First Soviet units appeared in western suburbs of Kołobrzeg (Kolberg) on 4 March 1945. The Battle of Kołobrzeg began on the same day. By 17 March the Germans were pushed back to the beach and the sea, and on the night of 17-18 March the defenders of the city decided to abandon their lines, and evacuate most units to Swinemünde. The ceremony took place on 18 March in the evening. Polish historian Pawel Pawlowski, manager of the Museum of Polish Weapons at Kołobrzeg says that the town was chosen for the main 1945 Wedding to the Sea due to its symbolic importance, as the Germans turned it into a fortress (Festung Kolberg). Furthermore, Nazi propaganda turned the 1807 Siege of Kolberg into a myth, making an expensive film about it.