For several years Leningrad was surrounded by siege fascist invaders. People were left in the city without food, heat, electricity or running water. The days of the blockade are the most difficult test that the residents of our city withstood with courage and dignity..
The blockade lasted 872 days
On September 8, 1941, Leningrad was besieged. It was broken through on January 18, 1943. At the beginning of the blockade there was no siege in Leningrad sufficient quantity food and fuel supplies. The only way communication with the city was Lake Ladoga. It was through Ladoga that the Road of Life ran, the highway along which food supplies were delivered to besieged Leningrad. It was difficult to transport the amount of food needed for the entire population of the city across the lake. During the first winter of the siege, famine began in Gol, and problems with heating and transport appeared. In the winter of 1941, hundreds of thousands of Leningraders died. On January 27, 1944, 872 days after the start of the siege, Leningrad was completely liberated from the Nazis.
On January 27, St. Petersburg will congratulate Leningrad on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the city from the fascist blockade. Photo: www.russianlook.com
630 thousand Leningraders died
During the blockade, over 630 thousand Leningraders died from hunger and deprivation. This figure was announced at the Nuremberg trials. According to other statistics, the figure could reach 1.5 million people. Only 3% of deaths occurred due to fascist shelling and bombing, the remaining 97% died from starvation. Dead bodies, lying on the streets of the city, were perceived by passers-by as an everyday occurrence. Most of those who died during the siege are buried at the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery.
During the years of the siege in Leningrad, hundreds of thousands of people died. Photo from 1942. Archive photo
Minimum ration - 125 grams of bread
The main problem of besieged Leningrad was hunger. Employees, dependents and children received only 125 grams of bread per day between November 20 and December 25. Workers were entitled to 250 grams of bread, and personnel of fire brigades, paramilitary guards and vocational schools - 300 grams. During the blockade, bread was prepared from a mixture of rye and oat flour, cake and unfiltered malt. The bread turned out to be almost black in color and bitter in taste.
The children of besieged Leningrad were dying of hunger. Photo from 1942. Archive photo
1.5 million evacuees
During three waves of evacuation of Leningrad, people were taken from the city to total 1.5 million people - almost half of the city's total population. The evacuation began a week after the start of the war. Explanatory work was carried out among the population: many did not want to leave their homes. By October 1942, the evacuation was completed. In the first wave, about 400 thousand children were taken to the Leningrad region. 175 thousand were soon returned back to Leningrad. Starting from the second wave, evacuation was carried out along the Road of Life across Lake Ladoga.
Almost half of the population was evacuated from Leningrad. Photo from 1941. Archive photo
1500 loudspeakers
To alert Leningraders about enemy attacks on the city streets, 1,500 loudspeakers were installed. In addition, messages were broadcast through the city radio network. The alarm signal was the sound of a metronome: its fast rhythm meant the beginning of an air attack, and its slow rhythm meant a release. Radio broadcasting in besieged Leningrad was around the clock. The city had an ordinance prohibiting turning off radios in homes. Radio announcers talked about the situation in the city. When the radio broadcasts stopped, the sound of the metronome continued to be broadcast on the air. Its knock was called the living heartbeat of Leningrad.
More than 1.5 thousand loudspeakers appeared on the city streets. Photo from 1941. Archive photo
- 32.1 °C
First winter in besieged Leningrad was harsh. The thermometer dropped to -32.1 °C. The average temperature of the month was 18.7 °C. The city did not even record the usual winter thaws. In April 1942 snow cover in the city reached 52 cm. Negative air temperatures remained in Leningrad for more than six months, lasting until May inclusive. Heating was not supplied to the houses, sewerage and water supply were turned off. Work in factories and factories stopped. The main source of heat in houses was the potbelly stove. Everything that burned was burned in it, including books and furniture.
Winter in besieged Leningrad was very harsh. Archive photo
6 months siege
Even after the blockade was lifted, the Germans and Finnish troops Leningrad was besieged for six months. The Vyborg and Svirsko-Petrozavodsk offensive operations of Soviet troops with the support of the Baltic Fleet made it possible to liberate Vyborg and Petrozavodsk, finally pushing the enemy back from Leningrad. As a result of the operations, Soviet troops advanced 110-250 km in a western and southwestern direction, and the Leningrad region was liberated from enemy occupation.
The siege continued for another six months after the blockade was broken, but German troops did not penetrate into the city center. Photo: www.russianlook.com
150 thousand shells
During the siege, Leningrad was constantly subjected to artillery shelling, which was especially numerous in September and October 1941. Aviation carried out several raids a day - at the beginning and at the end of the working day. In total, during the siege, 150 thousand shells were fired at Leningrad and more than 107 thousand incendiary and high-explosive bombs were dropped. The shells destroyed 3 thousand buildings and damaged more than 7 thousand. About a thousand enterprises were put out of action. To protect against artillery shelling, Leningraders erected defensive structures. Residents of the city built more than 4 thousand pillboxes and bunkers, equipped 22 thousand firing points in buildings, and erected 35 kilometers of barricades and anti-tank obstacles on the streets.
Trains transporting people were constantly attacked German aviation. Photo from 1942. Archive photo
4 cars of cats
Domestic animals were brought to Leningrad from Yaroslavl in January 1943 to fight hordes of rodents that threatened to destroy food supplies. Four carriages of smoky cats arrived in the newly liberated city - it was smoky cats that were considered the best rat catchers. A long line immediately formed for the cats that were brought. The city was saved: the rats disappeared. Already in modern St. Petersburg, as a sign of gratitude to animal deliverers, on the eaves of houses on Malaya Sadovaya Street monuments to the cat Elisha and the cat Vasilisa appeared.
On Malaya Sadovaya there are monuments to cats who saved the city from rats. Photo: AiF / Yana Khvatova
300 declassified documents
The Archival Committee of St. Petersburg is preparing an electronic project “Leningrad under siege.” It involves placement on the portal “Archives of St. Petersburg” virtual exhibition archival documents on the history of Leningrad during the siege. On January 31, 2014, 300 scanned images will be published. high quality historical papers about the blockade. The documents will be organized into ten sections showing different sides life of besieged Leningrad. Each section will be accompanied by comments from experts.
Samples ration cards. 1942 TsGAIPD St. Petersburg. F. 4000. Op. 20. D. 53. Original Photo: TsGAIPD St. Petersburg
© AiF / Irina Sergeenkova
© AiF / Irina Sergeenkova
© AiF / Irina Sergeenkova
© AiF / Irina Sergeenkova
© AiF / Irina Sergeenkova
© AiF / Irina Sergeenkova
© AiF / Irina Sergeenkova
© AiF / Irina Sergeenkova
© AiF / Irina Sergeenkova
©
Before the blockade began, Hitler had been massing troops around the city for a month. The Soviet Union, in turn, also took action: ships of the Baltic Fleet were stationed near the city. 153 main caliber guns were supposed to protect Leningrad from the German invasion. The sky above the city was guarded by an anti-aircraft corps.
