"The last day of peace." This is the name of the reconstruction carried out in Brest in memory of the victims of World War II. Three million residents of Belarus or, in other words, one in three did not return home. It would seem that we know almost everything about the Second World War, but even on the day of the 76th anniversary of the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, there are more questions than answers.
Almost two years after the start of World War II, on June 22, 1941, the war came to the USSR. In Soviet historiography, the next four years were called the Great Patriotic War.
In Brest, the beginning of the war has been remembered for several years now with the help of such military-historical reconstructions. The event was called "The Last Day of Peace".
As is known from chronicles and documents, the history of Brest in World War II did not begin with the defense of the Brest Fortress. Residents of a modern city are unlikely to see joint reconstructions on the streets. Soviet-German parade, which took place on September 22, 1939, after the invasion of Nazi troops in Poland.
“Compatriots from Brest, organize a reconstruction of how the NKVD officers and prison guards fled on June 22. Organize a reconstruction of the deportations, which were carried out by future defenders, soldiers of the NKVD convoy regiment, which was located in the fortress,” this is how Andrey Dynko, editor-in-chief of the Nasha Niva publication, comments on such reconstructions.
He calls this approach to history “custom-made half-truths.” For Western Belarusians, the war began earlier.
“The first deaths occurred on September 1, 1939. And then, until 1941, you know, many were captured. And these guys, from the western territories, waited until 1941. Then their fates developed differently,” notes historian Kuzma Kozak.
But what were the first days like after the Third Reich attacked the USSR? Many historians agree that the Soviet army was not ready, and Stalin sequentially denied the possibility of an attack. Archival reports of military leaders of that time were published today for the first time by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
“Even on the night of June 22, I personally received an order from the chief of staff of the front, Klenov, in a very categorical form - to withdraw the troops from the border by dawn on June 22, withdraw them from the trenches, which I categorically refused to do and the troops remained in their positions. In general, I felt a lot of nervousness, inconsistency, ambiguity, fear of “provoking” war,” this is how he described the events of those days lieutenant general Peter Sobennikov.
Many questions remain about Joseph Stalin's method of waging war. Human losses of the USSR, winning country, amounted to almost 42 million military and civilians. Victims of Nazi Germany – 12 million.
At the same time, in modern Russia, the legal successor of the Soviet Union, Stalin's military policy is criticized less and less. 20 years ago, a third of Russians surveyed attributed the colossal number of victims to cruelty Generalissimo. In 2017, there were 12% of such people. For Belarus, the Second World War is the loss of three million people, every third resident.
Kuzma Kozak assesses the significance of the war:
“It is destructive, it is disgusting, and using the example of a disgusting war, you can still build and educational program, and show people that war is a disaster.”
The only question is, should the memory of a destructive war go hand in hand with the praise of militarism?
In the early morning of June 22, several thousand people gathered on the territory of the Brest Hero Fortress memorial complex to watch a theatrical performance, during which an attempt was made to reconstruct the events that took place in the fortress on that day in 1941.
The prelude to the “military-historical festival” itself, as the organizers called it, was a “reconstruction march” along the central streets of Brest on the evening of June 21. At the same time, on the main pedestrian street of Brest - Sovetskaya - they tried to recreate the atmosphere of the last peaceful evening of 1941. With posters of those times, household items of the pre-war city, photographs. Some cafes and restaurants offered special menus based on pre-war recipes.
"War- not a reason for PR"
Local residents have mixed feelings about the trend in recent years, in which the mournful anniversary becomes an occasion for theatrical performances. Doctor of Sciences Irina Lavrovskaya says that she was born into a family of front-line soldiers. “I was raised to respect and sympathize with those who lived through the horrors of war, so I am confident that its memory should not be used for entertainment, political PR or to justify the low standard of living 70 years after the end of hostilities,” she says.
Lavrovskaya defended her dissertation on the architecture of old Brest. In her opinion, if previously the “reconstructions” on the eve of June 22 only caused irritation, now they are simply dangerous, since they involve, among other things, representatives of Russian “military history clubs” who actively participated in military operations in the Donbass.
A similar point of view is shared by pensioner Stanislava Kucherova, who is surprised that now Memorial Day in Brest annually turns into a kind of holiday, “when they dance and sing, instead of going to church and lighting candles for those who died in that war and from its consequences."
