In heavy siege days, residents of Leningrad. Interesting facts about the blockade of Leningrad for children and adults briefly
the first days of the siege of Leningrad
On September 8, 1941, on the 79th day of the Great Patriotic War, the blockade closed around Leningrad.
The Germans and their allies advancing on Leningrad set the categorical goal of its complete destruction. The headquarters of the Soviet command admitted the possibility of surrendering the city and began the evacuation of valuables and industrial facilities in advance.
The inhabitants of the city did not know anything about the plans of either side, and this made their situation especially alarming.
About the "war of tactics" on the Leningrad front and how it was reflected in the besieged city - in the TASS material.
German Plans: War of Annihilation
Hitler's plans did not leave Leningrad any future: the German leadership and Hitler personally expressed their intention to raze the city to the ground. The same statements were made by the leadership of Finland - an ally and partner of Germany in military operations to blockade Leningrad.
In September 1941, Finnish President Risto Ryti bluntly told the German envoy in Helsinki: "If St. Petersburg no longer exists as a large city, then the Neva would be the best border on the Karelian Isthmus ... Leningrad must be liquidated as a large city."
The Supreme High Command of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces (OKH), giving the order on August 28, 1941 to encircle Leningrad, determined the tasks of the Army Group North advancing on the city as the most dense encirclement. At the same time, an attack on the city by infantry forces was not envisaged.
Vera Inber, Soviet poetess and prose writer
On September 10, Vsevolod Merkulov, First Deputy People's Commissar of the NKVD of the USSR, arrived in Leningrad on a special mission, who, together with Alexei Kuznetsov, the second secretary of the regional party committee, had to prepare a set of measures in case the city was forced to surrender to the enemy.
"Without any sentimentality, the Soviet leadership understood that the struggle could develop, including according to the most negative scenario," the researcher is sure.
Historians believe that neither Stalin nor the command of the Leningrad Front knew about the Germans abandoning their plans to storm the city and about the transfer of the most combat-ready units of the 4th Panzer Army of Gepner to the Moscow direction. Therefore, right up to the lifting of the blockade, this plan of special measures to disable the most important strategic facilities in the city existed and was periodically checked.
"In Zhdanov's notebooks ( First Secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. - Approx. TASS) at the end of August - beginning of September there is a record that it is necessary to create illegal residencies in Leningrad, bearing in mind that the possibility of continuing the fight against the Nazis, with the invaders can occur in conditions when the city is surrendered, "says Nikita Lomagin.
Leningraders: in the ring of ignorance
Leningraders followed the development of events from the first days of the war, trying to predict the fate of their native city. The battle for Leningrad began on July 10, 1941, when the Nazi troops crossed the then border of the Leningrad region. Blockade diaries indicate that already on September 8, when the city was subjected to massive shelling, most of the townspeople guessed that the enemy was nearby and tragedy could not be avoided. One of the dominant moods of these months was anxiety and fear.
"Most of the townspeople had a very poor idea of the situation in the city, around the city, at the front," says Nikita Lomagin. "This uncertainty was characteristic of the mood of the townspeople for quite a long time." In mid-September, Leningraders learned about the difficult situation at the front from the military, who ended up in the city for redeployment and for other reasons.
Since the beginning of September, due to the very difficult situation with food, the rules for the operation of the supply system began to change.
Leningraders said that not only food, but even their smell had disappeared from the shops, and now the trading floors smelled of emptiness. "The population began to think about some additional ways to find food, about new survival strategies," the historian explains.
“During the blockade, there were a lot of proposals from below, from scientists, engineers, inventors, how to solve the problems that the city faced: from the point of view of transport, from the point of view of various kinds of food substitutes, blood substitutes,” says Nikita Lomagin.
The fire at the Badaevsky warehouses on the first day of the siege, where 38 food warehouses and pantries burned down, especially affected the townspeople. The supply of food for them was small and it could have been enough for the city for a maximum of a week, however, as the rations were tightened, the Leningraders became more and more convinced that it was this fire that caused mass starvation in the city.
grain and flour - for 35 days;
cereals and pasta - for 30 days;
meat and meat products - for 33 days;
fats - for 45 days.
The norms for issuing bread at that time were:
workers - 800 g;
employees - 600 g;
dependents and children - 400 g.
The mood of the townspeople worsened as changes took place at the front. In addition, the enemy actively carried out propaganda activities in the city, of which the so-called propaganda in a whisper was especially widespread, spreading rumors about the invincibility of the German army and the defeat of the USSR. Artillery terror also played its role - constant massive shelling, which the city was subjected to from September 1941 until the lifting of the blockade.
Historians say that the combination of tragic circumstances that disrupted the normal life of Leningraders reached its peak by December 1941, when food rations became minimal, most enterprises stopped due to lack of electricity, water supply, transport, and other urban infrastructure practically stopped working.
“This set of circumstances is what we call a blockade,” says Nikita Lomagin. “It’s not just the city’s encirclement, it’s a shortage of everything against the backdrop of hunger, cold and shelling, the cessation of functioning of the links traditional for the metropolis between workers, engineers, enterprises, teachers, institutions, etc. The rupture of this fabric of life was an extremely heavy psychological blow."
The only link that connected the urban space under the blockade was the Leningrad radio, which, according to the researchers, united both the meaning of the struggle and the explanation of what was happening.
"People wanted to get news, get information, get emotional and not feel lonely," says Lomagin.
From the end of September 1941, historians say, the townspeople began to wait for the imminent lifting of the blockade. No one in the city could believe that it would last long. This belief was strengthened by the first attempts to de-blockade Leningrad, undertaken in September-October 1941, later by the success of the Red Army near Moscow, after which the Leningraders expected that, following the capital, the Nazis would be thrown back from the city on the Neva.
“No one in Leningrad believed that it was for a long time until January 1943, when the blockade was broken,” says Irina Muravyova, researcher at the State Memorial Museum of the Defense and Siege of Leningrad. “Leningraders were constantly waiting for a breakthrough and the deblockade of the city.”
The front has stabilized: who won?
The front near Leningrad stabilized on 12 September. The German offensive was stopped, but the Nazi command continued to insist that the blockade ring around the city shrink more closely, and demanded that the Finnish allies fulfill the conditions of the Barbarossa plan.
