Blockade war. The siege of the city of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War (1941)

00:21 — REGNUM On this day 75 years ago, January 18, 1943, Soviet troops broke through the enemy blockade of Leningrad. It took another year of stubborn battles to completely eliminate it. The day of breaking the blockade is always celebrated in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. The President of Russia will visit the residents of both regions today Vladimir Putin, whose father fought and was seriously wounded in the battles on the Nevsky patch.

The breakthrough of the blockade was the result of Operation Iskra, which was carried out by the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, which united south of Lake Ladoga and restored land communications between Leningrad and the Big Land. On the same day, the city of Shlisselburg was liberated from the enemy, "locking" the entrance to the Neva from the Ladoga side. The breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad became the first example in military history of the unblocking of a large city with a simultaneous strike from outside and from within.

The strike groups of the two Soviet fronts, which were supposed to break through the powerful defensive fortifications of the enemy and eliminate the Shlisselburg-Sinyavinsky ledge, included more than 300 thousand soldiers and officers, about 5 thousand guns and mortars, more than 600 tanks and more than 800 aircraft.

On the night of January 12, the positions of the German fascists were subjected to an unexpected airstrike by Soviet bombers and attack aircraft, and in the morning a massive artillery preparation began using large-caliber barrels. It was carried out in such a way as not to damage the ice of the Neva, along which the infantry of the Leningrad Front, reinforced with tanks and artillery, soon moved on the offensive. And from the east, the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front launched an offensive against the enemy. She was tasked with seizing numbered workers' settlements north of Sinyavino, which the Germans had turned into fortified strongholds.

During the first day of the offensive, the advancing Soviet units with heavy fighting managed to advance deep into the German defense by 2-3 kilometers. The German command, facing the threat of dismemberment and encirclement of its troops, organized an urgent transfer of reserves to the place of the breakthrough planned by Soviet units, which made the battles as fierce and bloody as possible. Our troops were also reinforced with a second echelon of attackers, new tanks and guns.

On January 15 and 16, 1943, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts fought for separate strongholds. On the morning of January 16, the assault on Shlisselburg was launched. On January 17, the stations Podgornaya and Sinyavino were taken. As former Wehrmacht officers later recalled, the control of German units in the places of the Soviet offensive was disrupted, there were not enough shells and equipment, a single line of defense was crushed, and individual units were surrounded.

Nazi troops were cut off from reinforcements and defeated in the area of ​​workers' settlements, the remnants of the broken units, throwing weapons and equipment, scattered through the forests and surrendered. Finally, on January 18, units of the shock group of the Volkhov Front, after artillery preparation, went over to the attack and joined up with the troops of the Leningrad Front, capturing workers' settlements Nos. 1 and 5.

The blockade of Leningrad was broken. On the same day, Shlisselburg was completely liberated, and the entire southern coast of Lake Ladoga came under the control of the Soviet command, which soon made it possible to connect Leningrad with the country by road and rail and save hundreds of thousands of people who remained in the besieged city from starvation.

According to historians, the total combat losses of the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts during Operation Iskra amounted to 115,082 people, of which 33,940 were irrecoverable. Soldiers and officers of the Red Army sacrificed themselves for the sake of saving Leningraders who did not surrender to the enemy from painful death. Militarily, the success of Operation Iskra meant the enemy's final loss of the strategic initiative in the northwestern direction, as a result of which the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad became inevitable. It happened a year later, on January 27, 1944.

“The breakthrough of the blockade eased the suffering and hardships of Leningraders, instilled in all Soviet citizens confidence in victory, opened the way to the complete liberation of the city, - recalled today, January 18, in her blog on the website of the Federation Council, the speaker of the upper house Valentina Matvienko. — Residents and defenders of the city on the Neva did not allow themselves to be broken, withstood all the tests, once again confirming that the greatness of spirit, courage and dedication are stronger than bullets and shells. As a result, it is not power that triumphs, but truth and justice. "

As already reported IA REGNUM, on the 75th anniversary of the breakthrough of the blockade, Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit the region. He will lay flowers at the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery, where many thousands of residents of Leningrad and the defenders of the city have rested, will visit the military-historical complex "Nevsky Pyatachok" and the "Breakthrough" panorama museum in the Kirovsky District of the Leningrad Region, will meet with veterans of the Great Patriotic War and representatives of search detachments working on the battlefield of that war.

