What happened to East Prussia. Capture of settlements in East Prussia Detailed map of East Prussia in 1945

Exactly 69 years ago, on April 9, 1945, Soviet troops captured Königsberg by storm during the East Prussian operation.

To this event, friends, I dedicate this photo collection.

1. The commander of the 303rd Soviet aviation division, Major General of Aviation Georgy Nefedovich Zakharov (1908-1996), sets a combat mission for pilots storming Koenigsberg from the air. 1945

2. View of one of the forts of Koenigsberg. 1945

3. Line of trenches at Koenigsberg. 1945

4. A Soviet infantry unit passes through a destroyed settlement on the outskirts of Koenigsberg. January 30, 1945 East Prussia

5. Soviet Guards mortars in a firing position. Southwest of Koenigsberg. 1945

6. The heavy gun of the battery commander Captain Smirnov in a firing position is firing at the German fortifications in Koenigsberg. April 1945

7. The fighters of the battery of Captain V. Leskov bring up artillery shells on the outskirts of the city of Koenigsberg. 1945

8. Soviet soldier guards-artilleryman with a gun shell, on which is written: "Across Koenigsberg." 1945

9. The Soviet infantry unit is fighting on one of the streets of Koenigsberg. 1945

10. Soviet fighters during the battle for Koenigsberg, heading for a combat position under the cover of a smoke screen. 1945

11. Self-propelled guns with a landing of submachine gunners attack enemy positions in the area of ​​Koenigsberg. April 1945

12. Guardsman V. Surnin, the first to break into one of the buildings of the city of Koenigsberg during the attack on the city, strengthens the flag with his name on the roof of the house. 1945

13. The corpses of German soldiers on the side of the Primorsky highway southwest of the city of Koenigsberg, left after the battle. The movement of wagons with Soviet soldiers of the 3rd Belorussian Front. March 1945

15. Group of Heroes of the Soviet Union of the 5th Army, awarded this title for the battles in East Prussia. From left to right: guards ml lieutenant Nezdoly K., guards. Captain Filosofov A., Major General Gorodovikov B.B., Guards Captain Kotin F., Sergeant Major Voinshin F. 1944 East Prussia.

16. Soviet sappers clear the streets of Koenigsberg. 1945

17. V.E. Yashkov, photogrammetrist of the 136th Army Cannon Artillery Brigade (1st from left) with colleagues at the German railway artillery range. 1945 Germany.

18. Fighters of the Moscow Proletarian Division firing at the enemy on the Frisch Nerung Spit. 1945 East Prussia.

19. Soviet sappers clear one of the streets of Tilsit with the help of service dogs. 1945

20. A border post with the inscription "Germany" (in Russian) on the street of a German city destroyed during the fighting. 1945 East Prussia.

21. Soviet soldiers in the battle for the railway line Kenisberg - Fishhausen. 1945 East Prussia.

22. Mortar crew of the 11th Guards Army at a firing position on the outskirts of Pilau. 1945 East Prussia.

23. Soviet heavy guns are moving along the road, past one of the settlements of East Prussia. 1945

24. Soldiers of the 5th Army of the 3rd Belorussian Front (from left to right): I. Osipov, P. Kornienko, A. Seleznev, the first to enter the city of Granz. April 1945

26. German transport, sunk by Soviet troops, in the port of Elbing. 1945

28. Residents of Elbing return to the city after the end of hostilities. February 1945

29. Artillery crew of the 11th Guards Army is fighting on the Frisch Nerung Spit. 1945 East Prussia

30. Soviet guardsmen on the Frisch Nerung Bay after the defeat of the enemy. April 1945 East Prussia.

31. Commander of the 11th Guards Army, Major General K.N. Galitsky and the chief of staff, Lieutenant General I.I. Semenov at the map. April 1945 East Prussia.

32. Soldiers of the 70th Army inspect shells intended for firing from the Su-76. 1945 East Prussia.

33. View of the city of Velau. The bridge over the river Alle, blown up by the German troops during the retreat. 1945

35. Soviet trucks on one of the streets of the city of Yelsa, occupied by troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front. March 1945

37. View of one of the streets of the city of Hohenstein, occupied by troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front. February 02, 1945

38. Machine gunners of the 3rd Belorussian Front are walking along the ruined street of Insterburg. 06 February 1945

39. Cavalry and infantry of the 2nd Belorussian Front on the square of the city of Allenstein. February 02, 1945

40. Soviet soldiers march past the monument erected at the burial site of the heart of M.I. Kutuzov on the square in Bunzlau. March 17, 1945

41. Soviet submachine gunners during a street battle in the city of Glogau. April 1945

42. One of the streets of the city of Willenberg, occupied by the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front. February 02, 1945

43. Artillery of the 1st Ukrainian Front on one of the streets of Neisse. April 1945

44. Soldiers of the 3rd Belorussian Front escort German prisoners of war. 1945 Koenigsberg

45. Commander of the 11th Guards Army, Colonel General Kuzma Nikitovich Galitsky (1897-1973) and chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ivan Iosifovich Semenov near the destroyed Royal Castle in Koenigsberg. April 1945

46. ​​Preparation of the operation to bombard Koenigsberg in the 135th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment. 1945

47. Soviet soldiers are walking along the embankment of Koenigsberg, destroyed in battles. 04/09/1945

48. Soldiers of the 3rd Belorussian Front flee to the attack on one of the streets of Koenigsberg. April 1945

49. Soviet soldiers pass through the German village on the outskirts of Koenigsberg. 1945

50. German tank destroyer Jagdpanzer IV / 70 (left) and half-tracked tractor Sd.Kfz.7 knocked out by Soviet troops during the assault on Koenigsberg Street. April 1945

51. Soviet soldiers at the German 150-mm infantry howitzers sIG 33 on Steile Strasse (now Grieg Street) in captured Koenigsberg. 04/13/1945

52. Commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky (left) and his deputy General of the Army I.Kh. Bagramyan clarify the plan for the assault on Koenigsberg. 1945

53. A column of Soviet self-propelled guns ISU-152 goes to new battle lines to strike at the fortress forts of Koenigsberg. April 1945

