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OPERATION BAGRATION 183

Aug 6–14

The 2nd Belorussian

Front seizes bridgeheads across

the Narew River, preparing for a

push into German East Prussia.

Aug 16

The Soviets enter the ruins

of Treblinka death camp, destroyed

by the retreating Germans.

Jul 27

The Soviets take Šiauliai,

cutting off the German Army Group North in Latvia from Army Group Center to its south.

Aug 1

Kaunas falls to the

3rd Belorussian Front.

Jul 24

Majdanek is the first

Nazi death camp to be discovered by the Allies.

Aug 30

The Soviets

capture crucial oil

fields at Ploești.

Aug 20–29

The Soviets

attack eastern Romania.

Aug 20

Amphibious Soviet forces land at the mouth of the Danube.

Jun 22

The Soviets launch

Operation Bagration in Belorussia.

Sep 8

Soviet troops enter

Bulgaria without challenge. A day later, Bulgaria declares war on Germany.

Aug 31

The Red Army

enters Bucharest.

German ArmyGroup North

Soviet Karelian Front

SovietLeningrad Front

Soviet 3rd Baltic Front

Soviet 2ndBaltic Front

Soviet 1st Baltic Front

Soviet 3rdBelorussian Front

Soviet 2ndBelorussianFront

Soviet 1stBelorussian Front

Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front

Soviet 4th Ukrainian Front

Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front

Soviet 3rdUkrainian Front

German ArmyGroup Center

German Army Group

North Ukraine

German Army Group

South Ukraine

Black Sea

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Helsinki
Tallinn
Narva
Leningrad
Lake
Ladoga
Tartu
Riga
Šiauliai
PskovOstrovOpochka
Polotsk
Daugavpils
Vitebsk
Kaunas
Vilnius
Grodno
Minsk
Orsha
Mogilev
Smolensk
Babruysk
RogachewGomel
Białystok
Siedice
Warsaw
Majdanek
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Lublin
Baranow
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Brody
Brest-Litovsk
Treblinka
Kovel
Korosten
Lutsk
Kiev
Tarnopol
Podgaitsy
Cherkassy
Kirovograd
Kryvyy Rih
Kherson
Odessa
Tiraspol
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Ploeș
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Constanta
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Niemen
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1
THE SOVIET PLAN APRIL–JUNE 21, 1944The Soviets had drawn up their plans for Operation Bagration by the end of April 1944. They ruled out advancing toward Romania, to the Baltic coast, or into western Ukraine because the dangers were either too great or the enemy too well-prepared. They opted instead for an offensive into German-occupied Belorussia, which would then allow them to move west into Poland and south into Romania. In planning Bagration, the Soviets engaged in considerable and daring acts
of
maskirovka,
or deception (see above).
2
THE OPENING BREAKTHROUGH JUNE 22–29, 1944On June 22, three Soviet Belorussian Fronts under the command of Marshal Zhukov struck Army Group Center along a 350-mile (560-km) front in Belorussia, breaking through around Vitebsk and Orsha. The Germans were overwhelmed by the Soviets’ formidable firepower and air supremacy. Soviet troops also crossed the Dnieper River at Mogilev and advanced toward Babruysk.
Soviet advance, Jun 22–29
3
THE CAPTURE OF MINSK JUNE 28–JULY 10, 1944On June 28, the Red Army advanced toward Minsk, taking the city on July 4 and destroying
the German Army Group Center, which suffered casualties of 300,000 in the battle and 100,000 further losses over the next few weeks. Meanwhile, a Soviet offensive against Polotsk helped secure the northern flank of the
main Minsk offensive.
Soviet advance, Jun 28–Jul 10
Retreat of German Army Group Center
4
NORTHERN OFFENSIVES JULY 5–AUGUST 1, 1944After the fall of Minsk, German resistance
nearly collapsed. The Red Army pushed swiftly toward the Baltic, taking Vilnius, Šiauliai, and
finally Kaunas in Lithuania by the end of July,
and bringing the fighting up to the East Prussian border of Germany.
Soviet advance, Jul 5–Aug 1
6
INTO ROMANIA AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 1944The southern offensive in August took the Soviets over the Prut River into Romania. By the end of August, they had taken Bucharest, and they drove the remaining Germans out of Romania by the end of September. On August 23, Romania declared war on Germany. Bulgaria left the Axis on August 26. The road was now open for the Red Army to enter the western Balkans and Hungary.
Soviet advance, Aug–Sep
5
TO THE VISTULA JULY 13–AUGUST 31, 1944In the center, the Red Army skirted north of
the Pripet Marshes to take Brest-Litovsk and Białystok, and also south of the marshes to take Lublin and Lw
Ó
w. These attacks took the Soviet
forces across the Bug River into eastern Poland and to the banks of the Vistula River. By the
end of August, the Red Army was also on
the borders of Slovakia and Hungary.
Soviet advance, Jul 13–Aug 31
US_182-183_Operation_Bagration.indd 183 20/03/19 2:18 PM