The Heiligenbeil Pocket or Heiligenbeil Cauldron () was the site of a major
encirclement battle on the
Eastern Front during the closing weeks of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, in which the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
's
4th Army was almost entirely destroyed during the Soviet
Braunsberg Offensive Operation (13–22 March 1945). The
pocket was located near
Heiligenbeil in
East Prussia
East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
in
eastern Germany (now
Mamonovo,
Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast () is the westernmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is a Enclave and exclave, semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea within the Baltic region of Prussia (region), Prussia, surrounded by Pola ...
), and the battle, part of a broader Soviet offensive into the region of
East Prussia
East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
, lasted from 26 January until 29 March 1945.
Attack on East Prussia
The
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
's
East Prussian Operation commenced on 13 January 1945, with the objective of rolling up the substantial German defences in
East Prussia
East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
and cutting off the provincial capital of
Königsberg
Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
. The Soviet forces were opposed by the German
Army Group Centre, including the
Fourth Army, under the command of General
Friedrich Hossbach. While the
3rd Belorussian Front initially met strong resistance, the outnumbered German forces soon began to suffer serious ammunition shortages. Colonel-General
Georg-Hans Reinhardt
Georg-Hans Reinhardt (1 March 1887 – 23 November 1963) was a German general of the ''Wehrmacht'' during World War II, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes. He commanded the 3rd Panzer Army from 1941 to 1944, and Army Group Centre in 1 ...
, commander of Army Group Centre, warned of the seriousness of the situation as early as 19 January, but was not permitted to make a phased withdrawal.
The pocket forms
To save his units from encirclement, Hossbach started to pull the Fourth Army back to the west in direct contravention of orders, abandoning the prepared defences around
Lötzen on 23 January.
[Duffy, p. 172] By this time,
Rokossovsky's
2nd Belorussian Front
The 2nd Belorussian Front (, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussian"), was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group.
I ...
had already broken through on Hossbach's right; the Soviet
5th Guards Tank Army headed for the Baltic coast, cutting off most of East Prussia. Through a series of forced marches in atrocious winter weather, and accompanied by thousands of civilians, the Fourth Army moved towards
Elbing, still held by the
German Second Army, but found its path blocked by Soviet forces of the
48th Army to the east of the town.
An attack beginning on the night of 26 January initially resulted in lead elements of the
28th Jäger Division, breaking through to Elbing, where they linked up with the
7th Panzer Division; however German forces were driven back during the next four days after the 48th Army had regrouped. Hossbach's units now found themselves pushed into a ''Kessel'' (pocket) with their backs to the
Frisches Haff.
Hossbach was relieved of command on 29 January, and was replaced by General
Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller. His three corps were given an order to cease their breakout attempt on 30 January.
[Duffy, p. 173] Along with some units of Second Army, they found themselves encircled in the area of Heiligenbeil and
Braunsberg; many of the civilians trapped with them attempted to escape across the frozen Haff to the
Frische Nehrung and thence to
Pillau or
Danzig, reinforced paths marked by lamps having been constructed across the ice by Fourth Army's engineers.
[Though many accounts describe the ''Wehrmacht'' assisting civilians in escaping East Prussia, others describe civilians being forced off the road along the Frische Nehrung to make way for military traffic, and male refugees being compelled to join ''Volkssturm'' units (see accounts in Hastings, Chapter 10).]
Civilian breakout
As the Nazis had effectively forbidden evacuation of East Prussia's civil population, when the Red Army attacked on 12 January 1945, civilians began a mass flight west to the Baltic sea coast. Many people were killed by Soviet troops, and by severe frost. At the coast, particularly in the harbour of Pillau, the ''
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...
'' managed to evacuate tens of thousands of civilians over the Baltic sea, and encouraged fierce resistance on land, since every delay to the Red Army meant the rescue of additional old people, women and children.
Attempts by the Red Army to break through the German perimeter early in February were fought back, with the Fourth Army receiving heavy artillery support from the German cruisers ''
Admiral Scheer'' and ''
Lützow'' firing across the Haff from the Baltic sea into the
Frauenburg end of the pocket.
