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Wikipedia

Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive

February 02, 2023

This article is about the August 1944 offensive. For the earlier operation, see First Jassy–Kishinev offensive.

The second Jassy–Kishinev offensive,[1][9][10][11][Notes 1] named after the two major cities, Iași ("Jassy") and Chișinău ("Kishinev"), in the staging area, was a Soviet offensive against Axis forces, which took place in Eastern Romania from 20 to 29 August 1944 during World War II. The 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts of the Red Army engaged Army Group South Ukraine, which consisted of combined German and Romanian formations, in an operation to reoccupy Bessarabia and destroy the Axis forces in the region, opening the way into Romania and the Balkans.

Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II

Soviet advance
Date20–29 August 1944[1]
Location
Eastern and southern Romania
Result

Allied victory

  • Destruction of the German 6th Army
  • Romania undergoes a coup and defects to the Allies
  • Bulgaria enters the war against Nazi Germany[2]
Territorial
changes
  • German forces begin evacuating the Balkans
  • Soviet Union regains control of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina
    • Belligerents
     Soviet Union
     Romania
    (23–29 August)
     United States
    (Air support only)    		  Romania
    (20–23 August)
     Germany
    Commanders and leaders
    Joseph Stalin
    Semyon Timoshenko
    Rodion Malinovsky
    Fyodor Tolbukhin
    Filipp Oktyabrsky
    Michael I
    Constantin Sănătescu
    Gheorghe Mihail
    Nicolae Macici    		 Ion Antonescu
    Ilie Șteflea
    Petre Dumitrescu
    Ioan Mihail Racoviță
    Adolf Hitler
    Johannes Friessner
    Otto Wöhler
    Maximilian Fretter-Pico
    Alfred Gerstenberg
    Units involved
    see below see below
    Strength
    Soviet Union:
    1,314,200[3]
    16,000 guns
    1,870 tanks
    2,200 aircraft
    Romania:
    465,659[4]    		 Romania:
    1,163,347[5]
    (as of 15 August 1944)
    800 aircraft
    Germany:
    250,000
    (Army Group South Ukraine)
    Casualties and losses

    Soviet Union:
    [6][self-published source?]

    Romania:
    8,586 killed or wounded[4]    		 Romania:
    [7]
    25 aircraft[6][self-published source?]
    Germany:
    150,000 killed,
    wounded or captured[8]

    The offensive resulted in the encirclement and destruction of the German forces, allowing the Soviet Army to resume its strategic advance further into Eastern Europe. It also pressured Romania to switch allegiance from the Axis powers to the Allies. For the Germans, this was a massive defeat, which can be compared to the defeat at Stalingrad.

    Background

    Further information: First Jassy–Kishinev offensive

    Military historian David Glantz claims the Red Army had made an unsuccessful attack in the same sector, an operation he referred to as the first Jassy–Kishinev offensive, from 8 April to 6 June 1944. In 1944, the Wehrmacht had been pressed back along its entire front line in the East. By May 1944, the South Ukraine Army Group (Heeresgruppe Südukraine) was pushed back towards the prewar Romanian frontier, and managed to establish a line on the lower Dniester River, which was however breached in two places, with the Red Army holding bridgeheads. After June, calm returned to the sector, allowing the rebuilding of the German formations.

    Heeresgruppe Südukraine had been, until June 1944, one of the most powerful German formations in terms of armour. However, during the summer most of its armoured units were transferred to the Northern and Central fronts to stem Red Army advances in the Baltic states, Belarus, northern Ukraine, and Poland. On the eve of the offensive, the only armoured formations left were the 1st Romanian Armored Division (with the Tiger I tank),[12][self-published source?] and the German 13th Panzer and 10th Panzergrenadier Divisions.

    Failure of German intelligence

    Soviet deception operations prior to the attack worked well. The German command staff believed that the movement of Soviet forces along the front line was a result of a troop transfer to the north. Exact positions of Soviet formations were also not known until the final hours before the operation.[13] By contrast, the Romanians were aware of the imminent Soviet offensive and anticipated a rerun of Stalingrad, with major attacks against the 3rd and 4th Armies and an encirclement of the German 6th Army. Such concerns were dismissed by the German command as "alarmist".[14] Marshal Ion Antonescu suggested a withdrawal of Axis forces to the fortified Carpathian–FNB (Focșani–Nămoloasa–Brăila)–Danube line, but Friessner, the commander of Army Group South Ukraine, was unwilling to consider such a move, having already been dismissed by Hitler from Army Group North for requesting permission to retreat.

    Order of battle

    Soviet

    Axis forces

    Army Group South Ukraine[15] – Generaloberst Johannes Friessner

    1st Romanian Armoured Division

    The 1st Romanian Armored Division did not have all of its units immediately available for opposing the Soviet offensive. Some of its units were still in the interior as of 20 August. Therefore, an ad hoc organization of the Division's units which were actually available for opposing the Soviet offensive lists the Division's 80 front line tanks as follows (not including the Division's 12 armored cars):[16]

    Name Type Country of Origin Quantity
    Panzer IV Medium tank   Nazi Germany 48
    Sturmgeschütz III Assault gun   Nazi Germany 22
    TACAM T-60 Tank destroyer   Romania 10

    The Division also had a dedicated anti-tank battalion. Its main weapons were entirely of Romanian origin: 10 TACAM T-60 tank destroyers and 24 75 mm Reșița field/anti-tank guns.[16] The 24 guns were the first ones produced of this model.[17]

    The 1st Romanian Armored Division had lost 34 armored fighting vehicles by 23 August, but claimed 60 Soviet tanks on 20 August alone.[18]

    Soviet strategy

     
    Soviet operations

    Stavka's plan for the operation was based on a double envelopment of German and Romanian armies by the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts.[1][19]

    The 2nd Ukrainian Front was to break through north of Iași, and then commit mobile formations to seize the Prut River crossings before withdrawing German units of the 6th Army could reach it. It was then to unleash the 6th Tank Army to seize the Siret River crossings and the Focșani Gate, a fortified line between the Siret River and the Danube.

    The 3rd Ukrainian Front was to attack out of its bridgehead across the Dniester near Tiraspol, and then release mobile formations to head north and meet the mobile formations of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. This would lead to the encirclement of the German forces near Chișinău.

    Following the successful encirclement, the 6th Tank Army and the 4th Guards Mechanised Corps were to advance towards Bucharest and the Ploiești oil fields.

    Progress of the offensive

    General

    Both the 2nd and the 3rd Ukrainian Fronts undertook a major effort, leading to a double envelopment of the German Sixth Army and parts of the Eighth Army. The German–Romanian front line collapsed within two days of the start of the offensive, and 6th Guards Mechanized Corps was inserted as the main mobile group of the offensive. The initial breakthrough in the 6th Army's sector was 40 km (25 mi) deep, and destroyed rear-area supply installations by the evening of 21 August. By 23 August, the 13th Panzer Division was no longer a coherent fighting force, and the German 6th Army had been encircled to a depth of 100 km (62 mi). The Red Army mobile group managed to cut off the retreat of the German formations into Hungary. Isolated pockets of German units tried to fight their way through, but only small remnants managed to escape the encirclement.

     
    Soviet Operations, 19 August–31 December 1944

    Detailed study of the Soviet breakthrough

    The main effort of the front was in the sector of the 37th Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Sharokhin, by the 66th and 6th Guards Rifle Corps. The 37th Army had a 4 km (2.5 mi)-wide breakthrough frontage assigned to it. It was divided in two groupings, two corps in the first echelon, and one in reserve. According to the plan, it was to break through the German–Romanian defence lines in seven days, to a distance of 110–120 km (68–75 mi), with the goal of covering 15 km (9.3 mi) per day during the first four days.

