Editing Gołdap (section)

===World War I and II===
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2021}}
[[File:Goldap, Ostpreußen - Ruinen mit der alten Kirche (Zeno Ansichtskarten).jpg|thumb|left|World War I destructions of Gołdap]]
During [[World War I]] Goldap was a scene of fierce fighting on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]], which passed through the town twice. As a result, it was almost completely destroyed. The town was rebuilt, and soon after the war ended it reached a similar number of inhabitants it had had before. It was occupied by the Russian army from the 18th August-10 September 1914, and again from 5 November 1914-11 February 1915.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goldap.info/goldap/10464-powstanie-szlak-frontu-wchodnieg1-ws|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250513185553/https://www.goldap.info/goldap/10464-powstanie-szlak-frontu-wchodnieg1-ws|archive-date=13 May 2025|title=Powstanie „Szlak Frontu Wschodniego I WŚ”|access-date=13 May 2025|language=pl}}</ref>

During [[World War II]] Goldap was planned by the [[OKH|German staff]] as one of the strongholds guarding the rest of East Prussia from the [[Red Army]] on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]. As a result of heavy fighting for the city and the regions directly east of it, in August and September 1944, 90% of the town was yet again destroyed. According to German war-time reports, about 50 civilians were murdered (some [[rape]]d) by the Red Army on its initial entry into Goldap in October 1944. It was the first town of [[Nazi Germany]] to fall. However, in November 1944 the [[Wehrmacht]] reconquered Goldap and would be able to keep it until the end of December of the same year. In January, the German positions in far-eastern East Prussia collapsed completely.