Veterans and blockades of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, activists of public, military-historical and youth movements at noon will gather at a solemn meeting at the "Sinyavinskiye Heights" memorial dedicated to the breaking of the blockade, in the village of Sinyavino, Kirovsky district, Leningrad region.

At 17:00 in the center of St. Petersburg, a flower-laying ceremony will take place at the "Days of the Blockade" memorial sign. During the event, pupils of the association of teenage and youth clubs "Perspektiva" of the Central District will read poems about the Great Patriotic War, and the blockade participants will share stories about life and death in the besieged city. Candles will be lit in memory of the victims, after which flowers will be laid on the memorial plaques.

The blockade of Leningrad by German and Finnish troops lasted 872 days, from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. During the blockade, according to various sources, from 650 thousand to 1.5 million people died, mainly from hunger. The blockade was completely lifted on January 27, 1944.

The hero city, which for more than two years was in a military blockade of the German, Finnish and Italian armies, today recalls the first day of the blockade of Leningrad. On September 8, 1941, Leningrad was cut off from the rest of the country, and city residents bravely defended their homes from invaders.

872 days of the siege of Leningrad went down in the history of the Second World War as the most tragic events that are worthy of memory and respect. The courage and courage of the defenders of Leningrad, the suffering and patience of the inhabitants of the city - all this will remain an example and lesson for new generations for many years to come.

Read 10 interesting, and at the same time terrifying facts about the life of besieged Leningrad in the editorial material.

1. "Blue Division"

The German, Italian and Finnish military took part in the blockade of Leningrad. But there was another group, which was referred to as the "Blue Division". It was believed that this division consisted of Spanish volunteers, since Spain did not officially declare war on the USSR.

However, in fact, the "Blue Division", which became part of a large crime against the Leningradians, consisted of the regular soldiers of the Spanish army. During the battles for Leningrad, the "Blue Division" for the Soviet military was considered the weak link of the aggressors. Because of the rudeness of their own officers and poor food, the soldiers of the "Blue Division" often went over to the side of the Soviet army, historians note.

2. "Road of Life" and "Lane of Death"

Residents of besieged Leningrad managed to escape from starvation in the first winter thanks to the Road of Life. In the winter of 1941-1942, when the water on Lake Ladoga froze, communication with the "Big Land" was established, through which food was brought into the city and the population was evacuated. 550 thousand Leningraders were evacuated through the Road of Life.

In January 1943, Soviet soldiers broke through the blockade of the invaders for the first time, and a railway was built on the vacated site, which was named "Victory Road". In one section, the "Victory Road" came close to enemy territories, and the trains did not always reach their destination. The military called this segment "The Lane of Death".

3. Severe winter

The first winter of besieged Leningrad was the most severe that the inhabitants saw. From December to May inclusive in Leningrad, the average air temperature was 18 degrees below zero, the minimum mark was fixed at 31 degrees. Snow in the city sometimes reached 52 cm.

In such harsh conditions, the inhabitants of the city were warmed by any means. Houses were heated by stoves, stoves, everything that burned was used as fuel: books, paintings, furniture. Central heating in the city did not work, sewerage and water supply were turned off, work in factories and factories stopped.

4. Cats-heroes

In modern St. Petersburg, there is a small cat monument, few people know, but this monument is dedicated to the heroes who twice saved the inhabitants of Leningrad from starvation. The first rescue fell on the first year of the blockade. The hungry residents ate all domestic animals, including cats, which saved them from starvation.

But in the future, the absence of cats in the city led to a general invasion of rodents. The food reserves of the city were under threat. After the blockade was broken in January 1943, one of the first trains had four carriages with smoky cats. It is this breed that catches pests best. The stocks of the exhausted city dwellers were saved.

5.150 thousand shells

During the years of the blockade, Leningrad was subjected to an uncountable number of airstrikes and shelling, which were carried out several times a day. In total, during the blockade, 150 thousand shells were fired on Leningrad and more than 107 thousand incendiary and high-explosive bombs were dropped.