He assumed that the Finnish units, having rounded Lake Ladoga from the north, would meet with Army Group North in the area of the Svir River and thereby close the second ring around Leningrad.
"It was impossible to avoid the blockade of Leningrad in those conditions," Vyacheslav Mosunov believes.
“Until the start of World War II, the defense of Leningrad was built primarily on the condition that the enemy would attack from the north and west,” the historian notes. “The Leningrad military district, which had the most extensive territory, from the very beginning of hostilities was focused on the defense of the northern approaches to the city. This was the result of pre-war plans."
Alexander Werth, British journalist, 1943
The question of declaring Leningrad an open city could never arise, as was the case, for example, with Paris in 1940. The war of fascist Germany against the USSR was a war of extermination, and the Germans never made a secret out of it.
In addition, the local pride of Leningrad was of a peculiar nature - an ardent love for the city itself, for its historical past, for the remarkable literary traditions associated with it (this primarily concerned the intelligentsia) was combined here with the great proletarian and revolutionary traditions of the working class of the city. And nothing could more strongly solder these two sides of the love of Leningraders for their city into one whole than the threat of destruction hanging over it.
In Leningrad, people could choose between a shameful death in German captivity and an honorable death (or, if they were lucky, life) in their own unconquered city. It would also be a mistake to try to distinguish between Russian patriotism, revolutionary impulse and Soviet organization, or to ask which of these three factors played a more important role in the salvation of Leningrad; all three factors were combined in that extraordinary phenomenon, which can be called "Leningrad in the days of the war."
“For the German command, the offensive turned into a virtual military defeat,” notes Vyacheslav Mosunov. “Out of the 4th Panzer Group, only one 41st Motorized Corps was able to fully complete its task without additional help. It managed to break through the defenses of the 42nd Army, complete the task to capture the Duderhof Heights. However, the enemy was unable to use his success."
January 18, 1943 Leningrad and Volkhov fronts broke through the blockade of Leningrad. The largest political, economic and cultural center of the USSR, after a hard 16-month struggle, again found a land connection with the country.
Start of the offensive
On the morning of January 12, 1943, the troops of the two fronts simultaneously launched an offensive. Previously, at night, Soviet aviation dealt a powerful blow to Wehrmacht positions in the breakthrough zone, as well as to airfields, command posts, communications and railway junctions in the enemy rear. Tons of metal fell on the Germans, destroying their manpower, destroying defenses and suppressing morale. At 9 o'clock. At 30 minutes, artillery preparation began: in the offensive zone of the 2nd shock army, it lasted 1 hour 45 minutes, and in the sector of the 67th army - 2 hours 20 minutes. 40 minutes before the start of the movement of infantry and armored vehicles, attack aviation, in groups of 6-8 aircraft, attacked previously reconnoitered artillery, mortar positions, strongholds and communication centers.
At 11 o'clock. 50 min. under the cover of the “barrage of fire” and the fire of the 16th fortified area, the divisions of the first echelon of the 67th Army went on the attack. Each of the four divisions - the 45th Guards, 268th, 136th, 86th Rifle Divisions - were reinforced by several artillery and mortar regiments, an anti-tank artillery regiment and one or two engineer battalions. In addition, the offensive was supported by 147 light tanks and armored cars, the weight of which could withstand the ice. The particular complexity of the operation was that the defensive positions of the Wehrmacht went along the steep, icy left bank of the river, which was higher than the right. The German fire weapons were located in tiers and covered all the approaches to the coast with multi-layered fire. In order to break through to the other side, it was necessary to reliably suppress the German firing points, especially in the first line. At the same time, care had to be taken not to damage the ice near the left bank.
The destroyer of the Baltic Fleet "Experienced" is shelling enemy positions in the area of the Nevsky Forest Park. January 1943
Soviet soldiers carry boats to cross the Neva River
Scouts of the Leningrad Front during the battle at the barbed wire
The assault groups were the first to break through to the other side of the Neva. Their fighters selflessly made passages in the barriers. Rifle and tank units crossed the river behind them. After a fierce battle, the enemy's defenses were broken north of the 2nd Gorodok (268th rifle division and 86th separate tank battalion) and in the Maryino area (136th division and formations of the 61st tank brigade). By the end of the day, Soviet troops broke the resistance of the 170th German Infantry Division between the 2nd Gorodok and Shlisselburg. The 67th Army captured the bridgehead between the 2nd Gorodok and Shlisselburg, the construction of a crossing for medium and heavy tanks and heavy artillery began (completed on January 14). On the flanks, the situation was more difficult: on the right wing, the 45th Guards Rifle Division in the "Nevsky Piglet" area was able to capture only the first line of German fortifications; on the left wing, the 86th Infantry Division was unable to cross the Neva near Shlisselburg (it was transferred to the bridgehead in the Maryino area in order to strike Shlisselburg from the south).
In the offensive zone of the 2nd shock and 8th armies, the offensive developed with great difficulty. Aviation and artillery were unable to suppress the main enemy firing points, and the swamps were difficult to pass even in winter. The most fierce battles were fought for the points of Lipka, Workers' Settlement No. 8 and Gontovaya Lipka, these strongholds were on the flanks of the breaking forces and continued the battle even in complete encirclement. On the right flank and in the center - the 128th, 372nd and 256th rifle divisions, were able to break through the defenses of the 227th infantry division by the end of the day and advance 2-3 km. The strongholds of Lipka and Workers' Settlement No. 8 could not be taken that day. On the left flank, only the 327th Infantry Division was able to achieve some success, which occupied most of the fortification in the Kruglyaya grove. The attacks of the 376th division and the forces of the 8th army were not successful.
The German command, already on the first day of the battle, was forced to commit operational reserves into battle: formations of the 96th Infantry Division and the 5th Mountain Division sent to the aid of the 170th Division, two regiments of the 61st Infantry Division (Major General Huner's group) were introduced into the center of the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge.
On the morning of January 13, the offensive continued. The Soviet command, in order to finally turn the tide in its favor, began to bring into battle the second echelon of the advancing armies. However, the Germans, relying on strongholds and a developed defense system, offered stubborn resistance, constantly counterattacked, trying to restore their lost position. The fighting took on a protracted and fierce character.
