Settlements, like people, have their own destinies, inextricably linked with the history of the country in whose territory they are located. In many respects they depend on the collective behavior of their inhabitants. For example, a village may die if it is abandoned, or over the centuries become a major educational center of the whole region thanks to the enthusiasts who founded the university there.
How did the title of a hero city
In the euphoria of the last days of World War II, many did not notice one significant event. The fact is that on May 1, 1945, Leningrad, Odessa, Sevastopol and Stalingrad were called hero cities. Later, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Victory, this title was officially awarded to them. In addition, Moscow, Kiev and the Brest Fortress became the hero cities of the USSR. The title was awarded in subsequent years. In particular, from 1973 Kerch and Novorossiysk began to wear it, from 1974 to Minsk, and from 1976 to Tula. In the year of the 40th anniversary of the Victory, Smolensk and Murmansk were also proclaimed heroic cities. In total, at present their list consists of 12 settlements and one fortress - Brest. In addition, in 2006 a decree was adopted on the title of "city of military glory." It was received by Oryol, Pskov, Belgorod, Kursk, Feodosia, etc.
By the way, few people know that the heroic cities of Russia are not the only settlements that have such an honorable status. A similar title exists in other countries, such as Cuba, Vietnam and Italy. In the union Yugoslavia, it was assigned to 8 cities that distinguished themselves during the Second World War, including Belgrade, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Pristina, etc.
Leningrad
The feat of the defenders and residents of the city on the Neva forever entered the history of world wars. On December 19, 1940, Hitler signed a directive which, among other things, stated that when attacking the USSR, Leningrad and Kronshtadt had to be captured first, and then Moscow. When the fighting dragged on until September, the Führer decided, in his own words, to "starve" the Leningrad residents and ordered to cut off all the food supply routes. So on September 8, 1941, the unprecedented blockade of Leningrad began, lasting 872 days. It has no analogues in the number of victims that the city paid for the right not to let the enemy into its streets and homes. The constant massive bombing and shelling claimed hundreds of lives of defenders daily. However, there were even more who died from exhaustion, since poor ration was not enough to maintain the normal functioning of the human body.
Despite all this, Leningrad (St. Petersburg now) survived, and the enemy could not walk along Palace Square, as Hitler dreamed about it. At the same time, the city paid an incredible price for this. As stated at the Nuremberg trials, a total of 632,000 people died. Of these, 97% are from hunger.
In memory of the heroic defenders and residents of Leningrad, many monuments were erected in the city, including the obelisk “Hero City” on Uprising Square (photo above).
Stalingrad (Volgograd)
The name of the city became known to the whole world in 1942. The battle of Stalingrad, which lasted for six months, changed the course of the entire Second World War. Fights went for each house, street and lane. In the city from both warring parties up to several hundred snipers operated. A lot of evidence has remained of the heroism of the inhabitants of Stalingrad. It is enough to give just one example: the production of the local tractor plant was carried out even when the Wehrmacht troops broke through to the city. At the same time, an attack on Stalingrad along the Volga coast from the north was repelled by a brigade of his workers' militia. Residents were especially hard on August 23, 1942, when over 40,000 people died as a result of the terrible bombardment.
Like other hero cities of Russia, Volgograd immortalized the memory of its defenders by erecting several monuments and constructing a giant memorial complex on Mamaev Kurgan.
Sevastopol
Some hero cities of Russia distinguished themselves not only in the Great Patriotic War. For example, in its 233-year history, Sevastopol has repeatedly become the front line of defense of our country. In particular, during the Crimean War for 10 months he withstood the onslaught of the combined army of France, England and Turkey. This heroic struggle of the garrison, the sailors of the Russian fleet and the population, Victor Hugo called the new siege of Troy. Residents of the city remained faithful to the traditions of their ancestors and 90 years after the described events, when the Wehrmacht troops decided to capture Crimea, the hero city of Sevastopol defended for 250 days, being in the rear of the enemy. In addition to the residents themselves, 23,000 military personnel supported by 150 coastal and field guns took part in the battles. Although Sevastopol had to be abandoned by the end of spring 1942, it was already less than a year later that it was liberated by soldiers of the 4th Ukrainian Front.
Hero City Novorossiysk
The name "Small Earth" in the 1970s was well-known to everyone, since a book of the same name was published, the author of which was officially considered Leonid Brezhnev. Many episodes in it were so implausible that this literary work immediately became a source of inspiration for fans to compose jokes. Meanwhile, in reality, there was a real fiery hell on the bridgehead "Malaya Zemlya", captured by the Soviet landing and held for 225 days. The feat of the heroes who defended the hero city of Novorossiysk is beyond doubt and is worthy of the admiration of the descendants. He was immortalized by the construction of a memorial complex. Inside the monument with a sculptural composition depicting the participants of the landing, there is a museum of military glory, where you can find information about the defenders of the bridgehead and their exploit.
Other hero cities
Talk about the exploits of the inhabitants of Moscow, Kiev, Minsk, Tula, Murmansk, Smolensk, Kerch, Odessa and the Brest Fortress can be a very long time. Each of them is associated with many stories, the heroes of which are ordinary men and women, who had never before held weapons in their hands, but who despised danger in order to approach Victory Day and defeat the enemy. Their memory is also immortalized with memorials, monuments and memorial plaques.
Now you know what collective feats were made by the people who inhabited the hero cities of Russia (Leningrad, Sevastopol, Stalingrad and Novorossiysk) during the Great Patriotic War. Thanks to their dedication, fascism was defeated and the man-hating plans of Adolf Hitler and his associates were not implemented.