For 900 painful days and nights, Leningrad was cut off from the world. The Hero City on the Neva will never forget the heroism and courage shown by its residents during the blockade.

On January 27, Russians celebrate a great day in history - the Day of Lifting the Siege of Leningrad. We remember the places and monuments associated with the longest and bloodiest siege in history.

Obelisk “Hero City Leningrad” on Vosstaniya Square

The monument - a vertical granite monolith, decorated with bronze high reliefs - was erected to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. The top of the obelisk is crowned with the “Golden Star of the Hero”.

Motherland

The monument was erected at the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery. The sculpture of the Mother Motherland stretches out her hands in the cemetery alley. Behind the sculpture there is a stone wall on which are written the words of the famous poetess Olga Berggolts “No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten.”

Tanya Savicheva's apartment

The Savichev family lived in house No. 13/6 on the 2nd line of Vasilievsky Island. Tanya is a schoolgirl who has been keeping a diary since the beginning of the siege of Leningrad. This diary became one of the symbols of the Great Patriotic War.

Horn on Malaya Sadovaya

At the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and Malaya Sadovaya Street, a bullhorn has been preserved, near which Leningraders gathered daily to keep abreast of news from the front.

Traces of a shell on Anichkov Bridge

As a further reminder of the horrific events, some of the historic buildings were left with some traces of shell fragments.

Dangerous Side

The inscription, applied during the siege of Leningrad on the walls of many buildings using a stencil: “Citizens! During shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous.” There are only 6 such signs left in the city.

Globe against war

In the courtyard of house No. 4 on Nevsky Prospekt, the blockade is reminiscent of a globe on which are engraved poems by the poet Yu. Voronov: “So that that winter does not happen again on the earthly planet, we need our children to remember this, just like we do!”

Monument to the blockade tram

The only means of transport throughout Leningrad during the siege were trams. A commemorative car of the MS-29 model appeared in 2007 on Tramway Avenue in the Kirovsky District.

Blockade substation

This substation, located on the Fontanka embankment, provided current for the operation of trams during the blockade years. The memorial plaque reads: “To the feat of the trammen of Siege Leningrad. After the harsh winter of 1941-1942, this traction substation supplied energy to the network and ensured the movement of the revived tram."

Blockade well

At the end of 1941, the water supply system stopped working in Leningrad. The memorial composition “Siege Well” is a recollection that the siege survivors took water for life from wells or from an ice hole.

Monument to the Leningrad ice hole

The memorial sign “Blockade Ice Hole” is located on the approach to the Neva at house No. 21 on the Fontanka embankment - this is a monument to the ice hole. The memorial depicts a woman holding a child in her left hand and a bucket in her right.

Rzhevsky crossing

"Rzhevsky Corridor" - memorial route. It is to the Rzhevka station with “ mainland“Transport with food, medicine and ammunition arrived along the “Road of Life”.

Brick factory-crematorium

During the siege, on the site of the Victory Park metro pavilion, there was brick factory No. 1. The corpses of Leningraders who died and died of starvation during the siege were burned in the factory’s ovens.

Musical Comedy Theater on Italianskaya Street

This is the only theater that did not stop operating even in the most difficult days for the city.

Memorial "Cranes"

“Cranes” is a memorial ensemble in memory of the fallen heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Inscription on the stele with cranes:

THE MEMORY OF FALLEN HEROES, DEFENDERS OF LIFE, IS SACRED,

BE WORTHY OF HER WITH THE BRIGHT FEAT OF YOUR LIFE.

Leningrad Philharmonic

Here, on August 9, 1942, in besieged Leningrad, the premiere of D. Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony took place.

Museum of the Defense and Siege of Leningrad

The State Memorial Museum of the Defense and Siege of Leningrad is entirely dedicated to the history of the Battle of Leningrad in the Great Patriotic War.

House Radio

Radio occupied a special place in the life of besieged Leningrad. It kept the residents of the city on the Neva informed about the events taking place behind the blockade ring. O. Berggolts, N. Tikhonov and other prominent prose writers and poets constantly spoke at the microphone.

