on it, which became one of the main attractions of the amber region.

Alexander Sergeevich Suvorov (“Alexander Suvory”)

Photo chronicle book: “The legendary BOD “Fierce” DKBF 1971-1974.”

Chapter 380. Baltic Sea. BVMB Baltiysk. Part 5. German history of Pillau. 03/27/1974.

Photo illustration from the open Internet (from left to right, top to bottom):

Town Hall of Pillau. 1933-1940.

Harbor and lighthouse of pre-war Pillau. 1940-1941.

Pillau and the lighthouse after the assault and capitulation of Pillau. May. 1945.

Source of dates and data on the history of Pillau: Website: “Baltiysk-Pillau” and its sources. Copyright © 2006-2012 Yu&N Kallinikov.

In the previous one:

Thus ended the “French” or pan-European history of Pillau in the 19th century. Ahead was the national German history of Pillau, the naval base of the German Navy.

In 1900, “the first amber processing workshops” appeared in “Old Pillau”.

In 1901, “the systematic and systematic annexation of nearby villages and territories to the city of Pillau began.” Initially, “the area of ​​the city of Pillau was only 23.8 hectares.” The entire Pillau of the 19th century fit on the territory between the Sea and Fortress canals.

On November 18, 1901, the “Königsberg Canal” was opened, connecting the city of Königsberg through Pillau with the Baltic.

The 33 km long “Königsberg Canal” could accommodate vessels and ships with a draft of up to 6 meters in winter and summer. The opening of the Königsberg Canal reduced Pillau's role as a customs post, as "income from customs duties from ships entering its harbor was significantly reduced."

Almost all ship repair yards and ship repair shops stopped their work, “the construction of industrial facilities and gas facilities in Pillau stopped, unemployment began, and the city of Pillau fell into decay.” That is why the townspeople and authorities of Pillau “decided to turn the city into a seaside resort.”

In 1903, “the first telephone exchange was built in Pillau and long-distance communication was established.”

On April 1, 1903, “Old Pillau, Wogram, New Pillau and the fortress were united into a single city of Pillau.” “Officially, the city was divided into two parts and had two post offices: Pillau-1 and Pillau-2. The number of residents has reached 10,000 people.”

In 1903, “the city court building was built” in Pillau (Museum of the Baltic Fleet).

In 1904, “the Ensemble of Infantry Barracks Buildings” was built in Pillau, where the barracks of German military units that had previously been scattered throughout the city were located.” “After the end of the First World War, artillery, food and ammunition depots were located on the territory of the Pillau infantry barracks.”

In the 20-30s of the 20th century, “various units were located in the barracks of infantry units German army, and during the Second World War, the elite of the German Navy were trained here: submarine specialists.”

In the mid-50s of the 20th century, “in the barracks there were institutions of the Baltic Fleet of the USSR Navy and its Main Base Baltiysk.”

In 1904, in Pillau, “a gas plant with a capacity of 60-70 thousand cubic meters of gas per year was put into operation, but its capacity gradually increased, and by 1939 it reached 1 million 750 thousand cubic meters of gas per year.”

In 1904, in Pillau “a steam mill was built in the area of ​​​​the current Golovko Street (Baltiysk).”

In 1904, “the city post office of Pillau was located in a new building on Kurfürstenbolwerk, house No. 8 (now Morskoy Boulevard in the lighthouse area, Baltiysk).

In 1905, “the Water Tower was built in Pillau by analogy with similar structures in Germany and Austria.”

In 1905, a tourist center “Pillau Road Union” was created in Pillau, which published the “Guide to Pillau and its surroundings” and the newspaper “Pillau Weekly”.

In 1905, in Pillau, “Julius Trog founded a printing house where the Pillaus Social Newspaper was published.”

In 1905, Pillau had "one earthquake and seven floods in the year (1905)."

In 1906, in Pillau “a building was built where the educational establishments(Sailor Club, Baltiysk).

In 1907, a brick factory with a capacity of 1 million bricks per year was built in Pillau, which was located between Mount Prokhladnaya and the Inner Harbor.

In 1908, Julius von Tröge began publishing the Pillau Community Newspaper in Pillau.

