January 27 at Russian Federation celebrated Day military glory Russia - Day of lifting the blockade of Leningrad. The date is celebrated on the basis of the federal law “On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia” dated March 13, 1995.
The offensive of fascist troops on Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), the capture of which the German command attached great strategic and political importance, began on July 10, 1941.
In August, heavy fighting was already taking place on the outskirts of the city. On August 30, German troops cut the railways connecting Leningrad with the country. On September 8, the Nazis managed to blockade the city from land. According to Hitler's plan, Leningrad was to be wiped off the face of the earth. Having failed in their attempts to break through the defenses of the Soviet troops inside the blockade ring, the Germans decided to starve the city out. According to all calculations of the German command, the population of Leningrad should have died from hunger and cold.
On September 8, the day the blockade began, the first massive bombing Leningrad. About 200 fires broke out, one of them destroyed the Badayevsky food warehouses.
In September-October, enemy aircraft carried out several raids per day. The enemy's goal was not only to interfere with the activities of important enterprises, but also to create panic among the population. Particularly intense shelling was conducted at the beginning and end of the working day. Many died during the shelling and bombing, many buildings were destroyed.
The conviction that the enemy would not be able to capture Leningrad restrained the pace of evacuation. More than two and a half million residents, including 400 thousand children, found themselves in a blocked city. There were few food supplies, so we had to use food substitutes. Since the introduction of the card system, food distribution standards to the population of Leningrad have been repeatedly reduced.
Autumn-winter 1941-1942 - the most scary time blockades Early winter brought with it cold - heating, hot water there was none, and Leningraders began to burn furniture, books, and dismantled wooden buildings for firewood. The transport was standing still. Thousands of people died from dystrophy and cold. But Leningraders continued to work - administrative institutions, printing houses, clinics, kindergartens, theaters, a public library were working, scientists continued to work. 13-14 year old teenagers worked, replacing their fathers who had gone to the front.
In the autumn on Ladoga, due to storms, ship traffic was complicated, but tugs with barges made their way around the ice fields until December 1941, and some food was delivered by plane. Hard ice was not installed on Ladoga for a long time, and bread distribution standards were again reduced.
On November 22, the movement of vehicles on the ice road began. This transport route was called the "Road of Life". In January 1942, traffic on the winter road was already constant. The Germans bombed and shelled the road, but they failed to stop the traffic.
By January 27, 1944, troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts broke the defenses of the 18th German Army, defeated its main forces and advanced 60 km in depth. Seeing a real threat of encirclement, the Germans retreated. Krasnoe Selo, Pushkin, and Pavlovsk were liberated from the enemy. January 27 became the day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the siege. On this day, festive fireworks were given in Leningrad.
The siege of Leningrad lasted 900 days and became the bloodiest blockade in human history. Historical meaning The defense of Leningrad is enormous. Soviet soldiers, having stopped the enemy hordes near Leningrad, turned it into a powerful bastion of the entire Soviet-German front in the north-west. By pinning down significant forces of fascist troops for 900 days, Leningrad thereby provided significant assistance to the development of operations on all other sectors of the vast front. The victories of Moscow and Stalingrad, Kursk and the Dnieper included a significant share of the defenders of Leningrad.
The Motherland highly appreciated the feat of the city’s defenders. Over 350 thousand soldiers, officers and generals of the Leningrad Front were awarded orders and medals, 226 of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. About 1.5 million people were awarded the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad".
For courage, perseverance and unprecedented heroism in the days of difficult struggle with German fascist invaders the city of Leningrad was awarded the Order of Lenin on January 20, 1945, and on May 8, 1965 received the honorary title “Hero City”.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
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.
Many years after the breaking of 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, here is the 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 of the siege of Leningrad at the Badaev warehouses - in the storage of the city's strategic reserves - that provoked the terrible famine of the siege 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 a large reserve for such a huge city as Leningrad was (and about 3 people lived in it at that time). million people) was not possible, so the city fed on imported products, and existing supplies 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 siege of Leningrad by people 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 a large number of people, mostly women and children, across the Road of Life. There were huge queues at the bakeries where daily rations were distributed. In addition to famine, besieged Leningrad was also attacked by other disasters: very frosty winters, sometimes the thermometer dropped to -40 degrees. 
