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49-752: In October 1944, the Szent László Infantry Division was formed. Elements of the division saw action for the first time on 19 December when they were used as emergency troops to plug gaps in the front. This was just before the Battle of Budapest . The units engaged suffered heavy losses during the fighting in Hungary. The unit did not fight as a division until April, 1945. By then, it had received manpower from several other divisions to cover its earlier losses. The division continued to fight in northern Croatia and southern Austria until

98-513: A breakout. But the glider flights ( DFS 230 ) bringing in supplies had ended a few days earlier and parachute drops had also been discontinued. In desperation, Pfeffer-Wildenbruch decided to lead the remnants of his troops out of Budapest. The German commander did not typically consult the Hungarian commander of the city. However, Pfeffer-Wildenbruch now uncharacteristically included General Iván Hindy in this last desperate breakout attempt. On

147-478: A heavy attack from three directions simultaneously. Soviet artillery was able to dominate the entire city and to shell the remaining Axis defenders, who were concentrated in less than two square kilometres and suffering from malnutrition and disease. Despite the lack of supplies, the Axis troops refused to surrender and defended every street and house. By this time, some captured Hungarian soldiers defected and fought on

196-566: A much-needed pause in operations, resumed its offensive on 19 December. On 26 December, a road linking Budapest to Vienna was seized by Soviet troops, thereby completing the encirclement. The Nazi-supported "Leader of the Nation" ( Nemzetvezető ), Ferenc Szálasi , had already fled from the city on 9 December. As a result of the Soviet link-up, nearly 33,000 German and 37,000 Hungarian soldiers, as well as over 800,000 civilians, became trapped within

245-458: Is unclear, (see here) but both leaders of the groups died. One possible version of the events is recounted below. The first, belonging to the 3rd Ukrainian Front, arrived at 10:00 AM in the Budafok sector and was taken to the headquarters of General Pfeffer-Wildenbruch. Their negotiating effort was a failure; Pfeffer-Wildenbruch refused the surrender conditions and sent the Soviet agents back to

294-462: The 13th Panzer Division , 60th Panzergrenadier Division Feldherrnhalle , 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer and the 22nd SS Volunteer Cavalry Division Maria Theresa . The Hungarian I Corps was virtually annihilated, as well as the 10th and 12th Infantry Divisions and the 1st Armored Division. The Soviet forces suffered between 100,000 and 160,000 casualties. The Soviets claimed that they had trapped 180,000 German and Hungarian 'fighters' in

343-556: The Allies . Upon hearing of Horthy's efforts, Hitler launched Operation Panzerfaust to keep Hungary on the Axis side, and forced Horthy to abdicate. Horthy and his government were replaced by the far-right National Socialist Arrow Cross Party , led by "Hungarist" Ferenc Szálasi . As the new ultra-nationalist government and its German allies prepared the defense of the capital, IX SS Mountain Corps , consisting of two Waffen-SS divisions,

392-1048: The Battle of Kursk , the Battle of Belgorod , the Battle of the Dnieper , the Battle of the Korsun–Cherkassy Pocket , the Uman–Botoșani Offensive , the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive , the Battle of Debrecen , the Budapest Offensive , and the Prague Offensive . At the end of the war in Europe it was moved to the Far East and fought in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria . The army was disbanded in October 1945. The 53rd Army

441-752: The Budapest Offensive north of Abádszalók . In conjunction with the 110th Guards Rifle Division and 3rd Guards Airborne Division of the 27th Army it captured Eger on November 30. The 53rd Army then attacked along the Lučenec axis, reached the Hron at the end of February 1945, and then went on the defensive. During the Bratislava-Brno Operation the 53rd Army crossed the Hron on March 25 and captured Vráble on March 28, Nitra on March 30, Hlohovec on April 1, and Hodonín on April 13. Brno

490-817: The Central Asian Military District , 53rd Army was described by the Combat composition of the Soviet Army as including 58th Rifle Corps (68th and 83rd Mountain Rifle Divisions , 389th Rifle Division ), 4th Cavalry Corps ( 18th , 20th, 39th Cavalry Divisions ), 44th Cavalry Division , and 72nd Independent Mountain Rifle Regiment (огсп) on 1 October 1941. The 53rd Army was disbanded in December 1941. The 53rd Army

539-601: The Kirovohrad axis. By December 24 it had reached the line of Krasnosele and Znamianka , where it was stopped by German reserves. On January 5, 1944 the attack was resumed and the defending German units were destroyed. At the end of January the 53rd Army fought in the Korsun-Shevchenkovsky Offensive and attacked in the direction of Zlatopol . In the Uman–Botoșani Offensive it captured Balta on March 29, Kotovsk three days later and, at

