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78-574: The hills are best known as the location of the Battle of Tannenberg Line , fought in World War II on July 26–August 12, 1944. There, the German Waffen-SS defeated a Soviet offensive. The Sinimäed hills are gently sloping mounds rather than mountains. Nevertheless, the hills are a dominant landform in the area - the height of the surrounding limestone plateau is on average 30 m above sea level, while

156-537: A stroke and stepped down as Defence Minister three months later. Until October 2012 Laar had still been staying out of the public eye, but was reportedly recovering. In 2012, the Estonian National Audit Office declassified a 1995 audit about arms deal which caused newspaper Eesti Ekspress to publish a critical article about Laar. On 15 May 2023 a public letter was published in the leading Estonian newspaper Postimees , voicing disapprovement of

234-684: A few thousand troops fit for combat out of the 46,385 men who had initiated the Estonian Operation on 25 July. The losses of the 8th Army were similar to that. In the evening of 29 July, the Army Detachment Narwa counted 113–120 Soviet tanks destroyed, almost half of them in the battles of 29 July. The 2nd Shock Army reported on fifty of their tanks destroyed on 29 July. The German side counted an additional 44 Soviet tanks destroyed on 3–6 August. Russian author Grigoriy F. Krivosheev , in his account "Soviet casualties and combat losses in

312-523: A private person, not as the prime minister. Mart Laar apologized for this event as Prime Minister and army officer. Laar has multiple Orders from Estonia and other countries. The results of the radical reforms have been recognized by Cato Institute , which awarded Laar the Cato Institute 's Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty in 2006. The Acton Institute awarded Dr. Laar their Faith & Freedom Award on 24 October 2007. Mart Laar

390-468: A recent Government policy decision to extend marriage rights to couples of the same gender. Mart Laar and his fellow signatories signed a statement containing the following: "Same-sex couples are an insignificant minority in society, while their contribution to the survival of the nation is almost negligible, their contribution to the growth of the nation is nothing as they themselves do not produce offspring. How then can their life together be equated with

468-513: A traditional marriage? As the purpose and nature of the way of life of same sex couples is completely different compared to traditional marriage, it remains completely incomprehensible why they are not satisfied with the way of life that suits them which can be called cohabitation. After all, they have been offered an opportunity with the Cohabitation Act But no! In their name, they are now trying to brutally and unquestionably prescribe to

546-457: Is credited with having helped bring about Estonia's rapid economic development during the 1990s. He is a member of the centre-right Isamaa party. In April 2011, Mart Laar became Minister of Defence in the cabinet of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and served until his resignation for reasons of health in May 2012. In April 2013, Riigikogu appointed Laar as chairman of the supervisory board of

624-743: Is member of Honorary Board of the European Association of History Educators (EUROCLIO). He is also a member of the international advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation . The House of Terror Museum in Hungary awarded Mart Laar the Petőfi Prize in 2011 for his contributions to investigating the crimes of communism . Together with Václav Havel , Filip Dimitrov , Árpád Göncz , Petr Pithart , Vytautas Landsbergis , Patricio Aylwin and other transition leaders, he participates in

702-513: Is no complete overview of the order of the Soviet forces or the detachment sizes in the Battle of Tannenberg Line. For the attack on 29 July, Govorov concentrated all of the capable Soviet units, consisting of 11 divisions and six tank regiments. The Soviet units that had suffered losses were brought up to strength with fresh manpower. The delivery of Soviet heavy artillery complimented the nine divisions of

780-707: The 2nd Shock Army . The goal set by the War Council of the 2nd Shock Army was to break through the defense line of the III SS Panzer Corps at the Orphanage Hill, force their way to the town of Jõhvi in the west and reach the Kunda river by 1 August. To accomplish this, Govorov was ordered to destroy communications behind the German forces and conduct air assaults on the railway stations of Jõhvi and Tapa on 26 July. There

858-813: The Bank of Estonia , his term beginning on 12 June 2013. Mart Laar was born in Viljandi . He studied history at the University of Tartu , graduating in 1983; he received his master's degree in philosophy and his doctorate in history in 2005. Laar taught history in Tallinn , and served as president of the Council of Historians of the Foundation of the Estonia Inheritance, the Society for

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936-1008: The International Committee for Democracy in Cuba . Laar is a member of the International Council of the New York-based Human Rights Foundation and a founding member of the Unitas Foundation . In 2003, Laar received the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award brought about the development of electronic systems in Estonia to upgrade the country's infrastructure. After the Rose Revolution in Georgia , Laar became advisor to

