Siege of the city of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War (1941). Siege Leningrad

The topic of the Blockade is becoming increasingly distant from modern St. Petersburg residents. Everything is covered with a historical patina, as if it didn’t happen to our loved ones and happened a thousand years ago. But those who remember the blockade are alive. The city, which covered itself with unfading glory, did not forget either. It reminds its current residents of what happened on this street, on this embankment and in this park.

Statue of Mother Motherland
The main monument to the Great Patriotic War in St. Petersburg today is the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery, where there is a statue of the Mother Motherland stretching out its arms to the cemetery alley. Thousands of St. Petersburg residents traditionally come here on memorable dates. And here, as a rule, the government of St. Petersburg lays wreaths.

Tanya Savicheva's apartment
By the beginning of the war, the Savichevs lived in house No. 13/6 on the 2nd line of Vasilyevsky Island. Tanya is a Leningrad schoolgirl who, from the beginning of the siege of Leningrad, began keeping a diary in a notebook left over from her older sister Nina. This diary has nine pages, six of which contain the death dates of people close to her - her mother, grandmother, sister, brother and two uncles. Almost the entire family of Tanya Savicheva died during the Leningrad blockade between December 1941 and May 1942. Tanya herself was evacuated, but her health was severely compromised, and she also died. Only her older sister Nina and older brother Mikhail survived the blockade, thanks to whom Tanya’s diary became one of the symbols of the Great Patriotic War.

Horn on Malaya Sadovaya
In May 2002, at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and Malaya Sadovaya Street in Leningrad, a monument to the loudspeaker was unveiled - the first and only of its kind.
3. Traces of a shell on the Anichkov Bridge
After the war, during restoration work in the early 1970s, some of the traces of shell fragments were left on some historical buildings as a monument to the siege. Nearby are memorial plaques by architect V. A. Petrov with the following content: “These are traces of one of the 148,478 shells fired by the Nazis at Leningrad in 1941-44.” Memorable traces are preserved on the northwestern granite pedestal of Klodt's horse on the Anichkov Bridge.

Dangerous Side
“Citizens! During shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous” - an inscription applied during the siege of Leningrad on the walls of many buildings in the city using a stencil. Currently there are inscriptions on the walls:
- house No. 14 on Nevsky Prospekt (size 62x91 cm);
- house No. 61 on Lesnoy Prospekt (size 61x80 cm);
- house No. 7 on the 22nd line of Vasilyevsky Island (size 60x80 cm);
- house No. 6 building 2 on Kalinina Street;
- house No. 17/14 on Posadskaya Street in Kronstadt (size 65x90 cm);
- house No. 25 on Ammerman Street in Kronstadt (size 65x92 cm);

Globe against war
In the courtyard of house No. 4, unnoticed by tourists, there is a globe on which are engraved the verses of the blockade poet: “So that that winter does not happen again on the earthly planet, we need our children to remember this, like we do!”

Monument to the blockade tram
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 first tram in the city was launched along Sadovaya Street in 1907, and this monument was built for the centenary of this event. “Here in September 1941, the Peterhof highway was blocked by tram cars to protect Leningrad from fascist tanks” and the “Blockade tram” type MS was installed in 2007 year in honor of the centenary of the St. Petersburg tram" - inscriptions on memorial stones included in the ensemble of the monument.

Blockade substation
This substation is located on Fontanka embankment, 3. On April 15, 1942, voltage was given, which made it possible to launch a regular passenger tram. There is a memorial plaque on the building: “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."

They took water here
On the Fontanka, on the descent to the water opposite the Shuvalov Palace, there is a memorial sign “Blockade Polynya”. Here Leningraders took drinking water from an ice hole. Of course, it was collected from all rivers and canals, as well as from a burst water pipe on Nevsky opposite Gostiny Dvor. Another monument “Source of Life” was installed at house No. 6 on Nepokorennykh Avenue. There was a well here, and the wall panel depicts a woman holding a child and a bucket.

Blockade well
At the end of 1941, the water supply system stopped working in Leningrad. During the siege days, Leningraders came to the well for water, which became a source of life for them. On the wall of house No. 6 on Nepokorennykh Avenue in 1979 by sculptor M.L. Krupp created the memorial composition “Blockade Well”. Above a bowl of water on the wall of the house there is a woman holding a child in her arms.

Rzhevsky crossing
The Rzhevsky corridor is a memorial route, a monument to the Heroic Defense of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) during the Great Patriotic War. Transport with food, medicine, and ammunition arrived from the “mainland” along the “Road of Life” to Rzhevka Station. The first 7 km from the station to the city center were called the “Rzhev Corridor”. Along this route, trucks and special locomotives-trams transported cargo to distribution points, medicines to hospitals, and flour to bakeries.

