Fall of Iasi in August 1944

I have heard the very same story told about the natural history museum in Bucharest. I wonder if it has some truth in it or if it is only a legend.

I don't know about Buc.
About Iassi ,I heard the story from the son of a care taker ,who was arested because the death of the soldiers.
There were many cases that Soviets drank methilic alchool insted of ethilic.
So what's the big dif.in the taste regarding formol?

I never tried them so I cannot tell whether there is a difference or not.

Anyhow, the drinking habits of the Soviet soldiers have relatively little to do with the wartime actions in and around Iaşi.

Do not try!
You are useful for the forum!
Drinking some Methilic alcohol will make you blinde and after another dose will kill you.

Ethilic alcohol you can drink as much as you can but you can have after a while "alcoholic coma"
Formol will kill instantly. :

Bad joke deleted.

Do not try!
You are useful for the forum!

Don't worry, it was only a joke (hence the ).

Can we now go back to the fall of Iaşi?

I have recently obtained some new elements regarding the fall of Iaşi in the summer of 1944. They are from the recollections of a man who was a teenager during WWII. I found them quite interesting even though after more than 60 years the recollections should be taken with a pinch of salt.

1. Several days before the Soviet offensive, Iaşi has been "invaded" by priests carrying loafs of black bread under their cloak. The priests, speaking Romanian but later identified as Soviet spies, were asking the children only about the location of the German troops in town, in exchange for a loaf of bread.

2. A few days before the offensive, there has been a night bombing of Iaşi targeting the positions of the Germans. The bombing was said to have been carried out by the Allied, possibly the British. The bombing was performed with high accuracy, the targets being illuminated with flares attached to parachutes. As an example of the accuracy of the bombing, the man remembers that the bombs had fallen only on the side of a street close to the railway station that had concentrations of German troops, the other side of the street where was his house being completely spared.

3. For the morning of 20 September 1944 he remembers people gathering in the squares of the cities, the crowds being bombed by the Soviets around 8 o'clock in the morning. The Germans quickly left the city, destroying the bridge over the Bahlui situated in Podu Roş. By 4 o'clock in the afternoon the Russians had occupied the city. He also remembers the encounter with a wounded Soviet officer who, after being held responsible for the Soviet bombing of the civilian crowds that morning, claimed that as soon as they got information that the Germans left the city they stopped the bombings (this would indicate an active network of Soviet spies in the city at that time).

Can these facts be corroborated with information from other sources?

My wifes' grandfather told me this past summer that the park above the university had fighting in it. Don't remember if trenches were there or not but does remember the fighting around the university.

Same place, (well) before WWII (from eBay):

RHaught, I couldn't help noticing the photo below from the album you posted in another thread. According to its legend, it was taken from the location of the WWII German HQ south of Iaşi



Could you please indicate its location on the satellite image below (from Google Maps)? Thanks.

Oh boy, this is going to be fun. Will edit post when I find it. I do know it is near the big TV/Radio Antenna south of the city which is clear now but did have some woods back then. Befriended the park ranger there and he took me around the mountain. How did you like the pics by the way?

Then, if I am not mistaken, the location is somewhere around the yellow spot in the image below. Anyhow, if you can pinpoint it, please let me know.

I did like them very much. Thank you.

Carol
Follow todays main road out of Iasi to the south (to Vaslui). Go up the mountain until you see the antenna. This area was the HQ's observation area, the original HQ is where the present location of the rangers house is located. You can see the remains (floors) of 2 bunkers and the other one intact is storage area for wine. Saw this over the fence since he didn't allow me in.

I used 2 maps (1943 and 1944) so the primary roads and railroads then are secondary now and less travelled. these are the places I will be at next year.

Rob

This post has been edited by RHaught on July 23, 2006 10:23 am

I think I am not very much mistaken. The road winds through the forest just east of the yellow spot. Thanks for the reply.

Now that we know the location of the German HQ in Bucium, it could be that the Russians in the old film clip were firing at it.