In the offensive zone of the 67th Army on the left flank, the 86th Rifle Division and a battalion of armored vehicles, with support from the north of the 34th Ski Brigade and the 55th Rifle Brigade (on the ice of the lake), stormed the approaches to Shlisselburg for several days. By the evening of the 15th, the Red Army reached the outskirts of the city, the German troops in Shlisselburg found themselves in a critical situation, but continued to fight stubbornly.
Soviet soldiers in battle on the outskirts of Shlisselburg
Soldiers of the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front move across the territory of the Shlisselburg Fortress
In the center, the 136th Rifle Division and the 61st Tank Brigade developed an offensive in the direction of Workers' Settlement No. 5. To ensure the left flank of the division, the 123rd Rifle Brigade was brought into battle, it was supposed to advance in the direction of Workers' Settlement No. 3. Then, to ensure the right flank, the 123rd Infantry Division and a tank brigade were brought into battle, they advanced in the direction of Workers' Settlement No. 6, Sinyavino. After several days of fighting, the 123rd Rifle Brigade captured Rabochey Settlement No. 3 and reached the outskirts of Settlements No. 1 and No. 2. The 136th Division made its way to Work Settlement No. 5, but could not immediately take it.
On the right wing of the 67th Army, the attacks of the 45th Guards and 268th Rifle Divisions were still unsuccessful. The Air Force and artillery were unable to eliminate firing points in the 1st, 2nd Gorodok and 8th GRES. In addition, the German troops received reinforcements - formations of the 96th Infantry and 5th Mountain Divisions. The Germans even made fierce counterattacks, using the 502nd heavy tank battalion, which was armed with heavy Tiger I tanks. The Soviet troops, despite the introduction of troops of the second echelon - the 13th rifle division, the 102nd and 142nd rifle brigades into battle, could not turn the tide in this sector in their favor.
In the zone of the 2nd shock army, the offensive continued to develop more slowly than that of the 67th army. German troops, relying on strongholds - Workers' settlements No. 7 and No. 8, Lipka, continued to put up stubborn resistance. On January 13, despite the introduction of part of the forces of the second echelon into the battle, the troops of the 2nd shock army did not achieve serious success in any direction. In the following days, the army command tried to expand the breakthrough in the southern sector from the Kruglaya grove to Gaitolovo, but without visible results. The 256th Rifle Division was able to achieve the greatest success in this direction; on January 14, it occupied Workers' Settlement No. 7, Podgornaya station and reached the approaches to Sinyavino. On the right wing, the 12th ski brigade was sent to help the 128th division, it was supposed to go on the ice of Lake Ladoga to the rear of the Lipka stronghold.
On January 15, in the center of the offensive zone, the 372nd Rifle Division was finally able to take Workers' settlements No. 8 and No. 4, and on the 17th they left the village No. 1. By this day, the 18th Rifle Division and the 98th Tank Brigade of the 2nd UA had already been several days fought a stubborn battle on the outskirts of Workers' Settlement No. 5. Units of the 67th Army attacked it from the west. The moment of joining the two armies was close.
By January 18, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts were engaged in a fierce battle in the area of Workers' Village No. 5, and they were separated by only a few kilometers. The German command, realizing that it was no longer necessary to hold the surrounded strongholds, ordered the garrisons of Shlisselburg and Lipka to break through to Sinyavino. In order to facilitate the breakthrough, the forces defending Workers' Settlements No. 1 and No. 5 (Hüner's group) had to hold out as long as possible. In addition, a counterattack was organized from the area of Workers' Settlement No. 5 against the 136th Infantry Division and the 61st Separate Tank Brigade in order to overturn it and facilitate the breakthrough of the encircled troops. However, the blow was repelled, up to 600 Germans were destroyed, up to 500 people were taken prisoner. Soviet soldiers, pursuing the enemy, broke into the village, where at about 12 o'clock in the afternoon the troops of the 2nd shock and 67th armies united. The troops of the two armies also met in the area of Workers' Settlement No. 1 - these were the 123rd separate rifle brigade of the Leningrad Front, headed by the deputy commander for political affairs, Major Melkonyan, and the 372nd rifle division of the Volkhov Front, headed by the head of the 1st department of the division headquarters Major Melnikov. On the same day, Shlisselburg was completely cleared of the Germans, and at the end of the day the southern coast of Lake Ladoga was liberated from the enemy, and its scattered groups were destroyed or captured. Lipki were also released.
“I saw,” recalled G.K. Zhukov, - with what joy the soldiers of the fronts that broke through the blockade rushed towards each other. Ignoring the artillery shelling of the enemy from the side of the Sinyavino Heights, the soldiers fraternally hugged each other tightly. It was a truly painstaking joy!” Thus, on January 18, 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was broken.
V. Serov, I. Serebryany, A. Kazantsev. Breaking the blockade of Leningrad. 1943
However, it could not be said that the situation had completely stabilized. The common front of the 67th and 2nd shock armies was not yet dense enough, so part of the encircled German troops (about 8 thousand people), abandoning heavy weapons and spreading out, broke through Workers' settlement No. 5 in a southerly direction and by January 20 came out to Sinyavino. The German command withdrew the retreating troops to positions prepared in advance along the line of Towns No. 1 and No. 2 - Workers' Settlement No. 6 - Sinyavino - the western part of the Kruglaya grove. The SS Police Division, the 1st Infantry Division and formations of the 5th Mountain Division were transferred there in advance. Later, the command of the 18th German Army reinforced this direction with units of the 28th Jaeger, 11th, 21st and 212th Infantry Divisions. The command of the 67th Army and the 2nd Shock Army did not rule out the possibility of a counteroffensive by the enemy in order to restore lost positions. Therefore, the troops of the two armies stopped offensive operations and began to consolidate on the achieved lines.
On January 18, as soon as Moscow received news of the breaking of the blockade, the GKO decided to accelerate the construction of a railway line on the vacated strip of land, which was supposed to connect Leningrad with the Volkhov railway junction. The railway from Polyana station to Shlisselburg was to be built in 18 days. At the same time, a temporary railway bridge was built across the Neva. The railway line was called Victory Road. Already on the morning of February 7, Leningraders with great joy met the first train that arrived from the mainland and delivered 800 tons of butter. In addition, car traffic began to function along the southern shore of Lake Ladoga. The Road of Life continued to operate. Two weeks later, food supply norms established for the largest industrial centers of the country began to operate in Leningrad: workers began to receive 700-600 grams of bread a day, employees - 500, children and dependents - 400 grams. Norms of supply of other types of foodstuffs have increased.