However, the German units went through the swamps, and by the fifteenth of August they formed the Luga River, finding themselves in the operational space directly in front of the city.
Evacuation - first wave
Some people were evacuated from Leningrad even before the blockade began. By the end of June, a special evacuation commission was launched in the city. Many refused to leave, inspired by optimistic statements in the press about the speedy victory of the USSR. The commission staff had to convince people of the need to leave their homes, practically agitating them to leave in order to survive and return later.
On June 26, we were evacuated across Ladoga in the hold of a ship. Three ships carrying small children sank when they were hit by mines. But we were lucky. (Gridyushko (Sakharova) Edil Nikolaevna).
There was no plan on how to evacuate the city, since the likelihood that it could be captured was considered almost impossible. From June 29, 1941 to August 27, about 480 thousand people were deported, approximately forty percent of them were children. About 170 thousand of them were taken to points in the Leningrad region, from where they again had to be returned to Leningrad.
They were evacuated along the Kirov Railway. But this route was blocked when German troops captured it at the end of August. The exit from the city along the White Sea-Baltic Canal near Lake Onega was also cut off. On September 4, the first German artillery shells fell on Leningrad. The shelling was carried out from the city of Tosno.
First days
It all started on September 8, when the fascist army captured Shlisselburg, closing the ring around Leningrad. The distance from the location of the German units to the city center did not exceed 15 km. Motorcyclists in German uniforms appeared in the suburbs.
It didn't seem like it for long then. It’s unlikely that anyone expected that the blockade would drag on for almost nine hundred days. Hitler, commander German troops, for its part, hoped that the resistance of the hungry city, cut off from the rest of the country, would be broken very quickly. And when this did not happen even after several weeks, I was disappointed.
Transport in the city did not work. There was no lighting on the streets, no water, electricity or steam heating was supplied to the houses, and the sewage system did not work. (Bukuev Vladimir Ivanovich).
The Soviet command also did not foresee such a development of events. In the first days of the blockade, the leadership of the units that defended Leningrad did not report that Hitler’s troops were closing the ring: there was hope that it would be quickly broken. This didn't happen.
The confrontation, which dragged on for more than two and a half years, claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. The blockade runners and the troops who did not allow German troops into the city understood what all this was for. After all, Leningrad opened the road to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, where the ships of the USSR allies were unloaded. It was also clear to everyone that, having surrendered, Leningrad would have signed its own death sentence - this beautiful city It just wouldn't happen.
The defense of Leningrad made it possible to block the path for the invaders to the Northern Sea Route and to divert significant enemy forces from other fronts. Ultimately, the blockade made a serious contribution to the victory of the Soviet army in this war.
As soon as the news that German troops had closed the ring spread throughout the city, its residents began to prepare. All the products were bought up in the stores, and all the money in the savings banks was withdrawn from the savings books.
Not everyone was able to leave early. When the German artillery began to conduct constant shelling, which happened already in the first days of the blockade, it became almost impossible to leave the city.
On September 8, 1941, the Germans bombed large Badayev food warehouses, and the three million population of the city was doomed to starvation. (Bukuev Vladimir Ivanovich).
These days, one of the shells set fire to the Badayevsky warehouses, where the strategic food supply was stored. This is what is called the cause of the famine that the remaining residents had to endure. But the documents, whose secrecy status was recently lifted, say that there were no large reserves.
It was problematic to preserve enough food for a city of three million during the war. No one in Leningrad prepared for such a turn of events, so food was brought into the city from outside. No one set the task of creating a “safety cushion”.
This became clear by September 12, when the audit of the food that was in the city was completed: the food, depending on its type, was only enough for a month or two. How to deliver food was decided at the very top. By December 25, 1941, bread distribution standards were increased.
The entry of food cards was done immediately - within the first days. The food standards were calculated based on the minimum that would not allow a person to simply die. Stores no longer simply sold groceries, although the black market flourished. Huge queues formed for food rations. People were afraid that they would not have enough bread.
Not prepared
The issue of providing food became the most pressing during the blockade. One of the reasons for such a terrible famine, experts military history They call delay a decision to import food that was made too late.
one tile of wood glue cost ten rubles, then a tolerable monthly salary was around 200 rubles. They made jelly from glue; there was pepper and bay leaves in the house, and all this was added to the glue. (Brilliantova Olga Nikolaevna).
This happened due to the habit of hushing up and distorting facts so as not to “sow decadent sentiments” among residents and the military. If all the details about Germany's rapid advance had been known to the high command earlier, perhaps our casualties would have been much smaller.
Already in the first days of the blockade, it worked clearly in the city. military censorship. Complaining about difficulties in letters to family and friends was not allowed - such messages simply did not reach the recipients. But some of these letters have survived. Like the diaries that some Leningraders kept, where they wrote down everything that happened in the city during the siege months. It was they who became the source of information about what happened in the city before the blockade began, as well as in the first days after Hitler’s troops surrounded the city.
Could the famine have been avoided?
The question of whether it was possible to prevent a horrific famine during the siege in Leningrad is still asked by historians and the survivors of the siege themselves.
There is a version that the country’s leadership could not even imagine such long siege. By the beginning of the autumn of 1941, everything in the city with food was the same as everywhere else in the country: cards were introduced, but the norms were quite large, for some people it was even too much.
The food industry operated in the city, and its products were exported to other regions, including flour and grain. But there were no significant food supplies in Leningrad itself. In the memoirs of the future academician Dmitry Likhachev, one can find lines that no reserves were made. For some reason Soviet authorities did not follow the example of London, where they actively stocked up on food. In fact, the USSR prepared in advance for the fact that the city would be surrendered fascist troops. The export of food stopped only at the end of August, after German units blocked the railway connection.
Not far away, on the Obvodny Canal, there was a flea market, and my mother sent me there to exchange a pack of Belomor for bread. I remember how a woman went there and asked for a loaf of bread for a diamond necklace. (Aizin Margarita Vladimirovna).
Residents of the city began to stock up on food themselves in August, anticipating hunger. There were queues outside the shops. But few managed to stock up: those pitiful crumbs that they managed to acquire and hide were very quickly eaten later, during the blockade autumn and winter.
How they lived in besieged Leningrad
As soon as the standards for issuing bread were reduced, the queues at bakeries turned into huge “tails”. People stood for hours. At the beginning of September, German artillery bombing began.
Schools continued to operate, but fewer and fewer children came. We studied by candlelight. Constant bombing made it difficult to study. Gradually, schooling stopped altogether.
I went to the blockade kindergarten on Kamenny Island. My mother worked there too. ...One day one of the guys told a friend his cherished dream - a barrel of soup. Mom heard and took him to the kitchen, asking the cook to come up with something. The cook burst into tears and told her mother: “Don’t bring anyone else here... there’s no food left at all. There is only water in the pan." Many children in our garden died of hunger - out of 35 of us, only 11 remained. (Alexandrova Margarita Borisovna).
On the streets you could see people who could barely move their feet: they simply didn’t have the strength, everyone walked slowly. According to the recollections of those who survived the siege, these two and a half years merged into one endless dark night, the only thought in which was to eat!
