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Siege of Leningrad

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The Siege of Leningrad, also known as The Leningrad Blockade (Russian: блокада Ленинграда (transliteration: blokada Leningrada)) was a military operation by the Axis powers to capture Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) during World War II. The siege lasted from September 9, 1941 to January 18, 1943, when a narrow land corridor to the city was established. The total lifting of the siege happened at January 27, 1944. It was one of the longest and most destructive sieges of major cities in modern history.

Overview

The capture of Leningrad was one of three strategic goals in Hitler's initial plans for Operation Barbarossa, and it was given to the Army Group North. Hitler's strategic goal for capturing Leningrad was motivated by its status as the former capital of Russia and the symbolic capital of the Russian Revolution, the main base of the Russian and Soviet Baltic Fleet, its political and military importance, the cultural wealth, and economic potential.

On August 6 1941 Hitler repeated his order: "Leningrad first, the Donetsk Basin second, Moscow third." From August 1941 when the Wehrmacht troops of Army Group North reached the outskirts of Leningrad through to January 1944, operations to take the city dominated OKH decisionmaking in the northern Area of Eastern Front operations. In August 1941 all railway lines to the city were severed, and the city was encircled by Finnish armies on the north and the the Wehrmacht troops to the south of Leningrad. In three winters between 1941 and 1944 the ice cover on the Lake Ladoga was used for temporary communications via the Road of Life.

Hitler announced his goal as the taking of Leningrad by force with the intent to "Celebrate New Year's Eve 1942 in the Tsar's Palaces", ensuring the official invitations were sent out by the Reich Chanceller's office. Although Hitler's plan failed, the 2½ year siege caused the largest destruction and loss of life in a modern city.

The siege was conducted by the Wehrmacht troops with assistance from the Finnish Army as part of an operation codenamed Barbarossa in 1941. The siege followed after the Finnish offensive in Karelia, and German offensive on southern suburbs of Leningrad. Georgy Zhukov launched a series of counter-attacks against the German lines and stopped the German advance in Leningrad's southern outskirts in the autumn of 1941.

In August 1942, another operation codenamed Operation Nordlicht (Operation Northern Light) started east and south of Leningrad and included a combined arms offensive of the Heer (Army), Kriegsmarine (Navy), and the Luftwaffe (Air force) troops. At the same time Finnish Naval Detachment K carried attack on Soviet supply route at Lake Ladoga by sinking one barge. Massive air-bombings and artillery bombardment of the city continued from August 1941 through 1942, and through 1943. Mannerheim's order on May 17 only authorised deployment of the Naval Detachment K to interdict the Leningrad supply route in the southern part of lake Ladoga as a combined operation with the German, and for a short time, Italian naval detachments. American and British Lend-Lease food and materiel supplies to Leningrad begun in the last quarter of 1941, while British and American convoys to Mourmansk increased this support for the city in 1942 and 1943, helping civilian survivors in the besieged Leningrad, as well as the Soviet fighting forces.

On Hitler's explicit orders most of the Palaces of the Tsars, such as the Catherine Palace, the Peterhof, the Gatchina, the Ropsha, the Strelna, and other historic landmarks located outside of the city's defencive perimiter were looted and then destroyed, with many art collections transported to Nazi Germany. Many Leningrad industries, factories, schools, hospitals, transport facilities and infrastructures, the airport and other locations were destroyed by the air raids and long range artillery bombardment during the 2½ years of the siege.

The Wehrmacht besieging perimeter was penetrated by Soviet forces at January 17, 1943 during Operation Iskra, when a narrow corridor was established along the shores of Lake Ladoga. The siege was finally lifted by Marshal Zhukov's offensive on January 27, 1944 as part of the Leningrad-Novgorod strategic offensive operation.

The 900 days of the siege caused unparalleled famine through disruption of utilities, water, and energy supply. This resulted in the deaths of 1.5 million civilians, and evacuation of 1.4 million more, mainly women and children, many of whom died during evacuation due to starvation and bombardment. Of 1.5 million total Soviet casualties, one cemetery in Leningrad has half a million civilian victims of the siege interred. Economic destruction and human losses in Leningrad on both sides exceeded those of the Battle of Stalingrad, or the Battle of Moscow, or the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Historians speak about the Nazi siege operations as a genocide of the Leningrad residents in terms of a "racially motivated starvation policy" which became the integral part of the unprecedented German war of extermination against the civilian population of the city and the Soviet Union in general.