True, the Victory Road operated in the most difficult conditions. German artillery shot through the narrow corridor liberated by the Soviet troops, as the path passed 4-5 km from the front line. The trains had to be driven under bombardment and artillery fire. It happened that the fragments hit the machinists, and stokers, and conductors. Repair of tracks was often done by improvised means. With the onset of summer, the trains, contrary to all existing rules, moved along the hub in the water. As a result of shelling and bombing, railway communication was often disrupted. The main cargo flows still went along the Road of Life through Ladoga. In addition, there was a threat that the Germans would be able to restore the situation.
Thus, the largest political, economic and cultural center of the USSR, after a hard 16-month struggle, again found a land connection with the country. The supply of the city with food and essential goods was significantly improved, and industrial enterprises began to receive more raw materials and fuel. As early as February 1943, the generation of electricity in Leningrad increased sharply, and the production of weapons increased noticeably. The restoration of communications made it possible to continuously reinforce the troops of the Leningrad Front and the Baltic Fleet with replenishment, weapons and ammunition. This improved the strategic position of the Soviet troops operating in the northwestern direction.
The meeting of the fighters of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts at the Workers' settlement No. 1 during the operation to break the blockade of Leningrad
The meeting of the fighters of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts near the Workers' settlement No. 5 during the operation to break the blockade of Leningrad
After the troops of the 67th and 2nd shock armies formed a common front and entrenched themselves on new lines, it was decided to continue the operation and reach the Mustolovo-Mikhailovsky line (along the Moika River), and then capture the Kirov railway. On January 20, Zhukov reported to Stalin on the plan of the Mga operation, prepared jointly with Voroshilov, Meretskov and Govorov.
However, the German command had already managed to prepare well for a possible Soviet offensive. The defensive line prepared in advance was defended by the forces of 9 divisions, significantly reinforced by artillery and aircraft. The enemy transferred the 11th and 21st infantry divisions near Sinyavino, exposing the rest of the front to the limit: from Novgorod to Pogost, near Leningrad and Oranienbaum, Lindemann had 14 infantry divisions left. But the risk paid off. In addition, the advancing Soviet armies were deprived of maneuver, and they had to attack enemy positions in the forehead. The formations of the Soviet armies were already heavily exhausted and bled dry by the previous fierce battles for the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge. It was difficult to count on success in such conditions.
On January 20, after artillery preparation, the army went on the offensive. The 67th Army, with the forces of the 46th, 138th Rifle Divisions and the 152nd Tank Brigade, struck southeast of the 1st and 2nd Gorodoks. The army was supposed to capture Mustolovo and bypass Sinyavino from the west. The 142nd Marine Brigade and the 123rd Rifle Brigade were advancing on Sinyavino. The 123rd rifle division, 102nd rifle, 220th tank brigades had the task of breaking the enemy resistance in the area of the 1st and 2nd Gorodoks and reaching Arbuzovo. But the Soviet troops met with strong resistance and could not solve the assigned tasks. Successes were insignificant. Komfront Govorov decided to continue the attacks and allocated 4 rifle divisions, 2 rifle and 1 tank brigades from the front reserve. On January 25, the troops again went on the offensive, but, despite the introduction of reinforcements into the battle, they failed to break through the German defenses. Stubborn fighting continued until the end of January, but the 67th Army was never able to break the German order.
Events developed in a similar way in the sector of the 2nd shock army. The troops were forced to advance through swampy terrain, which deprived them of the proper support of artillery and tanks. German troops, relying on strong positions, offered fierce resistance. On January 25, the 2nd Shock Army was able to capture Workers' Settlement No. 6. Until the end of the month, units of the army fought hard battles for the Sinyavino Heights, part of the Round Grove and the Kvadratnaya Grove in the area of Workers' Settlement No. 6. On January 31, the 80th Infantry Division even managed to take Sinyavino , but the German troops knocked her out with a strong counterattack. In other areas, the army did not have much success.
By the end of the month, it became clear that the offensive had failed and that the plan to liberate the Neva and the Kirov railway was not yet being implemented. The plan needed a strong adjustment, the positions of the Germans on the line: 1st and 2nd Gorodok - Sinyavino - Gaitolovo, turned out to be too strong. To exclude possible attempts by the enemy to restore the blockade, the troops of the 67th and 2nd shock armies on January 30 went on the defensive at the turn north and east of the 2nd Gorodok, south of Rabochego Settlement No. 6 and north of Sinyavino, west of Gontovaya Lipka and east of Gaitolovo. The troops of the 67th Army continued to hold a small foothold on the left bank of the Neva in the area of Moscow Dubrovka. The Soviet command begins to prepare a new operation, which will be carried out in February 1943.
Report of the Soviet Information Bureau on the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad
Operation results
Soviet troops created a "corridor" along the shore of Lake Ladoga 8-11 km wide, broke through the long enemy blockade that was choking Leningrad. The event that all Soviet people have been waiting for so long has happened. There was a land connection between the second capital of the USSR and the mainland. The military-strategic plans of the German military-political leadership in relation to Leningrad were frustrated - the city was supposed to be "cleansed" of the inhabitants through a long blockade, hunger. The possibility of a direct connection of German and Finnish troops east of Leningrad was thwarted. The Leningrad and Volkhov fronts received direct communication, which increased their combat capabilities and significantly improved the strategic position of the Red Army in the northwestern direction. Thus, the operation "Iskra" became a turning point in the battle for Leningrad, from that moment the strategic initiative completely passed to the Soviet troops. The threat of storming the city on the Neva was excluded.
It should be noted that the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad was a serious blow to the prestige of the Third Reich in the world. No wonder the military observer of the British Reuters agency noted that "the breakthrough of the German fortified line south of Lake Ladoga is the same blow to A. Hitler's prestige as the crushing defeat of the German troops at Stalingrad."
The American President F. Roosevelt, on behalf of his people, sent a special letter to Leningrad “... in memory of its valiant warriors and its faithful men, women and children, who, being isolated by the invader from the rest of their people and despite constant bombardments and unspeakable suffering from cold, hunger and disease, successfully defended their beloved city during the critical period from September 8, 1941 to January 18, 1943, and thus symbolized the fearless spirit of the peoples of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and all the peoples of the world who resist the forces of aggression.
