Casemate Publishing

The Fall of Hitler's Fortress City; The Battle for Konigsberg, 1945

by  Isabel Denny

Reviewed By  Perry Downen, IPMS #44000

MSRP: $18.95 ISBN: 978-1-935149-20-0 Website: www.casematepublishing.co.uk Thank you, Casemate Publishers, for graciously submitting this interesting book to IPMS for review and IPMS for allowing me to review it. Some background on Konigsberg may be helpful. In 1225 the Teutonic Knights built a castle on the banks of the River Pregel and called it Konigsberg in what is now called Kaliningrad - a Russian exclave. This is an area that is part of Russia, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. It is the westernmost part of the Russian Federation and lies between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. Koningsberg was once a major city of historical Prussia and capital of the former German province of East Prussia until 1945. During the 1300's because of it's location on the Pregel River and close proximity to the Baltic coast, it developed into an important trading port for the southeastern Baltic region. Political and religious turmoil occurred frequently over the next 600 years with Russia, Poland and Germany claiming the area. Finally, Prussia and Königsberg became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the Prussian-led unification of the German-speaking states into the integrated nation state of Germany. The Fall of Hitler's Fortress City is a 240-page soft-back book that measures 5-1/2" X 8-1/2". The book consists of eleven (11) chapters, an appendix, city and area maps, notes and an index. The cover has a glossy finish and the pages are above average paperback quality. In the center of the book are sixteen (16) pages of black and white photographs. The first five (5) pages of photographs are cityscapes of Konigsberg showing buildings, people and the waterfront. The remaining photographs depict the city's destruction, destroyed German armor, and the devastation caused by the Russian Army. The book begins with a history of the city and how it grew into a center of commerce, education, and wealth. It details how Konigsberg was separated from the rest of Germany by the Polish Corridor, which was set up after the First World War to give Poland access to the Baltic sea and the port of Danzig (Gdansk). The author explains how this act isolated Konigberg and the surrounding area from the rest of Germany and caused the decline in trade and prosperity. Denny details the politics of the 1930's and the rise of the Nazi party in East Prussia. She tells us how this affected the Jewish community and the lives of people in general. Denny tells us that initially WWII did not adversely affect Koningsberg as it did the rest of Germany. However, Hitler's decision to invade Russia and the German Army's failure to quickly defeat Russia soon had serious consequences for the people of Konigsberg as it did for all of Germany. Hitler believed that the Russians were an inferior race and should be treated as such. He issued orders that caused the treatment of prisoners to be ruthless, and the treatment of civilians to be worse. The German Army committed many atrocities against the Russian civilians. This caused the terrible retribution taken by the Russian forces against the German people and Konigsberg, which bore the brunt of Russia's vengeance against the Nazi regime. In describing life in Konigsberg, Denny uses the eyewitness accounts of many surviving residents of the city and supports her work with memoirs and the research of other historians. The book has a logical flow is presented in a way that is easy to follow. It is an easy read. This is not a study of the Battle for Konigsberg, but rather a study in the life of the city and its people. There are no battle plans or troop deployments detailed. Denny looks at the human side of life as total and all-out war affects it. There is more information on what people ate, how they dressed, and how they coped with terrible adversity than on tactics and weapons. I can recommend this book for its historical value. I found it to be rich with personal accounts, very interesting, and thought provoking. However, from a modeler's perspective, I found very little material in the book I can use. My sincere thanks to Casemate Publishers for providing this book to IPMS/USA and to IPMS/USA for allowing me to review it.