On 22 June 1941, the 45th Infantry Division began Operation Barbarossa by starting the 9-day long siege of the Brest Fortress. In March 1942 the Red Army defeated the division at Livny, Russia and captured the archive of the division. That was the first time the Red Army learned about the defense of Brest Fortress It suffered heavy casualties during the Battle for Kursk. It was rebuilt but virtually destroyed at Bobruisk in June 1944 during Operation Bagration. It was again rebuilt as the 45th Volksgrenadier Division in the autumn of 1944 in Poland. The division fought at Warsaw and Radom in 1945, retreating through Silesia to Koniggratz, and finally to Czechoslovakia, where it surrendered.