Way of communication with besieged Leningrad. Besieged Leningrad: photo chronicle. A poem about the siege of Leningrad

The Road of Life across Lake Ladoga is a famous transport highway, which during the Great Patriotic War turned out to be the only connecting thread with the besieged Leningrad. In summer - on water, and in winter - on ice. It remained the only link between Leningrad and the rest of the country from September 1941 to March 1943.

Previous events

The road of life through Lake Ladoga was in demand after the complete blockade of Leningrad. This happened because of the failures that the Soviet army suffered at the very beginning of the war. German and Finnish troops almost completely surrounded the northern capital.

In an instant, almost two and a half million civilians, as well as several hundred thousand people living in the suburbs, found themselves isolated in besieged Leningrad. It was decided not to surrender the city. To provide such a number of people with food and everything necessary, this path was required, which was equipped on the coast of Ladoga, which remained under the control of Soviet troops. Air transportation was an alternative, but they could not deliver all the necessary cargo.

The food situation

It should be noted that at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War the city had enough food. Flour - almost two months, cereals - almost three. Meat was supposed to be enough for 38 days, butter - for a month and a half.

After the German attack, food supplies to the city were intermittent. Therefore, already at the beginning of September, a week before the complete blockade, only two weeks of flour remained in Leningrad, cereals for 23 days, fats for exactly three weeks, and meat products for no more than 19 days.

Thus, after the supply channels to Leningrad were blocked, the city found itself on the verge of disaster in a matter of days.

The road of life through Lake Ladoga

In order to supply Leningrad with everything necessary, it was necessary to send cargo water transport. From the city itself to the Ladoga coast there were roads and railways. But to receive a large volume of cargo, they had to be expanded. Build new berths, dig special fairways for them.

It is worth noting that before the start of the war, most of the cargo to the city went around this lake - through shipping channels. Therefore, there were very few ships capable of operating on the lake. At the same time, the decision that the organization of the highway along Lake Ladoga was necessary was made on August 30 by a special resolution of the State Defense Committee.

Osinovets Bay was chosen to receive ships, which was located one and a half kilometers from the Ladoga Lake station. As well as the Holtzman Bay, which stood another one and a half kilometers further. Ports were built with the help of four dredgers.

In September, at the disposal of the North-Western River Shipping Company, to which Leningrad belonged, there were 5 lake tugs and another 72 river ones, about a hundred barges.

Route to Leningrad

Cargoes were sent to Leningrad along the Road of Life through Lake Ladoga along one pre-approved route.

From the railway station "Volkhov" they were transported to the river pier in the Gostinopolye region. Here they were transferred to numerous barges. They were delivered by tugboats to Novaya Ladoga. Already from there they were accompanied by a dozen tugboats. Sometimes they were replaced by ships of the river flotilla. So they got to the bay of Osinovets.

Here they were already transferred to a narrow gauge railway and sent along the Irinovskaya branch of the Oktyabrskaya railway. Then they already got directly to Leningrad.

All transportation was led by the Ladoga military flotilla. The head of the entire route, including the ports, was Major General Shilov.

In order to prevent the Germans from interfering with the delivery of goods to besieged Leningrad, a special air defense detachment operated, located on the right bank of the lake. He covered the entire route from German air raids.

First barges

The first barges along the Road of Life to Leningrad arrived on September 12, 1941. For the whole of September, the city received about 20,000 tons of cargo. At the same time, transportation was still unsafe. Due to storms on Ladoga, several barges sank.

On September 17 and 18, two barges with people were wrecked at once. One had 520 servicemen on their way to Leningrad. Only 300 people were saved. On the other - 300 civilians who were evacuated from the city. Most of them died. After that, it was forbidden to transport people on barges. For this, only self-propelled vessels began to be used.

They, in turn, were regularly bombed by German aircraft. In November 1941, an aerial bomb tore off the bow of the Konstruktor patrol ship. About 200 people died. Mostly they were civilians who were evacuated from the city.

After the beginning of the freeze-up, on November 22, the ice road was opened. Some ships managed to deliver cargo until December 4th.

In total, in the autumn of 1941, about 60,000 tons of cargo were transported along the Road of Life, two thirds of which were food. It was possible to evacuate about 33,000 Leningraders. German aviation sank five tugs and 14 barges.

At this time, due to the restriction of food supplies in Leningrad, a card system was introduced. Employees, dependents and children were entitled to only 200 grams of bread per day. Workers - 400 each. Since November 1, the situation has worsened. The norms were reduced to 150 and 300 grams, respectively.

blockade winter

The road of life during the Great Patriotic War along the ice track began to be prepared back in October. It was assumed that it would be two-lane, up to ten meters wide. Nutritional and heating points were equipped every five kilometers.

For its operation and protection, a road administration was created, led by engineer Monakhov. He was subordinate only to the chief of the rear of the front.

During the organization of the ice road, it was established that the phenomenon of resonance was often fatal. For example, a heavy truck overcame a route on ice without problems, and a passenger car following it could fall through the ice at a certain speed. Therefore, in order to avoid such accidents, a strictly defined speed was prescribed for cars.

Winter 1942-1943

The next winter turned out to be no less difficult, although preparations for it began in advance. On the road in the winter of 1942-1943, it was decided to lay a narrow gauge railway, in addition to the highway. Its cargo turnover was to be 2,000 tons of cargo per day.

In addition, on December 20, the movement of horse-drawn vehicles was opened. And in four more - for the automobile. In early December 1942, construction began on the pile-ice railway. By mid-January, the 43rd had built about ten and a half kilometers. Then, after the blockade was broken, the construction was curtailed.

Already in mid-January, Shlisselburg was liberated. At the same time, the road of life passed through the ice until March 1943.

The results of the work of the Road of Life

In total, during the existence of this route, 206,000 tons of cargo were delivered to Leningrad.

112,000 tons were fodder and food. Including 56,000 tons of flour, almost 10 thousand tons of cereals, two and a half thousand tons of meat, almost five thousand tons of fish, about three thousand tons of sugar, about seven and a half thousand tons of vegetables.

Also, 18,500 tons of coal and more than 50,000 tons of ammunition were brought to the besieged city.

Monuments to the Road of Life

To date, 7 monuments have been installed on the road of life. Monuments appeared along its entire length. All of them are included in the "Green Belt of Glory".

For the first few kilometers, on which there were transport columns from the Rzhevka railway station to Leningrad, four memorial steles were installed. They are called "Rzhevsky corridor". They are a natural continuation of the road of life along Leningrad itself.

On the third kilometer of the route there is a memorial complex "Flower of Life". It was created in 1968 by architects Melnikov and Levenkov. There are also eight steles here, which are the pages of the diary of the Leningrad schoolgirl Tanya Savicheva, who endured the entire blockade. They were created in 1975 by the same Levenkov.