Not a show, but" awakening interest"
The organizers of the “military-historical reconstruction” are not putting on a show, but are simply trying to convey the message that a repetition of those events is inadmissible, says Petr Pitsko, secretary of the city committee of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union. “In our production there is no euphoria from victory and beautiful captures of enemy positions, rejoicing over a defeated enemy,” says Pitsko. “Probably, the historical reconstruction in the Brest Fortress is the only one where this is not present.”
As arguments in favor of the event, officially called a “military-historical festival,” city authorities also cite other arguments, including “awakening interest in historical events” among young people and an attempt to attract tourists to Brest. According to Oleg Grebennikov, a representative of the military-historical club "Garrison", every year interest in the event is growing and the geography of participants is expanding. “This time, about 500 people from thirteen countries took part in the reconstruction of the events of June 1941,” Grebennikov said, adding that many more applications were received, but the organizers had to limit the number of participants.
Requiem in the Shadow of Reconstruction
A similar simulation has been held in the Brest Fortress for the sixth year in a row. Before this, the main, and sometimes the only event in memory of the tragic date was a requiem meeting in the memorial complex. The official funeral ceremony is still held now, but attracts far fewer people. It is attended by veterans, local officials and foreign delegations, as well as representatives of Brest labor collectives, who are sent to the event “according to orders.”
Context
Unlike the requiem meeting, residents and guests of Brest willingly come to the theatrical performance. This is also facilitated by the fact that on the night of June 22, local authorities transport participants and spectators on free buses.
People didn't fork out
Transport costs are far from the only item in the budget expenditures for an event. However, the Brest City Executive Committee did not disclose the amount it costs.
In 2017, the initiators unsuccessfully tried to raise funds on one of the online crowdfunding platforms. Of the declared 5,000 Belarusian rubles (in terms of about 2,380 euros), they managed to gain only 430 rubles, or 9 percent of the required amount. As a result, as DW learned, the authorities of Brest turned to the heads of enterprises and organizations of the city with an urgent request to act as sponsors of the event.
As for the festival program itself, the authorities said that they are ready to discuss its format with local residents in the future and take into account their wishes. For example, the fireworks display at dawn on June 22 has already been abandoned.
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Places of memory in Germany
Memorials and monuments
On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp. This day is now celebrated as the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust - the six million murdered Jews, and in Germany also the Day of Remembrance for all victims of National Socialism who died in concentration and labor camps, prisons, forced labor and killing centers.
Places of memory in Germany
Berlin
The central memorial to the Jews of Europe killed during National Socialism is located in Berlin near the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate. It was opened in 2005. A documentation center is located in its underground part. Some of the documents on display are in Russian - materials collected after the war during investigations into crimes committed in the "Third Reich".
Places of memory in Germany
"Kristallnacht"
During the pogroms of Jews on the so-called Kristallnacht of November 9-10, 1938, more than 1,400 synagogues and houses of worship were destroyed in Nazi Germany and parts of Austria. One of the synagogues was located on Kasernenstraße in Düsseldorf. After the war, monuments or plaques were erected here and in many other such places.
Places of memory in Germany
Dachau
41,500 people died at the Dachau concentration camp. It was created in 1933 near Munich for political prisoners. Later, Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other groups persecuted by the Nazis were sent to Dachau. All other concentration camps of the "Third Reich" were organized according to his model.
Places of memory in Germany
Buchenwald
One of the largest camps was in Thuringia near Weimar. From 1937 to 1945, about 250 thousand people were imprisoned in Buchenwald. 56 thousand prisoners died. Among them there were also several hundred deserters and those who refused to serve in the Wehrmacht. After the war, they continued to be considered “traitors” and “cowards” in Germany for a long time, and the first memorial stone was installed in Buchenwald only in 2001.
Places of memory in Germany
Roma genocide
This monument, erected in Buchenwald in 1995 on the territory of the former block No. 14, is dedicated to the Gypsies - European Roma and Sinti - who died here. The names of all the camps of the “Third Reich” to which they were sent are carved on the stones. The total number of victims of the Roma genocide in Europe is still unknown. According to various sources, it can range from 150 thousand to 500 thousand people.