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588-641: The 2nd Ukrainian Front and arrived at 11:00 AM in the Kispest sector. When the emissaries arrived, the German garrison fired at them. The leader of the emissaries, Captain Miklós Steinmetz, appealed for a negotiation, but to no avail. He was killed together with his two subordinates when the German fire struck the Soviet car. 18th Gds Rifle Corps: VII Romanian Army Corps: Tank units Used during storm of Pest: (Totaling 22 tanks) Used during

637-492: The 53rd Army advanced more than 200 km and in cooperation with other armies captured Kharkov on August 23 and Poltava a month later. On October 5 it reached the Dnieper . The 53rd Army forced the Dnieper, captured a bridgehead southeast of Kremenchug , and fought hard until mid-November to retain its foothold on the right bank. The Army was transferred to the 2nd Ukrainian Front on October 20 and attacked along

686-560: The 53rd was on the Hungarian border northeast of Arad . In October it fought in the Battle of Debrecen, during which Army commander German Tarasov was killed on 19 October. In cooperation with the 1st Guards Mechanized Cavalry Group, it broke through German defenses and advanced 100 kilometers to the Tisza near Polgár . Between November 7 and 10, 1944, the 53rd Army forced the Tisza during

735-737: The Castle among them. All seven bridges spanning the Danube were destroyed. 53rd Army (Soviet Union) Northwestern Front Steppe Front 2nd Ukrainian Front Battle of Kursk Battle of Belgorod Battle of the Dnieper Battle of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket Uman–Botoșani Offensive Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive Battle of Debrecen Budapest Offensive Prague Offensive The 53rd Army

784-522: The Germans had in Stalingrad . They were able to take advantage of the urban terrain by relying heavily on snipers and sappers to advance. Fighting broke out in the sewers , as both sides used them for troop movements. Six Soviet marines even managed to get to Castle Hill and capture a German officer before returning to their own lines – still underground. Such feats were rare because of ambushes in

833-519: The Soviet command sent four more divisions to meet the threat, and recalled the Romanian divisions on 15 January because of their inefficiency. This Soviet action stopped the offensive near Bicske , less than 20 kilometers west of Budapest. The Germans were forced to withdraw on 12 January. They then launched Operation Konrad II on 7 January. The IV SS Panzer Corps attacked from Esztergom toward Budapest Airport to capture it and improve ability to supply

882-450: The Soviet side. They were known collectively as the " Volunteer Regiment of Buda ". After capturing the southern railway station during a two-day bloodbath, Soviet troops advanced to Castle Hill. On 10 February, after a violent assault, Soviet marines established a bridgehead on Castle Hill, while almost cutting the remaining garrison in half. Hitler still forbade the German commander, Pfeffer-Wildenbruch, to abandon Budapest or to attempt

931-458: The Soviets. Before the Danube froze, some supplies could be sent on barges , under the cover of darkness and fog. Food shortages were more and more common and soldiers had to rely on finding their own sources of sustenance, some even resorting to eating their horses. The extreme temperatures also affected German and Hungarian troops. Soviet troops quickly found themselves in the same situation as

980-459: The attackers, greatly slowing the Soviet advance. The main citadel, ( Gellért Hill ), was defended by Waffen-SS troops who successfully repelled several Soviet assaults. Nearby, Soviet and German forces were fighting for the city cemetery amongst shell-opened tombs; it would last for several days. The fighting on Margaret Island , in the middle of the Danube, was particularly merciless. The island

1029-455: The battlefield. While the emissaries were en route to their camps, the Germans suddenly opened fire, killing Captain I. A. Ostapenko. Lieutenant N. F. Orlov and Sergeant Ye. T. Gorbatyuk quickly jumped into a trench and narrowly escaped. Owing to heavy German fire, the Soviets were not able to retrieve Ostapenko's body until the night of 29 December. He was buried at Budafok with full military honors. The second group of emissaries belonged to

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1078-583: The city by air. This offensive was halted near the airport. Street fighting in Budapest increased in intensity. Supply became a decisive factor because of the loss of the Ferihegy airport on 27 December 1944, just before the start of the siege. Until 9 January 1945, German troops were able to use some of the main avenues as well as the park next to Buda Castle as landing zones for aircraft and gliders , although they were under constant artillery fire from

1127-549: The city without delay. During the night of 28 December 1944, the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Front contacted the besieged Germans by radios and loudspeakers, and told them about a negotiation for the city's capitulation . The Soviets promised to provide humane surrender conditions and not to mistreat the German and Hungarian prisoners. They also promised that the emissaries' groups would not bring weapons and would appear in cars with white flags. The next day, two groups of Soviet emissaries appeared as expected. What happened to them later