Running out of fuel and frozen water pipes- the city was left without light, 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 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. 
This was necessary - to prove to the enemy, and, most importantly, to ourselves: the blockade of Leningrad will not kill the city, it continues to live! One of the striking examples of amazing dedication and love for the Motherland, life, and 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! 
Throughout the blockade days, the Leningrad radio worked, which was for all Leningraders not only a life-giving spring 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 siege, the Road of Life began its dangerous and heroic work - the pulse of besieged Leningrad. 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 often they were also not to the advantage of the sailors - the barges continued their voyages even late autumn, until the ice appears, when navigation is basically impossible. November 20 on the ice Lake Ladoga The first horse-drawn sleigh train descended. 
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. 
During the first winter of the siege of Leningrad, many children were evacuated, but despite this, for various reasons, many more children remained 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. 
"Tachanka". Youth ensemble under the direction of A. Obrant
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. Do you remember how long the siege of Leningrad lasted? So, during this considerable time, the ensemble gave about 3,000 concerts. 
"Red Navy Dance" Youth ensemble under the direction of A. Obrant
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 alarms; it happened that young dancers performed several kilometers from the front line, and in order not to attract the enemy with 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. On January 14, 1944, during the general offensive of the Soviet troops, the final operation to lift the siege of Leningrad began. 
The task was to deliver a crushing blow to the enemy south of Lake Ladoga and restore the land routes connecting the city with the country. By January 27, 1944, the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, with the help of Kronstadt artillery, broke through the blockade of Leningrad. The Nazis began to retreat. Soon the cities of Pushkin, Gatchina and Chudovo were liberated. The blockade was completely lifted. 
The Siege of Leningrad is a tragic and great page in Russian history, which claimed more than 2 million human lives. As long as the memory of these terrible days lives in the hearts of people, finds a response in talented works of art, and is passed from hand to hand to descendants, this will not happen again! The blockade of Leningrad was briefly but succinctly described by Vera Inberg, her lines are a hymn to the great city and at the same time a requiem for the departed. 
The day of lifting the siege of Leningrad is the first Day of Military Glory of Russia in the calendar year. It is celebrated on January 27th. This is exactly what we will talk about today. I will not talk in detail about what the siege of Leningrad was like, but I will briefly touch on the history. Let's get straight to the point!
Beginning of the siege of Leningrad
By the beginning of the siege of Leningrad, the city did not have sufficient supplies of food and fuel. Lake Ladoga remained the only route of communication with Leningrad, but, unfortunately, it was also within the reach of enemy artillery and aircraft. In addition, a united naval flotilla of besiegers operated on the lake. Bandwidth this transport artery was insufficient to meet the needs of the city. As a result, mass famine began in Leningrad, aggravated by the very harsh first blockade winter and problems with heating and transport. It led to hundreds of thousands of deaths among local residents.
On September 8, soldiers of Army Group North (whose main goal was to quickly capture Leningrad and then give some of the weapons to Army Group Center to attack Moscow) captured the city of Shlisselburg, taking control of the source of the Neva and blockading Leningrad from land. This day is considered the date of the beginning of the siege of Leningrad. 872 days blockade of the city. All railway, river and road communications were severed. Communication with Leningrad was now maintained only by air and Lake Ladoga. From the north, the city was blocked by Finnish troops, which were stopped by the 23rd Army. Only the only railway connection to the coast of Lake Ladoga from the Finlyandsky Station has been preserved - the “Road of Life”.
On the same day, September 8, 1941, German troops unexpectedly quickly found themselves in the suburbs of Leningrad. German motorcyclists even stopped the tram on the southern outskirts of the city (route No. 28 Stremyannaya St. - Strelna). total area The encircled territory (Leningrad + outskirts and suburbs) was approximately 5000 km². On September 10, 1941, despite Hitler's order to transfer 15 mobile formations to the troops of Army Group Center, the commander of Army Group North begins the assault on Leningrad. As a result of this assault, the defenses of the Soviet troops around the city were broken through.
So, as we have already found out, date of the beginning of the siege of Leningrad - September 8, 1941. Let's fast forward a few years and discuss the beginning of the breaking of the siege of Leningrad in 1943.