    The 66th Rifle Corps, under Major General Kupriyanov, consisted of the 61st Guards Rifle and 333rd Rifle Divisions in the first echelon and the 244th Rifle Division in reserve. Attached were the 46th Gun Artillery Brigade, 152nd Howitzer Artillery Regiment, 184th and 1245th Tank Destroyer Regiment, 10th Mortar Regiment, 26th Light Artillery Brigade, 87th Recoilless Mortar Regiment, 92nd and 52nd Tank Regiment, 398th Assault Gun Regiment, two pioneer assault battalions, and two light flamethrower companies.

    Corps frontage: 4 km (2.5 mi)
    Corps breakthrough frontage: 3.5 km (2.2 mi) (61st Rifle Division 1.5 km (0.93 mi), 333rd Rifle Division 2 km (1.2 mi))

     
    A German Panther tank in Romania, August 1944

    Troop density per kilometer of frontage:

    • Rifle battalions – 7.7
    • Guns/mortars – 248
    • Tanks and assault guns – 18

    Superiority:

    • Infantry – 3:1
    • Artillery – 7:1
    • Tanks and assault guns – 11.2:1

    There is no manpower information on the divisions, but they probably had between 7,000 and 7,500 men each, with the 61st Guards Rifle Division perhaps mustering 8,000–9,000. The soldiers were prepared over the course of August by exercising in areas similar to those they were to attack, with emphasis on special tactics needed to overcome the enemy in their sector.

    Troops density in the 61st Guards Rifle Division's sector per kilometer of frontage was:

    • Rifle battalions – 6.0
    • Guns/mortars – 234
    • Tanks and assault guns – 18

    Troops density in the 333rd Rifle Division's sector per kilometer of frontage was:

    • Rifle battalions – 4.5
    • Guns/mortars – 231
    • Tanks and assault guns – 18

    Initial attack

    The 333rd Rifle Division put three regiments in the first echelon and had none in reserve. The 61st Guards Rifle Division attacked in a standard formation, with two regiments in the first echelon and one in reserve. This proved to be fortunate, because the right wing of the 188th Guards Rifle Regiment was unable to advance past the Plopschtubej strongpoint.[clarification needed] The 189th Guards Rifle Regiment on the left wing made good progress though, as did 333rd Rifle Division on its left. The commander of the 61st Guards Rifle Division therefore inserted his reserve (the 187th Guards Rifle Regiment) behind the 189th Guards Rifle Regiment to exploit the breakthrough. When darkness came, the 244th Rifle Division was assigned to break through the second line of defense. It lost its way, and only arrived at 23:00, by which time elements of the 13th Panzer Division were counterattacking.

    The German–Romanian opposition was XXX. and XXIX. AK, with the 15th and 306th German Infantry Divisions, the 4th Romanian Mountain Division, and the 21st Romanian Infantry Division. The 13th Panzer Division was in reserve. At the end of the first day, the 4th Romanian Mountain (General de divizie, (Major General) Gheorghe Manoliu), and 21st Romanian Divisions were almost completely destroyed, while the German 15th and 306th Infantry Divisions suffered heavy losses (according to a German source, the 306th Infantry lost 50% in the barrage, and was destroyed apart from local strong-points by evening). Almost no artillery survived the fire preparation.

    The 13th Panzer Division counterattacked the 66th Rifle Corps on the first day, and tried to stop its progress the next day to no avail. A study on the division's history says 'The Russians [Soviets] dictated the course of events.' The 13th Panzer Division at the time was a materially underequiped, but high manpower unit, with a high proportion of recent reinforcements. It only had Panzer IVs, StuG IIIs and self-propelled anti-tank guns. By the end of the second day, the division was incapable of attacking or putting up meaningful resistance.

    At the end of the second day, the 3rd Ukrainian Front stood deep in the rear of the German 6th Army. No more organised re-supply of forces would be forthcoming, and the 6th Army was doomed to be encircled and destroyed again. Franz-Josef Strauss, who was to become an important German politician after the war, served with the Panzer Regiment of the 13th Panzer Division. He comments that the division had ceased to exist as a tactical unit on the third day of the Soviet offensive: 'The enemy was everywhere.'

    In Mazulenko, results of the operations of the 66th Rifle Corps were described: "Because of the reinforcement of the Corps and the deep battle arrangements of troops and units the enemy defenses were broken through at high speed."

    German survivors of the initial attack stated "By the end of the barrage, Russian [Soviet] tanks were deep into our position." (Hoffman). A German battalion commander, Hauptmann Hans Diebisch, Commander II./IR579, 306.ID, commented "The fire assets of the German defense were literally destroyed by the Soviet fighter bombers attacking the main line of resistance and the rear positions. When the Russian infantry suddenly appeared inside the positions of the battalion and it tried to retreat, the Russian air force made this impossible. The battalion was dispersed and partly destroyed by air attacks and mortar and machine gun fire."

    Alleged Romanian collapse

    It is often alleged that the speed and totality of the German collapse were caused by Romanian betrayal, for example, in Heinz Guderian's 1952 autobiography Panzer Leader. The study of the combat operations by Mazulenko indicates that this is probably not correct. Romanian formations did resist the Soviet attack in many cases, but were ill-equipped to defend themselves effectively against a modern army due to a lack of modern anti-tank, artillery, and anti-air weapons. In contrast to German claims, for instance, in the symposium notes published by David Glantz, or in the history of the offensive published by Kissel, it appears that the Romanian 1st Armoured Division did offer resistance against the Soviet breakthrough. However, Mark Axworthy states in his book that the battered 1st Armoured Division maintained cohesion, experiencing some local, costly successes before being forced to cross the Moldova River.[20] Axworthy claims that the postwar Communist government would have obviously used this act of "betrayal" for propaganda purposes. Also, there are no Soviet reports of collaboration before 24 August 1944.[21] The Soviet rates of progress imply an ineffective defense of the Romanian troops, rather than active collaboration and en-masse surrender.[22]

    Ion. S. Dumitru was a Romanian tank commander in the battle of the Romanian 1st Armoured Division against Soviet tanks and he described the battle in his book.[23] According to Dumitru, fighting took place near the village of Scobâlțeni in the vicinity of a town called Podu Iloaiei on 20 August. The Romanian division destroyed 60 Soviet tanks and lost 30 tanks. At the end of the day, Romanians decided to retreat to the south after an analysis of the military results of the day.

    The complete collapse of the German 6th Army and the Romanian 4th Army was more likely caused by the inability of the numerous horse-drawn infantry divisions to maintain cohesion while retreating and under attack of the Soviet mechanized troops.[24] This claim is reinforced by the fact that the only Romanian division which retained its cohesion under the Soviet attack was the 1st Armoured Division, which had the mobility and the anti-tank weapons needed to do so.

    The surrender of Romania took place at a time when the Soviet Army had already moved deep inside Romania, and the German 6th Army had been cut off from the rest of the Wehrmacht in Romania. The opening of hostilities between the Wehrmacht and the Romanian Army commenced after a failed coup d'état by the German ambassador.