54. Soviet unit in a street fight in Koenigsberg. April 1945

55. Soviet soldiers pass through a German settlement on the outskirts of Koenigsberg. 01/25/1945

56. Abandoned German guns near the ruins of a building in Koenigsberg after the city was taken by storm. April 1945

57. German 88-mm anti-aircraft gun FlaK 36/37 abandoned on the outskirts of Koenigsberg. April 1945

58. Soviet self-propelled guns ISU-152 "St. John's wort" on the street of the captured Koenigsberg. On the right in the column is a Soviet self-propelled gun SU-76. April 1945

59. Soviet infantry, supported by self-propelled guns SU-76, attacks German positions in the Konigsberg area. 1945

60. German prisoners at the Sackheim Gate of Koenigsberg. April 1945

61. Soviet soldiers are sleeping, resting after the battles, right on the street taken by storm of Koenigsberg. April 1945

62. German refugees with a baby in Koenigsberg. March-April 1945

63. Broken cars on the street taken by storm of Koenigsberg. Soviet soldiers are in the background. April 1945

64. Soviet soldiers are fighting on the outskirts of Koenigsberg. 3rd Belorussian Front. April 1945

65. German 150-mm heavy self-propelled gun (self-propelled howitzer) "Hummel" destroyed by a direct hit of a large-caliber projectile. April 1945

66. Soviet self-propelled guns ISU-122S is fighting in Koenigsberg. 3rd Belorussian Front, April 1945.

67. German assault gun StuG III shot down in Koenigsberg. In the foreground is a dead German soldier. April 1945

68. Koenigsberg, positions of the German air defense forces after the bombing. On the right is a sound pickup. April 1945

69. Koenigsberg, destroyed German artillery battery. April 1945

70. Koenigsberg, German bunker near Horst Wessel Park. April 1945

I think that many residents of the Kaliningrad region, however, like many Poles, have repeatedly asked themselves the question - why does the border between Poland and the Kaliningrad region pass in this way and not otherwise? In this note, we will try to figure out how the border between Poland and the Soviet Union was formed on the territory of the former East Prussia.

Those who are at least a little versed in history know and remember that before the start of the First World War, the Russian and German empires had, and in part it passed in much the same way as the current border Russian Federation with the Republic of Lithuania.

Then, as a result of the events connected with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks in 1917 and the separate peace with Germany in 1918, the Russian Empire collapsed, its borders changed significantly, and certain territories that were once part of it received their statehood. This is exactly what happened, in particular, with Poland, which regained its independence in 1918. In the same 1918, the Lithuanians also founded their own state.

Fragment of the map of the administrative division Russian Empire. 1914.

The results of the First World War, including the territorial losses of Germany, were secured by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. In particular, significant territorial changes took place in Pomerania and West Prussia (the formation of the so-called “Polish corridor” and Danzig with its environs receiving the status of a “free city”) and East Prussia (the transfer of the Memel region (Memelland) under the control of the League of Nations).

Territorial losses of Germany after the end of the First World War. Source: Wikipedia.

The following (very minor) changes in the borders in the southern part of East Prussia were associated with the results carried out in Warmia and Mazury in July 1921. At the end of it, the population of most of the territories that Poland, counting on the fact that they are home to a significant number of ethnic Poles, would not mind annexing to itself, into the young Polish Republic. In 1923, the borders in the East Prussian region changed again: in the Memel region, the Union of Lithuanian Riflemen raised an armed uprising, the result of which was the entry of Memelland into Lithuania on the basis of autonomy and the renaming of Memel to Klaipeda. Fifteen years later, at the end of 1938, elections to the city council were held in Klaipeda, as a result of which the pro-German parties won with an overwhelming advantage. After Lithuania was forced to accept Germany's ultimatum on the return of Memelland to the Third Reich on March 22, 1939, Hitler arrived in Klaipeda-Memel on March 23 on the Deutschland cruiser, who then spoke to the residents from the balcony of the local theater and accepted the parade of Wehrmacht units. Thus, the last peaceful territorial acquisition of Germany before the outbreak of World War II was formalized.

The annexation of the Memel Territory to Germany did not end the redistribution of borders in 1939. On September 1, the Polish campaign of the Wehrmacht began (the same date is considered by many historians as the date of the start of World War II), and two and a half weeks later, on September 17, units of the Red Army entered Poland. By the end of September 1939, the Polish government in exile was formed, and Poland, as an independent territorial entity, ceased to exist again.

Fragment of the map of the administrative division of the Soviet Union. 1933.

The borders in East Prussia again underwent significant changes. Germany, represented by the Third Reich, having occupied a significant part of the territory of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, again received a common border with the heir to the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union.

The next, but not the last, change of borders in the region we are considering took place after the end of the Second World War. It was based on the decisions taken by the Allied leaders in 1943 in Tehran, and then on Yalta Conference 1945. In accordance with these decisions, first of all, the future borders of Poland in the east, common with the USSR, were determined. Later, by the Potsdam Agreement of 1945, it was finally determined that defeated Germany would lose the entire territory of East Prussia, part of which (about a third) would become Soviet, and most of becomes part of Poland.

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 7, 1946, on the territory of the Königsberg Special Military District, created after the victory over Germany, the Königsberg Region was formed, which became part of the RSFSR. Three months later, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 4, 1946, Koenigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad, and the Koenigsberg region was renamed Kaliningrad.

Below we offer the reader a translation of the article (with slight abbreviations) by Wieslaw Kaliszuk, author and owner of the site "History of the Elblag Upland" (Historija Wysoczyzny Elbląskiej), about how the process of border formation took placebetween Poland and the USSR in the territory former East Prussia.

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The current Polish-Russian border begins near the town of Vizhajny ( Wizajny) in the Suvalshchyna at the junction of three borders (Poland, Lithuania and Russia) and ends in the west, at the town of Nowa Karczma on the Vistula (Baltic) Spit. The border was formed by the Polish-Soviet agreement, signed in Moscow on August 16, 1945 by the chairman of the Provisional Government of National Unity of the Polish Republic, Edward Osubka-Moravsky, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, Vyacheslav Molotov. The length of this section of the border is 210 km, which is approximately 5.8% of the total length of the borders of Poland.

