German grip on Poland tightens

15th January 1944: The Poles suffer from a crack down as the Red Army gets closer

German machine gunner in the burning center of Zhitomir, Ukraine. Zhitomir was liberated by Soviet troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front at the end of 1943.

In eastern Poland people were beginning to anticipate the arrival of the Red Army. The Zhytomyr–Berdichev offensive of December 1943-January 1944 was making good progress, and news of the Soviet successe…