    German–Romanian combat

     
    Military operations, 23–31 August 1944: red = Soviet Red army; yellow = Romanian troops; blue = Axis forces, frontlines

    Simultaneously, a coup d'état led by King Michael of Romania on 23 August deposed the Romanian leader Ion Antonescu and withdrew Romania from the Axis. By this time, the bulk of the German and Romanian armies had either been destroyed or cut off by the Soviet offensive, with only residual and rear-echelon forces present in the Romanian interior.[25] Hitler immediately ordered special forces under the command of Otto Skorzeny and Arthur Phleps, stationed in nearby Yugoslavia, to intervene in support of the remaining German troops, which were mostly concentrated around Bucharest, Ploiești, Brașov, and Giurgiu. General Alfred Gerstenberg, commander of the Luftwaffe defenses around the oilfields at Ploiești, had already ordered a column of motorized troops to attack Bucharest on the evening of 23 August. Open hostilities between German and Romanian forces began the following morning on the city's northern outskirts. After capturing the airfield at Otopeni, the attack stalled, and by 28 August Gerstenberg and the remaining German forces in the vicinity of Bucharest surrendered. The fighting here featured the only instance of cooperation between Romanian and Western Allied forces during the campaign, when Romanian ground troops requested a USAAF bombing raid on the Băneasa Forest. Poor coordination however led to friendly fire when American bombers accidentally hit a company of Romanian paratroopers.[26]

    Meanwhile, Brandenburger special forces landed at Boteni and Țăndărei airfields on 24 August in an attempt to immobilize the Romanian aircraft there, but they were overpowered by Romanian paratroopers and security companies before they could achieve their objectives.[27] A proposed operation to rescue Antonescu, led by Skorzeny and inspired by the Gran Sasso raid which liberated Benito Mussolini in 1943, could not materialize as Antonescu's whereabouts were unknown even to the Romanian government until 30 August, when he was handed over to the Soviets and shipped to Moscow.[28] Another group of Brandenburgers joined Gerstenberg's unsuccessful drive on Bucharest on 25 August and were captured three days later. Altogether, these events constituted one of the worst defeats suffered by the German special forces in the war.[27]

    The German situation was further complicated by the loss of Brașov and the Predeal Pass, both of which were secured by the Romanian 1st Mountain Division by 25 August, thus cutting off the most direct route of reinforcement or retreat for the remaining Wehrmacht formations to the south. The following day, the Romanian 2nd Territorial Corps captured Giurgiu and neutralized the German AA units there, taking 9,000 prisoners in the process.[29] The 25,000-strong German presence around Ploiești, consisting mostly of flak troops and their security companies, was at first locked in a stalemate with the Romanian 5th Territorial Corps, which had a similar numerical strength. Over the following days however, the Germans were gradually confined to the city's immediate surroundings and became heavily outnumbered as Romanian reinforcements began arriving from Bucharest and also from the east, together with lead elements of a Soviet motorized brigade. On 30 August, an attack by the 5th Territorial Corps, now numbering over 40,000 men, reduced the Germans to a pocket around the village of Păulești, roughly 10 km (6.2 mi) north of Ploiești. They surrendered the following day after a failed breakout attempt. About 2,000 Germans were able to escape to the Hungarian lines across the Carpathians.[30] Other major cities and industrial centers, such as Constanța, Reșița, and Sibiu were secured by the Romanians with relative ease. By 31 August, all German resistance in Romania had been cleared.[31]

    During the fighting between 23 and 31 August, the Romanian Army captured 56,000 German prisoners, who were later surrendered to the Soviet Army.[32] A further 5,000 Germans were killed in action, while Romanian casualties amounted to 8,600 killed and wounded.[31]

    Romanian sources claim that internal factors played a decisive role in Romania's switch of allegiance, while external factors only gave support; this version is markedly different from the Soviet position on the events, which holds that the offensive resulted in the Romanian coup and "liberated Romania with the help of local insurgents".[19][33]

    Aftermath

     
    Romanian and Soviet soldiers shaking hands in Bucharest after the coup, 30 August

    The German formations suffered significant irrecoverable losses, with over 115,000 prisoners taken, while Soviet casualties were unusually low for an operation of this size. The Red Army advanced into Yugoslavia and forced the rapid withdrawal of the German Army Groups E and F from Greece, Albania, and Yugoslavia to avoid being cut off. Together with Yugoslav partisans and Bulgaria, they liberated the capital city of Belgrade on 20 October.

    On the political level, the Soviet offensive triggered King Michael's coup d'état in Romania, and the switch of Romania from the Axis to the Allies. Almost immediately, border hostilities between Romania and Germany's ally Hungary erupted over territory that Romania had been forced to cede to Hungary in 1940 as a result of the Second Vienna Award.[34] Romania's defection meant the loss of a vital source of oil for Germany, leading to serious fuel shortages in the Wehrmacht by the end of 1944 and prompting Hitler's first admission that the war was lost.[35]

    Following the success of the operation, Soviet control over Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which had been occupied by the USSR in 1940, was re-established. Soviet forces proceeded to collect and expel the remaining Romanian troops. According to Anatol Petrencu, President of the Historians' Association of Moldova, over 170,000 Romanian soldiers were deported, 40,000 of which were incarcerated in a prisoner-of-war camp at Bălți, where many died of hunger, cold, disease, or execution.[36]

    Legacy

     
    Sergey Shoigu with Vadim Krasnoselsky laying flowers on 23 August.
     
    Members of the Honor Guard Company of the Moldovan National Army being inspected by Sergey Shoigu, Pavel Voicu and Victor Gaiciuc during the 24 August celebrations in 2019.

    In Moldova and the breakaway state Transnistria, August 24 is a public holiday, and is known officially as Liberation Day. King Michael's Coup on August 23 was also celebrated in neighboring Romania as Liberation from Fascist Occupation Day until 1990. In 1970, a street in Botanica was named in honor of Aleksei Belsky, a Hero of the Soviet Union and a participant in the second Jassy–Kishinev offensive. After the collapse of the USSR, the street was renamed to honor Alexandru Ioan Cuza. The village of Malinovscoe, in the Rîșcani District, named in honor of the Marshal Rodion Malinovsky was dedicated to the anniversary of the end of the operation.

    Monuments

     
    The "Monument in honor of the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Bender from the German-Romanian invaders" in the Victory Park, Bender, Moldova

    On 23 August 1969, during the 25th anniversary of the offensive, a liberation monument at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova was opened. It has been renovated three times, in 1975, 2014, and 2019.[37] The monument to the second Jassy–Kishinev offensive in the village of Chițcani was opened on 9 May 1972 and is currently the site of the monument is a mass grave, in which 1,495 soldiers who died during the operation are buried.[38] The Capul de pod Șerpeni Memorial Complex was opened in 2004.[39] Two years later, the Eternity Memorial Complex in Chișinău was opened on Liberation Day, acting as the Soviet war memorial in Moldova.

    Events

    In 2019, President Igor Dodon dedicated the year to the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Moldova, and ordered that a National Coordination Committee plan national events and celebrations throughout the country in honor of the anniversary. On the actual anniversary, celebrations were held, led by Dodon and attended by Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu at the request of Moldovan Defence Minister Pavel Voicu.[40][41][42][43][44][45] A ceremony with Dodon, Shoigu and Voicu in attendance at the Capul de pod Șerpeni Memorial Complex was held, in which Shoigu ceremonially handed Voicu the military flags of two Moldovan regiments who participated in the offensive, which until then, were kept at the Central Armed Forces Museum.[46] A separate ceremony at the Transnistria-based Operational Group of Russian Forces was also held.[47]

    Notes

    1. ^ Romanian: Operațiunea Iași-Chișinău
      Russian: Ясско-кишинёвская стратегическая наступательная операция – Jassy–Kishinev strategic offensive operation. A number of less common transliteration variants of the operation's name exists in various historical sources. Among them are Yassy–Kishinev Operation (Chris Bellamy, 1986), Iassi–Kishinev Operation (David Glantz, 1997), Second Iasi–Kishinev Operation (David Glantz, 2007) etc.

