Evacuation of East Prussia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Evacuation of East Prussia
Part of German evacuation from Central and Eastern Europe during World War II
East Prussia (red) was separated from Germany and Prussia proper (blue) by the Polish corridor in the inter-war era. The area, divided between the Soviet Union and Poland in 1945, is 340 km east of the present-day Polish–German border.
Date January–March 1945 Location East Prussia and Memel Result Evacuation of 2 million, out of 2.653 million civilians
Belligerents
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Gauleiter Erich Koch	Ivan Chernyakhovsky Aleksandr Vasilevsky
Casualties and losses
25,000–30,000 civilians

The evacuation of East Prussia was a huge movement of German civilians and soldiers. It happened between January and March 1945, near the end of World War II. People were moving away from East Prussia because the Red Army (the Soviet Union's army) was advancing quickly.

This event was part of a larger evacuation of German civilians at the end of World War II. It's important not to confuse it with the expulsion from East Prussia that happened after the war ended. The area being evacuated was mostly the part of East Prussia where people already had German citizenship. People from nearby regions like Memel also joined the evacuation, hoping to escape by sea.

Why Did People Leave East Prussia?

The evacuation started because people were very afraid of the advancing Red Army. The Soviet forces were moving fast during the East Prussian Offensive. Some parts of the evacuation were planned by the military, like Operation Hannibal, which helped many people escape by sea.

However, many civilians decided to leave on their own. Stories, some true and some not, spread quickly about what might happen if the Soviet army arrived. These stories were shared through official news from Nazi Germany and by rumors among soldiers and civilians. This made many people panic and want to leave immediately.

A Difficult and Dangerous Journey

Even though there were detailed plans for evacuating some areas, the German authorities, including the leader of East Prussia, Erich Koch, waited too long. They delayed the evacuation until January 20, 1945. By then, it was too late for an organized escape.

The government services and the Nazi Party were completely overwhelmed by the huge number of people trying to leave. The speed of the Soviet advance, combined with the panic and the extremely cold winter weather, made the situation very dangerous. Many thousands of refugees died during this chaotic period. The Soviet forces finally took full control of East Prussia in May 1945.

How Many People Were Involved?

At the beginning of 1944, about 2,653,000 civilians lived in East Prussia. This number included people who had moved there from western Germany to escape air raids, as well as foreign workers.

Before the war ended, an estimated 2 million people were evacuated from the region. About 500,000 people left in the autumn of 1944, and another 1,500,000 left after January 1945. Around 600,000 people remained in East Prussia when the Soviet forces took control in April–May 1945.

A study from 1974 estimated that about 1% of the civilian population died during the Soviet offensive. Another report stated that 31,940 civilians from East Prussia and Memel were confirmed to have died during the evacuation.

See also

In Spanish: Evacuación de Prusia Oriental para niños