Norms of bread in the besieged Leningrad were clearly defined for different populations. It was the only and surest way to distribute products, giving hope for life. How could one survive in a cold, besieged city with only 125 grams of bread a day? The answer to this question lies in the enormous strength of mind of the people of that time and an unshakable faith in victory. The siege of Leningrad is a story that you need to know and remember in the name of the feat of people who gave their lives and survived the worst blockade in the history of mankind.
Blockade: historical background
900 days, which lasted from September 1941 to January 1944, went down in history as the most tragic days, which claimed at least 800 thousand lives of the inhabitants of this city.
Leningrad occupied an important place in terms of the German command, which was called "Barbarossa". After all, this city, according to the developed strategy of the German Field Marshal Paulus, was to precede the capture of Moscow. Hitler's plans were not destined to materialize. Defenders of Leningrad did not allow to capture the city. Transformed into an impregnable fortress, Leningrad for a long time kept the movement of the German army inland.
The city found itself in a blockade, moreover, the Nazis began to actively destroy Leningrad with heavy artillery and aircraft.
The worst test
Hunger - that is what the population of Leningrad suffered the most from. To the besieged city were blocked all the paths that made it possible to deliver products. Leningraders were left alone with their misfortune.
Rates of bread in besieged Leningrad decreased 5 times. The famine began due to the fact that at the time of the blockade, the city did not have enough supplies of fuel and food. Lake Ladoga is the only way food delivery was possible, but the possibilities of this method of transporting products did not meet the needs of the residents of Leningrad.
Mass hunger was also complicated by a harsh winter, hundreds of thousands of people could not survive in the besieged city.
Rations of Leningraders
More than 2 million civilians lived in Leningrad at the time of the blockade. When enemies began to actively destroy the city, shelling, bombing and fires became regular, many tried to leave the city.
However, all roads were reliably blocked.
On the available state farm fields of the besieged city, everything that could be eaten was carefully collected. But these measures did not save from hunger. Already on November 20, the norms for issuing bread in besieged Leningrad were reduced for the fifth time. In addition to bread, people received practically nothing. Such rations served as the beginning of the most severe famine in the history of Leningrad.
The truth about hunger: historical documents
During the war, the facts of the mass famine of Leningraders were hushed up. The city’s defense leaders did their best to prevent the appearance of information about this tragedy in print media. When the war ended, the blockade of Leningrad was seen as a tragedy. However, virtually no attention was paid to the measures that the government took to overcome the hunger.
Now, the extracted collections of documentation from the archives of Leningrad provide an opportunity to shed light on this question.
Information on the work of the Centerzagotzerno office sheds light on the problem of hunger in Leningrad. From this document, which informs about the state of grain resources for the second half of 1941, we can learn that in July of the same year the situation with grain stocks was tense. Therefore, it was decided to return to the ports of the city steamers with grain, which was exported.
While there was an opportunity, trains in which there was grain were transported to the city in heavy duty by rail. These actions contributed to the fact that until November 1941 the baking industry worked without interruptions.
What led to the closure of the railway connection
The military situation simply required that the daily bread rate in besieged Leningrad be increased. However, when the railway connection was closed, food resources decreased significantly. Already in September 1941, food saving measures were tightened.
The rate of delivery of bread to residents of besieged Leningrad was sharply reduced.
For the period from September to November of the first year of the war, workers who received 800 g each began to give out only 250 g. Employees who received 600 g each were reduced to rations to 125 g. The same amount of bread was also given to children who were previously entitled to 400 g.
According to the reports of the NKVD of the Leningrad Region, the mortality rate of the city residents increased sharply. The blockade was especially difficult for people over 40 and infants.
Dates of decline in bread standards in besieged Leningrad
Norms for the issuance of bread to the population existed even before the blockade. According to archival documents, on September 2, 1941, the most (800 g) were received by the military and working in hot shops. 200 g less was due to workers working in factories. Half of the ration of the working hot shop was received by employees, whose rations were 400 g. Children and dependents were given 300 g of bread.
September 11, on the 4th day of the blockade, all norms for issuing rations to workers and employees were reduced by 100 g.
On October 1, 1941, the norms of bread in besieged Leningrad were again reduced: for workers by 100 grams, children and dependents were given 200 grams each.
On November 13, another reduction in the norm occurred. And after 7 days, on November 20, the decision was again made about the most severe saving of grain stocks. The minimum rate of bread in besieged Leningrad was determined - 125 g.
The period from November 20 to December 25, 1941 is considered the most difficult in the history of the blockade, because this is the time when rations were reduced to a minimum. During this period, employees, children and dependents received only 125 grams of bread, workers were entitled to 250 grams, and those who worked in hot shops - 375 grams. The reduced bread standards in the besieged Leningrad caused many residents of the city to not survive this period. With no food supplies, people were doomed to death. After all, apart from the treasured 125 g of siege bread, they had nothing. And this laid ration due to the bombing was not always issued.
Since December 25, the norms of bread rations for all categories of the supplied population began to increase, this gave not only strength to the townspeople, but also faith in victory over the enemy.
Bread rates in the besieged Leningrad were increased thanks to the sacrifices of many people who provided the functioning of the Road of Life through Lake Ladoga. The enemy mercilessly fired at this rescue site, which allowed not only to establish the supply of grain to the city, but also to evacuate part of the population. Often, brittle ice was the reason that machines with grain simply sank.
In 1942, divers began to get grain from the bottom of the lake. The work of these people is heroic, because they had to work under enemy fire. First, the grain was taken out manually by buckets. Later, a special pump was used for these purposes, which was designed for cleaning the soil.
What siege bread was baked from
Grain stocks in the city were minimal. Therefore, siege bread was very different from the usual bakery product for us. During baking, various inedible impurities were added to the flour in order to save the main component of the recipe. It should be noted that there were often more than half inedible impurities.
To reduce flour consumption, beer production was stopped on September 23. All stocks of barley, bran, malt and soybeans were sent to bakeries. From September 24, oats with husks began to be added to the bread, later cellulose and wallpaper dust.
After December 25, 1941, impurities from the composition practically disappeared. But the most important thing is that from this moment the bread norm in besieged Leningrad, the photo of which can be seen in the article, has been increased.
Facts and Figures
During the blockade, the bread of 6 bakeries was uninterruptedly baked on the territory of the city.
From the very beginning of the blockade, bread was baked from flour, to which was added malt, oats and soybeans. About 8 thousand tons of malt and 5 thousand tons of oats were used as an edible admixture.
Later, 4,000 tons of cotton cake was discovered. Scientists conducted several experiments that proved that at high temperature the toxic substance contained in the cake is destroyed. So in the composition of siege bread also began to include cotton cake.
Years pass, people who have witnessed that terrible period leave, history leaves. And only we are able to preserve the memory of the terrible blockade that the city of Leningrad defeated. Remember! For the sake of the feat of the surviving and dead inhabitants of Leningrad!