The Rumbolovskaya Gora complex is located on the tenth kilometer of this road, and the Katyusha complex near the village of Kornevo is located on the 17th kilometer. At the Ladoga Lake railway station, a monument to a steam locomotive occupies a key place. And near the village named after Morozov, a monument "Crossing" was erected.

The Broken Ring monument deserves special mention. It is located on the shores of Lake Ladoga, on the 40th kilometer of the highway to which this article is dedicated. Landmark - the village of Kokkorevo. It was in this place that the convoys headed for the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga.

The memorial consists of two reinforced concrete arches, symbolizing the blockade ring, in which the city of Leningrad found itself. The gap that can be seen between them is the Road of Life. Under the arches on a concrete platform, you can see the traces of car treads. And next to it are two more reinforced concrete balls of white color. They imitate searchlight installations, which were actively used during the Great Patriotic War. Completes the composition memorial complex genuine anti-aircraft gun.

The monument appeared in 1966. In 2014, the Eternal Flame was lit here, which was specially brought from the Piskarevsky cemetery. Near it, the traditional winter marathon under the symbolic name "Road of Life" starts every year.

75 years ago, the ice Road of Life (the official name from November 26 - military highway No. 101) began to operate, laid on the frozen Lake Ladoga. From the very beginning of the blockade, the lake served as the only way of communication with the besieged Leningrad, apart from dangerous and less fruitful air transportation. In the winter of 1941-1942, more than 360 thousand tons of goods were delivered along the ice route: food, ammunition, dry alcohol, soap, etc., more than 500 thousand people were evacuated and part of the industrial equipment was removed. Also along the "Road of Life" 6 rifle divisions and a tank brigade.

When the German and Finnish troops cut off all land communications with Leningrad, went to the Neva, making it impossible to transport along it, and took the city into a ring (September 8, 1941), ammunition and food began to be transported, and the inhabitants of the city were evacuated along the waterway through Ladoga . All available vessels located on Ladoga or near it were involved, berths were quickly erected and fairways were dug, and the State Defense Committee considered various routes on the lake.

With the onset of cold weather, movement on the water stopped and preparations for the construction of the ice track, which began in October, came to an end. Vasily Georgievich Monakhov, a military engineer of the 1st rank, supervised the preparation and further construction of the ice track. Since October, he and his subordinates have been collecting scattered information about the ice regime and the ice cover of the lake, which was still poorly studied by that time. Monakhov later recalled that these data were completely insufficient by the beginning of the construction of the ice road, and said: "In essence, we were walking blindly."

Despite all the risks and unpredictability of the ice, on November 19 it was decided to build a route along the route Cape Osinovets - Zelentsy Islands. In the days before, 12 teams led by Monakhov had surveyed the thickness and reliability of the ice, and it became clear that the route through Zelentsy was the least dangerous, while ice-free sections were found on the previously proposed route through the Kareji lighthouse. This route was modified from time to time and additional road junctions were added. The length of the main route was about 30 km, the width was mainly 10 meters - so that two-way traffic was possible. Feeding and heating points were placed every 7 km.

As long as the ice was not thick enough for cars, trucks and heavier vehicles, only horse-drawn and lightly loaded sleds were allowed on the track. A little later, an unloaded motorcade was sent, which successfully reached the opposite shore. On November 22, a convoy of 60 vehicles with sledges attached to them moved from the western to the eastern coast. On the east coast, the transport was loaded with 70 tons of food, and the convoy set off on the return journey. By the second half of December, the ice had become so strong that it could withstand 1,000 tons of cargo.

The movement of vehicles and the functioning of road points were hampered not only by enemy aircraft and artillery, which were fought hard by those defending the highway Soviet troops but also physics. Often the effect of resonance was harmful, due to which the ice repeatedly cracked and holes were formed into which the car could fall. In order to avoid such incidents, transport drivers began to be prohibited from speeding above the designated safe limit. In addition, the ice cracked in places by itself, so at times the route had to be changed somewhat.

On April 21, due to the impossibility of further movement on the ice and in some sections on the water (30-40 cm deep), the track was closed. However, for a few days after that, rare transports were made.

Leningrad blockade- military blockade by German, Finnish and Spanish (Blue Division) troops during the Great Patriotic War of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). It lasted from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944 (the blockade ring was broken on January 18, 1943) - 872 days.

By the beginning of the blockade, the city had only inadequate supplies of food and fuel. The only way to communicate with besieged Leningrad was Lake Ladoga, which was within the reach of the besiegers' artillery. The capacity of this transport artery was inadequate for the needs of the city. The famine that began in the city, aggravated by problems with heating and transport, led to hundreds of thousands of deaths among residents. In June-August 1944, Soviet troops, with the support of ships and aircraft of the Baltic Fleet, carried out the Vyborg operation of 1944 and the Svir-Petrozavodsk operation of 1944, liberated the city of Vyborg on June 20, and Petrozavodsk on June 28.

The attack of Germany and Finland on the USSR and the withdrawal of their troops to Leningrad. The capture of Leningrad was an integral part of the plan of war against the USSR developed by Nazi Germany - the plan "Barbarossa". It provided that Soviet Union must be completely destroyed within 3-4 months of the summer and autumn of 1941, that is, during a lightning war ("blitzkrieg"). By November 1941, German troops were to capture the entire European part of the USSR. According to the “Ost” (“East”) plan, it was supposed to exterminate a significant part of the population of the Soviet Union within a few years, primarily Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians [source not specified 256 days], as well as all Jews and Gypsies - at least 30 million people. None of the peoples who inhabited the USSR should have had the right to their own statehood or even autonomy. [source not specified 256 days]

On July 4, units of the Wehrmacht entered the Leningrad region near Pskov. During the first 18 days of the offensive, the 4th Panzer Group of the enemy fought over 600 kilometers (at a rate of 30-35 km per day), crossed the Western Dvina and Velikaya rivers. On July 5-6, enemy troops occupied Ostrov, and on July 9 - Pskov, located 280 kilometers from Leningrad. From Pskov, the shortest route to Leningrad is along the Kievskoe Highway through Luga.

Already on June 23, the commander of the Leningrad Military District, Lieutenant General M. M. Popov, ordered the start of work on the creation of an additional line of defense in the Pskov direction in the Luga region. On July 4, this decision was confirmed by the Directive of the Headquarters of the High Command signed by G.K. Zhukov.

On July 19, by the time the advanced German units left, the Luga defensive line was well prepared in engineering terms: defensive structures were built with a length of 175 kilometers, with a depth of 10-15 kilometers. Defensive structures were built by the hands of Leningraders, for the most part, women and teenagers (men went into the army and the militia).

