Unknown facts about the blockade. Siege Leningrad

Before citing Alexei Kungurov’s seditious article on the Siege of Leningrad, we offer a few facts:

During the siege, private cameras were confiscated from Leningrad residents, and taking any photographs of the besieged city was prohibited. People who tried to take photographs for themselves were arrested, accused of espionage, and shot (or given prison time).

The commander of Group North, von Leeb, openly accused Hitler of colluding with the Soviet command. This is a fairly well-known fact, since Ritter (Knight without title transfer) Von Leeb was a famous person.

The Finnish army could destroy the conditional cover of St. Petersburg from the North in a day. This army stood on the borders of the territory reached by city bus routes in the city of Leningrad.

About mathematics and historical reality

Walking through St. Petersburg, you notice that every house and every monument reminds of the great historical past of this city. The great and heroic past is not disputed by anyone, but conditions, in which ordinary people had to make inhuman efforts, starve and die, upon closer examination, turn out to be artificially created.

From the account of history siege of Leningrad we know that during the war the city was subjected to intense bombing and artillery shelling. On the walls of houses in St. Petersburg you can still find old signs stating that this side is safe from shelling, and on the facades of houses you can see marks from shells that hit them.

Under these conditions, the inhabitants of Leningrad performed feats every day, worked and slowly died of hunger. To raise morale, at one time the political administration of Leningrad had the idea to glorify the immortal feat of the city’s residents, and in one of its newspapers a note appeared about the heroic work of Leningraders under conditions of constant shelling. It contains information that it fell on the territory of Leningrad 148 thousand 478 shells. This figure became the standard for all the years of the blockade, sank into the minds of historians, and they could no longer get rid of it.

This is only a small piece of reality, very different from the historical myths written by professional historians.

Now a little about physics

One of the questions that no “historian” can answer is the question: where did they get electrical energy in the right quantity?

Because the basic law of physics states that energy does not come from anywhere and does not go anywhere, and when translated into everyday language, it sounds like this: how much energy produced, so much spent(and no more). There are standards in man-hours and units of energy spent on the production of a unit of product, let it be a shell or a tank, and these standards are not small.

A bit of economics

Based on the standards of that time, a certain amount of resources and materials were distributed between production facilities without excess, in accordance with plans and tasks. Based on this distribution, minimum reserves of raw materials, materials, tools and finished products were created at enterprises, which ensured the uninterrupted operation of factories (usually for two weeks, less often for a month) with the constant supply of what was needed (as mining or production progressed) and the dispatch of finished products.

Under the blockade of a single city, there are no such strategic reserves of fuel, raw materials, material resources and energy that can meet the needs of the city (or at least industry) for more than three months. In conditions of strict energy and food savings, it is possible to stretch reserves, but to save electricity it is necessary to stop production - the main consumer of energy, and this did not happen. Factories in Leningrad did not stop for a day.

We can agree with the assumption that part of the coal for energy production was taken from the fleet, but the main base of the fleet was Tallinn, and it was captured. Thermal power plants consume many times more coal than any ship.

With particular ferocity, German pilots aimed at plants and factories in Leningrad, such as Kirovsky, Izhorsky, Elektrosila, Bolshevik. In addition, the production lacked raw materials, tools, and materials. It was unbearably cold in the workshops, and touching the metal made my hands cramp. Many production workers did their work while sitting, since it was impossible to stand for 10-12 hours. Due to the shutdown of almost all power plants, some machines had to be set in motion manually, which caused longer work hours. Often some of the workers stayed overnight in the workshop, saving time to complete urgent front-line orders. As a result of such dedicated labor activity, during the second half of 1941, the active army received from Leningrad 3 million. shells and mines, more 3 thousand. regimental and anti-tank guns, 713 tanks, 480 armored vehicles, 58 armored trains and armored platforms.

2. The workers of Leningrad also helped other sections of the Soviet-German front. In the fall of 1941, during fierce battles for Moscow, the city on the Neva sent troops of the Western Front over a thousand artillery pieces and mortars, as well as a significant number of other types of weapons.

Energy blockade

After the blockade ring closed around Leningrad on September 8, 1941, the city found itself cut off from all suburban power plants that supplied it with energy. Many substations and power lines were destroyed. In Leningrad itself, only five thermal power plants operated. However, even on them-due to a lack of fuel, energy production was sharply reduced, which was only enough for hospitals, bakeries and government buildings related to the front. The transmission of electricity from the Volkhov hydroelectric power station was interrupted, the main equipment of which was dismantled in October 1941 and transported to the Urals and Central Asia. At the station, two 1000 kW auxiliary hydraulic units remained in operation, working for the Volkhovstroy railway junction and military units. The work of defense factories was paralyzed, trams and trolleybuses stopped, and the water supply stopped working. Many power engineers went to the front, and the rest continued to work in harsh conditions of hunger and cold, ensuring the generation of the possible amount of electricity. The energy blockade of Leningrad began. The most difficult day for the Leningrad energy sector was January 25, 1942. In the entire energy system, only one station operated, carrying a load of only 3000 kW...