Breaking the blockade of Leningrad
The breaking of the blockade of Leningrad began by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Headquarters on January 12, 1943 with the offensive of troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts in cooperation with the Red Banner Baltic Fleet (KBF) south of Lake Ladoga. A narrow ledge separating the troops of the fronts was chosen as the place to break the blockade. On January 18, the 136th Rifle Division and the 61st Tank Brigade of the Leningrad Front broke into Workers' Village No. 5 and linked up with units of the 18th Rifle Division of the Volkhov Front. On the same day, units of the 86th Infantry Division and the 34th Ski Brigade liberated Shlisselburg and cleared the entire southern coast of Lake Ladoga from the enemy. In a corridor cut along the shore, in 18 days the builders built a crossing across the Neva and laid a railway and a highway. The enemy blockade was broken.
Soviet soldier preparing for an offensive near Leningrad By the end of 1943, the situation on the fronts had changed radically, and Soviet troops were preparing for the final liquidation of the siege of Leningrad. On January 14, 1944, the forces of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, with the support of Kronstadt artillery, began the final part of the operation to liberate Leningrad. By January 27, 1944, Soviet troops had broken through the defenses of the German 18th Army, defeated its main forces and advanced 60 kilometers in depth. The Germans began to retreat. With the liberation of Pushkin, Gatchina and Chudovo, the blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted.
The operation to lift the blockade of Leningrad was called “January Thunder”. Thus, January 27, 1944 became the Day of Military Glory of Russia - the Day of Lifting the Siege of Leningrad.
In total, the blockade lasted exactly 871 days.
P.S. Many of you will probably ask the question of why the article turned out to be so truncated or simply small? The thing is that in the future I plan to write a whole series of articles specifically about the most significant events in the Great Patriotic War. And the blockade of Leningrad is one of the first on this list.
I think this will even be a separate section. But now we are not talking about the blockade itself, but about the Day of Military Glory of Russia. That is, about the holiday that followed it (the blockade).
This date is definitely worth knowing by heart. Especially for those who now live in the Leningrad region and the city of St. Petersburg itself. Well, for those who have already learned, I advise you to read other articles in the Days of Military Glory of Russia section right now!
I wish everyone a peaceful sky above their heads,
The siege of Leningrad became the most difficult test for city residents in the entire history of the Northern capital. In the besieged city, according to various estimates, up to half of the population of Leningrad died. The survivors did not even have the strength to mourn the dead: some were extremely exhausted, others were seriously injured. Despite hunger, cold and constant bombing, people found the courage to survive and defeat the Nazis. To judge what the inhabitants of the besieged city had to endure during those terrible years, it is possible according to statistical data - the language of numbers of besieged Leningrad.
872 days and nights
The siege of Leningrad lasted exactly 872 days. The Germans encircled the city on September 8, 1941, and on January 27, 1944, residents of the Northern capital rejoiced at the complete liberation of the city from the fascist blockade. For six months after the blockade was lifted, the enemies still remained near Leningrad: their troops were in Petrozavodsk and Vyborg. Red Army soldiers drove the Nazis away from the approaches to the city during an offensive operation in the summer of 1944.
150 thousand shells
Over the long months of the blockade, the Nazis dropped 150 thousand heavy artillery shells and over 107 thousand incendiary and high-explosive bombs on Leningrad. They destroyed 3 thousand buildings and damaged more than 7 thousand. All the main monuments of the city survived: Leningraders hid them, covering them with sandbags and plywood shields. Some sculptures - for example, from Summer Garden and horses from the Anichkov Bridge - they were removed from their pedestals and buried in the ground until the end of the war.
Bombings in Leningrad took place every day. Photo: AiF/ Yana Khvatova
13 hours 14 minutes of shelling
Shelling in besieged Leningrad was daily: sometimes the Nazis attacked the city several times a day. People hid from the bombings in the basements of houses. On August 17, 1943, Leningrad was subjected to the longest shelling during the entire siege. It lasted 13 hours and 14 minutes, during which the Germans dropped 2 thousand shells on the city. Residents of besieged Leningrad admitted that the noise of enemy planes and exploding shells continued to ring in their heads for a long time.