Autumn days of 1941
The autumn of 1941 was only the beginning of trials for Leningrad. Since September 8, the city was bombed by fascist artillery. On this day, the Badayevsky food warehouses caught fire from an incendiary shell. The fire was huge, the glow from it could be seen from different parts of the city. There were 137 warehouses in total, twenty-seven of them burned out. This is approximately five tons of sugar, three hundred and sixty tons of bran, eighteen and a half tons of rye, forty-five and a half tons of peas were burned there, and 286 tons of vegetable oil were lost, and the fire also destroyed ten and a half tons of butter and two tons of flour . This, experts say, would be enough for the city for only two or three days. That is, this fire was not the cause of the subsequent famine.
By September 8, it became clear that there was little food in the city: in a few days there would be no food. The Military Council of the Front was entrusted with managing the available reserves. Card regulations were introduced.
One day, our flatmate offered my mother meat cutlets, but my mother sent her away and slammed the door. I was in indescribable horror - how could I refuse cutlets with such hunger. But my mother explained to me that they are made from human meat, because there is nowhere else to get minced meat in such a hungry time. (Boldyreva Alexandra Vasilievna).
After the first bombing, ruins and shell craters appeared in the city, the windows of many houses were broken, and chaos reigned on the streets. Slingshots were placed around the affected areas to prevent people from going there, because an unexploded shell could get stuck in the ground. Signs were hung in places where there was a likelihood of being hit by shelling.
In the fall, rescuers were still working, the city was being cleared of rubble, and even houses that had been destroyed were being restored. But later no one was interested in this anymore.
By the end of autumn, new posters appeared - with advice on preparing for winter. The streets became deserted, with only occasional people passing by, gathering at the boards where advertisements and newspapers were posted. Street radio horns also became places of attraction.
Trams went to the final station in Srednyaya Rogatka. After September 8, tram traffic decreased. The bombings were to blame. But later the trams stopped running.
Details of life in besieged Leningrad became known only decades later. Ideological reasons did not allow us to speak openly about what was really happening in this city.
Leningrader's ration
Bread has become main value. They stood for rations for several hours.
They baked bread from more than one flour. There was too little of it. For specialists food industry The task was set to figure out what could be added to the dough so that the energy value of the food would be preserved. Cotton cake was added, which was found in the Leningrad port. The flour was also mixed with flour dust that had grown over the walls of the mills, and dust shaken out of the bags where the flour used to be. Barley and rye bran were also used for baking. They also used sprouted grain found on barges that were sunk in Lake Ladoga.
The yeast that was in the city became the basis for yeast soups: they were also included in the ration. The flesh of the skins of young calves became the raw material for jelly, with a very unpleasant aroma.
I remember one man who walked around the dining room and licked everyone’s plates. I looked at him and thought that he would die soon. I don’t know, maybe he lost the cards, maybe he just didn’t have enough, but he’s already gotten to this point. (Batenina (Larina) Oktyabrina Konstantinovna).
On September 2, 1941, workers in hot shops received 800 grams of so-called bread, engineering specialists and other workers - 600. Employees, dependents and children - 300-400 grams.
From October 1, rations were halved. Those who worked in factories were given 400 grams of “bread.” Children, employees and dependents received 200 each. Not everyone had cards: those who failed to get them for some reason simply died.
On November 13, food became even scarcer. Workers received 300 grams of bread per day, others only 150. A week later, the norms dropped again: 250 and 125.
At this time, confirmation came that food could be transported by car on the ice of Lake Ladoga. But the thaw disrupted the plans. From the end of November to mid-December, food did not arrive in the city until strong ice was established on Ladoga. From December twenty-fifth, standards began to rise. Those who worked began to receive 250 grams, the rest - 200. Then the ration increased, but hundreds of thousands of Leningraders had already died. This famine is now considered one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the twentieth century.
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The hero city, which for more than two years was under a military blockade by German, Finnish and Italian armies, today he remembers the first day of the siege of Leningrad. On September 8, 1941, Leningrad found itself cut off from the rest of the country, and city residents bravely defended their homes from the invaders.
The 872 days of the siege of Leningrad went down in the history of the Second World War as the most tragic events worthy of memory and respect. The courage and bravery of the defenders of Leningrad, the suffering and patience of the city’s residents - all this will remain an example and lesson for new generations for many years to come.
Read 10 interesting, and at the same time terrifying facts about the life of besieged Leningrad in the editorial material.
1. "Blue Division"
German, Italian and Finnish soldiers officially took part in the blockade of Leningrad. But there was another group, which was called the “Blue Division”. It was generally accepted that this division consisted of Spanish volunteers, since Spain did not officially declare war on the USSR.
However, in fact, the Blue Division, which became part of a great crime against Leningraders, consisted of professional military personnel spanish army. During the battles for Leningrad, the Blue Division was considered by the Soviet military to be the weak link of the aggressors. Due to the rudeness of their own officers and meager food, fighters of the Blue Division often went over to the side of the Soviet army, historians note.
2. "Road of Life" and "Alley of Death"
Residents of besieged Leningrad managed to escape from starvation in the first winter thanks to the “Road of Life”. In the winter of 1941-1942, when the water on Lake Ladoga froze, communication with the “Big Land” was established, through which food was brought to the city and the population was evacuated. 550 thousand Leningraders were evacuated through the “Road of Life”.
In January 1943, Soviet soldiers broke through the blockade of the occupiers for the first time, and a construction was built on the liberated area. railway, which was called "Victory Road". On one section, the "Victory Road" came close to enemy territories, and trains did not always reach their destination. The military called this stretch “Death Alley.”
3. Harsh winter
The first winter of besieged Leningrad was the harshest the inhabitants had seen. From December to May inclusive, the average air temperature in Leningrad was 18 degrees below zero, the minimum mark was recorded at 31 degrees. Snow in the city sometimes reached 52 cm.
In such harsh conditions, city residents used any means to keep warm. Houses were heated with potbelly stoves; everything that burned was used as fuel: books, paintings, furniture. Central heating in the city did not work, sewerage and water supply were turned off, work in factories and factories ceased.
4. Hero cats
In modern St. Petersburg, a small monument to a cat has been erected, few people know, but this monument is dedicated to the heroes who twice saved the inhabitants of Leningrad from starvation. The first rescue occurred in the first year of the siege. Hungry residents ate all their domestic animals, including cats, which saved them from starvation.
But later, the absence of cats in the city led to a widespread invasion of rodents. The city's food supplies were under threat. After the blockade was broken in January 1943, one of the first trains had four cars with smoky cats. This breed is the best at catching pests. The supplies of the exhausted city residents were saved.
5. 150 thousand shells
During the years of the siege, Leningrad was subjected to an incalculable number of airstrikes and artillery shelling, which were carried out several times a day. In total, during the siege, 150 thousand shells were fired at Leningrad and more than 107 thousand incendiary and high-explosive bombs were dropped.
