65 years ago, on May 9, 1945, the Red Army liberated the capital of Czechoslovakia - Prague. This happened after Germany announced its surrender on the night of May 8-9. The events in Prague were the last major battles of World War II in Europe. And for many years they have been the subject of political speculation.
The uprising against the Nazi occupiers began in the city on May 5, 1945. It was led by the Czech National Council (CNS), which included both Soviet-oriented and pro-Western politicians. Part of the units of the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) of Andrei Vlasov, headed by General Sergei Bunyachenko, went over to the side of the rebels.
Together with the Czechs, the Vlasovites managed to liberate a number of districts of the city. But the Germans put up fierce resistance both in the city itself and on the approaches to it. The fighting covered all of Prague. The rebels could be helped by the Americans, who were about 40 kilometers to the West. However, they respected the agreements with the USSR, according to which Prague should be liberated by the Red Army. But she was forced to make her way to the Czech capital from Berlin.
Having learned that Prague would be liberated by the Red Army, the Vlasovites on May 8 hurried from the city to the West - to the Americans. The situation of the rebels became complicated, although it was clear that the defeat of the Germans was near. CNS agreed with German command that the Germans left heavy weapons to the Czechs and instead freely passed through the city to the West in order to surrender not to the USSR, but to the United States.
However, the Germans violated the agreement, starting to destroy the civilian population and burn houses. In addition, there was a threat of destruction of architectural monuments. Therefore, the Red Army, which broke through into the city, had to conduct real battles in Prague, and only in the evening the city was cleared of the invaders. Several hundred Red Army men were killed in these battles. The Czechs greeted the liberators with flowers and branches of lilacs. Many masterpieces of cultural heritage, which Prague is proud of today, were saved.
Until 1989, both Soviet and Czechoslovak science tried to keep silent about the fact that some units of the Vlasovites, who had previously fought side by side with the Germans, came to the aid of the revolted Czechs. They say, traitors - they are always traitors in everything.
But after socialism fell in the Czech Republic, they started talking about the fact that, they say, the main role the Vlasovites played in the liberation of the city. And the Red Army, they say, entered the city at a time when the Germans were gone. Russian anti-communist historians have written and are writing about the same. Again, a political moment - now it was necessary to belittle the role of the "Communist Red Army".
In the 90s. the Czech authorities liked to say that the liberation of Prague was not at all like that. Say, the Nazi occupation was replaced by the Soviet one. Regrets were expressed that the Americans did not come to the city. Every now and then the question arose about the demolition of the monument to Marshal Ivan Konev, whose subordinates, in fact, liberated Prague. Last time they started talking about it in 2008.
However, taking into account the protests of Czech veterans and Russian official departments, the Czech authorities abandoned these plans. And President Vaclav Klaus has repeatedly said that the role of the Red Army should not be forgotten. Despite the fact that the subsequent establishment of socialism in Czechoslovakia brought the country many problems. Czech leader once again showed respect for the Red Army soldiers by accepting the invitation to come to Moscow today to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Victory.
As you can see, passions about those days in the Czech Republic were in full swing. There is no agreement in Russia either, primarily among historians. They still assess the role of the Vlasovites and the Red Army soldiers in different ways in the events of those days. An example of this is the comments that"Pravde.Ru"two historians of the Second World War - Kirill Alexandrov and Alexander Dyukov.
Kirill Alexandrov:
- There are many prejudices about those events. There are still titled historians who are firmly convinced that the Germans threw a Vlasov division to suppress the Prague uprising, whose withdrawal from the Czech capital was covered by SS troops.
From the very beginning of the uprising in Prague, the complete superiority of the German units over the rebels was manifested. The Germans were armed with tanks, artillery, they bombed the positions of the Czechs from the air. The rebels were armed with small arms.
The Vlasovites intervened during the most difficult battles - on the night of May 6-7. They pulled back the active forces of the garrison, occupied after a stubborn battle the airfield in Ruzin and did not allow other Wehrmacht and SS units that were rushing there to enter Prague. Until the morning of May 8, Bunyachenko's division was active fighting in the southern, south-western quarters of the city and the central areas adjacent to them.
On May 8, 1945 at 4 pm, the German commandant of Prague, Rudolf Toussaint, signed with the Czech National Council an act of surrender of the German Prague garrison and the cessation of fighting in the Czech capital. By 18 o'clock, the exchange of fire between the rebels and the Germans ceased, and the surrender of weapons began. By evening, Prague was completely controlled by the Resistance forces.
The first Soviet armored vehicles reached Prague by four o'clock in the morning on May 9. That is, 12 hours after the commandant of the German garrison signed the act of surrender. This fact makes any controversy around the question of who liberated Prague senseless.
If by the word "liberation" we mean the suppression of the armed resistance of the fighting enemy and his disarmament, then no one liberated Prague. The Prague garrison laid down its arms in front of the Resistance forces and the rebels.
Objectively, the actions of the Vlasovites minimized the losses of the townspeople, which were already quite high - according to the estimates of Czech historians, more than 1600 residents of the Czech capital died on May 5-8. Therefore, many Czechs call the Vlasov division of Bunyachenko the saviors of Prague.
Alexander Dyukov:
- As for the liberation of Prague, the fact remains: the Soviet troops of Marshal Konev and, in particular, the tank army of General Pavel Rybalko, liberated it from the Nazis. The Vlasovites took part in the battles with the Nazis in the capital of Czechoslovakia. But remember when she raised her rebellion. By that time, Berlin had surrendered, and the Anti-Hitler coalition, in fact, was finishing off the remnants of the Nazi troops who had not yet laid down their arms.
Someone today speaks of the "noble impulse" of the Vlasovites, who decided to help the Czechs. But this was only an excuse to try to earn leniency for being in the Nazi ranks. And the arguments that "in their hearts they were anti-Nazis" do not find confirmation.