1014-761: The SS Division Nordland , the SS Division Langemarck , the SS Division Nederland , and the Walloon Legion . Roughly half of the infantry consisted of the personnel of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) . The German force of 22,250 men held off 136,830 Soviet troops. As the Soviet forces were constantly reinforced, their overall casualties are estimated by Estonian historian Mart Laar to be 170,000 dead and wounded. After defending

1092-604: The evacuation of all the troops in Estonia . After months of holding the line, the exhausted men of the III SS Panzer Corps joined the withdrawal; fighting their way back from the Tannenberg Line. On 17 September, the 3rd Baltic Front launched the Tallinn Offensive from the Emajõgi River Front joining Lake Peipus with Lake Võrtsjärv . The operation was aimed at encircling the Army Detachment Narwa. Unable to hold

1170-532: The 109th, the 117th and the 122nd Rifle Corps. The 109th and 117th Corps were concentrated close to the Sinimäed , while the 122nd Rifle Corps was sent to the southern section, near the church of Vaivara Parish . The positions of the 11th Infantry Division were mainly attacked by the 35,000-strong 8th Army with their 112th Rifle Corps, two fresh tank regiments and 1,680 assault guns, deployed in nine artillery regiments and 150 armored vehicles. The armored forces included

1248-532: The 112th and 117th Corps ordered to join the attacks. Soviet tank forces were also restored, with 104 armored vehicles at their command. At the nine kilometre long segment of the front, 1,913 assault guns were collected, making it 300 guns per kilometer. 365 pieces of heavy artillery were aimed at the Grenadier Hill and 200 at the Sirgala hamlet in the south segment. As the daily amount, 200,000 shells were supplied to

1326-574: The 2nd Battalion Norge at the Grenadier Hill assaulted the Soviets. The latter suffered heavy losses but regrouped and cut the Norwegians off at the east side of the hill. On the western terrace of the Grenadier Hill, Kampfgruppe Bachmeier and the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Estonian kept resisting. The Soviets started searching the bunkers for documents and prisoners. Steiner ordered an air assault using dive bombers from Tallinn Airport . The Soviets had anticipated

1404-716: The Army Group, Ferdinand Schörner , had repeatedly called Adolf Hitler 's attention to the fact that virtually no division consisting of Germans was left at the Tannenberg Line, which was threatening to collapse. These calls had no effect, as Hitler's response remained to stand or die. The German order of battle (as of 28 July 1944) was: Army Detachment Narwa – General of the Infantry Anton Grasser Separate detachments: Total: 22,250 troops deployed in 25 Estonian and 24 German, Dutch, Danish, Flemish, Italian, Norwegian and Walloon battalions On 26 July, pursuing

1482-536: The General Staff") losses of Leningrad Front in August 1944: 1,702 killed, 6,538 wounded in action and 196 missing in action. And for September: 2,366 killed, 8,405 wounded in action and 105 missing in action. The German Army Group North buried 1,709 men in Estonia between 24 July and 10 August 1944. Added to the men missing in action, the number of irrecoverable casualties in the period is approximately 2,500. Accounting

1560-468: The German artillery did not stop the Soviet advance. The Soviet tanks besieged the Grenadier Hill and kept circling it, all the while firing away at the defenders. Nevertheless, they could not capture the summit due to heavy casualties caused by the German anti-tank guns and the anti-aircraft guns pointing their barrels down the slope. Other Soviet tanks reached the westernmost hill Tower Hill. The defenders in their bunkers, which were poorly fortified from

1638-412: The German attack collapsed. At a point occupied by the German 11th Infantry Division near the borough of Sirgala in the south, the Soviet tanks aimed to break through. Steiner ordered a withdrawal to a new defensive line at the Grenadier Hill. The order did not reach a significant part of the German forces, which remained in their positions at the Orphanage Hill. Anticipating a major attack, Steiner ordered

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1716-410: The German defense threatened to collapse. On 27 July Schörner arrived at the Sinimäed . He ordered an immediate recapture of the Orphanage Hill, demanding fanatical resistance from the soldiers. A meeting convened by von Scholz laid the tactics for the implementation of the orders. Immediately after the meeting, however, von Scholz was killed by a shrapnel splinter in front of the headquarters. For