To alert citizens of enemy air strikes, 1,500 loudspeakers were installed on the streets of the city. The signal for airstrikes was the sound of a metronome: its fast rhythm signified the beginning of an air attack, a slow one - a retreat, and on the streets they wrote "Citizens! This side of the street is most dangerous during shelling."

The sound of the metronome and the inscription warning about the shelling, preserved on one of the houses, became symbols of the blockade and resilience of the inhabitants of Leningrad, which was not subdued by the Nazis.

6. Three waves of evacuation

During the war years, the Soviet military managed to carry out three waves of evacuation of the local population from the besieged and hungry city. For all the time, it was possible to withdraw 1.5 million people, which at that time amounted to almost half of the entire city.

The first evacuation began in the early days of the war - June 29, 1941. The first wave of evacuation was notable for the reluctance of residents to leave the city, just over 400 thousand people were taken out. The second wave of evacuation - September 1941-April 1942. The main way of evacuating the already besieged city was the "Road of Life", in just the second wave more than 600 thousand people were evacuated. And the third wave of evacuation - May-October 1942, a little less than 400 thousand people were evacuated.

7. Minimum ration

Famine became the main problem of besieged Leningrad. The beginning of the food crisis is considered to be September 10, 1941, when Hitler's aviation destroyed the Badayevsky food warehouses.

The peak of the famine in Leningrad fell on November 20-December 25, 1941. The norms for the distribution of bread for soldiers on the front line of defense were reduced to 500 grams per day, for workers in hot shops - to 375 grams, for workers of other industries and engineers - to 250 grams, for employees, dependents and children - to 125 grams.

During the blockade, bread was prepared from a mixture of rye and oat flour, cake and unfiltered malt. It had a completely black color and a bitter taste.

8. The case of scientists

During the first two years of the blockade of Leningrad, from 200 to 300 employees of Leningrad higher educational institutions and their family members were convicted in the city. Leningrad department of the NKVD in 1941-1942 arrested scientists for "anti-Soviet, counter-revolutionary, treasonable activities."

As a result, 32 highly qualified specialists were sentenced to death. Four scientists were shot, the rest of the death penalty was replaced by various terms of forced labor camps, many died in prisons and camps. In 1954-55, the convicts were rehabilitated, and a criminal case was initiated against the employees of the NKVD.

9. Duration of the blockade

The siege of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War lasted 872 days (September 8, 1941 - January 27, 1944). But the first breakthrough of the blockade was carried out in 1943. On January 17, during Operation Iskra, the Soviet troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts managed to liberate Shlisselburg, creating a narrow land corridor between the besieged city and the rest of the country.

After the blockade was lifted, Leningrad was under siege for another six months. German and Finnish soldiers remained in Vyborg and Petrozavodsk. After the offensive operation of the Soviet troops in July-August 1944, the Nazis were driven back from Leningrad.

10. Victims

At the Nuremberg trials, the Soviet side announced 630 thousand deaths during the blockade of Leningrad, however, this figure is still questioned by historians. The real death toll may be up to one and a half million people.

In addition to the number of deaths, the cause of death also causes horror - only 3% of all those killed in besieged Leningrad accounted for shelling and air strikes by the fascist military. 97% of deaths in Leningrad from September 1941 to January 1944 were due to hunger. The dead bodies lying on the streets of the city were perceived by passers-by as an everyday occurrence.

January is a special month for Leningraders. I did not make a reservation, specifically for Leningraders, for those who were born and raised in Leningrad, who fought with the Nazis to defend the city, who survived all the hardships of the most severe blockade and waited for the bright hour of Victory. Although for many years the city has been called Petersburg (and even more often called Peter), for me, like many people of my generation, the words Leningrad and Leningraders remain sacred. And here, in the USA, not everyone knows where it is - St. Petersburg? They have their own city with that name in Florida. And when you explain that we are from Leningrad, even Americans who are not very well versed in history and geography smile respectfully and add: “Oh! Leningrad, blockade! "

January 27 marks the 65th anniversary of the lifting of the blockade of Leningrad, which lasted 871 days. Although they usually round up and call the number 900 days, this is probably not the point, because already before the blockade ring closed, on September 8, 1941, the city was subjected to heavy bombing and artillery shelling. A year earlier, on January 18, 1943, the blockade ring was broken, when, after a week of fighting on the eastern outskirts of Workers' Village No. 1 (not far from Shlisselburg), the soldiers of the 123rd separate rifle brigade of the Leningrad Front and the 372nd rifle division of the Volkhov front met. At the meeting place of the two fronts, an Act was drawn up, which is stored in the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense. And on the same day the city of Shlisselburg (Petrokrepost) was liberated. But it took another whole year of continuous fighting, thousands of lives, for the blockade of the Great City to end!