Up to 1.5 million dead
By September 1941, the population of Leningrad and its suburbs was about 2.9 million people. The siege of Leningrad, according to various estimates, claimed the lives of from 600 thousand to 1.5 million city residents. Only 3% of people died from fascist bombing, the remaining 97% died from hunger: about 4 thousand people died every day from exhaustion. When food supplies ran out, people began to eat cake, wallpaper paste, leather belts and boots. There were dead bodies lying on the streets of the city: this was considered a normal situation. Often, when someone died in families, people had to bury their relatives themselves.
1 million 615 thousand tons of cargo
On September 12, 1941, the Road of Life opened - the only highway connecting the besieged city with the country. The road of life, laid on the ice of Lake Ladoga, saved Leningrad: along it, about 1 million 615 thousand tons of cargo were delivered to the city - food, fuel and clothing. During the blockade, more than a million people were evacuated from Leningrad along the highway through Ladoga.
125 grams of bread
Until the end of the first month of the blockade, the residents of the besieged city received a fairly good bread ration. When it became obvious that flour supplies would not last long, the quota was sharply reduced. Thus, in November and December 1941, city employees, dependents and children received only 125 grams of bread per day. Workers were given 250 grams of bread, and paramilitary guards, fire brigades and extermination squads were given 300 grams each. Contemporaries would not have been able to eat the siege bread, because it was made from practically inedible impurities. The bread was baked from rye and oat flour with the addition of cellulose, wallpaper dust, pine needles, cake and unfiltered malt. The loaf turned out to be very bitter in taste and completely black.
1500 loudspeakers
After the start of the blockade, until the end of 1941, 1,500 loudspeakers were installed on the walls of Leningrad houses. Radio broadcasting in Leningrad was carried out around the clock, and city residents were forbidden to turn off their receivers: radio announcers talked about the situation in the city. When the broadcast stopped, the sound of a metronome was broadcast on the radio. In case of alarm, the rhythm of the metronome accelerated, and after the shelling ended, it slowed down. Leningraders called the sound of the metronome on the radio the living heartbeat of the city.
98 thousand newborns
During the blockade, 95 thousand children were born in Leningrad. Most of them, about 68 thousand newborns, were born in the autumn and winter of 1941. In 1942, 12.5 thousand children were born, and in 1943 - only 7.5 thousand. In order for the babies to survive, the Pediatric Institute of the city organized a farm of three purebred cows so that the children could receive fresh milk: in most cases, young mothers did not have milk.
The children of besieged Leningrad suffered from dystrophy. Photo: Archive photo
-32° below zero
The first winter of the blockade became the coldest in the besieged city. On some days the thermometer dropped to -32°C. The situation was aggravated by heavy snowfalls: by April 1942, when the snow should have melted, the height of the snowdrifts reached 53 centimeters. Leningraders lived without heating or electricity in their houses. To keep warm, city residents lit stoves. Due to the lack of firewood, everything inedible that was in the apartments was burned in them: furniture, old things and books.
144 thousand liters of blood
Despite hunger and the harshest living conditions, Leningraders were ready to give their last for the front in order to speed up the victory of the Soviet troops. Every day, from 300 to 700 city residents donated blood for the wounded in hospitals, donating the resulting financial compensation to the defense fund. Subsequently, the Leningrad Donor aircraft will be built with this money. In total, during the blockade, Leningraders donated 144 thousand liters of blood for front-line soldiers.
Beginning of the blockade
Soon after the start of the Great Patriotic War, Leningrad found itself in the grip of enemy fronts. The German Army Group North (commanded by Field Marshal W. Leeb) was approaching it from the southwest; The Finnish army (commander Marshal K. Mannerheim) targeted the city from the north-west. According to the Barbarossa plan, the capture of Leningrad was supposed to precede the capture of Moscow. Hitler believed that the fall of the northern capital of the USSR would bring not only a military gain - the Russians would lose the city, which is the cradle of the revolution and has a special symbolic meaning for the Soviet state. The Battle of Leningrad, the longest of the war, lasted from July 10, 1941 to August 9, 1944.
In July-August 1941, German divisions were suspended in battles on the Luga line, but on September 8 the enemy reached Shlisselburg and Leningrad, which was home to about 3 million people before the war, was surrounded. To the number of those caught in the blockade, we must add approximately 300 thousand more refugees who arrived in the city from the Baltic states and neighboring regions at the beginning of the war. From that day on, communication with Leningrad became possible only by Lake Ladoga and by air. Almost every day Leningraders experienced the horror of artillery shelling or bombing. As a result of the fires, residential buildings were destroyed, people and food supplies were killed, incl. Badaevsky warehouses.