1794-505: The Germanic volunteers was under heavy pressure while the spirit of some Estonian troops had already been severely damaged, in Grasser's opinion. However, the following combat proved the opposite. The small number of German Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers and shortage of aircraft fuel gave the Soviets massive air superiority. Grasser's conclusion was short: The Army Detachment emphasizes that

1872-454: The Grenadier Hill. In the afternoon of 29 July the Soviet forces made eight attempts at regaining control of the Grenadier Hill. The last of the German reserves were sent into the battle, including the supply troops. The two assaults by Maitla's improvised platoon at the Orphanage Hill forced the Soviets to refrain from further attacks and gave the Germans time to regroup. Reluctant to admit

1950-792: The Narva bridgehead for six months, the German forces fell back to the Tannenberg Line in the hills of Sinimäed ( Russian : Синие горы ) on 26 July 1944. The three hills run east to west. The eastern hill was known to Estonians as the Lastekodumägi (Orphanage Hill; Kinderheimhöhe in German). The central was the Grenaderimägi (Grenadier Hill; Grenadierhöhe) and the westernmost was the Tornimägi (Tower Hill, also known in German as or 69.9 or Liebhöhe (Love Hill)). The heights have steep slopes and rise 20–50 m above

2028-633: The Preservation of Estonian History, and the Estonian Students' Society . Laar has written many books on Estonian and Soviet history, among them War in the Woods: Estonia's Struggle for Survival, 1944–1956 , a book about the Forest Brothers anti-Soviet resistance movement. Laar's political career began when he became a member of the conservative Pro Patria Union party (which later merged with

2106-404: The Soviet 8th Army advanced in the forests of the southern section of the front. On 31 July the Soviet command changed the direction of its preparatory artillery fire, this time aiming it behind the hill and cutting off the German defenders from the main army group. The gradual decrease in the number of shells fired by the Soviet artillery (9,000 rounds on 30 July) was evidence of the weakening of

2184-429: The Soviet attacks. Soviet infantry started climbing up the Grenadier Hill. The Estonian units against them ran out of ammunition. The remnants of the I. Battalion, 3rd Estonian resisted the Soviet attacks on the southern flank. That time the political commissar of the 2nd Shock Army admitted the failure to break through the defense. He explained it by stating the artillery fire was running late. The report presented

2262-422: The Soviet infantry and tanks before the beginning of the attack. As the German artillery fire did not dent the Soviet superiority in manpower, the Soviet attack began as scheduled. The 110th Rifle Corps assaulting the Grenadier Hill found themselves in the middle of cross-fire from the remnants of the I.Battalion, 2nd Estonian Regiment. As the commanders of the rifle corps erroneously reported to army headquarters on

2340-533: The Soviet occupation. Several troops of the Estonian Division stayed in Estonia. These units continued fighting, some survivors joining the guerrilla groups which fought the Soviet occupying forces until the end of the 1970s. Mart Laar Mart Laar (born 22 April 1960) is an Estonian politician and historian. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002. Laar

2418-408: The Soviet pilots. The attack of 6,000 Soviet infantry began at 09:00, supported by a regiment of nearly 100 tanks (most of them of the heavy IS-2 variety ). They used their 122 mm guns to fire directly at the strongpoints showing any signs of life and destroyed the remaining bunkers. The remnants of the German advance guard were destroyed. The platoon commanded by Lt. Lapshin broke through to

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2496-472: The Soviet positions. The small German grenadier units were moved into the trenches. Running out of ammunition, the German troops used Soviet grenades and automatic weapons taken from the fallen. According to some veterans, it appeared that low-flying Soviet bombers were attempting to hit every individual German soldier jumping between craters, from time to time getting buried under the soil by the explosions of Soviet shells. The Soviets were forced to retreat from

2574-416: The Tannenberg Line. By 2 August, the 2nd Shock Army had re-deployed and assaulted, using the same tactics as previously. The men of Nederland who survived the artillery bombardment, retreated down the slopes of the Grenadier Hill pursued by the Soviet units. In Steiner's memoirs, the intensity of the fire and the nature of the battles reminded him of the Battle of Verdun . When the artillery barrage ended,

2652-567: The Tannenberg Line. German units counterattacked against the Soviets besieging the Tower Hill; the second secured the Narva–Tallinn Highway in the west and the third unit counterattacked between the Grenadier Hill and the railway a few kilometers to the south. After the counterattack, only one German Panther tank remained unscathed. After the German counterattack the tactical situation at the Tannenberg Line remained unclear. The remains of

