On 9 October 1944, the Soviet forces reached the Baltic Sea near Memel after over-running the headquarters of the 3rd Panzer Army. As a result, Army Group North was cut off from East Prussia. Hitler's military advisors—notably Heinz Guderian, the Chief of the German General Staff—urged evacuation and utilisation of the troops to stabilise the front in central Europe. However, Hitler refused, and ordered the German forces in Courland and the Estonian islands Hiiumaa and Saaremaa to hold out. in the absence of heavy weaponry and a near total lack of air support, total German casualties in Courland were heavy as well, and estimated to be over 150,000. On 9 May 1945, General Ivan Bagramyan accepted the surrender of German forces. According to Russian records, 146,000 German and Latvian troops were taken prisoner, and taken to camps in the USSR interior and imprisoned for years.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courlan...

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