In 1910, “the only temple in Pillau that had a tower was consecrated. “The Pastor's House” is the only building that remains from the complex of buildings of the Catholic parish “Mary - Star of the Sea”.

In 1910, “an administrative building was built” in Pillau (Lyceum No. 1, Baltiysk).

In the autumn of 1910, “Captain Wischke Reimer purchased a motor boat and organized the first permanent connection between Pillau and Neutif (up to 10 trips daily).” Neutif is a place, a settlement at the tip of the Baltic Spit (opposite Pillau), in which a German airfield will be built in 1934.

In 1910, “a new wooden pilot tower was built between the Sea Canal and the Storhnest ravelin near the Faulwinkel fortress gate (the area of ​​the helipad on the North Mole, Baltiysk), which stood until 1937.”

In 1911, “the Pillau Road Union (tourist center) was created, which began publishing the “Guide to Pillau and its surroundings” and the Pillau Weekly newspaper, widely known in Europe.”

In 1911, “various sports societies emerged in Pillau, sailing regattas, mass sports games, the Beach Festival, the Harbor Festival, which turned into the grandiose “Sea Festival,” were held. All this attracted numerous tourists from Germany and other countries. Since 1911, Pillau has become a generally recognized seaside resort.”

In 1913, “through the efforts of the burgomaster of Pillau and the historian K. Haberland, the city local history museum of Pillau was opened in several rooms of the magistrate.”

In 1913, “the first cinema with 120 seats opened in Pillau at Lotzenstrasse 2, where a silent film was shown for the first time. This first cinema was called differently: “Metropol”, “Admiral’s Cinema” and “Flea Cinema”.

In 1914, “for children suffering from tuberculosis, a children's seaside resort was built in the forest near Lochstedt since 1906, which was supposed to open in August 1914, but the First World War began, and they began to treat the wounded there. After the war, the resort was restored, and children from 4 to 14 years old were accepted there (the sanatorium was designed for 80 beds).”

“After the Second World War, a Hospital Village was formed on the site of the children’s resort, which in 1951 was renamed Pavlovo and the naval hospital of the Baltic Fleet was located here.”

In 1914, “a strong wind from the sea drove water into the Pillau fortress and partially destroyed the walls.”

In 1914, “a barracks for artillerymen was built opposite the Pillau station.” “From 1946 to 1968, these former barracks housed the editorial office of the Baltic Guardian newspaper, then a dormitory for the naval engineering service.”

August 1, 1914 “General mobilization” is declared in Germany. In Pillau, “security of the sea coast has been strengthened.” In August 1914, “a feverish excitement reigned in the city (Pillau): a people’s militia was created, which joined the military garrison of the city, and an infirmary with 800 beds was urgently equipped in Camstigalle.”

Early November 1914 - “The Russian Baltic Fleet attacked Pillau as expected, but the Russian destroyer Novik managed to lay 50 mines west of Pillau, which destroyed many German ships. The military garrison of the fortress decreased sharply due to the sending of most of it to the front. Mostly women and children remained in Pillau.”

Since the beginning of the war in 1914, “as a result of this war, East Prussia was cut off from Germany, as a result of which the importance of Pillau increased significantly, since it became the only German port east of the Vistula.”

In the fall of 1914, “Pillau was given a great honor - the small cruiser of the German fleet under construction in Danzig was named Pillau.”

“The fate of the cruiser Pillau is unusual: it was built by order of the Russian government under the name Muravyov-Amursky, but with the outbreak of the First World War it ended up as part of the German fleet. In the battle near the Skagerrak Strait, the ship lost part of its crew and was seriously damaged. The sailors of the cruiser Pillau actively participated in the uprising of German sailors in November 1918. After the war, the cruiser Pillau was handed over to the British and then to the Italians. In September 1943, it was sunk by American aircraft."

On March 15, 1916, “ration cards were introduced in Pillau, as the need reached its highest limit during the harsh winter of 1916.”

In 1916, a city archive was built in Pillau, in which documents from Wogram, Old Pillau and the Pillau Fortress were kept.