To alert citizens about enemy air raids, 1,500 loudspeakers were installed on the city streets. The signal about airstrikes was the sound of a metronome: its fast rhythm meant the start of an air attack, a slow rhythm meant a retreat, and on the streets they wrote “Citizens! During artillery shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous.”
The sound of the metronome and the inscription warning of shelling preserved on one of the houses became symbols of the blockade and the resilience of the residents of Leningrad, which was still unconquered by the Nazis.
6. Three waves of evacuation
During the war years, the Soviet military managed to carry out three waves of evacuation local population from a besieged and hungry city. Over the entire period, it was possible to withdraw 1.5 million people, which at that time amounted to almost half of the entire city.
The first evacuation began in the first days of the war - June 29, 1941. The first wave of evacuation was characterized by the reluctance of residents to leave the city; in total, a little more than 400 thousand people were evacuated. The second wave of evacuation - September 1941-April 1942. The main route of evacuation was already besieged city became the “Road of Life”; in just the second wave, more than 600 thousand people were evacuated. And the third wave of evacuation - May-October 1942, just under 400 thousand people were evacuated.
7. Minimum ration
Hunger has become main problem besieged Leningrad. The beginning of the food crisis is considered to be September 10, 1941, when Nazi aircraft destroyed the Badayevsky food warehouses.
The peak of the famine in Leningrad occurred between November 20 and December 25, 1941. The norms for the distribution of bread for soldiers on the front line of defense were reduced to 500 grams per day, for workers in hot shops - to 375 grams, for workers in other industries and engineers - to 250 grams, for employees, dependents and children - to 125 grams.
During the siege, bread was prepared from a mixture of rye and oat flour, cake and unfiltered malt. It had a completely black color and a bitter taste.
8. The Case of the Scientists
During the first two years of the siege of Leningrad, from 200 to 300 employees of Leningrad higher educational institutions and members of their families were convicted. Leningrad NKVD department in 1941-1942. arrested scientists for “anti-Soviet, counter-revolutionary, treasonous activities.”
As a result, 32 highly qualified specialists were sentenced to death. Four scientists were shot, the rest death penalty were replaced by various terms of forced labor camps, many died in prisons and camps. In 1954-55, the convicts were rehabilitated, and a criminal case was initiated against the NKVD officers.
9. Duration of blockade
The siege of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War lasted 872 days (September 8, 1941 - January 27, 1944). But the first breakthrough of the blockade was carried out in 1943. On January 17, during Operation Iskra, Soviet troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts managed to liberate Shlisselburg, creating a narrow land corridor between the besieged city and the rest of the country.
After the blockade was lifted, Leningrad was under siege for another six months. German and Finnish soldiers remained in Vyborg and Petrozavodsk. After offensive operation Soviet troops in July-August 1944 managed to push the Nazis back from Leningrad.
10. Victims
At the Nuremberg trials, the Soviet side announced that 630 thousand died during the siege of Leningrad, however, this figure is still in doubt among historians. The real death toll could reach up to one and a half million people.
Besides quantity dead horror also causes causes of death - only 3% of all deaths in besieged Leningrad were due to artillery shelling and airstrikes by the fascist military. 97% of deaths in Leningrad from September 1941 to January 1944 were due to starvation. Dead bodies lying on the streets of the city were perceived by passers-by as an everyday occurrence.
The siege of Leningrad lasted exactly 871 days. This is the longest and most terrible siege of the city in the entire history of mankind. Almost 900 days of pain and suffering, courage and dedication. After many years after breaking the siege of Leningrad Many historians, and even ordinary people, wondered: could this nightmare have been avoided? Avoid - apparently not. For Hitler, Leningrad was a “tidbit” - after all, it is here Baltic Fleet and the road to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, from where help came from the allies during the war, and if the city had surrendered, it would have been destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth. Could the situation have been mitigated and prepared for in advance? The issue is controversial and worthy of separate research.
The first days of the siege of Leningrad
On September 8, 1941, in continuation of the offensive of the fascist army, the city of Shlisselburg was captured, thus closing the blockade ring. In the first days, few people believed in the seriousness of the situation, but many residents of the city began to thoroughly prepare for the siege: literally in a few hours, all savings were withdrawn from the savings banks, the shops were empty, everything possible was bought up. Not everyone was able to evacuate when systematic shelling began, but it began immediately, in September, the routes for evacuation were already cut off. There is an opinion that it was the fire that occurred on the first day siege of Leningrad in the Badaev warehouses - in the repository of the city's strategic reserves - provoked a terrible famine during the blockade days. However, recently declassified documents provide slightly different information: it turns out that there was no “strategic reserve” as such, since in the conditions of the outbreak of war it was impossible to create large stock for such a huge city as Leningrad was (and about 3 million people lived in it at that time) it was not possible, so the city fed on imported products, and the existing reserves would only last for a week. Literally from the first days of the blockade, ration cards were introduced, schools were closed, military censorship was introduced: any attachments to letters were prohibited, and messages containing decadent sentiments were confiscated.
Siege of Leningrad - pain and death
Memories of the people's siege of Leningrad who survived it, their letters and diaries reveal to us a terrible picture. A terrible famine struck the city. Money and jewelry have lost value. The evacuation began in the fall of 1941, but only in January 1942 did it become possible to withdraw large number people, mostly women and children, across the Road of Life. There were huge queues at the bakeries where daily rations were distributed. Besides hunger besieged Leningrad Other disasters also attacked: very frosty winters, sometimes the thermometer dropped to -40 degrees. The fuel ran out and the water pipes froze - the city was left without electricity, and drinking water. Rats became another problem for the besieged city in the first winter of the siege. They not only destroyed food supplies, but also spread all kinds of infections. People died and there was no time to bury them; the corpses lay right on the streets. Cases of cannibalism and robbery appeared.
Life of besieged Leningrad
At the same time Leningraders They tried with all their might to survive and not let their hometown die. Moreover, Leningrad helped the army by producing military products - the factories continued to operate in such conditions. Theaters and museums resumed their activities. It was necessary to prove to the enemy, and, most importantly, to ourselves: siege of Leningrad will not kill the city, it continues to live! One of bright examples amazing dedication and love for the Motherland, life, hometown is the story of the creation of one piece of music. During the blockade, the famous symphony of D. Shostakovich, later called “Leningrad”, was written. Or rather, the composer began writing it in Leningrad, and finished it in evacuation. When the score was ready, it was delivered to the besieged city. By that time, the symphony orchestra had already resumed its activities in Leningrad. On the day of the concert, so that enemy raids could not disrupt it, our artillery did not allow a single fascist plane to approach the city! During all the days of the siege, the Leningrad radio worked, which was for all Leningraders not only a life-giving source of information, but also simply a symbol of ongoing life.
