Major offensive by the Red Army against the Reich

On 12 January 1945 the Red Army prepares the death blow against Nazi Germany: From Baranov, the army’s bridgehead on the Vistula, it begins a winter offensive against the Germans’ eastern front. An army of millions overruns East Prussia, Silesia and Pomerania. The army’s advance cuts off the westward route for numerous treks of refugees and pushes German women, children and the elderly ahead of its forces. Nearly three million civilians perish.

© National Library of Wales Stalin's fist - the Red Army - hits the German Wehrmacht