Which fronts participated in lifting the blockade of Leningrad. Liberation of Leningrad from the blockade. "Dangerous Side of the Street"

Yes, we will not hide: these days
We ate earth, glue, belts;
But after eating the stew from the belts
A stubborn master got up to the machine,
To sharpen the pieces of guns necessary for the war.

Olga Berggolts "Leningrad Poem".

Towards the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945

May 9 is a special and sacred date in the history of Russia. In 2015, it will be 70 years since the Great Victory over the fascist invaders. All these years, the memory of the immortal feat of the people who defended the independence of the Motherland lives in the hearts of Russians. This year marks 71 years since the liberation of Leningrad from the Siege.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in April 2013 signed the Decree "On the preparation and holding of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."

The decree was signed in order to coordinate the activities of federal executive authorities, executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local governments and public associations in preparing and holding the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, and taking into account the world-historical significance of the victory over fascism in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

It is impossible to recall the events of the Great Patriotic War without tears and shudder, which became a victorious, heroic and tragic page in the history of our people.

One of these events was the blockade of Leningrad, which lasted 900 long days of death, hunger, cold, bombing, despair and courage of the inhabitants of the Northern capital.

We dedicate a series of our articles to the sacred time in the history of Russia ...

Day of military glory of Russia - The day of lifting the blockade of the city of Leningrad (1944) is celebrated in accordance with the Federal Law of March 13, 1995 No. 32-FZ "On the days of military glory (victory days) of Russia."

The beginning of the blockade of Leningrad. Hitler's plans

The offensive of the Nazi troops on Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), the capture of which the German command attached great strategic and political importance, began on July 10, 1941.

In August, heavy fighting was already on the outskirts of the city. On August 30, German troops cut the railroads connecting Leningrad with the country. On September 8, the Nazis managed to block the city from land. According to Hitler's plan, Leningrad was to be wiped off the face of the earth. Having failed in their attempts to break through the defenses of the Soviet troops inside the blockade ring, the Germans decided to starve the city out. According to all the calculations of the German command, the population of Leningrad had to die of hunger and cold.

September 8, the day the blockade began, the first massive bombardment of Leningrad took place. About 200 fires broke out, one of them destroyed the Badaev food warehouses.

The destruction by blockade of the civilian population of Leningrad was originally planned by the Nazis. Already on July 8, 1941, on the seventeenth day of the war, a very characteristic entry appeared in the diary of the Chief of the German General Staff, General Franz Halder:

... The Fuhrer's decision to raze Moscow and Leningrad to the ground is unshakable in order to completely get rid of the population of these cities, which otherwise we will then be forced to feed during the winter. The task of destroying these cities must be carried out by aviation. Tanks should not be used for this. It will be “a national disaster that will deprive the centers not only of Bolshevism, but also of the Muscovites (Russians) in general.

Hitler's plans were soon embodied in the official directives of the German command. On August 28, 1941, General Halder signed an order from the High Command of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces to Army Group North on the blockade of Leningrad:

... on the basis of the directives of the supreme command, I order:

1. Block the city of Leningrad with a ring as close as possible to the city itself in order to save our strength. Do not demand surrender.

2. In order for the city, as the last center of red resistance in the Baltic, to be destroyed as quickly as possible without great casualties on our part, it is forbidden to storm the city with infantry forces. After the defeat of the enemy's air defense and fighter aircraft, his defensive and vital abilities should be broken by destroying waterworks, warehouses, power supplies and power plants. Military installations and the ability of the enemy to defend must be suppressed by fires and artillery fire. Every attempt of the population to go outside through the encirclement troops should be prevented, if necessary - with the use of weapons ...

As you can see, according to the directives of the German command, the blockade was directed precisely against the civilian population of Leningrad. Neither the city nor its inhabitants were needed by the Nazis. The fury of the Nazis towards Leningrad was terrifying.

The poisonous nest of St. Petersburg, from which the poison bubbles up into the Baltic Sea, must disappear from the face of the earth, Hitler said in a conversation with the German ambassador in Paris on September 16, 1941. - The city is already blocked; now all that remains is to shell it with artillery and bomb it until the water supply, energy centers and everything that is necessary for the life of the population are destroyed.

It was planned, with the help of Army Group North, to destroy Soviet troops in the Baltic states, capture Leningrad, capture the most important land and sea routes and communications for supplying troops and an advantageous initial bridgehead for striking at the rear of the Red Army defending Moscow. The German offensive against Leningrad began on July 10, 1941.

The situation after the attack on the city remained very tense. The enemy attacked with large forces along the Moscow-Leningrad highway and at the end of August captured Lyuban, Tosno, went to the Neva and blocked the railway communication with Leningrad. For about two weeks fierce battles were fought in the area of ​​Krasnogvardeysk, where the German attacks were repulsed. However, having broken through the Mga station to Shlisselburg, the Nazi troops cut off the city from land. The blockade of Leningrad began.

"Road of Life" for besieged Leningrad

About 2.5 million inhabitants remained in the city. The constant bombardment of enemy aircraft destroyed people, houses, architectural monuments, food warehouses. During the blockade, there was no area in Leningrad that could not be reached by an enemy shell. Areas and streets were identified where the risk of becoming a victim of enemy artillery was greatest. Special warning signs were hung there with, for example, the text: “Citizens! During shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous.” Several of them have been preserved in the city today in memory of the blockade.

Communication with the city was maintained only by air and via Lake Ladoga. From the first days of the blockade, the Road of Life began its dangerous and heroic work - the pulse of besieged Leningrad a. In summer - water, and in winter - an ice path connecting Leningrad with the "mainland" along Lake Ladoga. On September 12, 1941, the first barges with food came to the city along this route, and until late autumn, until storms made navigation impossible, barges went along the Road of Life.

At that time, there were almost 3 million civilians in the city and its environs (almost two thirds of which were women), including about half a million children, and food and fuel supplies remained for one and a half to two months.

The whole country helped besieged Leningrad in its heroic struggle. With incredible difficulties, food and fuel were delivered from the mainland to the besieged city across the frozen Lake Ladoga. The people very accurately called this road - "The Road of Life." The salvation of the inhabitants of Leningrad, the provision of the front with everything necessary depended on it. On November 22, 1941, the first trucks carrying flour entered the still fragile ice.

In Leningrad, a food rationing system was introduced: from November 20, 1941, workers received 250 grams of bread a day, and everyone else - 125 grams. But even in such conditions the city worked. Protective fortification anti-tank structures were built, tanks and weapons were being repaired at the enterprises. From the end of autumn, famine began in the city, from which about 500 thousand people died in December 1941 alone.

Military Highway No. 101, as this route was called, made it possible to increase the bread ration and evacuate a large number of people. The Germans constantly tried to break this thread connecting the besieged city with the country, but thanks to the courage and fortitude of the Leningraders, the Road of Life lived by itself and gave life to the great city.