The Road of Life is the pulse of a besieged city
From the first days of the blockade, the Road of Life began its dangerous and heroic work - pulse besieged LeningradA. In summer there is a water route, and in winter there is an ice route connecting Leningrad with the “mainland” along Lake Ladoga. On September 12, 1941, the first barges with food arrived in the city along this route, and until late autumn Until storms made navigation impossible, barges walked along the Road of Life. Each of their flights was a feat - enemy aircraft constantly carried out their bandit raids, weather conditions often they were also not to the advantage of the sailors - the barges continued their voyages even in late autumn, until the ice appeared, when navigation was in principle impossible. On November 20, the first horse-drawn sleigh train descended onto the ice of Lake Ladoga. A little later, trucks started driving along the ice Road of Life. The ice was very thin, despite the fact that the truck was carrying only 2-3 bags of food, the ice broke, and there were frequent cases when trucks sank. At the risk of their lives, the drivers continued their deadly flights until spring. Military Highway No. 101, as this route was called, made it possible to increase bread rations and evacuate a large number of people. The Germans constantly sought to break this thread connecting the besieged city with the country, but thanks to the courage and fortitude of Leningraders, the Road of Life lived on its own and gave life to the great city.
The significance of the Ladoga highway is enormous; it has saved thousands of lives. Now on the shore of Lake Ladoga there is the Road of Life Museum.
Children's contribution to the liberation of Leningrad from the siege. Ensemble of A.E.Obrant
At all times, there is no greater grief than a suffering child. Siege children are a special topic. Having matured early, not childishly serious and wise, they did their best, along with adults, to bring victory closer. Children are heroes, each fate of which is a bitter echo of those terrible days. Children's dance ensemble A.E. Obranta is a special piercing note of the besieged city. In the first winter siege of Leningrad many children were evacuated, but despite this various reasons there were still many children left in the city. The Palace of Pioneers, located in the famous Anichkov Palace, went under martial law with the beginning of the war. It must be said that 3 years before the start of the war, a Song and Dance Ensemble was created on the basis of the Palace of Pioneers. At the end of the first blockade winter, the remaining teachers tried to find their students in the besieged city, and from the children remaining in the city, choreographer A.E. Obrant created a dance group. It’s scary to even imagine and compare the terrible days of the siege and pre-war dances! But nevertheless, the ensemble was born. First, the guys had to be restored from exhaustion, only then they were able to start rehearsals. However, already in March 1942 the first performance of the group took place. The soldiers, who had seen a lot, could not hold back their tears looking at these courageous children. Remember How long did the siege of Leningrad last? So, during this considerable time, the ensemble gave about 3,000 concerts. Wherever the guys had to perform: often the concerts had to end in a bomb shelter, since several times during the evening the performances were interrupted by air raid raids; it happened that young dancers performed several kilometers from the front line, and in order not to attract the enemy unnecessary noise, they danced without music, and the floors were covered with hay. Strong in spirit, they supported and inspired our soldiers; the contribution of this team to the liberation of the city can hardly be overestimated. Later the guys were awarded medals "For the Defense of Leningrad".
Breaking the blockade of Leningrad
In 1943, a turning point occurred in the war, and at the end of the year, Soviet troops were preparing to liberate the city. January 14, 1944 during general offensive Soviet troops began final operation By lifting the blockade of Leningrad. The task was to apply crushing blow against the enemy south of Lake Ladoga and restore land routes, connecting the city with the country. Leningradsky and Volkhov fronts by January 27, 1944, with the help of Kronstadt artillery, they carried out breaking the siege of Leningrad. The Nazis began to retreat. Soon the cities of Pushkin, Gatchina and Chudovo were liberated. The blockade was completely lifted.
Tragic and great page Russian history, which killed more than 2 million human lives. While the memory of these terrible days lives in the hearts of people, finds a response in talented works of art, is passed from hand to hand to descendants - this will not happen again! Siege of Leningrad briefly, but Vera Inberg succinctly described her lines as a hymn to the great city and at the same time a requiem for the departed.
The blockade of Leningrad was established not with the goal of forcing the city to capitulate, but in order to make it easier to destroy the entire surrounded population. Daily life in the besieged city turned into the daily exploits of the townspeople, which eventually formed into great victory. The heroic struggle in the blockade ring and changes in the usual life of the city residents.
Siege of Leningrad
When Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, the Soviet leadership understood that Leningrad would definitely be one of the key figures on the scene of unfolding military operations. He ordered the organization of a commission to evacuate the city. It was necessary to remove the population, enterprise equipment and military cargo. However, no one expected the blockade of Leningrad. The German army had the wrong tactics.
And Hitler, according to the testimony of people from his circle, had to capture Leningrad special treatment. We should not forget that the German Fuhrer was not just a military strategist. First of all, he was a talented politician, and knew the value of ideology and the objects that symbolize it. Hitler didn't need the city. He was supposed to disappear from the face of the earth under German artillery fire. Plunge into the swamps on which, contrary to generally accepted norms, it was once erected. The brainchild of Peter the Great and the place of birth and victory of Bolshevism, hated by Hitler, during the Battle of Leningrad had to be destroyed. And to do this, first of all, not for military reasons (although this moment was also important for a successful advance towards Moscow), but in order to undermine the morale of Soviet citizens.
Hitler didn’t even need this territory. Neither the city itself nor the suburbs of Leningrad. At the Nuremberg trials his words were voiced, which were recorded by M. Bormann:
“The Finns are laying claim to the Leningrad region. Raze Leningrad to the ground in order to then give it to the Finns.”
Leningrad geographically turned out to be on the outskirts of the fighting country. The Germans captured the Baltic states very quickly. This closed the west side. Finland was advancing from the north. In the east lies the wide and very capricious Lake Ladoga in terms of navigation. Therefore, in order to surround Leningrad with a blockade ring, it was enough to capture and hold literally several strategically important points.
On the eve of the blockade
The first days of the war were very successful for the German army. According to Operation Barbarossa, Army Group North was supposed to destroy all Soviet troops in the Baltic states, developing an offensive, occupy all Baltic naval bases and capture Leningrad by the end of July. The first part of the plan went pretty smoothly. Due to the surprise of the attack and the geographical dispersion of the Soviet divisions, German troops were able to inflict powerful blows on them part by part. Enemy artillery bombardments mowed down the ranks of the defenders. In this case, a significant role was played by the attackers’ significant advantage in personnel and the large number of tanks and aircraft at their disposal.
In the meantime, the German leadership was making plans, and also intoxicated by the successes of past campaigns and the smooth start of the current one, the German army bravely advanced towards its intended goals, Soviet troops hastily erected defenses and prepared evacuation. Leningraders were rather cool about the possibility of evacuating. They were reluctant to leave home. But the call to help units of the Red Army in defense, on the contrary, was reacted with great enthusiasm. Both old and young offered their help. Women and men willingly agreed to work in the preparation of defensive structures. After the call to form militia, military registration and enlistment offices were literally inundated with thousands of applications.
Very short time 10 divisions were formed from unprepared but eager residents. They were ready to fight to the death for their homes, their wives and children. Among these newly minted troops were college students, employees of naval units and ship personnel. From them they formed ground brigades and sent to the front. Thus, the command of the Leningrad district was replenished with another 80 thousand soldiers.