Let us comment a little on the article: since September 1941, electricity production has decreased due to the regime of emergency savings. By January 1942, the city had run out of coal, thermal power plants had virtually stopped, and only 3,000 kW were being produced. At the same time, the Volkhovskaya Gas generated 2000 kW (2 MW), and this was only enough for the railway. node and military units (that is, pay attention to the figure - 2 megawatts is very little on a city scale).

During the Great Patriotic War, when most of the power plants of besieged Leningrad could not operate due to lack of fuel. In the winter of 1941-1942, boiler No. 3 of the Red October power plant was converted to burn milled peat, which was available at the peat enterprises of the Vsevolozhsk region. The launch of this unit made it possible to increase the load of the power plant to 21-22 thousand kW out of 23-24 thousand kW generated by the system.(Wikipedia)

That is, the final figure was announced: the entire system (more precisely, one thermal power plant on peat plus the Volzhskaya hydroelectric station) produced 24 thousand kilowatts until the end of the war. The figure only seems large, but, for example, I will cite that this energy is not enough for one city (for example, Grodno 338 thousand people) to boil electric kettles at the same time.

In Leningrad, since the spring of 1942, there was 6 tram routes. To ensure this energy consumption, 3.6 thousand kW of electricity (3.6 MW) is required. So that on each route there would be 20 trams with a total number of 120 (in total) with an estimated engine power of 30 (!) kW (for example, modern trams have a power of up to 200 kW).

Now a little about materials and production

Much can be discussed in history, but the fact remains that shells, mortars, guns and tanks are made of iron or special types of steel. This, as you know, is a hard material, processed mainly by pressure (no matter with a hammer or cutter) and requires great effort (mainly mechanical), especially in mass production. Welding tank armor requires enormous energy consumption (it’s not like welding a car body out of tin), industrial welding machines have a power of up to 40 kW.

It remains to balance the electricity

The electricity remaining from the movement of trams (20 MW) needs to be used to power the production of factories, and this is:

· tens of thousands of machines of 3-10 kW each (millions of shells, bolts, bushings, keys, shafts, etc. were manufactured), - 30-100 MW (this is if there are 10 thousand machines at all factories);

· dozens of machines for the production of gun barrels (large-sized screw-cutting lathes),

· rolling mills (without this there are no armor plates),

· many industrial welding units (after all, 713 tanks were produced in six months, 5 tanks a day), the tank is scalded for more than one day. If we assume that a tank is scalded with one welding unit for three days, then 15 welding units with a total power of 600 kW are required.

AND as a result of basic calculations We find out that we are seriously short of the remaining energy (20 MW), and we need to provide light to the regional and city party committees, the regional and city councils, the NKVD department, hospitals, etc.

It remains to balance the food supply

The city's food requirement was (2 million 544 thousand city residents - excluding military groups, navy and residents of the region within the siege), 1.5 kg of food per day (500 grams of crackers and 1 kg of vegetables and cereals - this is a combined arms ration) - 3800 tons of food daily (63 modern wagons) - let me remind you, this does not take into account the number of troops and navy and residents of the region.

It is not clear how we lost even more of the 104,840 tanks and self-propelled guns produced during the war, while most of the tanks were repaired and returned to battle more than once. Such losses have been recorded in real history only once - during the six-day Arab-Israeli war, when Israeli troops destroyed almost two thousand tanks (but then there were ATGMs and a different level of jet aircraft).

If there were factories in Leningrad due to the lack of raw materials, everything would be clear - after all, there is a blockade, and the main thing is to bring food, we will think about production later. But in conditions when people were dying of hunger on the move and entire families were freezing to death, it is not clear where the raw materials, materials, tools and units for factories came from (tank guns were manufactured at the Motovilikha plant in Perm, and until February 1942 it was the only plant, which produced tank and ship guns), and electricity to ensure production, and the manufactured products were transported to the mainland - this cannot be explained by any fairy tales or myths.

Residents of Leningrad, like residents of the entire country, accomplished an unthinkable feat. Many of them gave their lives in battles for their Motherland, many died of hunger in Leningrad, approaching the hour of victory. The feat of Pavel Korchagin pales in comparison to the efforts made every day by the hero-defenders, the hero-residents of the besieged city.

