Prague operation, the final operation of the Great Patriotic War, carried out on May 6-11, 1945 by the troops of the 1st, 4th and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, was characterized by preparation in short time, carrying out large regroupings of troops, as well as using tank armies to carry out deep and rapid maneuvers in order to encircle a significant group of German troops.
During the Soviet period, this operation did not raise any questions. However, in the 90s, the Czechs and not least the Americans began to show keen interest in this operation.
At the end of November 1995, a symposium was held in Prague, in which the Czech, American and Russian sides took part. The funding for this event was provided by the Americans.
One of the main questions of the symposium was formulated briefly: who liberated Prague?
The main argument of the opponents was the participation of the 1st division of the Russian Liberation Army ("Vlasovites") in the liberation of Prague. This little-known page in the history of the Great Patriotic War in the USSR preferred not to spread.
So, in 1985 the Institute military history prepared a detailed guide "The Liberation of Cities". Among the liberators of Prague (pp. 442 - 443), it includes 17 formations and units. Of course, there is no 1st ROA division in it.
Where did this division come from in Prague and what was its role in the liberation of the capital of Czechoslovakia? We will talk about this a little later, but at the beginning it is necessary to consider the situation preceding Prague operation.
The importance attached to Czechoslovakia by the Soviet leadership can be seen from the note of the Deputy People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs I. Maisky "On the Desirable Foundations of the Future World" dated January 11, 1944. Maisky writes: "In contrast to Poland, the USSR is advantageous to strive to create a strong Czechoslovakia, which, due to the political sentiments of its population, as well as in connection with the recent signing of the Soviet-Czechoslovak mutual assistance pact for 20 years, is capable of being an important conductor of our influence in central and southeastern In particular, Czechoslovakia should be restored to its former borders as much as possible with the addition of Teshin. Between the USSR and Czechoslovakia, as mentioned above, a common border should be established, quite long, and good communication routes should connect the two countries.
Results: Czechoslovakia should be strengthened as much as possible territorially, politically and economically. It should be seen as an outpost of our influence in central and southeastern Europe. "
The first plans to capture Prague and Berlin appeared on the maps of the General Staff in the fall of 1944. The General Staff proposed to conduct the final campaign of the war in two stages. On the first Soviet troops had to defeat the enemy in East Prussia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Hungary. In the second, lasting about thirty days, it was assumed that the Red Army would take possession of Berlin and Prague and, having united with the Western allies, would complete the defeat of Germany.
However, the course of hostilities did not confirm these predictions. Already at the first stage, the defeat of the enemy in East Prussia dragged on, and a large gap formed between the troops advancing on the coastal and Warsaw-Berlin axes. The offensive in the Carpathians proceeded slowly. It was not possible to go over to the offensive in the Vienna direction. The troops of the 1st Byelorussian and 1st Ukrainian fronts, commanded by Marshals G.K. Zhukov and I.S.Konev, acted more successfully than others. With a swift blow, they defeated the enemy in Poland, invaded Germany, and by the end of January 1945 reached the Oder, the last major obstacle on the outskirts of Berlin.
But what happened in Czechoslovakia?
The fighting to liberate her began in September 1944 and lasted more than eight months. The difficulties of the offensive were largely associated with the mountainous nature of the terrain, which favored the defending side and made it extremely difficult to carry out the offensive, and especially in the use of heavy equipment: tanks, artillery. By May 5, 1945, Prague had not been taken: the 60th Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front was located 200 km from Prague, and the 6th Panzer Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front was 160 km away.
Now it is important to consider how the military actions of our allies developed and what their intentions were. Having crossed the Rhine and surrounded on April 1, 1945, large forces of the Germans in the Ruhr, the Anglo- american troops developed an offensive towards the Elbe. On March 28, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in Europe, General D. Eisenhower, sent a message to JV Stalin through the US military mission in Moscow, in which he communicated a plan of further action. In accordance with it, he intended to concentrate the main efforts of his troops along the Erfurt-Leipzig-Dresden axis, where he offered to meet with Soviet troops. Eisenhower asked for information on the direction of the main efforts of the Red Army and the timing of the start of the offensive.
JV Stalin received the message on April 1 and, despite the late hour, immediately gave an answer. He said that Eisenhower's plans are fully consistent with the plan of the Soviet command, he agreed with the meeting area, in the direction of which the Soviet troops would also deliver the main blow. Since Eisenhower's message did not say a word about Berlin, Stalin assured his ally that Berlin had allegedly lost its former strategic importance, so the Soviet command allocates only secondary forces for an offensive in the Berlin direction. The offensive will begin in the second half of May, although changes are possible.
The actual plans of the Soviet command were at odds with the information that Stalin gave the allies. On April 1, a meeting of the Supreme Command Headquarters took place in Moscow, where the plan was approved Berlin operation... Thus, the Red Army inflicted the main blow in the general direction of Berlin, and not Dresden. Stalin was in a hurry, trying to forestall the Western allies in capturing Berlin, and therefore gave Eisenhower inaccurate information regarding the direction of the main attack and the time of the start of the offensive. The capture of Prague was not included in the immediate plans of the Soviet command.
By this time, the German front in the West had practically collapsed, and the Allies were moving eastward from the Rhine, almost without encountering resistance. On April 11, they went to the Elbe. The 3rd American Army occupied Erfurt on April 12, and on April 18 its formations had already entered the territory of Czechoslovakia. The Americans were 100 km from Prague, while the Soviet troops were 160 - 200 km from it.
In an atmosphere of rapid and almost unhindered advancement of the Allied armies, the British Chiefs of Staff put on the agenda the issue of capturing Prague, and if possible, most of the territory of Czechoslovakia, which would give the Western Allies significant political advantages. Expressing this idea, W. Churchill wrote on April 30 to US President G. Truman that the liberation of Prague and as much of the western part of Czechoslovakia by American troops as possible could completely change the post-war situation in that country. Truman agreed.
On May 4, Eisenhower sent a letter to the Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, General A.I. later, if the situation so requires, advance to the Vltava and Elbe and clear the left banks of these rivers.
This proposal provoked sharp resistance from the Soviet command, which managed to convince Eisenhower not to cross the previously agreed line.
Thus, by the beginning of May, a situation arose when the Americans were closer to Prague and were ready to occupy it without meeting enemy resistance. The Soviet troops, being twice at a distance, having in front of them a million-strong "Center" grouping under the command of Field Marshal F. Scherner, ready to surrender to American troops and offer desperate resistance in the East.
