Within a polemic with B. Willems's article, the author analyses the size of civilian population of Königsberg remaining in the city during the siege of 1945. The article considers approaches of Soviet and German command to evaluating the role of civilians in defending the fortress during the siege.
This article presents primary sources for studying the siege and battle of Königsberg of 1945. The work aims to distinguish between the civilian population remaining in the city and combatants defending it. It is shown that the inflated Soviet estimate of the garrison strength, which was uncritically reproduced by Prof G. V. Kretinin, should be revised as a result of Soviet memory distortion.
This article considers preconditions for, factors behind, and incidence of malaria in the Kaliningrad region as compared to general infectious disease incidence. Another focus is the results of Soviet epidemiological research on the regional ‘malaria threat’. It is concluded that malaria was prevalent in the region until the late 1940s. It is stressed that cases of malaria and anti-malaria measures were spread unevenly.