Along with this, basic calculations show that a lot of information from us is simply is hidden, and because of this the rest cannot be explained. One gets the impression global betrayal that this whole blockade was specially organized in such a way as to kill as many people as possible.

The time will come, and the true culprits will be revealed and convicted, even in absentia.

Sincerely yours -
Our group in Odnoklassniki:

Before citing Alexei Kungurov’s seditious article on the Siege of Leningrad, we offer a few facts:

The Finnish army could destroy the conditional cover of St. Petersburg from the North in a day. This army stood on the borders of the territory reached by city bus routes in the city of Leningrad.

About mathematics and historical reality

From the account of history siege of Leningrad we know that during the war the city was subjected to intense bombing and . On the walls of houses in St. Petersburg you can still find old signs stating that this side is safe from shelling, and on the facades of houses you can see marks from shells that hit them.

That's how historians these events:

Leningraders lived in constant nervous tension, shelling followed one after another. From September 4 to November 30, 1941, the city was shelled 272 times for a total duration of 430 hours. Sometimes the population remained in bomb shelters for almost a day. On September 15, 1941, the shelling lasted 18 hours 32 m, on September 17 - 18 hours 33 m. In total, about 150 thousand shells were fired at Leningrad during the siege. The firepower of the German artillery, which tried to break the resistance of the defenders of the besieged city with shelling, was very significant. The German artillery group in the Uritsk area, where the front line came closest to Leningrad, at the beginning of the blockade consisted of 4 artillery regiments armed with 105- and 150-mm guns. Later, heavy guns (203- and 210-mm caliber) were transferred here, the firing range of which reached 30-32 km.

Please note: on September 15, the shelling lasted 18 hours, and not just one gun fired, but the entire artillery of the front. On this occasion, at St. Isaac's Cathedral they even hung (in honor of perpetuating the fact that a shell hit Isaac's Cathedral). But a basic check of this figure shows that it was taken from the air and does not in any way reflect real events (at the end of the siege of Leningrad).

This can be proven right on your fingers! Let's take a large-caliber long-range gun (155, 203 or 210 mm). This tool makes 1 shot for 2 (two minutes. In an hour this tool makes 30 shots. For a working day - 240 shots (8-hour working day, we remember that German soldiers fought according to a schedule, these are not robots, they must eat and rest), in 18 hours of continuous shelling the gun makes 540 shots, in 430 hours – 12 900 shots. Accordingly, during the same time the artillery battery makes 77 400 shots, and the artillery division - 232 200 shots. During the 900 days of siege 1 such weapon does "everything" 216 thousand shots.

The standard artillery battery of our and the German army included 6 guns, an artillery division - 18 guns, and there were a sufficient number of such divisions at the front in the German army, all cities after the war were ruins.

Thus, from checking the information provided by historians in , we can conclude that there were much more fallen shells, which is confirmed by the destruction of Leningrad. The constant repetition of this fact by historians indicates their inability or unwillingness to move away from the established myth.

Second fact, which is very alarming in the description of the Siege of Leningrad, is a complete failure to comply with the Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy.

Third fact- a constant game of giveaway on the part of the German troops.

Let's start with the giveaways. Von Leib, commander of Army North, was a competent and experienced commander. He had under his command up to 40 divisions(including tank ones). in front of Leningrad was 70 km long. The density of troops reached the level of 2-5 km per division in the direction of the main attack. In this situation, only historians who do not understand anything about military affairs can say that under these conditions he could not take the city.

We have repeatedly seen in feature films about the defense of Leningrad how German tankers drive into the suburbs, crush and shoot a tram. The front was broken, and there was no one in front of them. In their memoirs, Von Leib and many other German army commanders stated that they were forbidden to take the city, gave the order to retreat from advantageous positions.

Next interesting point

It is known that Kirov plant worked throughout the blockade. The second fact is also known - he was in 3 (three!!!) kilometers from the front line. For people who have not served in the army, I will say that a bullet from a Mosin rifle can fly at such a distance if you shoot in the right direction (I’m simply silent about large-caliber artillery pieces).

From the Kirov plant area , but the plant continued to operate under the very nose of the German command, and it was never destroyed (although, with this task could cope with one artillery lieutenant with a battery of not the largest caliber, with the task correctly set and a sufficient amount of ammunition).

About historical myths and reality

The Kirov plant produced various products: , , by 1943 they mastered the production of IS-1 and . From photographs posted on the Internet, we can imagine (this is large-scale and mass production). In addition to the Kirov plant, other factories in Leningrad also worked, producing shells and other military products.

Since the spring of 1942, Leningrad resumed …

This is only a small piece of reality, very different from the historical myths written by professional historians.