Brick factory-crematorium
A memorial cross at the site of the former Brick Factory No. 1 of the Construction Materials Industry Administration - a crematorium where the bodies of several hundred thousand dead and starved were burned during the war and blockade. The Orthodox eight-pointed cross with an icon mounted on it was opened on June 22, 1996. On the cross there is the inscription “Here were the ovens of the brick factory-crematorium. The ashes of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and residents of besieged Leningrad rest in the ponds and lawns under your feet. Eternal memory to them!”

Musical comedy theater
The Musical Comedy Theater is the only theater that did not stop operating during the difficult days of the blockade. It is located on Italianskaya street, 13.

Dmitry Shostakovich's apartment
The Dmitry Shostakovich Memorial Museum opened in St. Petersburg on November 25, 2006. It can be said without a doubt that it was within these walls that Shostakovich’s creative genius blossomed - here he first sat down at the piano, and years later wrote the famous First Symphony, Lady Macbeth and several famous ballets.

Leningrad Philharmonic.
St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic named after. D. D. Shostakovich is a state cultural institution in St. Petersburg, the oldest of the Russian philharmonic societies. It consists of the Small and Large halls, located at a distance from each other. It was here that on August 9, 1942, in besieged Leningrad, the premiere of D. Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony took place.

House Radio
Radio occupied a special place in the life of Leningrad, which was besieged by the enemy in 1941-1945. It connected the townspeople with the country, keeping them informed of the events taking place behind the blockade ring. Sun always performed at the microphone. Vishnevsky, O. Berggolts, N. Tikhonov, A. Prokofiev, other prominent prose writers and poets. The monumental building occupied by the Radio House was erected in 1912-1914 by famous St. Petersburg architects brothers G. A. and Vas. A. and Vl. A.

All-Union Institute of Plant Growing
All-Russian Institute of Plant Science named after. N. I. Vavilova (VIR) - research institute in St. Petersburg. The institute stored very rare varieties of grain crops. During the blockade, when even dogs became food, the institute’s staff did not touch these rare exhibits. And they died of hunger.

Memorial "Cranes"
Nevsky Memorial "Cranes" - a memorial ensemble in memory of the fallen heroes of the Great Patriotic War in St. Petersburg (Dalnevostochny Ave. - Novoselov St.). Previously, in this part of the city, between modern Novoselov and Telman streets, there was a Nevskoe cemetery. In 1941-1943. Soldiers and civilians of Leningrad who died during the siege were buried at the Nevsky Cemetery. When planning the area for residential development and laying new highways, the Nevskoye Cemetery was razed to the ground.

Museum of the Defense and Siege of Leningrad
The State Memorial Museum of the Defense and Siege of Leningrad is a museum in St. Petersburg dedicated to the history of the Battle of Leningrad in the Great Patriotic War. The exhibition includes (about 20,000 items):
- samples of weapons and household items
- propaganda posters
- documents, maps, newspapers from the battle period
- documentary evidence of living conditions in besieged Leningrad
- paintings and sculptures of battle participants

Oranienbaum
In the fall of 1941, Soviet troops occupied a bridgehead on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. Oranienbaum became its center. Thanks to the courage and perseverance of the soldiers, the suburb of Leningrad, living in the double ring of the blockade, was the only one that was not destroyed during the bombing and retained its splendor.

Monument to the hero-schoolboy
In 1997, in the park on Kulibina Square in St. Petersburg, a monument to Hero of the Soviet Union Vladimir Ermak was erected using public money. On July 19, 1943, during reconnaissance in force in the Sinyavinsky Heights area, he covered the embrasure of an enemy bunker with his body, thereby ensuring the group of reconnaissance officers completed a combat mission. The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded posthumously on February 21, 1944.

Monument to a traffic controller on the Road of Life
“The monument to the Traffic Controller appeared on the Road of Life in 1986. The authors of the Road of Life memorial complex could not help but capture the feat of the girls who during the war showed the way to cars walking on the ice of Ladoga. The traffic controller was stationed at the Ryabovsky railway crossing, next to the pillar marking the zero kilometer of the main road for Leningrad. In 2004, during the construction of the ring road, the monument was completely lost. Restored in 2007. Installed in a new location in 2010.

Leningrad Zoo
During the war years, the zoo suffered greatly, but did not stop its work even in the most difficult conditions of the blockade. The servants managed to preserve part of the animal collection and even received young animals, visiting lectures were held, and in the summer the zoo was open to visitors. In memory of the heroic feat of the employees who preserved the zoo during the siege, the zoo, despite the renaming of the city, remained Leningrad.

The hero city, which was under a military blockade by German, Finnish and Italian armies for more than two years, today remembers the first day of the siege of Leningrad. On September 8, 1941, Leningrad found itself cut off from the rest of the country, and city residents bravely defended their homes from the invaders.

The 872 days of the siege of Leningrad went down in the history of the Second World War as the most tragic events that are worthy of memory and respect. The courage and bravery of the defenders of Leningrad, the suffering and patience of the city’s residents - all this will remain an example and lesson for new generations for many years to come.

