Brest Fortress Finally Falls After Being "The Best Defence In WW II History" [Watch]

By R. Siva Kumar - 04 May '15 18:05PM

Brest Fortress struggled for over a week, but finally caved in. Yet, it drew forth a display of courage and sacrifice that became seriously involved in the Eastern Front, setting a blueprint for the war, according to rt.

On June 22, 1942, the Germans had crossed into Belarus, and there was heavy artillery shelling. In just a few hours, under 10,000 Soviet troops were surrounded by the Germans guns, as well as outnumbered. There were no communication lines and also no order to withdraw from the center.

"As soon as we heard about the invasion, we started digging holes, to hide from the artillery fire," Nikolay Zakharchuk, who was a young man in Brest when the fighting started.

"The planes at the local airfield were destroyed before anyone had got into them. We were pinned back, and could hardly lift our heads above the ground."

Once the effect of "psychological superiority " was rammed home, the Germans expected that the capture would be easy.

However, there was only heavy fighting by the Soviet warriors from inside the towers of the fortress, which invited the soldiers to get heavier artillery.

The war claimed 2,000 defenders, and 600 German attackers. The fighting got over after the supplies and ammunition ran low, and 6,000 Soviet soldiers were captured.

Yet many soldiers still hid in the basements and shot the German soldiers one by one, creating a month-long resistance till August. One inscription on the wall said: "I am dying now, but I won't surrender. Farewell, Motherland."

Soon, Hitler and Mussolini visited the fortress, took photographs and gloated over their new land, though it did not mean a closure of the war.