The significance of the Ladoga highway is enormous, it has saved thousands of lives. Now on the shore of Lake Ladoga there is a museum "The Road of Life".

Life of besieged Leningrad

At the same time, Leningraders did their best to survive and not let their native city die. Not only that: Leningrad helped the army by producing military products - the factories continued to work even in such conditions. Theaters and museums restored their activities. It was necessary - to prove to the enemy, and, most importantly, to ourselves: the blockade of Leningrad will not kill the city, it continues to live!

One of the clearest examples of amazing selflessness and love for the Motherland, life, and hometown is the story of the creation of one piece of music. During the blockade, D. Shostakovich's most famous symphony was written, later called the "Leningrad" symphony. Rather, the composer began to write it in Leningrad, and finished already in the evacuation. When the score was ready, it was taken to the besieged city. By that time, the symphony orchestra had already resumed its activities in Leningrad. On the day of the concert, so that enemy raids could not disrupt it, our artillery did not let a single fascist aircraft near the city! All the days of the siege, the Leningrad radio worked, which for all Leningraders was not only a life-giving source of information, but also simply a symbol of continuing life.

The blockade became a cruel test for all city services and departments that ensured the vital activity of the huge city. Leningrad gave a unique experience of organizing life in conditions of famine. The following fact attracts attention: during the blockade, unlike many other cases of mass starvation, no major epidemics occurred, despite the fact that hygiene in the city was, of course, much lower than the normal level due to the almost complete absence of running water, sewerage and heating. Of course, the severe winter of 1941-1942 helped to prevent epidemics. At the same time, researchers also point to effective preventive measures taken by the authorities and the medical service.

The most severe during the blockade was hunger, as a result of which dystrophy developed among the inhabitants. At the end of March 1942, an epidemic of cholera, typhoid fever, and typhus broke out, but due to the professionalism and high qualifications of doctors, the outbreak was minimized.

Children's contribution to the liberation of Leningrad from the blockade. Ensemble of A.E.Obrant

At all times there is no greater grief than a suffering child. Blockade children are a special topic. Having matured early, not childishly serious and wise, they, along with adults, did their best to bring victory closer. Children are heroes, each fate of which is a bitter echo of those terrible days.

Children's dance ensemble A.E. Obranta is a special piercing note of a besieged city. During the first winter of the siege of Leningrad, many children were evacuated, but despite this, for various reasons, many children remained in the city. The Palace of Pioneers, located in the famous Anichkov Palace, switched to martial law with the outbreak of war. I must say that 3 years before the start of the war, the Song and Dance Ensemble was created on the basis of the Palace of Pioneers. At the end of the first blockade winter, the remaining teachers tried to find their pupils in the besieged city, and the ballet master A.E. Obrant created a dance group from the children who remained in the city. It is terrible even to imagine and compare the terrible blockade days and pre-war dances! Nevertheless, the ensemble was born. At first, the guys had to be restored from exhaustion, only then they were able to start rehearsals. However, already in March 1942, the first performance of the band took place. The fighters, who had seen a lot, could not hold back their tears, looking at these courageous children. Remember How long did the siege of Leningrad last? So during this considerable time the ensemble gave about 3,000 concerts. Wherever the guys had to perform: often the concerts had to end in a bomb shelter, since several times during the evening the performances were interrupted by air raid alerts, it happened that young dancers performed a few kilometers from the front line, and in order not to attract the enemy with unnecessary noise, they danced without music, and the floors were covered with hay.

Strong in spirit, they supported and inspired our soldiers; the contribution of this team to the liberation of the city can hardly be overestimated. Later, the guys were awarded medals "For the Defense of Leningrad".

Victims of the siege of Leningrad

We will probably never know the exact number of victims. According to historians, at the Nuremberg Tribunal, it was about 641,000 dead civilians. According to the latest estimates, this number is at least 800 thousand, according to other sources, up to a million people died in Leningrad during the blockade.

Russian historians and eyewitnesses of the tragedy say that post-war statistics ranked only the native inhabitants of Leningrad among the dead. In fact, before the siege of the city, there were a lot of refugees in it. They didn't know what was really going on.

If you listen to the information of the Information Bureau of that time, they said that the Germans were advancing, and we were fighting back, then that we were suddenly going over to a successful counteroffensive. It was simply impossible to understand something. It was the refugees, who were not registered, and therefore did not even have the right to bread cards, who became the first victims of the blockade of Leningrad. They died of hunger, froze to death in the streets, their bodies filled anonymous graves at Piskarevsky and other cemeteries in the city. The blockade and war are complex and painful topics, both for Russia and for Germany.

The plans of the Nazi leadership did not leave the right to life to the inhabitants of Leningrad, just as they did not leave the right to life to the Jews.

The Nazis deliberately doomed hundreds of thousands of people to starvation both in besieged Leningrad and in the Leningrad region occupied by them. So the blockade and the Holocaust, no matter how many victims it may be, are really phenomena of the same order, undoubted crimes against humanity. This, by the way, has already been legally fixed: in 2008, the German government and the Commission for the presentation of Jewish material claims against Germany (Claims Conference) came to an agreement according to which the Jews who survived the blockade of Leningrad were equated with the victims of the Holocaust and received the right to one-time compensation .

Due to the actions of the Nazis, the city was actually turned into a gigantic ghetto dying of starvation, the difference of which from the ghetto in the territories occupied by the Nazis was that auxiliary police units did not break into it to carry out massacres and the German security service did not carry out mass executions here. However, this does not change the criminal essence of the blockade of Leningrad.

Liberation of besieged Leningrad

As a result of the victories of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, near Smolensk, in the Left-Bank Ukraine, in the Donbass and on the Dnieper, in late 1943 - early 1944, favorable conditions were created for a major offensive operation near Leningrad and Novgorod.

By the beginning of 1944, the enemy had created a defense in depth with reinforced concrete and wood-and-earth structures, covered with minefields and barbed wire. The Soviet command organized an offensive by troops of the 2nd shock, 42nd and 67th armies of the Leningrad, 59th, 8th and 54th armies of the Volkhov, 1st shock and 22nd armies of the 2nd Baltic fronts and Red Banner Baltic Fleet. Long-range aviation, partisan detachments and brigades were also involved.

The purpose of the operation was to defeat the flank groupings of the 18th Army, and then, by actions in the Kingisepp and Luga directions, complete the defeat of its main forces and reach the line of the Luga River. In the future, acting on the Narva, Pskov and Idritsa directions, defeat the 16th Army, complete the liberation of the Leningrad Region and create conditions for the liberation of the Baltic states.

On January 14, Soviet troops went on the offensive from the Primorsky bridgehead to Ropsha, and on January 15 from Leningrad to Krasnoe Selo. After stubborn fighting on January 20, Soviet troops united in the Ropsha area and liquidated the encircled Peterhof-Strelninskaya enemy grouping. At the same time, on January 14, Soviet troops went on the offensive in the Novgorod region, and on January 16 in the Luban direction, on January 20 they liberated Novgorod.