Read 10 interesting, and at the same time terrifying facts about the life of besieged Leningrad in the editorial material.

1. "Blue Division"

German, Italian and Finnish soldiers officially took part in the blockade of Leningrad. But there was another group, which was called the “Blue Division”. It was generally accepted that this division consisted of Spanish volunteers, since Spain did not officially declare war on the USSR.

However, in fact, the Blue Division, which became part of a great crime against the Leningraders, consisted of professional soldiers of the Spanish army. During the battles for Leningrad, the Blue Division was considered by the Soviet military to be the weak link of the aggressors. Due to the rudeness of their own officers and meager food, fighters of the Blue Division often went over to the side of the Soviet army, historians note.

2. "Road of Life" and "Alley of Death"

Residents of besieged Leningrad managed to escape from starvation in the first winter thanks to the “Road of Life”. In the winter of 1941-1942, when the water on Lake Ladoga froze, communication with the “Big Earth” was established, through which food was brought to the city and the population was evacuated. 550 thousand Leningraders were evacuated through the “Road of Life”.

In January 1943, Soviet soldiers broke through the blockade of the occupiers for the first time, and a railway was built in the liberated area, which was called the “Victory Road”. On one section, the Victory Road came close to enemy territories, and trains did not always reach their destination. The military called this stretch “Death Alley.”

3. Harsh winter

The first winter of besieged Leningrad was the harshest the inhabitants had seen. From December to May inclusive, the average air temperature in Leningrad was 18 degrees below zero, the minimum mark was recorded at 31 degrees. Snow in the city sometimes reached 52 cm.

In such harsh conditions, city residents used any means to keep warm. Houses were heated with potbelly stoves; everything that burned was used as fuel: books, paintings, furniture. Central heating in the city did not work, sewerage and water supply were turned off, work in factories and factories ceased.

4. Hero cats

In modern St. Petersburg, a small monument to a cat has been erected, few people know, but this monument is dedicated to the heroes who twice saved the inhabitants of Leningrad from starvation. The first rescue occurred in the first year of the siege. Hungry residents ate all their domestic animals, including cats, which saved them from starvation.

But later, the absence of cats in the city led to a widespread invasion of rodents. The city's food supplies were under threat. After the blockade was broken in January 1943, one of the first trains had four cars with smoky cats. This breed is the best at catching pests. The supplies of the exhausted city residents were saved.

5. 150 thousand shells

During the years of the siege, Leningrad was subjected to an incalculable number of airstrikes and artillery shelling, which were carried out several times a day. In total, during the siege, 150 thousand shells were fired at Leningrad and more than 107 thousand incendiary and high-explosive bombs were dropped.

To alert citizens about enemy air raids, 1,500 loudspeakers were installed on the city streets. The signal for airstrikes was the sound of a metronome: its fast rhythm meant the start of an air attack, a slow rhythm meant a retreat, and on the streets they wrote “Citizens! During artillery shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous.”

The sound of the metronome and the inscription warning of shelling preserved on one of the houses became symbols of the blockade and the resilience of the residents of Leningrad, which was still unconquered by the Nazis.

6. Three waves of evacuation

During the war years, the Soviet military managed to carry out three waves of evacuation of the local population from the besieged and hungry city. Over the entire period, it was possible to withdraw 1.5 million people, which at that time amounted to almost half of the entire city.

The first evacuation began in the first days of the war - June 29, 1941. The first wave of evacuation was characterized by the reluctance of residents to leave the city; in total, a little more than 400 thousand people were evacuated. The second wave of evacuation - September 1941-April 1942. The main route for evacuating the already besieged city was the “Road of Life”; in total, more than 600 thousand people were evacuated during the second wave. And the third wave of evacuation - May-October 1942, just under 400 thousand people were evacuated.

7. Minimum ration

Hunger became the main problem of besieged Leningrad. The beginning of the food crisis is considered to be September 10, 1941, when Nazi aircraft destroyed the Badayevsky food warehouses.

The peak of the famine in Leningrad occurred between November 20 and December 25, 1941. The norms for the distribution of bread for soldiers on the front line of defense were reduced to 500 grams per day, for workers in hot shops - to 375 grams, for workers in other industries and engineers - to 250 grams, for employees, dependents and children - to 125 grams.

During the siege, bread was prepared from a mixture of rye and oat flour, cake and unfiltered malt. It had a completely black color and a bitter taste.

8. The Case of the Scientists

During the first two years of the siege of Leningrad, from 200 to 300 employees of Leningrad higher educational institutions and members of their families were convicted. Leningrad NKVD department in 1941-1942. arrested scientists for “anti-Soviet, counter-revolutionary, treasonous activities.”