Places of memory in Germany
Langenstein-Zwieberge death camp
Buchenwald had more than 60 so-called outer camps. One of them is "Malachite" in Langenstein-Zwieberg near Halberstadt. Its prisoners built an underground plant for Junkers. Two thousand prisoners died from disease and exhaustion, and became victims of torture and execution. Another 2,500 died or were killed during the death march as the camp was evacuated as the front approached.
Places of memory in Germany
Dora-Mittelbau
Another external Buchenwald camp was established in 1943 near the city of Nordhausen in Thuringia to organize production at the underground Mittelwerk plant, where V-2 missiles and other weapons were assembled. In a year and a half, 60 thousand people passed through the Dora-Mittelbau camp. The majority were prisoners from the Soviet Union, Poland and France. Every third of them died.
Places of memory in Germany
Bergen-Belsen
Memorial on the site of the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Lower Saxony. In total, about 50 thousand people died in this camp, including 20 thousand prisoners of war. In April 1945, 15-year-old Anne Frank, the author of the famous diary denouncing Nazism and translated into many languages of the world, died here.
Places of memory in Germany
Sachsenhausen
“Work makes you free” - this sign in German above the gates of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Brandenburg has become a household name. In total, over 100 thousand people were killed or died in this camp, including from 13 to 18 thousand Soviet prisoners of war. Among them is Stalin's eldest son Yakov Dzhugashvili. The national memorial, established by the GDR government, was opened here in 1961.
Places of memory in Germany
Flossenbürg
“I have heard of Dachau and Auschwitz, but never of Flossenbürg,” is the quote that greets visitors to the former concentration camp in Bavaria. 30 thousand people died in this camp. Its prisoner was the famous German pastor, theologian and participant in the conspiracy against Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and among the Soviet prisoners of war was the father of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Andrei.
Places of memory in Germany
Barrack No. 13
In the Berlin district of Schöneweide there was one of the many camps for forced laborers driven from other countries for forced labor in Germany. Their total number during the years of the “Third Reich” amounted to several million people. The exposition of the documentation center in one of the surviving barracks of this camp is dedicated to the fate of forced laborers.
Places of memory in Germany
Ravensbrück
A sculpture of a mother and child on the shore of a lake in Ravensbrück, the largest women's concentration camp of the Third Reich. It was created in 1939, 90 kilometers north of Berlin. The number of prisoners during its existence was more than 130 thousand people - about 40 nationalities. 28 thousand prisoners died. Medical experiments were also conducted at the camp.
Places of memory in Germany
"Siemens barracks" in Ravensbrück
Prisoners from Ravensbrück and its many subcamps were used for forced labor. In 1940, textile production was established here, and in 1942, the electrical engineering concern Siemens & Halske AG built 20 industrial barracks. According to the testimony of surviving prisoners, at the end of 1944, up to 3,000 women and children worked here every day for this company.
Places of memory in Germany
Ovens for Auschwitz
Former Topf & Söhne factory in Erfurt. Here, by order of the National Socialists, furnaces were produced in which people who died in Auschwitz and other concentration camps were burned. On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, 2011, a documentation center was opened in a former factory building.
Places of memory in Germany
"Stumbling blocks"
Such metal signs mounted on sidewalks can be seen in many cities in Germany. "Stumbling blocks" - Stolpersteine. The first of them was installed by German artist Gunter Demnig in Cologne in 1995. The stones remind of the victims of National Socialism near the houses in which they lived. There are already more than 45 thousand of them in 800 German settlements and 200 outside Germany.
Places of memory in Germany
Gestapo
Numerous documentation centers are also studying the crimes of Nazism in Germany. In Cologne, such a center and museum are located in the former Gestapo building - EL-DE-Haus. In its basement there were cells for prisoners, on the walls of which inscriptions were preserved, including in Russian.
Places of memory in Germany
Homosexuals
From 1935, the Nazis also began to persecute homosexuals. In total, more than 50 thousand of them were convicted in the “Third Reich”. About 7 thousand died in concentration camps. In 1995, a monument was erected on the embankment in Cologne - the Pink Triangle. The memorial shown in the photo was opened in 2008 in Berlin's Gross Tiergarten park. Another one is in Frankfurt - Frankfurt Angel (1994).