4; th Ukrainian Front, having exhausted its offensive capabilities in the course of the Moravian-Ostrava operation, could not solve the problem of capturing Prague. The northern neighbor, the 1st Ukrainian Front, was involved in the Berlin operation. Southern neighbor, 2nd Ukrainian Front, with its left wing participated in the Vienna operation.
In the current difficult situation, the Soviet Supreme High Command is taking vigorous measures to capture Prague in order to prevent the allies there. It was decided to involve the 1st Ukrainian Front as the main force. According to the memoirs of Marshal I.S.Konev, on April 26-27 he had phone conversation with Stalin, in which Stalin asked for an opinion on the destruction of the Nazis in Central Europe and the liberation of Prague. “I replied,” writes Konev, “that, apparently, from an operational point of view, it is undoubtedly advisable to involve the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front in this task, and we will have to take Prague. Stalin ordered to prepare considerations about the operation to liberate Prague. on the day such proposals were submitted to the Headquarters and formed the basis of its directive of May 1, 1945 for the Prague operation. "
Directives for the operation were also given to the troops of the 2nd and 4th Ukrainian fronts. In particular, in a directive dated May 2, the commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, Marshal Malinovsky, was ordered: "The main forces of the front forces to deploy to the west and strike in the general direction of Jihlava, Ulabinch, Horn, then go to the Vltava River and seize Prague ". As can be seen from the directive, the task of capturing Prague in time was set after May 14. Prague, as you know, was liberated on May 9. What factors influenced the acceleration of events in Prague?
On May 5, an armed national uprising broke out in Prague. It was headed by the Czech National Council, which was headed by the renowned public figure, Professor Albert Prazhak. The military command of Greater Prague - "Bartosz", headed by General K. Kutlvarsh, was subordinate to the CNS and participated in the leadership of the battles.
The uprising in Prague was gaining strength, seeing this, the commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Schörner, ordered the suppression of the uprising. German troops were brought into Prague. With the support of aviation, they moved towards the city center. The rebels suffered losses to save the situation, they turned on the night of May 6 on the radio to the allies for help: "The request of the city of Prague to all allied armies. The Germans are advancing on Prague from all sides. German tanks, artillery and infantry are in action. Prague urgently needs Help. Send planes, tanks and weapons. Help, help, help quickly. "
But there was no quick help. The Americans were bound by a promise to the Soviet leadership not to cross the demarcation line and not enter Prague. The Soviet troops, as already mentioned, were at a considerable distance.
It was in this extremely difficult situation for the rebels that the Vlasov division appeared. The question arises, where did it come from in Prague?
Back in November 1944, it was in Prague that the Germans announced the creation of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia - KONR. Secret order 11/3900/44 was issued on the formation of the 600th (Russian) infantry division. Colonel Bunyachenko, the former commander of the 389th rifle division of the Red Army, was appointed commander of the division. After this division, another Russian division was formed according to the numbering of the Wehrmacht 650th. Former Colonel of the Red Army Zverev was appointed its commander.
By this time, Bunyachenko's division was on vacation in the Beroun-Supomyasto area (50 km from Prague). On May 2, a group of Czech officers led by General Kutlvarsh and Colonel Burger arrived in Kozoed, where Bunyachenko was staying, and offered Bunyachenko to support the uprising. After meeting with command staff division, Bunyachenko accepted the offer, hoping for the Czech government to grant political asylum and recognition by the Western powers of the "Russian liberation movement."
On May 5, the military leadership of the uprising concluded an agreement on assistance with Bunyachenko. Vlasov, who was at that time at the headquarters of Bunyachenko, according to some sources, was against helping the rebels, according to others, he took a neutral position and left the division.
Bunyachenko's units entered Prague on May 6 and conducted fighting with German troops. They captured a number of quarters on the left bank of the Vltava and, crossing to the eastern bank, cut the entire city into the southern and northern parts.
On May 7, the Czech National Council signed an agreement on joint action with Bunyachenko. The "Vlasovites" division became the main armed force of the rebels. After the rebels realized that the Red Army, and not the Americans, would enter Prague, the Czech National Council, fearing Soviet reaction for contact with the Vlasovites, dissociated itself from them, which was announced on the Prague radio. At 23:00 on May 7, Bunyachenko ordered the withdrawal of the division, which fought bravely and earned the admiration and gratitude of the townspeople. Residents of Prague, not understanding the political background, with great regret saw off the "Vlasovites".
On the afternoon of May 7, American officers arrived at General Kutlwarsh's headquarters, delivering a message about the German surrender and advising an end to the fighting in Prague. At night it became known that the head of the garrison of German troops in Prague, General R. Toussaint, was ready to enter into negotiations with the leadership of the uprising on surrender. The negotiations began on May 8 at 10.00 in the building where the CNS was located. At 16.00, the act of surrender of the German garrison was signed. According to the protocol, the Germans could freely retreat to the west, leaving their heavy weapons at the exit from Prague, and laying the rest in front of the American demarcation line. This made it possible for part of the Nazi forces to escape Soviet captivity.
May 8 and 9 were the decisive days of the Soviet offensive towards Prague. The troops of the right wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front, overcoming enemy resistance on the passes through the Ore Mountains, entered Prague at dawn on May 9. In the afternoon, the advance detachments of the 60th and 38th armies of the 4th Ukrainian Front entered Prague from the east. The main forces of Army Group Center were surrounded and by the end of May 11 surrendered.
The Prague operation is over.
But the questions remained: who liberated Prague?
The question is not simple. Soviet troops entered Prague on the morning of May 9, that is, after the signing of the act of surrender, signed by the Prague German garrison the day before.
On the other hand, is it legitimate to say that Prague was liberated by Bunyachenko's "Vlasov" division? After all, the uprising in Prague became possible thanks to the successes of the Red Army, the capture of Berlin, the near end of the Reich.
Sergey Vorobyov.
Czechoslovakia was - along with Austria - one of the states that disappeared from the map of Europe as a result of Nazi aggression even before the outbreak of World War II. Since March 1939, the Czech lands were under direct German occupation as a "protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia" with limited autonomy. Slovakia (within the curtailed borders) was formally granted sovereignty at the behest of Hitler, while in fact the right-wing radical regime of Josef Tiso that ruled there was completely dependent on Germany. However, during the war, the Big Three pledged to restore the independence of Czechoslovakia within the borders until September 1938. The Czechoslovak government in exile, created by the second president of the republic, Edward Beneš in London, was recognized by the USSR, the USA and Great Britain as an allied one. On Western front Czechoslovak units, including several squadrons of the Air Force, fought as part of the British troops. In the Soviet Union, the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps was created, headed by General Ludwik Svoboda, who fought on the Eastern Front.