Timeline of the Siege of Leningrad

1941

  • April: Hitler issues orders to occupy and then destroy Leningrad, according to plan Barbarossa and Generalplan Ost
  • June 17: Finland orders its armed forces to be fully mobilized and sent to the Soviet border. Finland evacuates civilians from border areas which were fortified against Soviet attack.
  • June 19: Soviet mobilization starts on Finnish front.
  • June 22: Operation Barbarossa commences.
  • June 22–June 24: Finland permits German planes returning from bombing runs over Leningrad to refuel at Finnish airfields before returning to bases in Nazi Germany.
  • June 23: After the German invasion, Leningrad commander M. Popov, starts building a defense line to prepare to meet the invading armies.
  • June 25: Soviet major air offensive against airfields and civilian targets commences war between Finland and Soviet Union.
  • June 29: Evacuation of children and women from Leningrad starts.
  • June–July: Over 300 thousand civilian refugees from Pskov and Novgorod manage to escape from the advancing Germans, and come to Leningrad for shelter. The armies of the North-Western Front join the front lines at Leningrad. Total military strength with reserves and volunteers reaches 2 million men involved on all sides of the emerging battle.
  • July 4: Georgi Zhukov orders assistance to Leningrad, in the wake of the beginning of the siege.
  • July 10: Leningrad strategic defensive operation (10.07–30.09.41), Tallin defensive operation (10.07–10.08.41), Kingesepp-Luga defensive operation (10.07–23.09.41), Counter-attack in the regions of Sol’tsy, Parkhov and Novorzhev (15–20.07.41)
  • July 17: Food rationing begins in Leningrad and suburbs.
  • July 19–23: First attack on Leningrad by the Army Group North is stopped 100 km south of the city.
  • July 27: Hitler visits Army Group North, expresses anger at the slowdown, and orders Wilhelm von Leeb to take St. Petersburg by December 1941.
  • July 31 – August 31: Finnish Army under Mannerheim attacks the 23rd Army at Karelian Isthmus, and advances up to the northern pre-Winter War Finnish towns Terijoki, Kellomäki and Kuokkala (present suburbs of Leningrad Zelenogorsk, Komarovo, and Repino). At the end Finns cross Sestra River.

    • Counter-attacks in the regions of Kholm - Staraya Russa (08–23.08.41)
  • August 20 – September 8: Artillery bombardments of Leningrad are massive, targeting industries, schools, hospitals, and civilian houses.
  • August 20 – 27: Evacuation of civilians is stopped by the German attacks on railroads and other exits from Leningrad.
  • August 21: Hitler's Directive No.34 ordered "Encirclement of Leningrad and junction with the Finns.
  • August 31: Mannerheim orders Finnish army to stop when pre-Winter War border is reached and salients of Belomorsk and Kirjasalo were captured.
  • September 6: OKW's Chief of Operations Alfred Jodl awards Mannerheim with the Order Of The Iron Cross for his command in the Leningrad campaign, and persuades Finns to continue offensive against Leningrad.
  • September 2 - 9: Finnish offensive in Battle of Beloostrov at Sestra River in after Finnish forces occupy northern suburbs Zelenogorsk, Repino, Komarovo]], and part of Sestroretskand start to prepare defences.

    • Demyansk defensive operation (06–26.09.41)
  • September 8: Encirclement of Leningrad is completed when the German forces reach the shores of Lake Ladoga.
  • September 11: President of Finland Ryti in a discussion with the Ambassador of Germany in Helsinki: "The most advantageous border for Finland at Karelian Isthmus would be Neva River. But naturally only if Leningrad ceases to be major city.. In Hitler's own words: "Once Leningrad had been razed — the land should be turned over to the Finns.
  • September 12: Joseph Stalin considers Leningrad lost, and says to Zhukov: "This situation is hopeless.
  • September 16: Dmitri Shostakovich gives radio address to citizens of Leningrad. "We shall stand up all together and defend our city".
  • September 19: German troops are stopped 10 km from Leningrad. Masses of citizens, women and schoolchildren come to fight in defense lines.
  • September 22: Hitler issues "Directive No. 1601" ordering "St. Petersburg must be erased from the face of the Earth" and "we have no interest in saving lives of civilian population."
  • October: Food shortages cause serious starvation of civilians. Civilian deaths exceed hundreds of thousands by the end of the Autumn.
  • Tikhvin strategic offensive operation (10.11–30.12.41), Malovishersk offensive operation]] (10.11–30.12.41), Tikhvin-Kirish offensive operation]] (12.11–30.12.41).
  • November: German forces fail to close the second encirclement of Leningrad, by trying to reach Finns waiting at Svir River east of Leningrad.
  • November 8: Hitler's speech in Munich: "Leningrad must die of starvation."
  • November: In massive German air-bombings destroy all major food stores in Leningrad.
  • December: Daily death toll is 5000–7000 civilians. Total civilian deaths in the first year of the siege are 780,000 citizens.
  • December 25: On the Christmas day 5000 civilian deaths registered in Leningrad, and more unregistered are left buried under the snow until the next year.
  • December: Winston Churchill wrote in his diary "Leningrad is encircled" then sent a letter to Mannerheim requesting that Finnish army should stop harrassing the railroads north of Leningrad used for American and British food and ammunition supplies to Leningrad by British and American Arctic convoys.