1176-630: The city. Refusing to authorize a withdrawal, Adolf Hitler had declared Budapest a fortress city ( Festung Budapest ), which was to be defended to the last man. Waffen SS General Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch , the commander of the IX Waffen SS Alpine Corps , was put in charge of the city's defenses. Budapest was a major target for Joseph Stalin . The Yalta Conference was approaching, and Stalin wanted to display his full strength to Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt . He therefore ordered General Rodion Malinovsky to seize

1225-515: The civilians, used heavy fog to their advantage. The first wave managed to surprise the waiting Soviet soldiers and artillery; their sheer numbers allowed many to escape. The second and third waves were less fortunate. Soviet artillery and rocket batteries bracketed the escape area, with deadly results that killed thousands. Despite heavy losses, five to ten thousand people managed to reach the wooded hills northwest of Budapest and escape towards Vienna, but only 600–700 German and Hungarian soldiers reached

1274-517: The end of the offensive, a bridgehead on the Dniester near Dubăsari . Then it fought in the Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive , attacking along the Focșani axis, and entered Bucharest on August 31. On 31 August 1944, the deposed Romanian autocrat Ion Antonescu , then a captive following the 1944 Romanian coup d'état , was taken to the headquarters of the 53rd Army. At the end of September 1944,

1323-629: The end of the war. At that point, the division crossed the Carnic Alps and entered Carinthia where it surrendered to British forces. The personnel of the Szent László Infantry Division were allowed to keep their weapons until discussions between the British and Yugoslav partisans were settled. Subsequently, the division's remaining personnel were transferred to the regular prisoner of war camps in Germany . The Szent László Infantry Division

1372-504: The far-right Hungarian nationalist Arrow Cross Party . The city unconditionally surrendered on 13 February 1945. It was a strategic victory for the Allies in their push towards Berlin . Having suffered nearly 200,000 deaths in three years fighting the Soviet Union , and with the front lines approaching its own cities, Hungary was by early 1944 ready to exit World War II . As political forces within Hungary pushed for an end to

1421-465: The fighting, Germany preemptively launched Operation Margarethe on 19 March 1944, and entered Hungary. In October 1944, after successive Allied victories at Normandy and Falaise , and after the collapse of the Eastern Front following the stunning success of the Soviet summer offensive, Operation Bagration , Regent of Hungary Miklós Horthy again attempted to negotiate a separate peace with

1470-405: The hilly nature of Buda . In January 1945, the Germans launched a three-part counter-offensive codenamed Operation Konrad . This was a joint German-Hungarian effort to relieve the encircled garrison of Budapest. Operation Konrad I was launched on 1 January. The German IV SS Panzer Corps attacked from Tata through hilly terrain north-west of Budapest in an effort to break the siege. On 3 January,

1519-513: The main German lines from Budapest. The majority of the escapees were killed, wounded, or captured by the Soviet troops. Pfeffer-Wildenbruch and Hindy were captured by waiting Soviet troops as they emerged from a tunnel running from the Castle District. The remaining defenders finally surrendered 13 February 1945. German and Hungarian military losses were high, with entire divisions having been eliminated. The Germans lost all or most of

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1568-462: The night of 11 February, some 28,000 German and Hungarian troops began to stream north-westwards away from Castle Hill. They moved in three waves. Thousands of civilians were with each wave. Entire families, pushing prams, trudged through the snow and ice. Unfortunately for the would-be escapees, the Soviets awaited them in prepared positions around the Széll Kálmán tér area. Troops, along with

1617-425: The occupied territory with the notable exception of Székesfehérvár . The fate of the defenders of Budapest was sealed. Total 14,179 men. 37th Gds Rifle Corps Total 16,645 men. 18th Gds Rifle Corps Total 13,140 men. Artillery on 1 February Additional units Unlike Pest , which is built on flat terrain, Buda was built on hills. This allowed the defenders to site artillery and fortifications above

1666-514: The pocket, and declared they had captured 110,000 of these soldiers. However, immediately after the siege, they rounded up thousands of Hungarian civilians and added them to the prisoner-of-war count, allowing the Soviets to validate their previously inflated figures. Budapest lay in ruins, with more than 80 percent of its buildings destroyed or damaged, with historical buildings like the Hungarian Parliament Building and

1715-517: The previous day, was again thrown into battle. This was Operation Konrad III. In two days the German tanks reached the Danube at Dunapentele, tearing the Soviet Transdanubian front apart, and by 26 January the offensive had reached a point roughly 25 kilometers from the ring around the capital. Stalin ordered his troops to hold their ground at all costs, and two Army Corps that were dispatched to assault Budapest were hastily moved to

1764-551: The remaining troops from Pest to try to defend Buda. All five bridges spanning the Danube were clogged with traffic, evacuating troops and civilians. German troops destroyed the bridges 18 January, despite protests from Hungarian officers. One of them was the famous Chain Bridge , dating from 1849. On 18 January 1945, the IV SS Panzer Corps, whose relocation to the region north-east of Lake Balaton had been completed on