In September 1944, units of the Red Army crossed the pre-war border of Czechoslovakia in the Carpathians.
Yuri Levitan, message from the Soviet Information Bureau: "The troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front, continuing the offensive, overcame the Carpathian ridge and, having seized the passes: Lubkovsky, Russky, Uzovsky, Veretsky, Vyshkovsky, Yablonovsky, Tatarsky, advanced deep into the territory of Czechoslovakia from 20 to 50 kilometers on a front with a length of 275 kilometers."
However, the Carpathian-Dukel operation, in which the 1st Czechoslovak corps also suffered heavy losses, drowned: the Germans and their Hungarian allies successfully resisted in highlands... Soviet troops failed to unite with the participants in the anti-fascist uprising that broke out in central Slovakia. The liberation of Czechoslovakia really began only in 1945. On one of the first days of the new Soviet offensive in the western Carpathians, President Edward Beneš addressed his fellow citizens on Czechoslovak radio broadcasting from London.
President Edward Benes, February 1945: “We will give ourselves our word that from this moment we will all stand as one, consistently and uncompromisingly, in the fight against the criminal regime, the enemy that has desecrated our sacred Hradcany, who will pay dearly for it. All together - forward into the battle for free Czechoslovakia in free Europe! "
However, the massive resistance to the occupation in Czech lands until the spring of 1945 it was not. Small guerrilla groups operated in the mountainous and forested areas, and scattered underground cells in the cities, supplying intelligence information to the London government. But in general, the occupiers and the puppet regime of the protectorate kept the situation in Bohemia and Moravia under control.
Meanwhile, Soviet troops launched their final offensive in Central Europe. Their main blow - the Vistula-Oder operation - was aimed at breaking through the German front and reaching Berlin. The adjacent southern direction, on which Czechoslovakia was located, played an auxiliary role in the plans of the Soviet command. Here the Soviet offensive developed at a slower pace than in Poland and eastern Germany. Moreover, in the central part of the Czech Republic, the Nazis managed to concentrate a large military grouping, which held out there until May 1945. It retained its combat capability even after Hitler committed suicide, and the commandant of Berlin, General Weidling, ordered the defenders of the German capital to lay down their arms. The group of German troops in the Czech Republic was commanded by an intelligent military and at the same time a convinced Nazi - Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner. This is how Marshal described the situation at that time Soviet Union Ivan Konev, speaking in Prague on May 9, 1946, on the first anniversary of the liberation: “At the beginning of May last year in Central and Northern Germany, German troops were completely defeated and surrendered. In the south, starting from Dresden and further to the east and southeast, the German armies under the command of Field Marshal Schörner, totaling about a million people, retained their combat capability, organization, management and, disobeying the order of the glorious command of surrender, continued to offer stubborn resistance. "
Soviet troops attacked Prague from three sides. From the north, from the direction of Saxony, units of the 1st Ukrainian Front, commanded by Marshal Konev, were moving. From the southeast, from Moravia, the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, led by Marshal Rodion Malinovsky, approached. From the northeast, from the direction of Silesia, the 4th Ukrainian Front of Colonel-General Andrei Eremenko was advancing. Even earlier, US troops approached the borders of Czechoslovakia from the west. On April 18, they crossed the former border of the country in its extreme west - near the city of Ash. Within a week, the Americans liberated a number of cities in western Bohemia - Ash, Cheb, Karlovy Vary. However, the advance of General George Patton's 3rd Army was slow and soon stopped altogether: Patton, seeking to liberate Prague, was ordered not to rush. The reason for the slowness was the position of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the commander-in-chief of the Western Allies. He knew about the preliminary agreements of the Big Three, according to which the leading role in the liberation of Czechoslovakia was assigned to Soviet troops. The line of demarcation between them and the US-British units in Central Europe was agreed so that Czechoslovakia was on its eastern, Soviet side.
Eisenhower, guided by purely military considerations, had nothing against this. The position of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was different, who foresaw that the USSR's advance into the interior of Europe could end with the establishment of communist regimes in its eastern part. On April 30, Churchill wrote to US President Harry Truman: “There is no doubt that the liberation of Prague and most of western Czechoslovakia by your forces could change the post-war situation in this country and have an impact on other countries. On the contrary, if the Western allies do not play a significant role in the liberation of Czechoslovakia, this country can go the same way as Yugoslavia. "
Washington, however, did not attach much importance to Churchill's fears. American troops in Czechoslovakia again began to move only in early May, and although there were no large German units on their way, they advanced only slightly east of the city Plzen. Meanwhile, in Prague, hearing the news of the approach of Soviet and American troops, an uprising broke out on May 5. His hastily created headquarters, which called itself the Czech National Council, issued an appeal to the people: “Czech people! The Czech National Council, as a representative of the revolutionary movement of the Czech people and an authorized representative of the government of the Czechoslovak Republic, from this day on, assumes power in the territory of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. Under the blows of the heroic allied armies and the resistance forces of the Czech people, the so-called protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, imposed on us by the Germans, ceased to exist ... ”.
Particularly stubborn fighting took place in the center of Prague, near the building of the Czech Radio, which was occupied by the rebels. Shots are heard against the background of the music broadcast.
unequal, and soon the Prague radio broadcast the call of the rebels to the units of the Red Army: “This is Prague speaking! Prague speaks! Red Army, listen to our program! German troops in a large number of tanks and planes are attacking Prague! We send a fiery appeal to the valiant Red Army! We need your help! We need the support of your aviation against the German forces advancing towards Prague! Prague does not surrender to weapons! Prague will not surrender! "
And then the citizens of Prague had an unexpected ally: the 1st division of the so-called Russian Liberation Army (ROA) of General Vlasov, which ended up in the Prague area. This division, under the command of General Semyon Bunyachenko, has practically not been subordinate to anyone for several days. Realizing that Germany had lost, the Vlasovites tried to escape from Soviet captivity by the Western allies. According to the Czech historian Stanislav Kokoschka, author of the book "Prague in May 1945", General Bunyachenko wanted to provide the allies with a service that could then increase the chances of the Vlasovites to stay in the West. The Prague uprising provided such an opportunity. By agreement with the rebels, three regiments of the Bunyachenko division entered Prague, engaging in battle with the Germans. ROA soldiers attacked German batteries, preparing to shell the center of Prague, where the Czechs continued to fight back. The Germans began to retreat.
