The Battle of Königsberg

From October 1944 to April 1945 the Red Army fought a bloody campaign to destroy the German Army in East Prussia, and capture the capital of the province, Königsberg. This book follows the course of one of history’s forgotten battles, the fall of the city of Königsberg. It covers in detail the desperate battles the Germans fought to hold off the Red Army, from the Soviet Memel and Gumbinnen Offensives of October 1944, which saw Russian soldiers break into the frontier districts of East Prussia, to the final stand of the German defenders of Königsberg in April 1945. The German generals, Erhard Raus of the Third Panzer Army and Otto Lasch of Fortress Königsberg were faced by enemies both external and internal. Their struggle to defend the city after the great Soviet offensive of January 1945 was hampered by the activities of the malevolent Gauleiter Erich Koch, and the obstinate refusal of Hitler to countenance any operation flexibility. Drawing on primary sources, The Battle of Königsberg recounts the terrible story of these campaigns both German and Soviet perspectives. Referring to the records of the commanders who fought these battles, it provides a unique in-depth study of the forgotten last stand, of the fall of Fortress Königsberg.