Geography of the USSR. Kiev under the german occupation

[TabsTabs1964]

Good morning William.
Thank you so much for your words.
My plan to finish the thread still includes the following chapters:
The liberation, the parade of the German POWs and life after the war.
The first German "visit" and postcards of Kiev.
The monuments of Kiev today.
I'm going to try to get one in line today and then my wife and I are going on a week's holiday to Jordan.
We have traveled a lot in Europe, but we are not lucky enough to know Kiev.
Feel free to upload images to the thread.
Thanks again.

Santi

[TabsTabs1964]

PART EIGHT - THE LIBERATION. GERMAN POW PARADE. LIFE AFTER WAR

The Battle of the Dnieper.

In mid-August 1943, after the defeat in the battle of Kursk and the Soviet counteroffensive, the entire von Manstein South Army Group was clearly on the defensive.



von Manstein in the fall of 1943. The box of victory´s cigars has been closed for a time (although after the escape from Cherkassy pocket the old fox will smoke a last victory cigar again, before being dismissed by Hitler)

The German high command understood that if he wanted to preserve western Ukraine he should establish a defensive line, an eastern wall "Ostwall" where tries to contain the Soviet wave.
Geographically, the Dnieper River was the great natural barrier in which to establish the defensive line; trying to avoid at any cost that the Soviets established bridgeheads on the western bank of the great river.



Aerial photograph of the Dnieper south of Kremenchug.

The German line has almost a hundred divisions totaling about 1.250.000 men, 12.500 pieces of artillery, 2.000 tanks and 2.000 airplanes.





Wating for the wave

[TabsTabs1964]

But the Stavka has lined up in front of them, no less than five "fronts". The Red Army thus brings together forty-five armies, including four tank and five air armies, or in summary, more than 200 divisions totaling 2.650.000 men, equipped with 51.000 pieces of artillery, 2.400 tanks and 2.800 aircraft.





Two images of German soldiers entrenched in their defensive positions, at some time and place in the Eastern Front.

The Dnieper reaches more than three kilometers wide in its lower part; To further complicate the task of the attackers, the north bank to be conquered is higher and covered with German fortifications.
But Stalin wants to free Kiev before the anniversary of the Russian Revolution on November 7, for its great propaganda effect, so it requires the Stavka to cross the river and attack frontally. The troops will use everything that can float to cross the river under a dense enemy fire, and overcome the slopes that constitute the north shore of the Dnieper. These attacks will result in heavy losses for the Soviet side.
The first river crossings occurred at the end of September in the lower course of the Dnieper, Soviet bridgeheads were created and consolidated in Dniprodzerzhynsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kremenchug ...... So until obtaining no less than 30 bridgeheads that will sustain the advance of the Red Army.





An image of the Soviet Dnieper crossing and another of Soviet pioneers crossing another river during the war.





German infantry position in Kiev, on the banks of the Dnieper.
A piece of German artillery oriented towards the east bank of the river. Kiev's hour of liberation was approaching.



And finally: Die Russen Kommen!!

But in that sector of the German defensive line, the positions south of the city were powerfully defended from excellent fortifications by the 24th Panzerkorps of Nehring.
So General Vatutin decided to launch the 3rd Tank Army of General Rybalko's Guard by the bridgehead of Lutetzsh, north of the city, concentrating his artillery to sustain the crossing.



The Soviet rupture north of Kiev.

[TabsTabs1964]

On November 3, the defenses of the 4th Panzerarmee are broken by the Soviet avant-gardes and on November 5 the Rybalko tanks are on the streets of Kiev.



For the inhabitants of the city who had survived, the more than two years of terrible living conditions were lowered or the German occupation.





Two images of Russian troops marching on Kreschatik Street, after liberation. November 1943



Soviet partisans in front of Bogdan Khmelnizki monument.

Two more images in front of the Bogdan Khmelnizki monument:



Zhukov and Kruschev in November 1943 (First and second from the left)



Three proud Soviet soldiers photographed in the same place.



Another visit of Kruschev to Kiev. March 1944 talking with the inhabitants of the city.