Stalin orders Leningrad not to surrender under any circumstances and to defend until the last soldier. In addition to ground fortifications, air defense was also organized. It used anti-aircraft guns, fighter planes, searchlights, barrage balloons and radar stations.
The effectiveness of air defense can be judged by the first raid carried out on June 23, 1941 - literally on the second day of the war. Not a single enemy plane broke through to the city. During the first summer, 17 raids were carried out, in which more than one and a half thousand aircraft took part. Only 28 units broke through to Leningrad. And 232 planes never returned anywhere - they were destroyed.
By July 10, 1941, German tank units were 200 km from Leningrad. Had they continued to advance at such a brisk pace, the army would have reached the city in 10 days. By this time, the front of the 11th Soviet Army had already been broken through. It seemed that nothing would stop us from taking Leningrad on the move. However, not all German generals agreed with this point of the plan. Even before the attack, there were thoughts that a siege could significantly simplify the task and save the lives of German soldiers.
Evacuation. First wave
The evacuation of residents from besieged Leningrad had to take place in several stages. Already on June 29 - a week after the start of the war - the first echelons carried 15 thousand children away from the city. In total, 390 thousand children had to leave Leningrad. Unfortunately, according to evacuation plans, the final destination for large number of these was to become the south of the Leningrad region. But that’s where the German units were heading. Therefore, in a hurry, 170 thousand children were returned back to Leningrad.
But it was not only children who were taken away. A planned evacuation of the city’s adult population also took place. Over the summer, 164 thousand workers left Leningrad, who were evacuated along with their enterprises. The first wave of evacuation was characterized by the extreme reluctance of residents to leave the city. IN protracted war they simply didn’t believe it. And leaving our homes and breaking away from our usual way of life was both undesirable and somewhat scary.
The evacuation continued under the supervision of specially created committees. All available routes were used - railways, highways and country roads. The situation was further complicated by the fact that, with the advancement German troops, a wave of refugees poured into Leningrad from surrounding areas. People had to be accepted and, in the shortest possible time, transported further into the interior of the country. All summer, all the structures involved in the evacuation process worked hard. When the evacuation began, train tickets stopped going on sale. Now only those who were subject to evacuation could leave.
According to the commission, before the start of the blockade of Leningrad, 488 thousand Leningraders and 147.5 thousand refugees who arrived in the city were taken out of the city.
On August 27, 1941, railway communication between Leningrad and the rest of the territory Soviet Union was interrupted. On September 8, all land communications were finally interrupted. After the Germans managed to capture Shlisselburg. This date became official day the beginning of the blockade in Leningrad. There were almost 900 days of terrible, exhausting struggle ahead. But then the Leningraders did not yet suspect this.
The first days of the siege of Leningrad
Regular shelling of Leningrad began several days before the start of the siege. Twelfth of September to the German command Hitler's new order arrived. The assault on the city was called off. The soldiers had to strengthen their existing positions and prepare for defense. The blockade ring had to be strong and indestructible. And the city had to be constantly bombarded with artillery fire.
The first days of the siege of Leningrad were characterized by very different moods of the residents. Often – diametrically opposed. Those who firmly believed in the existing regime believed that the Red Army could cope with the German troops. And those who allowed the surrender of Leningrad were sure that Hitler worse than Stalin It simply cannot be. There were even those who quite openly expressed the hope that the Bolshevik regime would fall. True, the vigilant and conscious communists did not allow the brave souls to completely forget themselves, and some riots there was no reason for this.
Ordinary residents had no way of knowing that the plans of the fascist blockade did not include liberation at all. civilians from anything. A professor at the University of St. Petersburg, as a historian, explained in an interview with TASS:
“The Nazi leadership, starting on August 21, 1941, quite clearly defined its intentions regarding Leningrad. The Germans intended to tighten the blockade ring as tightly as possible, depriving the city of the possibility of supply. And then the enemy counted on the fact that the city would capitulate quickly enough, not having the resources to provide for the multi-million population.”
Yes, the German leadership calculated that the food supply would be depleted very quickly. This means, having weighed the incommensurability of losses and suffering, if not the Soviet government, then certainly themselves Soviet citizens stop pointless resistance. But they miscalculated. They miscalculated in the same way as with the blitzkrieg. They miscalculated in the same way as with such familiar “boilers”, widely used by the German army in the Second World War. This tactic was also calculated on the fact that when finding oneself in a hopeless situation and enduring suffering, a person loses the will to fight. But the Russians did not lose it. And this axiom has been proven once again besieged Leningrad. Not brilliant staff officers. Not the professional skill of commanders. And ordinary people. Who have not lost the will to live. Who continued to fight day after day for as long as the siege of Leningrad lasted.
German politics
An interesting look at Leningrad under the siege from the opposite – German – side. After the rapid advance of the fascist army in the Baltic states, the soldiers expected a repeat of the European blitzkrieg. At that time, Operation Barbarossa was still unfolding like clockwork. Of course, both members of the command and ordinary privates understood that Leningrad simply would not surrender. The history of Russia testified to this. This is precisely why, because of the stubborn resistance in the past, Hitler was so wary of this city. He really wanted to destroy it even before the capture of Moscow.
Finland took the side of Germany in World War II. And it was their army that advanced in the northern direction. And they still had fresh memories of the Finnish war, in which the Soviet Union had already been defeated once. Therefore, in general, the expectations of the advancing fighters were the most rosy.
When the order came to start the blockade, the Wehrmacht soldiers even became somewhat depressed. Spending a long time in cold trenches was very different from being billeted in cozy French houses. Hitler motivated his decision by the fact that in this way military forces would be saved. You just have to wait until hunger begins in the city. And help in this by destroying food warehouses with artillery fire. The fire had to be fired powerfully, massively and regularly. Nobody was going to save the city. His fate was sealed.
In general, this situation did not contradict any existing military ethics. These unwritten rules were contradicted by something else - the German command was forbidden to accept surrender. Nikita Lamagin speaks about this: “Capitulation as an act of war would impose on the Nazi leadership the need to think about civilian population" In practice, this means that the food supply (even in the most minimal quantities) of several million people would fall on the Germans. And they themselves have already experienced what it means to deliver food across the vast Russian expanses and roads that are unsuitable for this.
Professor of history Lamagin continues: “Moreover, any attempts to break out of the city, be it women, old people or children, had to be prevented, first by barrage fire, and then by destruction fire.”
And there have been such attempts. People fleeing one by one literally came to the German trenches. They were simply pushed back to return to where they came from. That was the order. Hitler's position on this issue was consistent. He was going to exterminate the Slavs, and now the opportunity to do this presented itself. It was no longer just at stake here military victory and division of territories. It was about the continued existence of millions of people.
With the passage of time, questions inevitably arise about whether it was possible to avoid the horrors that the siege of Leningrad brought in 1941-1943. Hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. Not from shelling, not from explosions, but from hunger slowly and painfully devouring the body. Even against the backdrop of all the horrors that occurred during the Great Patriotic War, this page of history continues to amaze the imagination. Incredible great price paid by the siege survivors for the defense of Leningrad during the siege.