In commemoration of the final lifting of the blockade on January 27, 1944, a festive salute was given in Leningrad.

On January 27, 1944, Leningrad saluted with 24 volleys of 324 guns in honor of the complete elimination of the enemy blockade - the defeat of the Germans near Leningrad.

... And again the world hears with delight
Russian peal salute.
Oh, it breathes deeply
liberated Leningrad!

... We remember autumn, forty-first,
The clear air of those nights
When, like a whip, often, measuredly
The executioners' bombs whistled.

But we, humbled fear and crying,
They repeated, listening to wild explosions:
- You lost the war, executioner,
Barely entered our land! …

(O. Bergholz, 1944)

The armies of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts pushed back the German troops from the city, liberated almost the entire Leningrad region.

The blockade, in the iron ring of which Leningrad was suffocating for 900 long days and nights, was put to an end. That day became one of the happiest in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Leningraders; one of the happiest - and, at the same time, one of the most mournful - because everyone who lived to see this holiday during the blockade lost either relatives or friends. More than 600 thousand people died of terrible starvation in the city surrounded by German troops, several hundred thousand in the area occupied by the Nazis.

Exactly one year later, on January 27, 1945, units of the 28th Rifle Corps of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp, an ominous Nazi death factory where a huge number of people were killed. The Soviet soldiers managed to save a few - seven and a half thousand emaciated people who looked like living skeletons. All the rest - those who could walk - the Nazis managed to steal. Many of the liberated prisoners of Auschwitz could not even smile; they were only strong enough to stand.

The coincidence of the day of lifting the blockade of Leningrad with the day of the liberation of Auschwitz is something more than a mere accident. The blockade and the Holocaust, symbolized by Auschwitz, are phenomena of the same order.

After the war, on the granite stele of the Piskarevsky memorial cemetery, where 470,000 Leningraders who died during the Leningrad Siege and in the battles defending the city are buried, the words of the poetess Olga Berggolts were carved:

Here lie the Leningraders.
Here the townspeople are men, women, children.
Next to them are Red Army soldiers.

All my life
They protected you, Leningrad,
The cradle of the revolution.

We cannot list their noble names here,
So there are many of them under the eternal protection of granite.
But know, listening to these stones:
Nobody is forgotten and nothing is forgotten.

The historical significance of the Battle of Leningrad

The Battle of Leningrad was of great political and strategic importance. Soviet troops in the battle for Leningrad pulled back up to 15-20% of the enemy forces on the Eastern Front and the entire Finnish army, defeated up to 50 German divisions. Warriors and residents of the city showed examples of heroism and selfless devotion to the Motherland. Many units and formations that participated in the Battle of Leningrad were transformed into guards or became order-bearing. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers received government awards, hundreds received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, five of them twice: A. E. Mazurenko, P. A. Pokryshev, V. I. Rakov, N. G. Stepanyan and N. V. Chelnokov.

The daily care of the Central Committee of the Party, the Soviet government and the support of the whole country were inexhaustible sources of strength for the people of Leningrad to overcome the trials and hardships of the 900-day blockade.

On December 22, 1942, the Soviet government established the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad". On January 26, 1945, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded Leningrad the Order of Lenin, and on May 8, 1965, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, awarded Leningrad the honorary title of Hero City.

On January 27, 2014, St. Petersburg celebrated the 70th anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad. On both sides of Nevsky Prospekt, thousands of people lit candles in memory of those who died during this terrible time.

Leningrad blockade- a tragic and great page in Russian history, which claimed more than 2 million human lives. As long as the memory of these terrible days lives in the hearts of people, finds a response in talented works of art, is passed from hand to hand to descendants - this will not happen again! The blockade of Leningrad was briefly but succinctly described by Vera Inber, her lines are a hymn to the great city and at the same time a requiem for the departed.

Glory to you, great city,
Merged front and rear.
In unprecedented difficulties
Survived. Fought. Won.

And I would like to end with poems by the great Soviet poetess Olga Berggolts, who survived the blockade with her beloved city.

Enemies broke into our free city,
crumbled the stones of the city gates.
But I went out to International Avenue
armed working people.

He walked with the immortal
exclamation
in chest:
- We will die, but Red Peter
we won't give up!

The Red Guards, remembering the past,
formed new units
in collecting bottles every house
and built his own barricade.

And for this - long nights
the enemy tortured us with iron and fire.
- You will give up, you will be afraid - bombs to us

crash into the ground, fall prone ...
Trembling, they will ask for captivity, as mercy,
not only people are the stones of Leningrad.

But we stood on high rooftops
with your head up to the sky,
did not leave our fragile towers,
shovel squeezing numb hand.

... The day will come, and, rejoicing, hurrying,
still sad without removing the ruins,
we will decorate our city like this,
like people never decorated.

And then on the most slender building
facing the sunrise itself
put up a marble statue
a simple air defense worker.

Let it stand, always embraced by the dawn,
as he stood, holding an unequal battle:
with your head up to the sky,
with the only weapon - a shovel.

Bergholz Olga (1941).

The victory of Leningraders over the Blockade is truly a miracle that showed the whole world the strength of the spirit of the Russian people.

If there are blockade survivors in your family, be sure to congratulate them today. It is likely that after congratulations, you will hear an amazing story of a person who knew the hardships of that time ...

00:21 — REGNUM On this day 75 years ago, January 18, 1943, the Soviet troops broke through the enemy blockade of Leningrad. It took another year of stubborn fighting to completely eliminate it. The day of breaking the blockade is always celebrated in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region. Today the President of Russia will visit the residents of both regions Vladimir Putin, whose father fought and was seriously wounded in the battles on the Nevsky Piglet.

The breakthrough of the blockade was the result of Operation Iskra, which was carried out by the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, united south of Lake Ladoga and restored land communications between Leningrad and the mainland. On the same day, the city of Shlisselburg was liberated from the enemy, "locking" the entrance to the Neva from the side of Ladoga. Breaking the blockade of Leningrad was the first example in military history of the release of a large city by a simultaneous strike from outside and from within.

As part of the shock groups of the two Soviet fronts, which were supposed to break through the powerful defensive fortifications of the enemy and eliminate the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge, there were more than 300 thousand soldiers and officers, about 5 thousand guns and mortars, more than 600 tanks and more than 800 aircraft.

On the night of January 12, the positions of the German fascists were subjected to an unexpected air raid by Soviet bombers and attack aircraft, and in the morning massive artillery preparation began using large-caliber barrels. It was carried out in such a way as not to damage the ice of the Neva, along which the infantry of the Leningrad Front, reinforced by tanks and artillery, soon moved on the offensive. And from the east, the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front went on the offensive against the enemy. She was given the task of capturing the numbered workers' settlements north of Sinyavino, which the Germans had turned into fortified strongholds.