In the blockade ring there were 2,544 thousand Leningraders and 343 thousand residents of the nearest suburbs, and the troops defending the city. How many died during the blockade? There is still no exact data and, probably, it is unlikely to be. In the documents at the Nuremberg trials, a figure of 650 thousand deaths appeared (according to the approximate number of those buried at the Piskarevsky and Serafimovsky cemeteries). However, from the very first days of the war, a stream of refugees from the western regions poured into Leningrad. How many of them there were and whether they all received ration cards, not a single summary indicates. It is known that during the evacuation from the besieged city on the way every fourth died from exhaustion and disease. Various research in recent years has made it possible to name a figure of 1.2 million perished in besieged Leningrad. When the blockade was completely lifted, only 560 thousand inhabitants remained in Leningrad.

Many books, poems and poems have been written about the blockade of Leningrad, several feature films have been shot: the four-part epic "The Blockade" based on the novel of the same name by A.B. Chakovsky, "Leningrad Symphony", "Baltic Sky", "Winter Morning", "Izhora Battalion" and etc. I will not repeat myself and tell what the majority is well aware of. Fortunately, I did not live in a besieged city. But among my university friends there are a lot of those who in childhood experienced hunger, the loss of family and friends in besieged Leningrad.

My closest friend (and brother-in-law) was taken out along with an emaciated mother, brother and sister along the Road of Life. But during the evacuation, my mother soon died, and my father died in September 1941 somewhere in the area of ​​the Pulkovo Heights. So their aunt was able to return the children to Leningrad, and they were brought up in an orphanage. Yuri, my friend's husband, had a mother who died right at work, in the fall of 1942, she worked at the "Red Triangle", his father was at the front. She was buried in a mass grave at the Piskarevskoye cemetery, which he learned only after many years, becoming an adult and intensively searching the archives. Like many children under siege - an orphanage, until his father returned, by the way, disabled, then a military music school. Another classmate, five years older than us (he studied, having already served in the army), survived the blockade, having lost all his loved ones, also spent part of his childhood in an orphanage. And there are very, very many such Leningraders. Although over the past 15 years the number of "blockade" people has decreased three times - now about 300 thousand blockade people live in St. Petersburg, in other regions and countries - more than 200 thousand people.

On memorable days - the lifting of the blockade, on Victory Day - an endless stream of people go to the cemeteries of Leningrad, the largest of which are Piskarevskoye and Serafimovskoye. I had to visit Serafimovsky only a few times, but I visit Piskarevsky every year, sometimes twice a year, together with friends. The Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery, spread over an area of ​​27 hectares, is the largest in terms of the number of burials during the Second World War, and even for this fact it is entered in the Guinness Book of Records. It's always quiet here. Only the solemn sounds of music float over an immense field, and tree branches rustle in the wind. The cemetery was opened before the war, in 1939, near the village of Piskarevka. With the beginning of the blockade, it became a place of mass graves. According to averaged data, about half a million Leningraders and residents of other cities and villages of the Soviet Union are buried in huge mass graves, who, by the will of fate, ended up in this city or fought for its salvation. Several years ago, commemorative granite steles from many cities, regions and republics of the former Soviet Union appeared here, whose citizens died during the defense of the city on the Neva. In front of the entrance to the cemetery, the inscription is engraved on a marble plaque:

"From September 4, 1941 to January 22, 1944, 107,158 bombs were dropped on the city, 148,478 shells were fired, 16,744 people were killed, 33,782 were wounded, 641,803 died of starvation."