Today, thousands of people - Brest residents, guests of the city - gathered at the Northern Gate of the Kobrin fortification of the Brest Fortress to see the large-scale military-historical reconstruction of “June 22. Brest Fortress". There were three times more reenactors than last year. Clubs and reenactors came from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Japan, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, France, Great Britain, Kazakhstan, China, and Japan. This increase is explained by the fact that this year June 22 falls on a day off.
The reconstruction consisted of two parts: a peaceful day and an episode of battle. A little over an hour in time.
Spectators saw the feat of Corporal Vasily Volokitin, the attack of Samvel Matevosyan, the capture of Major Pyotr Gavrilov and the families of the commanders. They also showed a “human shield” - the Germans broke through to the island, hiding behind women and children.
The reenactors used weapons provided by Belarusfilm, pyrotechnics and a 45 mm anti-tank gun.
Reconstruction of the fortress took place for the ninth time.
What attracts reenactors to June 22 in Brest? Chairman of the Council of the public association "Military History Club Garrison" Yuri Kireev believes that it is important for reenactors to live in a tent camp according to military regulations:
- Preparation takes several months. We accept applications and conduct a strict selection process. We have the Red Army, the Wehrmacht, and civilians. Today, for the first time, about 70 people are participating in the reconstruction; the rest know each other and have come more than once. To live in that era for a few days, people travel hundreds of kilometers. We will be glad if the young people who came to the Brest Fortress today become interested in history - read books, watch films to form a picture.
Brest resident Alexander Zharkov, military-historical club “Rubezh”, participates in reconstruction for the ninth time:
- You can’t rewrite June 22. But we try to present the details differently. And this allows you to relive the events of that fateful morning again and again. We get used to the role and experience this tragedy every time. Without living history, it is difficult for the current generation to show and tell how it was. Without these explosions, without these hordes of Germans, without the cries of the wounded, without those who surrendered, without the women and children whom the men had to send to surrender, it is difficult for young people to imagine the tragedy. This is why we are here today - we worry, we leave a piece of our soul. So that everyone remembers. So that the tragedy does not repeat itself on our land.
Brest Fortress. Kobrin fortification. Casemate of Major Gavrilov. June 22, 2016. 5 o'clock in the morning.
Every year a similar event takes place at this place. Which brings together a large number of Brest residents and guests. But this year, since the date was very impressive, there were not just a lot of participants, but also a variety of them. According to our estimates, about 600 people took part in the reconstruction of the battle in the fortress. And this despite the most severe selection on the part of the organizers.
A few words about them. This commemorative event is organized by the military-historical club "Garrison". The "Garrisons" are famous for their scrupulousness in selecting participants, and their cruelty has already become legendary. But what can you do, 1941 is not easy to depict.
This June the festival was international and international. In addition to Belarusian and Russian clubs, participants came from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Bulgaria, Israel and... Japan. More than 50 military-historical clubs and societies.
Having already been to several reconstructions and clearly understanding that this was not my thing, as they say, nevertheless, I was pretty surprised. Both the organization and the spirit of the event. Of course, there was a certain amount of chaos, as without him at such a large-scale event, but even he was somehow so... kind, or something. And painfully dear, from the army. Especially in terms of relations with the commandant’s office.
There were some unpleasant moments, especially during filming. It’s a pity, of course, that they didn’t save our third camera, which participants from the German side simply swept into the trench, and the second, which spent half of its working time filming the back of the head of Estonian correspondent Evgeniy. But what remains, we hope, will give you the opportunity to appreciate the scale of the event.
I will say that this was the fifth event that I attended. And the most impressive thing so far. This was not just a reconstruction of some moment of the battles. It was a full-fledged forty-minute performance. Bright, beautiful and leaving no one indifferent. It is surprising how the organizers were able to rehearse a performance of such scale in just two days.
Kobrin fortification of the Brest Fortress, June 22, 4:30 am.
The participants of the event crowded around the fires with open pleasure. It was not hot, to put it mildly.
While we were exhibiting, the final preparations were being completed. Field hospital.
It all started somehow suddenly and imperceptibly. The fires were quickly extinguished, and the evening of June 21 began. Horse patrol of border guards.