[Duffy, p. 204] Frauenburg itself was taken on February 9, in fierce fighting involving elements of the
170th Infantry Division.
[Se]
RIA Novosti archives
During one Soviet attack the
3rd Belorussian Front's commander, General
Ivan Chernyakhovsky, was killed by a shell splinter near
Mehlsack. His successor, Marshal
Aleksandr Vasilevsky, having effectively contained the remains of the Army Group, concentrated on assembling reinforcements over the next month. Under the supervision of Major-General
Karl Henke, the Germans continued to attempt resupply and evacuations of wounded along the Frische Nehrung, often at night to avoid air attack. A long, narrow corridor through to the besieged garrison of Königsberg was also maintained against the attacks of the
11th Guards Army through a joint effort by the garrison, and by the
Großdeutschland Panzergrenadier Division.
[Duffy, pp. 161–2]
Though the German forces in East Prussia had no realistic hope of victory, and were severely short of manpower, ammunition, and fuel, they continued to offer strong resistance, inflicting extremely high casualties (584,788+) on the Red Army during the East Prussian Operation.
[Official Soviet figures gave a total of 584,788 casualties for the entire area of the offensive during the period from 13 March – 25 April.] ''Ad hoc'' battle groups were often bolstered by civilians press-ganged into the ''
Volkssturm
The (, ) was a ''levée en masse'' national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was set up by the Nazi Party on the orders of Adolf Hitler and established on 25 September 1944. It was staffed by conscri ...
'', and many East Prussian villages and towns had been turned into fortified strongpoints, in addition to the substantial fortifications centred on
Heilsberg.
[Hastings, p. 307] The fighting was prolonged in order to keep open civilian escape routes, and because requests to evacuate the main body of the Fourth Army were refused by the
German High Command.
The Soviet attack, however, came tragically late for the remaining inmates of the
Heiligenbeil concentration camp, along with other camps in the area. Even as Hossbach's forces were attempting to break out of East Prussia, the prisoners were
driven to the coast at Palmnicken and ordered to commit suicide by marching into the Baltic Sea.
Destruction of the 4th Army

The pocket was finally crushed in an operation lasting from 13 March – 29 March, officially known as the Braunsberg Offensive Operation, in preparation for the
final assault on Königsberg,
The Red Army quickly moved to cut communication between the ''Kessel'' and Königsberg, their troops reaching the coastline about 5 miles from the city on 15 March. A crossing of the
Frisching River was forced in a night attack on the night of 17–18 March, further rolling up German defences of the ''Kessel'' from the east.
[Lanza, p. 274] Clearer weather from 18 March allowed an intensive aerial bombardment of the Fourth Army's positions.
[Duffy, p. 205]
With most communications cut, German forces remaining in the pocket were now faced with either death or being taken prisoner. Some 'elite' units, such as the
Fallschirm-Panzergrenadier Division 2 Hermann Göring and the
24th Panzer Division
The 24th Panzer Division was formed in late 1941 from the 1st Cavalry Division (Wehrmacht), 1st Cavalry Division based at Königsberg.
The division fought on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front from June 1942 to January 1943, when it ...
, were evacuated by sea, but others were gradually cut off in a series of small pockets on the coast, in some cases actually digging into the coastal embankments or beaches. POW reports suggested that many German units were now seriously understrength, with the
50th Infantry Division, for example, able to field only a single incomplete regiment.
[Se]
RIA Novosti archives
The Soviets finally took Braunsberg on 20 March. Heiligenbeil, covering the small port of Rosenberg, was attacked with
phosphorus bombs on 22 March and successfully stormed on 25 March, the town suffering almost complete destruction. Rosenberg itself was taken on 26 March, with the remnants of the Fourth Army falling back on the Kahlholzer Haken
peninsula
A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula.
