Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
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Odessa Is Liberated!
On April 10, 1944, the beautiful port city of Odessa is liberated by troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front under General Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky...
... who also makes himself a present, because he was born in this very city on November 23, 1898...:
In 1941, at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Odessa was in the offensive zone of the Romanian 4th Army, which quickly achieved success against the defending Soviet 9th Army.
When the Romanians reached the city on August 5, 1941, the Battle of Odessa began. The Soviet leadership declared Odessa a defense zone, in which the remnants of the retreating troops and the approximately 35,000 defenders (navy and volunteers) locked themselves in.
The "lower town" (cavern-like quarries) was used for cover. Reinforced further at sea, the garrison was able to repel all Romanian attacks by October. Since the Romanians made little progress, despite their superior strength, the commander-in-chief of the Romanian besiegers, Corps General Nicolae Ciupercă...
... relieved on September 9, 1941 and replaced by the previous Minister of War, General Iosif Iacobici...:
The situation for the defenders finally became hopeless because of the German advance towards Crimea, so that Odessa was evacuated from October 1st. The Soviet Black Sea Fleet evacuated 70,000 soldiers and 15,000 civilians to Sevastopol by October 16, 1941.
As a result, Odessa was occupied by Romanian and German troops from 1941 to 1944.
From December 1941, Odessa was the seat of the Romanian headquarters of Transnistria. During the occupation, around 60,000 residents were murdered or deported, most of whom were Jews. The massacre of October 23-25, 1941 was particularly memorable.
An explosion at the Romanian headquarters in Odessa killed a total of 61 people, including the Romanian city commander, General Glogojeanu...:
Prime Minister Ion Antonescu then gave the order to kill 200 Jews or Communists for every officer killed and 100 for every soldier as retaliation. This resulted in a massacre in which around 30,000 Jews were killed.
Now the martyrdom of the people of Odessa is over, the Soviet soldiers are greeted with cheers and tears of joy.
Since then, April 10 in Odessa is a public holiday! Today as well.
But who would have thought that the grandchildren of the liberators of that time would come back again
today's pictures are strikingly similar to those of 1941...
On April 10, 1944, the beautiful port city of Odessa is liberated by troops of the 3rd Ukrainian Front under General Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky...
... who also makes himself a present, because he was born in this very city on November 23, 1898...:
In 1941, at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Odessa was in the offensive zone of the Romanian 4th Army, which quickly achieved success against the defending Soviet 9th Army.
When the Romanians reached the city on August 5, 1941, the Battle of Odessa began. The Soviet leadership declared Odessa a defense zone, in which the remnants of the retreating troops and the approximately 35,000 defenders (navy and volunteers) locked themselves in.
The "lower town" (cavern-like quarries) was used for cover. Reinforced further at sea, the garrison was able to repel all Romanian attacks by October. Since the Romanians made little progress, despite their superior strength, the commander-in-chief of the Romanian besiegers, Corps General Nicolae Ciupercă...
... relieved on September 9, 1941 and replaced by the previous Minister of War, General Iosif Iacobici...:
The situation for the defenders finally became hopeless because of the German advance towards Crimea, so that Odessa was evacuated from October 1st. The Soviet Black Sea Fleet evacuated 70,000 soldiers and 15,000 civilians to Sevastopol by October 16, 1941.
As a result, Odessa was occupied by Romanian and German troops from 1941 to 1944.
From December 1941, Odessa was the seat of the Romanian headquarters of Transnistria. During the occupation, around 60,000 residents were murdered or deported, most of whom were Jews. The massacre of October 23-25, 1941 was particularly memorable.
An explosion at the Romanian headquarters in Odessa killed a total of 61 people, including the Romanian city commander, General Glogojeanu...:
Prime Minister Ion Antonescu then gave the order to kill 200 Jews or Communists for every officer killed and 100 for every soldier as retaliation. This resulted in a massacre in which around 30,000 Jews were killed.
Now the martyrdom of the people of Odessa is over, the Soviet soldiers are greeted with cheers and tears of joy.
Since then, April 10 in Odessa is a public holiday! Today as well.
But who would have thought that the grandchildren of the liberators of that time would come back again
today's pictures are strikingly similar to those of 1941...