In 1916, “the city museum of Pillau was opened in the workshop of the fortress.”

In 1917, food riots broke out in Pillau due to a serious deterioration in the supply of the population. “Women destroyed bakeries and bakeries, demanding flour and bread for hungry children. Active participants were arrested and imprisoned. “People's kitchens” have opened for the hungry in Pilaau.

On November 10, 1918, a revolution took place in Pillau. “The Council of Workers and Soldiers was created. It was led by a militia officer and writer from Berlin, Konstantin Jacob David (born in Constantinople in 1886). This uprising was suppressed on March 9, 1919 by a battalion under the command of Major Ulrich von Saucken."

In 1920, in Pillau, “it was decided to create the East Prussian Naval Service.” “The basis of the East Prussia naval service were three large ships - the Hanseatic City of Danzig, Prussia and Tannenberg. During the summer season, the Kaiser turbo ship also sailed.

In 1920, “a permanent postal service was established between Neutif and Pillau.” “The same connection existed between Pillau-1 and Russian Dam, a ferry service was also organized between Russian Dam and Neutif.”

On April 1, 1921, “Pillau was declared the base of the German fleet - free access to the city of Pillau was closed, the Pillau fortress also became subordinate to the German Navy.”

“In the 20s of the 20th century, the 5th coastal defense department was stationed in Pillau, which on October 1, 1926 was renamed the V naval artillery defense (security) department (V MAA). On October 1, 1933, the 1st minesweeper flotilla of the German Navy was transferred to Pillau, to a permanent location, and in 1940 - the 1st training submarine division, which in 1943 was divided into the 3rd training detachment and 19, 20 , 21st and 26th submarine flotillas of the German Navy. On the eve of the Second World War, powerful naval artillery batteries were installed in Pillau.”

In 1922, “a factory for the production of mineral water was opened in Pillau at 16 Shossestrasse.” “Since 1946, a workshop for the production of caramel and ice cream has been opened on the site of the factory (since 1954 - interschool workshops, Baltiysk).

On April 1, 1922, a vocational school was opened in Pillau, which initially had 3 craft classes and 1 trade class (101 students in total).”

“Pillau became the first city in the province of Prussia (Germany) that managed to put vocational education on a solid basis. In 1936, the school had three craft classes (99 students), two semi-literate classes (83 boys), and five home economics classes (139 girls). In 1936, the trade school housed many classes in the old school building at Oberst von Herrmann Strasse 2 (former Girls' High School)."

February 1923 - “Pillau began to receive electricity from the unified East Prussian electrical system.”

“While Königsberg already had electricity since 1890, Pillau did not have the opportunity to provide itself with electricity. Only before the First World War was the city connected to the electrical grid, but after the war this became impossible. In 1923, Pillau was finally connected to the East Prussian electrical grid. The city's demand for electricity was rapidly increasing."

In 1925, in Pillau, “a cinema was opened in the German House Hotel, where art exhibitions were often held.”

In 1925, in Pillau, “a building for the water police was built at the corner of Hindenburgstrasse/Holzwiese.” “The water police department had 2 officers and 20 police officials. Since 1946, the internal affairs department (OVD) of Baltiysk has been located here.”

On June 3, 1926, in Pillau, “a public and secondary school was opened for the entire city in the building of the Anatomical Theater.”

In 1926, in Pillau, “the so-called “Resort Leaflet” began to be published for the Neuhäuser seaside resort.

In April 1927, “all the fishermen of Pillau united to work together to catch and process fish into a single society, the Pillau Fishing Society.” “Intensive production and processing of cod, salmon, flounder, pike perch, smelt and sprat began. Moreover, sprat production has increased so much that Pillau is becoming the main place for its production in winter.”

In September 1927, in Pillau “the operation of the sewerage and water supply system for the city began.

November 12, 1927 In Pillau, “in a solemn ceremony, the city sewerage system was transferred to the city administration for management.” “The main water tower of the city had a height of 32 meters and a reservoir capacity of 300 cubic meters (located near house No. 63 on Lenin Ave., Baltiysk).