Among the collaborators who went into the service of Hitler, there were many who had to do so in order to get out of the concentration camps. And those who were really opposed to the Nazis in 1943-44. went over to the side of the forces of the Anti-Hitler coalition. The most famous case is the departure to the partisans in 1944 of the brigade of Vladimir Gil-Rodionov, created by the Nazis from prisoners of war who wished to fight against the Red Army.
Only in 1943 on the side Soviet troops and the partisans turned out to be 10 thousand former collaborators. And such a massive transition of "fighters against communism" to the side of Soviet power was due to the fact that the Stalinist leadership did not consider them as serious opponents, as those who want to see collaborators as a "third force" or "alternative Soviet power".
The Vlasovites in the Czech Republic and Slovakia have a very bad memory. It is no coincidence that when in 1946-47. the leadership of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) was preparing raids on the territory of Czechoslovakia, it issued leaflets stating that the UPA fighters should during these raids in every possible way propagandize that they are not Vlasovites.
One of the reasons for the appearance of pseudo-historical works that whitewash the Vlasovites and make them heroes is the desire to put history at the service of politics and denigrate those who really made the Victory. Including liberated Prague.
For this purpose, it was planned to deliver strikes on both flanks of Army Group Center: from the area northwest of Dresden by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front and from the area south of Brno by the troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, followed by their development in converging directions to Prague.
Simultaneously with the delivery of these strikes, it was meant to attack the center and the left wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front from the northeast, all the forces of the 4th Ukrainian Front from the east and the armies of the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front from the south-east to cut the encircled group into parts , thereby ensuring its quickest defeat and capture. The creation of an external encirclement front was also planned. The troops that formed this front were supposed to come into contact with the American troops entering the western border of Czechoslovakia.
The 1st Ukrainian Front received the task:“... No later than May 3, complete the elimination of the encircled group of German fascist troops in the Luckenwalde area and clear the territory of Berlin from the enemy within its borders. Use the troops of the front's right wing for a swift offensive in the general direction of Prague. With the forward units of the right wing to reach the Mulde River. "
May 2 We received a directive from the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front to surrender our combat area to the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front and concentrate in the forests 35-50 km south of Berlin to prepare for an attack on Prague. The directive stated: "The troops of the right wing launch a swift offensive along both banks of the Elbe in the general direction of Prague in order to defeat the enemy's Dresden-Görlitz grouping and capture the capital of Czechoslovakia, Prague, by tank armies on the sixth day of the operation."
To achieve this goal, the command provided for the main blow from the Riza area with the forces of three combined-arms armies: 3rd Guards Colonel-General V.N. Gordov, 13th Colonel-General N.P. Pukhov and 5th Guards Colonel-General A S. Zhadov and two tank: 3rd Guards Colonel-General PS Rybalko and 4th Guards.
Our 4th Guards Tank Army was supposed to advance along the western banks of the Elbe and Vltava rivers in the general direction of Teplice-Shanov-Prague.
Tank armies were supposed to operate in the combat formations of combined-arms armies, striking simultaneously with them:
4th Guards Tank - in the zone of the 13th Army, and the 3rd Guards Tank - initially in the zone of the 3rd Guards, then in the zone of the 5th Guards combined-arms armies.
4th Guards Tank Army was prescribed from the sector of the 13th Army, advance in the direction of Nossen - Teplice-Shanov - Prague and on the sixth day from the west and southwest, together with the 3rd Guards Tank Army, capture Prague. On the first day of the operation, it was to occupy the Gosberg, Ober-Shar, Nossen area.
Immediately after breaking through the enemy's defenses, tank armies were supposed to seize the mountain passes on the enemy's shoulders, without getting involved in the battles for Dresden, and go through the Ore Mountains to Czechoslovakia to the rear of Army Group Center.
The readiness for the offensive was scheduled for the evening of May 6.
Our closest right-wing neighbor, advancing on the city of Chemnitz (now Karl-Marx-Stadt), was Major General E.I. This tank corps finally defeated Vlasov's gang, capturing him with the headquarters on May 11, 1945 in the area of Chemnitz. An important role in the capture of Vlasov was played by the commander of the motorized rifle battalion of the 181st tank brigade, Colonel Mishchenko, Captain Yakushev. For this feat, he was awarded the Order of Suvorov II degree.
Having received the directive, we, together with the headquarters, with the participation of the commander of the 1st Guards Assault Aviation Corps V.G. Ryazanov, carefully studied the concept of the upcoming operation and on the same day set tasks for the troops. The 6th Guards Mechanized Corps with reinforcements, together with the 13th Army, was ordered to break through the enemy defenses in the Mugeln, Naundorf sector and by the end of the first day, rapidly advancing in the Katnitz-Nossen direction, capture the areas: the main forces - Gross-Voigtsberg, Hirschfeld, Nossen, the vanguard is Freiberg. Conduct reconnaissance in the direction of Oderan - Mitelzeida. On the second day of the operation, develop an offensive against Lichtenberg and by the end of the day capture the area of Friedebach, Nassau, Ditterstbach. The 10th Guards Tank Corps, together with units of the 13th Army, was to launch an offensive in the Casabra-Reppen sector and, rapidly advancing in the direction of Neckanitz-Rauslitz, by the end of the first day, capture the Ober-Shar, Mohorn, Tanneberg region. On the second day of the operation, develop the offensive in the direction of Grilleburg-Schönfeld and by the end of the day capture the Hermsdorf, Hönnersdorf, Reichenau area.
The 5th Guards Mechanized Corps received the task of moving in the second echelon behind the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps, being ready to repel enemy counterattacks from the southwest, and to develop the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps' offensive. By the end of the first day of the operation, he was supposed to reach the area 8 km north-west of Nossen, and then move to Weissenberg (6 km south-east of Freiberg).