1942

  • January–December: Nevsky Pyatachok battle attempting to break the siege. 300 thousand men are killed within an area of 1 km at Nevsky Pyatachok.
  • January–December: Direct Nazi artillery bombardments of the Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments from a distance of 16 km from the Hermitage.
  • January–December: Total civilian death toll in the second year of the siege is about 500,000 citizens.
  • January–February: The deadliest months of the siege: every month 130,000 civilians are found dead in Leningrad and suburbs.
  • January: Energy supplies are destroyed by the Nazi bombardments in the entire city. Heating supplies are also destroyed, causing more deaths.
  • February–April: Bread rations increased to 300 grams per one child per day. Adult workers are allowed a ration of 500 grams per day. Frozen food is delivered in limited amounts only to support active soldiers and key industrial workers. Some food supplies are delivered across the ice on Lake Ladoga. However, many delivery cars are destroyed by the Nazi aircraft.
  • January–May: Tens of thousands of children join the "Night watch" to stop many fires from air-bombings. Many children are killed while performing this duty.
  • May 16: First official decoration of schoolchildren for their courage. 15 thousand children are decorated for their courage during the siege of Leningrad.
  • March–May: Cholera cases are registered in Leningrad, but the infection is isolated, then stopped. An epidemic situation is contained within several weeks, and remains under control for the rest of the year. However, hospitals are suffering from severe air-bombings, shortages of energy and food. Thousands of doctors and nurses are killed at work. Of about 30,000 medical doctors and 100,000 medical nurses in pre-war St. Petersburg, less that a half survived the siege.
  • April 4: Operation Eis Stoß (Ice impact) begins under the personal control of Goering. Hundreds of Luftwaffe bombers make a series of air raids on Leningrad with incendiary and heavy bombs.
  • May: Streetcars return to some streets in Leningrad, allowing some children to go to the remaining schools that are not destroyed. Boats on Lake Ladoga start food deliveries to starving survivors in Leningrad.
  • May–September: Special Naval Detachment K under the Finnish operative command has clashes against Leningrad supply route on southern Ladoga with the assistance of German and Italian naval forces.
  • June 4: Hitler meets with Carl Gustaf Mannerheim and Ryti in Finland.
  • June–September: Newer heavy artillery is stationed 10–28 km from the city and bombards Leningrad with 800 kg shells. The Nazis make special maps of Leningrad for artillery bombardments targeting the city infrastructure, businesses, transportation, schools, and hospitals.
  • August 9: Premiere of the Leningrad Symphony by the Leningrad Radio Orchestra (the only symphony orchestra remaining in besieged Leningrad) under Karl Eliasberg.
  • Sinyavin offensive operation (Aug.–Sep. 1942)

1943

  • January–December: Increased artillery bombardments of Leningrad. In 1943 the Nazis fired 6 times more shells and bombs than in 1942 on Leningrad. Total number of heavy artillery shells recorded at 147 thousand explosions. Highly explosive Navy torpedos were frequently used for night bombings by the Luftwaffe.
  • January–December: Baltic Fleet Navy aviation makes over 100,000 air missions to support the military operations during the siege of Leningrad..
  • January–December: Only about seven hundred children were born alive in Leningrad over the year 1943, in the aftermath of previous years of the siege. Before the war, in 1939, over 175 thousand children were born in Leningrad and suburbs, and another 171 thousand babies were 1-year-olds born in 1938. Most died in the siege, or on road seeking refuge in evacuation.
  • January: Temporary penetration through the Nazi siege near Lake Ladoga. The population of Leningrad including suburbs has decreased from about 4 million to less than 800 thousand, civilians and military combined. Most remaining civilians are evacuated to Siberia; many die there.
  • January 12–30: Breaking of the Leningrad blockade. Operation “Iskra”
  • February: The railroad is temporarily restored, but soon destroyed again by enemy aircraft.
  • March–April: Epidemic typhus and Paratyphoid fever start spreading among survivors, but the epidemic is localized and contained by mutual efforts of doctors and citizens.

1944

  • January: Before retreating the Germans loot and then destroy the most valuable Palaces of the Tsars, such as the Catherine Palace, the Peterhof, the Gatchina, and the Strelna. Many other historic landmarks and homes in the suburbs of St. Petersburg are looted and then destroyed, and incalculable amounts of valuable art collections taken to the Nazi Germany.
  • Leningrad-Novgorod strategic offensive operation (14.01–01.03.44) Ten Stalin’s punches, 1st Stalin’s punch, Krasnoye Selo-Ropshin offensive operation (14–30.01.44), Novgorod-Luga offensive operation (14.0115.02.44)
  • January 27: Siege of Leningrad ends, after a joint effort by the Army and the Baltic Fleet, which provided 30% of aviation power for the final blow to the Germans. The Germans are forced to retreat 60–100 km away from the city.
  • Kingisepp-Gdov offensive operation (01.02–01.03.44)
  • February: Survivors begin returning to Leningrad and suburbs, where industries, factories, schools, hospitals, transportation, airports and other infrastructure are found destroyed by the German air raids and artillery after 2½ years of the siege.
  • Staraya Russa-Novorzhev offensive operation (18.02–01.03.44)
  • February–December: Survivors of the siege begin repairs and re-building of the ruined industries, hospitals, housing, and schools.
  • June: 9.6.–15.7. Fourth Strategic Offensive pushes Finns northwestwards about 30–100 km to the other side of Bay of Vyborg and River Vuoksi.

1945

  • Explosions of land-mines left by the Nazis cause thousands of deaths among returning citizens.

Military operations

Besieging operations

Army Group North under Leeb advanced to Leningrad, its primary objective. Leeb's plan called for and encirclement in coordination with the Finnish Army under Mannerheim on the Svir River, east of Leningrad.

Establishing the siege

Following a swift advance accomplished by the 4th Panzer Group from East Prussia to take Pskov, and reached the neighborhood of Luga and Novgorog within operational reach of Leningrad, but was stopped by fierce resistance south of Leningrad. However the 18th Army with some 350 thousand men, lagged behind, forcing their way to Ostrov and Pskov, after the Soviet troops of the Northwestern Front retreated towards Leningrad. On July 10, both Ostrov and Pskov were captured, and the 18th Army reached Narva and Kingisepp from where advance continued to Leningrad from the Luga River line, assuming siege positions from the Gulf of Finland to Lake Ladoga with the eventual aim of isolating Leningrad from all directions when the Finnish Army was expected to advance along the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga..

