| A Nazi German MG-34 machine gun crew near the Kholm Gate inside the citadel of the Brest Fortress during fighting in the inner courtyard of the Citadel next to the former Saint Peter and Paul church, the place of the signing of the Brest Peace Treaty in 1918. The defense of Brest Fortress was the 1st battle of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union launched on June 22, 1941. The German Army attacked without warning, expecting to take Brest on the 1st day, using only infantry and artillery, but it took them a week, and only after 2 bombardments by the Luftwaffe. Many Soviet defenders were killed or captured. Kholm Gate was the most relatively intact compared to Terespol Gate, but still exhibits severe damage that was left unrepaired to this day. On the night of June 22nd, there were about 9,000 men and 300 officers’ families in the fortress. On the opposite bank of the border river Bug was the Nazi German Wehrmacht 45th Infantry Division, about 17,000 men, under the command of Major General Fritz Schlieper (August 4, 1892 – June 4, 1977), which had been tasked with taking the fortress by surprise. The Nazi German plan to take the fortress by storm in order to secure the planned avenue of attack Panzerrollbahn 1 (“Tank Runway 1”) to the east did not work. The fortress architecture offered families and soldiers a certain amount of protection, so that many were able to survive the massive artillery attack that had surprised them in their sleep. Under extremely unfavorable conditions, the border guards and Red Army soldiers took up arms and defended themselves against the German attack; others managed to leave the fortress to the east, as was planned in the event of an attack. The Germans, who had advanced far into the interior of the fortress, suffered unexpectedly heavy losses; on the 1st day of the war, 280 of them were killed. Heavy fighting lasted for 3 days, and by the end of the 3rd day, around 4,000 Red Army soldiers were captured. 2 more days of fighting for individual pockets of resistance followed. On June 27, the fortress was largely calm; only the eastern fort on the North Island was still defended. The fort’s architecture made it impossible to capture it using infantry alone. Air raids by Stuka dive bombers of II. Fliegerkorps (“Second Air Corps”) on June 29 forced the garrison of the eastern fort to surrender. Around 350 Red Army soldiers were taken prisoner. After major fighting ended, about 6,800 soldiers from the garrison of the Brest Fortress were taken prisoner, and at least 2,000 more had fallen. However, the Nazi Germans already considered the railway line and the Panzerrollbahn 1 to be secure by the evening of June 22, 1941. Heavy fighting had lasted 3 days. During this period, around 90 percent of the Nazi German dead, around 70 percent of their injured, and more than 55 percent of the Soviet prisoners of war were captured. The last Wehrmacht soldier who died in battle rather than in the hospital was Oberfeldwebel (“Staff Sergeant”) Erich Mathwig (May 27, 1913 – June 27, 1941). In the extensive and confusing area of the fortress with its many building complexes, casemates and cellars, small groups of Soviet soldiers were still hiding, holding out to the last, even though they had hardly any ammunition, food or water left. However, the Wehrmacht apparently no longer saw them as a threat; the 1st parts of the 45th Infantry Division left Brest on June 29, the bulk of the division followed on July 2, while weaker forces continued to perform guard duties until July 8, 1941. In place of this front division, parts of the 221st Security Division moved into Brest. Among other things, this division was in charge of Police Battalion 307 under the command of Major Theodor Stahr (1894 – 1948), which murdered around 4,000 Jewish men and around 400 non-Jewish communists and Soviet officials during its 2 weeks there, with the support of Wehrmacht units. There were still isolated exchanges of fire on the fortress grounds. According to the memories of Red Army soldiers collected from the mid-1950s onwards, the last defenders of the fortress held out until the end of July 1941. Wehrmacht records recorded the capture of a Soviet officer near the northern gate of the fortress on July 24, 1941. On July 28, 1944, Brest was recaptured by the Red Army during the Soviet summer offensive. The Siege of Brest Fortress hardly play a role in Western narratives about World War II. In Soviet and post-Soviet discourses, however, the defense of the Brest Fortress has been taken as an example of heroism and the spirit of resistance. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2200.jpg |
| Image Size | 193.60 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1190 x 825 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | July 1, 1941 |
| Location | Brest Fortress |
| City | Brest |
| State or Province | Brest |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Archive | Sydney Morning Herald |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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