The decision on the post-war border of Poland was made by the allies already in 1943 at a conference in Tehran (11/28/1943 - 12/01/1943). It was confirmed in 1945 by the Potsdam Agreement (07/17/1945 - 08/02/1945). In accordance with them, East Prussia was to be divided into the southern Polish part (Warmia and Mazury), and the northern Soviet part (about a third former territory East Prussia), which received from June 10, 1945 the name "Königsberg Special Military District" (KOVO). From 07/09/1945 to 02/04/1946, the leadership of the KOVO was entrusted to Colonel General K.N. Galitsky. Prior to this, the leadership of this part of East Prussia, captured by Soviet troops, was carried out by the Military Council of the 3rd Belorussian Front. The military commandant of this territory, Major General M.A. Pronin, who was appointed to this position on 06/13/1945, already on 07/09/1945 transferred all administrative, economic and military powers to General Galitsky. Major General B.P. Trofimov, who from 05/24/1946 to 07/05/1947 served as head of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Königsberg / Kaliningrad region. Prior to that, Colonel-General V.S. Abakumov.

At the end of 1945, the Soviet part of East Prussia was divided into 15 administrative regions. Formally, the Königsberg region was formed on April 7, 1946 as part of the RSFSR, and on July 4, 1946, with the renaming of Königsberg to Kaliningrad, the region was also renamed Kaliningrad. September 7, 1946 issued a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the administrative-territorial structure of the Kaliningrad region.

"Curzon Line" and the borders of Poland after the end of World War II. Source: Wikipedia.

The decision to move the eastern border to the west (approximately to the “Curzon Line”) and “territorial compensation” (Poland was losing 175,667 square kilometers of its territory in the east as of September 1, 1939) was made without the participation of the Poles by the leaders of the “Big Three” - Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin during the conference in Tehran, which took place from November 28 to December 1, 1943. Churchill had to convey to the Polish government in exile all the "advantages" of this decision. During the Potsdam Conference (July 17 - August 2, 1945), Joseph Stalin made a proposal to establish the western border of Poland along the Oder-Neisse line. Poland's "friend" Winston Churchill refused to recognize the new western borders of Poland, believing that "under the rule of the Soviets" it would become too strong due to the weakening of Germany, while not objecting to the loss of Poland's eastern territories.

Variants of the border between Poland and the Kaliningrad region.

Even before the conquest of East Prussia, the Moscow authorities (read "Stalin") determined political boundaries in this region. Already on July 27, 1944, the future Polish border was discussed at a secret meeting with the Polish Committee of People's Liberation (PKNO). The first draft of the borders on the territory of East Prussia was presented to the PKNO by the USSR State Defense Committee (GKO USSR) on February 20, 1945. In Tehran, Stalin drew before his allies the contours of the future borders in the territory of East Prussia. The border with Poland was to run from west to east immediately south of Königsberg along the rivers Pregel and Pissa (about 30 km north of the current border of Poland). The project was much more profitable for Poland. At the same time, she would receive the entire territory of the Vistula (Baltic) Spit and the cities of Heiligenbeil (Heiligenbeil, now Mamonovo), Ludwigsort (Ludwigsort, now Ladushkin), Preußisch Eylau (Preußisch Eylau, now Bagrationovsk), Friedland (Friedland, now Pravdinsk), Darkemen (Darkehmen, after 1938 - Angerapp, now Ozersk), Gerdauen (Gerdauen, now Zheleznodorozhny), Nordenburg (Nordenburg, now Krylovo). However, all cities, regardless of which of the banks of the Pregel or Pissa they are, will then be included in the USSR. Despite the fact that Königsberg was supposed to go to the USSR, its location near the future border would not prevent Poland from using the exit from Frisches Haf Bay (now the Vistula / Kaliningrad Bay) to the Baltic Sea together with the USSR. Stalin wrote to Churchill in a letter dated February 4, 1944, that the Soviet Union planned to annex the northeastern part of East Prussia, including Königsberg, since the USSR would like to get an ice-free port on the Baltic Sea. Stalin in the same year mentioned this more than once in his conversations with both Churchill and British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden, as well as during a Moscow meeting (10/12/1944) with Stanislav Mikolajczyk, Prime Minister of the Polish government in exile. The same issue was also raised during meetings (from September 28 to October 3, 1944) with the delegation of the Craiova Rada of the People (KRN, Krajowa Rada Narodowa - a political organization created during the Second World War from various Polish parties and which was planned to be subsequently transformed into parliament. — admin) and the PCWP, organizations in opposition to the London-based Polish government-in-exile. The Polish government in exile reacted negatively to Stalin's claims, pointing to the possible negative consequences of incorporating Königsberg into the USSR. On November 22, 1944, in London, at a meeting of the Coordinating Committee, consisting of representatives of the four parties that make up the government in exile, it was decided not to accept the dictates of the allies, including the recognition of the borders along the Curzon Line.

Map with variants of the "Curzon Line" drawn up for the 1943 Tehran Allied Conference.

The border project, proposed in February 1945, was known only to the State Defense Committee of the USSR and the Provisional Government of the Polish Republic (VPPR), which was transformed from the PKNO, which ceased its activities on December 31, 1944. At the Potsdam Conference, it was decided that East Prussia would be divided between Poland and the Soviet Union, but the final demarcation of the border was postponed until the next conference, already in peacetime. The future border was only outlined, which was to begin at the junction of Poland, the Lithuanian SSR and East Prussia, and pass 4 km north of Goldap, 7 km north of Braunsberg (Brausberg, now Braniewo / Braniewo) and end on the Vistula (Baltic) Spit about 3 km north of the current village of Nova Karchma. The position of the future border on the same terms was also discussed at a meeting in Moscow on August 16, 1945. There were no other agreements on the passage of the future border in the way it is laid now.

By the way, Poland has a historical right to the entire territory of the former East Prussia. Royal Prussia and Warmia were ceded to Prussia as a result of the First Partition of Poland (1772), and the Polish crown lost its rights to the Duchy of Prussia under the Velau-Bydgoszcz treatises (and the political short-sightedness of King Jan Casimir), agreed in Velau on September 19, 1657, and ratified in Bydgoszcz November 5-6. In accordance with them, Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I (1620 - 1688) and all his descendants in the male line received sovereignty from Poland. In the event that the male line of the Brandenburg Hohenzollerns was interrupted, the Duchy again had to go under the Polish crown.