Near the Luga fortified area, there was a delay in the German offensive. Reports of the commanders of the German troops to the headquarters:

The command of the Leningrad Front took advantage of the delay of Gepner, who was waiting for reinforcements, and prepared to meet the enemy, using, among other things, the latest heavy tanks KV-1 and KV-2, just released by the Kirov Plant. In 1941 alone, more than 700 tanks were built and remained in the city. During the same time, 480 armored vehicles and 58 armored trains were produced, often armed with powerful ship guns. At the Rzhev artillery range, a combat-ready ship gun with a caliber of 406 mm was found. It was intended for the lead battleship "Soviet Union", which was already on the slipway. This gun was used in the shelling of German positions. The German offensive was suspended for several weeks. The enemy troops failed to capture the city on the move. This delay caused a sharp discontent of Hitler, who made a special trip to Army Group North in order to prepare a plan for the capture of Leningrad no later than September 1941. In conversations with military leaders, the Fuhrer, in addition to purely military arguments, brought up many political arguments. He believed that the capture of Leningrad would give not only a military gain (control over all the Baltic coasts and the destruction of the Baltic Fleet), but also bring huge political dividends. The Soviet Union will lose the city, which, being the cradle October revolution, has a special symbolic meaning for the Soviet state. In addition, Hitler considered it very important not to give the Soviet command the opportunity to withdraw troops from the Leningrad region and use them in other sectors of the front. He expected to destroy the troops defending the city.

In long exhausting battles, overcoming crises in different places, the German troops prepared for the assault on the city for a month. The Baltic Fleet approached the city with its 153 naval artillery guns, as the experience of the defense of Tallinn showed in terms of its combat effectiveness, superior to coastal artillery guns of the same caliber, also numbering 207 barrels near Leningrad. The sky of the city was protected by the 2nd Air Defense Corps. highest density anti-aircraft artillery in the defense of Moscow, Leningrad and Baku was 8-10 times more than in the defense of Berlin and London.

On August 14-15, the Germans managed to break through the swampy area, bypassing the Luga SD from the west and, having crossed the Luga River near Sabsk, entered the operational space in front of Leningrad.
On June 29, having crossed the border, the Finnish army began fighting on the Karelian Isthmus. On July 31, a major Finnish offensive began in the direction of Leningrad. By the beginning of September, the Finns crossed the old Soviet-Finnish border on the Karelian Isthmus, which existed before the signing of the 1940 peace treaty, to a depth of 20 km, and stopped at the turn of the Karelian fortified area. Communication between Leningrad and the rest of the country through the territories occupied by Finland was restored in the summer of 1944.
On September 4, 1941, General Jodl, Chief of Staff of the German Armed Forces, was sent to Mannerheim's headquarters in Mikkeli. But he was refused the participation of the Finns in the attack on Leningrad. Instead, Mannerheim led a successful offensive in the north of Ladoga, cutting off the Kirov railway and the White Sea-Baltic Canal in the area of Lake Onega, thereby blocking the route for the supply of goods to Leningrad.

It was on September 4, 1941 that the city was subjected to the first artillery shelling from the city of Tosno occupied by German troops:

In September 1941, a small group of officers, on instructions from the command, was driving a lorry along Lesnoy Prospekt from the Levashovo airfield. A little ahead of us was a crowded tram. He brakes before the stop, where there is a large group of people waiting. A shell burst is heard, and many at the bus stop fall, covered in blood. The second gap, the third ... The tram is smashed to pieces. Piles of the dead. The wounded and maimed, mostly women and children, are scattered along the cobblestone pavement, moaning and crying. A blond-haired boy of seven or eight years old, who miraculously survived at a bus stop, covering his face with both hands, sobs over his murdered mother and repeats: - Mom, what have they done ...

On September 6, 1941, Hitler, by his order (Weisung No. 35), stops the advance of the North group of troops on Leningrad, which has already reached the suburbs of the city, and orders Field Marshal Leeb to give up all Hoepner tanks and a significant number of troops in order to start "as soon as possible" attack on Moscow. Subsequently, the Germans, having given their tanks to the central sector of the front, continued to encircle the city with a blockade ring, no more than 15 km from the city center, and switched to a long blockade. In this situation, Hitler, who realistically imagined the huge losses that he would suffer if he entered into urban battles, by his decision doomed his population to starvation.
On September 8, the soldiers of the "North" group captured the city of Shlisselburg (Petrokrepost). From that day began the blockade of the city that lasted 872 days. On the same day, German troops unexpectedly quickly found themselves in the suburbs of the city. German motorcyclists even stopped the tram on the southern outskirts of the city (route No. 28 Stremyannaya St. - Strelna). But the city was ready for defense. Throughout the summer, day and night, about half a million people created defense lines in the city. One of them, the most fortified, called the "Stalin Line" passed through the Obvodny Canal. Many houses on the defensive lines were turned into long-term strongholds of resistance. On September 13, Zhukov arrived in the city, who took command of the front on September 14, when, contrary to popular belief, replicated by numerous feature films, the German offensive had already been stopped and the front had been stabilized. Problems of evacuation of residents.

The situation before the blockade

The evacuation of the inhabitants of the city throughout the blockade was given great importance, although it was poorly organized and chaotic. Before the German attack on the USSR, there were no pre-developed plans for the evacuation of the population of Leningrad. The possibility of the Germans reaching the city was considered minimal. However, the first trains with evacuees left Leningrad on June 29, a week after the start of the war.

First wave of evacuations

The very first stage of the evacuation lasted from June 29 to August 27, when Wehrmacht units seized the railway linking Leningrad with the regions lying to the east of it. This period was characterized by two features:

1. The unwillingness of residents to leave the city;
2 Many children from Leningrad were evacuated to the regions of the Leningrad region. Subsequently, this led to the fact that 175,000 children were returned back to Leningrad.

During this period, 488,703 people were taken out of the city, of which 219,691 were children (395,091 were taken out, but later 175,000 were returned back) and 164,320 workers and employees who were evacuated along with enterprises.

Second wave of evacuations

In the second period, evacuation was carried out in three ways:

1. evacuation across Lake Ladoga by water transport to Novaya Ladoga, and then to st. Volkhov by road;
2. evacuation by aircraft;
3. evacuation along the ice road across Lake Ladoga.

During this period, 33,479 people were taken out by water transport (of which 14,854 were non-Leningrad residents), by aviation - 35,114 (of which 16,956 were non-Leningrad residents), by marching order across Lake Ladoga and by unorganized vehicles from the end of December 1941 and until 22.1.1942 - 36,118 people (population not from Leningrad), from 22.1.1942 to 15.4.1942 along the "Road of Life" - 554,186 people.

In total, during the second period of evacuation - from September 1941 to April 1942 - about 659 thousand people were taken out of the city, mainly along the "Road of Life" across Lake Ladoga.

Third wave of evacuation

From May to October 1942, 403 thousand people were taken out. In total, during the blockade period, 1.5 million people were evacuated from the city. By October 1942, the evacuation of all the people whom the authorities considered necessary to take out was completed.

