The Siege of Leningrad

Yesterday was День защитника Отечества / Dyen’ zashitnika Otechestva—Defender of the Fatherland Day-Celebration of the Russian and Soviet Military.  It is also known as Men's Day.   I had the day off from school and went on an excursion highlighting the Siege of Leningrad of the Great Patriotic War (World War II) that lasted for 900 days.  To be precise, the Nazis and the Fins surrounded the entirety of Leningrad on 8 September 1941, thus officially starting the siege.  The siege would not lift until 27 January 1944.  It was one of the longest and most destructive military sieges in history.  


Hitler wanted to capture Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) because the city was the birthplace of the Soviet regime and the Communist ideology by which the Soviet government was run.  Hitler wanted to wipe the entire city and population off the map.  


While the able men of Leningrad were rushed off to the front, civilians - women, elderly, and children - performed heroic deeds by building defense lines to protect the city, camouflage buildings, bury monuments, and remove as many artifacts from museums and palaces as possible.  Many of the items found in the Hermitage were shipped off to Sverdlovsk, now Yekaterinburg, where they were safely kept 
until the conclusion of the war.  

"For the Motherland"

Hitler had plans to celebrate the capture of Leningrad by having a party in the Astoria Hotel.  Hitler directly expressed in Munich that he wanted to starve the population of Leningrad, and that he had no interest in saving the lives of the civilian population.  Starvation set in quickly.  Warehouses that stored food for the city were destroyed by Nazi bombs.  There was nothing to be eaten and nowhere to get supplies for months.  The only food there was to be had was bread: ten ounces for industrial workers (30% of the Leningrad population), five ounces for civilians (70%):

"20 November 1941 established a minimum rate of 125 grams of bread"

The winter of 1941 until 1942 was one of the hardest experienced during the siege.  In addition to extreme starvation, as stated above, temperatures plummeted to -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit), there was little transportation within the city, and there was no running water in any building or apartment.  In early 1942, the civilian population was dying at a rate of 700 - 1,000 people per day.  Most of them due to starvation.  

The Road of Life, which began its operation in late 1941, was an ice road and the only lifeline to the besieged Leningrad from which they received food and other critical supplies.  It was only open during the winter when Lake Ladoga (which feeds the River Neva that courses through the city) was frozen over.  Allied nations to the Soviet Union would bring in aid via this route.  

The city was under almost constant bombardment by Nazi forces.  Every fifth building in Leningrad was destroyed by the Siege's end, and every third building was severely damaged.

"Citizens! If shelling, this is the most dangerous side of the street" - this sign, posted during the siege, can still be found today on Nevsky Prospect. 

Pavlovsk Palace (outside Saint Petersburg) 

Pavlovsk Palace after World War II 

Peterhof (Peter the Great's summer residence) 

Peterhof after World War II

 There are many powerful stories of resilience to come out of the Siege of Leningrad, but one of particular note is that of composer Dmitry Shostakovich.  His 7th Symphony was completed in December 1941 and he dedicated the composition to the city of Leningrad.  On 9 August 1942, the Symphony 7 was performed by the Radio Orchestra of Leningrad and broadcast all over the city and country on loudspeakers.  Loudspeakers were even pointed in the direction of enemy lines.  It was a poignant overture to morale and marked a turning point in the war to Soviet favor.  I have always loved history, it is perhaps one of the reasons I became interested with Russia in the first place, and I find it all the more fitting that this is one of my all time favorite classical pieces.  

The last part of my tour consisted of a visit to the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery.  Over 500,000 civilians and Red Army soldiers are buried here in mass graves.  As I passed the eternal flame, I felt my emotions swell.  I am not Russian and I have no heritage that is Russian, but I feel such a deep connection with this country.  I cannot help but tear up hearing this story.  By the end of the Siege, over one million people had died - and by the end of the war in 1945, around 26 million Soviets - civilians and soldiers alike - had perished.  That is more than any other country in history.