Evening dancing. "Riorita", "Weary Sun", "Black Rose" and other melodies of that time.
To be honest, I couldn’t resist and converted some of the photographs, where there are no modern details, into black and white format. In my opinion, it turned out quite in the spirit of the times.
A plane rumbled in the morning sky. Perhaps he symbolized a German intelligence officer.
The border post is at the far end of the site from us.
Historical moment: delivery of a defector from the other side to headquarters.
Meanwhile, German intelligence was already removing our patrols.
4:20 a.m. then, 5:20 modern time.
The beginning of the war was impressive. The ground really shook, the sappers worked hard.
Civilians are sheltered in the barracks.
St. Petersburg armored car BA-6.
The soldiers of the NKVD regiment went into battle.
The first Germans are on the approaches.
The first counterattacks of our fighters.
T-27 wedge heel.
The first prisoners.
The Germans suffered their first losses.
The sun has risen. It is quite possible that the sunrise looked the same 75 years ago...
The Germans call on the defenders of the fortress to surrender. The answer from the fortress was heard throughout the entire field: “You can’t wait, you freaks!”
A not very accurately thrown grenade. She lay down right between us.
A German armored car hit our car, but was itself destroyed by Soviet artillerymen
The Germans capture the hospital.
To be honest, we succumbed to the general impulse. It was difficult to resist after witnessing this. Therefore, this moment was only filmed by a camera in the trench. The only thing that could be taken from her was just a moment of silence. In our sector, we applauded the participants furiously. And they stood silently, looking towards the “Bayonet” stele, to where those whom they depicted were buried.
After the end, everything was mixed up, as usual at such events. Soviet soldiers shared their impressions with the Germans, both sides willingly took pictures with the audience. We tried to talk to everyone about our impressions, but soon gave up. Everyone's impressions were approximately the same. And, in order not to waste time, we decided to leave the opinion of probably the calmest person in this field. Basically, he spoke for everyone.
We are extremely grateful to the press service of the Russian Airborne Forces and personally to Comrade Colonel General Shamanov for his opinion, which he shared exclusively for the readers of Military Review.
Summing up what we saw, we can only say that it left us with an indelible impression. And the way everything was carried out, and the way all the participants lived these minutes. This was truly an episode of ours come to life. Heavy, bloody, but ours. And the way the participants and organizers treat history inspires respect.
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When shells explode in front of your eyes, a machine gun beats in agony, and clouds of blue smoke block out the sun’s rays, you realize how scary it is in war. But this is just a reconstruction of the tragic event of June 41 - the treacherous attack on the USSR by Nazi Germany.
And although you understand that the mines are inert, the cartridges are blank, and the blood on the soldiers’ tunics is fake, this doesn’t make it any more comfortable...
Let us remind you that more than 500 reenactors from Belarus, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Japan, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, China and Kazakhstan took part in the reconstruction on June 21-22. For the first time, reenactor clubs from the Czech Republic and Slovakia joined the forum.
A little history (from Wikipedia)
June 22 at 3:15(4:15 Soviet “maternity” time) hurricane artillery fire was opened on the fortress, taking the garrison by surprise. As a result, warehouses were destroyed, the water supply was damaged (according to the surviving defenders, there was no water in the water supply two days before the assault), communications were interrupted, and serious damage was caused to the garrison.
At 3:23 the assault began. Up to one and a half thousand infantry men from three battalions of the 45th Infantry Division attacked the fortress directly. The surprise of the attack led to the fact that the garrison was unable to provide a single coordinated resistance and was divided into several separate centers.
The German assault detachment, advancing through the Terespol fortification, initially did not encounter serious resistance and, having passed
Citadel, advanced groups reached the Kobrin fortification. However, parts of the garrison that found themselves behind German lines launched a counterattack, dismembering and almost completely destroying the attackers.
The Germans in the Citadel were able to gain a foothold only in certain areas, including the club building dominating the fortress (the former Church of St. Nicholas), the command staff's canteen and the barracks area at the Brest Gate. They met strong resistance at Volyn and, especially, at the Kobrin fortification, where it came to bayonet attacks.