“Water in Pillau from four artesian wells up to 76 m deep entered the sump, and from there, under pressure, into the city network. An automatic water filtering station was built on Friedrich-Wilhelm-Strasse, directly next to the canal.”

In 1927, in Pillau, “all the roads in the city were paved, all wooden bridges were replaced with reinforced concrete ones, and many trees were planted.”

The winter from 1928 to 1929 in Pillau was unusually harsh. On February 14, 1929, “the air temperature reached minus 43 degrees Celsius.”

From February to April 1929, “the strait at Pillau was blocked for 50 miles in length and 20 miles in width by an ice shell 3 to 5 meters thick, 14 ships in the harbor and 16 in the Pillau roadstead were frozen in the ice.”

On April 8, 1929, “at the request of Germany, the Russian icebreaker Ermak came to Pillau from Leningrad (USSR) and liberated the city from ice captivity.”

From August 19 to 21, 1929, “the Soviet destroyers Rykov and Lenin were in Pillau on an official visit.”

“This was the first official visit of Soviet ships of the USSR Navy abroad. The detachment of warships was commanded by RKKF commander P.I. Smirnov."

“Soviet ships moored in the inner harbor of Pillau. Numerous residents welcomed the entry of Soviet ships. Pillau officials paid a return visit to the destroyer Lenin."

“Sports competitions with Soviet sailors took place at the Pillau city stadium: a football match, a relay race and a traditional tug-of-war. Boat races were held in the harbor; the team from the destroyer Rykov won.

“In the evening there was a reception with Mayor Pillau. The next day, the command staff of the Soviet ships went on an excursion to the amber factory, and then to a banquet with the commandant of the Pillau fortress.”

In 1929, in Pillau, “a ship repair plant near the dock (shipbuilding company Schichau-Elbing) came into operation.” “Together with warships, the ships of Pillaus fishermen were built and repaired in his shipyards.”

In 1932, “the Higher Real Gymnasium for the joint education of boys and girls and a nautical school” were opened in Pillau.

In 1932, Pillau “visited the cruiser Cologne of the German Navy, which took patronage of Pillau.” This year, “a new boat, Kleinnenstenberg, was delivered to the city beach rescue station.”

In 1933, “the first radio broadcasting began in Pillau, broadcasts were broadcast from Königsberg.”

In 1934, a marine terminal was built in Pillau. “The ships of the East Prussian Maritime Service communicated Pillau with Kiel, Helsinki, Memel, Liepaja, Riga, Swinemünde, Soyot and other Baltic port cities.”

In 1934, the “Strelka House” - a hotel and casino (Fleet Officers House, Baltiysk) was built in Pillau.

In May 1934 there was heavy snowfall in Pillau.

In September 1934, in Pillau, “work began on the construction of an airfield between Mount Schwalbenberg and the Russian Dam.” “But first it was necessary to solve the difficult task of draining the marshy area that was left here from the departed waters of the Frisch Huff. The swamp was filled with the soil that remained during the deepening of the fairway, and also, partially, with soil from Mount Schwalbenberg.”

In 1935, in Pillau, “the construction of the Himmelreich artillery barracks with various auxiliary buildings (utility, administrative, and areas for military exercises) was completed.” “From 1945 to 1948, there were about 2,000 German prisoners of war here, then an air defense unit was stationed here, and since 1991, the town of artillery barracks was transferred to the naval unit of the Federal Border Service of the Russian Federation.

In 1935, in Pillau, “the largest restaurant located in the Plantation burned down.”

In 1936, a bus service was “opened” in Pillau. In December 1936, “a bus service between Pillau and Neuhäuser was opened.”

In December 1935 - January 1936 in Pillau, “the construction of an airfield between Mount Schwalbenberg and the Russian Dam, hydraulic structures, landing strips, garages, production workshops, a gas station, as well as the connection of all structures to the railway network - everything was ready.” “However, the insufficiently drained earthen area was subject to fluctuations, so in 1936-1937 all the buildings were demolished, and a naval harbor was built on this site to accommodate ships of the German navy. The implementation of the project to create an airfield was moved to the Neutifa area.”

On March 2, 1936, in Pillau, “the Gosch-Hamburg fish canning factory located in the far harbor burned down, leaving 300 people unemployed.”