All formations were instructed to develop swift actions, especially in the first two days of the operation, in order to have time to capture the passes of the mountain range before the enemy was able to organize a defense on them; do not stop advancing at night; take into account the peculiarities of the action on the rugged mountainous and wooded terrain. The advance detachments included sapper units and ferry means.
The 68th Guards Tank and 70th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Brigades, as well as a number of other units of army subordination, were assigned to the reserve. The operational group of the army headquarters was to follow with the main forces of the 10th Guards Corps.
On May 3, the 4th Guards Tank Army transferred its combat area The 69th Army of the 1st Belorussian Front and the next day concentrated in the forests in the Dame region south of Berlin.
The personnel of the units and formations worked hard to prepare the march at night. The crossing of the Elbe in the Torgau region with the onset of darkness was supposed to ensure the surprise of our appearance in front of the defending German fascist troops. K. I. Upman, S. S. Maryakhin, N. F. Mentyukov, A. Ya. Ostrenko, M. A. Poluektov, corps commanders E. E. Belov, I. P. Ermakov, SF Pushkarev and all other commanders of formations and units.
Before the start of the operation, an average of 2 ammunition, 3 refueling for tanks, 3.5 refueling for cars, and food for 10 days were supplied.
V.G. Gulyaev and I went to our neighbors and met with the commander of the 13th Army, General N.P. Pukhov, and a member of the military council of the army, M.A.Kozlov, in order to coordinate our actions. The meeting was short but businesslike.
On the night of May 5, the army began its march. May 5 received an order from the front commander to attack the enemy not on May 7, as originally ordered, but a day earlier - on May 6. This was apparently due to the entire military-political situation in the last days war, and in particular the uprising in the Czech Republic, the preparation of which has already been mentioned. It unfolded with great force in Prague. Hitler's Gauleiter Frank, in order to gain time, began negotiations with the leadership of the rebels, and Schörner issued a categorical order to suppress the uprising by any means. We did not know about this before the attack on Prague, but the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, of course, had the relevant information.
Having crossed the Elbe in the Torgau region and a little further south, by the morning of May 6, the army with the main forces took up the starting position for the offensive at the turn of Mügeln, Zeren (50 km north-west of Dresden). Some of our units were still on the way at that time.
Formations of American troops were located near the area of concentration of the army. We did not receive specific data on the nature and strength of the enemy's defense from the allies - it is difficult to say why. We had to conduct combat reconnaissance in order to establish the nature of the enemy's defense and determine whether to conduct artillery preparation at the detected targets or, if the enemy's defense was not strong enough, immediately after the combat reconnaissance to enter strong forward detachments, which was possible, since the enemy did not expect ours here. offensive.
Soon the commander of the 13th Army, N.P. Pukhov, drove up. Together we waited for the results of combat reconnaissance. They were gratifying for us - the enemy did not have a continuous defensive line, there were only individual nodes of resistance. Having discussed the situation, we decided, without wasting time, to inflict a five-minute artillery fire raid on the detected pockets of resistance and, not expecting an air strike, to attack the enemy with strong forward detachments. We believed that if the enemy's defense in the depths turns out to be serious, then the battle of the forward detachments can reveal its character and strength, if the enemy's resistance can be broken immediately to the entire tactical depth, then without delay the main forces of the armies can be brought into battle to develop the offensive against Prague. Pukhov's troops were mainly on the march.
The forward detachments were assigned: from the 10th Guards Tank Corps - the 63rd Guards Tank Brigade of Colonel M.G. Fomichev, reinforced by the 72nd Guards Heavy Tank Regiment of Major A. A Dementyev and motorized riflemen of the 29th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of Colonel A. I. Efimova; from the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps - the 35th Guards Mechanized Brigade of Colonel P. N. Turkin, reinforced by artillery and a corps tank regiment. Soon an advance detachment from the 13th Army approached.
The attack was supposed to be supported by the fighter air division three times Hero Soviet Union Colonel A.I.
At 8 o'clock. on the morning of May 6, we were at our observation post. At 8 o'clock. 30 minutes. after a short artillery raid, the forward detachments launched an attack. We watched as our tanks (there were about 150 of them in both forward detachments) lined up in battle formation - an angle forward. This formation order is beneficial in the event of sudden enemy anti-tank fire and in the presence of minefields. In addition, such a formation ensured effective firing, both frontal and flank, while the order of battle in the line made it possible to fire essentially only in front of the front and did not guarantee against sudden surprises.
Tanks marched boldly, crushing the enemy with fire, armor and tracks. In full view of us, the enemy combat vehicles and other equipment. The enemy offered stubborn resistance. Separate groups of the Nazis surrendered, apparently, they could not figure out what had happened, who was advancing. Americans? But why, then, do they beat "in Russian"?
Soon, 4 captured officers with maps showing the situation were brought to our NP. It became quite clear that the enemy did not have a tough defense here, as we expected. From the testimony of the prisoners it became clear that the enemy command, who knew that American troops were stationed in this area, were convinced that they would not attack. Therefore, the attack of our advanced tank detachments came as a complete surprise to them.
At 10 o'clock. 30 minutes. I reported to the front commander on the results of the battle of the vanguard detachments, which were rapidly developing the offensive, summarized the data on the nature of the enemy's defense, his behavior, and asked for permission to advance by all troops.
At 11 o'clock. 20 minutes. Front commander I.S.Konev and a member of the front military council, Lieutenant-General K.V. Krainyukov arrived at our NP. Convinced of our success, the front commander gave instructions to bring the main forces of the army into battle.
Every minute was dear to me, and I asked permission to leave from task force forward, to the main forces, parts of which were just passing near our OP, and exclamations of "Give Prague!" could be heard from the open hatches of the tanks.
About half an hour later, already on the way, we learned from radio messages that on May 5 an uprising of Czechoslovak patriots began in Prague. The core of the uprising was the work collectives of the large factories "Skoda-Smikhov", "Walter", "Avia", "Microphone", "Eta", "CKD".
