Operation München

Operation München
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Romanian cavalryman escorting Soviet prisoners
Date July 2 to July 24, 1941 Location Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina Result Romanian-German victory
Belligerents
Soviet Union	Romania Germany
Commanders and leaders
Ivan Tyulenev P. G. Ponedelin Yakov Cherevichenko	Ion Antonescu Nicolae Ciupercă Petre Dumitrescu Eugen Ritter von Schobert
Units involved
Odessa Military District: 9th Army 12th Army 18th Army	Army Group Antonescu: 3rd Army 4th Army 11th Army
Strength
364,700 troops 700 tanks 1,750 aircraft	325,685 troops[1] 201 tanks 672 aircraft 5 divisions, 420 aircraft
Casualties and losses
Total: 17,893 8,519 killed/missing, 9,374 wounded 255 aircraft[2]	Total: 21,738 4,112 killed, 12,120 wounded, 5,506 missing[3] 58 aircraft[4] Unknown

To be distinguished from the German documentary film LH 615 – Operation München about the 1972 hijacking of a Lufthansa airliner.

Operation München (Operaţiunea München) was the Romanian codename of a joint German-Romanian offensive during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II, with the primary objective of recapturing Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, ceded by Romania to the Soviet Union a year before (Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina).^[5] The operation concluded successfully after 24 days of fighting. Axis formations involved included the Third Romanian Army, the Fourth Romanian Army, and the Wehrmacht Eleventh Army.^[6] The invasion was followed by a genocide against the Jewish population of Bessarabia.^[7]

The offensive started on 2 July, with Romanian forces striking North. On 5 July, Chernivtsi, the capital of Northern Bukovina, was seized by the 3rd and 23rd Vânători de Munte battalions. On 16 July, Chișinău, the Bessarabian capital, was seized after heavy fighting by Romanian forces spearheaded by the 1st Romanian Armored Division (Divizia 1 Blindată), equipped mainly with 126 R-2 light tanks. By 24 July, the entire region was under Romanian-German control. On 17 August, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina were formally re-integrated into the Romanian State.^[8]

Other "Operation Münchens"

Another "Operation München" took place in March 1942, in Lithuania.^[9]

References

1. Axworthy (1995), p. 45.
2. Axworthy (1995), p. 286
3. Axworthy (1995), p. 47.
4. Axworthy (1995), p. 286
5. Operation Barbarossa 1941: Army Group South - Page 41 Robert Kirchubel, Howard Gerrard - 2003 "Hitler finally felt chances of a Soviet ground attack were low enough that his far right flank could move out under Operation Munich. All Axis forces in Rumania nominally fell under the command of dictator Ion Antonescu."
6. Germany and the Axis powers from coalition to collapse R. L. DiNardo - 2005 "It was not until early July, once the Soviet offensive was spent, that the Romanian Fourth Army was ready to go over to the offensive.101 Operation Munchen turned out to be a somewhat staggered affair. Schobert's German Eleventh Army "
7. Deutsche und Juden in Bessarabien, 1814-1941 Mariana Hausleitner - 2005 "... größte Katastrophe für die Juden Bessarabiens war die Rückeroberung Bessarabiens durch die rumänische Armee im Juli 1941."
8. Dutu A., Dobre F., Loghin L. Armata Romana in al doilea razboi mondial (1941-1945) - Dictionar Enciclopedic, Editura Enciclopedica, 1999
9. Rich man's war, poor man's fight: race, class, and power in the ... - Page 308 Jeanette Keith - 2004 "This air detachment was to be made ready for action as part of Operation Munich, an anti-partisan sweep planned to ... Operation Munich was launched on March 19. Supported by the newly created air detachment, German troops struck at ..."

Bibliography

• Axworthy, Mark; Scafes, Cornel; Craciunoiu, Cristian (1995). Third Axis Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945. London: Arms & Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-267-7.