1813-535: The sewers set up by the Axis troops using local inhabitants as guides. In mid-January, Csepel Island was taken, along with its military factories, which were still producing Panzerfausts and shells , even under Soviet fire. Meanwhile, in Pest, the situation for the Axis forces deteriorated, with the garrison facing the risk of being cut in half by the advancing Soviet troops. On 17 January 1945, Hitler agreed to withdraw

1862-415: The south of the city to counter the German offensive. German troops got to less than 20 kilometres from the city but were unable to maintain their impetus due to fatigue and supply problems. Budapest's defenders asked permission to leave the city and escape the encirclement. Hitler refused. German troops could no longer hold their ground; they were forced to withdraw on 28 January 1945, and to abandon much of

1911-412: The storming of Buda: (Totaling 19 tanks) Artillery on 1 January The Soviet offensive began in the eastern suburbs, advancing through Pest , making good use of the large central avenues to speed up their progress. The German and Hungarian defenders, overwhelmed, tried to trade space for time to slow down the Soviet advance. They ultimately withdrew to shorten their lines, hoping to take advantage of

1960-640: Was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army which was formed in August 1941, disbanded in December 1941, and reformed in May 1942. It fought throughout World War II before again being disbanded after the war in October 1945. The army was first formed for the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran and was disbanded there in December 1941. The army reformed in May 1942. It fought in the Demyansk Pocket ,

2009-655: Was captured on April 26 in cooperation with the 6th Guards Tank Army and 1st Guards Cavalry Mechanized Group. In the last days before the German surrender the 53rd Army fought in the Prague Offensive . From June to July 1945 it was deployed in Mongolia near Choibalsan , and at the beginning of August the 53rd Army was transferred to the Transbaikal Front . It fought in the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation and

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2058-660: Was created by a Stavka directive on August 23, 1941. Its immediate task was to occupy Iran in conjunction with the British Army and other Commonwealth armed forces in August and September 1941. The purpose was to secure Iranian oil fields as well as safeguard the shipment of Lend-Lease war material from the US through Iran to the USSR. Units of the 53rd Army crossed the border on August 27, overcame resistance from Iranian border guards, and advanced towards Mashad . As part of

2107-473: Was named for Saint László (also known as Ladislaus). Saint László was the King of Hungary from 1077 to 1095 and he was also the patron saint of military men and exiles. Battle of Budapest Soviet victory In the city: In the city: 3 November–15 February: 137,000 men 24 December–15 February: 114,000 men City: Relief attempts: The siege of Budapest or battle of Budapest

2156-413: Was one of the bloodiest sieges of World War II. The Red Army started its offensive against the city on 29 October 1944. More than 1,000,000 men, split into two operating maneuver groups , advanced. The plan was to isolate Budapest from the rest of the German and Hungarian forces. On 7 November 1944, Soviet and Romanian troops entered the eastern suburbs, 20 kilometers from the old town. The Red Army, after

2205-723: Was reformed on May 1, 1942 from divisions of the 34th Army with the mission of fighting on the Northwestern Front . Until March 1943 it fought the German 16th Army in the Demyansk Offensive and unsuccessfully attempted to cut the Ramushevo corridor. After the German breakout the 53rd Army was transferred to the Stavka reserve on March 22 and then to the Reserve Front on April 10. On April 15, it

2254-494: Was sent to Budapest to strengthen the city's defense. The besieging Soviet forces were part of Rodion Malinovsky 's 2nd Ukrainian Front . Formations that actually took part in the fighting appear to have included the 53rd Army , 7th Guards Army , portions of the 3rd Ukrainian Front , including the 46th Army , and the Romanian 7th Army Corps . Arrayed against the Soviets was a collection of German Army ( Heer ), Waffen-SS and Hungarian Army forces. The siege of Budapest

2303-474: Was still attached to the rest of the city by the remaining half of the Margaret Bridge and was used as a parachute drop zone as well as for covering improvised airstrips set up in the city center. The 25th Guards Rifle Division operated from the Soviet side in combat on the island (for losses see below). On 11 February 1945, Gellért Hill finally fell after six weeks of fighting when the Soviets launched

2352-566: Was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest , near the end of World War II . Part of the broader Budapest Offensive , the siege began when Budapest, defended by Hungarian and German troops, was encircled on 26 December 1944 by the Red Army and the Romanian Army . During the siege, about 38,000 civilians died through starvation, military action, and mass executions of Jews by

2401-627: Was transferred a third time, to the Steppe Front , where it received new units and fought in the Battle of Kursk . On July 16 its troops took defensive positions on a line from Podolhi to Poidjarug. It fought subsequently in the Battle of Belgorod , pushing back German troops from July 19 onwards. In August and September 1943 the Army fought in the Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive and the capture of eastern Ukraine . Units of

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