At the beginning of September 1941, General of the Army G.K. was recalled from Yelnya. Zhukov and told him: “You will have to fly to Leningrad and take command of the front and the Baltic Fleet from Voroshilov.” Zhukov's arrival and the measures he took strengthened the city's defenses, but it was not possible to break the blockade.
The Nazis' plans for Leningrad
The blockade organized by the Nazis was aimed specifically at the extinction and destruction of Leningrad. On September 22, 1941, a special directive noted: “The Fuhrer decided to wipe out the city of Leningrad from the face of the earth. It is planned to surround the city with a tight ring and, through shelling from artillery of all calibers and continuous bombing from the air, raze it to the ground... In this war, waged for the right to exist, we are not interested in preserving at least part of the population.” On October 7, Hitler gave another order - not to accept refugees from Leningrad and to push them back into enemy territory. Therefore, any speculation - including those spread today in the media - that the city could have been saved if it had been surrendered to the mercy of the Germans should be classified either as ignorance or a deliberate distortion of historical truth.
Food situation in the besieged city
Before the war, the metropolis of Leningrad was supplied, as they say, “on wheels”; the city did not have large food reserves. Therefore, the blockade threatened terrible tragedy- hunger. On September 2, we had to strengthen the food saving regime. From November 20, 1941, the lowest norms for the distribution of bread on cards were established: workers and technical workers - 250 g, employees, dependents and children - 125 g. Soldiers of the first line units and sailors - 500 g. Mass death of the population began. In December, 53 thousand people died, in January 1942 - about 100 thousand, in February - more than 100 thousand. The preserved pages of the diary of little Tanya Savicheva do not leave anyone indifferent: “Grandmother died on January 25. ... “Uncle Alyosha on May 10... Mom on May 13 at 7.30 in the morning... Everyone died. Tanya is the only one left." Today, in the works of historians, the numbers of dead Leningraders vary from 800 thousand to 1.5 million people. IN Lately Data on 1.2 million people are increasingly appearing. Grief came to every family. Died during the Battle of Leningrad more people than England and the USA lost during the entire war.
"The road of life"
The salvation for the besieged was the “Road of Life” - a route laid on the ice of Lake Ladoga, along which, from November 21, food and ammunition were delivered to the city and the civilian population was evacuated on the way back. During the period of operation of the “Road of Life” - until March 1943 - 1,615 thousand tons of various cargo were delivered to the city by ice (and in the summer on various ships). At the same time, more than 1.3 million Leningraders and wounded soldiers were evacuated from the city on the Neva. To transport petroleum products along the bottom of Lake Ladoga, a pipeline was laid.
Feat of Leningrad
However, the city did not give up. Its residents and leadership then did everything possible to live and continue to fight. Despite the fact that the city was under severe blockade conditions, its industry continued to supply the troops of the Leningrad Front with the necessary weapons and equipment. Exhausted by hunger and seriously ill, workers carried out urgent tasks, repairing ships, tanks and artillery. Employees of the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing preserved the most valuable collection of grain crops. In the winter of 1941, 28 employees of the institute died of starvation, but not a single box of grain was touched.
Leningrad dealt significant blows to the enemy and did not allow the Germans and Finns to act with impunity. In April 1942, Soviet anti-aircraft gunners and aircraft thwarted the German command's operation "Aisstoss" - an attempt to destroy from the air the ships of the Baltic Fleet stationed on the Neva. Counteraction to enemy artillery was constantly improved. The Leningrad Military Council organized a counter-battery fight, which resulted in a significant reduction in the intensity of shelling of the city. In 1943, the number of artillery shells that fell on Leningrad decreased by approximately 7 times.
The unprecedented self-sacrifice of ordinary Leningraders helped them not only defend their beloved city. It showed the whole world where the limits of Nazi Germany and its allies were.