The Soviet Union, supporting the interests of Poland in the west (east of the Oder-Neisse line), created a new Polish satellite state. It should be noted that Stalin acted primarily in his own interests. The desire to push the borders of Poland under his control as far west as possible was the result of a simple calculation: the western border of Poland would be at the same time the border of the sphere of influence of the USSR, at least until the fate of Germany became clear. However, violations of agreements future border between Poland and the USSR were the result of the subordinate position of the Polish People's Republic.

The agreement on the Polish-Soviet state border was signed in Moscow on August 16, 1945. The change in the preliminary agreements on the border on the territory of the former East Prussia in favor of the USSR and the consent of Great Britain and the United States to these actions undoubtedly indicate their unwillingness to strengthen the territorial strength of Poland, doomed to Sovietization.

After the adjustment, the border between Poland and the USSR was supposed to run along the northern borders of the former administrative regions of East Prussia (Kreiss. - admin) Heiligenbeil, Preussisch-Eylau, Bartenstein (Bartenstein, now Bartoszyce), Gerdauen, Darkemen and Goldap, about 20 km north of the current border. But already in September-October 1945, the situation changed dramatically. In some sections, the border moved without permission by the decision of the commanders of individual units of the Soviet Army. Allegedly, Stalin himself controlled the passage of the border in this region. For the Polish side, the eviction of the local Polish administration and population from cities and villages already settled and taken under Polish control was a complete surprise. Since many settlements were already inhabited by Polish settlers, it came to the point that a Pole, leaving for work in the morning, could find out upon his return that his house was already on the territory of the USSR.

Władysław Gomułka, then Polish Minister for Recovered Lands (Recovered Lands (Ziemie Odzyskane) - common name for territories that belonged to the Third Reich until 1939 and were transferred to Poland after the end of World War II by the decisions of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, as well as by the results of a bilateral agreement between Poland and the USSR. — admin), noted:

“In the first days of September (1945), the facts of unauthorized violation of the northern border of the Masurian district by the Soviet army authorities in the territories of the regions of Gerdauen, Bartenstein and Darkemen were recorded. The border line, determined at that time, was moved deep into the Polish territory at a distance of 12-14 km.

A striking example of a unilateral and unauthorized change of the border (12-14 km south of the agreed line) by the Soviet army authorities is the Gerdauen region, where the border was changed after the delimitation act signed by the two parties on July 15, 1945. Plenipotentiary for the Masurian District (Colonel Jakub Pravin - Jakub Prawin, 1901-1957 - member of the Communist Party of Poland, Brigadier General of the Polish Army, statesman; was the plenipotentiary representative of the Polish government at the headquarters of the 3rd Belorussian Front, then the government representative in the Warmian-Masurian district, the head of the administration of this district, and from May 23 to November 1945 the first governor of the Olsztyn Voivodeship. — admin) was informed in writing on September 4 that the Soviet authorities had ordered the Gerdauen head Jan Kaszyński to immediately leave the local administration and resettle the Polish civilian population. The next day (September 5), representatives of J. Pravin (Zygmunt Valevich, Tadeusz Smolik and Tadeusz Lewandowski) verbally protested against such orders to representatives of the Soviet military administration in Gerdauen, Lieutenant Colonel Shadrin and Captain Zakroev. In response, they were told that the Polish side would be notified in advance of any changes to the border. In this area, the Soviet military leadership began to evict the German civilian population, while denying access to these territories to Polish settlers. In this regard, on September 11, a protest was sent from Nordenburg to the District Attorney's Office in Olsztyn (Allenstein). This indicates that as early as September 1945 this territory was Polish.

A similar situation was in the Bartenstein (Bartoszyce) district, the headman of which on July 7, 1945 received all the acceptance documents, and already on September 14, the Soviet military authorities ordered the territories around the villages of Schönbruch and Klingenberg to be liberated from the Polish population ( Klingenberg). Despite the protests of the Polish side (09/16/1945), both territories were ceded to the USSR.

In the Preussisch-Eylau area, the military commandant, Major Malakhov, on June 27, 1945, transferred all powers to the headman Peter Gagatko, but already on October 16, the head of the Soviet border troops in this area, Colonel Golovkin, informed the headman about the transfer of the border a kilometer south of Preussisch-Eylau. Despite the protests of the Poles (10/17/1945), the border was pushed back. On December 12, 1945, on behalf of Pravin's deputy Jerzy Burski, Mayor Preussisch-Eylau liberated the city administration and handed it over to the Soviet authorities.

In connection with the unauthorized actions of the Soviet side to move the border, Yakub Pravin repeatedly (September 13, October 7, 17, 30, November 6, 1945) appealed to the central authorities in Warsaw with a request to influence the leadership of the Northern Group of Forces of the Soviet Army. The protest was also sent to the representative of the Server Group of Forces in the Masurian District, Major Yolkin. But all Pravin's appeals had no effect.

The result of arbitrary border adjustments not in favor of the Polish side in the northern part of the Masurian district was that the borders of almost all northern poviats (powiat - district. - admin) were changed.

Bronisław Saluda, a researcher of this problem from Olsztyn, noted:

“... subsequent adjustments to the border line could lead to the fact that part of the villages already occupied by the population could end up on Soviet territory and the work of the settlers in its arrangement was wasted. In addition, it happened that the border separated a residential building from the outbuildings or land allotment assigned to it. In Shchurkovo, it so happened that the border passed through a cattle shed. The Soviet military administration responded to the complaints of the population that the loss of land here would be compensated by land on the Polish-German border.

The exit to the Baltic Sea from the Vistula Lagoon was blocked by the Soviet Union, and the final demarcation of the border on the Vistula (Baltic) Spit was carried out only in 1958.

According to some historians, in exchange for the consent of the Allied leaders (Roosevelt and Churchill) to include the northern part of East Prussia with Königsberg into the Soviet Union, Stalin offered to transfer Bialystok, Podlasie, Chelm and Przemysl to Poland.

In April 1946, the official demarcation of the Polish-Soviet border on the territory of the former East Prussia took place. But she did not put an end to changing the border in this region. Until February 15, 1956, there were 16 more border adjustments in favor of the Kaliningrad region. From the initial draft of the border crossing, presented in Moscow by the State Defense Committee of the USSR for consideration by the PKNO, in reality the borders were moved 30 km to the south. Even in 1956, when the influence of Stalinism on Poland weakened, the Soviet side “threatened” the Poles with “adjustment” of the borders.