Consequences of the blockade

Consequences for evacuees

Part of the exhausted people taken out of the city could not be saved. Several thousand people died from the consequences of starvation after they were transported to the "mainland". Doctors did not immediately learn how to care for starving people. There were cases when they died, having received a large amount of high-quality food, which for an exhausted organism turned out to be essentially poison. At the same time, there could have been much more victims if the local authorities of the regions where the evacuees were placed had not made extraordinary efforts to provide Leningraders with food and qualified medical care.

Implications for City Leadership

The blockade became a cruel test for all city services and departments that ensured the vital activity of the huge city. Leningrad gave a unique experience of organizing life in conditions of famine. The following fact attracts attention: during the blockade, unlike many other cases of mass starvation, no major epidemics occurred, despite the fact that hygiene in the city was, of course, much lower. normal level due to the almost complete lack of running water, sewerage and heating. Undoubtedly, the severe winter of 1941-1942 helped to prevent epidemics. At the same time, researchers also point to effective preventive measures taken by the authorities and the medical service.

The most severe during the blockade was hunger, as a result of which dystrophy developed among the inhabitants. At the end of March 1942, an epidemic of cholera, typhoid, typhus broke out, but due to professionalism and highly qualified medics outbreak was kept to a minimum.

Autumn 1941 The failure of the blitzkrieg attempt

Failed blitzkrieg attempt

At the end of August 1941, the German offensive resumed. The German units broke through the Luga defensive line and rushed to Leningrad. On September 8, 1941, the enemy reached Lake Ladoga, captured Shlisselburg, taking control of the source of the Neva, and blocked Leningrad from land. This day is considered the day the blockade began. All rail, river and road communications were cut off. Communication with Leningrad was now supported only by air and Lake Ladoga. From the north, the city was blocked by Finnish troops, who were stopped by the 23rd Army near the Karelian UR. Only the only railway connection with the coast of Lake Ladoga from the Finland Station has survived - the Road of Life.

This partly confirms the fact that the Finns stopped on the orders of Mannerheim (according to his memoirs, he agreed to take the post of supreme commander of the troops of Finland on the condition that he would not lead an offensive against the city), at the turn of the state border of 1939, that is, the border that existed between USSR and Finland on the eve Soviet-Finnish war 1939-1940, on the other hand, is disputed by Isaev and N.I. Baryshnikov:

The total area taken in the ring of Leningrad and suburbs was about 5,000 square kilometers.

According to G.K. Zhukov, “Stalin assessed the situation that had developed near Leningrad at that moment as catastrophic. Once he even used the word "hopeless." He said that, apparently, a few more days would pass, and Leningrad would have to be considered lost. According to popular belief, Stalin was very dissatisfied with the actions of Marshal K. E. Voroshilov, who commanded the troops of the Leningrad Front that defended the city. However, this is unlikely, since K. E. Voroshilov commanded the Leningrad front from September 5 to 13, and if you believe the memoirs of G. K. Zhukov, then until September 10, that is, according to Zhukov, Voroshilov commanded the front for only five days (See article Leningrad Front). After the end of the Elninsk operation, by order of September 11, G.K. Zhukov was appointed commander of the Leningrad Front, and began his duties on September 14. The establishment of the defense of the city was commanded by the commander of the Baltic Fleet V.F. Tributs, K.E. Voroshilov and A.A. Zhdanov.

One of the reasons for the removal of Voroshilov could be his behavior at the front: brought up in the spirit civil war, he once, at a critical moment, personally raised the sailors of the 6th brigade to attack marines Baltic Fleet. The sailors, who saw the marshal in front of them, were enthusiastically drawn into the counterattack and repulsed the enemy attack. When Stalin found out about this, he immediately recalled Voroshilov to Headquarters.

On September 4, 1941, the Germans began regular artillery shelling of Leningrad, although the decision to storm the city was not canceled until September 12, when Hitler's order to cancel it followed, i.e. Zhukov arrived two days after the cancellation of the assault order (September 14) . The local leadership prepared the main factories for the explosion. All ships of the Baltic Fleet were to be scuttled. Trying to stop the enemy offensive, Zhukov did not stop at the most cruel measures.

The soldiers who defended Leningrad these days fought to the death. Leeb continued successful operations on the nearest approaches to the city. Its purpose was to strengthen the blockade ring and divert the forces of the Leningrad Front from the help of the 54th Army, which had begun operations to unblock the city. In the end, the enemy stopped 4-7 km from the city, in fact, in the suburbs. The front line, that is, the trenches where the soldiers were sitting, was only 4 km from the Kirov Plant and 16 km from the Winter Palace. Despite the proximity of the front, the Kirov Plant did not stop working throughout the entire period of the blockade. A tram even ran from the factory to the front line. It was an ordinary tram line from the city center to the suburbs, but now it was used to transport soldiers and ammunition.

The beginning of the food crisis

Ideology German side

Hitler's Directive No. 1601 of September 22, 1941 "The Future of the City of Petersburg" (German Weisung Nr. Ia 1601/41 vom 22. September 1941 "Die Zukunft der Stadt Petersburg") clearly stated:

2. The Fuhrer decided to wipe the city of Leningrad off the face of the earth. After defeat Soviet Russia the continued existence of this largest locality is of no interest...
4. It is supposed to surround the city with a tight ring and, by shelling from artillery of all calibers and continuous bombing from the air, raze it to the ground. If, due to the situation that has developed 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 for the right to exist, we are not interested in saving at least part of the population.

According to Jodl's testimony during the Nuremberg trials, during the siege of Leningrad, Field Marshal von Leeb, commander of the northern army group, informed the OKW that civilian refugees from Leningrad were seeking refuge in the German trenches and that he had no way to feed and care for them. The Führer immediately gave the order (No. S.123 of October 7, 1941) not to accept the refugees and push them back into enemy territory.

Change in war tactics

Soviet poster 1941-1943

The battles near Leningrad did not stop, but their character changed. German troops began to destroy the city with massive artillery shelling and bombing. The bombing and artillery attacks were especially strong in October-November 1941. The Germans dropped several thousand incendiary bombs on Leningrad in order to cause massive fires. Particular attention was paid by them to the destruction of warehouses with food, and they given task succeeded. So, in particular, on September 10, they managed to bomb the famous Badaev warehouses, where there were significant food supplies. The fire was grandiose, thousands of tons of food burned, molten sugar flowed through the city, soaked into the ground. Nevertheless, contrary to popular belief, this bombardment could not be the main cause of the ensuing food crisis, since Leningrad, like any other metropolis, is supplied “from the wheels”, and the city would only have enough food stocks destroyed along with warehouses for a few days. .

Taught by this bitter lesson, the city authorities began to pay Special attention masking food stocks, which were now stored only in small batches. So, famine became the most important factor determining the fate of the population of Leningrad. The blockade imposed by the German army was deliberately aimed at the extinction of the urban population.

