From 13 February 1945 to 6 May 1945, German troops in Breslau were besieged by the Soviet forces which encircled the city as part of the Lower Silesian Offensive Operation.

[7] The German Army, aided by the Home Guard (Volkssturm), then turned the city into a military fortress: Breslau was to be capable of a lengthy defense against the advancing Soviets.

Ahlfen, who commanded for only three weeks, had been personally selected by the Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Center (Heeresgruppe Mitte), Ferdinand Schörner.

The capture of a bridgehead on the west bank of the Oder by the 1st Ukrainian Front during the Vistula–Oder Offensive allowed the Soviet forces to encircle Breslau.

[8] The start of the attack of the 6th Army was delayed for two days, from 6 to 8 February, by the overstretched supply lines of the front, which resulted from the advances it made during the Vistula–Oder Offensive.

It achieved temporary success with the capture of Gross Peterwitz, but was soon pushed back to its jumping-off positions by a Soviet counterattack on its flank.

[9] A last breakout attempt was made on the night of 13–14 February by elements of the 269th Infantry Division and other units trapped in Breslau, who attacked the inner ring of the encirclement.

[9] With the city having been declared a fortress, thousands of forced laborers from local prisons and concentration camps were brought in to build defenses and clear rubble.

The infantry units of the 6th Army consolidated the advances of the 7th Guards Mechanized Corps between 14 and 16 February, solidifying the inner ring of the siege.

The 309th overcame the Lohbrück–Opperau line, while the 218th Rifle Division took Krietern; the German resistance rendered a speedy advance to the city center in a day unfeasible.

[13] The 667th Rifle Regiment of the 218th advanced into the Südpark but was forced to retreat back to the railway line on 20 February by a counterattack of the 55th Volkssturm Battalion, made up of Hitler Youth, supported by the garrison's assault guns.

[14] An exaggerated account of the Hitler Youth counterattack was published in the Nazi propaganda newspaper Völkischer Beobachter in an attempt to show the resolution of the defenders.

According to the plan prepared by his headquarters on 18 February and approved by Konev a day later, the main attack on the city would be delivered from the south along a two-and-a-half kilometer front from Oltashin to the Südpark with the 273rd and 218th Divisions, reinforced by two regiments from the 309th, forming the shock group; these units comprised the army's strongest divisions in terms of manpower, with the 218th and 309th numbering little more than 5,000 men and the 273rd with slightly above 5,400.

[14] For the attack, one assault battalion in each regiment was specially formed for urban combat, totalling ten in the entire shock group, including the 22nd Rifle Corps reserve.

[16] The 6th Army headquarters further recommended that subordinate commanders form assault groups integrating single rifle companies with artillery – operating in direct fire mode – and sappers to capture fortified strongpoints.

On 4 May the clergy of Breslau — Pastor Hornig, Dr. Konrad, Bishop Ferche, and Canon Kramer — demanded that Niehoff surrender the town.

In a pamphlet titled the "Freiheits-Kämpfer" (English: Freedom fighters) it called for an end to the fighting and told the local population "not to be afraid of the Red Army who came as liberators".

It was one of the small units sent for reconnaissance and infiltration of German troops and subsequent disarmament and capture of the latter, or for auxiliary combat operations.

The group successfully overpowered the guard posts, liquidated the SS commanders and persuaded the other German troops to surrender.

During the siege, German forces lost 6,000 dead and 23,000 wounded defending Breslau,[26] while Soviet losses were possibly as high as 60,000.

[19] Hanke attached himself to the 18th SS-Freiwilligen-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Horst Wessel" in the uniform of an SS private, to conceal his identity in the event of capture.

[28] Not only because of Soviet aerial and artillery bombardment, but also as a result of the self-destructive actions of the SS and the NSDAP, 80 to 90 per cent of Breslau was destroyed .

after the Soviet capture of the Gandauer airfield, the Wehrmacht destroyed many houses and three churches to build a provisional airstrip 200 to 400 meters wide and two kilometers long.Breslau was transferred to Poland in the aftermath of the war and renamed Wrocław.