Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War took the fate of the first Soviet city to be captured by Nazi troops. The invader’s foot has never stepped into this city - Leningraders are preparing to fight! In this regard, militia units are formed. Our troops took an unequal battle - they went into battle and died ... They died to at least temporarily stop the advance of the enemy. The main thing is to gain time and create defensive lines. Here, on the construction work of the last frontier of defense, about half a million people worked every day.
Hitler's plans
The siege of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War lasted 872 days and cost the lives of almost a million people. Some historians have for many years wondered whether it was possible to eliminate the invasion of this nightmare. And most often they come to the conclusion that, apparently, no. Hitler pursued and longed to tear this tidbit of the Baltic Fleet.
Residents of Leningrad believed in a quick victory and refused to leave the city! The city declared martial law. You can take the tram to the front line. Everyone is ready to fight to the end!
Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War
On a sunny day on September 8, 1941, the roar of the German Junkers was heard in the sky above Leningrad. About 6 thousand bombs hit the city. Leaflets with mocking text were also dropped from the planes - "Today we will bomb you, and tomorrow you will bury yourself." So the first trials began ... Trials that the world did not know yet, trials in which it was easier to die than to survive.
The planes were so low that black crosses on gray-green wings were clearly visible. The aim of the German bombers was the food Badayevsky warehouses. The fire was grandiose, molten sugar spread in streams and absorbed into the ground. To extinguish the warehouse, 168 fire engines were involved. For five hours, the struggle with the giant fire lasted. About 40 rooms burned in which there were 3 thousand tons of flour and 2.5 thousand tons of sugar. The very next day, Leningraders reached out to Kievskaya Street, where food was burned. The fire in the warehouses provoked a panic. Shelves in grocery stores are empty. Rumors spread around the city: "Hunger will soon come."
To date, it has been documented that burned food would be enough for just a few days. What caused the terrible siege of hunger? Historians still argue about this. One thing is obvious, that Leningrad, like any major city of the Soviet Union, was supplied, as they say, from wheels. Once under siege, he immediately lost all vital arteries. The country's leadership did not expect events to develop so rapidly.
The city held on! In September, the Nazis broke through the defense. The German invaders cut the railways and soon reached Lake Ladoga. The blockade ring closed. From that moment the great blockade of Leningrad began.
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin sent General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov to Leningrad, as the situation was critical. The Germans closed the city, that even from the front line they saw the domes of cathedrals. Zhukov collects all reserves and removes sailors from ships. Taking about 50 thousand fighters, he inflicts a counterattack. "To survive or die!" - orders the general.
Defensive activity of Leningrad
How can the enemy be admitted to Leningrad? How to imagine Russia without Leningrad? The defense of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War was perfectly planned in engineering terms. On the approach to Leningrad, the Luga defensive line, which was 175 km in length and 12 km in depth, was well kept. This fortification was built by the inhabitants of Leningrad in the first month after the outbreak of war. The city of Leningrad during the war is subjected to hurricane bombardments. Air defense units do everything to repel enemy raids. In this they are helped by 60 thousand volunteers from self-defense groups - men and women. The defenders are firing heavily, so there are fewer victims of shelling than might have been expected.
Back in August 1941, the German army "North" replenished its ranks of military equipment, having received it from the army "Center". Now the German army, which overtook Leningrad, was equipped with new tanks and diving bombers. With the help of this force, the fascists nevertheless managed to defeat the defenses of the Luga border and take the defending troops into the ring.
The hungry pangs of Leningraders
In September, the city began to feel a clear lack of food. According to the working norm, it was possible to get 500 g of bread, according to the dependent rate - 250 g. A limit of 300 g of bread was set for employees and children. In October, the situation worsened. Fake cards appeared on the market. They caused confusion in the distribution of food. At the suggestion of the First Secretary of the Leningrad City Party Committee Andrei Zhdanov, a decision was made to re-register food cards for the month of October. This meant not only replacing some paper sheets with others, but also lowering the rate of delivery of bread.
Work card was a kind of incentive to life. She guaranteed guaranteed the right to receive bread. But even this norm did not always save from hunger. According to a certificate from the NKVD Office for the Leningrad Region, up to 3 thousand people died on average every month before the outbreak of war. In October 1941, the mortality rate was already 6,199 people. In besieged Leningrad, the bread norm begins to rapidly decline. In November 1941, dependents, and these were mostly old people and children, could only count on 125 g of bread.
Hunger
The winter of 1941 came, extremely harsh. During this period of time, the city's water supply system freezes. Therefore, the Neva River becomes the only source of water production. In addition, the city ran out of all fuel supplies, and transport got up. Firewood has become the most expensive! Hunger came in the besieged city - the worst test that Leningrad experienced during the Great Patriotic War.
125 grams of bread with cellulose and mill dust is a blockade ration. Mortality from hunger became widespread. In such conditions, a bread card became the only condition for saving life. Until December 1941, instead of the lost cards, it was still possible to get new cards in return. However, cases of theft and abuse have become more frequent. Hungry Leningraders often went to deception, thus trying to get additional food. The issuance of duplicates has stopped. From now on, the loss of a piece of paper with ink printing meant death. In December, about 53 thousand people died of starvation. Leningrad was plunged into the cold gloom of a stupor.
More than 600 thousand people died of starvation during the blockade. They died on the street, at work, at home, in the porches - they did not have time to bury ... It is impossible to convey the suffering of Leningraders. But they not only tried to survive, they worked. How hungry, without strength could people work? This will forever remain the incomprehensible secret that Leningrad kept during the Great Patriotic War (photo in the article).
Siege bread
Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War told a lot. During the blockade, the bread recipe changed several times. Only one thing that remained unchanged was the flour content. It never exceeded 60%. The remaining 40% consisted of impurities and additives. The decision on additives was made by management due to lack of flour. The central laboratory at Lenhlebprom was instructed to develop special technologies for baking bread with possible additives. Additional ingredients typically included bran, flaxseed cake, soy flour, and dietary cellulose.
Leningrad is not discouraged
The city of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War did not bother to give up and give up for a moment. Residents sought to recreate their former life! Finally, spring has come. Along with joy there was anxiety, they were waiting for an epidemic, but, fortunately, it was not there - the city was awakening. In the spring of 1942, the tram traffic resumed in the besieged city. This vision seemed like a fresh breath of new life, but it was not yet that coveted and calm life, but still.
All to fight hunger! Gardens appear right in the city, not a single piece of land is empty. Goebbels said the city is dead! Meanwhile, in a besieged and hungry city - a football match! The world has not seen such a thing. The Military Council of the Leningrad Front decided to hold a football match. The task was set - to find players in Leningrad and on the very front who could play a series of matches. Despite the obvious difficulties, the players still managed to collect. The city lived by football!
Amazing trials did not break the will of Leningraders, they did not just exist - they lived, hoped and created. In besieged Leningrad, composer Dmitry Shostakovich creates his most famous 7th symphony, and it is first performed in the besieged city.
End of the blockade
Many cities and countries on earth disappeared, turned into dust by invaders. In Russia there are monuments - symbols of invincibility, one of them is Leningrad. During the Great Patriotic War, only captured Germans entered Leningrad. The blockade of Leningrad was broken! What helped people survive? Each Leningrader felt the wounds inflicted on his homeland as his own, each, as he could, brought Victory closer.