Details became known later. The insurgents have made great strides. They occupied a radio station, a post office, a telegraph office, a central telephone exchange, central stations, a city power station, and most of the bridges over the Vltava.
On the initiative of the communists, on the night of May 6, the Czech National Council appealed to the inhabitants of the capital with an appeal to build barricades. During the night, 1,600 barricades were erected. About 30 thousand people fought on them.
The uprising in Prague took on an ever-increasing scale. To suppress it, the fascist command threw tanks and planes to help its garrison. The German fascist monsters cruelly dealt with the population, sparing neither women nor children. Especially atrocities were committed by SS units in the working-class districts of the city. The rebels fought with the greatest courage and courage.
An important role in maintaining the resistance of the fighters was played by the newspaper Rude Pravo, published after six years of underground activity, where the appeal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia to the Communists was published, which said: “Communists! Our direct participation in the battles began yesterday. Prove that in an open fight against the enemy you will be as resilient, courageous and resourceful as during six years of brutal struggle against the fiends of the Gestapo. Be the best of the best everywhere and gloriously carry your banner, soaked in the blood of thousands of your comrades, to your goal. The iron discipline of the Bolshevik Party and the enthusiasm of the fraternal Red Army serve as a shining example to you. Forward into the last battle for a free, popular, democratic Czechoslovak Republic! "
Despite the heroism of the patriots who rebelled in Prague, the enemy succeeded in capturing a number of barricades during May 6 after fierce battles. The Nazis began to make their way to the city center. The crisis of the uprising set in.
From the basement of the Prague radio building besieged by the Nazis, a Czechoslovak announcer in Russian called for help: “Attention! Attention! Czech Prague speaking! Czech Prague speaking! A large number of German tanks and aircraft attacked in this moment from all sides to our city. We make a fiery appeal to the heroic Red Army for support. Send tanks and planes to our aid, don't let our city of Prague die! "
The soldiers of the Red Army, having learned about the appeal from the radio of the Czechoslovak people, with even greater enthusiasm and energy strove to reach Prague as soon as possible and help the rebels.
The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front advanced from the north and northwest. From the east, formations of the 4th Ukrainian Front went, and from the southeast, the 2nd Ukrainian Front developed the success.
By the evening of May 6 the troops of our army, having passed 50 km, reached the Waldheim-Siebelen line, and advanced detachments advanced up to 65 km, captured the important railway junction - the city of Freiberg. Vanguard detachments captured road junctions, defile and passes. They were ahead of the enemy, not allowing him to occupy the lines prepared for defense on the German-Czechoslovak border and saddle the mountain passes.
May 7th The 4th Guards Tank Army advanced another 50-60 km, up to the Frauenstein-Zayda line. Soon all the passes through the Ore Mountains were in our hands. The 10th Guards Tank Corps occupied Teplice-Shanov, and the 6th Guards Mechanized Corps occupied Duchtsev.
The enemy retreated with battles, clung to every advantageous line, set up blockages and minefields in narrow places, on passes and in gorges. Sappers of Major General MA Poluektov paved the way for tanks in the mountains covered with forests. Czechoslovak friends showed us how best to get around obstacles.
Overcoming the steep rocky slopes covered with forest presented a great difficulty. I had to resort to the invention of driver mechanics: the tracks on caterpillars were turned over with the ridge outward after one, then the ground engagement was reliably ensured.
I cannot but cite one curious episode. Our task force ended up in a mountainous region rich in iron ore. The compass needle pointed anywhere but north. To better navigate the terrain, I climbed the border tower. On the eastern slopes of the Ore Mountains, in the predawn gloom, many factory chimneys could be seen. And on the map there was a forest and several villages. I was seriously upset, thinking if we had lost our direction. But, fortunately, at that moment the sun began to rise. It turned out that we were going right, exactly to the east, and the factories, as it turned out later, were built by the Nazis in last years... The German fascist leadership built their defense enterprises here, taking into account that we will not bomb the territory of Czechoslovakia.
By the end of May 7, the 4th Guards Tank Army overcame the Ore Mountains with its main forces and was already 150-160 km north-west of Prague. The 13th Army advanced behind them. On the left was the 3rd Guards Tank Army and other troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front. The 1st Guards, 38th, 60th and 18th armies of the 4th Ukrainian Front moved from the east. From the southeast, the 2nd Ukrainian Front developed its success.
Operating in difficult conditions highlands, Guardsmen of the 16th Mechanized Brigade of G.M. Shcherbak on the morning of May 8 broke into the city of Most, which is of great military-industrial importance. A large plant for the production of synthetic gasoline was located there. The brigade destroyed more than 20 enemy guns, defeated the fascist garrison and liberated the city.
Hundreds and thousands of men, women and teenagers came out to meet the Soviet soldiers. These were Russians, Czechs, Poles, French, Danes, people of many other nationalities, whom the Nazis had driven from their homes to hard labor.
And past us on to Prague brigades of our 5th Guards Mechanized Corps I.P. Ermakov.
Defeat of Army Group Center and liberation of Prague
On the night of May 8, 1945, the 10th Guards Mechanized Brigade of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps under the command of Colonel V.N. Noticing in the twilight a long enemy column of vehicles, the commander of the tank regiment, Lieutenant Colonel O. N. Grebennikov, attacked the enemy on the move. Soon other brigades came up here 5th Guards Mechanized Corps and completed the business started by Grebennikov. As it turned out later, it was the headquarters of the Army Group Center of Scherner, who was in a hurry from Jaromer (100 km northeast of Prague) to Pilsen in order to get to the west from there.