Meanwhile, on May 8, American envoys appeared in Prague. They were sent to the headquarters of Field Marshal Schörner in order to notify him: a preliminary protocol on the surrender of Germany was signed in French Reims, which makes further resistance of the German group in the Czech Republic senseless. One of the Vlasov officers held talks with the Americans. They informed him that their troops stopped on the line Karlovy Vary - Plzen - Ceske Budejovice, and the Red Army would liberate Prague. After that, Bunyachenko ordered his division to go to the Americans. Later, at communist regime, the role of the ROA division in the liberation of Prague was hushed up. The citizens of Prague, however, in those days greeted the Vlasovites with flowers - for them they were liberators, regardless of the general role of these people in the context of the Second World War.
On May 8, fighting continued in the city. Schörner decided to withdraw most of his troops westward to surrender to the Americans, not the Russians. The insurgent Prague lay in his way. It was clear that the rebels could not withstand the onslaught of the main forces of the German group. The Czech National Council decided to enter into negotiations with the Germans. An agreement was reached, according to which the Germans left heavy weapons to the Czechs, gaining the possibility of free passage through the city in the western direction. Writes Russian historian Valentina Maryina: “This agreement, unlike unconditional surrender, was previously assessed as“ military and political mistake”. But it must be borne in mind that the citizens of Prague had almost no weapons, and the Germans were well armed and ready to fight to the last. The rebels also did not have accurate data on the movement of Red Army units. Therefore, from the point of view of common sense, the desire to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and destruction of Prague is quite understandable. "
On the morning of May 9, Soviet units appeared on the outskirts of Prague. It is believed that the tank of Lieutenant Ivan Goncharenko entered the city first. On the same day, the tank's crew took a fight at the Manesov Bridge in the center of Prague, during which the vehicle was knocked out, the tank commander himself was killed. One of the streets of the Czech capital was later named after Ivan Goncharenko, as well as a number of other participants in the battles for Prague.
Nazi troops stubbornly resisted in and around Prague until 12 May. In the area of the village of Slivice, not far from the town of Pisek, a battle unfolded, which turned out to be one of the last in World War II in Europe. Part of the German troops, including the Waffen-SS units, moving from the direction of Prague, were stopped at this place by partisan detachments. They blocked the road that led to the location of the American troops, halted on the demarcation line, which Eisenhower had agreed with the chief of the Soviet General Staff, General Antonov. Germans who tried to surrender to them 
the Americans sent them back to the Soviet side. When the Soviet units appeared, a battle ensued. It lasted until the early morning of May 12, when the German commander of the SS Gruppenführer von Pückler-Burghauss signed an agreement of surrender, after which he committed suicide. More than 6 thousand German soldiers surrendered. The fighting on the territory of Czechoslovakia ended.
Residents of Prague and other Czech cities greeted Soviet soldiers with glee. Soon after the liberation, the Mayor of Prague, Petr Zenkl, spoke at a solemn meeting, on behalf of the townspeople thanked the Red Army: “Our city was saved from death and destruction and was torn from the clutches of the Nazis primarily by the heroic Red Army. Dear brothers-Slavs! The unparalleled heroism and incomparable self-sacrifice of Soviet soldiers in this terrible world war went down in history. But not only in history - they also entered the hearts of all the inhabitants of Prague and the entire Czechoslovak people. "
How much happy event nor was the liberation, it was overshadowed by the spontaneous acts of revenge of the Czechs against the local German population. Members of the self-defense units, which were spontaneously formed in May 1945, often viewed every German as a Nazi or collaborator, in a word, as an enemy subject to severe punishment, if not destruction. In the late spring and early summer, hundreds of people, including women and children, fell victim to these inhuman actions, then viewed as acts of revenge for the atrocities of the occupiers. About 200 thousand Czech and 
Moravian Germans fled with the retreating Wehrmacht to Germany and Austria. These events foreshadowed the organized deportation of the German minority from Czechoslovakia in late 1945 and 1946 in accordance with the decrees of President Beneš.
Even before Soviet troops entered Prague, on the liberated territory of Czechoslovakia there were the first hints of what the political development of the country would be in the coming years. This is what the Czech politician, former Minister of Justice Prokop Drtina wrote later in his memoirs "Czechoslovakia, My Destiny": “We were preparing to leave for Bratislava, where the Slovak National Council had already moved. In this situation, we saw how the communists take advantage of the favor and patronage of the Soviet troops in order to be in the liberated cities earlier than other politicians. Their goal was to gain an advantage over the others in organizing a new political life. " The first steps towards the communist coup in February 1948 were taken immediately after the expulsion of the Nazis.
But that was still a long way off. In the meantime, Soviet tanks were driving along the streets of Prague, and American jeeps were driving along the streets of Plzen. Those and others were inundated with fresh lilacs, which the grateful Czechs threw at the liberators. Regardless of what followed, the liberation from Nazism forever became one of the brightest events in the history of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Therefore, even now, many decades later, there are always flowers in May on the graves of Soviet and American soldiers who died during the liberation of Czechoslovakia.
In early May 1945, when Red Army units were completing the destruction of the enemy in Berlin, numerous groups of the Wehrmacht operating in Western Europe and Italy began to surrender to American and British troops everywhere. Realizing the futility of further resistance, the newly formed German government headed by Grand Admiral K. Doenitz, nevertheless, sought to keep the areas of Central and Western Czechoslovakia in order to preserve the army groups "Center" and "Austria", gain time and with the approach of the armies of the allies of the USSR to anti-Hitler coalition capitulate to them.
The two German army groups numbered 62 divisions, including 16 tank and motorized, a large number of individual regiments and battalions, special units and subunits, various combat groups - more than 900 thousand people, 9700 guns and mortars, over 2200 tanks and assault guns, about 1000 aircraft. At the same time, a significant part of the tanks and assault guns were out of order and were used as fixed firing points, and the air force felt a lack of fuel.
In accordance with the plan of the Headquarters of the Supreme Command, the 1st, 4th and 2nd Ukrainian fronts were involved in the Prague offensive operation, which by that time, operating in a strip 1200 km wide, had reached the regions north of Dresden, west of Moravska Ostrava, south west of Brno and captured the enemy grouping in South Saxony and Czechoslovakia from the north, east and south. They had 18 armies, three tank and three air armies, five tank, two mechanized and three cavalry corps - a total of 153 rifle divisions and 7 rifle brigades, 24,500 guns and mortars, more than 2,100 tanks and self-propelled artillery installations, over 4,000 combat aircraft ... It was planned to attack the areas converging on Prague by the forces of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts from the areas north-west of Dresden and south of Brno to encircle the main enemy forces in Czechoslovakia, together with the 4th Ukrainian front to cut them into pieces and prevent the withdrawal of German troops to the west and southwest.