Actions by the leadership of the city on the Neva
Although Leningrad (as in other regions of the USSR during the war) had its own scoundrels among the authorities, the party and military leadership of Leningrad basically remained at the height of the situation. It behaved adequately to the tragic situation and did not at all “get fat,” as some modern researchers claim. In November 1941, the secretary of the city party committee, Zhdanov, established a strictly fixed, reduced food consumption rate for himself and all members of the military council of the Leningrad Front. Moreover, the leadership of the city on the Neva did everything to prevent the consequences of a severe famine. By decision of the Leningrad authorities, additional food was organized for exhausted people in special hospitals and canteens. In Leningrad, 85 orphanages were organized, accepting tens of thousands of children left without parents. In January 1942, a medical hospital for scientists and creative workers began operating at the Astoria Hotel. Since March 1942, the Leningrad City Council allowed residents to plant personal vegetable gardens in their yards and parks. The land for dill, parsley, and vegetables was plowed even near St. Isaac's Cathedral.
Attempts to break the blockade
Despite all the mistakes, miscalculations, and voluntaristic decisions, the Soviet command took maximum measures to break the siege of Leningrad as quickly as possible. Four attempts were made to break the enemy ring. The first - in September 1941; the second - in October 1941; the third - at the beginning of 1942, during a general counter-offensive, which only partially achieved its goals; fourth - in August-September 1942. The siege of Leningrad was not broken then, but Soviet casualties in offensive operations this period were not in vain. In the summer and autumn of 1942, the enemy failed to transfer any large reserves from near Leningrad to the southern flank of the Eastern Front. Moreover, Hitler sent the command and troops of Manstein’s 11th Army to take the city, which otherwise could have been used in the Caucasus and near Stalingrad. The Sinyavinsk operation of 1942 on the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts was ahead of the German attack. Manstein's divisions intended for the offensive were forced to immediately engage in defensive battles against the attacking Soviet units.
"Nevsky Piglet"
The heaviest battles in 1941-1942. took place on the “Nevsky Piglet” - a narrow strip of land on the left bank of the Neva, 2-4 km wide along the front and only 500-800 meters deep. This bridgehead, which the Soviet command intended to use to break the blockade, was held by Red Army units for about 400 days. A tiny piece of land was at one time almost the only hope for saving the city and became one of the symbols of the heroism of the Soviet soldiers who defended Leningrad. The battles for the Nevsky Piglet claimed, according to some sources, the lives of 50,000 Soviet soldiers.
Operation Spark
And only in January 1943, when the main forces of the Wehrmacht were pulled towards Stalingrad, the blockade was partially broken. The course of the unblocking operation of the Soviet fronts (Operation Iskra) was led by G. Zhukov. On a narrow strip of the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, 8-11 km wide, it was possible to restore land communications with the country. Over the next 17 days, railroads and roads were built along this corridor. January 1943 was a turning point in the Battle of Leningrad.
The final lifting of the siege of Leningrad
The situation in Leningrad improved significantly, but the immediate threat to the city continued to remain. In order to completely eliminate the blockade, it was necessary to push the enemy back beyond the Leningrad region. The idea of such an operation was developed by the Supreme Command Headquarters at the end of 1943. Forces of the Leningrad (General L. Govorov), Volkhov (General K. Meretskov) and 2nd Baltic (General M. Popov) fronts in cooperation with the Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega flotillas The Leningrad-Novgorod operation was carried out. Soviet troops went on the offensive on January 14, 1944 and liberated Novgorod on January 20. On January 21, the enemy began to withdraw from the Mga-Tosno area, from the section of the Leningrad-Moscow railway that he had cut.
On January 27, to commemorate the final lifting of the siege of Leningrad, which lasted 872 days, fireworks went off. Army Group North suffered a heavy defeat. As a result of the Leningrad-Novgorod war, Soviet troops reached the borders of Latvia and Estonia.
The importance of the defense of Leningrad
The defense of Leningrad had enormous military-strategic, political and moral significance. Hitler's command lost the opportunity to most effectively maneuver its strategic reserves and transfer troops to other directions. If the city on the Neva had fallen in 1941, then German troops would have united with the Finns, and most of the troops of the German Army Group North could have been deployed south and struck the central regions of the USSR. In this case, Moscow could not have resisted, and the whole war could have gone according to a completely different scenario. In the deadly meat grinder of the Sinyavinsk operation in 1942, Leningraders saved not only themselves with their feat and indestructible fortitude. Having pinned down the German forces, they provided invaluable assistance to Stalingrad and the entire country!