Hitler's plans were not known to the general public. And the heroic defense of Leningrad will remain truly heroic. But today, having documents and eyewitness accounts, it is known for certain that the residents of Leningrad had no chance to save their lives during the enemy blockade by simply surrendering the city and entrusting themselves to the mercy of the winner. This winner did not need prisoners. U German military leaders There were clear orders to break resistance by destroying warehouses, waterworks, power plants and power supplies with artillery strikes.
Life of besieged Leningrad
The Soviet leadership did not consider it necessary to notify citizens about the real picture of what was happening at the front. Information about the progress of the war was briefly reported, but most often the information was sporadic and incomplete. And ignorance breeds anxiety and fear. In addition, soon the fighting began to get very close. People from the front appeared in the city who could convey the news first-hand. And such people came not in dozens, but in thousands. Soon food disappeared from the shelves. The search for food became main task townspeople
The worse the situation at the front became, the more gloomy the mood was in the city. It was not just that the city was surrounded by troops. Many cities of the Soviet Union fell victim to enemy aggression. There was a danger that the Germans would capture Leningrad. And this couldn’t help but frighten me. But the overall picture was shaped by other tones. After all, there was a shortage of food exactly as long as the blockade of Leningrad lasted. After some time, the supply of electricity to residential buildings stopped, and soon the water supply and sewerage systems also failed.
In addition to the fact that it was physically difficult, the situation was very depressing psychologically. One of the historian-researchers very aptly described the state of people with the expression “tearing the fabric of life.” The usual way of life was completely disrupted. The city was constantly bombed. In addition, I had to work even more than in peacetime. And all this against the backdrop of chronic malnutrition.
And yet the city lived. He didn’t just survive, but lived and functioned as if he continued to breathe deeply. From the very day the blockade began, which ultimately lasted almost 900 days, Leningraders never ceased to believe in very early liberation. This hope gave strength to the residents of the besieged city throughout the three years.
Most pressing problem During the time that the blockade lasted, there was always a search for food. The system of food cards, which were used to sell goods, was introduced from the very beginning. But this did not save from the acute shortage of the most necessary products. The city simply did not have the necessary food supplies.
At the very beginning, the Germans managed to set fire to the Badayev warehouses with bombs. Sugar, flour and butter burned there. This enormous fire was seen by many Leningraders, and they understood perfectly well what it meant for them. There was even an opinion that the famine began precisely because of this fire. But these warehouses did not have enough food to supply the townspeople. At that time, about three million Human. And the city itself has always depended on imported products. It simply did not have autonomous reserves. Now the besieged population of Leningraders was supplied with food along the Road of Life.
The norms of bread sold on ration cards changed depending on the developing situation. The table “Norms for the distribution of bread to the Leningrad population during the siege” indicates how much bread workers, employees and dependents received, including children. People stood in huge lines every day to get the bread they were entitled to with their coupons.
Standards for issuing bread to the Leningrad population during the siege
| 18.07 – 30.09 1941 | 1.10 – 13.11 1941 | 20.11 – 25.12 1941 | 26.12.1941 – 31.01.1942 | February 1942 | |
| Workers | 800 grams | 400 grams | 250 grams | 350 grams | 500 grams |
| Employees | 600 grams | 200 grams | 125 grams | 200 grams | 400 grams |
| Dependents | 400 grams | 200 grams | 125 grams | 200 grams | 300 grams |
But under these conditions people continued to work. The Kirov plant, which produced tanks, produced products during the blockade. The children went to school. City services worked, order was maintained in the city. Even institute employees came to work. Later, eyewitnesses who survived the blockade will tell you that those who survived were those who continued to get out of bed in the morning and do something, adhere to some kind of schedule and rhythm. Their will to live did not fade. And those who preferred to save energy by stopping leaving the house most often quickly died in their own homes.
The history of the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing is very indicative. Academician Vavilov at one time collected a rich collection of plants, both cultivated and wild. To collect it, 110 special expeditions were made. Plant specimens were collected literally all over the world. The selection fund contained several tons of seeds and tubers from 250 thousand samples. This collection is still recognized as the richest on the planet. Institute employees came to work and heated the premises to save priceless specimens from the forty-degree frost. During the first winter of the siege, 28 employees of this institute died of hunger. Having potatoes, rice and other grains on hand. They didn't touch them.
Road of life
The only connecting link between the city sandwiched in the blockade ring and the rest of the world was Lake Ladoga. The Ladoga flotilla was used to supply food during the siege of Leningrad. Great difficulties were created by the fact that this lake was very difficult for navigation. In addition, the Germans did not stop bombing food ships. Right along the coast of Lake Ladoga, the aid brought was hastily unloaded. It was possible to deliver only a small part of the products it needed to the city. But even this small amount, transmitted across the lake, played a role. If this road of life did not exist, the deaths that resulted from the terrible famine would have been many times greater.
IN winter time When navigation was impossible, the road of life was laid directly on the ice. Tents were set up on the snowy surface of the lake, where, if necessary, truck drivers could receive technical assistance and warm up. The road along Lake Ladoga was guarded by two lines of barriers, also installed directly on the ice. At one end the trucks were carrying food, and at the other - a large number of people who continued to be evacuated from the city. Many truck drivers made dangerous trips several times per shift, even when, due to thin ice, they literally risked their lives. Many cars went under the ice.
Children's contribution to the liberation of Leningrad
The Leningrad Regional Committee decided to involve schoolchildren in the defense cause. On October 21, 1941, this appeal was published in the Smena newspaper. The children responded with great enthusiasm. And their contribution was truly enormous. In any task that was within the capabilities of their little, not yet strong hands, they gave their all one hundred percent.
At first, the tasks were quite pioneering. During the siege, children went from house to house and collected scrap metal, which was used for processing and making ammunition. Schoolchildren managed to send literally tons of both ferrous and non-ferrous metal to Leningrad factories. Soon, empty containers were needed to package a flammable mixture like a Molotov cocktail. And here the schoolchildren did not disappoint either. In just one week they collected more than a million bottles.
Then it was time to collect warm clothes for the needs of the army. This time the children did not limit themselves to simple rounds. They themselves knitted warm sweaters and socks, which they then sent to the soldiers at the front. In addition, they wrote letters and sent small gifts to the soldiers - notepads, pencils, soap, handkerchiefs. There were a lot of such parcels.
In hospitals, children were on duty along with adults. For how many days did the siege of Leningrad last, these little orderlies worked together with everyone else. They helped as much as they could - they read to the wounded, helped them write and send letters home. The children cleaned the wards and washed the floors. These little orderlies performed serious work, which adults would do, freeing up nurses, who would thus have more time to help the wounded.
They were even in places where there was absolutely no place for children. It was decided that the children would be on duty with the adults. Little guys were on duty on cold roofs and attics, ready to extinguish falling incendiary bombs and the fires that had already started because of them. They carried sand upstairs, which they covered the floor with in a thick layer to prevent fire, and filled huge barrels with water into which they could throw a fallen bomb.