During the first day of the offensive, the advancing Soviet units with heavy fighting managed to advance deep into the German defenses by 2-3 kilometers. The German command, faced with the threat of dismemberment and encirclement of its troops, organized an urgent transfer of reserves to the place of the breakthrough planned by the Soviet units, which made the battles as fierce and bloody as possible. Our troops were also reinforced with a second echelon of attackers, new tanks and guns.

On January 15 and 16, 1943, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts fought for separate strongholds. On the morning of January 16, the assault on Shlisselburg was launched. On January 17, the stations Podgornaya and Sinyavino were taken. As former Wehrmacht officers later recalled, the control of the German units in the places of the Soviet offensive was disrupted, there were not enough shells and equipment, the single line of defense was crushed, and individual units were surrounded.

The Nazi troops were cut off from reinforcements and defeated in the area of ​​workers' settlements, the remnants of the broken units, throwing weapons and equipment, scattered through the forests and surrendered. Finally, on January 18, units of the shock group of troops of the Volkhov Front, after artillery preparation, went on the attack and joined the troops of the Leningrad Front, capturing workers' settlements Nos. 1 and 5.

The blockade of Leningrad was broken. On the same day, Shlisselburg was completely liberated, and the entire southern shore of Lake Ladoga came under the control of the Soviet command, which soon made it possible to connect Leningrad with the country by road and rail and save hundreds of thousands of people who remained in the city besieged by the enemy from starvation.

According to historians, the total combat losses of the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts during the operation "Iskra" amounted to 115,082 people, of which 33,940 people were irretrievable. Soldiers and officers of the Red Army sacrificed themselves to save Leningraders who did not surrender to the enemy from a painful death. In military terms, the success of the Iskra operation meant the final loss of the enemy's strategic initiative in the northwestern direction, as a result of which the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad became inevitable. It happened a year later, on January 27, 1944.

“The breakthrough of the blockade eased the suffering and hardships of the Leningraders, instilled confidence in victory in all Soviet citizens, opened the way to the complete liberation of the city, - recalled today, January 18, in his blog on the website of the Federation Council, the speaker of the upper house Valentina Matvienko. — The inhabitants and defenders of the city on the Neva did not allow themselves to be broken, they withstood all the tests, once again confirming that greatness of spirit, courage and selflessness are stronger than bullets and shells. In the end, it is not force that always triumphs, but truth and justice.”

As already reported IA REGNUM, on the 75th anniversary of the breaking of the blockade, Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit the region. He will lay flowers at the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery, where many thousands of Leningrad residents and defenders of the city rested, visit the Nevsky Piglet military-historical complex and the Breakthrough Panorama Museum in the Kirovsky District of the Leningrad Region, meet with veterans of the Great Patriotic War and representatives of the search detachments working on the battlefields of that war.

Veterans and blockade survivors of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, activists of public, military-historical and youth movements will gather at noon at a solemn rally at the Sinyavinsky Heights memorial, dedicated to breaking the blockade, in the village of Sinyavino, Kirovsky District, Leningrad Region.

At 17:00 in the center of St. Petersburg there will be a flower-laying ceremony at the memorial sign "Days of Siege". During the event, pupils of the association of teenage and youth clubs "Perspektiva" of the Central District will read poems about the Great Patriotic War, and the blockade survivors will share stories about life and death in the besieged city. Candles will be lit in memory of the dead, after which flowers will be laid at the memorial plaques.

The blockade of Leningrad by German and Finnish troops lasted 872 days, from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. During the blockade, according to various sources, from 650 thousand to 1.5 million people died, mainly from starvation. The blockade was completely lifted on January 27, 1944.

Background

In place of the policy of the 90s, when everything connected with the Soviet Union was attacked, in Russia they remembered the patriotic education and the preservation of the spiritual foundations that unite the citizens of Russia. The most important place was occupied by the memory of the victory in the Great Patriotic War as a manifestation of mass patriotism and heroism of the Soviet people.
At the same time, attempts to distort military history continue both on the part of foreign journalists, historians and artists, and within Russia. A RANEPA survey in 2015 showed that 60% of Russian citizens notice such distortions in the domestic media, and 82.5% in the foreign press.
A particularly fierce struggle against the legacy of the Great Patriotic War is being waged in countries that directly or indirectly support fascist ideas: primarily in Ukraine and the Baltic states.

January 18 is a special date for Russians and especially for Petersburgers. On this day back in 1943, during the Great Patriotic War, the blockade of Leningrad was broken.
Despite the fact that the city remained besieged for another year, with the breaking of the blockade, the situation on the entire Leningrad front improved significantly.

Training

Almost a month was allotted for the preparation of the operation, during which the troops launched a comprehensive preparation for the upcoming offensive. Particular attention was paid to the organization of interaction between strike groups, for which the command and staffs of the two fronts coordinated their plans, established lines of demarcation and worked out interactions, holding a series of military games based on the real situation.

Operation Spark

According to the plans of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the Soviet troops, with blows from two fronts - Leningrad from the west and Volkhov from the east - were supposed to defeat the enemy grouping holding the Shlisselburg-Sinyavinsky ledge.

The command of the fronts was entrusted to Lieutenant General L.A. Govorov and Army General K.A. Meretskov. The interaction was coordinated by representatives of the Stavka - General of the Army G.K. Zhukov and Marshal K.E. Voroshilov. On January 12, 1943, after artillery preparation, which began at 09:30 and lasted 2 hours and 10 minutes, the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front delivered a powerful blow from west to east.

The offensive was supported by the 2nd shock and 8th armies of the Volkhov Front, ships, coastal artillery and aviation. Despite the stubborn resistance of the enemy, by the end of January 13, the distance between the armies was reduced to 5-6 kilometers, and on January 14 - to two kilometers. The command of the fascist German troops, trying to keep Workers' settlements No. 1 and 5 at any cost, transferred their units from other sectors of the front.

The enemy grouping several times unsuccessfully tried to break through to the south to their main forces. And 6 days later, on January 18, on the outskirts of the Workers' settlement No. 1 near Shlisselburg, units of the 123rd Infantry Brigade of the Leningrad Front joined with units of the 372nd Division of the Volkhov Front. On the same day, Shlisselburg and the entire southern coast of Lake Ladoga were completely liberated.

By January 18, 1943, about 800 thousand people remained in the city. Around midnight, a message was broadcast on the radio about the breaking of the blockade. The townspeople began to take to the streets, shouting and rejoicing. All Leningrad was decorated with flags. There was hope that the native city would be liberated. And although the blockade ring was completely removed only, and as a result of breaking the blockade ring, only a narrow corridor was recaptured - a strip of peat swamp, the significance of this day for the future fate of Leningrad can hardly be overestimated.