Monument to the children of the siege

The monument - a figure of a girl in a shawl and a stele symbolizing the window of besieged Leningrad - was opened in 2010 in the park on Nalichnaya Street, 55. The authors of the monument are Galina Dodonova and Vladimir Reppo.

Stela of the heroic defense of the Oranienbaum bridgehead

Thanks to the Oranienbaum patch, Soviet soldiers managed to maintain control over part of the Gulf of Finland adjacent to Leningrad, as well as preserve the historical heritage of Oranienbaum.

Broken ring

The Broken Ring Memorial, part of the Green Belt of Glory, is located on the western shore of Lake Ladoga. Two reinforced concrete arches symbolize the ring of the blockade, and the gap between them - the Road of Life.

Monument to a traffic controller on the Road of Life

The memorial complex “Monument to the Traffic Controller” appeared on the Road of Life in 1986. The monument reminds descendants of the feat of the girls who during the war showed the way to cars walking on the ice of Ladoga.

Leningrad Zoo

During the years of the siege, the zoo suffered greatly, but did not stop its work. In memory and gratitude of the heroic feat of the zoo employees, the zoo, despite the fact that the city was renamed, remained Leningrad.

The siege of Leningrad lasted exactly 871 days. This is the longest and most terrible siege of the city in the entire history of mankind. Almost 900 days of pain and suffering, courage and dedication. After many years after breaking the siege of Leningrad many historians, and ordinary people, wondered - could this nightmare have been avoided? Avoid - apparently not. For Hitler, Leningrad was a “tidbit” - after all, here is the Baltic Fleet and the road to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk, from where help came from the allies during the war, and if the city had surrendered, it would have been destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth. Could the situation have been mitigated and prepared for in advance? The issue is controversial and worthy of separate research.

The first days of the siege of Leningrad

On September 8, 1941, in continuation of the offensive of the fascist army, the city of Shlisselburg was captured, thus closing the blockade ring. In the first days, few people believed in the seriousness of the situation, but many residents of the city began to thoroughly prepare for the siege: literally in a few hours all savings were withdrawn from the savings banks, the shops were empty, everything possible was bought up. Not everyone was able to evacuate when systematic shelling began, but it began immediately, in September, the routes for evacuation were already cut off. There is an opinion that it was the fire that occurred on the first day siege of Leningrad in the Badaev warehouses - in the repository of the city's strategic reserves - provoked a terrible famine during the blockade days. However, recently declassified documents provide slightly different information: it turns out that there was no “strategic reserve” as such, since in the conditions of the outbreak of war it was impossible to create a large reserve for such a huge city as Leningrad was (and about 3 people lived in it at that time). million people) was not possible, so the city fed on imported products, and existing supplies would only last for a week. Literally from the first days of the blockade, ration cards were introduced, schools were closed, military censorship was introduced: any attachments to letters were prohibited, and messages containing decadent sentiments were confiscated.

Siege of Leningrad - pain and death

Memories of the people's siege of Leningrad who survived it, their letters and diaries reveal to us a terrible picture. A terrible famine struck the city. Money and jewelry have lost value. The evacuation began in the fall of 1941, but only in January 1942 did it become possible to withdraw a large number of people, mostly women and children, across the Road of Life. There were huge queues at the bakeries where daily rations were distributed. Besides hunger besieged Leningrad attacked and other disasters: very frosty winters, sometimes the thermometer dropped to -40 degrees. The fuel ran out and the water pipes froze - the city was left without electricity, and drinking water. Rats became another problem for the besieged city in the first winter of the siege. They not only destroyed food supplies, but also spread all kinds of infections. People died and there was no time to bury them; the corpses lay right on the streets. Cases of cannibalism and robbery appeared.

Life of besieged Leningrad

Simultaneously Leningraders They tried with all their might to survive and not let their hometown die. Moreover, Leningrad helped the army by producing military products - the factories continued to operate in such conditions. Theaters and museums resumed their activities. It was necessary to prove to the enemy, and, most importantly, to ourselves: Leningrad blockade will not kill the city, it continues to live! One of the striking examples of amazing dedication and love for the Motherland, life, and hometown is the story of the creation of one piece of music. During the blockade, the famous symphony of D. Shostakovich, later called “Leningrad”, was written. Or rather, the composer began writing it in Leningrad, and finished it in evacuation. When the score was ready, it was delivered 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 allow a single fascist plane to approach the city! Throughout the blockade days, the Leningrad radio worked, which was for all Leningraders not only a life-giving spring of information, but also simply a symbol of ongoing life.