    References

    1. ^ a b c "Military planning in the twentieth century", U.S. Air Force History Office
    2. ^ United Center for Research and Training in History, Bulgarian historical review, p.7
    3. ^ Krivosheev, Grigori F. (1997). Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century. Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-280-7. (chapter on the Second Jassy–Kishinev operation in Russian)
    4. ^ a b Anescu, V.; Atanasiu, Victor (1966). România în războiul antihitlerist (in Romanian). Editura Militară. pp. 696–697. OCLC 12971370.
    5. ^ Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 145
    6. ^ a b Worldwar2.ro: "The home defense campaign – 1944"
    7. ^ (in German) Siebenbürgische Zeitung: "Ein schwarzer Tag für die Deutschen", 22 August 2004
    8. ^ Frieser 2007, p. 812.
    9. ^ Erickson, John (1983). The Road to Berlin: Continuing the History of Stalin's War with Germany. New York: Routledge. p. 345, 350, 374. ISBN 9780429314353.
    10. ^ Major R. McMichael, The Battle of Jassy–Kishinev, (1944), Military Review, July 1985, pp. 52–65
    11. ^ Dmitriy Loza, James F. Gebhardt, Commanding the Red Army's Sherman Tanks, chapter "A cocktail for the Shermans", p.43
    12. ^ Nitu, Victor. "The Tanks". www.worldwar2.ro. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
    13. ^ Friessner, Hans (1956). Verratene Schlachten. Die Tragödie der deutschen Wehrmacht in Rumänien und Ungarn (in German). Hamburg: Holsten Verlag.
    14. ^ Axworthy, page 167
    15. ^ Friessner H. Verratene schlachten. Appendix 1. – Hamburg: Holsten Verlag, 1956.
    16. ^ a b Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 164
    17. ^ Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 237
    18. ^ Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 173
    19. ^ a b (in Russian) "The Jassy–Kishinev offensive operation, 1944" 2012-11-11 at the Wayback Machine – an article by Oleg Beginin based on several Soviet history books.
    20. ^ Axworthy, page 173
    21. ^ Axworthy, page 180
    22. ^ Axworthy, page 181
    23. ^ Dumitru, Ion S. (1999). Tancuri în flăcări. Amintiri din cel de-al doilea război mondial [Tanks in flames. Memories of the Second World War] (in Romanian). Bucharest: Nemira. p. 464. OCLC 80266325.
    24. ^ Axworthy, page 183
    25. ^ Axworthy, p.188
    26. ^ Axworthy, p.190
    27. ^ a b Axworthy, p. 187
    28. ^ Axworthy, p. 188
    29. ^ Axworthy, p. 189
    30. ^ Axworthy, p. 192
    31. ^ a b Axworthy, p. 193
    32. ^ Mihai, Florin (October 25, 2007). "Sărbătoarea Armatei Române". Jurnalul Național (in Romanian). 2013-06-16 at the Wayback Machine
    33. ^ George Ciorănescu and Patrick Moore, "Romania's 35th Anniversary of 23 August 1944" 28 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Radio Free Europe, RAD Background Report/205, September 25, 1973
    34. ^ Miroiu, Andrei (2003). (PDF). Bucharest: NATO Studies Center. pp. 22–23. ISBN 973-86287-7-6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-02-28.
    35. ^ Axworthy, page 20
    36. ^ "60 de ani de la 'operațiunea Iași – Chișinău'". BBC News (in Romanian). August 24, 2004.
    37. ^ Igor Dodon a participat la ceremonia de inaugurare a Monumentului eroilor eliberatori ai capitalei, renovat — Președinția Republicii Moldova
    38. ^ . tourizmik.ru. Archived from the original on 2016-10-30. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
    39. ^ "Șerpeni Foothold". worldofmoldova.com. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
    40. ^ Russian Defense Chief Flies To Moldova For Liberation Celebrations On Saturday – UrduPoint
    41. ^ Министр обороны Российской Федерации прибыл в Кишинев : Министерство обороны Российской Федерации
    42. ^ Россия предлагает начать утилизацию боеприпасов на территории Молдовы — Президентура Республики Молдова
    43. ^ . www.interfax.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-24. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
    44. ^ . news.ru. Archived from the original on 2019-08-24. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
    45. ^ "Russian defense minister invited to celebrate Moldova's liberation from Nazis". tass.com. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
    46. ^ "Șeful statului a participat la ceremonia comemorativă de la Complexul Memorial "Capul de Pod Șerpeni"" (in Romanian). Președinția Republicii Moldova. August 24, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
    47. ^ "În cadrul "vizitei private" în Moldova, Ministrul rus al Apărării Șoigu a inspectat trupele de ocupație rusești din Transnistria și a distribuit medalii militarilor ruși". Timpul de dimineață (in Romanian). August 26, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2021.

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    • House, Jonathan M.; Glantz, David M. (1995). When Titans clashed: how the Red Army stopped Hitler. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0717-X.
    • Frieser, Karl-Heinz; Schmider, Klaus; Schönherr, Klaus; Schreiber, Gerhard; Ungváry, Kristián; Wegner, Bernd (2007). Die Ostfront 1943/44 – Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten [The Eastern Front 1943–1944: The War in the East and on the Neighbouring Fronts]. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg [Germany and the Second World War] (in German). Vol. VIII. München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2.
    • Glantz, David M. (2007). Red Storm Over the Balkans: The Failed Soviet Invasion of Romania, Spring 1944. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1465-3.
    • Maculenko, Viktor Antonovič; Balcerowiak, Ina (1959). Die Zerschlagung der Heeresgruppe Südukraine: Aug.–Sept. 1944 (in German). Berlin: Verl. d. Ministeriums f. nationale Verteidigung. OCLC 72234885.
    • Hoffmann, Dieter (2001). Die Magdeburger Division: zur Geschichte der 13. Infanterie- und 13. Panzer-Division 1935–1945 (in German). Hamburg: Mittler. ISBN 3-8132-0746-3.
    • Kissel, Hans (1964). Die Katastrophe in Rumänien 1944 (in German). Darmstadt: Wehr und Wissen Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. p. 287. OCLC 163808506.
    • Ziemke, E.F. Stalingrad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East, Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Army; 1st edition, Washington D.C., 1968
    • Dumitru, Ion S. (1999). Tancuri în flăcări. Amintiri din cel de-al doilea război mondial [Tanks in flames. Memories of the Second World War] (in Romanian). Bucharest: Nemira. p. 464. OCLC 80266325.
    • Roper, Steven D. Romania: The Unfinished Revolution (Postcommunist States and Nations), Routledge; 1 edition, 2000, ISBN 978-90-5823-027-0
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    External links

    • Soldiers of the Great War
    • (in Russian) Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive operation (20.08 – 29.08.1944)
    • (in Russian) Освобождение Кишинев 2022-04-03 at the Wayback Machine