During the offensive operation of the Soviet troops, after fierce battles, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts united in the area of ​​​​Workers' settlements No. 1 and 5. Shlisselburg was liberated on the same day. The entire southern coast of Lake Ladoga has been cleared of the enemy. A corridor 8-11 kilometers wide, cut along the coast, restored the land connection between Leningrad and the country. For seventeen days, automobile and railway (the so-called "Victory Road") roads were laid along the coast.

Reite, red flags,
Over the free Neva,
Hello full of courage
Battle Leningrad!

The blockade of Leningrad lasted almost 900 days. It was finally removed in the winter of 1944, after the successful First Stalinist strike, which opened the scoring for a series of offensive operations of the Red Army.

Museum Diorama "Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad"

A few kilometers from the Nevsky Piglet, on the left-bank ramp of the Ladoga Bridge, there is a museum-diorama "Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad", opened in May 1985. In front of the diorama are tanks raised from the bottom of the Neva and restored. The exposition is slowly expanding, the white KV-1 appeared on the site this year, on the anniversary of the lifting of the blockade. According to the museum aunts, two witnesses of those battles survived at this place - two old lime trees crippled by shells. All other trees around were planted after the war. Here is one of them - right by the bridge, with a broken top.
The main exposition of the museum - a diorama - is dedicated to the operation "Iskra" in January 1943. Its size is impressive - 40x8 meters. Which shows the battles of the operation.

The painting, 40 x 8 m in size, tells about the seven-day battles of Operation Iskra in January 1943. A grandiose panorama of the battle opens up from the observation deck. A close-up shows the crossing of the Neva by units of the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front under the command of General L.V. Govorov. From the east, towards the Leningraders, the troops of the Volkhov Front under the command of General K. A. Meretskov are making their way. On January 12, 1943, with a counterattack, the troops of our two fronts broke through the Nazi defenses on the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge, defeated the enemy grouping, and on January 18, 1943, met in the 1st and 5th Workers' settlements. In the liberated territory in the breakthrough zone, the Polyany-Schlisselburg railway with a bridge across the Neva was laid in 18 days. Called by the people "Road Victory", it made it possible to accumulate forces for the complete liberation of the Leningrad land from the Nazi invaders in January 1944.

Reconstruction of the breakthrough of the blockade

On the recreated battlefield, a complete picture of the fighting: tanks, aircraft and infantry. For the sake of a memorable date, reenactors from all over Russia, as well as from Poland, Estonia and even Brazil, came to St. Petersburg.

For reconstruction, almost the same place was chosen where the battles took place in 1943. The reenactors used exact copies of historical military equipment, including T-60 tanks. The most important moment of the operation was the reunification of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts, as a result of which the Nazi troops themselves found themselves in the ring.

Poems dedicated to breaking the blockade

Reite, red flags! (January 18, 1943) A. Prokofiev


Here the brothers met
The sky became alley.
Is there a stronger hug
Is there a brighter joy?
Knows a beautiful city
What's on the formidable path
Better than our brotherhood
We can't find it anywhere.
Here the storm raged

Here poured for love
Noble, scarlet
And sacred blood.
Reite, red flags,
Over the free Neva,
Hello full of courage
Battle Leningrad!

Three Minute Feast (Breakthrough of the blockade) Sergey Narovchatov

Three more volleys on the bastards!
And at eleven forty
We burst in first of the Volkhovites
To the burning First Village.
From the other end, past the shaky walls,
Crucified by fire in the wind,
People eh, fascists eh through the dark darkness
In smoky camouflage gowns.
To battle! But a spark of unexpected meetings
A word flashed in the distance.
All brighter and wider Russian speech
It flares up towards us!
And where the defeated pillbox froze -
At least put a monument over them, -
St. Petersburg Volkhovets shakes hands,
They kiss. Don't separate!
It was worth not cherishing life,
Risking again and again
So that not we, so others could survive
Until this big day.
And right on the street flasks with straps
We tear off and in the bright morning
For our victory, for the memory of it
At the holiday we drink three minutes.
We kiss again. Time does not wait.
Having built battle formations,
Forever inseparable, together on a hike
Until the last breath and shot.
I knew the holidays of summer and winter -
Only touch the memory.
On the mines of the golden Kolyma
I drank blue fire.
I honored the customs of Kabarda,
I remember the festivities of the Urals,
From all over Ferghana I drank on "you"
At the construction site of the Grand Canal.
I went towards cheerful speeches,
Wherever you wander around the world,
But I have not met a better festival,
Than a three-minute it.

Photo blockade breakthrough

Photo Breaking the blockade of Leningrad

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The wars of 1941-1945 lack dramatic, tragic pages. One of the worst was the blockade of Leningrad. In short, this is the story of a real genocide of the townspeople, which lasted almost until the very end of the war. Let's recap how it all happened.

The attack on the "city of Lenin"

The attack on Leningrad began immediately, in 1941. The grouping of German-Finnish troops was successfully moving forward, breaking the resistance of the Soviet units. Despite the desperate, fierce resistance of the defenders of the city, by August of the same year, all the railways that connected the city with the country were cut, as a result of which the main part of the supply was disrupted.

So when did the blockade of Leningrad begin? Briefly list the events that preceded this, you can long. But the official date is September 8, 1941. Despite the fiercest battles on the outskirts of the city, the Nazis could not take it “with a swoop”. And therefore, on September 13, artillery shelling of Leningrad began, which actually continued throughout the war.

The Germans had a simple order regarding the city: wipe it off the face of the earth. All defenders were to be destroyed. According to other sources, Hitler simply feared that during a massive assault, the losses of German troops would be unreasonably high, and therefore ordered the blockade to begin.

In general, the essence of the blockade of Leningrad was to ensure that "the city itself fell into the hands, like a ripened fruit."

Population Information

It must be remembered that at that time there were at least 2.5 million inhabitants in the blockaded city. Among them were about 400 thousand children. Almost immediately, food problems began. Constant stress and fear from bombing and shelling, lack of medicines and food soon led to the fact that the townspeople began to die.

It was estimated that during the entire blockade, at least a hundred thousand bombs and about 150 thousand shells were dropped on the heads of the inhabitants of the city. All this led to both mass deaths of the civilian population and catastrophic destruction of the most valuable architectural and historical heritage.

The first year turned out to be the most difficult: German artillery managed to bomb food warehouses, as a result of which the city was almost completely deprived of food supplies. However, there is also an opposite opinion.

The fact is that by 1941 the number of residents (registered and visitors) totaled about three million people. The bombed Badaev warehouses simply could not physically accommodate such a quantity of products. Many modern historians quite convincingly prove that there was no strategic reserve at that time. So even if the warehouses had not been damaged by the actions of German artillery, this would have delayed the onset of famine by a week at best.