The Road of Life is the pulse of a besieged city

From the first days of the blockade, the Road of Life began its dangerous and heroic work - pulse besieged LeningradA. In summer there is a water route, and in winter there is an ice route connecting Leningrad with the “mainland” along Lake Ladoga. On September 12, 1941, the first barges with food arrived in the city along this route, and until late autumn, until storms made navigation impossible, barges walked along the Road of Life. Each of their flights was a feat - enemy aircraft constantly carried out their bandit raids, weather conditions were often not in the sailors’ hands either - the barges continued their flights even in late autumn, until the ice appeared, when navigation was in principle impossible. On November 20, the first horse-drawn sleigh train descended onto the ice of Lake Ladoga. A little later, trucks started driving along the ice Road of Life. The ice was very thin, despite the fact that the truck was carrying only 2-3 bags of food, the ice broke, and there were frequent cases when trucks sank. At the risk of their lives, the drivers continued their deadly flights until spring. Military highway No. 101, as this route was called, made it possible to increase bread rations and evacuate a large number of people. The Germans constantly sought to break this thread connecting the besieged city with the country, but thanks to the courage and fortitude of Leningraders, the Road of Life lived on its own 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 the Road of Life Museum.

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

At all times, there is no greater grief than a suffering child. Siege children are a special topic. Having matured early, not childishly serious and wise, they did their best, along with adults, 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 the besieged city. In the first winter siege of Leningrad many children were evacuated, but despite this, for various reasons, many more children remained in the city. The Palace of Pioneers, located in the famous Anichkov Palace, went under martial law with the beginning of the war. It must be said that 3 years before the start of the war, a 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 students in the besieged city, and from the children remaining in the city, choreographer A.E. Obrant created a dance group. It’s scary to even imagine and compare the terrible days of the siege and pre-war dances! But nevertheless, the ensemble was born. 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 group took place. The soldiers, 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 alarms; it happened that young dancers performed several 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".

Breaking the blockade of Leningrad

In 1943, a turning point occurred in the war, and at the end of the year Soviet troops were preparing to liberate the city. On January 14, 1944, during the general offensive of the Soviet troops, the final operation began to lifting the blockade of Leningrad. The task was to deliver a crushing blow to the enemy south of Lake Ladoga and restore the land routes connecting the city with the country. By January 27, 1944, the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, with the help of Kronstadt artillery, carried out breaking the siege of Leningrad. The Nazis began to retreat. Soon the cities of Pushkin, Gatchina and Chudovo were liberated. The blockade was completely lifted.

A tragic and great page in Russian history that 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, and is passed from hand to hand to descendants, this will not happen again! Siege of Leningrad briefly, but Vera Inberg succinctly described her lines as a hymn to the great city and at the same time a requiem for the departed.

the first days of the siege of Leningrad

On September 8, 1941, on the 79th day of the Great Patriotic War, a blockade ring closed around Leningrad

The Germans and their allies advancing on Leningrad had the categorical goal of its complete destruction. The headquarters of the Soviet command allowed for the possibility of surrendering the city and began the evacuation of valuables and industrial facilities in advance.

Residents of the city knew nothing 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 affected 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 intentions to raze the city to the ground. The same statements were made by the leadership of Finland, Germany’s ally and partner in the military operations for the siege of Leningrad.

In September 1941, Finnish President Risto Ryti directly stated to the German envoy in Helsinki: “If St. Petersburg no longer exists as a large city, then the Neva would be best border on the Karelian Isthmus... Leningrad must be liquidated as a large city."

