Spring 1944: Narva under fire

In the spring of 1944, World War II once again reached the territory of Estonia. In the first week of March, the Red Army launched a new large-scale offensive on Narva. This was followed by devastating air raids on Estonian cities. Narva suffered the most: from March 6 to 8, the Soviet Air Force carried out heavy bombing raids on the city.

According to historian Reigo Rosenthal, over the course of those three days, Soviet aircraft made 1,322 sorties, dropping around 1,600 tons of bombs on Narva—twice as much as was dropped on Tallinn during the night of March 10. The bombings continued in the following months. A final blow came on July 25, when a powerful artillery bombardment destroyed even those buildings that had previously survived, including the Hermann Castle. Retreating German forces also contributed to the destruction by organizing the demolition of several structures, though their full plan was not carried out.

The Battle of Narva ended on July 26, 1944, when the city was captured by the Red Army. Nearly all historical buildings were wiped off the map during the fighting.

After the battles, the destruction was documented and photographed. These materials were compiled into a trilingual photo album and presented as evidence at the Nuremberg Trials. However, Soviet propaganda immediately shifted the blame to the Germans. As early as 1945, on the first anniversary of the March bombing, the USSR began promoting the official narrative that the city had been destroyed by the Germans and that the Soviet authorities were responsible for its "restoration."

On March 6, a lecture by historian and chief heritage inspector Madis Tuuder will take place at the Narva Town Hall. At 15:00 (in Estonian) and 18:00 (in Russian), he will present an overview of WWII events in Narva.

Lectures can be watched in Russian HERE

Sõjajärgne purustatud Narva, Viru tänava algus. 1944–1945. Foto Narva Muuseumi fotokogust https://www.muis.ee/museaalview/2463965

Sõjajärgne purustatud Narva, Sepa tänava ja Heinaturu nurk. 1944–1945. Foto Narva Muuseumi fotokogust https://www.muis.ee/museaalview/2464006

Sõjajärgne purustatud Narva, vanalinna tänav. 1944–1945. Foto Narva Muuseumi fotokogust https://www.muis.ee/museaalview/2464169