By 7:00 June 22 The 42nd and 6th rifle divisions left the fortress and the city of Brest, but many soldiers from these divisions never managed to get out of the fortress. It was they who continued to fight in it. According to historian R. Aliyev, about 8 thousand people left the fortress, and about 5 thousand remained in it.
According to other sources, on June 22, there were only 3 to 4 thousand people in the fortress, since part of the personnel of both divisions was outside the fortress - in summer camps, during exercises, during the construction of the Brest fortified area (sapper battalions, an engineer regiment, one battalion each from each rifle regiment and a division from artillery regiments).
By 9 o'clock In the morning the fortress was surrounded. During the day, the Germans were forced to bring into battle the reserve of the 45th Infantry Division (135pp/2), as well as the 130th Infantry Regiment, which was originally the corps reserve, thus bringing the assault group to two regiments.
On the night of June 23 Having withdrawn the troops to the outer ramparts of the fortress, the Germans began shelling, during the breaks asking the garrison to surrender. About 1,900 people surrendered. However, on June 23, the remaining defenders of the fortress managed, having knocked out the Germans from the section of the ring barracks adjacent to the Brest Gate, to unite the two most powerful centers of resistance remaining on the Citadel - the combat group of the 455th Infantry Regiment, led by Lieutenant A. A. Vinogradov (chief chemical services of the 455th Infantry Regiment) and Captain I.N. Zubachev (deputy commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment for economic affairs), and the combat group of the so-called “House of Officers” - the units concentrated here for the planned breakthrough attempt were led by regimental commissar E M. Fomin (military commissar of the 84th rifle regiment), senior lieutenant N. F. Shcherbakov (assistant chief of staff of the 33rd separate engineering regiment) and lieutenant A. K. Shugurov (executive secretary of the Komsomol bureau of the 75th separate reconnaissance battalion ).
By the evening of June 24 The Germans captured most of the fortress, with the exception of the section of the ring barracks (“House of Officers”) near the Brest (Three Arched) Gate of the Citadel, casemates in the earthen rampart on the opposite bank of Mukhavets (“point 145”) and the so-called “Eastern Fort” located on the Kobrin fortification - its defense, consisting of 600 soldiers and commanders of the Red Army, was commanded by Major P. M. Gavrilov (commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment).
In the area of the Terespol Gate, groups of fighters under the command of Senior Lieutenant A.E. Potapov (in the basements of the barracks of the 333rd Infantry Regiment) and border guards of the 9th Border Outpost under Lieutenant A.M. Kizhevatov (in the building of the border outpost) continued to fight. On this day, the Germans managed to capture 570 defenders of the fortress.
The last 450 defenders of the Citadel were captured on June 26 after several sections of the ring barracks “House of Officers” and point 145 were blown up, and on June 29, after the Germans dropped an aerial bomb weighing 1800 kilograms, the Eastern Fort fell.
However, the Germans managed to finally clear it only June 30th. There remained only isolated pockets of resistance and single fighters who gathered in groups and organized active resistance, or tried to break out of the fortress and go to the partisans in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (many succeeded).
In the basements of the barracks of the 333rd regiment at the Terespol Gate, the group of A.E. Potapov and the border guards of A.M. Kizhevatov who joined it continued to fight until June 29.
June 29 they made a desperate attempt to break through to the south, towards the Western Island, in order to then turn to the east, during which most of its participants died or were captured. Major P. M. Gavrilov was among the last to be captured wounded - July 23.
One of the inscriptions in the fortress reads: “I am dying, but I am not giving up! Goodbye, Motherland. 20/VII-41".
The resistance of single Soviet soldiers in the casemates of the fortress continued until August 1941, before A. Hitler and B. Mussolini visited the fortress. It is also known that the stone that A. Hitler took from the ruins of the bridge was discovered in his office after the end of the war. To eliminate the last pockets of resistance, the German high command gave the order to flood the basements of the fortress with water from the Western Bug River.
German troops captured about 3 thousand Soviet military personnel in the fortress(according to the report of the commander of the 45th division, Lieutenant General Shlieper, as of June 30, 25 officers and 2,877 junior commanders and soldiers were captured), 1,877 Soviet soldiers died in the fortress.
The total German losses in the Brest Fortress amounted to 1,197 people, of which 87 Wehrmacht officers on the Eastern Front during the first week of the war.
