In February 1945 the Soviet Army approached the city. Gauleiter Karl Hanke declared the city a "Festung" (fortress) to be held at all costs. Hanke finally lifted a ban on the evacuation of women and children when it was almost too late. During his poorly organised evacuation in January 1945, 18,000 people froze to death in icy snowstorms of weather. By the end of the Battle of Breslau (February–May 1945), half the city had been destroyed. An estimated 40,000 civilians lay dead in the ruins of homes and factories. After a siege of nearly three months, Festung Breslau capitulated to the Red Army on 6 May 1945, two days before the end of the war. In August the Soviets placed the city under the control of German communists.