    February 02, 2023
    second, jassy, kishinev, offensive, this, article, about, august, 1944, offensive, earlier, operation, first, jassy, kishinev, offensive, second, jassy, kishinev, offensive, notes, named, after, major, cities, iași, jassy, chișinău, kishinev, staging, area, so. This article is about the August 1944 offensive For the earlier operation see First Jassy Kishinev offensive The second Jassy Kishinev offensive 1 9 10 11 Notes 1 named after the two major cities Iași Jassy and Chișinău Kishinev in the staging area was a Soviet offensive against Axis forces which took place in Eastern Romania from 20 to 29 August 1944 during World War II The 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts of the Red Army engaged Army Group South Ukraine which consisted of combined German and Romanian formations in an operation to reoccupy Bessarabia and destroy the Axis forces in the region opening the way into Romania and the Balkans Second Jassy Kishinev offensivePart of the Eastern Front of World War IISoviet advanceDate20 29 August 1944 1 LocationEastern and southern RomaniaResultAllied victory Destruction of the German 6th Army Romania undergoes a coup and defects to the Allies Bulgaria enters the war against Nazi Germany 2 TerritorialchangesGerman forces begin evacuating the Balkans Soviet Union regains control of Bessarabia and Northern BukovinaBelligerents Soviet Union Romania 23 29 August United States Air support only Romania 20 23 August GermanyCommanders and leadersJoseph Stalin Semyon Timoshenko Rodion Malinovsky Fyodor Tolbukhin Filipp Oktyabrsky Michael IConstantin Sănătescu Gheorghe Mihail Nicolae MaciciIon Antonescu Ilie Șteflea Petre Dumitrescu Ioan Mihail Racoviță Adolf Hitler Johannes Friessner Otto WohlerMaximilian Fretter Pico Alfred GerstenbergUnits involvedsee belowsee belowStrengthSoviet Union 1 314 200 3 16 000 guns1 870 tanks2 200 aircraftRomania 465 659 4 Romania 1 163 347 5 as of 15 August 1944 800 aircraftGermany 250 000 Army Group South Ukraine Casualties and lossesSoviet Union 6 self published source Romania 8 586 killed or wounded 4 Romania 7 25 aircraft 6 self published source Germany 150 000 killed wounded or captured 8 The offensive resulted in the encirclement and destruction of the German forces allowing the Soviet Army to resume its strategic advance further into Eastern Europe It also pressured Romania to switch allegiance from the Axis powers to the Allies For the Germans this was a massive defeat which can be compared to the defeat at Stalingrad Contents 1 Background 1 1 Failure of German intelligence 2 Order of battle 2 1 Soviet 2 2 Axis forces 2 2 1 1st Romanian Armoured Division 3 Soviet strategy 4 Progress of the offensive 4 1 General 4 2 Detailed study of the Soviet breakthrough 4 3 Initial attack 4 4 Alleged Romanian collapse 4 5 German Romanian combat 5 Aftermath 6 Legacy 6 1 Monuments 6 2 Events 7 Notes 8 References 9 Bibliography 10 External linksBackground EditFurther information First Jassy Kishinev offensive Military historian David Glantz claims the Red Army had made an unsuccessful attack in the same sector an operation he referred to as the first Jassy Kishinev offensive from 8 April to 6 June 1944 In 1944 the Wehrmacht had been pressed back along its entire front line in the East By May 1944 the South Ukraine Army Group Heeresgruppe Sudukraine was pushed back towards the prewar Romanian frontier and managed to establish a line on the lower Dniester River which was however breached in two places with the Red Army holding bridgeheads After June calm returned to the sector allowing the rebuilding of the German formations Heeresgruppe Sudukraine had been until June 1944 one of the most powerful German formations in terms of armour However during the summer most of its armoured units were transferred to the Northern and Central fronts to stem Red Army advances in the Baltic states Belarus northern Ukraine and Poland On the eve of the offensive the only armoured formations left were the 1st Romanian Armored Division with the Tiger I tank 12 self published source and the German 13th Panzer and 10th Panzergrenadier Divisions Failure of German intelligence Edit Soviet deception operations prior to the attack worked well The German command staff believed that the movement of Soviet forces along the front line was a result of a troop transfer to the north Exact positions of Soviet formations were also not known until the final hours before the operation 13 By contrast the Romanians were aware of the imminent Soviet offensive and anticipated a rerun of Stalingrad with major attacks against the 3rd and 4th Armies and an encirclement of the German 6th Army Such concerns were dismissed by the German command as alarmist 14 Marshal Ion Antonescu suggested a withdrawal of Axis forces to the fortified Carpathian FNB Focșani Nămoloasa Brăila Danube line but Friessner the commander of Army Group South Ukraine was unwilling to consider such a move having already been dismissed by Hitler from Army Group North for requesting permission to retreat Order of battle EditSoviet Edit 2nd Ukrainian Front Army General Rodion Malinovsky 6th Guards Tank Army Major General Andrei Kravchenko 18th Tank Corps Major General V I Polozkov Cavalry Mechanized Group Gorshkov Major General Sergey Gorshkov 5th Guards Cavalry Corps 23rd Tank Corps Lieutenant General Alexey Akhmanov 4th Guards Army Lieutenant General Ivan Galanin 27th Army Lieutenant General Sergei Trofimenko 52nd Army Colonel General Konstantin Koroteyev 7th Guards Army Colonel General Mikhail Shumilov 40th Army Lieutenant General Filipp Zhmachenko 53rd Army Lieutenant General Ivan Managarov 3rd Ukrainian Front Army General Fyodor Tolbukhin 5th Shock Army Lieutenant General Nikolai Berzarin 4th Guards Mechanized Corps Major General Vladimir Zhdanov 7th Mechanized Corps Major General Fyodor Katkov 57th Army Lieutenant General Nikolai Gagen 46th Army Lieutenant General Ivan Shlemin 37th Army Major General Mikhail Sharokhin 6th Guards Rifle Corps 66th Rifle Corps Black Sea Fleet Sergey GorshkovAxis forces Edit Army Group South Ukraine 15 Generaloberst Johannes Friessner Army Group Dumitrescu East Romanian 3rd Army Colonel General Petre Dumitrescu XXIX Army Corps Generalleutnant Anton von Bechtoldsheim 9th Infantry Romanian 4th Mountain and 21st Infantry Divisions Romanian II Corps 4th Infantry Division and 15th Infantry Division Coastal Defence Romanian II Corps 9th Infantry Division and 110th Infantry Brigade 6th Army General der Artillerie Maximilian Fretter Pico VII Corps General der Artillerie Ernst Eberhard Hell 106th 370th and Romanian 14th Infantry Divisions XXXXIV Corps Generalleutnant Ludwig Muller 62nd 258th 282nd and 335th Infantry Divisions LII Corps General der Infanterie Erich Buschenhagen 161st 294th and 320th Infantry Divisions XXX Corps Generalleutnant Georg Wilhelm Postel 384th 302nd 257th 15th and 306th Infantry Divisions Reserve 13th Panzer Division Generalleutnant Hans Troger Romanian 1st Cavalry Division Army Group Wohler West 8th Army General der Infanterie Otto Wohler XVII Army Corps General der Gebirgstruppe Hans Kreysing 8th Jager Division and 3rd Mountain Division Romanian VII Corps 8th Infantry Division 103rd and 104th Mountain Brigade Romanian I Corps 6th Infantry Division and 20th Infantry Division Romanian V Corps Guards Division and 4th Infantry Division LVII Panzer Corps General der Panzertruppe Friedrich Kirchner 46th Romanian 1st and 13th Infantry Division and Romanian 1st Armoured Division Gross Rumanien Romanian 4th Army Lieutenant General Ioan Mihail Racoviță replaced by Ilie Șteflea on 23 August Romanian VI Corps 5th Infantry Division 102nd Mountain Brigade and German 76th Infantry Division Romanian IV Corps 3rd Infantry Division 7th Infantry Division and 102nd Mountain Brigade IV Corps General der Infanterie Friedrich Mieth 79th 376th and Romanian 11th Infantry Divisions Reserve 10th Panzergrenadier Division Generalleutnant August Schmidt 153rd Feldausbildungs Division Generalleutnant Friedrich Bayer1st Romanian Armoured Division Edit The 1st Romanian Armored Division did not have all of its units immediately available for opposing the Soviet offensive Some of its units were still in the interior as of 20 August Therefore an ad hoc organization of the Division s units which were actually available for opposing the Soviet offensive lists the Division s 80 front line tanks as follows not including the Division s 12 armored cars 16 Name Type Country of Origin QuantityPanzer IV Medium tank Nazi Germany 48Sturmgeschutz III Assault gun Nazi Germany 22TACAM T 60 Tank destroyer Romania 10The Division also had a dedicated anti tank battalion Its main weapons were entirely of Romanian origin 10 TACAM T 60 tank destroyers and 24 75 mm Reșița field anti tank guns 16 The 24 guns were the first ones produced of this