As a result, 32 highly qualified specialists were sentenced to death. Four scientists were shot, the rest of the death penalty was replaced with various terms of forced labor camps, many died in prisons and camps. In 1954-55, the convicts were rehabilitated, and a criminal case was opened against the NKVD officers.

9. Duration of blockade

The siege of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War lasted 872 days (September 8, 1941 - January 27, 1944). But the first breakthrough of the blockade was carried out in 1943. On January 17, during Operation Iskra, Soviet troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts managed to liberate Shlisselburg, creating a narrow land corridor between the besieged city and the rest of the country.

After the blockade was lifted, Leningrad was under siege for another six months. German and Finnish soldiers remained in Vyborg and Petrozavodsk. After the offensive operation of the Soviet troops in July-August 1944, they managed to push the Nazis back from Leningrad.

10. Victims

At the Nuremberg trials, the Soviet side announced that 630 thousand died during the siege of Leningrad, however, this figure is still in doubt among historians. The real death toll could reach up to one and a half million people.

In addition to the number of deaths, the causes of death are also terrifying - only 3% of all deaths in besieged Leningrad were due to artillery shelling and airstrikes by the fascist military. 97% of deaths in Leningrad from September 1941 to January 1944 were due to starvation. Dead bodies lying on the streets of the city were perceived by passers-by as an everyday occurrence.

The blockade of Leningrad by Nazi troops, which lasted 872 days, changed the northern capital beyond recognition. Buildings on Nevsky Prospekt were destroyed, tanks were driving around the city and anti-aircraft guns were stationed. Photo chronicles of the siege years give a good idea of the conditions in which Leningraders had to live and fight, and a comparison of siege photographs with modern ones shows how radically Leningrad-Petersburg has changed over the past 70 years.

ligovsky Avenue

The photo shows the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and Ligovsky, which was Ligovskaya Street during the blockade. The duty officer finds on the street the victims of the first shelling of the city by fascist artillery. This was in September 1941. Soon, dead bodies on the streets will become commonplace for Leningraders, and special funeral teams will be created to clean them up.

Victims of artillery shelling on the corner of Ligovsky and Nevsky Prospects. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Cinema "Khudozhestvenny"

Currently, the cinema is located in the same place as during the blockade - on Nevsky, 67. Since the 30s, Khudozhestvenny has become one of the most popular Leningrad cinemas. The halls were filled even during the years of the blockade. The cinema did not work until the first winter of the siege, when the electricity supply was cut off. In the spring of 1942, film screenings resumed. In the late autumn of 1941, a poster for the American film “The Three Musketeers,” directed by Alan Duane, hung on the walls of the cinema. Fruit was sold next to the cinema; now there is a clothing store in this place.

During the blockade, the movie “The Three Musketeers” was shown in the cinema. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Malaya Sadovaya

During the blockade, in the corner building at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and Malaya Sadovaya Street there was a hairdressing salon that was open throughout the blockade. The hairdressers took water for their work from the Fontanka and heated it on alcohol lamps. The hairdresser operated here until 2006, then the Zenit Arena store appeared instead. Opposite the building is the shop of the Eliseev merchants. During the years of the siege there was a theater hall where performances took place. Life in Leningrad went on against the backdrop of death. While the store was preparing the next performance, firefighters washed away the blood of the dead from Nevsky Prospekt, and funeral crews loaded the dead people into the car.

Firefighters washed the blood of the dead from the streets. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

A funeral crew loads the remains of shelling victims into a car. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Nevsky Avenue

During the blockade, Nevsky Prospekt was “Prospekt 25 October”, and only on January 13, 1944, its historical name was returned to it. During the first winter of the siege, people took water from the sewer on Nevsky. Now, instead of tanks heading to the front line, cars are driving along Nevsky. At the place where the women were taken to bury the dead child, there is now an underground passage. The building of Gostiny Dvor was heavily damaged by bombing, and already in 1945 work began on its restoration.

The tank is heading to the front line. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

People took water from the sewer on Nevsky Prospekt. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Siege survivors are being taken to bury a dead child. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Griboedov Canal

The House of Books on the Griboyedov Canal continued to operate throughout the blockade. But the building next door, which now houses the Nevsky Prospekt metro station, was heavily damaged. In November 1941, the central part of the building was destroyed by a bomb. During the blockade, there were government agencies, cafes, jewelry stores and the Small Philharmonic Hall here. A year after the damage, the blockage in the building was covered with large plywood panels depicting the facade.

Engelhardt's house was heavily damaged by artillery shelling. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

The artist paints a destroyed building on Nevsky. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Nevsky, 14

Signs with the text “Citizens! During artillery shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous,” with besieged Leningrad applied to the northern and northeastern parts of the streets, since the shelling came from the Pulkovo Heights and from Strelna. The inscription on Nevsky, 14, was painted by soldiers of the Local Air Defense in the summer of 1943. Currently, the inscription is accompanied by a marble plaque. In total, six such inscriptions have survived in St. Petersburg.