In addition, just a few years ago, some documents from the archives of the NKVD concerning the pre-war survey of the strategic reserves of the city were declassified. The information in them paints an extremely disappointing picture: “Butter is covered with a layer of mold, stocks of flour, peas and other cereals are affected by ticks, the floors of storage facilities are covered with a layer of dust and rodent droppings.”

Disappointing conclusions

From September 10 to 11, the responsible authorities made a complete re-account of all food available in the city. By September 12, a full report was published, according to which the city had: grain and ready-made flour for about 35 days, stocks of cereals and pasta were enough for a month, meat stocks could be stretched for the same period.

Oils remained exactly for 45 days, but sugar and ready-made confectionery products were in store for two months at once. There were practically no potatoes and vegetables. In order to somehow stretch the stocks of flour, 12% of ground malt, oatmeal and soy flour were added to it. Subsequently, cakes, bran, sawdust and ground bark of trees began to be put there.

How was the food problem solved?

From the very first days of September food cards were introduced in the city. All canteens and restaurants were immediately closed. Livestock available at local agricultural enterprises was immediately slaughtered and handed over to procurement centers. All feed of grain origin was brought to flour mills and ground into flour, which was subsequently used to make bread.

Citizens who were in hospitals during the blockade were cut out rations for this period from coupons. The same procedure applied to children who were in orphanages and institutions of preschool education. Virtually all schools have canceled classes. For children, the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad was marked not so much by the opportunity to finally eat, but by the long-awaited start of classes.

In general, these cards cost the lives of thousands of people, as the cases of theft and even murder committed in order to obtain them increased dramatically in the city. In Leningrad in those years, there were frequent cases of raids and armed robberies of bakeries and even food warehouses.

With persons who were convicted of something like this, they did not stand on ceremony, shooting on the spot. There were no courts. This was explained by the fact that each stolen card cost someone a life. These documents were not restored (with rare exceptions), and therefore the theft doomed people to certain death.

The mood of the inhabitants

In the early days of the war, few believed in the possibility of a complete blockade, but many began to prepare for such a turn of events. In the very first days of the German offensive that began, everything more or less valuable was swept off the shelves of stores, people removed all their savings from the Savings Bank. Even jewelry stores were empty.

However, the famine that began sharply crossed out the efforts of many people: money and jewelry immediately depreciated. Food cards (which were obtained exclusively by robbery) and food became the only currency. Kittens and puppies were one of the most popular goods in city markets.

Documents of the NKVD testify that the blockade of Leningrad that had begun (the photo of which is in the article) gradually began to inspire anxiety in people. Quite a few letters were confiscated, in which the townspeople reported on the plight of Leningrad. They wrote that not even cabbage leaves were left in the fields; in the city it was already impossible to get old flour dust, from which wallpaper paste was previously made.

By the way, in the most difficult winter of 1941, there were practically no apartments left in the city, the walls of which would be covered with wallpaper: hungry people simply cut them off and ate, since they had no other food.

Labor feat of Leningraders

Despite the enormity of the situation, courageous people continued to work. And to work for the good of the country, releasing a lot of weapons. They even managed to repair tanks, make cannons and submachine guns literally from "grass material". All weapons received in such difficult conditions were immediately used for fighting on the outskirts of the unconquered city.

But the situation with food and medicine became more complicated day by day. It soon became obvious that only Lake Ladoga could save the inhabitants. How is it connected with the blockade of Leningrad? In short, this is the famous Road of Life, which was opened on November 22, 1941. As soon as a layer of ice formed on the lake, which theoretically could withstand the cars loaded with products, their crossing began.

The beginning of the famine

Hunger was approaching inexorably. As early as November 20, 1941, the grain allowance was only 250 grams per day for workers. As for dependents, women, children and the elderly, they were supposed to be half as much. First, the workers, who saw the condition of their relatives and friends, brought their rations home and shared with them. But soon this practice was put to an end: people were ordered to eat their portion of bread directly at the enterprise, under supervision.

This is how the blockade of Leningrad went. The photos show how exhausted the people who were in the city at that time were. For every death from an enemy shell, there were a hundred people who died of terrible hunger.

At the same time, one must understand that “bread” in this case meant a small piece of sticky mass, in which there was much more bran, sawdust and other fillers than the flour itself. Accordingly, the nutritional value of such food was close to zero.

When the blockade of Leningrad was broken, people who received fresh bread for the first time in 900 days often fainted from happiness.

On top of all the problems, the city water supply system completely failed, as a result of which the townspeople had to carry water from the Neva. In addition, the winter of 1941 itself turned out to be extremely severe, so that doctors simply could not cope with the influx of frostbitten, cold people, whose immunity was unable to resist infections.

Consequences of the first winter

By the beginning of winter, the grain ration had almost doubled. Alas, this fact was explained not by the breaking of the blockade and not by the restoration of normal supplies: by that time, half of all dependents had already died. Documents of the NKVD testify to the fact that the famine took absolutely incredible forms. Cases of cannibalism began, and many researchers believe that no more than a third of them were officially recorded.

Children were especially bad at that time. Many of them were forced to stay alone for a long time in empty, cold apartments. If their parents died of starvation at work or if they died during constant shelling, the children spent 10-15 days in complete solitude. More often than not, they also died. Thus, the children of the blockade of Leningrad endured a lot on their fragile shoulders.

Front-line soldiers recall that among the crowd of seven-eight-year-old teenagers in the evacuation, it was the Leningraders who always stood out: they had creepy, tired and too adult eyes.

By the middle of the winter of 1941, there were no cats and dogs left on the streets of Leningrad, there were practically no even crows and rats. Animals have learned that it is better to stay away from hungry people. All the trees in the city squares lost most of their bark and young branches: they were collected, ground and added to flour, just to slightly increase its volume.

The blockade of Leningrad lasted less than a year at that time, but during the autumn cleaning, 13 thousand corpses were found on the streets of the city.

The road of life

The real “pulse” of the besieged city was the Road of Life. In summer it was a waterway through the waters of Lake Ladoga, and in winter this role was played by its frozen surface. The first barges with food passed through the lake already on September 12th. Navigation continued until the thickness of the ice made it impossible for ships to pass.

Each flight of sailors was a feat, as German planes did not stop hunting even for a minute. I had to go on flights every day, in all weather conditions. As we have already said, the cargo was first sent over the ice on November 22. It was a horse carriage. After just a couple of days, when the thickness of the ice became more or less sufficient, the trucks also set off.

No more than two or three bags of food were put on each car, since the ice was still too unreliable and cars constantly sank. Deadly flights continued until the spring. Barges took over the “watch”. The end of this deadly carousel was put only by the liberation of Leningrad from the blockade.

Road number 101, as this road was then called, made it possible not only to maintain at least the minimum food ration, but also to take many thousands of people out of the blockaded city. The Germans constantly tried to interrupt the message, not sparing for this shells and fuel for aircraft.