On April 29, 1956, the USSR proposed to the Polish People's Republic (PNR) to resolve the issue of the temporary state of the border within the Kaliningrad region, which has been in place since 1945. The border treaty was concluded in Moscow on March 5, 1957. The PPR ratified this treaty on April 18, 1957, and on May 4 of the same year an exchange of ratified documents took place. After a few more minor adjustments, in 1958 the border was defined on the ground and with the installation of boundary pillars.

The Vistula (Kaliningrad) Bay (838 sq. km) was divided between Poland (328 sq. km) and the Soviet Union. Poland, contrary to the original plans, was cut off from the exit from the bay to the Baltic Sea, which led to the disruption of the once established shipping routes: the Polish part of the Vistula Lagoon became the "Dead Sea". The “sea blockade” of Elbląg, Tolkmicko, Frombork and Braniewo also affected the development of these cities. Despite the fact that an additional protocol was attached to the agreement of July 27, 1944, which stated that peaceful ships would be allowed free access through the Pilau Strait to the Baltic Sea.

The final border passed through the iron and car roads, canals, settlements and even subsidiary plots. For centuries, the emerging single geographical, political and economic territory was arbitrarily divided. The border passed through the territory of six former krays.

Polish-Soviet border in East Prussia. The yellow color indicates the variant of the border for February 1945;, blue - for August 1945, red - the real border between Poland and the Kaliningrad region.

It is believed that as a result of numerous border adjustments, Poland received less than 1125 sq. km. km of territory. The border drawn "along the line" led to numerous negative consequences. For example, between Branevo and Goldap, out of 13 roads that once existed, 10 were cut by the border, between Sempopol and Kaliningrad, 30 out of 32 roads were violated. The unfinished Masurian Canal was also divided in half. Numerous power lines and telephone communications were also cut. All this could not but lead to a deterioration in the economic situation in the settlements adjacent to the border: who wants to live in a settlement whose ownership is not defined? There was a fear that the Soviet side might once again move the border to the south. Some more or less serious settlement of these places by settlers began only in the summer of 1947, during the forcible resettlement of thousands of Ukrainians to these parts during the Vistula operation.

The border, practically drawn from west to east along the latitude, led to the fact that throughout the entire territory from Goldap to Elbląg economic situation never recovered, although once Elbing, which went to Poland, was the largest and most economically developed city (after Königsberg) in East Prussia. Olsztyn became the new capital of the region, although until the end of the 1960s it was less populated and economically less developed than Elbląg. The negative role of the final division of East Prussia also affected the indigenous population of this region - the Masurians. All this significantly delayed the economic development of the entire region.

Fragment of the map of the administrative division of Poland. 1945 Source: Elblaska Biblioteka Cyfrowa.
Legend to the above map. The dotted line is the border between Poland and the Kaliningrad region under the agreement of 08/16/1945; solid line — borders of voivodeships; dot-dotted line - borders of poviats.

The option of drawing the border with a ruler (a rare case for Europe) was subsequently often used for African countries gaining independence.

The current length of the border between Poland and the Kaliningrad region (since 1991 the border with the Russian Federation) is 232.4 km. This, including 9.5 km of the water border and 835 m of the land border on the Baltic Spit.

Two voivodeships have a common border with the Kaliningrad region: Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian, and six poviats: Novodvorsky (on the Vistula Spit), Braniewski, Bartoszycki, Kenshinsky, Vengozhevsky and Goldapsky.

Border crossings operate on the border: 6 land border crossings (automobile Gronovo - Mamonovo, Grzechotki - Mamonovoi II, Bezledy - Bagrationovsk, Goldap - Gusev; railway Branievo - Mamonovo, Skandava - Zheleznodorozhny) and 2 sea.

On July 17, 1985, an agreement was signed in Moscow between Poland and the Soviet Union on the delimitation of territorial waters, economic zones, maritime fishing zones and the continental shelf of the Baltic Sea.

The western border of Poland was recognized by the German Democratic Republic by an agreement of July 6, 1950, the Federal Republic of Germany recognized the border of Poland by an agreement of December 7, 1970 (paragraph 3 of article I of this agreement states that the parties do not have any territorial claims to each other, and renounce However, until the reunification of Germany and the signing of the Polish-German border treaty on November 14, 1990, it was officially declared in the FRG that the German lands ceded to Poland after the Second World War were in the “temporary possession of the Polish administration ".

The Russian enclave on the territory of the former East Prussia - the Kaliningrad region - still does not have an international legal status. After the Second World War, the victorious powers agreed to transfer Königsberg to the jurisdiction of the Soviet Union, but only until an agreement was signed in accordance with international law, which, ultimately, would determine the status of this territory. An international treaty with Germany was signed only in 1990. Prevented me from signing before. cold war and Germany divided into two states. And although Germany has officially renounced its claims to the Kaliningrad region, however, formal sovereignty over this territory has not been formalized by Russia.

Already in November 1939, the Polish government in exile was considering the inclusion of all of East Prussia into Poland after the end of the war. Also in November 1943, the Polish ambassador Edward Raczynski, in a memorandum handed over to the British authorities, among other things, mentioned the desire to include all of East Prussia in Poland.

Schonbruch (Schönbruch, now Szczurkowo/Schurkovo) is a Polish settlement located on the very border with the Kaliningrad region. During the formation of the border, part of Schönbruch ended up on Soviet territory, part on Polish territory. The settlement on Soviet maps was designated as Shirokoye (now does not exist). It was not possible to find out whether Shirokoe was inhabited.

Klingenberg (Klingenberg, now Ostre Bardo / Ostre Bardo) is a Polish settlement a few kilometers east of Shchurkovo. It is located near the border with the Kaliningrad region. ( admin)

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It seems to us that it would be appropriate to cite the texts of some official documents that formed the basis of the process of dividing East Prussia and delimiting the territories ceded to the Soviet Union and Poland, and which were mentioned in the above article by V. Kaliszuk.

Excerpts from the Proceedings of the Crimean (Yalta) Conference of the Leaders of the Three Allied Powers - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain

We have gathered for the Crimean Conference to resolve our differences on the Polish question. We have fully discussed all aspects of the Polish question. We reaffirmed our common wish to see a strong, free, independent and democratic Poland established, and as a result of our negotiations we agreed on the terms on which a new Provisional Polish Government of National Unity would be formed in such a way as to be recognized by the three major powers.

