Hero City - Brest Fortress

Brest Fortress

The fortress in Brest, Belarus was awarded the title Hero Fortress in 1965. It was located right on the recently established border between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany drawn in the secret appendix to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. As such, the fortress had little warning when the Axis invaded on 22 June 1941, and became the site of the first major fighting between Soviet frontier guards and the invading German forces of Army Group Centre. German artillery heavily shelled the fortress; the subsequent attempt to quickly take it with infantry failed, however, and the Germans started a lengthy siege. The Brest garrison, although cut off from the outside world and having run out of food, water and ammunition, fought and counter-attacked until the very last minute. The Germans deployed tanks, tear gas and flame throwers. After the Germans had taken most of the ruined fortifications, taking heavy casualties, bloody fighting continued underground. The fighting ended only in late July. The actual front had by then already moved hundreds of kilometres further East. Even after the fortress was officially taken, the few surviving defenders continued to hide in the basements and to harass the Germans for several months.