During the last weeks of World War II, in Europe, the largely destroyed German Army faced enormous needs in terms of personnel and material. It was the period when a multitude of divisions and brigades were formed, from the entities, which were thrown into battle, with huge shortages in personnel and armament. One such emergency unit was the "Müncheberg" Panzer Division, the last German armored formation that operated in the last major battle, in Berlin.
The order to form the Panzer Division "Müncheberg" was given on March 5, 1945, when the war in Europe had, in fact, already been decided.
"Müncheberg" began to form on March 8, 1945 in the small town of the same name, east of Berlin. Remnants of various other units joined the division. "Müncheberg" did not even come close to the strength in men and material predicted by the tables of organization. Nevertheless, in those critical hours for Germany, "Müncheberg" seemed to be the last hope of the Army High Command (OKH).
Baptism of fire
At the end of March 1945 the division had five infantry battalions, 55 mortars, 78 guns of all types and 49 tanks and tank hunters and a number of armored vehicles and semi-armored personnel carriers, with a total strength of about 6,000 men. The division was ordered to move east. There they would join General Theodore Busse's 9th Army, of which it would form its armored reserve.
The German 9th Army was the best available division of Army Group Vistula, which, under the command of General Gotthard Heinrich , was blocking the way to Berlin for the Soviet forces.
The forces of the division were assembled at Gottbusch on March 21. East of Berlin, at a distance of 70 km. was the then besieged city of Kistrin . The city had been virtually surrounded since January 31, during the great Soviet offensive that brought the Red Army from Poland to the gates of Berlin.
Despite the efforts of the Soviets, the complete blockade of the city was not achieved. A narrow corridor, fanatically guarded by German forces, connected the Kistrin garrison with the German front.
"Müncheberg", on March 22, arrived in the area of Kistrin. Hitler himself had ordered a counter-attack to be launched in order to lift the siege of the important Silesian city. Taking advantage of the German counterattack, the Soviets launched their own attack, aiming to completely encircle Kistrin.
The Soviet attack succeeded and the city was surrounded. The objective of the Soviet administration was the formation of an inner perimeter, which would monitor the city's guard and an outer one, whose mission would be to repel any German counterattack.
"Müncheberg" joined XXIII Panzer Corps under General Karl Dekker. The 25th Grenadier Panzer Division (MPG) also belonged to this body. XXXIX Corps, rushed against the outer Soviet perimeter, with the aim of breaking it up, having "Müncheberg" as its first echelon. The two underpowered German divisions failed to break through the multiple Soviet forces.
The "Müncheberg" performed excellently in this three-day battle, destroying between 22-25 March 200 Soviet tanks. However, the counterattack failed and the Soviets completed the establishment of the outer perimeter around Kistrin.
"Müncheberg" did not suffer such significant losses in this battle. But the worst was yet to come Hitler, unable, as usual, to assess the balance of power, on the Eastern Front, which was now only 70km away. from his capital, he ordered, on March 27, the launch of a new "liberating" attack "...to lift the siege of Kistrin", as he said.
Hitler assigned the responsibility of carrying out the attack to General Busse. Bushe, in collaboration with General Heinz Guderian , chief of staff of the OKH, at the time, planned the operation, refusing to follow Hitler's plan, which also called for a diversionary attack from the Frankfurt area on the Oder River, using the last available reserves
'Müncheberg' rejoined XXIII Panzer Corps, together with the 20th and 25th MPGs, the Panzer Grenadier Regiment 'Furher', the Battle Group '1001 and One Nights' and the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion of the Waffen SS . The Soviets had transferred so many reinforcements, however, to the area, that the German forces found themselves confronted, literally, by huge masses of enemy men and tanks, while the Soviet artillery, "gassed" the German lines with a rain of fire and iron.
Consequently, despite the bravery of the attacking Germans, their attack was drowned in blood. "The red artillery is firing with such devastating effect against us that groups of men, with frayed nerves, are fleeing in panic to the rear" , said a German officer, referring to his superiors.
"Müncheberg" which was the battering ram of the attack, inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviets, but was unable to break through their front and join the besieged garrison. The Soviets retaliated against the 20th MPA flanking "Müncheberg" and crushed it. Lieutenant General Mummert, in order not to be surrounded, ordered the retreat of the "Müncheberg", which suffered, this time, serious losses during the disengagement phase.
Hitler's reaction
Back in Berlin, Hitler, in a furious state, after the news of the failure, invited Busche and Guderian to his shelter. As soon as Busse began to develop his report on the reasons for the failure of the offensive, Hitler jumped up from his seat and began to accuse him of negligence and cowardice.
Busse did not react, but Gunderian, in turn, abruptly interrupted Hitler. "I already explained to you…" he began to say. Hitler, red with rage did not let him finish his sentence. "Explanations, excuses. That's all you have to offer me. Then tell me who is to blame for the failure at Kistrin, the troops or Bushe?'' he said.
It was Guderian's turn to "explode." "Nonsense. This is all nonsense,” he screamed in the face of the blushing Hitler. "Busset is not to blame. I already told you. Follow your orders and use all available ammo, whatever you have. It's not the men's fault either. Look at the number of casualties. Look at him. The men did their duty. Their self-sacrifice proves it". , he said shouting.
"They failed, they failed," shouted Hitler in turn. "Everyone on staff are stupid crooks, bigots who deceived me and misinformed me," he said. In a state of fury Guderian broke out without precedent.
“Did they misinform you? Were you also misinformed by the Galen report on the power of the Russians? Of course not. What about our divisions trapped in Courland? Who misinformed you about them? When are you going to unhook them from there?", she shouted at him. Instead of another answer, Hitler dismissed Guderian.