Brest Fortress Belarus 28 September 2005
On 22 June 1941, Nazi forces numbering about 20,000, as part of Operation Barbarossa, fell without warning on the 3,500 combatant defenders of the Brest Fortress on the Polish Border; with non combatant troops and civilians, there were a total of 7-8,000 personnel in the fortress, including service dependents. Although the fortress was deemed captured on 30 June 1941, sporadic resistance continued amongst the ruins and cellars with the final defenders drowned in the cellars by water brought from the river Bug in August. Inscriptions were carved with bayonets in the cellar walls, such as "We'll die but we'll not leave the fortress" and "I'm dying but I won't surrender. Farewell, Motherland. 20.VII.41." Although the defence made little difference to the initial assault of the Soviet Union (when the fortress fell, it was already 300 miles (480 kms) behind German lines), it did impress on the Soviet High command, the impact of defending towns and villages. Although a shining beacon in a period of ignominy for the Red Army which generally suffered a total collapse in the face of the German invasion, its role was not made public until 1957. The Memorial Complex was opened in 1971. The fortress was awarded the honorific title "Hero Fortress" (Krepost' geroi) on 8 May 1965 , the twentieth anniversary of the German capitulation in WWII. Ironically, survivors captured at Brest who were repatriated after the war were sent to gulags as collaborators and spies.
The plaque reads:
Decree of the Presidium of the USSR on the Granting to the Brest Fortress of the Honorific Rank of "Hero Fortress". In repelling the treacherous and sudden attack on the Soviet Union by the Hitlerite invaders, in extremely difficult circumstances, the defenders displayed outstanding military prowess, massive heroism and courage against the fascist aggressors, becoming a symbol of the exemplary determination of the Soviet people. Recognising the extraordinary services of the defenders of the Brest Fortress to the Homeland, and in commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War 1941-5, the Brest Fortress is awarded the honoured title "Hero-Fortress" and the Order of Lenin and the medal "Gold Star".
Brest Fortress Belarus 28 September 2005
On 22 June 1941, Nazi forces numbering about 20,000, as part of Operation Barbarossa, fell without warning on the 3,500 combatant defenders of the Brest Fortress on the Polish Border; with non combatant troops and civilians, there were a total of 7-8,000 personnel in the fortress, including service dependents. Although the fortress was deemed captured on 30 June 1941, sporadic resistance continued amongst the ruins and cellars with the final defenders drowned in the cellars by water brought from the river Bug in August. Inscriptions were carved with bayonets in the cellar walls, such as "We'll die but we'll not leave the fortress" and "I'm dying but I won't surrender. Farewell, Motherland. 20.VII.41." Although the defence made little difference to the initial assault of the Soviet Union (when the fortress fell, it was already 300 miles (480 kms) behind German lines), it did impress on the Soviet High command, the impact of defending towns and villages. Although a shining beacon in a period of ignominy for the Red Army which generally suffered a total collapse in the face of the German invasion, its role was not made public until 1957. The Memorial Complex was opened in 1971. The fortress was awarded the honorific title "Hero Fortress" (Krepost' geroi) on 8 May 1965 , the twentieth anniversary of the German capitulation in WWII. Ironically, survivors captured at Brest who were repatriated after the war were sent to gulags as collaborators and spies.
The plaque reads:
Decree of the Presidium of the USSR on the Granting to the Brest Fortress of the Honorific Rank of "Hero Fortress". In repelling the treacherous and sudden attack on the Soviet Union by the Hitlerite invaders, in extremely difficult circumstances, the defenders displayed outstanding military prowess, massive heroism and courage against the fascist aggressors, becoming a symbol of the exemplary determination of the Soviet people. Recognising the extraordinary services of the defenders of the Brest Fortress to the Homeland, and in commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War 1941-5, the Brest Fortress is awarded the honoured title "Hero-Fortress" and the Order of Lenin and the medal "Gold Star".