The actual beginning of the blockade

September 8, 1941 is considered the beginning of the blockade, when the land connection between Leningrad and the whole country was interrupted. However, the inhabitants of the city lost the opportunity to leave Leningrad two weeks earlier: the railway connection was interrupted on August 27, and tens of thousands of people gathered at the stations and in the suburbs, waiting for the possibility of a breakthrough to the east. The situation was further complicated by the fact that with the outbreak of the war, Leningrad was flooded with at least 300,000 refugees from the Baltic republics and neighboring Russian regions.

The catastrophic food situation of the city became clear on September 12, when the check and accounting of all edible stocks were completed. Food cards were introduced in Leningrad on July 17, 1941, that is, even before the blockade, but this was done only in order to restore order in the supply. The city entered the war with the usual supply of food. The rationing rates for food rationing were high, and there was no food shortage before the blockade began. The reduction in the norms for issuing products for the first time occurred on September 15. In addition, on September 1, the free sale of food was banned (this measure would remain in effect until mid-1944). While the "black market" was preserved, the official sale of products in the so-called commercial stores at market prices ceased.

In October, the inhabitants of the city felt a clear shortage of food, and in November a real famine began in Leningrad. First, the first cases of loss of consciousness from hunger on the streets and at work, the first cases of death from exhaustion, and then the first cases of cannibalism were noted. In February of that 1942, more than 600 people were convicted of cannibalism, in March -- over a thousand. It was extremely difficult to replenish food supplies: by air, to ensure the supply of such big city was impossible, and navigation on Lake Ladoga temporarily stopped due to the onset of cold weather. At the same time, the ice on the lake was still very weak, so that cars could drive over it. All these transport communications were under constant enemy fire.

Despite the lowest norms for the distribution of bread, death from starvation has not yet become a mass phenomenon, and the bulk of the dead so far have been victims of bombing and artillery shelling.

Winter 1941-1942

Ration of a Leningrader

In the collective farms and state farms of the blockade ring, everything that could be useful for food was collected from the fields and gardens. However, all these measures could not save from hunger. On November 20, for the fifth time, the population and for the third time, the troops, had to reduce the norms for issuing bread. Warriors on the front line began to receive 500 grams per day, workers - 250 grams, employees, dependents and soldiers not on the front line - 125 grams. And besides bread, almost nothing. Famine began in besieged Leningrad.

Deterioration of the situation in the city

In November 1941, the situation of the townspeople deteriorated sharply. Death from starvation has become massive. The sudden death of passers-by on the streets became commonplace - people went somewhere about their business, fell and died instantly. Special funeral services picked up about a hundred corpses daily from the streets.

Preserved countless stories of people simply collapsing and dying - at home or at work, in stores or on the streets

Cold exposure

Another important factor in the increase in mortality was cold. With the onset of winter, the city practically ran out of fuel supplies: electricity generation was only 15% of the pre-war level. The centralized heating of houses stopped, the water supply and sewerage froze or were turned off. Work has stopped at almost all factories and plants (except defense ones). Often come to workplace the townspeople could not do their work due to the lack of water supply, heat and energy.

"Road of Life" is the name of the ice road across Ladoga in the winter of 1941-1943, after reaching the thickness of the ice, allowing the transportation of goods of any weight. The road of life was actually the only means of communication between Leningrad and the mainland.

Reducing street deaths

In the spring of 1942, due to warming and improved nutrition, the number of sudden deaths on the streets of the city was significantly reduced. So, if in February about 7,000 corpses were picked up on the streets of the city, then in April - about 600, and in May - 50 corpses. In March 1942, the entire able-bodied population came out to clean up the city from garbage. In April-May 1942, there was a further improvement in the living conditions of the population: the restoration of communal services began. Many businesses have reopened.

1943. Blockade breakthrough

Main article: Operation Spark

On January 12, after artillery preparation, which began at 9:30 and lasted 2:10, at 11:00, the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front and the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front went on the offensive and by the end of the day advanced three kilometers towards each other. friend from east and west. Despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy, by the end of January 13, the distance between the armies was reduced to 5-6 kilometers, and on January 14 to two kilometers. The enemy command, striving to keep Workers' settlements No. 1 and 5 and strong points on the flanks of the breakthrough at any cost, hastily transferred its reserves, as well as units and subunits from other sectors of the front. The enemy grouping, located to the north of the settlements, several times unsuccessfully tried to break through the narrow neck to the south to their main forces.
On January 18, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts united in the area of Workers' settlements No. 1 and 5. On the same day, Shlisselburg was liberated and the entire southern coast of Lake Ladoga was cleared of the enemy. A corridor 8-11 kilometers wide, cut along the coast, restored the land connection between Leningrad and the country. For seventeen days, automobile and railway roads (the so-called “Victory Road”) were laid along the coast. Subsequently, the troops of the 67th and 2nd Shock armies tried to continue the offensive in southbound, but unsuccessfully. The enemy continuously transferred fresh forces to the Sinyavino area: from January 19 to 30, five divisions and a large amount of artillery were brought up. To rule out the possibility of the enemy's re-entry to Lake Ladoga, the troops of the 67th and 2nd shock armies went on the defensive. By the time the blockade was broken, about 800 thousand civilians remained in the city. Many of these people were evacuated to the rear during 1943.

Food plants began to gradually switch to peacetime products. It is known, for example, that already in 1943, the Confectionery Factory named after N.K. Krupskaya produced 3 tons of sweets of the well-known Leningrad brand “Mishka in the North”.

After breaking through the blockade ring in the Shlisselburg area, the enemy, however, seriously fortified the lines on the southern approaches to the city. The depth of the German defense lines in the area of the Oranienbaum bridgehead reached 20 kilometers.

1944 Lifting of blockade

Main article: Operation January Thunder

On January 14, the Krasnoselsko-Ropsha operation of the troops of the Leningrad Front began, as a result of which, on January 27, 1944, the blockade was completely lifted. As a result of a powerful offensive by the troops of the Leningrad Front, German troops were thrown back from Leningrad at a distance of 60-100 km and, 872 days after the start, the blockade ended. On this day, Moscow ceded the right to Leningrad to fire a salute to mark the final lifting of the blockade. An interesting fact: the order to the victorious troops was signed, contrary to the established order, not by Stalin, but on his behalf by Govorov. None of the commanders of the fronts during the Great Patriotic War was awarded such a privilege.

Rank hero cities

by order Supreme Commander dated May 1, 1945, Leningrad, together with Stalingrad, Sevastopol and Odessa, was named a hero city for the heroism and courage shown by the inhabitants of the city during the blockade ... On May 8, 1965, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Hero City Leningrad was awarded the Order of Lenin and the medal " Golden Star".