Now the inscription on the building is accompanied by a memorial plaque. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Palace Square

During the blockade, Palace Square was called Uritsky Square. The blockade winters were very harsh. In the photo, Leningraders are removing snow and crushed ice from the square. In those years, the area was covered with asphalt, not paving stones. Under the Arch of the General Staff there was the same inscription warning about shelling as on Nevsky Prospekt. On July 8, 1945, the winners - soldiers and officers of the Leningrad Guards Corps - solemnly passed through the arch.

Leningrad residents clear snow on Palace Square. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Gorokhovaya Street

Gorokhovaya Street was called Dzerzhinsky Street. There was a pump on the street where residents of the besieged city went to fetch water. In the photo, workers are repairing a trolleybus contact wire in 1943, when electricity returned to Leningrad and there were no more problems with public transport.

Workers are repairing a contact wire on Gorokhovaya Street. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Saint Isaac's Cathedral

St. Isaac's Cathedral was heavily damaged by artillery shelling. Traces of the bombing are still visible on some of the cathedral's columns. During the blockade, on St. Isaac's Square in front of the cathedral, beds were laid out in which cabbage was grown. Now this area is covered with grass. On the other side of the cathedral, where the Alexander Garden is now located, there was a battery of anti-aircraft guns. Then this place was called the Garden of Workers. Gorky.

There was an anti-aircraft battery on the side of the Alexander Garden near the cathedral. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Cabbage was grown on the square in front of St. Isaac's Cathedral. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

In order not to die of hunger, Leningraders set up garden beds in front of St. Isaac's Cathedral. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

Bronze Horseman

Cultural monuments suffered enormous damage during the years of the siege. This especially affected monuments in the suburbs of Leningrad. The most valuable monuments were camouflaged, this helped save them from destruction. For example, the Bronze Horseman monument was covered with logs and boards, and the monument was covered with bags of sand and earth. They did the same with the Lenin monument at the Finlyandsky Station.

During the siege, monuments were camouflaged using boards and sandbags. Collage: AiF / Yana Khvatova

January 27 is the Day of Military Glory of Russia. The day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade.

On January 14, 1944, the Krasnoselsko-Ropshinsky operation (“January Thunder”) began by the troops of the Leningrad Front against the 18th German Army, which was besieging Leningrad. This operation was part of the Leningrad-Novgorod strategic operation. As a result, on January 27, the siege of Leningrad, which lasted 872 days, was ended.

General situation

On September 8, 1941, the Germans, with the support of the Finnish army, closed a ring around Leningrad, the second most important strategic, political, economic and cultural center of the country. On January 18, 1943, the blockade was broken, and the city had a corridor of land communication with the country. After breaking the enemy blockade of Leningrad in January 1943, the situation in the besieged city improved in many ways. The resumption of land connections with the mainland made it possible to increase food supply standards. They began to meet the standards established for other major industrial centers. The situation with fuel has also changed significantly.

However, Soviet troops failed to completely liberate the city from the siege. The troops of the German 18th Army were in close proximity to Leningrad and continued intensive artillery shelling of the city and the Victory Road railway. Leningrad continued to live in a front-line situation. The Germans shelled the city. In September, for example, 5 thousand shells fell on it. German aircraft bombed the city 69 times in March - May. True, already in the fall of 1943, in the northwestern direction, as a result of an increase in the number and more coordinated actions of the fighter aviation of the fronts, the Leningrad Air Defense Army and the air defense systems of the Baltic Fleet, the air situation improved. Soviet aviation gained air supremacy, which led to a sharp decrease in the intensity of enemy raids on troops and directly on Leningrad. On the night of October 17, the last bomb fell on the city.

Despite the continued difficult combat conditions and labor shortages, Leningrad industry increased the output of military products. Thus, the city resumed production of large-caliber naval artillery. In the third quarter, mass production of artillery shells and mines for all types of mortars began. The construction of small ships and boats began, primarily the minesweepers desperately needed by the fleet. At the same time, strict savings were made in raw materials, fuel and electricity. The work of 85 large industrial enterprises was partially restored. By the end of the year, 186 such enterprises were already operating in the besieged city.

I. I. Fedyuninsky assessed the situation near Leningrad by the end of 1943: “The situation near Leningrad was determined by the general situation at the fronts. During 1943, the Soviet Army inflicted a number of strong blows on the Nazi troops and forced the enemy into continuous retreat. By November, the enemy was forced to clear almost two-thirds of the territory of our Motherland that he had captured. But near Leningrad, the Nazis, having encircled themselves with a powerful line of defensive structures, continued to improve their positions and hoped to hold them as the basis of the entire left wing of the Eastern Front.”