The following agreement has been reached:

“A new situation was created in Poland as a result of its complete liberation by the Red Army. This requires the creation of a Provisional Polish Government, which would have a broader base than was possible before, until the recent liberation of Western Poland. The Provisional Government now operating in Poland must therefore be reorganized on a broader democratic basis, with the inclusion of democratic leaders from Poland itself and Poles from abroad. This new government should then be called the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity.

V. M. Molotov, Mr. W. A. ​​Harriman and Sir Archibald C. Kerr are authorized to consult in Moscow, as a Commission, primarily with members of the present Provisional Government and with other Polish democratic leaders both from Poland itself and from abroad. borders, bearing in mind the reorganization of the present Government on the basis indicated above. This Polish Provisional Government of National Unity must undertake to hold free and unhindered elections as soon as possible on the basis of universal suffrage by secret ballot. In these elections, all anti-Nazi and democratic parties must have the right to participate and nominate candidates.

When the Polish Provisional Government of National Unity is duly formed in accordance with (270) above, the Government of the USSR, which currently maintains diplomatic relations with the current Provisional Government of Poland, the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the United States, will establish diplomatic relations with the new Polish Provisional Government of National Unity and they will exchange ambassadors, according to whose reports the respective governments will be informed of the situation in Poland.

The Heads of the Three Governments believe that Eastern border Poland should follow the Curzon Line, with deviations from it in some areas from five to eight kilometers in favor of Poland. The Heads of the Three Governments recognize that Poland must receive substantial increases in territory in the North and in the West. They consider that the opinion of the new Polish Government of National Unity will be sought in due course on the question of the amount of these increments, and that thereafter the final determination of Poland's western frontier will be postponed until a peace conference."

Winston S. Churchill

Franklin D. Roosevelt

• Velau (Znamensk) The city was taken on January 23, 1945 during the Insterburg-Koenigsberg operation.
• Gumbinnen (Gusev) Having launched an offensive on January 13, 1945, the soldiers of the 28th Army were able to overcome enemy resistance and by the end of January 20, break into the eastern outskirts of the city. At 10 p.m. on January 21, by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the capture of the city was announced, thanks to the distinguished troops and salute to the 12th art. volleys from 124 guns.
• Darkemen (Ozersk) The city was captured on January 23, 1945 during the Insterburg-Koenigsberg operation. In 1946 the city was renamed Ozyorsk. After the Second World War, the city was heavily damaged, but the city center still retains its historical appearance.
• Insterburg (Chernyakhovsk) Troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, 22.1..45. attacked on all fronts. On the Königsberg direction, the fierce resistance of the enemy on the Pregel River was crushed with a decisive blow and they stormed a powerful stronghold, a communications hub and the vital center of East Prussia, the city of Instenburg .... ... Seventh: The 6th Army continued its advance on Instenburg. As a result of decisive actions of the right flank and center, the resistance of the enemy's Instenburg lines was broken through. On the left flank, by the end of the day, they were still fighting ...
• Kranz (Zelenogradsk) Krantz was occupied by Soviet troops on February 4, 1945. Fierce battles were fought on the Curonian Spit, but Kranz himself was practically not injured during the war. In 1946 Krantz was renamed Zelenogradsk.
• Labiau (Polessk) The city was captured on January 23, 1945 during the Insterburg-Koenigsberg operation. In 1946 it was renamed Polessk in honor of the historical and geographical region of Polesie.
• Neuhausen (Guryevsk) On January 28, 1945, the village of Neuhausen was taken by the 192nd Infantry Division under the command of Colonel L. G. Bosanets. On April 7 of the same year, the Königsberg district was formed with a center in Neuhausen, and on September 7, 1946, the city was renamed in honor of the Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General Stepan Savelyevich Guryev (1902-1945), who died during the assault on Pillau
• Pillau (Baltiysk) The city was captured on April 25, 1945 by the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front and the forces of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet during the Zemland operation. The 11th guards army Colonel General Galitsky November 27, 1946 Pillau was named Baltiysk.
• Preussish-Eylau (Bagrationovsk) The city was captured on February 10, 1945 during the East Prussian operation. September 7, 1946 the city was renamed in honor of the Russian commander hero Patriotic War 1812 General Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration.
• Ragnit (Neman) The fortified city of Ragnit was stormed on January 17, 1945. After the war, Ragnit was renamed Neman in 1947.
• Raushen (Svetlogorsk) In April 1945, Raushen and the settlements adjacent to it were occupied without fighting. In 1946 it was renamed Svetlogorsk.
• Tapiau (Gvardeysk) The city was captured on January 25, 1945 by the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front during the Insterburg-Koenigsberg operation: 39 A - part of the forces of the 221st Rifle Division (Major General Kushnarenko V.N.), 94th Rifle Corps (Major General Popov I.I.)
• Tilsit (Sovetsk) The troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front, resolutely developing the offensive, defeated the enemy's Tilsit grouping and cut off all the roads connecting Tilsit with Insterburg. Subsequently, with a swift strike by units of the 39th and 43rd armies at 22h. 30m. On January 19, 1945, they captured the powerful German defense center in East Prussia, the city of Tilsit.
• Fischhausen (Primorsk) The city was captured on April 17, 1945 during the Zemland operation.
• Friedland (Pravdinsk) The city was captured on January 31, 1945 by troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front during the East Prussian operation: 28 A - part of the forces of the 20th Rifle Division (Major General A.A. Myshkin), 20th Rifle Corps (Major General N.A. Shvarev)
• Haselberg (Krasnoznamensk) On January 18, 1945, the city was taken by the troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front during the Insterburg-Königsberg operation. In 1946 it was renamed Krasnoznamensk.
• Heiligenbeil (Mamonovo) The city was captured on March 25, 1945 during the destruction of the enemy's Hejlsberg grouping.
• Stallupenen (Nesterov) The city was captured on October 25, 1944 by troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front during the Gumbinnen operation.

One of the most significant operations carried out by the Red Army in 1945 was the assault on Königsberg and the liberation of East Prussia.

Fortifications of the Grolman upper front, the Oberteich bastion after the surrender /

Fortifications of the Grolman upper front, Oberteich bastion. Courtyard.