In May 1936, in Pillau “for the “Unified German Youth Tourist Union”, a new building was built on Friedrich-Wilhelm-Strasse and named after Admiral von Troth.” “In 1947, this building housed the CPSU State Committee and the City Executive Committee, and since 1977, the Art School (Baltiysk).”

In 1936, “the village of Kamstigall was included in the city of Pillau, under the control of the Pillau burgomaster.”

On October 18, 1936, “the chief president (German: Oberpr;sident) is the supreme head of the district administration (the highest executive in the state administration of the Prussian provinces 1815-1946), awarded the city of Pillau the title “Sea City”, and it was issued a new city seal “Sea City Pillau”. 1936,” the seal also read “Magistrate of the Royal Maritime City of Pillau.”

In 1936, in Pillau, “in the northern part of the “Russian Island”, the Kurt Zakut shipyard opened, engaged in the construction of small fishing boats.”

In the early spring of 1938, in Pillau, “construction work began on the creation of a naval harbor for the parking of ships of the German navy.” “It was planned to build: a port, launch tracks, slips, reinforced concrete hangars, a weapons workshop, warehouses, hydraulic structures, a boiler room, gas stations, torpedo workshops, 8 barracks, industrial buildings, a casino, residential buildings” (At the end of 1939, almost the entire construction program military harbor - the base of the German fleet - was realized).

In 1938, in Pillau, “on the seashore, the city laid a promenade on the same level with a beach restaurant, the length of the promenade is 500 meters.” “The restaurant opened in May 1927 and seated 300 people. Hot and cold dishes were served there in any season.”

In December 1938, in Pillau, “the Hamburg branch of the Gosch company opened a fish canning factory on Russian Embankment, and a brick factory was built near Mount Schwalbenberg.”

In 1939, in Pillau, “the construction of a military camp began in Kamstigalle.”

In August 1939, “troops who took part in the war against Poland arrived in Pillau.”

“Near the quay walls of Pillau harbor there were located mine units, a submarine training division, and then several fleets of submarines.”

“German naval aviation aircraft were based at five airfields in the vicinity of Pillau, making reconnaissance flights along the Soviet borders. At Mount Schwalbenberg, the Germans built a modern harbor for ships, including heavy cruisers.”

“The quay walls of the military harbor of Pillau had devices (communications) for supplying water, steam, fuel, electricity, air high pressure and direct current. There were also numerous warehouses and shelters, reinforced concrete shelters and a network of pipelines.”

“In the garrison of the military harbor of Pillau there was a ship repair plant, an underground mine and torpedo factory, two coke and gas plants, a cement plant, a canning plant, a sausage plant, a railway depot and a greenhouse.”

In 1940, a stadium was built in Pillau “at Plantation” (Park named after Admiral Golovko, Baltiysk), which became the venue for citywide sports competitions and football tournaments.”

In 1941, in Pillau, “on Haken (urban area between the Fortress Canal and Morskoy Boulevard, Baltiysk), a two-story hotel “Golden Anchor” was built according to the design of the German engineer Skort Frick,” which had thirty-six single and double rooms.”

“During the Second World War, there was an evacuation point for civilians and wounded Wehrmacht soldiers from East Prussia. In the post-war years, military builders of the Baltic Fleet were stationed here. Currently, the hotel is part of the Slavyanka hotel complex of the Russian Defense Ministry.”

In 1941, “after the start of the war between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, the city of Pillau was camouflaged.” “The lights of the lighthouse went out. At the city cemetery (near the House of Culture, Baltiysk) there was a burial place of several dozen German pilots - residents of Pillau, who died near the walls of distant Leningrad."

In 1943, “the Neuhäuser resort (the village of Mechnikovo, Baltiysk) was included in the city of Pillau.”

In the winter of 1945, “several thousand sea mines exploded in the underground Stiehl factory where prisoners of war worked.”

“Of the one and a half thousand prisoners who found themselves at the epicenter of the explosion, no more than four hundred remained alive. A huge crater formed at the site of the explosion - 350 meters long, 150 meters wide and 75 meters deep. Soviet prisoners of war, who entered into an unequal battle with the camp guards, were shot.”

