Liberation of Odessa in 1944. April 10 - the day of liberation of Odessa

The occupation of Odessa lasted 907 days. During this time, tens of thousands of civilians and servicemen were killed. Many were forced to flee not only from the occupiers, but also from those who took the side of the enemy and began to participate in mass crimes against ordinary citizens.

The liberation of Odessa made it possible to put an end to the actions of the invaders. It happened during March-April 1944 and was called the Odessa operation, which was part of the offensive movement of the Soviet troops.

Odessa operation

A military operation was conducted by the 3rd Ukrainian Front with the support of additional forces. He commanded R.Ya. Malinovsky. The purpose of the operation was to smash the forces of the coastal group of the enemy, which were concentrated between the Southern Bug and the Dniester. And also to liberate the Black Sea coast and the city of Odessa. The Dnieper-Carpathian offensive was conducted from 24.12.1943 to 17.04.1994. The day of liberation of Odessa entered this period of the Soviet offensive.

Pre-operation environment

Odessa was occupied in October 1941 by German-Romanian troops. By January 1944, the Red Army troops began their operation, in connection with which the German command decided to liquidate the administration of the Romanians in Odessa and enter their troops into the city. This led to mass arrests and executions. On the pillars and trees for several days hung the bodies of dead people.

The liberation of Odessa was made possible by the fact that the Red Army was able to reach the shores of the Southern Bug and seize the German ferries. For the Wehrmacht troops, the retention of the port of Odessa was of great strategic importance, since it was used to communicate with the occupied Crimea.

The day of liberation of Odessa was detached due to the creation of a strong defense by the Germans. To do this, they used the old defenses of Soviet troops, which in 1941 were able to hold the city two and a half months from the entrance of the enemy.

The forces of the parties

The liberation of Odessa was extremely important for the USSR, since this would deprive the Germans of the opportunity to transport their forces through the port. About 470 thousand servicemen were involved in the operation. At their disposal were more than 400 tanks and self-propelled guns, 12,000 artillery and mortars, more than 400 aircraft. Most of the people and weapons belonged to the 3rd Ukrainian Front.

The liberation of Odessa could not be tolerated by German and Romanian troops, who made every effort to prevent this. The total number of their troops was about 350 thousand soldiers. They were part of the German and Romanian divisions. From the technology they had 160 tanks and guns, more than 3 thousand mortars and guns. The aircraft consisted of 400 German aircraft and 150 Romanian aircraft.

For the troops, the main line of defense was the banks of the rivers (the largest Southern Bug and the Dniester, small Tiligul and others). The most powerful defense center was Odessa itself, in which the Führer Fortress was located.

The confrontation of the Red Army with the Wehrmacht was concentrated as follows:

• In Odessa, Nikolaev, Berezovka there were tanks and artillery;
• Infantry is located along rivers, coves, lagoons;
• On the western shores of the Southern Bug, as well as around Odessa, minefields and obstacles were created.

Main events

The liberation of Odessa in 1944 began with the crossing of the Southern Bug River. The forces of the 3rd Ukrainian Front had to confront the armies of the Wehrmacht and Romania. During the first weeks of March, Soviet troops managed to approach the banks of the river. By March 18, the crossing of the Southern Bug began, which took place quite swiftly and ended on the 28th. To this turn of events the Germans were unprepared, and the Ukrainian troops began an equally rapid offensive to the south.

After moving to the other side of the river, the Soviet troops liberated Nikolayev on the same day. This led to the fact that the German army was forced to begin a retreat, and the liberation of Odessa from the fascist invaders became quite a real task.

By early April, the enemy was surrounded, which became possible due to the takeover of the Razdelnaya and Ochakova stations under the control of the USSR.

By April 9, Soviet soldiers appeared in the northern districts of Odessa. On the night of 9 to 10 April, night assault was conducted in cooperation with local partisans, and by morning the city was liberated. Further offensive went to the west, towards the Dniester.

The Ukrainian front was able to pass to the left bank of the Dniester and free Transnistria, Moldova. During this time, the Germans lost about 37,000 soldiers, some of whom were killed in combat, and some taken prisoner.

Stages of liberation of the Odessa region

The liberation of Odessa in 1944 was not limited to the city alone. From the German-Romanian occupiers, the entire region was relieved.

Stages for the liberation of the region:

1. From 5 to 22 March, the Uman-Botoshan operation was conducted, as a result of which the northern lands of the Odessa region were repulsed.
2. From 6 to 18 March in the end of the Bereznegovat-Snigirevskaya operation the Southern Bug was crossed. The Odessa operation, which took place from March 28 to April 10, began. Then, until August, there was a tactical pause in the offensive.
3. From August 20 to August 29, during the Yasco-Chisinau operation, Izmail region, which is now part of Odessa, was recaptured.

Liberation of the city

It is already known that April 10 is the day of liberation of Odessa. To make this possible, an enormous effort was made. The enemy managed to organize the strongest defense, using a complex natural relief, water obstacles. In addition, at this time there was disgusting weather, which made it difficult to access the city off-road.

The access to the city began on April 4. Soviet troops forced all the water barriers step-by-step, which consisted of the Tiligul, Adzhal, and Greater Adzhal estuaries. By April 9, separate units had reached the northern outskirts of the city, and the assault of Odessa began, which took place simultaneously from land, sea and air.

When the Guards units entered Odessa, fierce battles began for every house that lasted all night. By the morning of April 10, fighting had reached the central streets of the city. The banner of the Red Army, which was fired over the opera house, became a symbol of the fact that the city was liberated. The price of this operation was thousands of dead soldiers and civilians who could not see the final victory over fascism.

Memorable places in Odessa

The liberation of Odessa (April 10, 1944) is reflected in many books, memoirs, documentary films. In the city itself there are many monuments, memorials dedicated to this event.

The main monuments and places of their location:

• A monument to R.Ya. Malinovsky in the square on Preobrazhenskaya Street;
• Memorial "Wings of Victory" on the square on the 10th of April;
• A memorable place (Melnitskaya Street, house 31), where on 09/04/1944 the partisans defeated the column of German troops;
• A memorable place (street Preobrazhenskaya, house 77), where on 02/03/1944 VD was mortally wounded. Avdeev;
• The mass grave (Tiraspol highway) for ten soldiers who died on 10.04.1944 when the city was liberated together with its captain Gavrikov;
• The mass grave with the obelisk (Skodovaya Gora) in memory of the 56 victims of fascism, who were shot by retreating punitive forces on 04/09/1944;
• The grave of MM. Bad at the Fair Square.

Odessa streets in honor of the liberators

April 10 (the day of liberation of Odessa) for many was remembered for life. In order to honor the memory of the liberators of the city, streets were named after them.

The names of servicemen, after whom the streets in Odessa are named:

• V.D. Avdeev-Chernomorsky (Kiev district);
• M.I. Nedelin (the Kiev district);
• V.D. Tsvetaev (Illichivsk district);
• I.I. Shvygin (Primorsky district);
• I.A. Pliev (Illichivsk district);
• N.F. Krasnov (the Kiev district);
• IN AND. Chuikov (Kiev region).