It was along this path that a catastrophe befell the enemy. In just a few minutes, under the blows of the tanks of Senior Lieutenant V.S.Derevyanko and Lieutenant S.P.Bednenko, the headquarters of Field Marshal Scherner ceased to exist. On the streets of atec, something like a paper blizzard broke out: the wind whirled and scattered armfuls of staff documents in all directions. Most of the Nazis surrendered, including 9 generals. But many, like a flock of frightened jackals, tried to hide in doorways, in vegetable gardens, in ditches and in attics. Czechoslovak friends helped us to catch them.
Scherner, as it later became known, with an adjutant who owned Czech, having changed into civilian clothes, managed to escape, leaving his troops to the mercy of fate. Here is how Scherner himself tells about it: “On the night of May 7-8, my headquarters was in transfer and on the morning of May 8, during a tank breakthrough by the Russians, it was completely destroyed. From that time on, I lost control of the retreating troops. The tank breakthrough was completely unexpected, since the front still existed on the evening of May 7.
Having lost 5 days, Schörner and his adjutant made their way to the Americans and surrendered.
Now Scherner's troops, operating in front of the 1st, 2nd and 4th Ukrainian fronts, found themselves without centralized control.
On the morning of May 8, it became known that Germany had surrendered, but Scherner's troops, not recognizing surrender, were still fighting. They tried to break through to the west, but, without reaching their goal, they were destroyed or captured by our troops.
Although on May 9, the new fascist ringleader, Doenitz, officially gave instructions to his troops “on May 9 at 00:00 a.m. to all branches of the armed forces, all theaters of military operations, all armed organizations and individuals stop hostilities against the former opponents ", but on the same day to" clarify "this order in Plzen, where, according to Doenitz's calculations, the headquarters of Scherner should have been located, already defeated by us in Zatec, an officer went by plane general staff Colonel Meyer-Detring. He had an order with him, which prescribed to continue the struggle against the Soviet troops as long as possible, because only under this condition will numerous units of the fascist army be able to gain time in order to break through to the west, to the allies.
By about 2 o'clock. 30 minutes. May 9 morning we received a radio report from M. G. Fomichev's vanguard that he had broken into Prague. This information was confirmed by the liaison officer from the 10th Guards Tank Corps, Captain M.V. Mishin.
At 3 o'clock. 9th May The advance units of the 63rd Guards Tank Brigade fought in the center of Prague - near the General Staff building. One battalion of the brigade, preventing the SS from blowing up the mined Charles Bridge, was on the western bank of the river. Vltava, and another battalion drove the Nazis out of the Prague Kremlin.
At 4 o'clock. May 9 morning the entire 10th Guards Tank Corps of the 4th Guards Tank Army entered Prague. Together with him entered the 70th Army Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Brigade of N. F. Kornyushkin. A platoon of self-propelled guns of Lieutenant Kulemin burst into Prague from the south-west, followed by the 72nd Guards Heavy Tank Regiment of A.A. Dementiev. Our other corps (6th and 5th guards mechanized) also entered the city with their main forces.
The task force and I moved along with the 10th Guards Tank Corps. From Prague I sent a report to the front commander:
“At 4.00 am on 9.5.45, the 10th Guards Tank Corps entered the city of Prague and entered its northeastern outskirts, the eastern and southeastern outskirts. 6th Guards Mechanized Corps - to the southern and southwestern outskirts of Prague. 5th Guards Mechanized Corps - to the western outskirts. Many prisoners and trophies were captured. Those who resisted are destroyed. Rebel communications through Brigadier General Veder. There are no American troops. No neighbors. I am conducting reconnaissance in the northeastern part, in southbound... I am tidying up. I am with a task force on the western outskirts of Prague. Lelyushenko ".
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 Second World War... 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. Czechoslovak units, including several squadrons of the Air Force, fought on the Western Front 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, collapsed: the Germans and their Hungarian allies successfully resisted in the 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. Here is how Marshal of the Soviet Union Ivan Konev described the then situation, 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 West 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 of 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 a 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, under the 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, which is not like an unconditional surrender, was previously assessed as a“ 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, about 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 Gruppenfuehrer 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 jubilation. 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 acts, 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 the Soviet decades, lies and hypocrisy played an irreplaceable role in political governance. Thanks to them, stable myths and fictions were created, with the help of which the authorities manipulated public consciousness and behavior. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which took place in a completely ordinary way and without any heroic pathos, was the result of the inevitable destruction of false values and social relations based on many years of deception and self-deception. However, the false dogma of the coercive state ideology was quickly replaced by proud triumphalism. Many of our compatriots today seductively take him for patriotism. In fact, triumphalism hides an indifference to the national tragedy of their own country. It is obvious that the cause of new moral metamorphoses is often old historical illiteracy, which is based on mossy myths and surviving stereotypes. The danger of such a situation cannot but be alarming, since a big lie inevitably gives rise to outright cynicism.
The interest in the question of the circumstances under which the liberation of Prague took place in May 1945 is quite understandable, especially in connection with the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the victory of the countries. anti-Hitler coalition over Nazism. The intrigue is connected with the clarification of the real role played in the dramatic events in Prague by the servicemen of the 1st Infantry Division of the troops of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (ROA) and the Red Army. At the same time, it is sad that almost twenty years after the disappearance of Soviet power, our contemporaries, instead of honest answers to the questions posed, are offered completely false versions of past events, born sixty years ago in the bowels of Stalin's agitprop. Amateurs, whose knowledge of the history of the Prague Uprising does not stand up to criticism, are zealously acting as specialists and experts today.
What role did the Vlasovites really play in the dramatic events in Prague on May 5-8?
1st infantry division KONR troops of Major General Sergei Bunyachenko withdrew from the operational subordination of the German command and began a march to Bohemia from the Oder front on April 15. Kinschak called Bunyachenko "a graduate of the Military Academy of the Russian General Staff" - educational institution, which never existed in the system of military educational institutions of the USSR. In fact, Bunyachenko graduated from the special faculty of the Military Academy. MV Frunze in 1936 with an overall rating of "good".