Supreme Command ground forces The Wehrmacht (OKH), giving the order to encircle Leningrad on August 28, 1941, defined the tasks of 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 poet and prose writer

On September 10, the First Deputy People's Commissar of the NKVD of the USSR, Vsevolod Merkulov, arrived in Leningrad on a special mission, who, together with Alexei Kuznetsov, the second secretary of the regional party committee, was supposed to prepare a set of measures in the event of the forced surrender of the city to the enemy.

“Without any sentimentality, the Soviet leadership understood that the struggle could develop even according to the most negative scenario,” the researcher is confident.

Historians believe that neither Stalin nor the command of the Leningrad Front knew about the Germans’ refusal to plan to storm the city and about the transfer of the most combat-ready units of the 4th tank army Gepner to the Moscow direction. Therefore, until the blockade was lifted, 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 hometown. The Battle of Leningrad began on July 10, 1941, when 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, on 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 Badayevsky warehouses on the first day of the siege, where 38 food warehouses and storerooms burned down, had a particular effect on the townspeople. The supply of food they had was small and could have lasted the city for a maximum of a week, but as rations tightened, Leningraders became increasingly confident that this fire was the cause of mass starvation in the city.

bread 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 occurred at the front. In addition, the enemy actively carried out propaganda activities in the city, of which the so-called whisper propaganda was especially widespread, spreading rumors of invincibility German army and the defeat of the USSR. Artillery terror also played a role - constant massive shelling to which the city was subjected from September 1941 until the blockade was lifted.

Historians say that the totality of tragic circumstances that disrupted the normal course of life of Leningraders reached its peak in December 1941, when food standards became minimal, most enterprises stopped working due to a lack of electricity, and water supply, transport, and other city infrastructure practically stopped working.

“This set of circumstances is what we call a blockade,” says Nikita Lomagin. “It’s not just the encirclement of the city, it’s the shortage of everything against the backdrop of hunger, cold and shelling, the cessation of the functioning of traditional connections for the metropolis between workers, engineers, enterprises, teachers, institutions, etc. The rupture of this fabric of life was an extremely severe psychological blow."

The only link connecting the urban space during 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 September 12. The German offensive was stopped, but the Nazi command continued to insist that the blockade ring around the city shrink closer 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 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 under those conditions,” says Vyacheslav Mosunov.

“Up until the start of the Great Patriotic War, 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 a consequence of pre-war plans."

Alexander Werth, British journalist, 1943

The question of declaring Leningrad an open city could never arise, as it did, for example, with Paris in 1940. War fascist Germany against the USSR was a war of extermination, and the Germans never made a secret of this.

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 wonderful literary traditions associated with it (this primarily concerned the intelligentsia) here was combined with the great proletarian and revolutionary traditions of the city’s working class. And nothing could have united these two sides of the Leningraders’ love for their city more tightly 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 you're lucky, life) in your 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 the more important role in saving Leningrad; all three factors were combined in that extraordinary phenomenon that can be called “Leningrad in the days of the war.”

“For the German command, the offensive turned into an actual military defeat,” notes Vyacheslav Mosunov. “Out of the 4th Panzer Group, only the 41st Motorized Corps was able to fully complete its task without additional assistance. It managed to break through the defenses of the 42nd Army and complete the task to capture the Dudergof Heights. However, the enemy was unable to use his success."

The blockade of the city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) during the Great Patriotic War was carried out by German troops from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944 with the goal of breaking the resistance of the city’s defenders and taking possession of it.

When launching an attack on the USSR, the fascist German leadership attached exceptional importance to the capture of Leningrad. It planned to strike Army Group North from East Prussia in the north-east direction and two Finnish Army Groups from the south-eastern part of Finland in the south and south-east directions to destroy the Soviet troops located in the Baltic States, to capture ports on the Baltic Sea, including Leningrad and Kronstadt, acquire the most convenient sea and land communications for supplying their troops and a favorable starting area for striking in the rear of the Red Army troops covering Moscow. The offensive of fascist German troops directly to Leningrad began on July 10, 1941. In August, heavy fighting was already taking place on the outskirts of the city. On August 30, German troops cut the railways connecting Leningrad with the country.

On September 8, 1941, Nazi troops captured Shlisselburg and cut off Leningrad from the entire country by land. An almost 900-day blockade of the city began, communication with which was maintained only by Lake Ladoga and by air.