Now a little about physics

One of the questions that no “historian” can answer is the question: where did they get electrical energy in the right quantity?

A bit of economics

IN In the conditions of the autumn of 1941, the main task of the workers of the besieged city was to supply the front with weapons, ammunition, equipment and uniforms. Despite the evacuation of a number of enterprises, the power of Leningrad industry remained significant. IN September In 1941, city enterprises produced more than a thousand 76 mm guns, over two thousand mortars, hundreds anti-tank guns and machine guns.

The fact remains: the number of products produced has been calculated and announced; you cannot argue with the fact. Now let's think a little about what historians actually wrote.

First question- according to the method of delivery of the active army from a besieged city and mostly to Moscow 713 tanks, 3000 guns, million shells and The main thing – 58 armored trains – all this can only be transported by rail, and at least 100 trainloads are required. Because tanks and armored trains, especially, are not transported on boats (such boats (ferries) did not yet exist).

Second question– this is mass production (and this is under siege conditions). Fairy tales about the fact that you can release something without having raw materials, materials and, especially, tools, can only be told to illiterate people! An example of adaptation to production in conditions of shortage of materials is this , and this is a piece goods for the needs of the defense of Leningrad in addition to the 713 tanks produced, since it is mounted on a tank body with an engine, tracks and armor.

All this points to constant supply of necessary materials and raw materials. After all, in the blockaded city of Leningrad there were no coal mines, iron ore and other deposits to supply industry with coal, steel, coke, fluxes and other materials!

“Historians” claim that the machines were rotated manually- this is just a speculation of people who are illiterate in technology: try turning a machine with a 3-10 kW drive (namely, these are the drives that industrial drilling and lathes have) by hand and turning a metal workpiece. You will immediately realize that this is the most common artifice, with your hands it’s not just enough to ensure the required rotation speed, it’s simply impossible to turn such a machine!

“Historians” also claim that the main reason for the increase in working hours was not the heroic impulse to give everything for a common victory, but the lack of electricity. "historians":

In the autumn and winter of 1941/42, Soviet artillery waged this battle in extremely difficult conditions: there was not enough ammunition, artillery instrumental reconnaissance equipment, there was no spotting aircraft, the firing range of Soviet guns at first was inferior to German ones, therefore, until the spring of 1942, opposition to enemy artillery was defensive in nature, although retaliatory strikes by Soviet artillery weakened the enemy’s combat power.

It’s still interesting - did they themselves lack enough shells or did they transport 3 million shells to the army! Why? Did they have any problems during the blockade? How did they increase the firing range of their guns? Perhaps the guns rolled up closer?! This is another example of not just illiterate presentation and misunderstanding of information, but complete falsification!

The firing range of a gun itself does not increase or decrease, and is initially set by design parameters! Historians had to indicate what were designed, manufactured, tested and put into service new guns with increased firing range. It seems that historians wrote this way, hoping that no one would read or analyze it...

Now let's look at electricity production

On the territory of Leningrad there was five Thermal power plants, they were part of the Energy System of the Leningrad Region. Energy about this time So:

Energy blockade

Now a little about materials and production

It remains to balance the electricity

The electricity remaining from the movement of trams (20 MW) needs to be used to power the production of factories, and this is:

· tens of thousands of machines of 3-10 kW each (millions of shells, bolts, bushings, keys, shafts, etc. were manufactured), - 30-100 MW (this is if there are 10 thousand machines at all factories);

· dozens of machines for the production of gun barrels (large-sized screw-cutting lathes),

· rolling mills (without this there are no armor plates),

It remains to balance the food supply

On September 10 and 11, a secondary food inventory showed that to supply the troops and population in Leningrad there were reserves of grain, flour and crackers for 35 days, cereals and pasta for 30 days, meat and meat products for 33 days, fats for 45 days , sugar and confectionery – for 60 days (everything should have ended by November, and this is taking into account the halving of consumption) .

To ease the food situation in Leningrad, transport aircraft were allocated to transport goods. The delivery of food together with the Special Air Group, created at the end of June 1941 to serve the Northern Front, was carried out by the Moscow Special Purpose Aviation Group, formed from 30 Moscow civil aviation crews. From September to December 1941, through the heroic efforts of Soviet pilots, over 6 thousand tons of cargo were delivered to the besieged city, including 4325 tons of high-calorie food and 1660 tons of ammunition and weapons(in 3 months brought food for 2 days. It is not clear why they transported ammunition, if in Leningrad they themselves produced it and transported it to the mainland).

In total, by the end of navigation in 1941, 60 thousand tons of various cargoes, including 45 thousand tons of food, were delivered to the besieged city by water.()(for another 20 days of food).

