January 12, 1945

Vistula–Oder offensive

Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Front opens the Vistula–Oder Offensive

The offensive remembered as a two-front hammer blow began with only one front. Zhukov did not attack for another two days.

Out of the Sandomierz bridgehead

On 12 January 1945 Marshal Ivan Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front attacked from the Sandomierz–Baranów bridgehead west of the Vistula in German-occupied Poland.

The assault opened in darkness with two concentrated artillery preparations against the German 4th Panzer Army's defences. Konev's rifle forces broke through, after which the 3rd Guards and 4th Tank Armies were committed to exploit the breach westward.

By the end of the first day his forces had penetrated about 15 miles across a front roughly 25 miles wide.

Zhukov waits until the 14th

Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front did not begin its part of the offensive, from the Magnuszew and Puławy bridgeheads, until 14 January.

Fog, snow and thawing airfields sharply restricted Soviet air support just as the ground attack opened.

Warsaw, Kraków, Łódź, Auschwitz and the Oder were not taken on the opening day; Warsaw fell on 17 January.

Why the 12th

The familiar story — that a predicted thaw accelerated the start — is not secure. Research based on 1st Ukrainian Front orders, cited by the Pilecki Institute, indicates an earlier date of 9 January had been ordered and then delayed by three days.

Force totals vary by what is counted: more than a million personnel, roughly 9,000 guns and 3,000 tanks are attributed to the whole 1st Ukrainian Front, covering many branches rather than infantry alone.

Konev's memoir recalls Stalin pointing at industrial Silesia on a map and reducing its importance to one word: gold.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited

How this was checked

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What the sources leave uncertain

The January 12 opening by Konev is secure. The strategic operation’s terminal date varies among studies because Soviet sources divide it into component operations and use different completion boundaries.
Accounts differ over why the attack began on January 12. Research based on 1st Ukrainian Front orders indicates an earlier January 9 date had been planned and then delayed, contradicting the familiar thaw-driven acceleration story.
Force totals vary depending on whether Polish formations, air forces, reserves, and only committed or all assigned personnel are counted.