2730-462: The above-mentioned Armies): Against the Soviet forces, a few tired German regiments without any reserve troops stood at their positions, battered by the Soviet artillery. The commander of the Army Detachment "Narwa", General der Infanterie Anton Grasser, assessed the German capacity as insufficient against the Soviet attack. While sufficient in ammunition and machine-guns, the combat morale of

2808-501: The armored units, driving to the minefields, which were uncleared by the sapper units. The commissar made serious charges against the commanders of the units and claimed in his report that they were very drunk while attempting to command the attacks. On 30 July the battle continued in similar fashion. Soviet artillery increased the intensity of its fire to 30,000 shells, the German artillery answered with 10,000 rounds of its own. The subsequent attack by Soviet heavy tanks broke through

2886-452: The artillery. On 1 August, no combat took place, as both parties reorganized their forces. The Leningrad Front tried to shift the center of weight southwards. The Army Detachment Narwa replaced its units with the less damaged detachments in the first days of August. Despite inflicting immense casualties on the Soviets, the Waffen-SS units were slowly getting worn down. The Nederland Brigade

2964-460: The attack and had moved their self-propelled anti-aircraft units to the Orphanage Hill. They shot down several German bombers and afterwards turned their fire on the German infantry. Steiner had one more battalion to spare – the 1st Battalion, Waffen Grenadier Regiment 45 Estland (1st Estonian) which had been spared from the previous counterattacks because of the scarcity of able-bodied men. Sturmbannführer Paul Maitla requested reinforcements from

3042-410: The attackers presumed to have reached the target. With artillery fire preventing reinforcements being sent in from the German rear, the Soviet 8th Army went on the attack and drove a wedge into the north flank of the 11th Infantry Division. The Soviet main tactical goal, the Grenadier Hill, was to be assaulted by the 6,000 troops of the 109th Rifle Corps. The 109th Rifle Division attacked Nederland, which

3120-569: The brand-new IS-2 tanks with extra armor and a 122mm gun. The weakness of the tank was its limited ammunition capacity (only 28 rounds) and long reloading time for its main gun. The forces were supported by the 576-strong 13th Air Army. The Soviet order of battle (available data as of 28 July 1944): Leningrad Front – Marshal Leonid Govorov Total: 26,850 infantrymen, 458 pieces of artillery, 112 tanks Total: 28,000 infantrymen, 518 pieces of artillery, 174 tanks and 44 self-propelled guns Separate Corps and Divisions (possibly subordinated to one of

3198-615: The budget. Due to several scandals, Laar was defeated in 1994 by no-confidence vote , when some members of the coalition withdrew their support. Reasons for the vote were publicized details of arms deal with Israel and so called "rouble scandal" - the sale of 2.3 billion  Rbls , withdrawn from circulation during the Estonian monetary reform of 1992, to breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria , carried out by Laar's associates at an Estonian private company, Maag, without consulting Parliament. Five years later, in 1999, Laar returned to

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3276-502: The capture of the Grenadier Hill, the artillery fire was lifted. The Estonians counterattacked and cleared the hill. In a similar fashion, the Soviets made two more attacks on 3 August. Each of them began with a massive artillery barrage and ended with a German counterattack, restoring the previous positions. Overall on 3 August, twenty Soviet tanks were destroyed. The Soviet attacks from 4 to 6 August were weaker; on 4 August, eleven tanks were destroyed, and seven more on 5 August. During

3354-550: The catastrophe in his report to the Soviet High Command on 30 July, the Political Commissar of the Soviet 2nd Army falsely promised that the Grenadier Hill was still in the possession of the Soviet 109th Rifle Corps. As justification for the failure to break through the German defenses, the report cited the weak cooperation between the artillery and the infantry. The report also mentioned the poorly coordinated action of

3432-501: The country's president Mikheil Saakashvili and in 2010 received Order of St. George. In September 2006, Laar announced that he would come out of political retirement to run for the candidacy for prime minister of the new Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica party. Mart Laar was Mont Pelerin Society member. On 26 May 2007 he was elected a Chairman of the Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica . On 18 February 2012 Mart Laar suffered from

