Evening star., 1945-01-17

4lOIit, TIeIIlleT SCalln an
nounced tonight in a second
order of the day.
NEW YORK tP.-The Pre-
mier of the Lublin Polish gov
ernment, in a broadcast re-
corded by the FEC, said today
that Krakow had been cap
tured.
Ey the Associated Press.
LONDON, Jan. 17.-The bat.
tered Polish capital of Warsaw
was captured today by Russian
armies of field Marshal Gregory
K. Zhukov storming into the city
from bridgeheads over the Wis.,
tula River.
The city of 100000 was the first
European capital to fall to the Ger
mans in this war. 1t was the 18th
to be liberated by the Allies.
Premier Stain announced the
victory in an order of the day.
While Warsaw was freed from
the Germans for the first time in
more than five years, other Russian
armies were driving on other sec
tions of the 600-fnile battlefield
from the Baltic to the Balkans.
Troops stormed into the defense
works of Krakow, ancient capital
of the Polish kings. Nearest Rus
sian vanguards were 10 miles to
the north.
27 Miles From Silesia.
German Silesia itself, a great
German coal and steel region vital
to the enemy's ability to make war,
was within 27 miles of Field Mar
shal Ivan Konev's Ukrainian Army
group driving on Krakow.
Below Warsaw, the German bas-
tion of Radon. fourteenth largest
Polish city of $4,000, toppled yester-
day and the Russians were reported
far beyond.
Moscow was silent on German
reported drive in East Prussia which
Berlin said had overrun the fortress
town of Schlossberg.
Marshal Zhukov's victory drive to
Warsaw started three days ago, Pre-
mier Stalin's order disclosed.
A few hours before the Stain
announcement, the provisional gov
ernment of Poland at Lublin had
announced the capture of the city
Text of Broadcast.
The broadcast by the Polish re-
gime, established at Lublin on De-
cember 81 and recognized by Mos
COW, asserted:
"Warsaw has been captured.
Formations of the Red Army and
Polish Army have occupied Warsaw,
the capital of the Polish Republic. -
The broadcaF was repeated three
times, along with fanfare of mar
tial music.
The victory decisively smashed
the German front in Poland. For
months the Russians had been in
Praga, eastern suburb of the cap
ital. across the Vistula, and the
Germans yielded the capital only
after it was dangerously outflanked
on the north and south. The Ger
mans said Red columns had knitted
to positions II and % miles north
west and had broken through to
the southwest to the area of Czesto-
chowa, only Is miles from the Ger
man border of Silesia.
The Polish 1st Army, commanded
by Lit. Gen. Stanislaus Poplawski,
participated in the capture of War
saw, it was announced.
Stalin's Order of Day.
Premier Stalin's order of the day
said:
Troops of the 1st White Russian
front, having carried out a swift
outf1anking maneuver west of War
saw, captured the town of Girar-
dow, cut roads to Sochasczew and
forced the Vistula north of Warsaw,
and thus, having cut off Warsaw
from the west, today, January II,
by the combined blows from north
west and south, captured the cap
ital of our ally Poland, the city of
Warsaw-the most important stra-
tegic center of German defenses on
the River Vistula."
Troops participating in the tri-
umph will have the name Warsaw"
added to their unit names, the
Soviet Premier decreed
He ordered a tremendous salute
of "a red. white, green and blue
salvoes from 324 guns in Moscow.
A Berlin broadcast declared the
huge Soviet offensive below War;
saw. had plunged to the eastern
outskirts of Czestochowa and told of
other Russians deeply outflanking
the Polish capital both to the north
and south.
The latest official Moscow an
nouncement had placed Russian
forces % miles from Czestochowa.
Deep Penetration.
The German high command as
serted Russian assault with 40
rifle divisions and several tank
corps had penetrated deeply north
west of Warsaw.
The Berlin communique-leading
off with the Russian front for the
first time since D day June 6-said
the Russian blows had been stopped
at Modlin, II miles northwest of
Warsaw, and at point west of
Nasielsk, % miles northwest of the
capital.
Below Warsaw, the German bull
letin said, the Red Army was strik-
ing westward with 80 rifle divisions
and Is tank corps. 1t declared a
German armored stand in the Kielce
area, 95 miles below Warsaw. had
made "disengagement of our troops
from the Vistula front possible"