›Do not burden one’s own army and its hinterland with unneeded mouths!‹ The Fate of the Soviet Civilian Population Behind the ›Panther Line‹ in Eastern Belorussia, October 1943-June 1944
Journal: Open Research Exeter (University of Exeter)
Year: 2015

The battles of Army Group Centre in eastern Belorussia during the winter of 1943 /44 have been rightly called an unknown war. 1 From October 1943 to June 1944, while the forces of Army Groups South and A were forced to retreat from Ukraine and the Crimea to the borders of Hungary and Romania, the 1, million German troops and auxiliaries belonging to Army Group Centre held off a series of offensives aimed at Vitebsk, Mogilev, Orsha and Bobruisk, inflicting significant casualties on Soviet forces.