Severing lines of communication

On August 6 Hitler repeated his order: "Leningrad first, the Donetsk Basin second, Moscow third." From August 1941 through January 1944, anything that happened between the Arctic Ocean and Lake Ilmen concerned Wehrmacht's Leningrad siege operations. Arctic convoys delivered American, Canadian, and British food and war materiel supplies to the Murmansk–Leningrad railroad, which was cut by the Finnish armies just north of Leningrad, and in several other locations in Lapland. After Britain and Canada declared war on Finland, Winston Churchill demanded that Mannerheim and Finnish armies should restore the Murmansk–Leningrad railroad for food supplies as a humanitarian act towards Leningrad's civilians.

Encirclement of Leningrad

Finnish intelligence was particularly helpful for Hitler, as he constantly requested intelligence information about Leningrad, and the Finns had a clandestine network operating in the city.

Finland's role in Operation Barbarossa was laid out in Hitler's Directive 21, "The mass of the Finnish army will have the task, in accordance with the advance made by the northern wing of the German armies, of tying up maximum Russian strength by attacking to the west, or on both sides, of Lake Ladoga" (near Leningrad).

The last rail connection to Leningrad was severed on August 30, when Germans reached the Neva River. The shelling of Leningrad began on September 4. On September 8, the last land connection to the besieged city was severed when the Germans reached Lake Ladoga at Orekhovets. Bombing on September 8 caused 178 fires. Hitler's directive on October 7, signed by Alfred Jodl was a reminder not to accept capitulation. German bombings killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Leningrad

Finland and Germany

Co-belligerent Finland played a part in helping the Nazi Germany to fight against the Soviet Union, mainly to keep its independence. Hitler and Mannerheim had several meetings, including Hitler's visit to Finland on Mannerheim's birthday in June 1942. Having recently fought the Winter War against the Soviets in 1940, Finland allowed Germany to use Finnish territory as a base for Operation Barbarossa.

Finland first sought protection from Great Britain and neutral Sweden, but was thwarted by Soviet and German actions. This resulted in Finland drawing closer to Germany as a counterweight to continuing Soviet pressure, and to help regain its lost territories.

Finland mobilized over 530,000 men against the Soviet Union, all Finnish military forces were located north of Leningrad, while the territories south of Leningrad were occupied by Nazi Germany. Finnish and Nazi forces had their goal set to encircle Leningrad, and to keep the perimeter of blockade, cutting off any communication with the city.

Cooperation between Finland and Germany increased prior to Operation Barbarossa, with the exchange of liaison officers and the beginning of preparations for joint military action. On June 7, Germany moved two divisions into the Finnish Lapland. On June 17, 1941, Finland ordered its armed forces to be fully mobilized and sent to the Soviet border. Finland evacuated civilians from border areas which were fortified against Soviet attack. In the opening days of the Operation, Finland permitted German planes returning from bombing runs over Leningrad to refuel at Finnish airfields before returning to bases in German East Prussia. Finland also permitted Germany to use its naval facilities in the Gulf of Finland.

By August 1941, the Finns had reached within 20km of the northern suburbs of Leningrad, threatening Leningrad from the North, and were advancing through Karelia east of Lake Ladoga, threatening Leningrad from the East. However, the Finnish forces were stopped within the suburbs of Leningrad (St. Petersburg). The Finnish headquarters rejected German pleas for aerial attacks against Leningrad and did not advance further south from the River Svir in the occupied East Karelia which they reached at September 7, 160 kilometers north-east of Leningrad. In the south-east, Germans captured Tikhvin on November 8, but failed to advance further north to fully complete encirclement of Leningrad with the Finns at the Svir River. A month later on December 9, the counterattack of the Volkhov Front forced the Wehrmacht to retreat from the Tikhvin positions, to the River Volkhov line.

On the 6th of September, 1941, Mannerheim receives the Order Of The Iron Cross for his command in the campaign. Nazi Germany's Chief of Staff Jodl brought the award to him with a personal letter from Hitler for the award ceremony held at Helsinki. Mannerheim was later photographed wearing the Nazi Cross while meeting with Hitler. Jodl's other reason for coming to Helsinki was to persuade Mannerheim to continue the Finnish offensive. Although during 1941 Ryti declared it as his goal to fight for more territories in the South for a "Greater Finland" in numerous speeches in the Finnish Parliament,after the war, the former Finnish President Ryti changed his story and said that, "On August 24 1941 I visited the headquarters of Marshal Mannerheim. The Germans aimed us at crossing the old border and at continuation of the offensive to Leningrad. I said that the capture of Leningrad wasn't our goal and that we shouldn't take part in it. Mannerheim and the military minister Walden agreed with me and refused the offers of the Germans. The result was a paradoxical situation: the Germans were not able to approach Leningrad from the north…" Later it was asserted that there was no systematic shelling or bombing from of the Finnish positions.