Troops of the 10th tank corps The 5th Guards Tank Army of the 2nd Belorussian Front occupy the city of Mühlhausen (now the Polish city of Mlynary) during the Mlavsko-Elbing operation.

German soldiers and officers taken prisoner during the assault on Koenigsberg.

A column of German prisoners is walking along the Hindenburg-Strasse in the city of Insterburg (East Prussia), towards the Lutheran Church (now the city of Chernyakhovsk, Lenin Street).

Soviet soldiers carry the weapons of their dead comrades after the battle in East Prussia.

Soviet soldiers are learning to overcome the barbed wire.

Soviet officers visiting one of the forts in the occupied Koenigsberg.

Machine-gun crew MG-42 firing in the area railway station the city of Goldap in battles with Soviet troops.

Ships in the frozen harbor of Pillau (now Baltiysk, Kaliningrad region of Russia), late January 1945.

Koenigsberg, Tragheim district after the assault, damaged building.

German grenadiers are moving towards the last Soviet positions near the railway station of the city of Goldap.

Koenigsberg. Barracks Kronprinz, tower.

Koenigsberg, one of the fortifications.

The air support ship "Hans Albrecht Wedel" receives refugees in the harbor of Pillau.

Advanced German detachments enter the city of Goldap in East Prussia, which was previously occupied by Soviet troops.

Koenigsberg, panorama of the ruins of the city.

The corpse of a German woman killed by an explosion in Metgethen in East Prussia.

The Pz.Kpfw. belonging to the 5th Panzer Division. V Ausf. G "Panther" on the street of the town of Goldap.

A German soldier hanged on the outskirts of Königsberg for looting. The inscription in German "Plündern wird mit-dem Tode bestraft!" translates as "Whoever robs will be executed!"

A Soviet soldier in a German Sdkfz 250 armored personnel carrier on a street in Koenigsberg.

Units of the German 5th Panzer Division are moving forward for a counterattack against the Soviet troops. District Kattenau, East Prussia. Tank Pz.Kpfw ahead. V Panther.

Koenigsberg, barricade on the street.

A battery of 88-mm anti-aircraft guns is preparing to repel the Soviet tank attack. East Prussia, mid-February 1945.

German positions on the outskirts of Koenigsberg. The inscription reads: "We will defend Koenigsberg." Propaganda photo.

Soviet self-propelled guns ISU-122S is fighting in Koenigsberg. 3rd Belorussian Front, April 1945.

German sentry on the bridge in the center of Koenigsberg.

A Soviet motorcyclist passes German self-propelled guns StuG IV and 105-mm howitzers abandoned on the road.

A German landing ship evacuating troops from the Heiligenbeil pocket enters the harbor of Pillau.

Koenigsberg, blown up pillbox.

Destroyed German self-propelled gun StuG III Ausf. G against the background of the Kronprinz tower, Königsberg.

Koenigsberg, panorama from the Don tower.

Kenisberg, April 1945. View of the Royal Castle

German StuG III assault gun shot down in Koenigsberg. In the foreground is a dead German soldier.

German vehicles on Mitteltragheim street in Koenigsberg after the assault. To the right and left are StuG III assault guns, in the background is a JgdPz IV tank destroyer.

Grolman upper front, Grolman bastion. Before the surrender of the fortress, it housed the headquarters of the 367th Wehrmacht Infantry Division.

On the street of the port of Pillau. German soldiers being evacuated leave their weapons and equipment before being loaded onto ships.

A German 88 mm FlaK 36/37 anti-aircraft gun abandoned on the outskirts of Koenigsberg.

Koenigsberg, panorama. Don Tower, Rossgarten Gate.

Königsberg, German bunker in the Horst Wessel Park area.

Unfinished barricade on Duke Albrecht Alley in Königsberg (now Telman Street).

Koenigsberg, destroyed German artillery battery.

German prisoners at the Sackheim Gate of Koenigsberg.

Koenigsberg, German trenches.

German machine-gun crew in position in Koenigsberg near the Don tower.

German refugees on Pillau Street pass by a column of Soviet self-propelled guns SU-76M.

Konigsberg, Friedrichsburg Gate after the assault.

Koenigsberg, Wrangel tower, moat.

View from the Don Tower to the Oberteich (Upper Pond), Koenigsberg.

On the street of Koenigsberg after the assault.

Koenigsberg, Wrangel tower after the surrender.

Corporal I.A. Gureev at the post at the border marker in East Prussia.

Soviet unit in a street fight in Koenigsberg.

Traffic controller sergeant Anya Karavaeva on the way to Koenigsberg.

Soviet soldiers in the city of Allenstein (now the city of Olsztyn in Poland) in East Prussia.

Artillerymen of Lieutenant Sofronov's Guards are fighting on Avaider Alley in Koenigsberg (now - Alley of the Brave).

The result of an air strike on German positions in East Prussia.

Soviet soldiers are fighting on the outskirts of Koenigsberg. 3rd Belorussian Front.

Soviet armored boat No. 214 in the Konigsberg Canal after the battle with a German tank.

German collection point for defective captured armored vehicles in the Königsberg area.

Evacuation of the remnants of the division "Grossdeutschland" in the area of ​​Pillau.

Abandoned in Koenigsberg German technology. In the foreground is a 150 mm sFH 18 howitzer.

Koenigsberg. Bridge across the moat to Rossgarten Gate. Don tower in the background

Abandoned German 105-mm howitzer le.F.H.18/40 in position in Königsberg.

A German soldier lights a cigarette at a StuG IV self-propelled gun.

A destroyed German tank Pz.Kpfw is on fire. V Ausf. G "Panther". 3rd Belorussian Front.

Soldiers of the Grossdeutschland division are loaded onto makeshift rafts to cross the Frisches Haff Bay (now the Kaliningrad Bay). Balga Peninsula, Cape Kalholz.

Soldiers of the division "Grossdeutschland" in positions on the Balga Peninsula.

Meeting of Soviet soldiers on the border with East Prussia. 3rd Belorussian Front.

The bow of a German transport sinking as a result of an attack by Baltic Fleet aircraft off the coast of East Prussia.

The pilot-observer of the reconnaissance aircraft Henschel Hs.126 takes pictures of the area during a training flight.

Destroyed German assault gun StuG IV. East Prussia, February 1945.