The only military-strategic transport route passed through Lake Ladoga, connecting besieged Leningrad with the country in September 1941 - March 1943. It was called by Leningraders "The Road of Life". During navigation periods, transportation along the “Road of Life” was carried out along the water route on ships of the Ladoga Military Flotilla and ships of the North-Western River Shipping Company; during freeze-up, along the ice road in vehicles.

German troops made numerous attempts to capture the city, but were unable to break through the defenses of the Soviet troops inside the blockade ring. Then the Nazis decided to starve the city out. According to all the calculations of the German command, Leningrad should have been wiped off the face of the earth, and the city’s population should have died of hunger and cold. In an effort to implement this plan, the enemy carried out barbaric bombings and artillery shelling of Leningrad. In total, during the blockade, about 150 thousand shells were fired at the city and over 107 thousand incendiary and high-explosive bombs were dropped. During the shelling and bombing, many buildings in Leningrad were destroyed.

The city created extremely difficult conditions for the residents and the troops defending it. In the blocked city (with its suburbs), although the evacuation continued, 2.887 million residents remained, including 400 thousand children.

Food supplies were extremely limited. Since the beginning of the introduction of the card system (from July 18, 1941), the norms for the distribution of food to the city population have been repeatedly reduced. In November-December 1941, a worker could receive only 250 grams of bread per day, and employees, children and the elderly - only 125 grams.

The bread was raw and contained up to 40% impurities.

In the autumn of 1941, famine began in Leningrad. Surrogate bread was almost the only food product for most blockade survivors; other food (meat, fats, sugar) was provided in extremely limited quantities, intermittently.

In the second half of November 1941, a highway was built on the ice of Lake Ladoga. Ammunition, weapons, food, medicine, fuel were transported along it, and the sick, wounded, and disabled were evacuated from Leningrad (from September 1941 to March 1943, more than 1.6 million tons of cargo were transported to Leningrad, about 1.4 million were evacuated Human). The work of the route did not stop, despite the bombing, shelling, and bad weather. With the start of operation of the Ladoga highway, the bread ration began to gradually increase (from December 25, 1941 - 200-350 grams).

The disruption of stable communications with the country and the cessation of the regular supply of fuel, raw materials and food had a catastrophic effect on the life of the city. Fuel reserves have run out. Electricity supply to residential buildings was cut off, trams and trolleybuses stopped. In January 1942, due to severe frosts Broke down central heating, water supply and sewerage networks. Utilities stopped working. Residents went to fetch water from the Neva, Fontanka, and other rivers and canals. Temporary stoves were installed in residential buildings. The dismantling of wooden buildings for fuel was organized.

Acute lack of nutrition, early cold weather, grueling walks to work and home, and constant nervous tension undermined people's health. The death rate increased every week. The most weakened people were sent to hospitals, hospitals were created for patients with dystrophy, children were placed in orphanages and nurseries.

Leningraders selflessly overcame the consequences of the blockade winter. At the end of March - beginning of April 1942, they completed a huge job of sanitary cleaning of the city. In the spring of 1942, navigation began on Lake Ladoga. Water transportation became the main means of overcoming the consequences of the blockade winter and reviving the urban economy.

In the summer of 1942, a pipeline was laid along the bottom of Lake Ladoga to supply Leningrad with fuel, and in the fall - an energy cable. In December 1942, residential buildings began to be connected to the electrical grid.

The struggle for Leningrad was fierce. A plan was developed that included measures to strengthen the defense of Leningrad, including anti-aircraft and anti-artillery. Over 4,100 pillboxes and bunkers were built in the city, 22 thousand firing points were installed in buildings, and over 35 kilometers of barricades and anti-tank obstacles were installed on the streets. 300 thousand Leningraders participated in local units air defense cities. Day and night they kept their watch at factories, in the courtyards of houses, on the roofs.

In the difficult conditions of the blockade, the working people of the city provided the front with weapons, equipment, uniforms, and ammunition. From the population of the city, 10 divisions of the people's militia were formed, seven of which became personnel. In 1941-1944, two thousand tanks, 1.5 thousand aircraft, 4,650 naval and field guns, 850 warships and vessels of various classes were manufactured and repaired in the city; produced 225 thousand machine guns, 12 thousand mortars, 7.5 million shells and mines.

