The Great Patriotic War ... No, this is not just a fact of history, it is part of us, we are ourselves. Every citizen of the post-Soviet space, regardless of age and gender, nationality and religion, understands what “that war” is, and we are not entitled to forget it.
One of the central and most terrible events of the Second World War should be considered the blockade of Leningrad, now the great and flourishing St. Petersburg. 900 (or rather, 871) days and exactly the same number of nights — such is the duration of the blockade of Leningrad, which can be briefly described in one phrase: the great grief of the people. The day of lifting the siege of Leningrad today is officially considered the day of military glory.
The statistics are terrifying: more than 700 thousand people died in those terrible years, 650 thousand of them died of starvation. And only with a small 3% were victims of bombing and shelling. But the worst thing is that the children were dying, the children were left completely alone and were forced (if strength and age allowed) to somehow bury the adults ...
The bloody siege began on September 8, 1941. The history of this tragedy, however, originates much earlier, from the fateful summer of 1941, when German troops launched shelling and bombing of the city, and also cut the railways - the thread that connected Leningrad with the whole country. According to the Barbarossa plan, Leningrad, all its inhabitants, as well as the soldiers who defended it, must be completely destroyed. The plan failed, the defense of the Reichstag troops failed to break through. Then it was decided to starve the rebellious city. The only salvation was Lake Ladoga, on the ice crust of which on November 22, 41, the famous "Road of Life" was created. Along it, under the endless cannonade of fascist guns, cars with food moved - there, and with the evacuated inhabitants - back. The lake saved the lives of almost 1.5 million people. But how far was still the day of lifting the blockade of the city of Leningrad ...
It became possible to break through the enemy’s ring on January 18, 1943. Operation Iskra ended with the restoration of the city’s supply. But only a year later, on January 27, 1944, it came, probably the most memorable day for today's Petersburgers - the day of lifting the siege of Leningrad. An operation called "January Thunder" threw the enemy many kilometers from the border of the city.
The history of the siege of Leningrad would not be complete without a description of the feat and stamina of the common people, ordinary Leningraders. No wonder the great Kazakh poet Dzhambul Dzhabaev wrote in excitement: “Leningraders, my children! Leningraders, my pride! ” Indeed, the pride, the pride of the whole country ...
During the siege, military production at factories did not stop for a day. Everyone worked - men, women, old people, teenagers, children - in a state of semi-fainting from hunger. The constant bombing of the Kirov plant did not become an obstacle. If in September-October an air alert, during which everyone left their jobs and hid in shelters, was announced with any number of enemy aircraft, then it was soon decided not to leave work during a raid of 1-2 aviators. Homeland needed weapons, they all perfectly understood ...
Until that moment, until the day came to lift the blockade of Leningrad, its cultural elite did not stand aside. Theaters, libraries, museums allowed Leningraders to feel at least a little that they live. New plays were staged on the stage, a radio broadcast, on which residents not only learned the latest news, but also received support from writers, poets, broadcasters. The city could hardly have survived without all this ...
This date, the day of lifting the siege of Leningrad, we will never forget. This is simply impossible to forget!