Seeing Soviet soldiers from Koenigsberg.

The Germans inspect a wrecked Soviet T-34-85 tank in the village of Nemmersdorf.

Tank "Panther" from the 5th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht in Goldap.

German soldiers armed with Panzerfaust grenade launchers next to the MG 151/20 aircraft gun in the infantry version.

A column of German Panther tanks is moving towards the front in East Prussia.

Broken cars on the street taken by storm Koenigsberg. Soviet soldiers are in the background.

Troops of the Soviet 10th Panzer Corps and the bodies of German soldiers on Mühlhausen Street.

Soviet sappers walk down the street of the burning Insterburg in East Prussia.

A column of Soviet IS-2 tanks on a road in East Prussia. 1st Belorussian Front.

A Soviet officer inspects a German self-propelled gun "Jagdpanther" shot down in East Prussia.

Soviet soldiers are sleeping, resting after the battles, right on the street of Koenigsberg, taken by storm.

Koenigsberg, anti-tank barriers.

German refugees with a baby in Königsberg.

A short rally in the 8th company after reaching the state border of the USSR.

A group of pilots of the Normandy-Neman air regiment near the Yak-3 fighter in East Prussia.

A sixteen-year-old Volkssturm soldier armed with an MP 40 submachine gun. East Prussia.

Construction of fortifications, East Prussia, mid-July 1944.

Refugees from Königsberg moving towards Pillau, mid-February 1945.

German soldiers at a halt near Pillau.

German quad anti-aircraft gun FlaK 38, mounted on a tractor. Fischhausen (now Primorsk), East Prussia.

Civilians and a captured German soldier on Pillau Street during garbage collection after the end of the fighting for the city.

Boats of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet under repair in Pillau (now the city of Baltiysk in the Kaliningrad region of Russia).

German auxiliary ship "Franken" after the attack of Il-2 attack aircraft of the KBF Air Force.

Explosion of bombs on the German ship "Franken" as a result of the attack of Il-2 attack aircraft of the KBF Air Force

A breach from a heavy shell in the wall of the Oberteich bastion of the fortifications of the Grolman Upper Front of Koenigsberg.

Bodies of two German women and three children allegedly killed Soviet soldiers in the town of Metgeten in East Prussia in January-February 1945. Propaganda German photo.

Transportation of the Soviet 280-mm mortar Br-5 in East Prussia.

Distribution of food to Soviet soldiers in Pillau after the end of the fighting for the city.

Soviet soldiers pass through a German settlement on the outskirts of Koenigsberg.

Broken German assault gun StuG IV on the streets of the city of Allenstein (now Olsztyn, Poland.)

Soviet infantry, supported by self-propelled guns SU-76, attacked German positions in the area of ​​Koenigsberg.

A column of self-propelled guns SU-85 on the march in East Prussia.

Sign "Autoroute to Berlin" on one of the roads of East Prussia.

Explosion on the tanker "Sassnitz". The tanker with a cargo of fuel was sunk on March 26, 1945, 30 miles from Liepaja by aircraft of the 51st Mine-Torpedo Aviation Regiment and the 11th Assault Air Division of the Air Force of the Baltic Fleet.

Air Force KBF aircraft bombardment of German transports and port facilities of Pillau.

The German ship-floating base hydroaviation "Boelcke" ("Boelcke"), attacked by the Il-2 squadron of the 7th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment of the Air Force of the Baltic Fleet, 7.5 km southeast of Cape Hel.

In 1946, Stalin signed a decree according to which 12 thousand families must be resettled in the Kaliningrad region "on a voluntary basis" for permanent residence.

For three years, residents of 27 different regions of the RSFSR, union and autonomous republics arrived in the region, the reliability of which was carefully monitored. Mostly they were immigrants from Belarus, Pskov, Kalinin, Yaroslavl and Moscow regions

Thus, from 1945 to 1948, tens of thousands of Germans and Soviet citizens lived together in Kaliningrad. At that time, the city operated German schools, churches, and other public institutions. On the other hand, because of the memory of a very recent war, the German population was subjected to looting and violence by the Soviet, which manifested itself in forced eviction from apartments, insults and coercion to perform work.

However, according to many researchers, the conditions of close residence of the two peoples in a small area contributed to their cultural and universal rapprochement. Official policy also tried to help destroy the hostility between Russians and Germans, but this vector of interaction is soon completely rethought. The deportation of the Germans to Germany is being prepared.

The "peaceful displacement" of the Germans by Soviet citizens did not produce effective results, and by 1947 there were more than 100,000 Germans on the territory of the USSR. “The non-working German population does not receive food supplies, as a result of which it is in an extremely depleted state. As a result of this situation among the German population, there has recently been a sharp increase in criminality (theft of products, robberies and even murders), and in the first quarter of 1947 there were cases of cannibalism, of which twelve were registered in the region.

In order to liberate Kaliningrad from the Germans, a permit was issued to return to their homeland, but not all Germans were able or willing to use it. Colonel General Serov spoke about the measures taken: “The presence of the German population in the region has a corrupting effect on the unstable part of not only the civilian Soviet population, but also a large number of military personnel. Soviet army and fleet located in the area, and contributes to the spread of venereal diseases. The introduction of the Germans into the life of the Soviet people by means of a fairly wide use of them as low-paid or generally free servants contributes to the development of espionage. Serov raised the question of the forced resettlement of Germans in the territory of the Soviet occupation of Germany.

After that, from 1947 to 1948, about 105,000 Germans and Prussian Lithuanians were resettled in Germany from the former East Prussia.

It has been argued that the resettlement organized by the Germans during the Second World War, which, in particular, led to the Holocaust, justifies this deportation. The resettlement took place practically without casualties, which was due to the high degree of its organization - the deportees were given dry rations, they were allowed to take a large amount of cargo with them, and they were treated conscientiously. Many letters of thanks from the Germans, written by them before the resettlement, are also known: “We say goodbye to the Soviet Union with great gratitude.”

So on the territory that was once called East Prussia, Russians and Belarusians, Ukrainians and former residents of other union republics began to live. After the war, the Kaliningrad region began to rapidly militarize, becoming a kind of "shield" of the USSR on western borders. With the collapse of the USSR, Kaliningrad turned into an enclave of the Russian Federation, and to this day it retains memories of its German past.