Fortunately, they did not succeed, and today the Road of Life monument stands on the shores of Lake Ladoga, as well as the Museum of the Siege of Leningrad, which contains many documentary evidence of those terrible days.

In many respects, the success with the organization of the crossing was due to the fact that the Soviet command quickly attracted fighter aircraft to defend the lake. In winter, anti-aircraft batteries were mounted directly on the ice. It should be noted that the measures taken gave very positive results: for example, on January 16, more than 2.5 thousand tons of food were delivered to the city, although the delivery of only 2 thousand tons was planned.

The Beginning of Freedom

So when did the long-awaited lifting of the blockade of Leningrad take place? As soon as the first major defeat was inflicted near Kursk, the country's leadership began to think about how to free the imprisoned city.

The actual lifting of the blockade of Leningrad began on January 14, 1944. The task of the troops was to break through the German defense in its thinnest place to restore the land communication of the city with the rest of the country. By January 27, fierce battles began, in which the Soviet units gradually gained the upper hand. It was the year of lifting the blockade of Leningrad.

The Nazis were forced to start a retreat. Soon the defense was broken through in a section about 14 kilometers long. Along this path, columns of trucks with food immediately went into the city.

So how long did the blockade of Leningrad last? Officially, it is believed that it lasted 900 days, but the exact duration is 871 days. However, this fact does not in the least detract from the determination and incredible courage of its defenders.

Liberation Day

Today is the day of lifting the blockade of Leningrad - this is January 27th. This date is not a holiday. Rather, it is a constant reminder of the horrifying events that the inhabitants of the city were forced to go through. In fairness, it should be said that the real day of lifting the blockade of Leningrad is January 18, since the corridor we were talking about was broken through on that very day.

That blockade claimed more than two million lives, and mostly women, children and the elderly died there. As long as the memory of those events is alive, nothing like this should be repeated in the world!

Here is the entire blockade of Leningrad briefly. Of course, that terrible time can be described quickly enough, only the blockade survivors who were able to survive it remember those horrific events every day.

January 27 - Day of lifting the blockade of Leningrad

The blockade of Leningrad is one of the most terrible and difficult pages in the history of our country.

January 27- Day of the complete liberation by the Soviet troops of Leningrad from the blockade of its Nazi troops (1944)

16 long months residents of the northern capital were waiting for liberation from the fascist encirclement.

In 1941 Hitler launched military operations on the outskirts of Leningrad in order to completely destroy the city.

In July - September 1941, 10 divisions of the people's militia were formed in the city. Despite the most difficult conditions, the industry of Leningrad did not stop its work. Assistance to the blockade was carried out on the ice of Lake Ladoga. This highway was called the "Road of Life". On January 12-30, 1943, an operation was carried out to break the blockade of Leningrad ( "Spark").

September 8, 1941 the ring around the important strategic and political center closed.

January 12, 1944 at dawn, an artillery cannonade thundered. The first blow inflicted on the enemy was extremely strong. After two hours of artillery and aviation preparation, the Soviet infantry moved forward. The front was broken through in two places five and eight kilometers wide. Later, both sections of the breakthrough connected.

January 18 The blockade of Leningrad was broken, the Germans lost tens of thousands of their soldiers. This event meant not only a major failure of Hitler's strategic plans, but also his serious political defeat.

January 27 as a result of offensive operations of the Leningrad, 20th Baltic and Volkhov fronts, with the support of the Baltic Fleet, the main forces of the enemy group of forces "North" were defeated and the blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted. The front line moved away from the city by 220-280 kilometers.

The defeat of the Nazis near Leningrad completely undermined their positions in Finland and other Scandinavian countries.

During the blockade, about 1 million inhabitants died, including more than 600 thousand from starvation.

During the war, Hitler repeatedly demanded that the city be razed to the ground and its population completely destroyed.

However, neither shelling and bombing, nor hunger and cold broke its defenders.

The beginning of the blockade

Shortly after the start of World War II Leningrad found itself in the grip of enemy fronts. From the southwest, the German Army Group North (Commander Field Marshal W. Leeb) approached him; from the north-west, the Finnish army set its sights on the city (commander Marshal K. Mannerheim). According to the Barbarossa plan, the capture of Leningrad was to precede the capture of Moscow. Hitler believed that the fall of the northern capital of the USSR would give not only a military gain - the Russians would lose the city, which is the cradle of the revolution and has a special symbolic meaning for the Soviet state. The battle for Leningrad, the longest in the war, lasted from July 10, 1941 to August 9, 1944.

July-August 1941 German divisions were suspended in the battles on the Luga line, but on September 8 the enemy went to Shlisselburg and Leningrad, which had about 3 million people before the war, was surrounded. Approximately 300 thousand more refugees who arrived in the city from the Baltic states and neighboring regions at the beginning of the war must be added to the number of those who found themselves in the blockade. From that day on, communication with Leningrad became possible only via Lake Ladoga and by air. Almost daily, Leningraders experienced the horror of artillery shelling or bombing. As a result of fires, residential buildings were destroyed, people and food supplies were killed, incl. Badaevsky warehouses.

At the beginning of September 1941 Stalin recalled General of the Army G.K. Zhukov and told him: "You will have to fly to Leningrad and take command of the front and the Baltic Fleet from Voroshilov." The arrival of Zhukov and the measures taken by him strengthened the defense of the city, but it was not possible to break through the blockade.

The plans of the Nazis in relation to Leningrad

Blockade, organized by the Nazis, was aimed precisely at the extinction and destruction of Leningrad. On September 22, 1941, a special directive noted: “The Fuhrer has decided to wipe the city of Leningrad off the face of the earth. It is supposed to surround the city with a tight ring and, by shelling from artillery of all calibers and continuous bombing from the air, raze it to the ground ... In this war, waged for the right to exist, we are not interested in preserving at least part of the population. On October 7, Hitler gave another order - not to accept refugees from Leningrad and push them back to enemy territory. Therefore, any speculation - including those circulated today in the media - that the city could have been saved if it had been surrendered to the mercy of the Germans, should be attributed either to the category of ignorance or deliberate distortion of historical truth.

The situation in the besieged city with food

Before the war, the metropolis of Leningrad was supplied with what is called "from the wheels", the city did not have large food supplies. Therefore, the blockade threatened with a terrible tragedy - hunger. As early as September 2, we had to strengthen the food savings regime. From November 20, 1941, the lowest norms for issuing bread on cards were established: workers and engineering and technical workers - 250 g, employees, dependents and children - 125 g. Soldiers of the first line units and sailors - 500 g. Mass death of the population began.

In December, 53 thousand people died, in January 1942 - about 100 thousand, in February - more than 100 thousand. The surviving pages of the diary of little Tanya Savicheva do not leave anyone indifferent: ... “Uncle Alyosha on May 10 ... Mom on May 13 at 7.30 in the morning ... Everyone died. Only Tanya remained. Today, in the works of historians, the figures of the dead Leningraders vary from 800 thousand to 1.5 million people. Recently, data on 1.2 million people have been appearing more and more often. Grief has come to every family. During the battle for Leningrad, more people died than England and the United States lost during the entire war.