Bunyachenko, despite threats from the command of Army Group Center, stubbornly led his strong division south to join General Trukhin's Southern Group. By April 29, the division (five infantry regiments, seven T-34 tanks, 10 Jaeger self-propelled guns PzKpfw-38 (t), 54 guns and other heavy weapons) reached the city of Louny, 50-55 km northwest of Prague.
From that moment on, the command of the division was in contact with representatives of the military wing of the Czech Resistance - the delegate of the underground Czech commandant's office "Bartosz" General Karel Kultvasr and Colonel Frantisek Burger. It was this commandant's office that was preparing an armed uprising in Prague. However, there was no talk of the 1st division's intervention in the uprising yet. Everything was decided by an unforeseen event, to which the NKGB detachment "Uragan" and personally Pyotr Savelyev had nothing to do with it.
On May 2, General Bunyachenko received a harsh ultimatum from the commandant of Prague, General Rudolf Toussaint. This document is stored in the investigative materials of Bunyachenko in the Central Archives of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in Moscow, and was published by the author of these lines back in 1998. Toussaint demanded that Bunyachenko proceed to the front sector near Brno, following the order of the command of the Army Group Center. In case of deviation from the prescribed route, Toussaint threatened to use the armed force of the Prague garrison, including aviation, against the Vlasovites.
Thus, the division found itself in the position of the attacked side. And Bunyachenko decided to conclude a military-political agreement with the Bartosz commandant's office, hoping to acquire not only allies in an inevitable clash with the Prague garrison, but also possible political dividends. By the way, Vlasov was against the intervention of the 1st division in the uprising, because, firstly, he feared German reprisals against other Vlasov units, which were worse armed than the 1st division, and secondly, he believed that the division would lose time and will not have time to go into the zone of responsibility of the US Army. Later, Vlasov's last fear was fully confirmed.
On May 4, the 1st Division arrived at Sukhomasty, 25-30 kilometers south-west of Prague. On May 5, General Bunyachenko, the chief of staff of the division, Lieutenant Colonel Nikolai Nikolaev, and the commander of the 4th regiment, Colonel Igor Sakharov, signed a written agreement with representatives of the military wing of the Resistance "On a joint struggle against fascism and Bolshevism." Naturally, the Hurricane NKGB group had nothing to do with this event.
In the second half of the day, Bunyachenko sent Major Boris Kostenko's reconnaissance division to Prague to help the rebels, and the next day - the 1st regiment of Colonel Andrey Arkhipov, a member of the White movement and an officer of the Markov infantry regiment. A number of officers of the Russian Army, Lieutenant General Pyotr Wrangel, who had participated in the Vlasov movement since 1943, served in the 1st regiment.
On May 6, Bunyachenko issued a response ultimatum to the Prague garrison, whose scattered forces, including SS units, numbered no more than 10 thousand servicemen. The commander of the 1st division demanded that Toussaint lay down arms - this document from the Central Archives of the FSB was also published by the author of these lines in 1998.
From the night of the sixth to the morning of May 8, units of the 1st division conducted active hostilities against the Wehrmacht and SS troops in the southern quarters of Prague and the central areas adjacent to them. A member of the Czech National Council, Dr. Makhotka, many years later, recalled: “The Vlasovites fought bravely and selflessly, many, without hiding, went right into the middle of the street and fired at the windows and hatches on the roofs, from which the Germans fired. It seemed that they deliberately went to their death, just not to fall into the hands of the Red Army. "
The soldiers of the 1st regiment freed several hundred prisoners from the Pankrats prison, including Jews, took about 3.5 thousand prisoners and captured up to 70 armored vehicles. Soldiers of the 2nd regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Vyacheslav Artemiev actively fought in the area of Slivinets and Zbraslav. Several dozen killed Vlasovites from this regiment were buried in the cemetery in Lagovichki. The 3rd Regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Ryabtsev (Aleksandrov) fought a stubborn battle for the airfield in Ruzin, and then in the western part of Prague. Soldiers and officers of the 4th regiment fought with the enemy on Smichov and near the Strahov Monastery. The 5th Infantry Regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Pyotr Maksakov remained in Bunyachenko's reserve. The artillery regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Zhukovsky fired at the German batteries at Petrshina. Interestingly, Arkhipov was a hero of the First World War, and Nikolaev and Artemyev in the Red Army deserved the Order of the Red Banner for bravery - Nikolaev in July 1941, and Artemyev in October 1943.
During the fighting, the 1st division lost more than three hundred soldiers and officers killed, 198 seriously wounded, as well as two T-34 tanks. The losses of the rebels and the population of the Czech capital only in those killed and died from wounds amounted to 1,694 people during the days of the uprising, more than 1.6 thousand Prague residents were injured. The losses of the Prague garrison are estimated at a thousand people only killed.
In the early morning of May 8, Bunyachenko withdrew the division from the city and marched south-west to Pilsen. By that time, the division command was convinced that the troops of the 3rd US Army would not occupy Prague, and the approach of the Soviet armies threatened the Vlasovites with death.
The further fate of the doomed Vlasov division is a topic for a separate conversation. After the departure of Bunyachenko's division, the Prague garrison continued to exist for another 8-10 hours. At 4 pm on May 8, General Toussaint signed a protocol on the surrender of all the forces of the Prague garrison, which was accepted by the Czech National Council. At 18 o'clock in the Czech capital, the armed confrontation between the Germans and the rebels finally ceased, and the German garrison ceased to exist.