The most technically prepared enemy defensive lines were located in front of the center and left wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front. Here, in a tactical defense zone with a depth of 18 km, there were numerous artificial obstacles. In the operational depth along the entire German-Czechoslovak border along the border of the Ore and Sudeten Mountains, concrete fortifications were placed. In the zones of the 4th and 2nd Ukrainian fronts, in front of the Soviet troops there were only defensive structures of the field type.
Commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev decided to deliver the main blow in the direction of Prague with the forces of three armies (13th, 3rd Guards, 5th Guards), two tank armies (3rd and 4th Guards), two tank and cavalry corps, six aviation corps , five artillery breakthrough divisions (21 rifle divisions, 5680 guns and mortars, 1040 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1900 aircraft). Other attacks were planned: the first from the area northwest of Gorlitz with the aim of dissecting the enemy grouping (28th and 52nd armies, one mechanized corps); the second - to bypass Dresden from the southeast (2nd Army of the Polish Army).
In accordance with the decision of the commander of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union R.Ya. Malinovsky and clarifications of the Supreme Command Headquarters, the 53rd, 7th and 9th Guards, 46th armies, 6th Guards Tank Army entered the main strike group, which went on the offensive from the Brno region towards the 1st Ukrainian Front and the 1st Guards Cavalry Mechanized Group. The 40th Army was assigned to the direction of another blow to Olomouc.
The 60th and 38th armies of the 4th Ukrainian Front (General of the Army A.I. Eremenko) attacked it from the north and northeast. After the encirclement of the German 1st Panzer Army in the Olomouc salient, it was planned to launch an offensive against Prague from the east with all its forces. To capture the capital of Czechoslovakia, a mobile group was created as part of the reinforced 31st Panzer Corps.
The preparation of the operation was carried out in an extremely limited time. At the same time, it was necessary to carry out a large regrouping of forces and equipment. Only on the 1st Ukrainian Front, five armies were involved in it, including two tank armies, as well as a number of separate corps. The field administration of the 2nd Ukrainian Front had to solve difficult tasks. He had to withdraw from the battle and move the 6th Guards Tank Army and the 1st Guards Mechanized Cavalry Group to a new direction, take the 9th Guards Army into his composition and withdraw to the first echelon, organize the transfer of the 53rd and 40th armies for the purpose of occupying starting position for the offensive. An important condition that required accelerating the start of the operation was the armed uprising that began in Prague on May 5. In an effort to suppress it, the invaders used artillery, tanks and aircraft against the Czechoslovak patriots.
The offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front began on May 6, a day ahead of schedule. On the morning of that day, reconnaissance established that the enemy was defending in separate strongholds with insignificant forces to the north-west of Dresden. Therefore, it was decided to strike without waiting for the full concentration of the main grouping. At 14 o'clock after a short artillery preparation of the divisions of the 13th and 3rd guards armies Colonel-General N.P. Pukhov and V.N. Gordova attacked the enemy. Following them began to advance forward detachments of the 4th and 3rd Guards Tank Armies of Colonel-General D.D. Lelyushenko and P.S. Rybalko. Having broken through the main line of defense of the German troops within 2-3 hours, they overtook the rifle units and by the end of the day advanced 23 km.
On the night of May 7, after a 30-minute artillery preparation, the formations of the 5th Guards Army of Colonel-General A.S. Zhadova. Using surprise, they quickly broke the resistance of the Hermann Goering Panzer Division, the 20th Panzer and the 2nd Motorized Divisions, and began to advance into the depths of the enemy's defenses. On the same day, hostilities began with the army of the center and the ninth wing of the front, as a result of which the width of its active action increased to 430 km.
In the Dresden area, the enemy tried to retard the advance of Soviet troops by counterattacks by infantry and tanks, but, unable to withstand their attacks, was forced to retreat 30-40 km. Soon, the armies of the main strike group of the 1st Ukrainian Front entered a 60 km wide strip to the northern slopes of the main ridge of the Ore Mountains and started battles for the passes. Despite the stubborn resistance of the German rearguard units, which blew up bridges and set up blockages on the roads, on May 8, the 4th and 3rd Guards Tank armies overcame the Ore Mountains, and the 5th Guards Army captured the large administrative and industrial center of Saxony - Dresden.
On the 2nd Ukrainian Front, the formations of the 7th Guards Army of Colonel-General M.S. Shumilov, on May 7, they completed their regrouping and at 8:15 am, after a 30-minute artillery preparation, they went on the offensive. During the day, they broke through the enemy's defenses to a depth of 25 km. On the morning of the next day, the 6th Guards Tank Army of Colonel-General A.G. Kravchenko, which increased the penetration to 50 km and went to the Jaromerice area. The 53rd (Lieutenant General I.M. Managarov), the Romanian 1st, 9th Guards (Colonel General V.V. Glagolev) and the 46th (Lieutenant General A. V. Petrushevsky) armies, which covered from 30 to 40 km. At the same time, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front captured a large railway junction and an important military-industrial center of Czechoslovakia - the city of Olomouc, and in cooperation with the 40th (Lieutenant General F.F. Zhmachenko) and the Romanian 4th armies 2- The first of the Ukrainian Front eliminated the Olomouc ledge.
Aviation played an important role in the success of the offensive. For three days, the 2nd, 5th, 8th and 17th Air Armies under the command of Aviation Colonel-General S.A. Krasovsky and S.K. Goryunov, Lieutenant General of Aviation V.N. Zhdanov and Aviation Colonel General V.A. Sudets made 7640 sorties. In general, in the period from 6 to 8 May, the armies of the three fronts broke through the enemy defenses to their entire operational depth, overcame the Ore Mountains, and reached the lines located 60-150 km north, east and south of Prague. Thus, they created favorable conditions for the encirclement of the main enemy forces in Czechoslovakia. The execution of this task was also facilitated by the destruction by the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps of Major General I.P. Ermakov of the headquarters of Army Group Center, which made it extremely difficult for its commander, Field Marshal F. Schörner, to manage subordinate formations.
At 20:00 on May 8, the Soviet command broadcast an appeal to the German troops with a proposal to end resistance and lay down their arms. However, there was no answer to it. On the contrary, the enemy groupings in every possible way tried to break through to the west and south-west in order to capitulate to American army... To thwart these plans, the troops of the three fronts began pursuit without pause. The main role in it was assigned to the advanced detachments, which were allocated to capture road junctions, bridges, passages in the mountains and airfields.