On February 24, 1945, the “Pillaus Naval Base” of the Navy of Nazi Germany was formed in Pillau.

In March 1945, “southwest of Königsberg, Soviet troops defeated the 4th German Army, the remnants of which were transported to the vicinity of Pillau, where a new flow of refugees rushed, and their evacuation began from the end of March 1945.”

On April 4, 1945, “the last train carrying Nazi troops and refugees left Königsberg for Pillau.”

On April 9, 1945, the commandant of the Königsberg fortress, General Lyash, at 2 a.m. and his headquarters (two generals and more than 10 senior commanders) arrived at the headquarters of the 11th guards division Red Army and unconditionally accepted the ultimatum.

At 22:45 on April 9, 1945, the commander of the Königsberg fortress, General Lyash, “gave the order for the immediate cessation of resistance and the surrender of the Königsberg garrison. “By the morning of April 10, 1945, the city of Königsberg as a whole was cleared of the Nazis.”

On April 17, 1945, “during a night assault, the city of Fischhausen was captured by Soviet troops.” On the night of April 18, 1945, “units and formations of the Soviet 11th Guards Army took up combat positions for the assault on Pillau.”

“The naval base and the city of Pillau were defended by 40,000 soldiers and officers of six infantry and tank divisions, two separate tank battalions, the Grossdeutschland tank division, a howitzer-artillery brigade, an assault gun brigade, an anti-aircraft division, separate anti-aircraft regiments and many others units, individual formations and battle groups of the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany. The defending Germans had a three-month supply of food and ammunition."

“The artillery preparation for the assault on Pillau before the offensive involved 600 Soviet guns and rocket launchers. On this day, Soviet aviation made 1,500 sorties.”

“During the assault on Pillau, Soviet infantry, supported by tanks and self-propelled guns, were met with devastating fire from German guns camouflaged on the edge of the forest. The Germans launched counterattacks six times, pushing back the advancing units. All attempts to move forward were unsuccessful."

On April 21, 1945, in the suburbs of Pillau, “the fighting between German and Soviet troops flared up with renewed vigor.” “Soviet troops overcame the first anti-tank defensive line. The German garrison of Lochstedt Castle met the Soviet soldiers with hurricane fire. For days it was not possible to suppress the resistance of the defending Germans.”

By the end of April 22, 1945, “the resistance of the German troops defending Pillau began to weaken.” “The German command gave an order to evacuate non-combat units from the city. Soviet aviation destroyed warehouses with ammunition and fuel, equipment and weapons. The city was burning. The second anti-tank ditch became a serious obstacle for the advancing Soviet troops.”

All day on April 23, 1945, in the Pillau area, “reconnaissance in force was carried out, Soviet military units were replaced, which suffered heavy losses.” “In the dead of night, the German units managed to push back into the depths of the forest and transport military equipment and infantry across the anti-tank ditch.”

All day on April 24, 1945, “two Soviet guards rifle divisions fought for Neuhäuser, on the outskirts of which the remnants of the Greater Germany tank division were entrenched.

“In the evening, Soviet troops captured part of the third anti-tank ditch and broke into the city outskirts of Pillau. A red flag was hoisted over one of the houses. Despite fierce resistance, the enemy’s defenses were broken.”

On the night of April 25, 1945, “about 15,000 German soldiers and officers and 7,000 wounded crossed the strait.”

“The city of Pillau was in flames. There was panic on the piers. German soldiers tried to swim to the opposite shore. The city was surrounded. All day long there were battles in the barracks of the military town of Himmelreich, on the territory of the port and harbors, where opponents fought for every pier. Soviet soldiers had to take every basement, floor or attic by storm. Particularly stubborn fighting took place in Plantage Park.

“By 20:00 on April 25, 1945, “the German garrison of the Eastern Fort laid down their arms.” “In the evening, Soviet soldiers crossed the fortress canal into the old part of the city, where the fighting continued all night. The assault on the city and fortress of Pillau came at a high price for Soviet soldiers. The Soviet 11th Guards Army had never experienced such heavy losses.”

