Background
The Germans feared that the advancing Red Army would cross the frozen Oder at Schwedt, about 60 miles north-east of Berlin. The Commander-in-chief of Army Group Vistula, Heinrich Himmler, was planning a counter-offensive from Schwedt. On January 30 1945 he ordered SS-Standartenführer Otto Skorzeny to prepare for the offensive.
Read more about this topic: Defense Of Schwedt Bridgehead
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