PANZERS IN THE DEFENCE OF FESTUNG POSEN 1945.pdf

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Panzers in the Defence of Festung Posen 1945

by Maciej Karalus and Jarosław

Jerzak is the first book published in English to describe the bitter battle for

Festung Posen in 1945. That Polish city, occupied by the Nazis since almost

the very beginning of the Second World War in 1939, was declared a fortress

(Festung) on 20 January 1945, and for the whole month it saw heavy fighting

between

Wehrmacht

and

Waffen SS

troops and the Red Army advancing directly

towards Berlin. Among the garrison of the fortress a special part was played by

a small heavy Panzer unit which possessed just one Tiger tank, two Panthers,

one Panzer IV and a handful of

Sturmgeschütze.

Despite the difficulty and sparsity of sources, the authors were able to

acquire an impressive wealth of information and memoirs, as well as rich

iconography. Before Poland was able to regain her full political autonomy in

1990, the fighting in Poznań was described only by Zbigniew Szumowski and

Stanisław Okęcki. These, however, were poor compilations, only marginally

touching upon the participation of German

Wehrmacht.

These authors looked

upon this subject through the lenses of Soviet documentations and historio-

graphical propaganda of their times. Sadly, they could not or would not make

use of the documents in German archives. Their cardinal mistake was to over-

estimate the strength of the forces at play (especially on the German side), and

the glorification of the Soviet victory, foregoing an honest analysis of the losses

of human life as well as equipment on both sides.

This volume allows the reader to follow the street fighting in Poznań through

the eyes of the

Wehrmacht

soldiers, documenting the story of the German

armoured forces engaged in the battles for the city.

Maciej Karalus (born 30 May 1974), is a passionate and independent researcher

of Second World War history, and particularly of the battle for the Poznań

Fortresses in 1945. In 2003, together with Jarosław Jerzak, he published

Pancerna Rezerwa Uderzeniowa – Poznań 1945.c [Armoured Assault Reserve –

Poznań 1945],

which has launched a series devoted to the events in Festung

Posen in 1945. The series contributed significantly to the growing interest in

the history of the battle for Poznań. Since 2002, he has been an active member

of the POMOST (Bridge) Association for the Polish-German reconciliation

and publisher of POMOST Publishing House Since 2007.

Jarosław Jerzak (born 5 April 1956, in Poznań) is a member of the Poznań

Fortifications Aficionados Association. He is passionate about the subject of

Poznań’s fortification, specifically armoured warfare and the history of the

fighting for Poznań Fortress in 1945. He had served in the armoured forces

where he acquired a deep interest in the use of tanks in all theatres of battle in

the Second World War. He is the co-author of

Pancerna Rezerwa Uderzeniowa

[Armoured Assault Reserve]

as well as the author of

Sowieckie jednostki pancerne

w walkach o Poznań [Soviet Armoured Forces in the Battle for Poznań].

Panzers in the Defence of Festung

Posen 1945

Maciej Karalus & Jarosław Jerzak

Helion & Company Limited

Unit 8 Amherst Business Centre

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Tel. 01926 499 619

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Published by Helion & Company 2018

Designed and typeset by Mach 3 Solutions Ltd, Bussage, Gloucestershire

Cover designed by Paul Hewitt, Battlefield Design (www.battlefield-design.co.uk)

Printed by Hobbs the Printers Ltd, Totton, Hampshire

with exclusive license by Helion & Company Limited 2018.

Łechtański.

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain

their permission for the use of copyright material. The author and publisher

apologize for any errors or omissions in this work, and would be grateful if notified

of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this

book.

ISBN 978-1-912390-16-8

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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consent of Helion & Company Limited.

For details of other military history titles published by Helion & Company

Limited contact the above address, or visit our website: http://www.helion.co.uk

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