model 17 The 1st Romanian Armored Division had lost 34 armored fighting vehicles by 23 August but claimed 60 Soviet tanks on 20 August alone 18 Soviet strategy Edit Soviet operations Stavka s plan for the operation was based on a double envelopment of German and Romanian armies by the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts 1 19 The 2nd Ukrainian Front was to break through north of Iași and then commit mobile formations to seize the Prut River crossings before withdrawing German units of the 6th Army could reach it It was then to unleash the 6th Tank Army to seize the Siret River crossings and the Focșani Gate a fortified line between the Siret River and the Danube The 3rd Ukrainian Front was to attack out of its bridgehead across the Dniester near Tiraspol and then release mobile formations to head north and meet the mobile formations of the 2nd Ukrainian Front This would lead to the encirclement of the German forces near Chișinău Following the successful encirclement the 6th Tank Army and the 4th Guards Mechanised Corps were to advance towards Bucharest and the Ploiești oil fields Progress of the offensive EditGeneral Edit This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed January 2008 Learn how and when to remove this template message Both the 2nd and the 3rd Ukrainian Fronts undertook a major effort leading to a double envelopment of the German Sixth Army and parts of the Eighth Army The German Romanian front line collapsed within two days of the start of the offensive and 6th Guards Mechanized Corps was inserted as the main mobile group of the offensive The initial breakthrough in the 6th Army s sector was 40 km 25 mi deep and destroyed rear area supply installations by the evening of 21 August By 23 August the 13th Panzer Division was no longer a coherent fighting force and the German 6th Army had been encircled to a depth of 100 km 62 mi The Red Army mobile group managed to cut off the retreat of the German formations into Hungary Isolated pockets of German units tried to fight their way through but only small remnants managed to escape the encirclement Soviet Operations 19 August 31 December 1944 Detailed study of the Soviet breakthrough Edit This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed January 2008 Learn how and when to remove this template message The main effort of the front was in the sector of the 37th Army commanded by Lieutenant General Sharokhin by the 66th and 6th Guards Rifle Corps The 37th Army had a 4 km 2 5 mi wide breakthrough frontage assigned to it It was divided in two groupings two corps in the first echelon and one in reserve According to the plan it was to break through the German Romanian defence lines in seven days to a distance of 110 120 km 68 75 mi with the goal of covering 15 km 9 3 mi per day during the first four days The 66th Rifle Corps under Major General Kupriyanov consisted of the 61st Guards Rifle and 333rd Rifle Divisions in the first echelon and the 244th Rifle Division in reserve Attached were the 46th Gun Artillery Brigade 152nd Howitzer Artillery Regiment 184th and 1245th Tank Destroyer Regiment 10th Mortar Regiment 26th Light Artillery Brigade 87th Recoilless Mortar Regiment 92nd and 52nd Tank Regiment 398th Assault Gun Regiment two pioneer assault battalions and two light flamethrower companies Corps frontage 4 km 2 5 mi Corps breakthrough frontage 3 5 km 2 2 mi 61st Rifle Division 1 5 km 0 93 mi 333rd Rifle Division 2 km 1 2 mi A German Panther tank in Romania August 1944 Troop density per kilometer of frontage Rifle battalions 7 7 Guns mortars 248 Tanks and assault guns 18Superiority Infantry 3 1 Artillery 7 1 Tanks and assault guns 11 2 1There is no manpower information on the divisions but they probably had between 7 000 and 7 500 men each with the 61st Guards Rifle Division perhaps mustering 8 000 9 000 The soldiers were prepared over the course of August by exercising in areas similar to those they were to attack with emphasis on special tactics needed to overcome the enemy in their sector Troops density in the 61st Guards Rifle Division s sector per kilometer of frontage was Rifle battalions 6 0 Guns mortars 234 Tanks and assault guns 18Troops density in the 333rd Rifle Division s sector per kilometer of frontage was Rifle battalions 4 5 Guns mortars 231 Tanks and assault guns 18Initial attack Edit This section has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This section relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Second Jassy Kishinev offensive news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2008 This section needs expansion You can help by adding to it January 2008 Learn how and when to remove this template message The 333rd Rifle Division put three regiments in the first echelon and had none in reserve The 61st Guards Rifle Division attacked in a standard formation with two regiments in the first echelon and one in reserve This proved to be fortunate because the right wing of the 188th Guards Rifle Regiment was unable to advance past the Plopschtubej strongpoint clarification needed The 189th Guards Rifle Regiment on the left wing made good progress though as did 333rd Rifle Division on its left The commander of the 61st Guards Rifle Division therefore inserted his reserve the 187th Guards Rifle Regiment behind the 189th Guards Rifle Regiment to exploit the breakthrough When darkness came the 244th Rifle Division was assigned to break through the second line of defense It lost its way and only arrived at 23 00 by which time elements of the 13th Panzer Division were counterattacking The German Romanian opposition was XXX and XXIX AK with the 15th and 306th German Infantry Divisions the 4th Romanian Mountain Division and the 21st Romanian Infantry Division The 13th Panzer Division was in reserve At the end of the first day the 4th Romanian Mountain General de divizie Major General Gheorghe Manoliu and 21st Romanian Divisions were almost completely destroyed while the German 15th and 306th Infantry Divisions suffered heavy losses according to a German source the 306th Infantry lost 50 in the barrage and was destroyed apart from local strong points by evening Almost no artillery survived the fire preparation The 13th Panzer Division counterattacked the 66th Rifle Corps on the first day and tried to stop its progress the next day to no avail A study on the division s history says The Russians Soviets dictated the course of events The 13th Panzer Division at the time was a materially underequiped but high manpower unit with a high proportion of recent reinforcements It only had Panzer IVs StuG IIIs and self propelled anti tank guns By the end of the second day the division was incapable of attacking or putting up meaningful resistance At the end of the second day the 3rd Ukrainian Front stood deep in the rear of the German 6th Army No more organised re supply of forces would be forthcoming and the 6th Army was doomed to be encircled and destroyed again Franz Josef Strauss who was to become an important German politician after the war served with the Panzer Regiment of the 13th Panzer Division He comments that the division had ceased to exist as a tactical unit on the third day of the Soviet offensive The enemy was everywhere In Mazulenko results of the operations of the 66th Rifle Corps were described Because of the reinforcement of the Corps and the deep battle arrangements of troops and units the enemy defenses were broken through at high speed German survivors of the initial attack stated By the end of the barrage Russian Soviet tanks were deep into our position Hoffman A German battalion commander Hauptmann Hans Diebisch Commander II IR579 306 ID commented The fire assets of the German defense were literally destroyed by the Soviet fighter bombers attacking the main line of resistance and the rear positions When the Russian infantry suddenly appeared inside the positions of the battalion and it tried to retreat the Russian air force made this impossible The battalion was dispersed and partly destroyed by air attacks and mortar and machine gun fire Alleged Romanian collapse Edit It is often alleged that the speed and totality of the German collapse were caused by Romanian betrayal for example in Heinz Guderian s 1952 autobiography Panzer Leader The study of the combat operations by Mazulenko indicates that this is probably not correct Romanian formations did resist the Soviet attack in many cases but were ill equipped to defend themselves effectively against a modern army due to a lack of modern anti tank artillery and anti air weapons In contrast to German claims for instance in the symposium notes published by David Glantz or in the history of the offensive published by Kissel it appears that the Romanian 1st Armoured Division did offer resistance against the Soviet breakthrough However Mark Axworthy states