Soviet troops repeatedly tried to break through the blockade ring, but achieved this only in January 1943. A corridor 8-11 kilometers wide was formed south of Lake Ladoga, restoring Leningrad’s land connection with the country.

Through it, within 17 days, they were laid Railway and a highway. The establishment of land communications eased the situation for the population and troops in Leningrad.

The blockade of Leningrad was lifted completely during the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, carried out by Soviet troops from January 14 to March 1, 1944.

The artillery shelling of the city, which killed about 17 thousand people and injured about 34 thousand, stopped. The enemy's plans to destroy Leningrad and force the defending Soviet troops to surrender failed.

January 27, 1944 became the day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the siege. On this day, a festive fireworks display was given in Leningrad (the only exception during the Great Patriotic War; other fireworks were performed in Moscow).

It lasted almost 900 days and became the bloodiest blockade in the history of mankind: over 641 thousand inhabitants died from starvation and shelling (according to other sources, at least one million people). At the Nuremberg trials, the number of 632 thousand people appeared. Only 3% of them died from bombing and shelling, the rest died of starvation.

Victims of the blockade were buried in all city and suburban cemeteries, the places of the most mass graves being Piskarevskoye Cemetery and Serafimovskoye Cemetery.

The feat of the city’s defenders was highly appreciated: over 350 thousand soldiers, officers and generals of the Leningrad Front were awarded orders and medals, 226 of them were awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union. The medal "For the Defense of Leningrad", which was established in December 1942, was awarded to about 1.5 million people.

On January 26, 1945, the city of Leningrad itself was awarded the Order of Lenin.

On December 22, 1942, by Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces, the medal “For the Defense of Leningrad” was established, which was awarded to about 1.5 million defenders of the city.

For the first time, Leningrad was named a hero city in Stalin’s order of May 1, 1945. In 1965, he was officially awarded this title.

In May 1965, the city was awarded the Gold Star medal.

The Federal Law “On Days of Military Glory and Memorable Dates of Russia” of March 13, 1995 (with subsequent amendments) established January 27 as the Day of Military Glory of Russia - the Day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade (1944).

The memorial ensembles of Piskarevskoye and Seraphim cemeteries are dedicated to the memory of the victims of the siege and the fallen participants in the defense of Leningrad, and the Green Belt of Glory was created around the city along the former siege ring of the front.

The anniversary of the beginning of the siege of Leningrad in St. Petersburg is celebrated as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Siege. This day was first celebrated in 1990.

(Additional

While walking along Stachek Avenue, you may come across an old tram standing to the side of the road. In fact, this is a monument to the siege tram, a kind of symbol of the courage and valor of Leningraders. The city's first tram was launched along Sadovaya Street in 1907, and the monument was erected to mark the centenary of this event.

 ave. Stachek, 114

Siege Temple

This church is consecrated in the name of the Assumption Holy Mother of God. It is also called the temple of memory of the Leningrad siege.

 Malookhtinsky Prospekt, 52

Museum-Reserve "Breakthrough the Siege of Leningrad" 0+

Military Museum-Reserve "Breakthrough the Siege of Leningrad" opened in 1990, combining the diorama museum and areas of the southern Ladoga region, where important events of the operation to lift the siege of Leningrad took place.

 Leningrad region, Kirovsk, st. Pionerskaya, 1

Monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad

The composition was created according to the design of the People's Architects of the USSR Speransky and Kamensky. On May 9, 1975, the grand opening of the monument took place.

 square of victory

The vertical obelisk made of granite is decorated with bronze high reliefs, and the “Golden Star of the Hero” is installed at the top of the monument. The monument was opened on the 40th anniversary of the celebration of victory in the Great Patriotic War.

 Nevsky Prospekt, 85

Museum "Kobona: Road of Life"

The museum's exhibition is dedicated to the feat of the heroes who, at the cost of their lives, defended the only route connecting the starving, besieged Leningrad with the rest of the world.

