The Lower Silesian Offensive
The 1st Ukrainian Front attacked on 8 February. Pamyat Naroda documents the advance to the Neisse.
The German diary, 19-28 February
German Docs in Russia catalogues War Diary No. 14 of Grenadier Regiment 698, TsAMO collection 500, inventory 12482, file 190, explicitly for fighting in the Forst/Lausitz area and including a map of Forst.
Primary source: this diary should anchor any day-by-day reconstruction instead of later summaries.
Local chronology
Zeitzeugen Forst gives 25 February for heavy shelling and the St Nikolai fire, and 28 February for destruction of the Lange Brücke. These dates remain labelled as local reconstruction until checked against both sides’ operational records.
Sources and source criticism
Sources
Pamyat Naroda - Lower Silesian OffensiveOperational context for February 1945: the 1st Ukrainian Front advancing to the Neisse line.
Pamyat Naroda - Lower Silesian OffensiveOperational context for February 1945: the 1st Ukrainian Front advancing to the Neisse line.
Sources
German Docs in Russia - War diary, Grenadier Regiment 698TsAMO, collection 500, inventory 12482, file 190. War diary No. 14, 19-28 Feb 1945, fighting in the Forst/Lausitz area, 9 leaves and a map of Forst.
German Docs in Russia - War diary, Grenadier Regiment 698TsAMO, collection 500, inventory 12482, file 190. War diary No. 14, 19-28 Feb 1945, fighting in the Forst/Lausitz area, 9 leaves and a map of Forst.
Sources
City of Forst (Lausitz) - “Grenzrose” materialMunicipal source: on 14 Feb 1945 Soviet tanks were on the east bank between Jähnsdorf and the Sacro bridge; on 16 Apr the major offensive began and the Neisse was crossed north of the memorial site.
City of Forst (Lausitz) - “Grenzrose” materialMunicipal source: on 14 Feb 1945 Soviet tanks were on the east bank between Jähnsdorf and the Sacro bridge; on 16 Apr the major offensive began and the Neisse was crossed north of the memorial site.
Sources
Zeitzeugen Forst - local chronology “Als der Krieg nach Forst kam”Local memory and photo chronology covering refugees, late-February shelling, the St Nikolai fire and destruction of the Lange Brücke. Treated as a local source, not equivalent to a war diary.
Zeitzeugen Forst - local chronology “Als der Krieg nach Forst kam”Local memory and photo chronology covering refugees, late-February shelling, the St Nikolai fire and destruction of the Lange Brücke. Treated as a local source, not equivalent to a war diary.