Role Soviet navy(RKKF) in the defense of Leningrad

leningrad blockade war crisis

The Red Banner Baltic Fleet (KBF; commander - Admiral V.F. Tributs), the Ladoga Military Flotilla (formed on June 25, 1941, disbanded on November 4, 1944) played a special role in the defense of the city, breaking through the Siege of Leningrad and ensuring the existence of the city under blockade conditions .; commanders: Baranovsky V.P., Zemlyanichenko S.V., Trainin P.A., Bogolepov V.P., Khoroshhin B.V. - in June-October 1941, Cherokov V.S. - with October 13, 1941), cadets of naval schools (separate cadet brigade of Leningrad Higher School of Education, commander Rear Admiral Ramishvili). Also, at various stages of the battle for Leningrad, the Chudskaya and Ilmenskaya military flotillas were created.

The need to pave new road to Leningrad arose after the blockade around the city was closed. The only possibility was to use Lake Ladoga for these purposes. After the onset of cold weather, a complex transport highway was laid right on the ice, the configuration of which changed depending on the conditions. People called it the Road of Life.

The road of life of besieged Leningrad

In terms of attacking the Soviet Union, Hitler assigned a special place to the capture and destruction of Leningrad. The fall of this historic capital and cradle of the revolution should have preceded the complete defeat of Moscow. Leningrad and Moscow were undoubtedly important strategic points and transport hubs. But even more important was their role in the minds of Soviet citizens. For Hitler, the paramount moment was to undermine the morale of the defenders. Like no one else, he knew how important it was to either inspire or demoralize the crowd.

Therefore, the army group "North" under the command of Fedor von Bock received an order to destroy Leningrad. Initially, it was assumed that the city would be taken immediately, using the blitzkrieg technique. But by the time the troops of the German army approached the intended goal, it had already become clear that a blitzkrieg was not possible on Soviet territory. The military leaders were against a direct assault on the fortified city. So the blockade of Leningrad was proposed. Instead of suffering the inevitable human losses during the assault, the Germans decided to starve the city to death. Constantly watering it with generous artillery fire.

Cars take people out of besieged Leningrad along the "Road of Life".

At first, roads and railways were cut off. And on September 8, 1941, after the capture of Shlisselburg, the history of the besieged Leningrad began - one of the most tragic in the Great Patriotic War. The only message from outside world for Leningraders there was only a road that began on the shore of Lake Ladoga. This thin thread, which the defenders of Leningrad managed to stretch at the cost of incredible efforts, gave life and hope.

The road of life through Lake Ladoga

When the blockade ring closed, the only way to communicate with besieged Leningrad remained - through Lake Ladoga, the coast of which continued to be controlled during the Great Patriotic War Soviet army. This lake was very difficult to navigate. Unexpected squally gusts of wind often hit the ships. Therefore, the coast was not equipped with any moorings or piers.

The first delivered cargoes were dumped directly on the wild coast. At the same time, work was urgently carried out to deepen the bottom and equip the harbor. Dugouts were dug on the shore and warehouses were equipped. Telephone and telegraph cables were laid under water. A narrow-gauge railway was laid from the coast to the nearest railway line.

Already on September 12, just four days after the start of the blockade of Leningrad, the first batch of cargo was delivered across Lake Ladoga. There were 60 tons of various ammunition and 800 tons of food. Leningraders were taken on the return flight. During the autumn navigation, before the ice made it impossible to move around the lake, 33.5 thousand people were evacuated from the city by water. During the same time, 60 thousand tons of cargo were delivered to Leningrad.

In addition to adverse weather conditions, transportation was complicated by constant German air raids. The use of available tugs and barges for delivery was strongly encouraged. However, even the full workload of all ships could not provide food for the encircled city in full. In addition, the task was further complicated by the fact that not only food had to be supplied. Weapons were needed to wage war and defend the city. Therefore, part of the cargo was ammunition.

How the Road of Life was laid

From the very beginning it was clear that the shipping route was a temporary measure. The cold was to come soon. Therefore, ahead of time, employees of the Hydrological Institute and the road department of the Leningrad Front began to design a road that was supposed to be laid directly on the ice of the frozen Lake Ladoga.

In the documents, it was called the military highway No. 101. Heating points were to be located at every fifth kilometer of the route. And the road itself was planned to be 10 meters wide. But in reality, everything was much more complicated than on paper. Despite the fact that the Road of Life passed, as the Leningraders themselves called it, in places of the smallest depths, often the ice broke through, taking not only valuable cargo, but also many human lives.

The length across Ladoga was about 30 kilometers. Tens of thousands of people worked together in this relatively small area under difficult conditions. They were truck drivers and horse-drawn drivers, mechanics who repaired cars, traffic controllers whose task it was to guide drivers along the safest routes. In addition, there were those who directly laid the road. And it was necessary to lay it constantly. Sometimes because the road was covered with snow, sometimes because it was necessary to choose areas with a stronger layer of ice, and sometimes because the road was damaged by German air raids, which were carried out with enviable regularity.

The road of life was constantly being repaired. Divers strengthened it with all possible improvised means, diving under the ice and installing decks and supports there. It was far from being just a wide track laid across the ice. Traffic signs were placed along the road. Medical and heating points were built along the route of the trucks. There were warehouses and bases along the route. Technical assistance stations, workshops and food stations were also equipped. Telephone and telegraph communications passed along the road.

The food situation

Meanwhile, the situation in the city was getting worse. In fact, it reached a critical point, stepped over it and confidently moved on. Food was sorely lacking. At the beginning of the siege, there were approximately 2.9 million people in the city. There were no any significant stocks of food in Leningrad. It functioned at the expense of products supplied from the Leningrad region.

In addition, even the small stocks that were available were destroyed in warehouses during the first shelling. The system of issuing products by cards was introduced immediately. However, the issuance rates were constantly cut. By November 1941, the situation was critical. Bread distribution rates fell below the necessary physiological minimum. Only 125 grams of bread were given out per day. For workers, the ration was a little more - 200 grams. This is a small piece of bread. And nothing more. By that time, all stocks had long been exhausted. Many did not survive the harsh winter of 1941.

And do not forget that these 125 grams were not bread made from pure flour, albeit of the lowest grade. Everything that could be edible was added to the bread - food cellulose, cake, wallpaper dust, sacking. There was also the concept of measles flour. It was formed from a sodden, seized and hardened crust, like cement. On the way to Leningrad, many cars sank along with food. Special brigades, under the cover of darkness, searched for these places and, with the help of ropes and hooks, lifted sacks of flour from the bottom. Some part in the very middle could remain dry. And the rest of the flour turned into a hard crust, which was then broken up and added to the blockade bread.

Route to Leningrad

The situation in the city was well known to the drivers of vehicles that delivered tens of tons of various cargoes to the shores of Ladoga in the Leningrad blockade and took evacuees from there. They risked their lives every minute, going out onto the ice of Lake Ladoga. And these are not just big words. In just one day on November 29, 1941, 52 cars went under water. And this is on a stretch of 30 kilometers! Of which the first few kilometers can not even be taken into account - the road there was relatively safe.