As a result, the task of ensuring the security of Leningrad, as well as military-strategic considerations related to the further conduct of the war, the development of the offensive on the northern flank of the Soviet-German front, required the complete lifting of the blockade and the liberation of the Leningrad region. Its implementation opened the way to the Baltic states, facilitated the liberation of Karelia and the defeat of Finland, and the entry of the fleet into the vastness of the Baltic.

Strengths of the parties

The German Army Group North (18th and 16th Armies), commanded by Field Marshal G. Küchler, consisted of 741 thousand soldiers and officers, 10,070 guns and mortars, 385 tanks and assault guns, 370 aircraft. Over the course of two and a half years, the enemy created strong defensive positions with reinforced concrete field fortifications, numerous bunkers, a system of wire obstacles and minefields. All settlements in the defensive zones were turned by the Germans into resistance centers and strongholds. Particularly powerful fortifications were located in the area south of the Pulkovo Heights and north of Novgorod. The Nazis were confident in the indestructibility of their “Northern Wall”.

The German Army Group North was opposed by the troops of the Leningrad (without the 23rd Army), Volkhov and 2nd Baltic Fronts, numbering 1,252 thousand soldiers and officers, 20,183 guns and mortars, 1,580 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1,386 combat aircraft.

Soviet soldiers are firing machine guns at the enemy near the old station building of the Detskoye Selo station near Leningrad. Pushkin, Leningrad region

Plans of the parties. Preparing the operation

At the beginning of September 1943, the Soviet command became aware that German troops had begun preparing a retreat from Leningrad to new defensive lines on the line Narva River - Lake Peipus - Pskov - Ostrov - Idritsa (Panther Line). Based on the current situation, the military councils of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts immediately began to develop a plan for a joint large-scale operation with the goal of defeating the 18th German Army and completely liberating Leningrad from the siege. Since until the end of 1943 uncertainty remained regarding the plans of the German troops, the Soviet command developed two offensive options. The first option provided for an immediate transition to pursuing the enemy in the event of his retreat (“Neva 1”), and the second - a breakthrough of the enemy’s layered defense in the event that German troops continued to hold their positions (“Neva 2”).

The position of Army Group North has deteriorated significantly. The German command could not strengthen it either through strategic reserves or through the transfer of forces from other army groups, since they were constrained by the powerful offensive of Soviet troops in the southwestern and western directions. Throughout 1943, it was as if Army Group North did not exist for Hitler. From July 1943 to January 1944, Küchler had to transfer several of the most combat-ready divisions to Army Groups Center and South. In order to somehow compensate for the withdrawal of troops from the northwestern direction, several less combat-ready divisions and brigades were transferred there.

The command of Army Group North had information about the preparation of Soviet troops for an offensive, which forced G. Küchler to turn to Hitler with a request to speed up the withdrawal of troops to the Panther line. However, the Fuhrer, guided by the opinion of the commander of the 18th Army G. Lindemann, who assured that his troops would repel a new Soviet offensive, ordered Army Group North to continue the siege of Leningrad. The German High Command assigned the troops of Group North the task of firmly defending their positions and continuing the blockade of Leningrad. The stabilization of this section of the Russian Front made it possible to reliably cover the approaches to the Baltic states and its naval bases, preserve the freedom of action of the German fleet in the Baltic Sea and ensure sea communications with Sweden and Finland.

The Soviet Headquarters, with some adjustments, approved the ideas of the military councils of the fronts for the planned operation. Its general plan was to defeat the Peterhof-Strelny and Novgorod groups of the 18th German Army with simultaneous strikes by troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, and then, developing an offensive in the Kingisepp and Luga directions, complete the defeat of this army. At the next stage, through the offensive of all three fronts in the directions of Narva, Pskov and Idritsa, it was planned to defeat the German 16th Army and completely liberate the Leningrad and Kalinin regions. The actions of ground forces were to be supported by the 13th, 14th and 15th air armies and long-range aviation, as well as artillery and aviation of the Baltic Fleet.

The offensive was prepared with great care. Troops were regrouped at the fronts to create strike groups. The 2nd Shock Army under the command of General I. I. Fedyuninsky was secretly transported by ship from Leningrad and Lisiy Nos to the Oranienbaum area. The defenders of this small coastal bridgehead, located west of Leningrad, surrounded by a semi-ring of enemy troops, covered Kronstadt from land, and the Kronstadt fortress supported them with its batteries. The Oranienbaum seaside bridgehead was to play an important role in the defeat of the opposing enemy. From November 1943 to January 1944, 53 thousand people, 658 guns, many tanks, cars, tractors, tens of thousands of tons of ammunition and other military cargo were delivered here by sea in difficult weather conditions. At the same time, the Germans were misled: until the very last moment they believed that the Soviet command was transferring troops from the bridgehead to the city.

