Hero Fortress
The resilience of the fortress defenders did not significantly affect the early German successes as the Wehrmacht rapidly advanced into the Soviet territory largely according to the German plan, leaving the fighting fortress well behind the front line.
The events of the fortress defense were not publicized in the Soviet Union until 1957. The book "Brestskaia krepost" that broke the story of the fortress defense in the USSR was published in 1957 by the Soviet investigative journalist Sergei Smirnov; Smirnov investigated the fate of the fortress defenders, those who were killed in action, died in the Nazi camps and those who survived the war.
In the post-Stalin era both the fortress and her defenders were rehabilitated and the Soviet propaganda built on the defenders' heroism and examples of individual hold-outs creating a myth that an organized defense of the fortress lasted for about a month, containing the German advance (for example, Great Soviet Encyclopedia claimed that "For almost a month the heroes of the Brest Fortress contained the attack of the whole German division"). That exaggeration persists to the modern time in some sources; for example, a 2006 article by Russian government official outlet, Voice of Russia, stated that "Even after a month of fighting, the Brest fortress held out, engaging a significant part of the enemy’s forces and wearing them out.".
The Museum of the Defence of the Brest Fortress was opened in 1956, while the Memorial Heroic Brest Fortress Complex was opened in 1971. The fortress was awarded the title Hero Fortress on 8 May 1965 (the twentieth anniversary of the German surrender).
Read more about this topic: Defense Of Brest Fortress
Famous quotes containing the words hero and/or fortress:
“Though nature be ever so generous, yet can she not make a hero alone. Fortune must contribute her part too; and till both concur, the work cannot be perfected.”
—François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
“Man is exceedingly well defended against himself, against being scouted out and besieged by himself, and he is usually able to make out no more of himself than his outer fortifications. The actual fortress is inaccessible to him, even invisible, unless his friends and enemies turn traitor to him and lead him there by secret paths.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)