During the night of May 9, the tank armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front made an 80-kilometer march. At 4 o'clock in the morning, the 10th Guards Tank Corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army was the first to enter Prague. The 9th Mechanized Corps of the 3rd Guards Tank Army followed him to the city. Soon, the tankers were supported by the advanced units of the 13th and 3rd Guards armies. By 10 o'clock, Soviet troops, with the active support of the population, had completely cleared the capital of Czechoslovakia from the invaders. By 18 o'clock, the mobile formations of the 4th Ukrainian Front entered it, having overcome 200 km during the day. By the same time, the 6th Guards Tank Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, having covered 120 km, reached a line 30-35 km southeast of Prague.
After the capture of Prague, the main road junction of Czechoslovakia, the enemy's withdrawal routes to the west and southwest were cut. On May 10, the Supreme Command Headquarters demanded that the commanders of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian fronts take measures to prevent the encircled enemy group from breaking through into the American zone of occupation and to destroy it as soon as possible. In addition, the 1st Ukrainian Front was ordered to continue its rapid advance westward until contact with the allied armies was established. At the same time, his mobile detachments were to occupy the cities of Chemnitz, Karlovy Vary, Pilsen.
During May 10-11, Soviet troops, pursuing the enemy, carried out the liquidation and capture of his scattered groups. In those days, units of the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian fronts came into contact with American units in the areas of Chemnitz, Karlovy Vary, east of Pilsen, Ceske Budejovice. During the hostilities, the soldiers of the 25th Tank Corps of Major General E.I. Fominykh captured a significant part of the headquarters of the Russian Liberation Army, headed by its commander A.A. Vlasov. By the end of May 11, most of the enemy formations and combat groups had ceased resistance and laid down their arms. Only a few flank divisions of Army Group Austria succeeded in breaking through into the American zone of operations.
As a result of the successful completion of the Prague operation, the last large grouping of the Wehrmacht on the Soviet-German front was defeated and the liberation of Czechoslovakia was completed. During its course, the 1st, 4th and 2nd Ukrainian fronts took 858 thousand prisoners prisoner. German soldiers and officers, including 60 generals, captured as trophies 9464 guns and mortars, 1822 tanks and assault guns, 1104 aircraft, as well as a large number of other weapons and military equipment. At the same time, the losses of Soviet troops amounted to 49 348 people, of which 11 265 were irrecoverable, 373 tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, more than 1000 guns and mortars, 80 combat aircraft.
The offensive unfolded in a strip up to 1200 km wide to a depth of about 200 km with an average rate of 35-40 for infantry and up to 70 km for tank formations. The main blow was struck at the most weak point in the formation of the enemy, bypassing the most strong fortifications, along the valleys, in the shortest direction to Prague. This led to the rapid capture of road junctions and the interception of the escape routes of the enemy group. Its pursuit was carried out simultaneously in all directions, swiftly and non-stop, day and night, with the involvement of formations and units of various types of troops.
For courage, heroism and high military skill shown during the Prague operation, about 250 most distinguished formations and units were awarded orders, and more than 50 of them were awarded honorary titles. To commemorate the victory, the Presidium The Supreme Council The USSR established the medal "For the Liberation of Prague", which was awarded to over 390 thousand people, of whom more than 40 thousand were citizens of Czechoslovakia.
Anatoly Borshchov, Senior Researcher
Research Institute (Military History)
Military Academy of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces,
Candidate of Historical Sciences
On May 5, 1945, an armed uprising began in Prague occupied by the Nazis. The Czech population and, above all, the officers of the police and the armed forces of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, were inspired by reports of Soviet and American troops approaching the borders of Czechoslovakia and decided to raise an uprising.
On May 4, in Prague, the Czech government of the protectorate, headed by President Emil Hacha (since 1939, the president of the Protectorate formed by the occupiers), completed negotiations with the Czech National Council on the transfer of power, which had begun on April 29, 1945. The Czech National Council, led by Albert Prazak, Ph.D. and professor of Czech and Slovak literature at the University of Bratislava, was to prepare a general election for the post-war government. The Czech government issues a decree abolishing the official German language... It should be noted that there was a fairly significant German population on the territory of the protectorate - more than 3 million people. Up to 200 thousand Germans lived in the capital of the Czech Republic alone. The Sudeten Germans (residents of the Sudetenland), who lived in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia for more than seven centuries, became part of the Czech state only after the peace treaty that ended the First world war... Until 1918, the Sudetenland, like other regions of the Czech Republic (Bohemia), Moravia and Slovakia, was part of a dual Austro-Hungarian Empire... Czechoslovakia emerged only after the First World War and was in many ways an artificial state created by the will of the Entente. The winners denied the Sudeten Germans the right to national self-determination, incorporating them into Czechoslovakia.
Key positions in the administration of the Sudetenland were occupied by Czech officials, the Germans were expelled. The Czech government and administration gave preference to their kinsmen, as during the global economic crisis in the early 1930s, territories inhabited by Germans were the most affected by unemployment. Adolf Hitler, with the full support of other great powers in Europe, annexed the Sudetenland to the Third Reich in 1938 under the Munich Treaty. And in the spring of 1939, Czechoslovakia was liquidated. German troops occupied the state and entered Prague. The German government established the Imperial Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The Protectorate became an important acquisition for the Reich: every third German tank, every fourth truck of the German Armed Forces and every second machine gun were manufactured by the protectorate's industry. During the Great Patriotic War, resistance from the Czechs and Slovaks was minimal. Activation took place only after the appearance of Soviet and American forces near Czechoslovakia.
On the night of May 5, Prague received news of the capture of the German capital by the Soviet army. In the morning, the Prime Minister of the Czech government, Richard Bienert, announced on the Prague radio the liquidation of the protectorate and the beginning of a general uprising against the occupiers. The head of government called on military establishment the protectorate and the police join the insurgent people, and the German military units surrender.
In Prague, the Czech National Council acted as a representative of the National Front of Czechoslovakia, established on April 4, 1945 in the city of Kosice (at that time the city was already liberated by Soviet troops), headed by former ambassador Social Democrat Zdenek Fierlinger in Czechoslovakia in the Soviet Union. It must be said that both Czech communists and nationalists were interested in the uprising. Czech nationalists feared political influence The Soviet Union for the future of the Czech state and Czech politics, wished to create an independent position for the future government of the country, liberating Prague on their own. The nationalists counted on the help of the Americans - at the beginning of May 1945, the advanced American units were 80 km from the Czech capital. The communists wanted to prevent the seizure of power by the nationalists, and therefore raised an uprising in order to take a dominant position in the country when the Soviet army appeared.
Czechs in the city began to tear off German inscriptions, banners and hang Czechoslovak flags on the streets. In response, German police opened fire on the rebels, and Czech police and gendarmes, supported by members of the Resistance and volunteers, began shooting at their former colleagues... The Prague uprising was led by General Karel Kutlvashr.
