 Complete the following phrase:  In February 1945 the Soviet Army approached the city. Gauleiter Karl Hanke declared the city a Festung fortress to be held at all costs. Hanke finally lifted a ban on the evacuation of women and children when it was almost too late. During his poorly organised evacuation in January 1945, 18,000 people froze to death in icy snowstorms of weather. By the end of the 