3510-402: The defense of the Grenadier Hill, every available Estonian was sent into battle, including communications personnel. The central command post was destroyed by Soviet fire while the Germans, Flemish, Norwegians and Estonians escaped destruction by lying down in their bunkers. Behind them at the summit of the Grenadier Hill stood Nederland. The gaps created in the attacking infantry and tank line by

3588-471: The defenses of the 2nd Battalion, De Ruyter consisting of 35–45 capable men running between their heavy machine guns. Simultaneously, Soviet platoons were climbing up the Grenadier Hill under intensive German bombardment. Eventually the attack was repelled by German hand grenades. The Soviets attacked the II. Battalion, 3rd Estonian which, in close combat, destroyed 12 tanks and repelled this latest assault. Units of

3666-563: The eastern side of the Orphanage Hill. In the morning of 27 July the Soviet forces opened up another powerful artillery barrage on the Sinimäed . Anticipating an infantry attack, Steiner concentrated his few working armored vehicles, consisting of seven tanks. Units of the Nordland Division were placed between the two hills and the defense was completed by the Anti-Tank Company, 1st Estonian behind Nordland. Under Soviet pressure

3744-470: The fallen on the hill of Põrgumägi. 59°22′30″N 27°52′00″E  /  59.37500°N 27.86667°E  / 59.37500; 27.86667 Battle of Tannenberg Line 1942 1943 1944 The Battle of Tannenberg Line ( German : Die Schlacht um die Tannenbergstellung ; Russian : Битва за линию «Танненберг» ) or the Battle of the Blue Hills ( Estonian : Sinimägede lahing )

3822-472: The false assertion that the Germans had captured the Grenadier Hill only on 30 July. Receiving the order from Stalin to break through to Tallinn at all costs, Govorov made Fedyuninsky responsible for reaching Rakvere no later than 7 August. During the first days of August, the 2nd Shock Army received the 110th and 124th Rifle Corps as reinforcements, raising the number of troops to over 20,000 again. The 8th Army received similar additions to their forces with

3900-515: The fire of the last defenders who in turn were either killed or forced to the Grenadier Hill. With the seizure of the Orphanage Hill, the Soviet 201st and the 256th Rifle Divisions were exhausted, as the 109th Rifle Division continued to press towards the Grenadier Hill alone. The defenders were commanded by Josef Bachmeier , the head of the II Battalion, Norge. The 1st and 2nd Battalions, 3rd Estonian subordinated to Bachmeier had 20 to 30 men each. For

3978-460: The force, the German units withdrew towards the northwest while the incomplete II Army Corps was left to stall the Soviet attack. German forces withdrew quickly towards the Latvian border. On 22 September, Tallinn was abandoned. Some of the Estonian formations now began to attack the retreating Germans, attempting to secure supplies and weapons to continue a guerrilla war as the Forest Brothers against

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4056-405: The freshly drafted II.Battalion, Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment der SS 46 (2nd Estonian) returned fire after inflicting severe casualties on the assaulting Soviets and counterattacked, reclaiming the Grenadier Hill. Soviet tanks broke through in the southeastern section of the front. On 3 August, the Soviets made a stronger attempt with the preparatory artillery fire of 25,000–30,000 shells reaching

4134-467: The front stayed quiet. In the era of the Soviet Union, losses in the Battle of Tannenberg Line were not mentioned in Soviet sources. In recent years, Russian authors have published some figures but not for the whole course of the battle. The number of Soviet casualties can only be estimated by looking at other figures. In the attack of 29 July, 225 men survived of the Soviet 109th Rifle Corps carrying

4212-600: The heavy weapons of the SS- Panzergrenadier Regiment Norge and the Danmark Regiment to be pulled together into two shock units. By the night of 28 July the battle had subsided. The morning of 29 July began with preparatory artillery fire of 25,000 shells fired by the Soviets. The bombardment covered the Tannenberg Line in a dust cloud. The forest on the Sinimäed Hills was entirely destroyed, with

4290-461: The hills are up to 50 m higher. Pargimägi and Põrguaugu mägi are the two higher hills - 85 and 83 m, respectively, while Tornimägi is somewhat lower, 70 m. The ridge is about 3 km long. The location of the hills on a 5 km wide strip between the Finnish Gulf and the woods and bogs of Alutaguse is the origin of their strategic importance. Tallinn-Narva highway ( E20 ) passes the hills from