Soviet soldiers in this battle showed increased military skill, inflicting a defeat on the troops of the 18th German army. For courage and heroism shown in battles with the Nazis, 25 soldiers were awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union, about 22 thousand soldiers and commanders were awarded orders and medals. Supreme Commander I.V. Stalin, in an order dated January 25, 1943, for successful military operations to break the blockade of Leningrad, expressed gratitude to the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, congratulated them on the victory over the enemy. For the courage and heroism of the personnel, the 136th (commander Major General N.P. Simonyak) and 327th (commander Colonel N.A. Polyakov) rifle divisions were transformed into the 63rd and 64th guards rifle divisions, respectively. The 61st Tank Brigade (commanded by Colonel V.V. Khrustitsky) was transformed into the 30th Guards Tank Brigade, and the 122nd Tank Brigade was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
The losses under which the operation took place and the strength of the German defense in this sector of the front speak well. Soviet troops lost 115,082 people during the period January 12-30 (Operation Iskra) (of which 33,940 were irretrievable losses). Losses of the Leningrad Front - 41,264 people (12,320 - dead), and the Volkhov - 73,818 people (21,620 - irretrievably). During the same period, 41 tanks were lost (according to other sources, more than 200), 417 guns and mortars, and 41 aircraft. The Germans report the destruction of 847 tanks and 693 aircraft (for the period January 12 - April 4). Soviet sources report that during the period of January 12-30, the Germans lost more than 20 thousand people killed, wounded and captured. Soviet troops 7 enemy divisions.
At the same time, the Soviet troops were unable to complete the operation victoriously. Army Group North was still a serious enemy, and the German command responded in a timely manner to the loss of the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino ledge. Soviet strike groups were weakened by fierce fighting for a heavily fortified area and were unable to break into the new German defensive line. The defeat of the Mginsk-Sinyavinsk German grouping had to be postponed until February 1943. Leningrad, after breaking the blockade, was under a state of siege for another year. The city on the Neva was completely liberated from the German blockade only in January 1944 during Operation January Thunder.
Monument "The Broken Ring" of the Green Belt of Glory of the Defenders of Leningrad. The authors of the memorial: the author of the idea of the monument, sculptor K.M. Simun, architect V.G. Filippov, design engineer I.A. Rybin. Opened October 29, 1966
On January 27, the Russian Federation celebrates the Day of Military Glory of Russia - the Day of lifting the blockade of the city of Leningrad. The date is marked on the basis of the federal law "On the days of military glory and memorable dates in Russia" dated March 13, 1995.
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.
In September-October, enemy aircraft made several raids a day. The purpose of the enemy was not only to interfere with the activities of important enterprises, but also to create panic among the population. Especially intense shelling was carried out at the beginning and end of the working day. Many died during shelling and bombing, many buildings were destroyed.
The conviction that the enemy would not succeed in capturing Leningrad held back the pace of evacuation. More than two and a half million inhabitants, including 400,000 children, turned out to be in the besieged city. There were few food supplies, so food surrogates had to be used. Since the beginning of the introduction of the rationing system, the norms for issuing food to the population of Leningrad have been repeatedly reduced.
Autumn-winter 1941-1942 - the worst time of the blockade. Early winter brought cold with it - there was no heating, there was no hot water, and Leningraders began to burn furniture, books, and dismantled wooden buildings for firewood. The transport stopped. Thousands of people died from malnutrition and cold. But Leningraders continued to work - administrative offices, printing houses, polyclinics, kindergartens, theaters, a public library worked, scientists continued to work. 13-14-year-old teenagers worked, replacing their fathers who had gone to the front.
In the autumn on Ladoga, due to storms, the movement of ships was complicated, but tugboats with barges made their way around the ice fields until December 1941, some food was delivered by aircraft. Hard ice on Ladoga was not established for a long time, the norms for issuing bread were again reduced.
On November 22, the movement of vehicles along the ice road began. This highway was called the "Road of Life". In January 1942, traffic on the winter road was already constant. The Germans bombed and shelled the road, but they failed to stop the movement.
By January 27, 1944, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts broke the defenses of the 18th German army, defeated its main forces and advanced 60 km in depth. Seeing a real threat of encirclement, the Germans retreated. Krasnoye Selo, Pushkin, Pavlovsk were liberated from the enemy. January 27 was the day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the blockade. On this day, fireworks were given in Leningrad.
The blockade of Leningrad lasted 900 days and became the bloodiest blockade in the history of mankind. The historical significance of the defense of Leningrad is enormous. Soviet soldiers, having stopped the enemy hordes near Leningrad, turned it into a powerful bastion of the entire Soviet-German front in the northwest. By holding down significant forces of the fascist troops for 900 days, Leningrad thereby provided significant assistance to the development of operations on all other sectors of the vast front. In the victories near Moscow and Stalingrad, near Kursk and on the Dnieper - a significant share of the defenders of Leningrad.
The motherland highly appreciated the feat of the defenders of the city. Over 350 thousand soldiers, officers and generals of the Leningrad Front were awarded orders and medals, 226 of them were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. The medal "For the Defense of Leningrad" was awarded to about 1.5 million people.
For courage, steadfastness and unprecedented heroism in the days of a difficult struggle against the Nazi invaders, the city of Leningrad was awarded the Order of Lenin on January 20, 1945, and on May 8, 1965 received the honorary title "Hero City".
The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources
January 27, the day of lifting the blockade of Leningrad, is special in the history of our country. Today, on this date, the Day of Military Glory is celebrated annually. The city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) itself received the title of Hero City on May 1, 1945. On May 8, 1965, the northern capital was awarded the "Gold Star" medal and the Medal for Leningrad was also received by 1.496 million inhabitants of this city.
"Leningrad under siege" - a project dedicated to the events of that time
The country has preserved the memory of these heroic events to this day. January 27 (the day the blockade of Leningrad was lifted) in 2014 is already the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of the city. The Archival Committee of St. Petersburg presented a project called "Leningrad under siege". On the Internet portal "Archives of St. Petersburg" a virtual exhibition of various archival documents relating to the history of this city during the blockade was created. About 300 historical originals of the time were published. These documents are grouped into ten different sections, each of which is accompanied by expert comments. All of them reflect various aspects of life in Leningrad during the blockade.