In total, during the first winter of the blockade, the ice road was open until April 24 (152 days). During this time, 361,109 tons of various cargo were transported, including 262,419 tons of food () (that is, less than 2000 tons of food were transported per day - this is less than the city’s daily needs).

The need for food was solved after nearly a million people died from starvation and the evacuation of another million 300 thousand refugees during the entire period of action roads of life.

conclusions

By November, not only coal, but also all supplies of raw materials and food were supposed to run out (which happened). Through austerity, these reserves were extended until January. Transportation along the road of life in vehicles with a carrying capacity of 1.5 tons provided only food needs (and even then not completely). It is not revealed by the “historians” what the 100,000 tons of other cargo brought in the first winter were, but this did not cover the needs of the industry (thousands and thousands of tons). The industry had to stop.

But the factories kept working and working(it is a fact). It is unknown where the additional energy came from (probably the Germans supplied it). Where the resources came from and how the finished products were shipped is also unclear.

At the same time, in order to completely paralyze all the activities of the city, the German command only had to destroy 5 power plants (at the initial stage of the war and one after January 1942), which were clearly visible to artillery fire spotters by the smoke from the chimneys. Is this another random oversight?

It's completely unclear why 713 KV tanks did not resolve the issue of lifting the blockade of Leningrad, because at the start of the war we only had , and these tanks were not penetrated by German guns. The simultaneous and massive use of these tanks was supposed to push through any defense with support 3000 fired guns (and at the beginning of the war we had only 1928 guns) and in the absence of savings in ammunition. This number of tanks and artillery should have been enough to push the Germans back even to the border.

The above example shows the lack of any logic on the part of our enemy, our command and a complete violation of the law of conservation of matter and energy in historical reality.

With history Great Patriotic War We still have to figure it out and figure it out. There are many incomprehensible moments in it.

It is not clear what type of weapon the German troops destroyed about 20,000 (twenty thousand) of our tanks by the winter of 1941, while they themselves only had .

It is not clear how we lost even more of those issued during the war. , while most of the tanks were repaired and returned to battle more than once. Such losses have been recorded in real history only once - during the six-day Arab-Israeli war, when Israeli troops destroyed almost two thousand tanks (but then there were ATGMs and a different level of jet aircraft).

If there were factories in Leningrad due to the lack of raw materials, everything would be clear - after all, there is a blockade, and the main thing is to bring food, we will think about production later. But in conditions when people were dying of hunger on the move and entire families were freezing to death, it is not clear where the raw materials, materials, tools and units for factories came from (tank guns were manufactured at the Motovilikha plant in Perm, and until February 1942 it was the only plant, which produced tank and ship guns), and electricity to ensure production, and the produced products were transported to the mainland - this cannot be explained by any fairy tales or myths.

The time will come, and the true culprits will be revealed and convicted, even in absentia.

Alexey Kungurov

For several years, Leningrad was surrounded by a blockade of fascist invaders. People were left in the city without food, heat, electricity or running water. The days of the blockade are the most difficult test that the residents of our city withstood with courage and dignity..

The blockade lasted 872 days

On September 8, 1941, Leningrad was besieged. It was broken through on January 18, 1943. By the beginning of the blockade, Leningrad did not have sufficient supplies of food and fuel. The only way of communication with the city was Lake Ladoga. It was through Ladoga that the Road of Life ran - the highway along which food supplies were delivered to besieged Leningrad. It was difficult to transport the amount of food needed for the entire population of the city across the lake. During the first winter of the siege, famine began in Gol, and problems with heating and transport appeared. In the winter of 1941, hundreds of thousands of Leningraders died. On January 27, 1944, 872 days after the start of the siege, Leningrad was completely liberated from the Nazis.

On January 27, St. Petersburg will congratulate Leningrad on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the city from the fascist blockade. Photo: www.russianlook.com

630 thousand Leningraders died

During the blockade, over 630 thousand Leningraders died from hunger and deprivation. This figure was announced at the Nuremberg trials. According to other statistics, the figure could reach 1.5 million people. Only 3% of deaths occurred due to fascist shelling and bombing, the remaining 97% died from starvation. Dead bodies lying on the streets of the city were perceived by passers-by as an everyday occurrence. Most of those who died during the siege are buried at the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery.

During the years of the siege in Leningrad, hundreds of thousands of people died. Photo from 1942. Archive photo

Minimum ration - 125 grams of bread

The main problem of besieged Leningrad was hunger. Employees, dependents and children received only 125 grams of bread per day between November 20 and December 25. Workers were entitled to 250 grams of bread, and personnel of fire brigades, paramilitary guards and vocational schools - 300 grams. During the blockade, bread was prepared from a mixture of rye and oat flour, cake and unfiltered malt. The bread turned out to be almost black in color and bitter in taste.