On the way, the driver was constantly in danger of going under the ice. Therefore, no one closed the car doors, despite the chill penetrating to the marrow of the bones. So there was a chance to have time to get out of the sinking car. When the situation was especially dangerous (trucks made trips on the already melting ice), the drivers rode all the way on the running board of the car. The thirty-kilometer ice section thus turned into a serious and lengthy test. After all, I had to go at low speed. But almost every driver made two flights a day.

However, the dangers did not end there. The Germans tried to inflict air strikes on the columns during the transport of goods. They aimed both at the trucks themselves and along the route, trying to destroy the track itself. Capricious weather also practically attacked the Ladoga military road. The rising snowstorm quickly leveled the road laid on the ice with the surrounding untouched landscape. There was an extremely great danger of going astray. Many drivers died from the cold, getting lost in a blizzard. To prevent such incidents, many road signs were installed along the route.

Sinking cars on the Road of Life.

blockade winter

In total, Leningraders had to endure three blockade winters. And although it was at this time that the ice road operated best, and a considerable amount of tons of cargo could be delivered along it, it was the winters of the blockade that were the most difficult time for Leningraders. After all, cold was added to the acute problem of malnutrition. There was no central heating, no electricity. Those lucky ones who were able to acquire a potbelly stove, slowly burned everything that could burn in it. In some cases, even furniture and parquet were used.

During the first winter - from December 1941 to February 1942 - a quarter of a million people died in Leningrad. But with the increase in the norms for the issuance of bread, the death rate became less. In order for the delivery of goods to the besieged city to take place more massively and safely, already in the winter of 1942 they began to build an ice railway, which was supposed to pass directly along the lake. However, its construction was not completed, since on January 18, 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was broken, and the need for Lake Ladoga station disappeared.

There was another way, which was called the little road of life. It passed along the surface of the Gulf of Finland. Most of the defenders of Leningrad moved along this small route. This way they got to the defended "patch". Numerous soldiers wounded in battle were also sent back along it.

And when the blockade was broken, another road appeared, which was unofficially called the "Road of Victory". It was built right in the swamps and difficult rough terrain for the rapid evacuation of the population and the transport of the necessary products and ammunition.

"Road of Victory"

Sections of ice roads were calculated and laid based on the data of divers and scientists from the Hydrological Institute. On the operational military map The road of life is constantly changing its shape. Often the reason was that the delivery of goods took place in areas that, due to the bombing, became accident-prone. And the weather kept changing. Temperature changes, underwater currents and other external factors sometimes greatly influenced the entire route, and sometimes only a separate section of the route. Traffic on ice tracks was corrected by traffic controllers. During the first winter alone, the ice road moved completely 4 times. And some sections changed their configuration 12 times.

It is with such changes that the difference in data on the length of the path in historical documents. In addition, the map of military highway No. 101 included the land section to the railway station. Some indicated the full mileage, and some indicated only the section that they called the "Road of Life" on the ice of Lake Ladoga.

Monuments on the Road of Life

Flower of Life;
Katyusha;
broken ring;
Crossing;
Diary of Tanya Savicheva;
Lorry;
Rumbolovskaya mountain.

In addition to them, 102 memorial pillars were installed along the highway and the railway and memorial steles. Some of the stelae are included in the complex of monuments and memorials, and some are installed separately.

Among the memorial structures on the Road of Life, the “one and a half” monument stands out. There simply is no other like it. "Lorry" was popularly called a car with a carrying capacity of one and a half tons. It was on such trucks that people and goods were transported along the Road of Life. In the place of the road, where there were the most massive shellings, a life-sized truck, poured out of bronze, rises today.

Monument "Lorry" on the "Road of Life"

Flower of Life

The road of life passed near Vsevolozhsk. There, on the third kilometer of the memorial route, in 1968 the Flower of Life complex was opened. It is dedicated to the youngest victims of the besieged Leningrad. Indeed, during the years of the blockade, children became not only passive victims of hunger and shelling. To the best of their ability, they helped in the defense of the city, taking on those duties that in other circumstances would have been entrusted only to adults. Schoolchildren extinguished incendiary bombs, stood guard, helped in hospitals and collected raw materials for military needs.

The memorial complex consists of three parts. First, a 15-meter sculpture of a flower appears before the visitor, on the petals of which the words of a popular children's song in the USSR: "Let there always be sunshine" and the image of a pioneer boy are carved. This is followed by the Alley of Friendship, which consists of nine hundred birches - according to the number of blockade days. Scarlet pioneer ties are tied on tree trunks in memory of the dead children. Behind the alley is a mound. It is rare that a mention in the guidebooks of the Road of Life is complete without a photo of this mound. Among other attractions, there is a diary of a girl recreated in stone, who successively entered the death dates of her family members into a notebook in an incorrect children's handwriting.

Monument "Flower of Life" on the "Road of Life"

broken ring

On the western shore of Lake Ladoga, where the Road of Life began, there is another monument. With severe brevity, he symbolically illustrates Interesting Facts about the road. Two massive half-arches, in the form of a broken ring, seven meters high, remind of the blockade ring. And the rupture of the memorial The torn ring points to the Road of Life. Under the ring towards the descent to the lake, right along the masonry, there is a concrete track from the wheels of the car.

From here, during the years of the blockade, trucks began their journey, delivering a valuable cargo of food and ammunition to the besieged city. Under the imposing monument, the words from a poem by Bronisław Kezhun are carved:

“Descendant, know: in harsh years,

Faithful to the people, duty and Fatherland,

Through the hummocks of the Ladoga ice

From here we led the way of Life,

So that life never dies.

Monument "Broken Ring" on the "Road of Life"

Osinovetsky lighthouse

The road of life is most often associated with trucks on ice and snowstorms. However, when the ice melted, it did not stop functioning. Just in warm weather, the Ladoga flotilla took over the load. Often it was even more difficult and dangerous than driving on ice. Coastline Lake Ladoga has never favored navigation.

In late spring, summer and early autumn, ships cruising the lake were guided by the light of the Osinovetsky lighthouse, located on the southwestern shore. This lighthouse is still functioning today. Excursions are not carried out there, since the lighthouse is classified as a strategic facility and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense.

The construction of the Osinovetsky lighthouse began in 1905. Since then, he has not interrupted his work. Beacon light points to western border the bay from which the Neva begins its journey. It rises 74 meters above the lake level, and the light of the lighthouse is visible at a distance of 40 kilometers.

Monument "Osinovetsky Lighthouse" on the "Road of Life"

Due to the fact that the Osinovetsky lighthouse during the years of the blockade served as an important landmark for ships sailing along the Road of Life, it is classified as an object cultural heritage, although it is not a monument as such.