Never the less the close proximity of the Finnish army's positions just 33-35 kilometers from the center of Leningrad, and the threat of a Finnish attack complicated the defense of Leningrad. At one point the Front Commander Popov could not release reserves facing the Finnish Army against the Wehrmacht because they were needed to bolster the 23rd Army's defence on the Karelian Isthmus. On August 31 1941 Mannerheim ordered a stop to the offensive when the Finnish advance reached the 1939 border at the shores of the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga, after which Finnish offensive only continued by reducing the salients of Beloostrov and Kirjasalo, which threatened Finnish positions at the coast of Gulf of Finland and south of river Vuoksi respectively. As the Finns reached the line during the first days of September, Popov noticed a reduction in pressure on Red Army forces allowing him to transfer two divisions to the German sector on September 5. However, in November 1941, the Finnish forces made another advance towards Leningrad, and crossed the Sestra River, but were stopped again at the Sestroretsk and Beloostrov settlements 20-25 km north of the Leningrad outer suburbs. Finnish sources do not know such an offensive and neither do Finnish casualty reports indicate any excess casualties at the time. On the other hand, Soviet forces captured so called "Munakukkula" 1km west from Lake Lempaala at evening of November 8, but Finns recaptured it next morning. Later, in the summer of 1942, a special Naval Detachment K was formed under the Finnish operative command. Its purpose was to patrol the waters of Lake Ladoga, becoming involved in clashes against Leningrad supply route on southern Ladoga with the cooperation of German and Italian naval forces.

In 1941 Finland signed the revived Anti-Comintern Pact. However, unlike other Axis powers, after the failure of Operation Barbarossa Finland gradually decreased its activity in the alliance with Nazi Germany, but still remained the only party within the Axis powers having trade deficit with Germany. It maintained command of its armed forces and after the Nazi plans completely collapsed in 1944, Finland made different agreements and joined with the Soviets against Germany, the Lapland War

Defensive operations

Initial defence of Leningrad was undertaken by the troops of the Leningrad Front commanded by Kliment Voroshilov which included the 23rd Army in the northern sector between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga, and 48th Army occupying the western sector between Gulf of Finland and the Slutsk-Mga position. Included in the Front were the Leningrad Fortified Region, the Leningrad garrison, the Baltic Fleet forces, and the Koporsk, Southern and Slutsk-Kolpin operational groups.

By September 1941 when the link with the Volkhov Front (commanded by Kirill Meretskov) was severed, the defensive sectors were occupied by four Armies: 23rd Army in the northern sector, 42nd Army on the western sector, 55th Army on the southern sector, and the 67th Army on the eastern sector. The 8th Army of the Volkhov Front had the responsibility for attempting to maintain the logistic route to the city in coordination with the Ladoga flotilla. Air cover for the city was provided by the Leningrad military district PVO Corps and Baltic Fleet naval aviation units.

Leningrad fortified region

On June 27, 1941 the Council of Deputies of the Leningrad administration organized "First response groups" of civilians. In the next days the entire civilian population of Leningrad was informed of danger and mobilized over a million citizens of Leningrad for the construction of fortifications. Several lines of defenses were built along the perimeter of the city limits, to meet the enemy approaching from north and south with civilian resistance.

One of the fortifications ran from the mouth of the Luga River to Chudovo, Gatchina, Uritsk, Pulkovo and then through the Neva River. The other defense passed through Peterhof to Gatchina, Pulkovo, Kolpino and Koltushy. Another defense line against the Finns, the Karelian Fortified Region, had been maintained in the northern suburbs of Leningrad since the 1930s, and it was now returned to service. In all, 190 km of timber barricades, 635 km of wire entanglements, 700 km of anti-tank ditches, 5,000 earth-and-timber emplacements and reinforced concrete weapon emplacements and 25,000 km of open trenches were built by civilians. Even the gun of the cruiser Aurora was mounted on the Pulkovskiye Heights to the south of Leningrad

The defence operation to protect the 1.4 millions civilian evacuees was part of the Leningrad counter-siege operations, and was carried under the command of Andrei Zhdanov, Klim Voroshilov, and Aleksei Kuznetsov. Additional military operations was carried in coordination with the Baltic Fleet naval forces under the general command of Admiral Vladimir Tribuz. Major military involvement in defense operations in helping evacuation of civilians was carried by the Ladoga Flotilla under the command of V. Baranovsky, S.V. Zemlyanichenko, P.A. Traynin, and B.V. Khoroshikhin.

Supplying the defenders

By September 8 the Germans had largely surrounded the city, cutting off all supply routes to Leningrad and its suburbs. Unable to press home their offensive, and facing defenses of the city organized by Marshal Zhukov, the German armies laid siege to the city for 872 days. To maintain the defense of the city it was vitally important for the Red Army to establish a constantly operating supply route to the city. This route was established over the southern part of Lake Ladoga, maintain with water transports in the warmer seasons, and over hard ice in the winter. The security of the supply route was ensured by the Ladoga flotilla, the Leningrad PVO Corps, and route security troops. The route would also be used to evacuate civilians form the besieged city because due to the chaos of the first winter of the war, no evacuation plan was available or executed and the city quite literally starved in complete isolation until November 20, 1941 when an ice road over Lake Ladoga was established.

This ice road, named the Road of Life (Дорога жизни), could only be used during the winter, and during the rest of the year watercraft were used. The "road of life" was dangerous due to carriages and transports becoming stuck in the snow or sink if the ice broke due to being constantly subjected to German shelling and bombing. Because of the high death toll in the winter, the pathway was also known as the "road of death". However, the lifeline did bring war supplies and food in, and civilians out, allowed the city to continue to resist.