The children of besieged Leningrad were dying of hunger. Photo from 1942. Archive photo

1.5 million evacuees

During three waves of the evacuation of Leningrad, a total of 1.5 million people were removed from the city - almost half of the city's total population. The evacuation began a week after the start of the war. Explanatory work was carried out among the population: many did not want to leave their homes. By October 1942, the evacuation was completed. In the first wave, about 400 thousand children were taken to the Leningrad region. 175 thousand were soon returned back to Leningrad. Starting from the second wave, evacuation was carried out along the Road of Life across Lake Ladoga.

Almost half of the population was evacuated from Leningrad. Photo from 1941. Archive photo

1500 loudspeakers

To alert Leningraders about enemy attacks on the city streets, 1,500 loudspeakers were installed. In addition, messages were broadcast through the city radio network. The alarm signal was the sound of a metronome: its fast rhythm meant the beginning of an air attack, and its slow rhythm meant a release. Radio broadcasting in besieged Leningrad was around the clock. The city had an ordinance prohibiting turning off radios in homes. Radio announcers talked about the situation in the city. When the radio broadcasts stopped, the sound of the metronome continued to be broadcast on the air. Its knock was called the living heartbeat of Leningrad.

More than 1.5 thousand loudspeakers appeared on the streets of the city. Photo from 1941. Archive photo

- 32.1 °C

The first winter in besieged Leningrad was harsh. The thermometer dropped to -32.1 °C. The average temperature of the month was 18.7 °C. The city did not even record the usual winter thaws. In April 1942, the snow cover in the city reached 52 cm. The negative air temperature remained in Leningrad for more than six months, lasting until May inclusive. Heating was not supplied to the houses, sewerage and water supply were turned off. Work in factories and factories stopped. The main source of heat in houses was the potbelly stove. Everything that burned was burned in it, including books and furniture.

The winter in besieged Leningrad was very harsh. Archive photo

6 months siege

Even after the blockade was lifted, German and Finnish troops besieged Leningrad for six months. The Vyborg and Svirsko-Petrozavodsk offensive operations of Soviet troops with the support of the Baltic Fleet made it possible to liberate Vyborg and Petrozavodsk, finally pushing the enemy back from Leningrad. As a result of the operations, Soviet troops advanced 110-250 km in a western and southwestern direction, and the Leningrad region was liberated from enemy occupation.

The siege continued for another six months after the blockade was broken, but German troops did not penetrate into the city center. Photo: www.russianlook.com

150 thousand shells

During the siege, Leningrad was constantly subjected to artillery shelling, which was especially numerous in September and October 1941. Aviation carried out several raids a day - at the beginning and at the end of the working 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. The shells destroyed 3 thousand buildings and damaged more than 7 thousand. About a thousand enterprises were put out of action. To protect against artillery shelling, Leningraders erected defensive structures. Residents of the city built more than 4 thousand pillboxes and bunkers, equipped 22 thousand firing points in buildings, and erected 35 kilometers of barricades and anti-tank obstacles on the streets.

The trains transporting people were constantly attacked by German aircraft. Photo from 1942. Archive photo

4 cars of cats

Domestic animals were brought to Leningrad from Yaroslavl in January 1943 to fight hordes of rodents that threatened to destroy food supplies. Four carriages of smoky cats arrived in the newly liberated city - it was smoky cats that were considered the best rat catchers. A long line immediately formed for the cats that were brought. The city was saved: the rats disappeared. Already in modern St. Petersburg, as a sign of gratitude to animal deliverers, monuments to the cat Elisha and the cat Vasilisa appeared on the eaves of houses on Malaya Sadovaya Street.

On Malaya Sadovaya there are monuments to cats who saved the city from rats. Photo: AiF / Yana Khvatova

300 declassified documents

The Archival Committee of St. Petersburg is preparing an electronic project “Leningrad under siege.” It involves posting on the “Archives of St. Petersburg” portal a virtual exhibition of archival documents on the history of Leningrad during the years of the siege. On January 31, 2014, 300 high-quality scanned historical papers about the blockade will be published. The documents will be combined into ten sections, showing different aspects of life in besieged Leningrad. Each section will be accompanied by comments from experts.

Samples of food cards. 1942 TsGAIPD St. Petersburg. F. 4000. Op. 20. D. 53. Original Photo: TsGAIPD St. Petersburg

We drank the cup of grief to the dregs, But the enemy did not starve us to death. And death was defeated by life, And the Man and the City won.