Reconstruction of the wartime situation
Today it is not easy for young Petersburgers to imagine that the magnificent city-museum in which they live was sentenced to complete destruction by the Germans in 1941. However, he did not capitulate when he was surrounded by Finnish and German divisions, and managed to win, although he was seemingly doomed to death. In order for the current generation of city residents to have an idea of what their great-grandfathers and grandfathers had to endure in those years (which the surviving residents of besieged Leningrad remember as the most terrible time), one of the modern streets of the city, Italian, as well as Manezhnaya the area was "returned" to the 70th anniversary in the winter of 1941-1944. This project was called "Street of Life".
In the aforementioned places in St. Petersburg, there are various cultural institutions, as well as theaters, which did not stop their activities even in those difficult blockade years. Here, the windows of the houses were sealed with crosses, as was done in Leningrad at that time in order to protect against air raids, barricades from sandbags on the pavements were reconstructed, anti-aircraft guns, military trucks were brought to complete the reproduction of the situation of that time. So the seventieth anniversary of the siege of Leningrad was marked. According to estimates, approximately 3,000 buildings were destroyed by shells during the events of those years, and more than 7,000 were significantly damaged. Residents of besieged Leningrad erected various defensive structures to protect themselves from shelling. They built about 4 thousand bunkers and pillboxes, equipped about 22 thousand different firing points in buildings, and also erected 35 kilometers of anti-tank obstacles and barricades on the streets of the city.
Siege of Leningrad: main events and figures
The defense of the city, which began on September 8, 1941, lasted about 900 days and ended in 1944. January 27 - All these years, the only way through which the necessary products were delivered to the besieged city, as well as the seriously wounded and children were taken out, was laid in winter on the ice of Lake Ladoga. It was the Road of Life of besieged Leningrad. We will talk about it in more detail in our article.
The blockade was broken on January 18, 1943, and Leningrad was completely cleared on January 27. And it happened only the next year - in 1944. Thus, the residents had to wait a long time before the blockade of the city of Leningrad was finally lifted. Died during this period, according to various sources, from 400 thousand to 1.5 million inhabitants. The following number figured at the Nuremberg trials - 632 thousand dead. Only 3% of them - from shelling and bombing. The rest of the inhabitants died of starvation.
Beginning of events
Today, military historians believe that not a single city on earth in the entire history of warfare gave as many lives for the Victory as Leningrad did at that time. On the day (1941, June 22), in this city, as well as throughout the region, martial law was immediately introduced. On the night of June 22-23, fascist German aviation tried to make a raid on Leningrad for the first time. This attempt ended unsuccessfully. None of the enemy aircraft was allowed to enter the city.
The next day, June 24, the Leningrad Military District was transformed into the Northern Front. Kronstadt covered the city from the sea. It was one of the bases located at that time in the Baltic Sea. With the advance of the enemy troops on the territory of the region, a heroic defense began on July 10, which the history of Leningrad can be proud of. On September 6, the first Nazi bombs were dropped on the city, after which it began to be systematically subjected to air raids. In just three months, from September to November 1941, 251 air raid alerts were issued.
Loudspeakers and famous metronome
However, the stronger the threat faced the hero city, the more united the inhabitants of Leningrad opposed the enemy. About 1,500 loudspeakers were installed on the streets to warn Leningraders about air raids that were taking place in the first months. The population was notified by radio network about the air raid alert. The famous metronome, which went down in history as a cultural monument of the time of resistance, was broadcast through this network. Its fast rhythm meant that a military alarm had been announced, and its slow rhythm meant a retreat. Mikhail Melaned, the announcer, announced the alarm. There was not a single area in the city to which an enemy projectile could not reach. Therefore, the streets and areas in which the risk of being hit was the greatest were calculated. Here, people hung out signs or wrote with paint that this place was the most dangerous during shelling.
According to the plan of Adolf Hitler, the city was to be completely destroyed, and the troops defending it were to be destroyed. The Germans, having failed in a number of attempts to break through the defenses of Leningrad, decided to starve him out.
The first shelling of the city
Every inhabitant, including the elderly and children, became the defender of Leningrad. A special army was created in which thousands of people rallied into partisan detachments and fought the enemy on the fronts, participated in the construction of defensive lines. The evacuation of the population from the city, as well as the cultural values of various museums and industrial equipment, began already in the first months of hostilities. On August 20, enemy troops occupied the city of Chudovo, blocking the railway in the Leningrad-Moscow direction.
However, the divisions of the army under the name "North" failed to break into Leningrad on the move, although the front came close to the city. Systematic shelling began on 4 September. Four days later, the enemy captured the city of Shlisselburg, as a result of which land communication with the Great Land of Leningrad was stopped.
This event was the beginning of the blockade of the city. It turned out to be over 2.5 million inhabitants, including 400 thousand children. By the beginning of the blockade, the city did not have the necessary food supplies. As of September 12, they were calculated for only 30-35 days (bread), 45 days (cereals) and 60 days (meat). Even with the strictest economy, coal could last only until November, and liquid fuel - only until the end of the current one. Food rations, which were introduced under the rationing system, began to gradually decline.
Hunger and cold
The situation was aggravated by the fact that the winter of 1941 was early in Russia, and in Leningrad it was very fierce. Often the thermometer dropped to -32 degrees. Thousands of people died of hunger and cold. The peak of mortality was the time from November 20 to December 25 of this difficult 1941. During this period, the norms for issuing bread to fighters were significantly reduced - up to 500 grams per day. For those who worked in the hot shops, they amounted to only 375 grams, and for the rest of the workers and engineers - 250. For other segments of the population (children, dependents and employees) - only 125 grams. There were practically no other products. More than 4,000 people died of starvation every day. This figure was 100 times higher than the pre-war mortality rate. At the same time, male mortality significantly prevailed over female. By the end of the war, representatives of the weaker sex made up the bulk of the inhabitants of Leningrad.