The children bravely stood at their posts until the blockade was lifted. “Sentries of Leningrad roofs” - that’s what they were called. When during air raids everyone descended into bomb shelters, they climbed into the attics under the roar of falling and exploding shells; during the ongoing bombing, the guys vigilantly watched to defuse in time those bombs that would fall on the area entrusted to them. And they counted how many of these bombs they managed to extinguish. Here are some surviving data: Gena Tolstov (9 years old) - 19 bombs, Oleg Pegov (9 years old) - 15 bombs, Kolya Andreev (10 years old) - 43 bombs. About the last boy, Kolya, it is specified that he was “with his comrades.” The document does not say how old they were. And that's all. Nine-year-old children defending their duty to neutralize deadly projectiles. We will never know how many of them did not return from these duties.
"Sentries of Leningrad roofs"
Or here is another case described. Vitya Tikhonov saw an incendiary bomb on the street ready to explode. He grabbed her by the tail and pulled her into the sand. Vita was seven years old. He didn't even have the strength to lift this shell. But he knew what to do with it. And he did. And his action was noted in the local newspaper as real feat. But these, although impressive to the core, are the most gentle stories. The Leningrad heroic defense knows many other cases. Here is one of the episodes from the duty of teenager Pasha Lovygin.
During the next shelling of Leningrad by enemy artillery, two incendiary bombs burned through the roof of the house where Pasha was on duty and fell into the attic. The guy quickly grabbed them by the metal stabilizers, which burned his hands unbearably (there was simply no time left to neutralize them one by one, grabbing them with iron tongs) and threw them into the prepared barrels of water. But then he saw that at the other end of the attic a third bomb was already flaring up. It had to be extinguished there. And Pasha received such painful burns that he fell from unbearable pain. And then I saw the fourth burning bomb. He managed to extinguish it too. After which the young man was forced to be sent to the hospital, where other victims of the blockade were already located.
But this is also the contribution of children to the protection hometown, while the blockade continued, is not limited. They, hungry and exhausted, stood at their machines to replace their fathers and brothers who had gone to the front. And sometimes even take up the baton of a worker who has died of exhaustion. They worked full shifts, trying to keep up with, and sometimes exceeding, the skilled worker norm. They volunteered to build defensive structures. But most people knew shovels and picks almost only from pictures. They dug trenches and ensured that the streets were blocked with anti-tank fortifications.
The years of siege took countless lives. And it's terrible. But no less terrible is the fact that they took away their childhood from an entire generation of children. Yes, war is always terrible. And she doesn't spare anyone. But in the case of the blockade of Leningrad, what is terrifying is that it was an absolutely deliberate extermination of the civilian population. And including children. But, in spite of everything, they could not be exterminated either physically or morally. And this was also their help. The soldiers receiving the parcels, members of the city militia standing guard, ordinary citizens. They saw with their own eyes that they had something to fight for and someone to protect. With their example, the little defenders of Leningrad inspired those around them.
Preparing for decisive action
In April 1942, Leonid Govorov was appointed commander of the Leningrad military district. He was supposed to lead the troops defending the city. Two months later, Govorov was appointed by Headquarters as commander of all forces of the Leningrad Front. The new commander approached his duties very responsibly. He spent a lot of time on plans, diagrams and calculations, trying to use every opportunity to improve the defense. The map of the environment was thoroughly studied by him. Govorov also looked for non-standard approaches to solving problems.
Thus, thanks to the fact that he reorganized the location of the artillery of the Leningrad front, the intensity of enemy artillery decreased significantly. Firstly, due to the fact that now Soviet soldiers, thanks to an increase in firing range (this was influenced by a change in deployment), hit German guns and disabled them. Secondly, due to the fact that the Germans had to spend a significant part of the shells fighting this very artillery. As a result, the number of shells falling within the city decreased by 7 times. This helped save thousands more lives. In addition, damage to cultural and historical monuments Leningrad.
At the same time, Govorov was not just a theorist. He personally inspected the defensive structures created according to his designs. If it was impossible to calmly walk through the trenches he inspected without ducking, the commanders responsible for this sector personally dealt with stern superiors. The results were not long in coming. Losses from enemy sniper bullets and shell fragments began to decline sharply.
Govorov prepared very carefully for the operation to break the blockade. He understood perfectly well that the soldiers had no experience in breaking through the ring of serious fortifications. And he will not have a second attempt at liberating Leningrad. Therefore, he gradually withdrew individual units from the front line and trained them. Then these units returned to their positions, giving way to the next batch of fighters. So, step by step, Govorov honed the skills of his fighters.
And there was something to hone. In that part of the blockade ring that the Soviet troops were going to storm, the Germans fortified themselves on a high six-meter bank. They abundantly flooded its slopes with water, thereby turning it into a real glacier. But we still had to get to this glacier. Eight hundred meters of ice-bound river. Unprotected open area. We should not forget that by this time the siege of Leningrad had lasted for more than two years. The soldiers were weakened by prolonged hunger. But the commander believed that his fighters would break through the cordon ring. Govorov even shouted “Hurray!!!” during the attack he forbade it so that people would not waste their strength. Instead, the advance was accompanied by the playing of a military band.
Breakthrough and lifting of the blockade of Leningrad
On January 12, 1943, Soviet troops were ordered to begin implementing Operation Iskra to break the blockade. The offensive of the Leningrad front began with a massive two-hour artillery bombardment of German positions. Before the last explosion had died down, I connected Soviet aviation. The military band struck up the “Internationale,” and the infantry rushed to the attack. The training, which took place over several months, did not pass without a trace. Losses among the Red Army soldiers were minimal. They quickly reached the border of the fortifications, and, using grappling hooks, hooks and assault ladders, they climbed right up the ice wall close to the enemy and were able to break through the blockade. On the morning of January 18, 1943, in the northern suburbs of Leningrad, Soviet units moving towards each other finally met. They liberated Shlisselburg and relieved the coast of Lake Ladoga from the blockade.
However, this day is not considered the end of the blockade. After all, only a small plot of land was liberated. The blockade was not completely lifted. On January 14, 1944, the Leningrad-Novgorod War began with a powerful artillery strike. strategic operation. Formations of two Soviet armies fought towards each other, crashing into the very heart of the echeloned German defense. They managed to first widen the gap and then push the enemy 100 km away from the city.
How many days did the siege of Leningrad last?
The beginning of the siege of Leningrad is counted from the moment the Germans captured the city of Shlisselburg on September 8, 1941. It ended on January 27, 1944. Thus, from the moment the blockade was established until complete liberation exactly 872 days passed in the city.
The resilience of the defenders of Leningrad was noted by the country's leadership. It was awarded the honorary title of Hero City. In 1945, only four cities in the Soviet Union received such recognition. Poems were dedicated to the hero city of Leningrad, and many volumes of books were written about the feat of its inhabitants. Research into events related to the blockade is still ongoing.