in his book that the battered 1st Armoured Division maintained cohesion experiencing some local costly successes before being forced to cross the Moldova River 20 Axworthy claims that the postwar Communist government would have obviously used this act of betrayal for propaganda purposes Also there are no Soviet reports of collaboration before 24 August 1944 21 The Soviet rates of progress imply an ineffective defense of the Romanian troops rather than active collaboration and en masse surrender 22 Ion S Dumitru was a Romanian tank commander in the battle of the Romanian 1st Armoured Division against Soviet tanks and he described the battle in his book 23 According to Dumitru fighting took place near the village of Scobalțeni in the vicinity of a town called Podu Iloaiei on 20 August The Romanian division destroyed 60 Soviet tanks and lost 30 tanks At the end of the day Romanians decided to retreat to the south after an analysis of the military results of the day The complete collapse of the German 6th Army and the Romanian 4th Army was more likely caused by the inability of the numerous horse drawn infantry divisions to maintain cohesion while retreating and under attack of the Soviet mechanized troops 24 This claim is reinforced by the fact that the only Romanian division which retained its cohesion under the Soviet attack was the 1st Armoured Division which had the mobility and the anti tank weapons needed to do so The surrender of Romania took place at a time when the Soviet Army had already moved deep inside Romania and the German 6th Army had been cut off from the rest of the Wehrmacht in Romania The opening of hostilities between the Wehrmacht and the Romanian Army commenced after a failed coup d etat by the German ambassador German Romanian combat Edit Military operations 23 31 August 1944 red Soviet Red army yellow Romanian troops blue Axis forces frontlines Simultaneously a coup d etat led by King Michael of Romania on 23 August deposed the Romanian leader Ion Antonescu and withdrew Romania from the Axis By this time the bulk of the German and Romanian armies had either been destroyed or cut off by the Soviet offensive with only residual and rear echelon forces present in the Romanian interior 25 Hitler immediately ordered special forces under the command of Otto Skorzeny and Arthur Phleps stationed in nearby Yugoslavia to intervene in support of the remaining German troops which were mostly concentrated around Bucharest Ploiești Brașov and Giurgiu General Alfred Gerstenberg commander of the Luftwaffe defenses around the oilfields at Ploiești had already ordered a column of motorized troops to attack Bucharest on the evening of 23 August Open hostilities between German and Romanian forces began the following morning on the city s northern outskirts After capturing the airfield at Otopeni the attack stalled and by 28 August Gerstenberg and the remaining German forces in the vicinity of Bucharest surrendered The fighting here featured the only instance of cooperation between Romanian and Western Allied forces during the campaign when Romanian ground troops requested a USAAF bombing raid on the Băneasa Forest Poor coordination however led to friendly fire when American bombers accidentally hit a company of Romanian paratroopers 26 Meanwhile Brandenburger special forces landed at Boteni and Țăndărei airfields on 24 August in an attempt to immobilize the Romanian aircraft there but they were overpowered by Romanian paratroopers and security companies before they could achieve their objectives 27 A proposed operation to rescue Antonescu led by Skorzeny and inspired by the Gran Sasso raid which liberated Benito Mussolini in 1943 could not materialize as Antonescu s whereabouts were unknown even to the Romanian government until 30 August when he was handed over to the Soviets and shipped to Moscow 28 Another group of Brandenburgers joined Gerstenberg s unsuccessful drive on Bucharest on 25 August and were captured three days later Altogether these events constituted one of the worst defeats suffered by the German special forces in the war 27 The German situation was further complicated by the loss of Brașov and the Predeal Pass both of which were secured by the Romanian 1st Mountain Division by 25 August thus cutting off the most direct route of reinforcement or retreat for the remaining Wehrmacht formations to the south The following day the Romanian 2nd Territorial Corps captured Giurgiu and neutralized the German AA units there taking 9 000 prisoners in the process 29 The 25 000 strong German presence around Ploiești consisting mostly of flak troops and their security companies was at first locked in a stalemate with the Romanian 5th Territorial Corps which had a similar numerical strength Over the following days however the Germans were gradually confined to the city s immediate surroundings and became heavily outnumbered as Romanian reinforcements began arriving from Bucharest and also from the east together with lead elements of a Soviet motorized brigade On 30 August an attack by the 5th Territorial Corps now numbering over 40 000 men reduced the Germans to a pocket around the village of Păulești roughly 10 km 6 2 mi north of Ploiești They surrendered the following day after a failed breakout attempt About 2 000 Germans were able to escape to the Hungarian lines across the Carpathians 30 Other major cities and industrial centers such as Constanța Reșița and Sibiu were secured by the Romanians with relative ease By 31 August all German resistance in Romania had been cleared 31 During the fighting between 23 and 31 August the Romanian Army captured 56 000 German prisoners who were later surrendered to the Soviet Army 32 A further 5 000 Germans were killed in action while Romanian casualties amounted to 8 600 killed and wounded 31 Romanian sources claim that internal factors played a decisive role in Romania s switch of allegiance while external factors only gave support this version is markedly different from the Soviet position on the events which holds that the offensive resulted in the Romanian coup and liberated Romania with the help of local insurgents 19 33 Aftermath Edit Romanian and Soviet soldiers shaking hands in Bucharest after the coup 30 August The German formations suffered significant irrecoverable losses with over 115 000 prisoners taken while Soviet casualties were unusually low for an operation of this size The Red Army advanced into Yugoslavia and forced the rapid withdrawal of the German Army Groups E and F from Greece Albania and Yugoslavia to avoid being cut off Together with Yugoslav partisans and Bulgaria they liberated the capital city of Belgrade on 20 October On the political level the Soviet offensive triggered King Michael s coup d etat in Romania and the switch of Romania from the Axis to the Allies Almost immediately border hostilities between Romania and Germany s ally Hungary erupted over territory that Romania had been forced to cede to Hungary in 1940 as a result of the Second Vienna Award 34 Romania s defection meant the loss of a vital source of oil for Germany leading to serious fuel shortages in the Wehrmacht by the end of 1944 and prompting Hitler s first admission that the war was lost 35 Following the success of the operation Soviet control over Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina which had been occupied by the USSR in 1940 was re established Soviet forces proceeded to collect and expel the remaining Romanian troops According to Anatol Petrencu President of the Historians Association of Moldova over 170 000 Romanian soldiers were deported 40 000 of which were incarcerated in a prisoner of war camp at Bălți where many died of hunger cold disease or execution 36 Legacy Edit Sergey Shoigu with Vadim Krasnoselsky laying flowers on 23 August Members of the Honor Guard Company of the Moldovan National Army being inspected by Sergey Shoigu Pavel Voicu and Victor Gaiciuc during the 24 August celebrations in 2019 In Moldova and the breakaway state Transnistria August 24 is a public holiday and is known officially as Liberation Day King Michael s Coup on August 23 was also celebrated in neighboring Romania as Liberation from Fascist Occupation Day until 1990 In 1970 a street in Botanica was named in honor of Aleksei Belsky a Hero of the Soviet Union and a participant in the second Jassy Kishinev offensive After the collapse of the USSR the street was renamed to honor Alexandru Ioan Cuza The village of Malinovscoe in the Rișcani District named in honor of the Marshal Rodion Malinovsky was dedicated to the anniversary of the end of the operation Monuments Edit The Monument in honor of the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Bender from the German Romanian invaders in the Victory Park Bender Moldova On 23 August 1969 during the 25th anniversary of the