Heroic defense of Odessa (1941)

Very soon humanity will celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War. This date is particularly significant for residents of the countries of the former Soviet Union, whose grandfathers at the front and in the rear have done everything to bring the day of the Great Victory closer. Do not erase from human memory the truth about the calamities that fascism brought to mankind, about the exploit of heroes who saved the world from the "brown plague." For example, the defense of Odessa (1941) will never be forgotten. She entered the textbooks of military history as one of the most successful examples of such operations.

Defense of Odessa in the first year of the Great Patriotic War: the beginning

As you know, the Soviet Union was unexpectedly attacked by the Nazi bloc countries on June 22, 1941, and only three days later, along with the others, the Stavka formed the Southern Front. Against him in the territory more than seven hundred kilometers from the city of Lipkany to Odessa, Romanian troops fought. Despite the success of the Southern Front, in the first two months of the war, it became necessary to withdraw its parts to the east. The fact is that the neighbors in the north-west situation was not the best way, and there was a great chance of getting surrounded. On August 5 battles began to be fought on the approaches to Odessa, and a week later the military formations defending the city were completely cut off from the main troops of the Southern Front, as Romanian-German troops managed to bypass the city from the east and take him into the encirclement ring.

Parts participating in hostilities from both warring parties

At the time when the city was surrounded on all sides by units of the Romanian army and the Wehrmacht, there were parts of a separate seaside army commanded by Lieutenant-General Georgy Pavlovich Safronov, troops of the Black Sea Fleet and the Odessa naval base, as well as militia units consisting of themselves Townspeople. In total, the defensive forces in early August 1941 amounted to 34.5 thousand people, and at the end of September - about 86 thousand troops and militias. As for the Romanian army, commanded by Nicolae Chuperca, 340 thousand soldiers and officers took part in its siege of Odessa.

Odessa under siege

On August 9, the Stavka decided to establish a defensive area (OOR) under the command of Rear Admiral Gavriil Vasilyevich Zhukov, which consisted of the following regions:

• Fontanka.
• The Kubanka.
• Kovalenki.
• Otradovki.
• Pervomaisk.
• Belyaevka.
• Mayakov.
• Carolino-Bugaz.

Immediately after this, work began on the construction of defensive structures, as well as the formation of militia units from among the Odessa citizens, who were issued combat weapons. In addition, by the end of August, the command of the Black Sea Fleet assigned 2,400 troops to the defenders of Odessa, and on 15 September the 157th Infantry Division was transferred from Novorossiysk to the city. It is thanks to such a powerful support of the living force that Odessa's territorial defense has not been broken.

Defenders of the city not only held back the onslaught of the enemy, but also conducted a number of successful offensive operations. In particular, in the eastern sector of defense in the middle of September, the air and sea Grigorievsky landing was dropped and landed and the villages of Chabanka, Staraya and Novaya Dofinovki were liberated. The shelling of the Odessa port and its water area was stopped, and the condition along the entire front line was significantly stabilized.

Retreat

The defense of Odessa was lifted on October 16, 1941, and the city was handed over to the Romanian troops. The reason was the strategic considerations of the Stavka, which considered that in the situation prevailing at that time in the Crimean direction, it would be more expedient to transfer troops trapped in the city by sea to Sevastopol.

In general, in the history of wars, there are few examples of successful completion of operations to withdraw troops from the line of contact with the enemy with minimal losses and maintaining their combat capability. One such is the evacuation of units that carried out the defense of Odessa, which, as the Soviet press wrote, "left the city without tarnishing their honor."

Occupation and Victims

The defense of Odessa and Sevastopol cost the Soviet army, which in the years of the Great Patriotic War served representatives of all peoples who inhabited the Soviet Union, including Ukrainians, thousands of lives. There were also a lot of casualties among civilians. In particular, immediately after the defense of Odessa (1941) was withdrawn, mass executions were carried out there. Especially serious were the losses among the Jewish minority, towards which the Romanian occupation forces pursued a policy of total destruction. Moreover, prisoners of war were taken to the city, who, together with Soviet workers and those who could not prove their innocence to the "lower race," were first held in custody in the former gunpowder warehouses, and then shot or burned alive by pouring gasoline on the building.

Release

The expulsion of the invaders from Odessa began on April 9, 1944, as part of a military operation conducted by the troops of the Third Ukrainian Front, commanded by Army General Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky. The next day, in the morning, the city completely passed under the control of the Red Army, which continued its successful offensive towards the Dniester.

Medal "For the defense of Odessa": who is awarded

This award was established in December 1942. It was intended to reward military personnel and civilians who took direct part in the defense of Odessa in the period from August 5 to October 16, It is customary to wear it on the left side of the chest, to the right of the medal "For the Defense of Moscow", if any.

What does a medal look like?

This award is made of stainless steel or of brass in the form of a circle with a diameter of 3.2 centimeters. The obverse depicts the figures of the Red Fleet and the Red Army soldier with weapons in the background against the sea shore, on which stands the tower of the lighthouse. Directly above them is the inscription "USSR", and even higher along the edge of the circle, in bulgous letters, the phrase "For the defense of Odessa", enclosed between two miniature asterisks, is written. The lower part of the obverse is decorated with a laurel wreath, interwoven with a ribbon. As for the reverse, it made a traditional inscription for Soviet awards during the Great Patriotic War - "FOR OUR SOVIET HOMELAND", and above it engraved sickle and hammer. The medal "For the Defense of Odessa" is attached to the shoe in the form of an elongated pentagon, covered with a silk two-colored striped ribbon (three blue and two green stripes of the same width) with the help of a ring and a lug. According to 1985, this award was presented to thirty thousand Red Army soldiers, servicemen of the Navy and NKVD troops, as well as civilians.

Memorial

The heroic defense of Odessa went down in history as one of the vivid examples of the patriotism of the Soviet people. In memory of those who sacrificed their lives defending this city near the blue sea, in 1975 a memorial was opened on the site where the positions of the 411th coastal battery were located at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War . The complex is an exhibition of military equipment, a sculptural composition in the form of figures of women mourning over the body of the deceased, as well as the stele Katyusha. In addition, the temple of St. George the Victorious was built on the territory of the memorial .

Another large-scale construction, called to serve as an eternal reminder of the feat of heroes that heroically defended Odessa in the first year of the Great Patriotic War, is the "Belt of Glory", which is 11 monuments. They were built in places where the most fierce battles were fought. Every year in April, a walking marathon and a cycling marathon along the Belt of Glory are held in Odessa, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the liberation of the city from the fascist invaders.

Now you know how long the defense of Odessa lasted, what parts took part in it and what were its results.