Offensive

On January 14, 1944, the troops of the Leningrad Front under the command of General L.A. Govorov went on the offensive. The troops of the 2nd Shock Army broke through from the Oranienbaum bridgehead in the direction of Ropsha. Initially, the artillery of the army and the Baltic Fleet dealt a powerful blow to the enemy, dropping over 100 thousand shells and mines on the Nazi positions. Then the infantry went on the attack, acting in close cooperation with tanks and artillery. The Nazis stubbornly resisted, every meter of land was conquered in battle. The next day the fierce fighting continued. Fedyuninsky's troops repulsed up to 30 counterattacks.

The 42nd Army of General I.I. Maslennikov advanced towards them with fierce fighting, striking from the Pulkovo Heights area. On the third day of the operation, the 2nd Shock Army completed the breakthrough of the enemy's main defense line, advancing 8-10 km in depth and expanding the breakthrough to 23 km. On January 19, Ropsha, a powerful stronghold of the enemy’s defense, was taken. On the same day, troops moving from the Pulkovo Heights took Krasnoye Selo by storm. Here there was a meeting between units of the 2nd shock and 42nd armies of the Leningrad Front. The Peterhof-Strelniy group of the German 18th Army was defeated.

Thus, in six days of offensive battles, the troops of the Leningrad Front advanced 25 km into the depths of enemy defenses. The German artillery, which shelled Leningrad from the Dudergof-Voronya Gora area, fell silent forever.

German PzKpfw IV tank destroyed during Operation January Thunder

Machine gunner V. Kh. Timchenko knocks down a German road sign with the butt of his machine gun. The photo was taken during the operation to finally lift the siege of Leningrad

On January 14, the Volkhov Front under the command of General K. A. Meretskov also went on the offensive. The main blow here was delivered north of Novgorod in difficult conditions of wooded and swampy terrain by the 59th Army under the command of General I.T. Korovnikov. After an hour and a half of artillery preparation, the breakthrough tanks and infantry moved towards enemy positions.

“Bad weather made it difficult for the artillery to conduct targeted fire, and due to low clouds, aviation was not able to take part in preparing the offensive at all and only came into action on the second day. Some of the tanks were stuck in a swamp: a sudden thaw, unusual for January, turned the hummocky ice fields overgrown with bushes into a muddy mess.” However, these obstacles did not stop our troops. “Separate regiments of the 6th and 14th Rifle Corps,” recalled Marshal K. A. Meretskov, “reached the attack line a few minutes before the end of the artillery barrage, and when the artillery shifted fire into the depths, these regiments burst into the enemy’s defenses. The blow turned out to be so powerful, sudden and swift that the first position of Hitler’s defense immediately passed into our hands, and on January 15 the Novgorod-Chudovo railway was cut.”

The southern group of troops of this army crossed Lake Ilmen across the ice at night and cut the Novgorod-Shimsk railway, which created a threat to enemy communications from the south. The troops of the 59th Army successfully broke through the main enemy defense line north of Novgorod. Field Marshal Küchler withdrew the 24th and 21st divisions from Mga and Chudovo, and the 290th and 8th divisions from Soltsy and Staraya Russa and threw them into the Lyuboliad area to close the gap. However, Soviet troops continued their offensive.

On the morning of January 20, the northern and southern groups of the advancing troops united west of Novgorod. On the same day, the ancient Russian city was cleared of the Nazis by a decisive assault. “I came to Novgorod as soon as he was released,” recalled K. A. Meretskov. - There was dead silence on the streets. About forty buildings in the entire city remained intact. The greatest monuments of antiquity, the pride and decoration of ancient Russian architecture, were blown up.” At the same time, the 8th and 54th armies of the Volkhov Front actively pinned down enemy forces in the Tosno, Lyuban and Chudov directions, preventing the German command from transferring troops from there to Novgorod.

The German command, seeing the threat of encirclement of the 18th Army, withdrew its formations and units from the eastern ledge of Tosno and Chudovo. The offensive unfolded along the entire front from the Gulf of Finland to Lake Ilmen. The troops of the Leningrad Front liberated Pushkin, Pavlovsk, Gatchina and by the end of January reached the Luga River line. The Volkhov Front, advancing in the direction of Luga and Shimsk, liberated the cities and railway stations of Mga, Tosno, Lyuban, Chudovo. The Oktyabrskaya Railway was cleared of Germans. At the same time, the 2nd Baltic Front under the command of General M. M. Popov pinned down the German 16th Army.

Thus, the Red Army crushed the Northern Wall and completely eliminated the enemy blockade of Leningrad. On the evening of January 27, a ceremonial artillery salute of 324 guns thundered in the city on the Neva. The entire Soviet people joyfully celebrated the historic victory together with the Leningraders.

Leningraders paint over the inscription on the wall of a house warning of artillery shelling after the final liberation of the city from the enemy blockade. The inscriptions “Citizens! During artillery shelling, this side of the street is the most dangerous” were applied in Leningrad on the northern and northeastern sides of the streets, since the shelling of the city was carried out from the southern (Pulkovo Heights) and southwestern (Strelna) directions.

