The Ministry of Defense of Russia promulgated documents about the liberation of the Lithuanian Kaunas by the Red Army in 1944. The pages classified as "secret" describe examples of the courage and exploits of the Soviet military in the capture of the city, as well as the atrocities of the fascists and their minions. The liberation of the city was made possible by the offensive operations of the troops of the 3rd Byelorussian Front and parts of the 1st Baltic and 2nd Byelorussian fronts.

As the military historian Yury Knutov noted in a conversation with RT, the forces of the Red Army and the fascists in this area were almost equal. However, the Nazis turned Kaunas into a powerful fortress.

“There was a wall on which there were powerful fortifications, citadels. In general, Hitler spoke in favor of each city being a fortress city. Since Kaunas was the center of communications — iron and dirt roads passed through it — and also had powerful fortifications, it was of great importance for the army group “North”, which was defeated in the course of operation “Bagration”. This is an outstanding battle, which has no analogues either in the Great Patriotic War or the Second World War, ”explained Knutov.

Courage reward

Among the archival documents there is an order of the USSR Supreme Commander Joseph Stalin about awarding orders to formations and units of the Red Army for the exemplary performance of command assignments in battles with the enemy. The most distinguished compounds were also given the name "Kovno" (from the word "Kovno" - the outdated name of the city). In their honor, on August 1, 1944, a salute was given in Moscow.

“... at 22 o'clock, the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, on behalf of the Motherland, salutes the gallant troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, which captured Kaunas, with twenty artillery volleys of two hundred and twenty-four guns,” the order says.

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Documented and feats of individual soldiers and officers. Thus, the gunner of the antitank rifle of the 856th rifle regiment of the 277th rifle division, junior sergeant Andrei Chumakov, when the ammunition ran out, rushed at the enemy's tank from grenades and brought it down.

Chumakov was killed, but his act changed the whole course of the battle in favor of the Soviet troops. For this, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously.

Lieutenant Vladimir Alkhimov, being the commander of the battery of the 261st Guards Cannon Artillery Regiment, three times dispersed the accumulation of tanks and self-propelled guns. He ensured the destruction of the enemy’s tank group, for which he also received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The commander of the platoon of T-34 tanks of the 1st tank battalion of the 120th separate brigade of guard Lt. Ivan Matveenko destroyed three German tanks. When the gun in his car refused, he decided to go to ram the enemy's tank.

“The enemy could not stand it and turned back. Matveyenko emerged victorious from this unequal battle, for which he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, ”the Ministry of Defense website reported.

  • Soviet artillery guard rests near its 122-mm howitzer M-30 after a battle with German tanks near Kaunas
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  • © Anatoly Morozov

Land mines and bombs

In the liberated Kaunas, a great deal of work was done on mine clearance. So, in the certificate from the chief of staff of the engineering troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, Colonel Shifrin, it is said about the neutralization of about five thousand different bombs with a total weight of 83140 kg, one hundred land mines, almost 2 thousand grenades and other ammunition.

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

In addition, an album with unique images of the liberated city is attached. They capture the streets of the city after the battles, as well as ferries and bridges, induced by engineering teams instead of structures blown up by the Germans.

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Spared neither women nor children

Among the declassified documents presented and evidence of the atrocities of the Nazis and those who helped them. In particular, there are descriptions of the actions of the Lithuanian organization of the SS "Smovchiki" (stranglers) in the Kaunas region. It is noted that from the first days of the occupation, they dealt with the civilian population, arresting the Communists and Komsomol members and exterminating the Jews, regardless of age.

"In November 1941, these bloodsuckers drove the entire Jewish population to the school (over 900 people), including old people and babies, for three days they were abused in every possible way, beaten with rubber sticks, .. then they were tied up by 304 people, they were taken out of the town (Merech. - RT ) and they shot some of their victims with rifles, all of them were buried, including the living ones, in big holes dug in advance, ”follows from one of the documents.

Other fascists were sent to concentration camps and forts, which surrounded Kaunas. “During the period from October 1941 to March 1942, about 22 thousand people were killed in the forts, which the fascists identified as the place of destruction,” the Defense Ministry said.

  • The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. Kaunas. The surviving prisoners of the Jewish ghetto in Viliampol tell Soviet officers who liberated the city about the atrocities of the fascists
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  • © Nikolay Popov

It is noted that the ninth fort was given solely for the content of Soviet prisoners of war and "politically unreliable" people. “In this camp, another, most cruel method of exterminating the Soviet people was adopted - they died from exhaustion and overworking,” follows from the report of Colonel Khvatov, head of the political department of the 5th army.

According to the stories of the inhabitants of the city, since the beginning of the occupation, the Germans have destroyed there about 40 thousand Soviet people and more than 50 thousand people brought from France, Belgium, Hungary and other countries. To hide the traces of their atrocities, the Germans from the autumn of 1943 began to dig up the bodies of those they had previously killed and burn.

“The burning was carried out by specially formed teams of Soviet prisoners of war, Jews and Lithuanians. Upon completion of the work, the personnel of these teams were immediately shot, and their corpses were burned by the following teams, ”reads the report of Khvatov.

In this connection, historians note, the emotions of people meeting the Soviet soldiers with flowers are quite understandable. After all, without the efforts of the Red Army from Kaunas, nothing could have remained.

“Kaunas was the key to East Prussia. After it opened the road actually in Germany. That is why the Germans defended Kaunas with all their might, ”concluded Knutov.

In Moscow, the liberation of Kaunas will be celebrated on August 1 with salutes. It will be given by ZiS-3 guns from the times of the Great Patriotic War and salute installations of various calibers based on the KamAZ automobile.