Leningrad is the largest industrial, scientific and cultural center of our country. This is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. A mighty and unique city stretches across many islands. A city of wide avenues and squares, theaters and museums, amazing white nights. The heroic defense of Leningrad occupies a special place in the chronicles of the Great Patriotic War.

January 27, 2014 marked the 70th anniversary of the complete liberation of the city of Leningrad from the fascist blockade. None of us should forget, we simply have no right to forget the feat of the residents and defenders of the city, in which the front and rear merged together. No matter how many years pass, for the whole world the feat of the Leningraders will remain a model of courage, perseverance, and unbending will. The siege of Leningrad will forever remain one of the most heroic pages in the history of the Great Patriotic War.

Today we will also remember the difficult test that the residents of the city of Leningrad endured with courage and dignity. I think you know about some of the events of the defense of Leningrad, but perhaps some of today’s information will be new to you.

Books have been written and feature films made about the siege of Leningrad. We will remember only a few facts from the life of besieged Leningrad.

The directive of the German naval headquarters “The Future of the City of St. Petersburg” dated September 22, 1941 stated: “The Fuhrer decided to wipe the city of Leningrad from the face of the earth. After the defeat of Soviet Russia, the continued existence of this largest populated area is of no interest... It is planned to surround the city with a tight ring and, by shelling from artillery of all calibers and continuous bombing from the air, raze it to the ground.” This is what Leningrad was waiting for, but everything turned out differently.

Here are 10 facts about besieged Leningrad.

1) The siege of Leningrad lasted 872 days (September 8, 1941 – January 27, 1944)

The beginning of the blockade is considered to be September 8, 1941, when the land connection between Leningrad and the entire country was interrupted. However, city residents had lost the opportunity to leave Leningrad two weeks earlier: railway communication was interrupted on August 27, and tens of thousands of people gathered at train stations and in the suburbs, waiting for the opportunity to break through to the east.

The Nazis were unable to take Leningrad by storm and decided to starve it out. Enemy aircraft dropped hundreds of incendiary and high-explosive bombs on the city every day. Heavy and super-heavy artillery conducted systematic and fierce shelling of residential areas of the city. For two and a half years, the Nazis besieged Leningrad, but were never able to break its defenders.

Leningraders heroically defended their hometown: they built defensive structures, fought in the people's militia, in partisan detachments, and became fighters in air defense units.

By the beginning of the blockade, Leningrad did not have sufficient supplies of food and fuel. The first winter was approaching. The Nazis gloated: Lake Ladoga was about to freeze, the city would be completely deprived of supplies, famine and death would come... But the enemy miscalculated. As soon as Lake Ladoga froze, a road on ice was built through it, which Leningraders called the Road of Life. It was through Ladoga that the highway ran through which food supplies were delivered to besieged Leningrad in the winters of 1941–42 and 1942–43. The Road of Life was in fact the only means of communication between Leningrad and the mainland. It was difficult to transport the amount of food needed for the entire population of the city across the lake. During the first winter of the siege, famine began in the city, and problems with heating and transport appeared. In the winter of 1941, hundreds of thousands of Leningraders died.

The blockade ring was broken on January 18, 1943. On January 27, 1944, 872 days after the start of the siege, Leningrad was completely liberated from the Nazis.

2) 630 thousand Leningraders died

In October 1941, city residents experienced a clear shortage of food, and in November real famine began in Leningrad. First, the first cases of loss of consciousness from hunger on the streets and at work, the first cases of death from exhaustion, and then the first cases of cannibalism were noted. It was extremely difficult to replenish food supplies: it was impossible to supply such a large city by air, and shipping on Lake Ladoga temporarily stopped due to the onset of cold weather. At the same time, the ice on the lake was still too weak for cars to drive on it. All these transport communications were under constant enemy fire.

During the blockade, over 630 thousand Leningraders died from hunger and deprivation. This figure was announced at the Nuremberg trials. According to other statistics, the figure could reach 1.5 million people. Only 3% of deaths occurred due to fascist shelling and bombing, the remaining 97% died from starvation. Dead bodies lying on the streets of the city were perceived by passers-by as an everyday occurrence. There are countless stories of people collapsing and dying - at home or at work, in shops or on the streets.

Many people know the sad story of the 12-year-old Leningrad girl Tanya Savicheva. The large Savichev family lived on Vasilyevsky Island. The blockade took away the girl's relatives. During those same terrible days, Tanya made such short tragic notes in her notebook.

"The Savichevs all died."

"There's only Tanya left."

Most of those who died during the siege are buried at the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery.