 Leningrad region, Kirov district, village. Kobona, st. Staroladoga Canal, 2nd line, no. 2

Memorial "Broken Ring"

Two semicircular arches symbolize the rupture of the blockade ring around Leningrad, and the gap between them - the Road of Life.

 Leningrad region, Lomonosov district, pos. Kokkorevo

St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic named after Dmitry Shostakovich (Great Hall)

Cultural life continued in the besieged city. In particular, the premiere of Dmitry Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 took place at the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. This happened on August 9, 1942.

 st. Mikhailovskaya, 2

Museum "Nevsky Piglet"

One of the most heroic and bloodiest events of the Great Patriotic War is reflected in the exhibition.

 Leningrad region, Vsevolozhsk district, Nevskaya Dubrovka village, st. Leningradskaya, 3

Stele and memorial plaque to the sailors of minesweepers on Elagin Island
Central Park of Culture and Leisure named after Kirov

Even before the declaration of war, Nazi troops mined the exits to the Baltic Gulf. From 1942 to 1944, the Baltic Fleet was locked in the Neva Bay. Thanks to the selfless feat of the minesweepers, the Great Ship Channel was cleared. The day of breaking the naval mine blockade of Leningrad - June 5, 1944 - became an official city holiday.

 Elagin Island, 4b

In 1941, Soviet sailors evacuated groups of troops who found themselves in the occupied territories. The transfer of personnel from Tallinn to Kronstadt took place on August 28-30 under conditions of heavy enemy fire. The successful operation was a real feat.

 Kronstadt, Anchor Square, Memory Wall

Evidence of the horrors that the siege survivors experienced is the diary of a girl whose family died. The document became one of the symbols of the Great Patriotic War. Every year in memorable dates Flowers are brought to the door of the apartment where the Savichevs lived in memory of the victims of the blockade.

 2nd line V.O., 13/6, apt. 1

Home front workers selflessly worked for victory, but if the need arose, they took up arms and joined the ranks of fighters.

 st. Marshala Govorova, 29

There are six such signs left from wartime in St. Petersburg. They were stenciled and warned about the dangerous side of the street. During shelling, such inscriptions saved many lives.

 Nevsky Prospekt, 14

During the tragic blockade period, the water surface became the only artery connecting the city with the rest of the country. The contribution of the Baltic sailors to the victory cannot be overestimated. The modest gift of Leningraders is a monument to courageous heroes.

 st. Mezhevoy Canal, 5

A sign of recognition to the commander who led the defense and liberation of Leningrad. The bronze figure of the marshal was installed on January 25, 1999.

 pl. Strike

The siege of the city lasted for 900 days. Soldiers and sailors came to his defense - warriors Soviet army and residents of Leningrad. They showed heroism and unparalleled courage, defended Leningrad under inhuman conditions and defeated the enemy. The memorial obelisk is a tribute to everyone who contributed to the victory.

 st. Leni Golikova, 15, building 5

The granite flower is part of the memorial to the Leningrad children who died during the siege. Opened on October 28, 1968. The memorial also includes the funeral mound “Tanya Savicheva’s Diary” and the Friendship Alley.

 3rd km of the Road of Life

Fierce fighting took place on a small bridgehead on the banks of the Tosny River in 1942. An area of ​​600 by 400 meters was literally filled with lead - fragments of shells and bombs. In the 1960s, a memorial complex was built on this site - eternal glory fallen soldiers.

 Leningrad region, Otradnoye

During the battles for the city, the Soviet people showed unparalleled heroism. Nikolai Pavlovich Tuzhik died a heroic death during the battle for the village of Kamenka on the Pulkovo Heights. At the cost of his life, he restored the operational telephone cable between military headquarters. A cross-monument (cenotaph) on his grave at the Volkovskoye cemetery was erected on the anniversary of his death - in 2013.

 Rasstanny pr-d, 3, Volkovskoe cemetery

A reminder of the massive shelling and bombing to which the city was subjected - traces of shell fragments on the Anichkov Bridge. Left as evidence of a tragic period in the history of Leningrad.

 Nevsky Prospect, Anichkov Bridge