Just as it is impossible to erase the sorrowful pages of the siege from the history of Leningrad, so it is impossible to understand what the Leningrad blockade is without seeing the Piskarevsky cemetery, without feeling its heart-piercing pain. The memorial complex was opened on May 9, 1960. Architects A. V. Vasiliev and E. A. Levinson, sculptors V. V. Isaeva and R. K. Taurit, and poets O. F. Berggolts and M. A. Dudin took part in its creation. At the entrance there are propylaea pavilions with a museum exposition dedicated to the blockade. It contains archival documents - lists of the victims (1941−1944), Books of memory of soldiers and civilians, documents of the besieged Leningrad, household items, memoirs of war veterans. Behind the propylaea we see a vast terrace. In the center of it, framed by dark gray granite, the Eternal Flame sways. A three-hundred-meter alley, divided by lawns into three rows, leads along the mass graves, each of which has a granite slab depicting an oak leaf and the dates: 1941, 1942, 1943 ... There are 200 mass graves and about 7 thousand individual burials. At the end of the alley, the Motherland-Mother froze in mournful silence - a 6-meter statue on a 6-meter pedestal. Behind the monument, a granite stele-wall stretches for 150 meters, on which Olga Berggolts's agitated and bitter poetic lines are engraved.

There are a lot of monuments dedicated to the defenders of the city on the Neva, not all of them can be enumerated. In one Green Belt of Glory, stretching for 200 km, created in 1965-68 along the defense line, where in September 1941 the enemy troops were stopped, there are about 30 of them. I most often see a birch grove - 900 birches planted, by the number of days blockade, on Ryabovskoe highway, going to Vsevolozhsk, along the Road of Life. The grove is opposite the turn to the Kovalevskoye cemetery, and every time I pass by, I admire the white birch trees, and mentally bow to the courageous Leningraders.

Let us always remember with gratitude the feat of Leningrad!

Nine hundred days! This figure is amazing, because that is how long the city of Petra held out, survived, survived, without losing itself, its dignity and honor, squeezed into a ring by enemy German troops.

Perhaps in the history of mankind there were examples when the besieged ancient cities were blockaded even longer, but in the modern history the blockade of Leningrad is considered the most terrible and longest.

The beginning of the blockade

Asking the question of whether it was possible to avoid the blockade of the city on the Neva, the answer would be rather negative, even taking into account the fact that history does not accept the subjunctive mood.

The fact is that the Baltic Fleet was located in Leningrad, and also, having taken the northern capital by starvation, all the ways to Arkhangelsk, to Murmansk were opened for Hitler, where help from the allies was regularly received. So, it would hardly have been possible to avoid the blockade, but it was probably possible to predict it and minimize its dire consequences for Leningrad and its inhabitants.

However, in the first days of the blockade, which began on September 8, 1941, when Hitler's troops took the city of Shlisselburg and finally closed the ring, almost none of the inhabitants of Leningrad was able to appreciate the terrible consequences of this event. Therefore, in the early days of the blockade, the city continued to live its own life, while a few began to feverishly withdraw their savings, buy up huge quantities of provisions, sweeping away everything edible from store shelves, stocked up on soap, candles, and kerosene. They tried to evacuate the residents of the city, but not all of them were able to get out.

Immediately after the start of the blockade, shelling began on the city and by the end of September all routes from the city were already cut off. Then an unthinkable tragedy happened - a fire at the Badayev warehouses. The fire destroyed all the strategic food supplies of the city, which partially provoked the famine.

However, at that time Leningrad had about three million inhabitants, so the city existed due to imported provisions, but the reserves that existed in the city could still alleviate the fate of Leningraders. Almost immediately after the start of the blockade, all schools in the city were closed, a curfew began, and food ration cards were introduced.

Life and death in besieged Leningrad

The tragic consequences of the blockade hit the inhabitants of the city suddenly and quickly. Money has depreciated, so their presence did not save the inhabitants from a terrible famine. Gold also depreciated, because ordinary citizens had no opportunity to exchange jewelry for food.

The evacuation of Leningraders began immediately after the blockade, in 1941, but only a year later there was a real opportunity to take out a little more people from the city. First of all, women and children were evacuated, thanks to the so-called, through Lake Ladoga. This was the only way that connected Leningrad with the land.