On the morning of April 26, 1945, “the main forces of the combined regiment of the Soviet 13th Guards Corps landed on the Frische-Nerung spit.” The “Eastern” and “Western” landings united with units of the 11th Guards Army, destroying and capturing several thousand German soldiers and officers, but even after the end of the landing operation, the fighting on Frisch-Nerung continued even until the victorious days of May 1945.”

April 27, 1945 "in last days Before the assault, Pillau was a huge transshipment point for sending Nazis and refugees flocking from all over Samland through the strait to the Frische-Nerung spit and by sea route to the Hel Peninsula.”

“In total, from January 23 to April 24, 1945, about 180,000-200,000 soldiers were evacuated through Pillau to Neutif and further along the spit to the west, and by sea on transport ships -
about 141,000 wounded and 451,000 soldiers and refugees."

The end of the Nazi history of Pillau and the beginning of the history of Soviet Baltiysk.

Citadel of Pillau.

April 25 marked the 65th anniversary of the capture of Pillau, the last stronghold of the Nazis in East Prussia.

Despite the fact that the last units of the German army surrendered to our troops only on May 8 - on the Frische-Nerung Spit (today - the Baltic Spit), - the end date of the East Prussian offensive operation is considered to be April 25. It was on this day that the last major fascist stronghold fell - the well-fortified port of Pillau. The director of the Historical and Art Museum, author of the book “Chronicle of the Assault on Pillau,” Sergei Yakimov, spoke about little-known episodes of those brutal battles.

Sergey Yakimov.

"KONIGSBERG HOTELS"
If the armies of three fronts began the East Prussian operation in January 1945, then only one had to finish it - the 3rd Belorussian, which, after the death of Army General Chernyakhovsky, was commanded by Marshal Vasilevsky. The 1st Baltic Front was abolished by April, the 2nd Belorussian Front was rapidly advancing towards Berlin.
“Then our best forces went to Berlin,” says Sergei Yakimov. - The troops of the 3rd Belorussian received practically no reinforcements. The only additions were the so-called “Königsberg gifts”.
This was the name given to prisoners of war released from German concentration camps, scattered in large numbers throughout East Prussia. Thousands of Red Army soldiers who were captured at the very beginning of the war received freedom only at the end of the war.
- These people looked at everything with square eyes. Naturally, they did not see the shoulder straps on our soldiers and officers - they immediately imagined the White Guards, gold chasers; they didn’t know what a machine gun was... These people joined the ranks of the troops that completed the East Prussian operation. It is clear that their combat characteristics were far from ideal.
The Germans were also far from the same as in 1941, but elite units took part in the defense of East Prussia. In particular, the divisions “Herman Goering” and “Greater Germany” fought in the Heiligenbeil pocket.
“The best forces of the German army ended their journey in the battles for Königsberg and Pillau,” says Sergei Yakimov.

UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT
It is not customary for us to advertise the fact that the first attempt to take Pillau was a fiasco. They wanted to storm the port back in February, but the Germans launched a preemptive strike.
- The troops of the 1st Baltic Front, commanded by General Bagramyan, received orders on February 20 to launch an attack on Pillau, take this city, as well as Fischhausen (today Primorsk). However, on February 19, the Germans launched a counter-offensive, pushed back our troops and broke through a corridor between Königsberg, which was surrounded at that time, and Pillau. They then managed to withdraw hundreds of thousands of civilians from Koenigsberg along it.
According to Sergei Yakimov, the German group was very strong at that time. Only near Heiligenbeil (present-day Mamonovo) there were then about 20 divisions of the 4th Army - however, they were already surrounded and subsequently largely destroyed.
“We were unable to achieve a complete blockade of the German group in East Prussia,” the historian continues. - The Germans did not feel surrounded; they made full use of the Baltic Sea to supply their forces. Stalin did not allow use in the Baltic big ships, and the torpedo boats could not completely complete the mission.

UNDERGROUND RAILWAY

A firing point between Pillau and Fischhausen, connected to others by underground.