Etymology
The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
, where the perimeter was defended by troops from the
Panzerkorps "Großdeutschland" and the 28th Jäger Division. The last evacuations took place on the morning of 29 March from Kahlholz and
Balga, where a remnant of the
562nd Volksgrenadier Division was destroyed forming a rearguard (its commander,
Helmuth Hufenbach, receiving a posthumous promotion to
Major-General).
[Duffy, p. 206][Future German President Richard von Weizsäcker was amongst the military personnel on the final boats from Balga.] Soviet sources claimed 93,000 enemy dead and 46,448 taken prisoner during the operation; German sources claim that many troops in the ''Kessel'' were successfully evacuated to the Frische Nehrung. Given the chaos prevailing at this stage of the war, it is unlikely that accurate figures will ever be determined, many soldiers having simply disappeared.
[Meier-Welcker, in ''Die Abwehrkämpfe am Nordflügel der Ostfront 1944–45'', states that 57,585 troops and a further 70,535 wounded were evacuated from Rosenberg and Balga after 13 April (pp. 374–5). Soviet figures from Duffy, p. 206] Further elements of the Fourth Army continued to resist around Pillau, and latterly on the Frische Nehrung, until May.
The 4th Army's archives were buried in a forest near the town of Heiligenbeil (now known as
Mamonovo,
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
), in an area still littered with debris from the final battles.
[Koenigsberger Expres]
Das Niemandsland gibt ein Geheimnis preis. Koenigsberger Express, ed. 2004/7
/ref>
Units
Red Army
The following Soviet units were involved in completing the encirclement of the ''Kessel'':
*2nd Belorussian Front
The 2nd Belorussian Front (, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussian"), was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group.
I ...
(Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky)
** 5th Guards Tank Army
** 48th Army
** 3rd Army
** 50th Army
* 3rd Belorussian Front (General Aleksandr Vasilevsky)
** 31st Army
** 28th Army
** 1st Air Army
Wehrmacht
German records list the following units with the Fourth Army at the time of the ''Kessels collapse:
* VI Corps (General Horst Großmann)
** 102nd Infantry Division
**24th Panzer Division
The 24th Panzer Division was formed in late 1941 from the 1st Cavalry Division (Wehrmacht), 1st Cavalry Division based at Königsberg.
The division fought on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front from June 1942 to January 1943, when it ...
** 349th Volksgrenadier Division
* XX Corps (General Rudolf Freiherr von Roman)
** 131st Infantry Division
** 61st Volksgrenadier Division
** 21st Infantry Division
** 14th Infantry Division
** 292nd Infantry Division
** 56th Infantry Division
*XXXXI Panzer Corps
XXXXI Panzer Corps (also written as: XLI Panzer Corps) was a Panzer (armoured) corps in the German German Army (Wehrmacht), Army during World War II.
Operational history
The corps was originally formed, as the XXXXI Corps, on 5 February 1940 in ...
(General Helmuth Weidling)
** 170th Infantry Division
** Fallschirm-Panzergrenadier Division 2 Hermann Göring
** Panzergrenadier Division "Großdeutschland"
** 28th Jäger Division
** 562nd Volksgrenadier Division
* 50th Infantry Division
Nearly all German units would have been at well below divisional strength even at the start of the East Prussian Operation; also some additional units involved (such as the 299th Infantry Division and 18th Panzergrenadier Division) were destroyed, disbanded or completely evacuated before the ''Kessel'' collapsed.
Footnotes
References
* Beevor, Antony. ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945'', Penguin Books, 2002,
*Duffy, Christopher. ''Red Storm on the Reich: The Soviet March on Germany, 1945'', Routledge, 1991,
*Hastings, Max. ''Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944–1945'', Macmillan, 2004,
*Lanza, Conrad. ''Perimeters in Paragraphs'', ''Field Artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support army, armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement.
Until the ear ...
'', May 1945
{{Coord missing, Germany
Conflicts in 1945
1945 in Germany
East Prussia in World War II
Military operations of World War II involving Germany
Battles and operations of the Soviet–German War
Strategic operations of the Red Army in World War II
Encirclements in World War II
January 1945 in Europe
February 1945 in Europe
March 1945 in Europe