Soviet relief attempts

Operation Iskra
The encirclement was broken as a result of Operation Iskra — (English: spark) a full-scale offensive of troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts. This offensive started in the morning of January 12 1943. After fierce battles, the Red Army units overcame the powerful German fortifications to the south of Lake Ladoga, and on January 18 1943 the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts met, opening a land corridor to the still-besieged city.
Lifting the siege
The siege continued until January 27, 1944 when as a result of the Soviet Leningrad-Novgorod strategic offensive operation the besieging Germans from the southern outskirts of the city, ending the siege. Later, in the summer of 1944, the Finns were pushed back to the other side of the Bay of Vyborg and the Vuoksi River.

Effect of the siege on the city

Civilian casualties

Because the Soviet records during the war were incomplete, the ultimate number of casualties during the siege is disputed.

Hundreds of thousands of people unregistered with the city authorities, who lived in the city before the war, or had become refugees there, had perished in the Nazi siege without any record at all. About half a million people, both military and civilians from Latvia, Estonia, Pskov and Novgorod fled from the advancing Nazis and came to Leningrad at the beginning of the war. The flow of refugees to the city stopped with the beginning of the siege. Then during the siege part of civilians fled Leningrad with evacuation, although many died in the process.

About 1.4 million people were rescued by military evacuation from the besieged city of Leningrad in two years between September 1941 and November 1943.

Another 1.2 million civilians perished in the city. After the war, The Soviet government kept numbers down for propaganda reasons, and reported only about 670,000 registered deaths from 1941 to January 1944, explained as resulting mostly from starvation, stress and exposure. Some independent studies suggest a much higher death toll of between 700,000 and 1.5 million, with most estimates putting civilian losses at around 1.1 to 1.3 million. Many of these victims, estimated at being at least half a million, were buried in the Piskarevskoye Cemetery. The true numbers are at least twice greater than the Soviet war-time reports, while the 1939 census provides more reliable statistical data for comparative research.

There were only 700,000 people left out of 3.5 million pre-war population. Among those left in the siege were soldiers, workers, surviving children and women. Of those 700,000 surviving people about 300,000 were soldiers who came from other parts of the country to help the besieged city of Leningrad.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians were not counted at all, as they had died under numerous air-bombing attacks, and from starvation and cold while trying to escape from besieged Leningrad. Their bodies were not buried or counted under the severe circumstances of constant air-bombings and other attacks by the Nazi forces.

The total number of human losses during the 29 months of the siege of Leningrad is estimated as 1.5 million, including both civilians and military.

By the end of the siege Leningrad had become an empty "ghost-city" with thousands of ruined and abandoned homes, with its civilian population reduced from 3 million to less than 700,000.

Food shortages

On September 2 rations were reduced: manual workers had 600 grams of bread daily; state employees, 400 grams; and children and dependants (other civilians), 300 grams per day.

After the massive German bombings during August, September, and October of 1941 all main food warehouses were destroyed and burned in massive fires. Huge amounts of stored food reserves, such as grains, flour and sugar, as well as other stored food, were completely wiped out because of bombings and fires. The fires continued all over the city, because the Germans were bombing Leningrad non-stop for many months using various kinds of fire-bombs and heavy air-bombs during 1941, 1942, and 1943.

In the first days after the siege began, people finished all leftovers in "commercial" restaurants, which used up to 12% of all fats and up to 10% of all meat the city consumed. Soon all restaurants closed, food rationing became the only way to save lives, and money became obsolete. The carnage in the city from shelling and starvation (especially in the first winter) was appalling. One of Nikolai I. Vavilov's assistants starved to death surrounded by edible seeds so that the seed bank (with more than 200,000 items) would be available to future generations.

On September 12, 1941, it was calculated that the provisions both for army and civilians would last as follows:

grain and flour 35 days
groats and pasta 31 days
meat and livestock 33 days
fats 45 days
sugar and confectionery 60 days

On the same day, another food reduction took place: the workers received 500 grams of bread; employees and children, 300 grams; and dependants, 250 grams. Rations of meat and groats were also reduced, but the issue of sugar, confectionery and fats was increased instead. The army and the Baltic Fleet had some emergency rations, but these were not sufficient, and were used up in weeks. The flotilla of Lake Ladoga was not well equipped for war, and was almost destroyed in bombings by German aviation. Several barges with grain were sunk in Lake Ladoga in September 1941 alone. A significant part of that grain, however, was later lifted out of the waters by divers. This dampened grain was delivered to Leningrad at night, and was used in bread baking. When the city ran out of reserves of malt flour, other substitutes, such as finished cellulose and cotton-cake, were used. Oats meant for horses were also used, while the horses were fed wood leaves.

When 2,000 tons of mutton guts had been found in the seaport, a food grade galantine was made of them. Later, when the meat became unavailable, it was replaced by that galantine and by stinking calf skins, which many survivors remembered till the end of their lives.

During the first year of the siege, the city survived five food reductions: two reductions in September of 1941, one in October 1941, and two reductions in November 1941. The latter reduced the daily food consumption to 250 grams daily for manual workers and 125 grams for other civilians. Reports of cannibalism began to appear in the winter of 1941–1942, after all birds, rats and pets were eaten by survivors. Starvation-level food rationing was eased by new vegetable gardens that covered most open ground in the city by 1943.