The rebels (about 30 thousand people) seized the central telegraph, post office, power plant, bridges across the Vltava, railway stations with echelons standing there, including German armored trains, a number of large enterprises and the German air defense headquarters. The rebels were able to disarm several small German formations. The Czech National Council began negotiations with the imperial governor Karl Hermann Frank and the city's commandant, General Rudolf Tussain. At the same time, the Council did not insist on the immediate surrender of German troops in the vicinity of Prague (about 40 thousand people). The rebels built up to 2 thousand barricades in the city.
I must say that big role units of the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) played in the uprising. In early May, the former military of the Czechoslovak army, led by General Karel Kutlvashr, made contact with the ROA, with the commander of the 1st division, General Sergei Kuzmich Bunyachenko. The Russian liberation army marched westward, wanting to surrender to the Americans. Bunyachenko and his commanders hoped for the support of the Czechs, wishing to obtain political asylum in Czechoslovakia, and on May 4 agreed to support the uprising. General Vlasov did not believe in the success of the uprising, but did not interfere with Bunyachenko. But already on the night of the 8th, most of the Vlasovites began to leave the Czech capital, since they did not receive guarantees about their allied status.
After the surrender of the Berlin garrison, Army Group Center (commanded by Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner) in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and part of Army Group Austria (commander Lothar Rendulich) decided to break through to the west to surrender to the Americans. To retreat, they needed Prague, through which important transport routes passed. Field Marshal Schörner ordered the suppression of the uprising.
German tanks entered the streets of Prague. On May 6, the Wehrmacht, using armored vehicles, aviation and artillery, captured most Czech capital. The rebels, armed mainly with riflemen, could not hold back the onslaught of the Wehrmacht. On the same day, the 1st ROA division (about 18 thousand fighters) took the side of the rebellious Czechs. Bunyachenko's soldiers drove the Germans out of the western part of the city. On May 7, units of the Russian Liberation Army crossed the Vltava River and cut the enemy positions into two parts, took Mount Petrshin and the Kulishovitsy area. Up to 10 thousand Germans were taken prisoner. But the Czech National Council, after some hesitation, thanked the Vlasovites and refused to help the ROA. On the evening of May 7, the Vlasovites began to leave to the west, only some of the fighters remained with the Czech rebels. After the departure of the Bunyachenko division, the Wehrmacht again became the master of the situation in Prague. The situation of the rebels in the Czech capital deteriorated sharply, the Wehrmacht ruthlessly crushed the resistance, the Germans went to the center of the city, some of the rebels, panicking, threw defensive structures. The Czechs experienced a shortage of weapons and ammunition. In general, it is clear that the uprising was doomed to defeat, if not for the appearance of Soviet tanks in Prague.
On May 6, American troops occupied Plzen, Ceske Budujovice and Karlsbad. General Dwight David Eisenhower, commander of the United States forces in Europe, has forbidden the commander of the US 3rd Army, General George Smith Patton, to advance on Prague.
The Soviet command planned to strike at the German troops on May 7, but the Prague Uprising forced the offensive to begin earlier, without completing the regrouping of forces. The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front received an order from Marshal Ivan Stepanovich Konev to launch an offensive on the morning of May 6.
On May 8, the commander of the German Army Group Center, Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner, upon learning of the surrender of the Third Reich signed in Reims, ordered the troops to leave Prague and retreat to the American zone. German command negotiated with the Czech National Council, which agreed not to interfere with the retreat of German units from Bohemia. Only a few SS formations remained in the Czech capital (about 6 thousand soldiers - units of the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Reich", the 5th SS Panzer Division "Viking" and the 44th SS Panzer Division "Wallenstein", which was at the stage of formation) led by Karl von Pückler, who continued the hostilities.
On the morning of May 9, units of the 1st Ukrainian Front entered the Czech capital and suppressed the last centers of resistance of the SS troops. During the Prague Uprising on May 5-9, 1945, about 1.5 thousand Czech rebels, 300 soldiers of the 1st ROA division, 1 thousand German soldiers, 4 thousand civilians were killed in the Czech capital. On the outskirts of Prague and in the city itself, the Soviet army lost about a thousand soldiers. On May 10, 1945, the Czech National Council handed over power in the Czech capital to the National Front of Czechoslovakia.
It should be noted that the liberation of Czechoslovakia was accompanied by violence by the Czechs against the Germans - the civilian population, including women and children. The new authorities of the Czech Republic decided to "cleanse from the Germans" Prague, and then the whole country. Murders, bullying, beatings, unprovoked arrests, rapes were business as usual... In a number of places, mass executions of the Germans took place. There is evidence that only in the first two weeks after the start of the uprising in Prague, from 35 to 40 thousand Germans were killed. The Czech Republic was seized by a real psychosis, provoked by the actions of the Czech leadership. The Germans were discriminated against, and then more than 3 million people were expelled from Czechoslovakia.
Who doesn't know the history of the liberation of Prague? On May 5, 1945, the inhabitants of Prague revolted, Soviet troops came to the aid of the rebels, and on May 9 Prague was liberated.
But everything was a little bit wrong, or more precisely, it was not so at all. In May in Prague, units of the German garrison did indeed wage bloody battles. Only their main opponents were not the rebellious Czechs, but the soldiers of the 1st division of the ROA (Vlasovites).
Czech Republic - reliable industrial rearIII Reich
Czechoslovakia as an independent state disappeared with political map Europe even before the outbreak of World War II. First, in April 1938, under pressure from Great Britain, France and Italy, Czechoslovakia abandoned the Sudetenland in favor of Germany (the so-called Munich Agreement).
Then, less than a year later (March 14, 1939) Hitler summoned President Gakha to Berlin and offered to sign a document on the voluntary acceptance of German "patronage" by Czechoslovakia. Gakha signed. The country did not resist even a day.
Only in the town of Mistek did the company of Captain Pavlik meet the foreign soldiers with rifle fire. This single fight lasted 30 minutes. The loss of independence cost Czechoslovakia 6 wounded soldiers. Czech Republic became a protectorate, Slovakia - independent state, a loyal ally of Hitler.
For 6 years the Czech Republic was a reliable industrial rear of Nazi Germany. Wehrmacht soldiers fired from carbines made at Czech factories, Czech tanks disfigured the fields of Poland, France and Ukraine with their tracks. Individual actions of the underground and partisans (like the murder of Heydrich) did not change the overall picture: neither a strong underground, as in Poland, nor a wide partisan movement as in Yugoslavia, in the Czech Republic did not exist.