[TabsTabs1964]

We all know the images of the march of German prisoners in Moscow (also known as the Parade of the Defeated or "Operation Grand Waltz") that took place on July 17, 1944. Nearly 57,000 German soldiers and officers, mostly captured in Belarus, they walked for hours through the streets and avenues of the capital of the USSR.
But Moscow was not the only great Soviet city where there were these massive parades to raise the morale of the population and to show the world that the once almighty Wehrmacht was anything but invincible to the Red Army.
In Kiev, the march of German prisoners took place a month later, on Wednesday, August 16, 1944. A column of prisoners of war made up of 36,918 men, including 549 officers, walked through the city for 5 hours, starting at 10am.

These are some of the images of that moment in history.
What would the inhabitants of the city think, who had suffered two years of terrible occupation, when they saw parading those who were their powerful masters, now turned into tattered prisoners ...














tabstabs collection. Soviet press photo




tabstabs collection. Soviet press photo



At the end of the column, the streets are cleaned

[TabsTabs1964]

I have left the best known scenario, for last.

[TabsTabs1964]

The level of urban destruction in Kiev, compared to other cities such as Stalingrad or Smolensk, was moderate. In spite of the damages of the explosions caused by the saboteurs of the NKVD of September of 1941; as well as the blasting of German engineers during the November 1943 retreat; large areas of the city were not damaged or moderately damaged.
In any case, the city's services (water supply, sewerage and power supply network) needed hard work to be restored throughout the city.
Like so many other cities that suffered the damage of war, part of its streets had to be cleared of tons and tons of rubble. In addition, many severely damaged downtown buildings had to be finally demolished.



Image of Vladimirskaya Street, spring 1944

Finally, many of the great avenues in the center of Kiev had to be paved again.
Throughout 1944, all these tasks were already worked intensively, both by the inhabitants of the city and by the German prisoners of war (as they had been doing in the ruins of Stalingrad for more than a year)





1,944. Two views of women removing debris from collapsed buildings on Khreshchatyk Street.
In the second, we see once again the building of the central department store.



1944. The newly paved Khreshchatyk Street



This is the appearance of Sofia Square on May 1, 1945, during the Labor Day military parade. There were still eight days left for Germany's unconditional surrender

In the background, from the top of his pedestal, riding his bronze horse the Cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky continues to contemplate the History of Kiev passing under his feet

[TabsTabs1964]

1949. Two postwar images of the building of the central department stores, during two military parades.
The first poster says in Ukrainian: 10 rokiv (10 years)
On the poster of the second it says: Long Life to the first of May!

We still have to tell the story of the other visit made by the Germans to the city of Kiev, although on that occasion they were better received.
We will also see postcards of how the monuments of the city were then and, finally, the colorful and bright images of how they are today, despite the long shadow of its eastern neighbor.

Eight days on vacation in the Middle East with my wife. When we return we will continue!!

I hope you enjoy.

[wpheaton]

I will try to post some of my pictures.

[TabsTabs1964]

PART NINE - THE FIRST VISIT

The first German visit to Ukraine took place 23 years before Operation Barbarossa.
After the fall of the Romanovs, Ukraine and its capital first lived under an Interim Government, until November 1917; then under a Central Council that proclaimed the People's Republic of Ukraine, until the end of January 1918; and later, the Bolsheviks seized power until March, for just over a month.
The truth is that the newly independent Ukraine lived mired in disorder and misgovernment, after two years of continuous blows and changes.
But after the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty in February, the Germans occupied Ukraine for more than eight months: from March to December 1918.



Kiev railway station. The commander in chief of the Kiev force group, Field Marshal von Eichhorn. April 1918.

In the cities of Ukraine, especially in Kiev, the Germans are dedicated to putting things in order. The great Ukrainian capital was deteriorated and dirty after the scrambled years 1916-1917.



Changing of the guard in the Duma building in Duma square. 1918



Soon the Germans began the transformation of the city. A large group of women mobilized by force for days scrubbed and cleaned the train station of dirt and garbage. Soon the arrivals and departures of trains were made on time. The Germans forced homeowners and building janitors to clean the courtyards, and the city government was forced to clean the garbage from the streets.



People walk quietly on Khreshchatyk Street



German military band in the city hall building. May 1918