3) Minimum ration – 125 grams of bread

4) 1.5 million evacuees

During three waves of the evacuation of Leningrad, a total of 1.5 million people were removed from the city - almost half of the city's total population. The evacuation began a week after the start of the war. Explanatory work was carried out among the population: many did not want to leave their homes. By October 1942, the evacuation was completed. In the first wave, about 400 thousand children were taken to the areas of the Leningrad region. Starting from the second wave, evacuation was carried out along the Road of Life across Lake Ladoga. Brave drivers drove cars with food, weapons and ammunition for Leningraders along the ice highway, under fire and bombing. On return flights they took women and children and wounded soldiers to the rear of the country.

5) 1500 loudspeakers

6) –32.1°C

The first winter in besieged Leningrad was harsh. The thermometer dropped to -32.1°C. The average temperature of the month was 18.7 °C. The city did not even record the usual winter thaws. In April 1942, the snow cover in the city reached 52 cm. The negative air temperature remained in Leningrad for more than six months, lasting until May inclusive. Heating was not supplied to the houses, sewerage and water supply were turned off. Work in factories and factories stopped. The main source of heat in houses was the potbelly stove. Everything that burned was burned in it, including books and furniture.

7) 6 months of siege

8) 150 thousand shells

9) 4 cars of cats

For several years, the Nazis besieged the northern capital of Russia with a dense ring of blockade - there was no food or heat, no running water and no electricity. A terrible time, but the city survived it. It was the blockade of Leningrad, interesting facts about which still excite the minds of many historians and everyone.

Important events of World War II

The city was under siege for 872 days. The blockade of modern St. Petersburg began on September 8, 1941, when the Germans surrounded the settlement with a dense ring. It was possible to break through the fortification only on the 18th, in January 1943. The city's water and food supplies quickly ran out. With the arrival of winter, transportation began to be carried out across the frozen Lake Ladoga. The path bore a very symbolic name - “The Road of Life”.
There was only 125 g of bread per person per day. It was the lack of sufficient food supplies that was the main problem of the besieged city and its inhabitants.

During 3 waves of evacuation, about 1.5 million citizens were taken out of the city itself - this is almost half of all residents of Leningrad.
Even though the city was under siege, there were about one and a half thousand loudspeakers operating in it. They sent alarms every day, broadcast news from the front and the situation in St. Petersburg.
The first winter of 1941 was the most difficult for the residents of Leningrad. The temperature then reached a record for this area - minus 32.1 degrees Celsius. On average, the thermometer readings here do not fall below 18-19 degrees below zero. By April 1942, the maximum amount of precipitation recorded in the history of the city had fallen - the height of the snowdrifts reached 52 cm. Such climatic conditions persisted until May 1942. The infrastructure was not designed for such a climate. There was no light, no heat, the sewage system did not work, no water was supplied to the houses, and they warmed themselves in the rooms with the help of stoves - the so-called “bourgeois stoves”.
The siege of Leningrad continued even after it was broken through by Soviet troops, these are undoubtedly interesting facts about the cultural center of Russia. German and Finnish soldiers kept it under siege for six months, fearing fierce resistance. Only an offensive maneuver in the direction of Vyborg and Petrozavodsk made it possible to completely free the city and its inhabitants from the deadly siege ring.
At the beginning of 1943, 4 carriages of cats were brought to the city to fight rats and mice, which were wholesale destroying the already meager food supplies. After the liberation of the city, 5,000 smoky-colored cats and cats were brought to it - they were considered the best rodent exterminators. They saved the city and the people remaining in it. In modern St. Petersburg, as a sign of respect and special gratitude, a monument to these animals was erected on Malaya Sadovaya Street. The cat Elisha and the cat Vasilisa personify the smoky rodent fighters in the besieged city.
During the entire siege, 150 thousand aircraft shells were rained down from the sky on the besieged city. Air raids on the city were carried out several times a day - about 107,000 bombs were dropped on the city during the entire siege. 3,000 destroyed buildings and 7,000 damaged are the result of raids and shelling by German aircraft.
The siege of Leningrad, interesting and exciting facts about which are important not only for Russians, but for supporters of fascism - the Italians and Spaniards, who supported the German troops during the siege. There were conflicting opinions about the Blue Division of Spain: some spoke about the extraordinary stamina of its fighters, others argued that there was a complete lack of discipline in the troops. In this regard, along with the Italians opposing the Soviet Union in operations on Lake Ladoga, desertion was noted among the Spaniards - going over to the side of Soviet soldiers.
During the siege, per 100 deaths there were an average of 63 men and 37 women. This difference was formed due to the high physical endurance in difficult living conditions of the weaker half of the population.

The siege of Leningrad, which was described in this article, remains in the memory of surviving veterans and subsequent generations. January 27 is celebrated annually as the anniversary of the liberation from the fascist occupation of the cultural capital of Russia, which was of strategic importance for Hitler along with Moscow.