4368-475: The hills. In two ferocious battles lasting for 25–31 July and 2–10 August 1944 with a break of a single day, the vastly outnumbered German army group held out under the pressure of the Estonian Operation of the Soviet Leningrad Front . In German, the eastern hill was known as Kinderheimhöhe, the central hill was Grenadierhöhe and the westernmost known as Liebhöhe. There is a memorial site to commemorate

4446-451: The level of the attack of 29 July. The fire caused heavy casualties, while a part of the defenders left their positions. Eleven Soviet rifle divisions and four tank regiments tried to spread their attack along the front. However, the main weight of the impending attack tended to be at the Grenadier Hill once more. The German artillery noticed the concentration of the Soviet forces, and launched their rocket fire, inflicting numerous casualties on

4524-425: The main weight of the assault. Of the 120th Rifle Division, 1,808 men were lost; killed or wounded. The rest of the Soviet rifle corps lost their capacity for further attacks. In the same attack, the German forces lost 600 men. The headquarters of the 2nd Shock Army reported 259 troops fit for combat within the 109th Rifle Division and a total exhaustion of the army on the night before 1 August, which probably meant

4602-532: The men in the field hospital. Twenty less injured men responded, joining the remains of the other destroyed units, including a unit of the Kriegsmarine (navy), and supported by the single remaining Panther tank. The counterattack started from the parish cemetery south of the Tower Hill, with the left flank of the assault clearing the hill of the Soviets. The attack continued towards the summit under heavy Soviet artillery and bomber attack, getting into close combat in

4680-505: The more technocratic Res Publica Party in 2006). He was elected prime minister by the Riigikogu on 21 October 1992. In barely two years, from 1992 to 1994, the radical reforming Estonian government of Mart Laar was the first in Europe to introduce the flat tax , privatized most national industry in transparent public tenders, abolished tariffs and subsidies, stabilized the economy and balanced

4758-406: The next day the 2nd Shock Army was reinforced with the 31st and the 82nd Tank Regiments, three howitzer brigades and nine heavy artillery regiments. In the evening of 28 July German forces attempted to regain the Orphanage Hill again. Using the tactics of "rolling" small units into the Soviet positions, the troops seized the trenches on the slope of the feature. When a Soviet tank squadron arrived,

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4836-496: The night before 6 August, six tanks were knocked out. On 10 August, the war council of the Leningrad Front ordered the termination of the offensive and switch strictly to defense. The Soviets reduced their operations to patrol activities with occasional attacks. The defenders used this respite to rotate several exhausted units out of the line for a few days for rest and refit, and to strengthen their positions. Until mid-September,

4914-506: The north and Tallinn-Tapa-Narva railway from the south. The hills have at their core huge blocks of limestone , but their geological origin is not clear. They are believed to be formed either by continental glacier ( terminal moraine ) or by clay diapirs , or by the combination of both factors. The western hill, Tornimägi, had an outpost during the Great Northern War . During World War I , Pargimägi with its defensive structures

4992-487: The north and the flanks, were destroyed. Among the Soviet tank commanders, starshina S.F. Smirnov destroyed five German strongpoints. One of the tanks reached the community center of the municipality of Vaivara, blasting a hole in the wall. This remained the westernmost point the Soviet armed forces reached in Northeast Estonia until late September 1944. By noon on 29 July Soviet forces had almost seized control of

5070-576: The post, with his main policy goals being to pull the economy out of a slump and lead the country toward the European Union . He remained in the post until he stepped down in 2002. On 18 May 1999 while prime minister, Mart Laar with security advisor Jaan Tross, Võru County head Robert Lepikson and Government Office coordination director Eerik-Niiles Kross used a shotgun to shoot at a photo of Edgar Savisaar , leader of opposition party Keskerakond . Later he explained that during shooting he acted as

5148-609: The right (south) flank. Another front section manned by the East Prussians of the 11th Infantry Division was situated a few kilometres further south, against the 8th Army in the Krivasoo bridgehead. The Soviet Marshal Leonid Govorov considered the Tannenberg Line as the key position of Army Group North and concentrated the best forces of the Leningrad Front. Additional 122nd, 124th Rifle Corps and divisions from 117th Rifle Corps were subordinated to Gen. Ivan Fedyuninsky , commanding

5226-464: The situation is extremely intense and the great difference between ours and the enemy's forces demands the greatest attention from the High Command. Leaving diplomatic formulation aside, Grasser announced that without immediate reinforcements, the Soviets would inevitably break through the Tannenberg Line on 29 June. Such reinforcements were beyond the capacities of Army Group North . The commander of

