STREMBERG-TORGAU OFFENSIVE OPERATION IN THE MEMOIRS OF THE PARTICIPANTS: LITTLE-KNOWN PAGES OF THE WAR

Introduction: this article is devoted to the problem of an unknown large–scale collision between Soviet troops and the Allied army in Germany near the city of Torgau a few days before the official meeting on the Elbe on April 25, 1945. Materials and Methods: the initial source for the comprehensive study was the memoirs and published diary entries of the real participants in the Spremberg-Torgau operation. The methodological feature of this work is the transition from microhistory to the analysis of information from memoirs and official documents. Everything that was previously considered private, and sometimes accidental, has become the focus of our research interest. In this regard, this approach made it possible to take a different look at long-known events. Results: in April 1945 American troops attacked Soviet military units east of the Elbe, but were defeated and driven back to the west. This event is viewed against the background of other examples of unmotivated aggression by the "allied forces" against Red Army units in territories controlled by Soviet troops. As a result of comparing memoirs with information from memoirs and archival documents, the deliberate nature of these attacks is revealed, with the aim of depriving the Soviet Union of victory in military, political and economic aspects. The outcome of the Spremberg-Torgau operation, with the defeat of German and American troops, had a significant impact on shaping the outcome of World War II, international politics, and the daily lives of millions of people. Discussion and Conclusions: the analysis of published and unpublished sources allows the authors to perceive individual events of the end of the Great Patriotic War in a different way. A true understanding of that historical period became possible only because researchers became aware of unknown or little-known facts about those difficult days that befell our people.