Damage to public utilities

The Nazis cut almost all supplies to Leningrad, so almost all food and catering disappeared, garment industries and retail closed, most schools as well as most public services became obsolete, causing massive exodus of women and children.

During all three winters of the siege of Leningrad, 1941-1942, 1942-1943, and 1943-1944, water pipelines were constantly destroyed by the air-bombings and artillery bombardments. Women were searching for water under the icy ground at the time when they were struggling to survive in besieged Leningrad. Ice and snow were deadly sources of water because of cold winters and lack of heat. During the siege, three cold winters were the time of the highest mortality rates among the civilian population. Tens of thousands of civilians froze to death in Leningrad.

Due to a lack of power supplies, many factories were closed down and, in November, all public transportation services became unavailable. The construction of pre-war designed metro system was stopped, and some unfinished tunnels were used as public shelters during air-bombings and artillery bombardments. In the spring of 1942, some tramway lines were reactivated, but trolleybuses and buses were inoperable until the end of the war). Use of power was forbidden everywhere, except at the General Staff headquarters, Smolny, district committees, air defense bases, and in some other institutions. By the end of September, oil and coal supplies had come to an end. The only energy option left was to fell trees. On October 8 the executive committee of Leningrad (Ленгорисполком) and regional executive committee (облисполком) decided to start cutting timber in the Pargolovo district and also the Vsevolzhskiy district in the north of the city. By October 24 only 1% of the timber cutting plan had been executed.

Civilian population evacuation

Almost all public transportation in Leningrad was destroyed, and mostly not operating as a result of massive air and artillery bombardments in August–September of 1941. Millions of civilians were trapped in the city. The only means of evacuation was on foot, with little window of opportunity to do so left before the expected encirlcement of Leningrad by the Wehrmacht and Finnish forces. 86 major strategic industries were evacuated from the city. Most industrial capacities, engines, and power equipment, instruments and tools, were moved by the workers. Some defence industries, such as the LMZ, the Admiralty Shipyard, and the Kirov Plant, among some other industries were left in the city, and were still producing armor and ammunition for defenders.

Evacuation was organized under personal supervision of Kliment Voroshilov and Georgi Zhukov and was managed by engineers and workers of Leningrad's 86 major industries, which were themselves also evacuated from Leningrad, by using every means of transportation available.

The evacuation operation was managed in several "waves" or phases:

  • First wave of evacuation from June–August, 1941: 336,000 civilians, mostly children managed to escape because they were taken in, and evacuated with the 86 industries that were dismantled and moved to Northern Russia and Siberia.

  • Second wave of evacuation, from September 1941 – April 1941: 659 thousand civilians were evacuated mainly by watercraft and ice road over lake Ladoga east of Leningrad.

  • Third wave of evacuation, from May 1942 – October 1942: 403 thousand civilians were evacuated mainly through the waterways of lake Ladoga east of Leningrad.

Total number of civilians evacuated was about 1.4 million, mainly children, women, and war effort essential personnel.

Urban damage

Severe destruction of homes was caused by the Nazi air-bombings, as well as by daily artillery bombardments of Leningrad. Major destruction was done during August and September of 1941, when artillery bombardments were massive for several weeks in a row. Then regular air-bombings continued through 1941, 1942, and 1943. Most heavy artillery bombardments resumed in 1943, and increased 6 times in comparison with the beginning of the war. Hitler and the Nazi leadership were angered by their failure to take Leningrad by force. Hitler's directive No. 1601 ordered that "St. Petersburg must be erased from the face of the Earth" and "we have no interest in saving lives of civilian population."

Hundreds of buildings, public schools, hospitals and industries were destroyed by the Nazi bombings and air-raids. Museums and palaces in the suburbs were destroyed, vandalized and looted by the Nazis, while the personnel of museums was trying to save some art. Only parts of art collections from the famous suburban palaces of the Tsars were evacuated in time, while some of the saved art was stored in the basements of the Hermitage until the end of war.

Destruction of Leningrad during the siege in 1941–1944 was evaluated as a bigger event than the nuclear bombings of Hirosima and Nagasaki combined. Thousands of homes, industries, roads and transportation structures, schools, hospitals, power plants and other infrastructure of the large city were completely destroyed , or severely damaged during 29 months of constant bombings and fires.

Civilian strength of spirit and support of military operations

Surviving civilian population of Leningrad provided crucial support in numerous military operations during the battle of Leningrad under the siege. Total number of civilian volunteers helping the military is estimated equal to the number of civilians left in the city by the end of the siege: about 500 thousand people, all of them were taking turns during the routine duties at "day watch" and "night watch" to prevent fires and destruction from air-bombings and artillery bombardments.

The Nazis had a special intelligence unit that operated in secrecy, focused on causing more death and destruction in Leningrad through sabotage to destroy the morale and spirit of its citizens. Some of the Nazi secret agents were arsonists, arrested while setting fires at storage facilities in besieged Leningrad. Water and food supplies were often found poisoned and infected by the Nazi spies infiltrating into the city. Special volunteer militia brigades were involved in assisting civilians, mainly women and children at the time when they were struggling to survive.

While the population of Leningrad was depressed by the long and exhausting siege, people still tried to lift their spirits in the time when they were struggling to survive.

Popular film star Boris Babochkin made many visits to besieged Leningrad, while risking his life. Babochkin gave numerous stage performances in Leningrad, he also delivered several copies of the classic film Chapayev, which was a highly popular movie.