Only 12 hours after the signing of the surrender protocol, at about four o'clock in the morning, on May 9, the first Soviet armored vehicles of the 62nd, 63rd and 70th brigades of the 4th Guards Tank Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front appeared in Prague, as evidenced by documents of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in Podolsk. Soviet troops successfully occupied Prague, but there was no one to liberate it from. Interestingly, in the very first days of peace, the Soviet command imposed a categorical ban on the admission of American military correspondents to Prague, fearing the spread of news and rumors about the participation in the battles of the Vlasovites and the mass executions of those servicemen of the Bunyachenko division who, for various reasons, remained in the city.
So whose troops liberated the Czech capital? ..
Paradoxical as it may sound, in all likelihood - draws. The talented Czech historian Stanislav Auski also wrote about this. During the days of the uprising in Prague and its environs there were indeed separate groups American servicemen and Soviet paratroopers. These groups performed different tasks. But it is inappropriate to attribute the liberation of the city to them. The Vlasovites left Prague before the end of the uprising and the surrender of the Prague garrison. The troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front appeared in Prague after the end of the events and, moreover, after the signing of the main act on the general surrender of the Armed Forces of Germany.
However, in our opinion, the soldiers and officers of the 1st Division of the KONR (ROA) troops objectively played an outstanding role during the uprising. In the midst of battles on May 6-7, their active action Bunyachenko's division diverted most of the forces of the Prague garrison, cut the city into northern and southern parts, preventing the invasion of the capital by the Wehrmacht and SS forces outside of Prague.
As a result of the blockade and the capture of the Ruzinsky airfield, the Germans were unable to use aircraft against the Czech rebels. Thanks to the intervention of the Vlasovites, the losses of the rebels and townspeople turned out to be much smaller than they could have been in another situation. This is the historical truth.
The fates of the aforementioned Vlasov generals and officers were dramatic. Zhukovsky and Nikolaev were shot in 1945 in the USSR. Ryabtsev shot himself after the division of the division on May 12. Generals Vlasov, Bunyachenko, Maltsev, Trukhin were hanged in Moscow on August 1, 1946 by the decision of the Stalinist Politburo. Maksakov served 10 years in the camps and was released in 1955. He lived and died in the Soviet Union. Artemyev, Arkhipov, Sakharov and Turkul escaped forced extradition and died in exile. The history of the Prague Uprising really deserves the most serious attention of honest and professional historians.
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Immediately I will make an important reservation that I am not a fan and apologist of the ROA, but I consider Vlasov a banal self-seeker, careerist and opportunist (this conclusion can be drawn even from reading many Prolasov's historical books and memoirs), not deserving a gram of respect.
The history of KONR and ROA was extremely controversial, controversial, and generally quite inglorious. There were certainly more negative and even shameful moments in it than positive and bright ones.
Perhaps the participation of the 1st ROA division in the Prague uprising was the only truly noble act of this military-political formation, the only truly independent action, the first and last feat.
I have no task to give my detailed historical, political and moral-ethical assessment of this formation in the commentary to Aleksandrov's article, so I will be brief.
Many people who talk about "traitorous collaborators", or, on the contrary, about "anti-Bolshevik heroes", do not know at all real story this military formation. For example, what for the whole short story of its existence (about six months, if we count from the moment of the announcement of the Prague manifesto and the beginning of preparations for the creation of two divisions), the 1st division of the ROA spent only two battles: with Soviet army April 13-15, 1945 (which she blew miserably), and with the Germans on May 6-7 of the same year, in the last days of the war (except for the battle on February 9 against the Red Army against the small detachment of Sakharov, which later became part of the 1st division ROA). The second division of the ROA has not fought a single battle in its entire history at all.
Two divisions of the ROA were hastily formed from the merger of the remnants of the RONA Kaminsky, which made up about 25% of its original personnel (it subsequently grew greatly due to the massive influx of people into the division who fled from prisoner of war camps and forced labor camps, or liberated from there by the ROA troops, and joined to her) and several eastern volunteer battalions, that is, Russian collaborationist battalions under German command, who fought on the eastern and western fronts (that is, including against the countries of the West on the side of the Nazis).
Also, a certain percentage of people recruited directly from prisoner of war camps in the Autumn of 1944 (these people had not fought for the Germans before, and their biography in this regard is quite clean) entered the composition of the two divisions of the ROA, but they made up an insignificant percentage of the total number two divisions.
Subsequently, several dozen anti-Soviet Red Army men went over to the side of the ROA, already during its inclusion in the battles (mainly during the battle on February 9, to the side of the Russian detachment under the command of Igor Sakharov), but they made up a very insignificant percentage of its total number.
Also, a significant number of prisoners of war and "Ostarbeiters" joined the first division, during its march to the Czech Republic on April 15-30, as a result of which the composition of the division increased from 18 to 23 thousand. In the bulk, they entered the 5th reserve regiment of Maksakov, and did not participate in the battles for Prague.
ROA, with all the ambiguous attitude towards this formation in modern Russian society, is a part of our history. This part of our history must be given a fair and unbiased assessment, free from the political clichés of the past and historical speculations of the present.
That is why, as a person who is not a fan of this formation, I am often annoyed by lies and lies on state television, in various historical materials and documentaries, which speak of "the liberation of Prague by the Soviet army."
Whereas, in fact, the Red Army units entered Prague, already practically liberated from the Nazis, having conducted several small battles with individual SS underdogs.
You cannot build this or that concept national history on a lie. To create and build a free nation as a full-fledged political and historical subject, new generations of the Russian people must know the real truth about all the bitter, tragic and controversial pages of Russian history in all their variegation, and not false myths and tales concocted at the request of the authorities by various "state thinking "historians and propagandists for turning the Russian people into" obedient cattle for the Great Multinational Empire. "
Therefore, the truth about who actually made the main and key contribution to the liberation of Prague, saved its architectural appearance from destruction, and thousands of Prague residents from death, must be told and conveyed to the general public.
Not a single sane person will belittle the role of the Red Army in the liberation of many European countries from the Nazi occupation, and the release of millions of people from concentration camps.