May 1945 is the time for the start of the resistance
In April 1945, when no one doubted the outcome of the war, Czech politicians began to think about the country's future and their own. At the end of World War II, they did not want to be listed as German accomplices. It was decided to start a fight.
There were several centers of resistance in Prague that operated completely independently. The Bartosz Commandant's Office was oriented toward Britain and the United States, the Czech National Council — toward the USSR.
By the end of April 1945, both groups decided that the time for resistance had finally come. Both the Bartosz Commandant's Office and the CNS planned in this way to rehabilitate themselves in the eyes of (some - the West, others - the USSR) and end the war in the ranks of the fighters against fascism. There was only one trick: the German garrison stationed in Prague.
The alignment of forces before the uprising
The garrison was not that great. At the disposal of the commandant (General Rudolf Toussaint) were about 10 thousand soldiers stationed directly in the city and about 5 thousand in the vicinity. But these were military units with combat experience.
The Czechs could only oppose them with civilian rebels armed with revolvers and hunting rifles. In this situation, the insurrection was doomed to failure, unless no one came to the rescue.
But the Americans (General Patton's units) were located 80 km from Prague in the Pilsen region, and the nearest Russian units (troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front) were even further away - 150 km, in the Dresden area.
Help came from where no one expected it. On April 29, 50 km north-west of Prague, the 1st ROA Infantry Division appeared under the command of Major General Bunyachenko (Vlasovites).
Deserted Division
Division formed in November 1944, April 15, 1945. unauthorizedly withdrew from the front and marched on foot to the southwest to surrender to the Americans. In the division, there were about 18 thousand fighters, in addition to light small arms, the Vlasovites were armed with machine guns, light and heavy artillery, anti-aircraft guns, mortars, anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft guns, self-propelled guns and even 10 tanks.
The commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Schörner, issued an order to stop and return the division to the front (at least to disarm), but for some reason there were no people willing to stop and disarm this horde of Russians, armed to the teeth.
On April 30, representatives of the Bartosz Commandant's Office came to Bunyachenko and asked him to support the armed uprising in Prague. The bargaining began, which lasted until May 4. In exchange for support, the future rebels promised the Vlasovites after the victory the status of allies and political protection.
Prague in exchange for political asylum
On the evening of May 4, Bunyachenko summoned the commanders of regiments and individual battalions to discuss the proposal. Bunyachenko expressed the idea not only to enter into an alliance with the Czechs, but also to play his party: to seize the city, present it to the Americans on a platter with a blue border, and at the same time surrender. It was assumed that the Americans, in gratitude, would provide political asylum to all who surrendered. Only the commander of the first regiment, Arkhipov, was against, all the rest were in favor.
On the morning of May 5, representatives of the command of the 1st division of the ROA and representatives of the "Commandant's Office of Bartosz" signed a document "On the joint struggle against fascism and Bolshevism." Having bet on both the Czechs and the Americans at the same time, the Vlasovites hoped that at least one bet would be winning.
We are starting an uprising, the Russians will help us!
Having received guarantees of support, the leaders of the Bartosz Commandant's Office began an uprising on May 5 at about 11 am. The other Resistance groups had no choice but to join. By 14 o'clock, about 1600 barricades were built in the city, calls for help were broadcast.
The Soviet command planned the liberation of Prague on May 11. Due to the uprising, the plans had to be urgently corrected. On May 6, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front began to move towards Prague. But it was almost 150 km before it, while the Bunyachenko division entered the village on May 4. Sukhomasty, from where it was less than 20 km to Prague.
On the morning of May 6, the advanced units of the Bunyachenko division entered the city. With the arrival of the Russian division, the actions of the rebels went up the hill. If on the 5th their situation was regarded as catastrophic, then during May 6-7 the Vlasovites occupied the entire western part Prague and cut the city into 2 parts. The surrender of the German garrison was just a matter of time.
All plans go to hell
And at this time, significant changes took place among the rebels and the situation for the Vlasovites became not just bad, but very bad... The uprising was led by the Czech National Council, oriented towards the USSR.
The leaders of the CNS did not want to "dirty" themselves with cooperation with the Vlasovites and said that they did not recognize the agreements concluded with the "Komedatura Bartosz", they were not going to fulfill them, and advised the soldiers of the division to surrender to the Red Army.
After the Czechs, the Americans also “planted a pig”. On the evening of May 7, intelligence from the 16th American Armored Division arrived in the city. When asked to take the almost liberated Prague, the American officer replied: "No!"
By May 1945, the victorious countries had already divided Europe into zones of "responsibility." Prague was to become Soviet. General Patton might not have been opposed to remaining in history as the liberator of Prague, but the commander-in-chief of the united Anglo-American armed forces in Europe, Eisenhower, already thought not only as a military man, but also as a politician. He categorically forbade to move east of the line Karlovy Vary - Pilsen - Ceske Budejovice. Patton could only watch the course of events from the sidelines.
For the Vlasovites it was a blow. Participation in the uprising lost all meaning for them. On the evening of May 7, Bunyachenko gave the order to end hostilities and leave Prague. The next morning, the 1st ROA division left the city.
The pendulum swung in reverse side... The Nazis went on the offensive, the territory controlled by the rebels began to shrink rapidly, and it was just right for the Czechs to think about the conditions of surrender.
The so-called "surrender"
The commandant of Prague, General Toussaint, was neither a fanatic nor a fool. Germany has been defeated, Berlin has fallen. The Americans or the Russians (and most likely the Russians) will take the city anyway. In this situation, the general decided not to bother with the already meaningless defense, but to save the lives of the last soldiers left under his command.
An envoy was sent to the insurgent-controlled island, and the leaders of the CNS were surprised to learn that they had won and the Germans were ready to surrender Prague to them. On May 8 at 16:00, General Toussaint signed the act of surrender. The surrender was more like a settlement agreement: leaving heavy weapons in the city, German troops went west to surrender to the Americans, the Czechs pledged not to interfere with them.
Early in the morning of May 9, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front entered Prague abandoned by the Germans, having lost 30 soldiers killed and wounded in skirmishes with the SS fanatics who had settled in the city.
So who liberated Prague?
437 Soviet soldiers and officers are buried at the Olshanske cemetery in Prague. Dates of death May 9, May 10, 12th, through July and August. These are soldiers of the Red Army who died after the Victory from wounds in a Prague military hospital. They are the true liberators of Prague. If it had not been for Stalingrad and Kursk, Leningrad would not have resisted and Berlin would not have fallen, if in May 1945 the victorious Red Army had not stood 150 km away. from Prague, the Czechs would not have thought of raising an uprising, and the Germans would "capitulate" to them. Is not it?