5304-528: The standard ratio 1:4 of irrecoverable casualties to wounded, the total number of German casualties in the Battle for Tannenberg Line is approximately 10,000 men. On 14 September, the Riga Offensive was launched by the Soviet 1st , 2nd and 3rd Baltic Fronts. It was aimed at capturing Riga and cutting off Army Group North in Courland , western Latvia . After much argument, Adolf Hitler finally agreed to allow

5382-449: The surrounding land. The formations of Gruppenführer Felix Steiner 's III SS Panzer Corps halted their withdrawal and moved into defensive positions on the hills. The 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Nederland started digging in on the left (north) flank of the Tannenberg Line, units of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) in the centre, and the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland on

5460-405: The top of the Grenadier Hill. Special courage was shown by Sgt. Efendiyev, who destroyed a German strongpoint on the hill. The Komsomol organiser, V.I. Lavreshin of the 937th Rifle Regiment, who had been marching ahead of his troops with a red flag in his hands, erected it at the summit. The principle of the Soviet attack in the Sinimäed was an overwhelming frontal shock, with only a few of

5538-425: The trees cut down to a height of 2–3 metres. While having a great psychological effect, the " Katyusha s " or so-called " Stalin organs " were inaccurate, causing little damage to the well-dug-in German troops. The 70–80 German Nebelwerfers answered. This was followed by Soviet bombers trying to hit the last of the German troops, ducking down in their trenches. Dressed in camouflage uniforms, they remained unseen by

5616-719: The twentieth century", lists 665,827 casualties suffered by the Leningrad Front in 1944, 145,102 of them as dead, missing in action, or captured. Estonian historian Mart Laar , deducting the losses in the Leningrad-Novgorod Offensive, Battle for the Narva Bridgehead and the combat in Finland estimates the number of Soviet casualties in the Battle of Tannenberg Line as 35,000 dead or missing and 135,000 wounded or sick. Based on numbers of TsAMO f.217, op.1244, d.643 (Leningrad Front HQ, "Summary reports on losses submitted to

5694-519: The whole nation that all kinds of cohabitation must be called marriage, perhaps ignoring biology." In 1994, the Estonian Newspaper Association declared Laar the Year's Press Friend . This was the first time this award was given; since that, it has been a yearly occurrence. In 2001, Laar was given the complementary award of Year's Press Enemy. In January 2012, Laar became a meme, when in

5772-472: The withdrawing Germans, the Soviet attack fell onto the Tannenberg Line before the vastly outnumbered Army Detachment Narwa had dug in. The Soviet Air Force and artillery covered the German positions with bombs and shells, destroying most of the forest on the hills. The Soviet 201st and 256th Rifle Divisions supported by the 98th Tank Regiment assaulted the positions of the SS Division Nordland, seizing

5850-728: Was a military engagement between the German Army Detachment Narwa and the Soviet Leningrad Front . They fought for the strategically important Narva Isthmus from 25 July–10 August 1944. The battle was fought on the Eastern Front during World War II. The strategic aim of the Soviet Estonian Operation was to reoccupy Estonia as a favorable base for the invasions of Finland and East Prussia . Waffen-SS forces included 24 volunteer infantry battalions from

5928-439: Was covering the hill from the north. The 120th Rifle Division hit the Grenadier Hill from the east. The 72nd Rifle Division assaulted the II Battalion, 3rd Estonian Regiment, which was defending the northern flank. The 117th Rifle Corps stood ready to break through the last of the German defenses. The Orphanage Hill fell to the Soviets with the 191st Rifle Regiment at the head of the attack. This unit suffered great casualties from

6006-634: Was part of Saint Petersburg 's preliminary defence line. The Blue Mountains saw fighting in 1919 in Estonian War of Independence . Extensive battles took place at the Sinimäed towards the end of World War II . (see Battle of Tannenberg Line ). After defending the Narva bridgehead against the Red Army for six months, the German army detachment "Narwa" fell back to the Tannenberg Defensive Line on

6084-525: Was reduced to the size of a regiment, while the two regiments of the Langemarck Sturmbrigade each had the strength of a reinforced company. The 2nd Estonian Regiment was virtually lost and the Nordland Division a shadow of its former self. To the German's good fortune, Soviet intelligence severely overestimated the strength of the defenders to more than 60 tanks and 800 pieces of artillery while in fact there were just one tank and 70–80 guns left at

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