Hitler's headquarters, as usual in the case of a heavy defeat at the front, hid its real reasons. But the commander of Army Group North, Field Marshal Küchler, was replaced by Colonel General V. Model, who enjoyed the reputation of a “strategic defense specialist.”

Soviet troops continued to develop their offensive. On February 1, the 2nd Shock Army of the Leningrad Front crossed Luga and captured Kingisepp by storm. The 42nd Army, advancing further south, entered Gdov, liberated by the partisans, on February 4. The Volkhov Front, having defeated the Luga enemy group, captured Luga on February 12. Soon after this, it was disbanded and its armies were transferred to the Leningrad Front. The advancing formations reached the line of the Narva River. The German 18th Army was retreating. The 16th Army also retreated. Pursuing her, the troops of the 2nd Baltic Front liberated Staraya Russa on February 18, and then the city of Kholm.

On the right wing of the Leningrad Front, troops entered the territory of Soviet Estonia, and on the left flank, in cooperation with the 2nd Baltic Front, they occupied an important railway junction - the Dno station. By the end of February, the advancing Soviet troops stopped at the Narva-Pskov-Ostrov line, where they took up defensive positions. It was necessary to regroup forces, replenish troops, equipment and ammunition, and tighten up the rear.

Residents of Leningrad at the stock exchange building greet the news of the lifting of the blockade of the city

Results

As a result of a month and a half continuous offensive in the northwestern direction, the Red Army inflicted a heavy defeat on Army Group North and threw it back 220 - 280 km to the west. 3 German divisions were destroyed and 17 divisions were defeated. Almost the entire territory of the Leningrad and Kalinin regions was liberated from the German invaders. During the offensive operation near Leningrad and Novgorod, the southern and southeastern approaches to Leningrad were cleared of Germans. Only on the northern outskirts of this city were there still Finnish troops who participated in its blockade. It was necessary to defeat them on the Karelian Isthmus and in South Karelia.

The Great Battle of Leningrad, one of the most significant and bloody battles of the Great War, lasting 900 days, ended in victory for the Red Army and the entire Soviet people. Despite severe trials and enormous sacrifices, the hero city survived the fierce struggle.

Leningrad residents watch fireworks on Suvorov Square to commemorate the lifting of the blockade

Leningraders and Red Army soldiers at the order to the troops of the Leningrad Front to lift the blockade of the city. Photo source: http://waralbum.ru/

The offensive of fascist troops on Leningrad, the capture of which the German command attached great strategic and political importance, 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.

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, Leningrad should have been wiped off the face of the earth, and the population of the city 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: on September 8, the day the blockade began, the first massive bombardment of the city took place. About 200 fires broke out, one of them destroyed the Badayevsky food warehouses. In September-October, enemy aircraft carried out several raids per day. The enemy's goal was not only to interfere with the activities of important enterprises, but also to create panic among the population. For this purpose, particularly intense artillery shelling was carried out at the beginning and end of the working day. 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. Many died during the shelling and bombing, many buildings were destroyed.

The autumn-winter of 1941-1942 was the most terrible time of the blockade. Early winter brought with it cold - there was no heating, there was no hot water, and Leningraders began to burn furniture, books, and dismantle wooden buildings for firewood. The transport was standing still. Thousands of people died from dystrophy and cold. But Leningraders continued to work - administrative institutions, printing houses, clinics, kindergartens, theaters, a public library were working, scientists continued to work. 13-14-year-old teenagers worked, replacing their fathers who had gone to the front.

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. Three hundred thousand Leningraders participated in the local air defense units of the city. 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, 7 of which became personnel.
(Military encyclopedia. Chairman of the Main Editorial Commission S.B. Ivanov. Military Publishing House. Moscow. in 8 volumes - 2004. ISBN 5 - 203 01875 - 8)

In the autumn on Lake Ladoga, due to storms, ship traffic was complicated, but tugs with barges made their way around the ice fields until December 1941, and some food was delivered by plane. Hard ice was not installed on Ladoga for a long time, and bread distribution standards were again reduced.

On November 22, the movement of vehicles on the ice road began. This transport route 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 traffic.

In winter, the evacuation of the population began. The first to be taken out were women, children, the sick, and the elderly. In total, about a million people were evacuated. In the spring of 1942, when things became a little easier, Leningraders began to clean up the city. Bread distribution standards have increased.

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.

Soviet troops repeatedly tried to break through the blockade ring, but achieved this only in January 1943. A corridor 8-11 kilometers wide has formed south of Lake Ladoga. In 18 days, a 33-kilometer-long railway was built along the southern shore of Ladoga and a crossing across the Neva was erected. In February 1943, trains with food, raw materials, and ammunition traveled along it to Leningrad.

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

The material was prepared based on information from open sources