In winter, trucks with provisions crossed the lake across the ice, in summer - barges. Not all transport reached its goal, since the "Road of Life" was constantly subjected to artillery fire from fascist troops. Huge kilometer-long queues lined up at the bakeries for the daily bread ration. Many people died of hunger right on the streets, and the Leningraders did not have the strength to remove the bodies.

But, at the same time, the city continued to work, by which residents learned the latest news from the front. This radio was the pulse of life in the blockaded city dying of hunger and cold. During the blockade, the famous composer began to work on his Leningradskaya symphony, which he completed already in evacuation. People in Leningrad continued to think and create, which means they continued to live.

The long-awaited break of the blockade

As you know, 1943 was a turning point not only in, but in general in the Second World War. By the end of 1943, our troops began preparations for the beginning of breaking through the blockade of the northern capital.

At the very beginning of the new 1944, or rather, on the fourteenth of January, the offensive began. The Soviet troops were faced with the task of striking at the Nazi troops located just south of Lake Ladoga. Thus, it was planned to regain control over the land roads leading to Leningrad.

Volkhovsky and s took part in the offensive. It was thanks to the courage and heroism of the soldiers of these fronts that the blockade was broken on January 24 of the same 1944 year. The participation of the Kronstadt artillery ensured a positive result of the Soviet offensive. Following Leningrad, advancing, our troops liberated Gatchina and Pushkin.

Thus, the blockade was completely destroyed. The siege of Leningrad remains one of the most tragic pages in the history of the Second World War. For 900 days, cut off from the mainland, the city lost more than two million of its inhabitants: old people, women, children. The city withstood a mortal battle with enemies, without losing either its dignity or honor, becoming a model of courage and heroism.

The siege of the city on the Neva began on September 8, 1941, when the Nazis surrounded our northern capital and closed the ring. From the side of the enemy, the combined forces of German, Spanish ("Blue Division") and Finnish troops acted.

Hitler's plan was as follows: Leningrad should not only be captured, but also completely destroyed. First, the accession to this territory gave Germany the opportunity to rule over the entire Baltic Sea. Naturally, if successful, our fleet would be destroyed. Secondly, the fall of Leningrad was of great importance for strengthening the spirit of the German army and for making an attempt at moral pressure on the entire population of the Soviet Union: Leningrad has always been the second capital, therefore, if it fell into the hands of the enemy, the spiritual forces of Soviet soldiers could be broken. After Leningrad, the task of reprising Moscow was greatly simplified.

Leningrad was completely unprepared for a siege. There were no special food reserves, since the city was supplied with imported products. In addition, the Nazis constantly carried out shelling, trying to get into the warehouses where flour and sugar were stored.

For Leningraders, a very difficult life began: already in the middle of autumn, a terrible famine came to the city. The ration for workers was constantly decreasing, as a result, it reached the figure of 250 g of bread per day. Children and dependents were entitled to even less - 125 g each. What kind of bread! Oilcake, sawdust, acorns and dust left over from flour supplies ... No more food.

Of course, on such a ration, people died en masse. It became absolutely normal for a person to walk slowly down the street and suddenly fall from exhaustion. Passers-by pronounced death. The corpses were removed on their own by those who could still somehow move. More than 630 thousand people died of hunger and its consequences. Many died in the bombing.

It is surprising and incomprehensible for our generation: on such a diet, people managed not only to survive, but also to work. Factories were working, producing ammunition. Schools, hospitals operated, theaters were not closed. Children and adolescents worked on an equal footing with adults, learned to extinguish the dropped bombs. A lot of lives were saved by 10-12 year old boys and girls.

The only means of communication with the “big world” was the “Road of Life” - a thin artery through which “blood” entered the city: food, medicines. All who were exhausted were evacuated along the same road.

Several times our troops tried to break the blockade. Back in 1941, attempts were made that were not crowned with success, since the enemy's forces were immeasurably greater. And on January 18, 1943 - the blockade ring was broken! The city perked up. The inhabitants seemed to have new powers. On January 27, 1944, the blockade was finally lifted.

To survive what the residents of besieged Leningrad had to endure is a real feat. This must be remembered by all of us. And tell future generations. People are obliged to keep the eternal memory of that terrible war with all its horrors - so that it never happens again.

The blockade of Leningrad brief information.