In October – September 1944 , the division was transferred first to Brest and then deployed along the defensive line near Lublin . With the commencement of the Vistula – Oder Offensive on January 12 , 1945 , the 89th Division took part in the general advance into Poland and aided in the liberation of dozens of Polish settlements and towns . By February , it had crossed the Oder River and had taken control of the approach leading to Frankfurt an der Oder and prevented the Germans from breaking through to endanger the Soviet forces now converging onto Berlin . By now , the unit was formally referred to as the " Little Armenian Land " ( '' Haykakan Malaya Zemlya '' ) . With these routes secure , the Soviets now prepared for the capture of Berlin . The 89th Division entered Frankfurt an der Oder on April 16 and was then integrated into the command of the 3rd Shock Army . Unit veteran Arshavir Hakobyan writes that many of the Armenians of the division expressed a particular eagerness to take part in Berlin 's capture on account of the role the German Empire as an ally of the Ottoman Empire during the 1915 Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
89th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)