Katyusha

The road of life was the only link between besieged Leningrad and the rest of the country. The only artery that carried food and ammunition. She was what kept the city alive. The defenders of Leningrad understood this very well, the Leningraders themselves understood this, and the Germans understood this. They desperately tried to cut off this last line of communication in order to finally crush the resistance and destroy the weakened city.

The road of life was under constant fire. To protect against enemy aircraft, the legendary Katyusha installations were used on it. In memory of this, on the site where anti-aircraft units were located during the war years, a monument was erected, reminiscent of these defensive weapons that covered the movement of trucks. It consists of steel beams directed to the sky, each of which is 14 meters long. There are 5 such beams in total. They represent the famous "Katyusha".

Monument "Katyusha" on the "Road of Life"

A poem about the siege of Leningrad

Deep experiences of Leningraders about wartime and blockade hometown found their outlet in art. Poems dedicated to the Road of Life, paintings, photographs, literary essays - everything that could help express feelings was used. Olga Berggolts, Eduard Asadov, Vera Ibner, Boris Bogdanov, Vsevolod Rozhdestvensky, Vladimir Lifshits are the most famous poets who sang the siege days in their works. But this list is far from complete.

And even today, seven decades later, this theme continues to inspire poets and words of memory, pain and gratitude harmoniously add up to rhymed lines. Here is an excerpt from a contemporary poem:

Road of Life, dear Ladoga,

Oh, how many you were able to save then!

For our grandfathers, grandmothers, I know

There is no sacred place in the world!

I stand before you on my knees

I stand and look thoughtfully into the distance,

From all post-war generations,

As God, I thank you.

And I know: I still dream at night

To all who survived in that blockade hell,

The flow of cars, a sleepless string,

Carrying bread on the Ladoga ice ....

Natalia Smirnova

The blockade of Leningrad lasted from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944 - 872 days. By the beginning of the blockade, the city had only inadequate supplies of food and fuel. The only way to communicate with besieged Leningrad was Lake Ladoga, which was within the reach of the besiegers' artillery. The capacity of this transport artery was inadequate for the needs of the city. The famine that began in the city, aggravated by problems with heating and transport, led to hundreds of thousands of deaths among residents. According to various estimates, from 300 thousand to 1.5 million people died during the years of the blockade. The number of 632 thousand people appeared at the Nuremberg trials. Only 3% of them died from bombing and shelling, the remaining 97% died of starvation. Photos of Leningrad S.I. Petrova, who survived the blockade. Made in May 1941, May 1942 and October 1942 respectively:

"The Bronze Horseman" in blockade vestments.

The windows were sealed crosswise with paper so that they would not crack from explosions.

Palace Square

Harvesting cabbage at St. Isaac's Cathedral

Shelling. September 1941

Training sessions of the "fighters" of the self-defense group of the Leningrad orphanage No. 17.

New Year in the surgical department of the City Children's Hospital named after Dr. Rauchfus

Nevsky Prospekt in winter. Building with a hole in the wall - Engelhardt's house, Nevsky Prospekt, 30. The breach is the result of a German air bomb hit.

A battery of anti-aircraft guns at St. Isaac's Cathedral is firing, reflecting a night raid by German aircraft.

At the places where the inhabitants took water, huge ice slides formed from the water splashed in the cold. These slides were a serious obstacle for people weakened by hunger.

Turner of the 3rd category Vera Tikhova, whose father and two brothers went to the front

Trucks take people out of Leningrad. "Road of Life" - the only way to the besieged city for its supply, passed through Lake Ladoga

Music teacher Nina Mikhailovna Nikitina and her children Misha and Natasha share the blockade ration. They talked about the special attitude of the blockade to bread and other food after the war. They always ate everything clean, leaving not a single crumb. A refrigerator full of food to capacity was also the norm for them.

Bread card of the blockade. In the most terrible period of the winter of 1941-42 (the temperature dropped below 30 degrees), 250 g of bread was given out per day for a manual worker and 150 g for everyone else.

Starving Leningraders are trying to get meat by butchering the corpse of a dead horse. One of the worst pages of the blockade is cannibalism. More than 2 thousand people were convicted for cannibalism and related murders in besieged Leningrad. In most cases, cannibals were expected to be shot.

Barrage balloons. Balloons on cables that prevented enemy aircraft from flying low. Balloons were filled with gas from gas holders

Transportation of a gas tank at the corner of Ligovsky Prospekt and Razyezzhaya Street, 1943

Residents of besieged Leningrad collect water that appeared after shelling in holes in the asphalt on Nevsky Prospekt

In a bomb shelter during an air raid

Schoolgirls Valya Ivanova and Valya Ignatovich put out two incendiary bombs that fell into the attic of their house.

Victim of German shelling on Nevsky Prospekt.

Firefighters wash off the blood of Leningraders killed in German shelling from the asphalt on Nevsky Prospekt.

Tanya Savicheva is a Leningrad schoolgirl who, from the beginning of the blockade of Leningrad, began to keep a diary in a notebook. In this diary, which has become one of the symbols of the Leningrad blockade, there are only 9 pages, and six of them contain the dates of the death of loved ones. 1) December 28, 1941. Zhenya died at 12 o'clock in the morning. 2) Grandmother died on January 25, 1942, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. 3) Lyoka died on March 17 at 5 o'clock in the morning. 4) Uncle Vasya died on April 13 at 2 am. 5) Uncle Lyosha May 10 at 4 pm. 6) Mom - May 13 at 730 in the morning. 7) The Savichevs are dead. 8) Everyone died. 9) Only Tanya is left. At the beginning of March 1944, Tanya was sent to the Ponetaevsk nursing home in the village of Ponetaevka, 25 kilometers from Krasny Bor, where she died on July 1, 1944 at the age of 14 and a half from intestinal tuberculosis, blinded shortly before her death.

On August 9, 1942, Shostakovich's 7th Symphony "Leningradskaya" was performed for the first time in besieged Leningrad. The Philharmonic hall was full. The audience was very diverse. The concert was attended by sailors, armed infantrymen, air defense fighters dressed in jerseys, emaciated patrons of the Philharmonic. The performance of the symphony lasted 80 minutes. All this time, the enemy's guns were silent: the artillerymen defending the city received an order to suppress the fire of German guns at all costs. The new work of Shostakovich shocked the listeners: many of them cried, not hiding their tears. During the performance, the symphony was broadcast on the radio, as well as on the loudspeakers of the city network.

Dmitri Shostakovich in a fire suit. During the blockade in Leningrad, Shostakovich, together with students, went out of town to dig trenches, was on duty on the roof of the conservatory during the bombing, and when the roar of bombs subsided, he again began to compose a symphony. Subsequently, having learned about Shostakovich's duties, Boris Filippov, who headed the House of Art Workers in Moscow, expressed doubts whether the composer should have risked himself like that - "because it could deprive us of the Seventh Symphony", and heard in response: "Or maybe otherwise this symphony would not have existed. All this had to be felt and experienced. "