However, in the liberation of Prague key role played by another Russian army. Far from being sinless, with its rather short and tragic history.
For this act they will be forgiven a lot.
PS. In the near future I will write and publish a large and detailed article with my personal detailed assessment of the ROA and KONR, going through all the main points and milestones in the history of this military-political formation.
Photo of ROA soldiers in Prague
Exactly 71 years ago, from May 6 to 11, 1945, the Prague operation took place, the last strategic operation Red Army in the Great Patriotic War, during which Prague was liberated from the Nazi troops.
It is to this event, my friends, that I dedicate a selection of photographs made on the basis of photographs from the album "For Eternal Times".
The printed album "For everlasting times" ("Na vecne casy") was released in Prague in 1965 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia by Soviet troops. It contains several hundred photographs taken by the inhabitants of Czechoslovakia in the days of May 1945.
1. A girl soldier from the Soviet liberation forces of Czechoslovakia in the cab of a truck.
2. Soviet soldier in motorcycle goggles and binoculars in Prague.
3. Soviet soldiers communicate with the inhabitants of Prague.
4. Czech children give flowers to the Soviet military from the liberators of Czechoslovakia.
5. Soviet servicemen at the T-34 tank communicate with the inhabitants of Prague. One of the Czechoslovak soldiers with a submachine gun is visible in the background.
6. A private girl from the Soviet liberation forces of Czechoslovakia smiles from the cab of a truck.
7. Review of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia. Mortar men are coming.
8. Review of Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia. Carrying the banner of the unit.
9. Two Soviet officers, along with the Czechoslovak military at the monument to the Czech commander and national hero Jan Zizka in the town of Tabor.
10. Soviet military band on the streets of Prague.
11. Soviet general, Hero of the Soviet Union, signs for memory in the album of a resident of Prague.
12. Czech girl sits on the lap of the Lieutenant General of the Red Army during a holiday in Prague.
13. Soviet officer, major, surrounded by women from Prague.
14. Soviet girl-soldier (with the rank of foreman) leaves an autograph to a resident of Prague.
15. A resident of Prague gives Soviet soldiers postcards with views of the city.
16. Soviet soldier leaves an autograph to the inhabitants of Prague.
17. Soviet soldier leaves his postal address to a resident of Prague.
18. A Soviet soldier tells something to the inhabitants of Prague gathered around him.
19. Czech soldier, who was presented with flowers, with a resident of Prague. The compilers of the Czech printed album For All Seasons saw a symbolic detail in this photograph: the soldier is holding both symbols of war and peace - a submachine gun and flowers.The Czechoslovak Army Corps (a Czechoslovak combined-arms unit as part of the 4th Ukrainian Front of the Red Army) took part in the liberation of Prague.
20. A resident of Prague, along with a Soviet tanker. A woman holds a checkbox with the Czech state flag.
21. Czech girl plays with a Soviet officer, the captain of the tank forces. Around - the inhabitants of Prague, greeting the Soviet troops who liberated the city.
22. A Soviet soldier changes the camera in a car wheel.
23. Soviet soldiers are repairing car wheels.
24. Soviet soldier milking a cow.
25. A Soviet soldier shaves in field conditions - a mirror is installed in a niche in a truck body.
26. Column of Soviet soldiers on the streets of Prague.
27. Soviet driver and guard at the door of a house in Czechoslovakia.
28. Soviet soldier-traffic controller in Czechoslovakia.
29. Soldier-driver from the liberators of Czechoslovakia at the truck.
30. A military chef from the liberators of Czechoslovakia.
31. Soviet soldier from the liberators of Czechoslovakia.
32. The commander of the Soviet garrison in Czech city Olomouc Lieutenant Colonel Latyshev.
33. Senior lieutenant from the liberators of Czechoslovakia with an accordion.
34. Soviet column, welcomed local residents, runs through a Czechoslovak village.
35. Concert of Soviet soldiers for the inhabitants of Prague.
36. Soviet tanker with a violin and a resident of Prague.
37. Parade of athletes in the liberated Czechoslovakia.
38. Soviet officer with a camera.
39. Soviet senior sergeant and senior lieutenant at a table in a Czech house.
40. Soviet Cossack with a Czech child on horseback.
41. Soviet sergeant and lieutenant are photographed with a resident of Czechoslovakia.
42. Czech girls are treating Soviet officers to cakes.
43. Toast to the liberators of Czechoslovakia. Residents treat Soviet soldiers.
44. Soviet girl soldier (sergeant) in Prague.
45. Soviet officers with Czech children in the liberated Prague.
46. Soviet soldier with a Czech girl in a national costume.
47. A Soviet soldier rides Czech children on a horse.
48. Meeting of the liberators of Prague. A Soviet junior officer holds a Czech boy in his arms.
49. Meeting of Soviet troops - liberators of Prague. Senior lieutenant of the Red Army among Czech children.
50. Celebrating the liberation of Prague. Guard senior lieutenant of the Soviet troops with a Czech child.
51. Meeting of the liberators of Prague. A Soviet major general is holding a Czech girl in his arms.
52. A colorful soldier from the liberators of Czechoslovakia.
53. Soviet officers, sergeants and foremen drink beer in the days of peace that have come in Czechoslovakia.
54. Two Soviet soldiers with medals "For Courage" in Czechoslovakia.
55. Soviet soldier at the truck. Leichkov, Czechoslovakia. In the background is the lieutenant.
56. Soviet infantry squad in Czechoslovakia. The original caption under the photo in the album: "This squad defended our village from Nazi tanks."
57. Soviet artillery sergeant in Prague.
58. Soviet soldier among the inhabitants of Prague.
59. Red Army soldiers on the streets of Prague.
60. Soviet soldiers in Prague.
61. Soviet soldier from the troops that liberated Prague.
62. Soviet soldier with a Czech child in his arms.