After the capture of Königsberg, the main efforts of the Red Army in East Prussia were aimed at capturing Pillau. But it was a tough nut to crack. The city was surrounded by three belts of anti-tank ditches, many pillboxes, bunkers, and trenches. The entire area was well targeted.
“The German ships stationed in the roadstead also provided assistance - their artillery caused serious damage to our advancing units,” says Yakimov.
- What about our overwhelming air superiority? - I ask the historian.
- Firstly, the weather was bad - clouds and fog, so the use of aviation was limited. Secondly, we must not forget about the German air defense forces. About 30 anti-aircraft batteries were concentrated in the Pillau area. Moreover, the anti-aircraft gunners were real masters of their craft.
Another element of defense was... the underground railway that connected Pillau and Fischhausen.
“I just recently discovered this data in the archive, in one of the Soviet intelligence reports, dated December 1944. It is based on the interrogation of prisoners of war,” says Sergei Alexandrovich. - From the underground railway there were exits to the top, to the casemates, where artillery and machine-gun positions were equipped. Ammunition was delivered via the underground. Now this entire system is concreted.

ARMORED TRAIN THAT WALKED IN A CIRCLE
Armored trains were actively used in the East Prussian operation - the railway network in this territory 65 years ago was better developed than it is now. German locomotives caused a lot of trouble for our troops. The last of them was destroyed just before the assault on Pillau in the area of ​​​​the current village of Shipovka.
“Our pilots have been hunting for this armored train for a long time,” says Sergei Yakimov. - He wandered along a circular route, which still exists today, connecting Kaliningrad, Zelenogradsk, Yantarny, Baltiysk. For a long time he was elusive, but closer to April 20th he was caught. On the 12th approach they covered it with a bomb attack.

TROPHY TEAMS
An integral part of the Red Army's offensive was the work of captured teams. It is clear that East Prussia was of great interest from the point of view of cultural, and not only cultural, values, so special units went immediately behind the combat units. And sometimes... in front of them.
“There was such a city - Shirvindt, not far from the border of the USSR, now it is a field in the Krasnoznamensky district,” the historian continues. - So, our people took him without special problems. And that's why. The captured teams - and these are convoys, convoys and again convoys - mistakenly entered Shirvindt, thinking that it had already been taken by our troops. It turned out that there were Germans there. But the fascists, seeing that Russian convoys were entering the city, realized that things were going wrong - if the convoys were coming! - and retreated.
There were plenty of trophy teams on the approaches to Pillau. Sometimes combat units had to clear a path for themselves with the help of tanks - pushing trucks off a narrow road into a ditch.
“The Germans took a huge amount of cultural property to Pillau,” concludes Sergei Yakimov. - The fate of most of them is still unknown.

BRUTAL FIGHTS
The battles for Pillau were very bloody and difficult. The Germans resisted with all their might - they had no other choice.
“There was no talk of any voluntary surrender,” says Yakimov. “We had to fight for every kilometer.” Initially, the task of capturing Pillau was assigned to the 2nd Guards Army of General Chanchibadze. But its soldiers apparently lost the taste for war - after the capture of Königsberg, the army was on vacation in Kranz - and began to suffer defeat.
Then Vasilevsky sent proven bison to Pillau - fighters of the 11th Guards Army of Colonel General Kuzma Galitsky, which triumphantly captured Königsberg on April 9.
The 11th Army suffered heavy losses, but she won. On April 25, the Pillau citadel, founded in the 17th century by the Swedish king Gustav Adolf from the bricks of the ancient order castles of Lochstedt and Balga, fell. At the same time, the headquarters of the German group was not captured - the officers somehow escaped. Sergei Yakimov suggests that through an underground tunnel to the Frische-Nerung spit.
This incident speaks volumes about the ferocity of the battles for Pillau.
“After the capture of Königsberg, the 50th Army was located in the city, which was later transferred to the Far East for the war with Japan,” says Sergei Yakimov. - And a few days later, some revival began in Königsberg - hairdressers and shops opened. But after the capture of Pillau, the 11th Guards Army returned to Königsberg. Its fighters were so embittered by the losses at Pillau that draconian laws were introduced in Königsberg. All establishments, of course, were closed.