Symphony performances for survivors of the siege were rare, but attendance was rather high, regardless of the risks and exhaustion of everybody. Music performances were broadcast over the Leningrad radio 24/7. Performers and radio personnel worked without compensation, they received 250–500 grams of food per day, mainly low grade bread.

Olga Bergholz and Anna Akhmatova were contributing their talents to support the morale of civilians and military fighting in the besieged Leningrad.

Many heroic women and children were risking their lives helping military operations at the front-lines.

15 thousand children were decorated for their courage in military operations during the siege of Leningrad.

Aftermath of the siege

Following Germany's capitulation in May 1945 a concerted effort was made in Germany to search for the collections removed from the museums and palaces of Leningrad's surrounding areas during the war.
In September 1945 the Leningrad Philharmonic returned to the city from Siberia where it was evacuated during the war to gave its first peacetime concert performances.
For the heroic defence of the city and tenacity of the civilian survivors of the siege, Leningrad was the first city in the former Soviet Union to be awarded the title of a Hero City in 1945.

For later recovery and reconstruction events

Siege commemoration

Economic and human losses caused incalculable damage to the city's historic sites and cultural landmarks, with much of the damage still visible today. Some ruins are preserved to commemorate those who gave their lives to save the city of St. Petersburg. As of 2007, there were still empty lots in St. Petersburg suburbs where buildings stood before the siege.

Leningrad was awarded the title of Hero City in 1945.

Siege influence on cultural expression

The siege impressed itself on the psyche of Leningrad's inhabitants for several generations after the war. Leningrad had always prided itself on being a cultural city, and the choice of whether to burn a library (or 200-year old furniture) or freeze to death was a stark one. The conditions in the city were appalling and starvation was constantly with the besieged. On the other hand, the city did resist for nearly 3 years, and the pride of the city is unmistakable: "Troy fell, Rome fell, Leningrad did not fall."

The Siege of Leningrad was commemorated in late 1950s by the Green Belt of Glory, a circle of trees and memorials along the historic front line. Warnings to citizens of the city as to which side of the road to walk on to avoid the German shelling can still be seen (they were restored after the war). Russian tour guides at Peterhof, the palaces near St. Petersburg, report that it is still dangerous to go for a stroll in the gardens during a thunderstorm, as German artillery shrapnel embedded in the trees attracts lightning.

The Siege in music

  • Dmitri Shostakovich wrote the Seventh Symphony, some of which was written under siege conditions, for the Leningrad Symphony. According to Solomon Volkov, whose testimony is disputed, Shostakovich said "it's not about Leningrad under siege, it's about the Leningrad that Stalin destroyed and that Hitler nearly finished off".
  • American singer Billy Joel wrote a song called "Leningrad" that referenced the famous siege. The song is partially about a young Russian boy, Viktor, who lost his father in the siege.
  • The Decemberists wrote a song called "When the War Came" about the heroism of civilian scientists during warfare . The lyrics state: "We made our oath to Vavilov/We'd not betray the solanum/The acres of asteraceae/To our own pangs of starvation". Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov was a Russian botanist whose laboratory, a seedbank containing 200 000 types of plant seeds, many of them edible, was preserved throughout the siege.
  • Italian melodic death metal band Dark Lunacy's 2006 album 'The Diarist' is about the siege.
  • A line in the song 'Scared', by the Canadian band 'The Tragically Hip', references Russian efforts to save paintings during the Siege of Leningrad. "You're in Russia...and more than a million works of art...are whisked out to the woods...When the Nazis find the whole place dark...they'd think God's left the museum for good."

The Siege in literature

  • American author Debra Dean The Madonnas of Leningrad tells the story of staff of the Hermitage Museum who saved the art collection during the Siege of Leningrad.
  • American author Elise Blackwell published "Hunger" (2003), an acclaimed historical dramatization of events surrounding the siege.
  • British author Helen Dunmore wrote an award-winning novel, The Siege (2001). Although fictitious, it traces key events in this siege, and shows how it affected those who weren't directly involved in the resistance.
  • In 1981 Daniil Granin and Ales Adamovich published The Blockade Book which was based on hundreds of interviews and diaries of people who were trapped in the besieged city. The book was heavily censored by Soviet authorities due to its portrayal of human suffering contrasting with the "official" image of heroism.
  • The Arab-Israeli author Emil Habibi also mentioned the siege in his short story "The Love in my Heart" (الحب في قلبي), part of his collection Sextet of the Six Days (سداسية الايام الستة). Habiby's character visits a graveyard containing the siege's victims and is struck by the power of a display he sees commemorating the children who died, and it inspires him to write some letters in the voice of a Palestinian girl detained in an Israeli prison.

The Siege in other art forms

  • Auteur film director Andrey Tarkovsky included multiple scenes and references to the siege in his semi-autobiographical film The Mirror.
  • At the time of his death in 1989, Sergio Leone was working on a film about the siege. It drew heavily on Harrison Salisbury's "The 900 Days", and was a week away from going into production when Leone died of heart failure.
  • Playwright, Ivan Fuller, has written a play about a theatre company struggling to survive the siege. "Eating Into the Fabric" is currently being workshopped by Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD. It will receive its premiere production in March 2009.

Notable survivors the siege

See also

References

Bibliography

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External links



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