"The road of life"

Salvation for the besieged was the "Road of Life" - a route laid on the ice of Lake Ladoga, along which food and ammunition were delivered to the city from November 21, and the civilian population was evacuated on the way back. During the period of the "Road of Life" - until March 1943 - over the ice (and in the summer on various ships) 1615 thousand tons of various cargoes were delivered to the city. At the same time, more than 1.3 million Leningraders and wounded soldiers were evacuated from the city on the Neva. A pipeline was laid to transport oil products along the bottom of Lake Ladoga.

The feat of Leningrad

However, the city did not give up. Its residents and leadership then did everything possible to live and continue to fight. Despite the fact that the city was in the most severe conditions of the blockade, its industry continued to supply the troops of the Leningrad Front with the necessary weapons and equipment. Exhausted by hunger and seriously ill workers performed urgent tasks, repaired ships, tanks and artillery. Employees of the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing have preserved the most valuable collection of grain crops.

Winter 1941 28 employees of the institute died of starvation, but not a single box of grain was touched.

Leningrad inflicted tangible blows on the enemy and did not allow the Germans and Finns to act with impunity. In April 1942, Soviet anti-aircraft gunners and aviation thwarted the operation of the German command "Aisshtoss" - an attempt to destroy the ships of the Baltic Fleet standing on the Neva from the air. Opposition to enemy artillery was constantly improved. The Leningrad Military Council organized a counter-battery fight, as a result of which the intensity of shelling of the city significantly decreased. In 1943, the number of artillery shells that fell on Leningrad decreased by about 7 times.

Unparalleled self-sacrifice ordinary Leningraders helped them not only to defend their beloved city. It showed the whole world where the limit of the possibilities of fascist Germany and its allies lies.

Actions of the leadership of the city on the Neva

Although in Leningrad (as in other regions of the USSR during the war) there were some scoundrels among the authorities, the party and military leadership of Leningrad basically remained at the height of the situation. It behaved adequately to the tragic situation and did not "fatten" at all, as some modern researchers claim.

In November 1941 The secretary of the city committee of the party, Zhdanov, established a rigidly fixed cut-down rate of food consumption for himself and all members of the military council of the Leningrad Front. Moreover, the leadership of the city on the Neva did everything to prevent the consequences of a severe famine. By decision of the Leningrad authorities, additional meals were organized for exhausted people in specially hospitals and canteens. In Leningrad, 85 orphanages were organized, which took tens of thousands of children left without parents.

In January 1942 at the Astoria Hotel, a medical hospital for scientists and creative workers began to operate. Since March 1942, the Lensoviet allowed residents to set up personal gardens in courtyards and parks. The land for dill, parsley, vegetables was plowed up even at St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Attempts to break the blockade

With all the mistakes, miscalculations, voluntaristic decisions, the Soviet command took maximum measures to break through the blockade of Leningrad as soon as possible. have been undertaken four attempts to break the enemy ring.

First- in September 1941; second- in October 1941; third- at the beginning of 1942, during the general counter-offensive, which only partially achieved its goals; fourth- in August-September 1942

The blockade of Leningrad was not broken then, but the Soviet sacrifices in offensive operations of this period were not in vain. Summer-autumn 1942 the enemy failed to transfer any large reserves from near Leningrad to the southern flank of the Eastern Front. Moreover, Hitler sent for the capture of the city the administration and troops of the 11th Army of Manstein, which otherwise could be used in the Caucasus and near Stalingrad.

Sinyavino operation of 1942 Leningrad and Volkhov fronts ahead of the German attack. Manstein's divisions intended for the offensive were forced to immediately engage in defensive battles against the attacking Soviet units.

"Nevsky Piglet"

The hardest battles in 1941-1942. took place on the "Nevsky Piglet" - a narrow strip of land on the left bank of the Neva, 2-4 km wide along the front and only 500-800 meters deep. This bridgehead, which the Soviet command intended to use to break through the blockade, was held by the Red Army for about 400 days.

A tiny plot of land was at one time almost the only hope for saving the city and became one of the symbols of the heroism of the Soviet soldiers who defended Leningrad. The battles for the Nevsky Piglet claimed, according to some sources, the lives of 50,000 Soviet soldiers.

Operation Spark

And only in January 1943, when the main forces of the Wehrmacht were drawn to Stalingrad, the blockade was partially broken. The course of the deblocking operation of the Soviet fronts (Operation Iskra) was led by G. Zhukov. On a narrow strip of the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, 8-11 km wide, land communications with the country were restored.

Over the next 17 days, a railway and a highway were laid along this corridor.

January 1943 became a turning point in the Battle of Leningrad.

The final lifting of the blockade of Leningrad

The situation in Leningrad has improved significantly, but the immediate threat to the city continued to remain. In order to finally eliminate the blockade, it was necessary to push the enemy out of the Leningrad region. The idea of ​​such an operation was developed by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command at the end of 1943 by the forces of the Leningrad (General L. Govorov), Volkhov (General K. Meretskov) and the 2nd Baltic (General M. Popov) fronts in cooperation with the Baltic Fleet, Ladoga and Onega flotillas the Leningrad-Novgorod operation was carried out.

Soviet troops went on the offensive on January 14, 1944. and already on January 20 Novgorod was liberated. On January 21, the enemy began to withdraw from the Mga-Tosno area, from the section of the Leningrad-Moscow railway that he had cut.

January 27 in commemoration of the final lifting of the blockade of Leningrad, which lasted 872 days, fireworks thundered. Army Group North suffered a heavy defeat. As a result of the Leningrad-Novgorod Soviet troops reached the borders of Latvia and Estonia.

The value of the defense of Leningrad

Defense of Leningrad was of great military-strategic, political and moral importance. The Hitlerite command lost the possibility of the most effective maneuver of strategic reserves, the transfer of troops to other directions. If the city on the Neva had fallen in 1941, then the German troops would have joined with the Finns, and most of the troops of the German Army Group North could have been deployed in a southerly direction and hit the central regions of the USSR. In this case, Moscow could not resist, and the whole war could go according to a completely different scenario. In the deadly meat grinder of the Sinyavino operation in 1942, Leningraders saved not only themselves with their feat and indestructible stamina. Having fettered the German forces, they provided invaluable assistance to Stalingrad, the whole country!

The feat of the defenders of Leningrad, who defended their city in the conditions of the most difficult trials, inspired the entire army and the country, earned deep respect and gratitude from the states of the anti-Hitler coalition.

In 1942, the Soviet government established ", which was awarded to about 1.5 million defenders of the city. This medal remains in the memory of the people today as one of the most honorary awards of the Great Patriotic War.