offensive a liberation monument at the Academy of Sciences of Moldova was opened It has been renovated three times in 1975 2014 and 2019 37 The monument to the second Jassy Kishinev offensive in the village of Chițcani was opened on 9 May 1972 and is currently the site of the monument is a mass grave in which 1 495 soldiers who died during the operation are buried 38 The Capul de pod Șerpeni Memorial Complex was opened in 2004 39 Two years later the Eternity Memorial Complex in Chișinău was opened on Liberation Day acting as the Soviet war memorial in Moldova Events Edit In 2019 President Igor Dodon dedicated the year to the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of Moldova and ordered that a National Coordination Committee plan national events and celebrations throughout the country in honor of the anniversary On the actual anniversary celebrations were held led by Dodon and attended by Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu at the request of Moldovan Defence Minister Pavel Voicu 40 41 42 43 44 45 A ceremony with Dodon Shoigu and Voicu in attendance at the Capul de pod Șerpeni Memorial Complex was held in which Shoigu ceremonially handed Voicu the military flags of two Moldovan regiments who participated in the offensive which until then were kept at the Central Armed Forces Museum 46 A separate ceremony at the Transnistria based Operational Group of Russian Forces was also held 47 Notes Edit Romanian Operațiunea Iași ChișinăuRussian Yassko kishinyovskaya strategicheskaya nastupatelnaya operaciya Jassy Kishinev strategic offensive operation A number of less common transliteration variants of the operation s name exists in various historical sources Among them are Yassy Kishinev Operation Chris Bellamy 1986 Iassi Kishinev Operation David Glantz 1997 Second Iasi Kishinev Operation David Glantz 2007 etc References Edit a b c Military planning in the twentieth century U S Air Force History Office United Center for Research and Training in History Bulgarian historical review p 7 Krivosheev Grigori F 1997 Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century Greenhill Books ISBN 1 85367 280 7 chapter on the Second Jassy Kishinev operation in Russian a b Anescu V Atanasiu Victor 1966 Romania in războiul antihitlerist in Romanian Editura Militară pp 696 697 OCLC 12971370 Mark Axworthy London Arms and Armour 1995 Third Axis Fourth Ally Romanian Armed Forces in the European War 1941 1945 p 145 a b Worldwar2 ro The home defense campaign 1944 in German Siebenburgische Zeitung Ein schwarzer Tag fur die Deutschen 22 August 2004 Frieser 2007 p 812 Erickson John 1983 The Road to Berlin Continuing the History of Stalin s War with Germany New York Routledge p 345 350 374 ISBN 9780429314353 Major R McMichael The Battle of Jassy Kishinev 1944 Military Review July 1985 pp 52 65 Dmitriy Loza James F Gebhardt Commanding the Red Army s Sherman Tanks chapter A cocktail for the Shermans p 43 Nitu Victor The Tanks www worldwar2 ro Retrieved September 23 2020 Friessner Hans 1956 Verratene Schlachten Die Tragodie der deutschen Wehrmacht in Rumanien und Ungarn in German Hamburg Holsten Verlag Axworthy page 167 Friessner H Verratene schlachten Appendix 1 Hamburg Holsten Verlag 1956 a b Mark Axworthy London Arms and Armour 1995 Third Axis Fourth Ally Romanian Armed Forces in the European War 1941 1945 p 164 Mark Axworthy London Arms and Armour 1995 Third Axis Fourth Ally Romanian Armed Forces in the European War 1941 1945 p 237 Mark Axworthy London Arms and Armour 1995 Third Axis Fourth Ally Romanian Armed Forces in the European War 1941 1945 p 173 a b in Russian The Jassy Kishinev offensive operation 1944 Archived 2012 11 11 at the Wayback Machine an article by Oleg Beginin based on several Soviet history books Axworthy page 173 Axworthy page 180 Axworthy page 181 Dumitru Ion S 1999 Tancuri in flăcări Amintiri din cel de al doilea război mondial Tanks in flames Memories of the Second World War in Romanian Bucharest Nemira p 464 OCLC 80266325 Axworthy page 183 Axworthy p 188 Axworthy p 190 a b Axworthy p 187 Axworthy p 188 Axworthy p 189 Axworthy p 192 a b Axworthy p 193 Mihai Florin October 25 2007 Sărbătoarea Armatei Romane Jurnalul Național in Romanian Archived 2013 06 16 at the Wayback Machine George Ciorănescu and Patrick Moore Romania s 35th Anniversary of 23 August 1944 Archived 28 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Radio Free Europe RAD Background Report 205 September 25 1973 Miroiu Andrei 2003 Balancing versus bandwagoning in the Romanian decisions concerning the initiation of military conflict PDF Bucharest NATO Studies Center pp 22 23 ISBN 973 86287 7 6 Archived from the original PDF on 2008 02 28 Axworthy page 20 60 de ani de la operațiunea Iași Chișinău BBC News in Romanian August 24 2004 Igor Dodon a participat la ceremonia de inaugurare a Monumentului eroilor eliberatori ai capitalei renovat Președinția Republicii Moldova Na Kickanskom placdarme tourizmik ru Archived from the original on 2016 10 30 Retrieved 2017 01 30 Șerpeni Foothold worldofmoldova com Retrieved January 23 2021 Russian Defense Chief Flies To Moldova For Liberation Celebrations On Saturday UrduPoint Ministr oborony Rossijskoj Federacii pribyl v Kishinev Ministerstvo oborony Rossijskoj Federacii Rossiya predlagaet nachat utilizaciyu boepripasov na territorii Moldovy Prezidentura Respubliki Moldova Moldovan defense minister says expects Russian counterpart s visit Interfax www interfax com Archived from the original on 2019 08 24 Retrieved 2019 08 24 Moldova is not ready for Shoigu s visit NEWS ru news ru Archived from the original on 2019 08 24 Retrieved 2019 08 24 Russian defense minister invited to celebrate Moldova s liberation from Nazis tass com Retrieved 2019 08 24 Șeful statului a participat la ceremonia comemorativă de la Complexul Memorial Capul de Pod Șerpeni in Romanian Președinția Republicii Moldova August 24 2019 Retrieved January 23 2021 In cadrul vizitei private in Moldova Ministrul rus al Apărării Șoigu a inspectat trupele de ocupație rusești din Transnistria și a distribuit medalii militarilor ruși Timpul de dimineață in Romanian August 26 2019 Retrieved January 23 2021 Bibliography EditArt of War Symposium From the Dnepr to the Vistula Soviet Offensive Operations November 1943 August 1944 A transcript of Proceedings Center for Land Warfare US Army War College 29 April 3 May 1985 Col D M Glantz ed Fort Leavewnworth Kansas 1992 Axworthy Mark Scafeș Cornel Crǎciunoiu Cristian 1995 Third Axis Fourth Ally Romanian Armed Forces in the European War 1941 1945 London Arms amp Armour ISBN 1 85409 267 7 House Jonathan M Glantz David M 1995 When Titans clashed how the Red Army stopped Hitler Lawrence University Press of Kansas ISBN 0 7006 0717 X Frieser Karl Heinz Schmider Klaus Schonherr Klaus Schreiber Gerhard Ungvary Kristian Wegner Bernd 2007 Die Ostfront 1943 44 Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten The Eastern Front 1943 1944 The War in the East and on the Neighbouring Fronts Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg Germany and the Second World War in German Vol VIII Munchen Deutsche Verlags Anstalt ISBN 978 3 421 06235 2 Glantz David M 2007 Red Storm Over the Balkans The Failed Soviet Invasion of Romania Spring 1944 University Press of Kansas ISBN 978 0 7006 1465 3 Maculenko Viktor Antonovic Balcerowiak Ina 1959 Die Zerschlagung der Heeresgruppe Sudukraine Aug Sept 1944 in German Berlin Verl d Ministeriums f nationale Verteidigung OCLC 72234885 Hoffmann Dieter 2001 Die Magdeburger Division zur Geschichte der 13 Infanterie und 13 Panzer Division 1935 1945 in German Hamburg Mittler ISBN 3 8132 0746 3 Kissel Hans 1964 Die Katastrophe in Rumanien 1944 in German Darmstadt Wehr und Wissen Verlagsgesellschaft mbH p 287 OCLC 163808506 Ziemke E F Stalingrad to Berlin The German Defeat in the East Office of the Chief of Military History U S Army 1st edition Washington D C 1968 Dumitru Ion S 1999 Tancuri in flăcări Amintiri din cel de al doilea război mondial Tanks in flames Memories of the Second World War in Romanian Bucharest Nemira p 464 OCLC 80266325 Roper Steven D Romania The Unfinished Revolution Postcommunist States and Nations Routledge 1 edition 2000 ISBN 978 90 5823 027 0 Tismăneanu Vladimir 2003 Stalinism for All Seasons A Political History of Romanian Communism Berkeley University of California Press p 86 ISBN 0 520 23747 1 External links EditSoldiers of the Great War in Russian Second Jassy Kishinev offensive operation 20 08 29 08 1944 in Russian Osvobozhdenie Kishinev Archived 2022 04 03 at the Wayback Machine Portals Military of Germany Romania Soviet Union World War II Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Second Jassy Kishinev offensive amp oldid 1136123331, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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