Brest Fortress
Brest on the Bug Fortress, Belarus
Alex called. He’d been trying to reach us for an hour. He put in an order for Bison Grass Vodka and Fern Flower Liqueur. Fern flowers grow wild over here. I’ll see what I can find. We toured the Brest Fortress, ate dinner at The Pit Stop, and went for a boat ride.
“We will die, but we will not leave the fortress.”
These words were etched in the wall by a defender of Brest Fortress, June 22, 1941.
History Alert: The following is a piece of history. Please skip if more than 4 lines of history in a travel blog bore you. Thank you.
Present-day Brest, Belarus was part of Poland in 1939. In September 1939, the Germans surprise-attacked (blitzkrieged) Poland. Polish defenders of Brest fled on September 17, and on that very same day, the Soviets invaded Poland.
Brest Attacked on the First Day of “Operation Barbarossa”
Almost two years later, on June 22, 1941, the fortress and city were attacked, without any warning by the Germans. This was the first day of “Operation Barbarossa”, Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union. Because of how fast the Germans advanced most of the Soviet troops were trapped inside the fortress along with their families. The Germans thought they would grab it in 12 hours. However, the Soviets held out for seven days until finally, the Germans called in the Luftwaffe to bomb it into submission.
Siege Warfare
Even though they were completely unprepared, the Soviet soldiers fought back so hard that, “there was only one solution – to force the Soviets to capitulate through hunger and thirst.” Generalmajor Fritz Schlieper wrote to his high command.
The remaining Jewish population of the city, around 20,000, was forced into the Brest Ghetto in December of 1941. They were all murdered in October 1942. Five thousand of those were executed here at the Brest Fortress. It is interesting to note that Brest was a Jewish city since the 1300s. In fact, Yiddish was one of the official languages of Belarus in 1924.
Courage
The name of this monument is “Courage”. This gentleman represents the defenders of the fortress. He is huge and he is one serious-looking dude.
Maureen caught the eye of two passing cadets and they agreed to pose with her.
“Thirst”
The defenders of the fortress were without food and water for 8 days.
The Bug River, Belarus
This river is where the besieged tried to get water.
And quiet flows the Bug.
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