The heroic defence of the Brest Fortress began on the very first day of the Great Patriotic War.

The enemy expected to take the fortress by a swift assault. However, the Nazi only managed to capture the bridges over the Bug River, to break into the town of Brest, and to come close to the walls of the fortress. Nevertheless, the enemy attempt to take the fortress on the run failed.

The fortress’s outnumbered garrison engaged into a battle against heavy odds. Soldiers and commanders, loyal to their military oath, transformed a small patch of land into an impassable stronghold of resistance.

The realization of their desperate situation tripled the defenders« moral strength. They managed to rally all men and women in fighting condition, to organize them into battle groups. Applying bold counterattack, arranging ambushes and night raids, the heroic defenders of the Brest Fortress inflicted damage on the enemy and pulled more Nazi troops to the location.

In late June, the enemy launched the general assault on the fortress. Powerful air strikes, heavy artillery fire, infantry and tank attack allowed the Nazis to seize a large area of the fortress and destroy most of the defenders.

At that time a separate group of soldiers, still maintaining some buildings of the fortress, its deep caves and passages, made a final stand against the enemy. The last pockets of the defence nestled in the Citadel and the Kobrin stronghold. It is in that area that the inscriptions left by the defenders of the fortress, testifying to their heroic and selfless struggle, were found.

Neither hunger, nor thirst, nor even heavy losses could break the indomitable will and courage of the immortal garrison: the heroic defence of the Brest Fortress went on for about a month. It demonstrated to the world the unparalleled determination and grim courage, the superhuman power of the Soviet soldiers. It was a legendary feat of the people who infinitely loved their country and sacrificed their lives for it. On July 28, 1944 during the Lublin-Brest Offensive Operation, the Soviet troops liberated Brest by storm.

The fortress on the Bug River has become the symbol of the eternal glory of the fallen heroes. In 1971 the place was conferred the status of a memorial complex thus immortalizing the glory of its fearless multinational defenders. A number of monuments in memory of the heroes were built on the premises; a museum of the Brest Fortress defence was established.

For more information on war heroes visit Our Victory social project official website.

The Brest Fortress today