The Role of the Road of Life in Victory
Communication with the country was carried out, as already mentioned, by the Road of Life of besieged Leningrad, passing through Ladoga. It was the only highway that was available between September 1941 and March 1943. It was along this road that the evacuation of industrial equipment and the population from Leningrad took place, the supply of food to the city, as well as weapons, ammunition, reinforcements and fuel. In total, over 1,615,000 tons of cargo was delivered to Leningrad along this route, and about 1.37 million people were evacuated. At the same time, in the first winter, about 360 thousand tons of cargo were received, and 539.4 thousand residents were evacuated. A pipeline was laid along the bottom of the lake in order to supply oil products.
Protecting the Road of Life
The Hitlerite troops constantly bombed and fired at the Road of Life in order to paralyze this only saving way. To protect it from air strikes, as well as to ensure uninterrupted operation, the means and forces of the country's air defense were involved. In various memorial ensembles and monuments today, the heroism of the people who made it possible for uninterrupted movement along it is immortalized. The main place among them is occupied by the "Broken Ring" - a composition on Lake Ladoga, as well as an ensemble called "Rumbolovskaya Mountain", located in Vsevolzhsk; in the village of Kovalevo), which is dedicated to the children who lived in Leningrad in those years, as well as a memorial complex installed in the village called Chernaya Rechka, where the soldiers who died on the Ladoga road rested in a mass grave.
Lifting the blockade of Leningrad
The blockade of Leningrad was broken for the first time, as we have already said, in 1943, on January 18th. This was carried out by the forces of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts together with the Baltic Fleet. The Germans were pushed back. Operation "Iskra" took place during the general offensive of the Soviet Army, which was widely deployed in the winter of 1942-1943 after the enemy troops were surrounded near Stalingrad. Army "North" acted against the Soviet troops. On January 12, the troops of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts went on the offensive, and six days later they united. On January 18, the city of Shlisselburg was liberated, and the southern coast of the strategically important Lake Ladoga was also cleared of the enemy. A corridor was formed between it and the front line, the width of which was 8-11 km. Through it within 17 days (just think about this period!) Automobile and railway routes were laid. After that, the supply of the city improved dramatically. The blockade was completely lifted on 27 January. The day of lifting the siege of Leningrad was marked by fireworks that lit up the sky of this city.
The siege of Leningrad was the most brutal in the history of mankind. Most of the residents who died at that time are buried today at the Piskarevsky Memorial Cemetery. The defense lasted, to be precise, 872 days. Leningrad of the pre-war time after that was no more. The city has changed a lot, many buildings had to be restored, some were rebuilt.
Diary of Tanya Savicheva
From the terrible events of those years, there are many testimonies. One of them is Tanya's diary. Leningradka began to conduct it at the age of 12. It was not published, since it consists of only nine terrible records about how members of the family of this girl died in succession in Leningrad at that time. Tanya herself also failed to survive. This notebook was presented at the Nuremberg trials as an argument accusing fascism.
This document is located today in the museum of the history of the hero city, and a copy is kept in the showcase of the memorial of the aforementioned Piskarevsky cemetery, where 570 thousand Leningraders were buried during the blockade of those who died of starvation or bombing in the period from 1941 to 1943, as well as in Moscow on Poklonnaya Hill .
The hand, which was losing strength due to hunger, wrote sparingly, unevenly. Struck by suffering, the child's soul was no longer capable of living emotions. The girl only recorded the terrible events of her life - "death visits" to her family's house. Tanya wrote that all the Savichevs were dead. However, she never found out that not everyone died, their race continued. Sister Nina was rescued and taken out of the city. She returned in 1945 to Leningrad, to her native home, and found Tanya's notebook among the plaster, fragments and bare walls. Brother Misha also recovered from a severe wound received at the front. The girl herself was discovered by employees of the sanitary teams who went around the houses of the city. She fainted from hunger. She, barely alive, was evacuated to the village of Shatki. Here, many orphans got stronger, but Tanya never recovered. For two years, doctors fought for her life, but the girl still died. She died in 1944, July 1st.
January 18, 1943 troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. The long-awaited victory came during Operation Iskra, which began on 12 January. The Red Army, advancing along the shore of Lake Ladoga, managed to break through a corridor about 10 km wide in the German defense. This made it possible to resume the supply of the city. The blockade was completely broken on January 27, 1944.
In July 1941, German troops entered the territory of the Leningrad Region. By the end of August, the Nazis occupied the city of Tosno, 50 km from Leningrad. The Red Army fought fierce battles, but the enemy continued to tighten the ring around the northern capital.
In the current situation, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the USSR, Joseph Stalin, sent a telegram to Vyacheslav Molotov, a member of the GKO, who was then in Leningrad:
“We have just been informed that Tosno has been taken by the enemy. If this continues, I'm afraid that Leningrad will be surrendered idiotically stupid, and all the Leningrad divisions are at risk of being captured. What are Popov and Voroshilov doing? They do not even report on the measures they are thinking of taking against such a danger. They are busy looking for new lines of retreat, in this they see their task. Where do they get such an abyss of passivity and purely rustic submission to fate? In Leningrad there are now many tanks, aviation, eres (rockets). Why are such important technical means not operating on the Lyuban-Tosno section? ... Don't you think that someone deliberately opens the way for the Germans in this decisive section? ... What, in fact, is Voroshilov busy with and how is his assistance to Leningrad expressed? I am writing about this because I am very alarmed by the incomprehensible inaction of the Leningrad command ... ".
Molotov replied to the telegram as follows: “1. Upon arrival in Leningrad, at a meeting with Voroshilov, Zhdanov and members of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front, the secretaries of the regional committee and the city committee, they sharply criticized the mistakes made by Voroshilov and Zhdanov ... regarding the artillery and aviation available here, possible assistance from the sailors, especially with naval artillery, issues of evacuation, eviction of 91 thousand Finns and 5 thousand Germans, as well as issues of food supply to Leningrad.
According to historians, there are no grounds to accuse Voroshilov of treason. In July and the first half of August 1941, being the commander-in-chief of the troops of the North-Western direction, Voroshilov carried out several successful counterattacks, regularly went to the front. The reasons why one of the first marshals of the USSR suddenly lost control of the situation are still unclear, experts say. On September 11, Voroshilov was removed from his post as commander of the North-Western Direction and the Leningrad Front. Georgy Zhukov became the new commander.