The feat of the defenders of Leningrad, who defended their city under the most difficult trials, inspired the entire army and country, and earned deep respect and gratitude from the states of the anti-Hitler coalition.
In 1942, the Soviet government established the medal “For the Defense of Leningrad,” which was awarded to about 1.5 million defenders of the city. This medal remains in the memory of the people today as one of the most honorable awards of the Great Patriotic War.
DOCUMENTATION:
I. Nazi plans for the future of Leningrad
1. Already on the third day of the war against Soviet Union Germany informed the Finnish leadership of its plans to destroy Leningrad. G. Goering told the Finnish envoy in Berlin that the Finns would receive “also St. Petersburg, which, after all, like Moscow, it is better to destroy.”
2. According to a note made by M. Bormann at a meeting on July 16, 1941, “The Finns are claiming the area around Leningrad, the Fuhrer would like to raze Leningrad to the ground and then hand it over to the Finns.”
3. On September 22, 1941, Hitler’s directive stated: “The Fuhrer has decided to wipe out the city of Leningrad from the face of the earth. After defeat Soviet Russia the further existence of this largest settlement is of no interest. It is planned to surround the city with a tight ring and, through shelling from artillery of all calibers and continuous bombing from the air, raze it to the ground. If, as a result of the situation created in the city, requests for surrender are made, they will be rejected, since the problems associated with the stay of the population in the city and its food supply cannot and should not be solved by us. In this war being waged for the right to exist, we are not interested in preserving even part of the population.”
4. Directive of the German naval headquarters on September 29, 1941: “The Fuhrer has decided to wipe out the city of St. Petersburg from the face of the earth. After the defeat of Soviet Russia there is no interest in the continued existence of this settlement. Finland has also stated that it is not interested in the continued existence of a city directly next to the new border.”
5. Back on September 11, 1941, Finnish President Risto Ryti told the German envoy in Helsinki: “If St. Petersburg no longer exists as Big City, then the Neva would be the best border on the Karelian Isthmus... Leningrad must be liquidated as a large city.”
6. From the testimony of A. Jodl at the Nuremberg trials: During the siege of Leningrad, Field Marshal von Leeb, commander of Army Group North, informed the OKW that streams of civilian refugees from Leningrad were seeking refuge in the German trenches and that he had no way to feed and care for them about them. The Fuhrer immediately gave an order (dated October 7, 1941) not to accept refugees and push them back into enemy territory
II. The myth about the “fatten” leadership of Leningrad
There was information in the media that in besieged Leningrad A.A. Zhdanov allegedly gorged himself on delicacies, which usually included peaches or boucher cakes. The issue of photographs with “rum women” baked in the besieged city in December 1941 is also discussed. The diaries of former party workers in Leningrad are also cited, which say that party workers lived almost like in paradise.
In fact: the photo with the “rum women” was taken by journalist A. Mikhailov. He was a famous photojournalist for TASS. It is obvious that Mikhailov, indeed, received an official order in order to calm down Soviet people, living on Mainland. In the same context, one should consider the appearance in the Soviet press in 1942 of information about the State Prize for the director of the Moscow sparkling wine factory A.M. Frolov-Bagreev, as the developer of the technology for mass production of sparkling wines “Soviet Champagne”; holding skiing and football competitions in the besieged city, etc. Such articles, reports, photographs had one main purpose - to show the population that not everything is so bad, that even in the most severe conditions of a blockade or siege we can do confectionery and champagne wines! We will celebrate the victory with our champagne and hold competitions! We hold on and we will win!
Facts about the party leaders of Leningrad:
1. As one of the two waitresses on duty at the Military Council of the Front, A. A. Strakhov, recalled, in the second ten days of November 1941, Zhdanov called her and established a strictly fixed, reduced food consumption rate for all members of the military council (commander M. S. Khozin, himself, A A. Kuznetsov, T.F. Shtykov, N.V. Solovyov): “Now it will be like this...”. “...A little buckwheat porridge, sour cabbage soup, which Uncle Kolya (his personal chef) cooked for him, is the height of all pleasure!..”