On September 2, the Germans cut the last railway connecting the city with the "mainland". The dense enemy ring around Leningrad closed on September 8, 1941. Now communication with the northern capital could be maintained only through Lake Ladoga and by air.
In the early days, the people of Leningrad were not told anything about the blockade. Moreover, the local command decided not to report the state of siege to the Headquarters either, hoping to break through the blockade within two weeks.
The newspaper "Leningradskaya Pravda" published on September 13 a message from the head of the Sovinformburo Lozovsky: "The statement of the Germans that they managed to cut off all the railways connecting Leningrad with the Soviet Union is an exaggeration common for the German command."
Leningrad residents learned about the blockade only at the beginning of 1942, when they began to massively evacuate the population from the city along the Road of Life.
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More than 2.5 million inhabitants turned out to be in besieged Leningrad, including.Young Leningrader Yura Ryabinkin left memories of the first day of the blockade hell in his notes: “And then the most terrible thing began. Gave alarm. I didn't even pay attention. But then I hear a noise in the yard. I looked out, looked first down, then up and saw ... 12 Junkers. Bombs exploded. One after another deafening explosions, but the glass did not rattle. It can be seen that the bombs fell far, but were extremely powerful. ... They bombed the harbor, the Kirov factory and, in general, that part of the city. The night has come. In the direction of the Kirov Plant, a sea of \u200b\u200bfire was visible. Little by little the fire subsides. Smoke penetrates everywhere, and even here we feel its pungent smell. It stings a little in my throat. Yes, this is the first real bombing of the city of Leningrad.”
There were not enough food supplies in the city, it was decided to introduce a system of food distribution by cards. Gradually, bread rations became smaller and smaller. From the end of November, the inhabitants of the besieged city received 250 grams of bread on a work card and half as much on an employee and a child.
“Aka handed me my 125g this morning. bread and 200 gr. candy. I have already eaten almost all the bread, what is 125 gr., it is a small slice, and I need to stretch these sweets for 10 days ... The situation in our city continues to be very tense. We are being bombed from planes, fired upon from guns, but that's still nothing, we're already so used to it that we're just surprised at ourselves. But the fact that our food situation is deteriorating every day is terrible. We don’t have enough bread,” recalled seventeen-year-old Lena Mukhina.
In the spring of 1942, scientists from the Leningrad Botanical Institute published a brochure with drawings of forage grasses growing in parks and gardens, as well as a collection of recipes from them. So on the tables of the inhabitants of the besieged city appeared cutlets from clover and wood lice, casserole from goutweed, dandelion salad, soup and nettle cakes.
According to the data of the NKVD Directorate for the Leningrad Region dated December 25, 1941, if before the start of the war less than 3500 people died in the city every month, then in October the figure increased to 6199 people, in November - up to 9183 people, and 39,073 Leningraders died in 25 days of December . In the following months, at least 3 thousand people died per day. During the 872 days of the blockade, about 1.5 million people died.
However, despite the monstrous famine, the besieged city continued to live, work and fight the enemy.
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Soviet troops unsuccessfully tried four times to break the enemy ring. The first two attempts were made in the autumn of 1941, the third - in January 1942, the fourth - in August-September 1942. And only in January 1943, when the main German forces were drawn to Stalingrad, the blockade was broken. This was done during Operation Iskra.According to legend, during the discussion of the name of the operation, Stalin, remembering previous failed attempts and hoping that during the fifth operation the troops of the two fronts would be able to unite and jointly develop success, said: “And let the Iskra burst into flames.”
By the time the operation began, almost 303 thousand people were at the disposal of the 67th and 13th air armies of the Leningrad Front, the 2nd shock army, as well as part of the forces of the 8th army and the 14th air army of the Volkhov Front, about 4, 9 thousand guns and mortars, more than 600 tanks and 809 aircraft. Command of the Leningrad Front was entrusted to Colonel-General Leonid Govorov, Volkhovsky - to Army General Kirill Meretskov. Marshals Georgy Zhukov and Klim Voroshilov were responsible for coordinating the actions of the two fronts.
Our troops were opposed by the 18th Army under the command of Field Marshal Georg von Küchler. The Germans had about 60 thousand people, 700 guns and mortars, about 50 tanks and 200 aircraft.
“At 9:30 am, the morning frosty silence was broken by the first salvo of artillery preparation. On the western and eastern sides of the Shlisselburg-Mga corridor of the enemy, thousands of guns and mortars from both fronts simultaneously spoke. For two hours a fiery hurricane raged over enemy positions in the directions of the main and auxiliary attacks of the Soviet troops. The artillery cannonade of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts merged into a single powerful roar, and it was difficult to make out who was firing and from where. Black fountains of explosions rose up ahead, trees swayed and fell, logs of the enemy's dugouts flew upwards. For every square meter of the breakthrough area, two or three artillery and mortar shells fell, ”Georgy Zhukov wrote in his Memoirs and Reflections.
A well-planned attack paid off. Overcoming the resistance of the enemy, the shock groups of both fronts managed to connect. By January 18, the soldiers of the Leningrad Front broke through the German defenses on the 12-kilometer section of Moscow Dubrovka - Shlisselburg. Having united with the troops of the Volkhov Front, they managed to restore the land connection between Leningrad and the country along a narrow strip of the southern shore of Lake Ladoga.
“January 18 is the day of the great triumph of our two fronts, and after them the entire Red Army, the entire Soviet people. ... The 18th Volkhov division in the south and the 372nd division in the north, together with the heroic defenders of Leningrad, broke through the fascist ring. The sparkle of the Iskra turned into the final fireworks - a salute with 20 volleys from 224 guns, ”recalled Kirill Meretskov.
During the operation, 34 thousand Soviet soldiers were killed. The Germans lost 23 thousand people.
Late in the evening of January 18, the Soviet Information Bureau informed the country about the breaking of the blockade, and volleys of festive fireworks sounded in the city. Over the next two weeks, engineers built a railway and a highway along the reclaimed corridor. A little more than a year remained before the final lifting of the blockade of Leningrad.
“The breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad is one of the main events that marked a radical turning point in the course of the Great Patriotic War. This instilled in the soldiers of the Red Army faith in the final victory over fascism. Also, one should not forget that Leningrad is the cradle of the revolution, a city that was of particular importance for the Soviet state,” said Vadim Trukhachev, Ph.D.