2. The operator of the central communications center located in Smolny, M. Kh. Neishtadt: “To be honest, I didn’t see any banquets... Nobody treated the soldiers, and we weren’t offended... But I don’t remember any excesses there. When Zhdanov arrived, the first thing he did was check the food consumption. Accounting was strict. Therefore, all this talk about “belly holidays” is more speculation than truth. Zhdanov was the first secretary of the regional and city party committees, who exercised all political leadership. I remembered him as a person who was quite scrupulous in everything that related to material issues.”
3. When characterizing the nutrition of the party leadership of Leningrad, certain overexposures are often allowed. We are talking, for example, about Ribkovsky’s often quoted diary, where he describes his stay in a party sanatorium in the spring of 1942, describing the food as very good. It should be remembered that in that source we are talking about March 1942, i.e. period after the launch of the railway line from Voibokalo to Kabona, which is characterized by the end of the food crisis and the return of nutrition levels to acceptable standards. “Supermortality” at this time occurred only due to the consequences of hunger, to combat which the most exhausted Leningraders were sent to special medical institutions (hospitals), created by decision of the City Party Committee and the Military Council of the Leningrad Front at many enterprises, factories, and clinics in winter 1941/1942.
Before taking a job in the city committee in December, Ribkovsky was unemployed and received the smallest “dependency” ration; as a result, he was severely exhausted, so on March 2, 1942, he was sent for seven days to a medical institution for severely exhausted people. The food in this hospital complied with hospital or sanatorium standards in force at that time.
In his diary, Ribkovsky also honestly writes:
“Comrades say that district hospitals are in no way inferior to the City Committee hospital, and at some enterprises there are hospitals that make our hospital pale in comparison.”
4. By decision of the bureau of the city committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Leningrad City Executive Committee, additional therapeutic nutrition was organized at increased standards not only in special hospitals, but also in 105 city canteens. The hospitals operated from January 1 to May 1, 1942 and served 60 thousand people. Canteens were also established outside enterprises. From April 25 to July 1, 1942, 234 thousand people used them. In January 1942, a hospital for scientists and creative workers began operating at the Astoria Hotel. In the dining room of the House of Scientists in winter months ate from 200 to 300 people.
FACTS FROM THE LIFE OF A BLOCKED CITY
During the battle for Leningrad, more people died than England and the United States lost during the entire war.
The attitude of the authorities towards religion has changed. During the blockade, three churches were opened in the city: Prince Vladimir Cathedral, Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral and St. Nicholas Cathedral. In 1942, Easter was very early (March 22, old style). On this day, Easter matins were held in Leningrad churches to the roar of exploding shells and breaking glass.
Metropolitan Alexy (Simansky) emphasized in his Easter message that April 5, 1942 marked the 700th anniversary of the Battle of the Ice, in which he defeated the German army.
In the city, despite the blockade, cultural and intellectual life continued. In March, the Musical Comedy of Leningrad gave “Silva”. In the summer of 1942, some were opened educational establishments, theaters and cinemas; There were even several jazz concerts.
During the first concert after the break on August 9, 1942, at the Philharmonic, the orchestra of the Leningrad Radio Committee under the direction of Karl Eliasberg performed for the first time the famous Leningrad Heroic Symphony of Dmitry Shostakovich, which became the musical symbol of the blockade.
No major epidemics occurred during the blockade, despite the fact that hygiene in the city was, of course, far below normal levels due to the almost complete absence of running water, sewerage and heating. Of course, the harsh winter of 1941-1942 helped prevent epidemics. At the same time, researchers also point to effective preventive measures, adopted by the authorities and the medical service.
In December 1941, 53 thousand people died in Leningrad, in January 1942 - more than 100 thousand, in February - more than 100 thousand, in March 1942 - about 100,000 people, in May - 50,000 people , in July - 25,000 people, in September - 7,000 people. (Before the war, the usual mortality rate in the city was about 3,000 people per month).
Enormous damage was caused to historical buildings and monuments of Leningrad. It could have been even greater if significant efforts had not been made effective measures by their disguise. The most valuable monuments, for example, the monument and the monument to Lenin at the Finland Station were hidden under sandbags and plywood shields.
By order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of May 1, 1945, Leningrad, along with Stalingrad, Sevastopol and Odessa, was named a hero city for the heroism and courage shown by the city's residents during the siege. For mass heroism and courage in defending the Motherland in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, shown by the defenders of besieged Leningrad, according to the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on May 8, 1965, the city was awarded the highest degree of distinction - the title of Hero City.