The date of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade. Day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade

During the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), German troops blockaded the city from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. For almost 900 days, communication with Leningrad was maintained only through Lake Ladoga and by air. The enemy conducted continuous bombing and artillery shelling of the city, made numerous attempts to capture it. During the siege of Leningrad, more than 641,000 inhabitants died of starvation and shelling (according to other sources, at least one million people). Under the blockade, Leningraders worked at defense enterprises, fought in divisions of the people's militia.

Soviet troops repeatedly tried to break through the blockade ring, but achieved this only in January 1943 during the strategic offensive operation of the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts in cooperation with the Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga military flotilla. The offensive was carried out on the Shlisselburg-Sinyavinsky ledge (between the city of Mga and Lake Ladoga), which the enemy turned into a powerful field fortified area (up to five fully equipped divisions and four divisions in operational reserve). To break through it, the Soviet command created two powerful strike groups, which broke through the enemy defenses with counter strikes and formed a corridor 8-11 kilometers wide along the shore of Lake Ladoga, restoring the land connection between Leningrad and the country. The further offensive of the Soviet troops to the south did not develop, but the blockade was broken turning point in the battle for Leningrad.

Soldiers of the Volkhov Front on the offensive during the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad

final rout Nazi German troops near Leningrad and the complete lifting of the blockade of the city occurred during the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, carried out on January 14 - March 1, 1944 by the troops of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts together with the Baltic Fleet.

During the offensive on January 20, Novgorod was liberated, by the end of January - the cities of Pushkin, Krasnogvardeisk, Tosno, the October railway connecting Moscow with Leningrad was cleared of the enemy.

The meeting of the fighters of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts near the Workers' settlement No. 5 during the operation to break the blockade of Leningrad (Operation Iskra)

On January 27, 1944, the blockade of Leningrad was completely eliminated. On this day, artillery salutes and fireworks were given in Leningrad (the only exception during the Great Patriotic War, other salutes were made in Moscow). On the evening of January 27, the Leningrad radio transmitted the text of the order to the troops of the Leningrad Front with a message about the complete lifting of the blockade. Tens of thousands of city residents took to the streets, squares, embankments of the Neva River. The salute began at 20:00: 24 volleys of artillery guns sounded, accompanied by fireworks and illuminated by anti-aircraft searchlights.

During the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, the enemy army group "North" was thrown back 220-280 kilometers, three of its divisions were destroyed and 23 were defeated.

The heroic defense of Leningrad became a symbol of the courage of the Soviet people. At the cost of incredible hardships, heroism and self-sacrifice, the soldiers and residents of Leningrad defended the city. Hundreds of thousands of those who fought were awarded government awards, 486 received the title of Hero Soviet Union, of which 8 people twice. In December 1942, the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad" was established, which was awarded to about 1.5 million people. Since May 1, 1945, Leningrad has been a hero city, and on May 8, 1965, the city was awarded the medal " Golden Star».

Leningraders read an issue of the Pravda newspaper with a message about the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad

Various festive and commemorative events are held today in St. Petersburg, dedicated to the 74th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad, honoring the veterans of the Great Patriotic War and all the inhabitants of the city who survived these terrible days.

In the morning, flowers were laid at the memorial plaque, at the Piskarevsky memorial cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of Leningraders and defenders of the city were buried during the siege, a solemn and mourning ceremony of laying wreaths and flowers was held. Also, wreath and flower laying ceremonies were held at the Serafimovsky, Smolensky and Bogoslovsky cemeteries, the Nevsky Military Cemetery "Cranes", at the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad on Victory Square, at the Triumphal Victory Arch on Military Glory Square in Krasnoye Selo, at the Krasnaya Sloboda memorial.

In memory of the blockade days, from 10.00 to 13.00 and from 19.00 to 22.00 torches are lit on the Rostral columns on the spit of Vasilyevsky Island, a concert will be held in the Oktyabrsky large concert hall.

In the evening, St. Petersburg students will launch 900 white and 900 black balloons into the sky, symbolizing 900 days and nights of the siege, and honor the heroic deeds with a minute of silence.

In honor of significant date at 21.00 a festive artillery salute will be given from four points: the beach Peter and Paul Fortress, Victory Park, St. Petersburg 300th Anniversary Park and Piskarevsky Park.

For the command of the Wehrmacht, the capture of the city on the Neva was not only of great military and strategic importance. In addition to capturing the entire coast of the Gulf of Finland and destroying the Baltic Fleet, far-reaching propaganda goals were also pursued. The fall of the cradle of the Revolution would have caused irreparable moral damage to the entire Soviet people and would have significantly undermined the fighting spirit of the armed forces. The command of the Red Army had an alternative: withdraw the troops and surrender the city without a fight. In this case, the fate of the inhabitants would be even more tragic. Hitler intended to wipe the city off the face of the earth in the literal sense of the word.

Leningrad was finally surrounded by German and Finnish troops on September 8, 1941. The blockade of Leningrad lasted 872 days. In addition to military formations of the army and navy, more than three million people were under siege - Leningraders and refugees from the Baltic states and neighboring regions. Leningrad during the blockade lost more than 600 thousand civilians, of which only three percent died from bombing and artillery shelling, the rest died from exhaustion and disease. More than one and a half million people were evacuated.

Attempts to break the blockade in 1942

Even in the most difficult days of the war, attempts were made to break the encirclement. In January 1942, the Soviet army launched an offensive to connect the besieged city with the ‘‘Greater Land’’ near the village of Lyubtsy. The next attempt was made in August - October in the direction of the village of Sinyavino and Mga station. These operations to break the blockade of Leningrad were unsuccessful. Although the Sinyavino offensive failed, the Wehrmacht's next plans to capture the city were thwarted by this maneuver.

Strategic background

The defeat of the Nazi grouping of troops on the Volga radically changed the alignment of strategic forces in favor of the Soviet army. Under the current conditions, the High Command decided to carry out an operation to unblock the northern capital. The operational event involving the forces of the Leningrad, Volkhov fronts, the Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga flotilla received the code name ‘‘Iskra’’. The liberation of Leningrad from the blockade, although partial, was made possible thanks to serious miscalculations by the German command. Hitler's headquarters underestimated the importance of the accumulation of reserves. After fierce fighting in the Moscow direction and the south of the country, two tank divisions and a significant part of the infantry formations were withdrawn from the Army Group North to partially compensate for the losses of the central grouping. By the beginning of 1943, near Leningrad, the invaders did not have large mechanized formations to counter a possible offensive by the Soviet army.

Rate plans

Operation Iskra was conceived in the autumn of 1942. At the end of November, the headquarters of the Leningrad Front suggested that the Stavka prepare a new offensive and break through the enemy ring in two directions: Shlisselburg and Uritsky. The Supreme High Command decided to focus on one, the shortest, in the Sinyavino-Schlisselburg area.

On November 22, the command presented a plan for the counter actions of the concentrated forces of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. The operation was approved, the preparation was given no more than a month. It was very important to carry out the planned offensive in the winter: in the spring swampy places became impassable. Due to the beginning of the thaw at the end of December, the breakthrough of the blockade was postponed for ten days. The code name for the operation was proposed by IV Stalin. Half a century ago, V. I. Ulyanov, creating a press organ Bolshevik Party, called the newspaper "Iskra" with the intent that the flame of revolution would ignite from the spark. Stalin thus drew an analogy, assuming that an operational offensive maneuver would develop into a significant strategic success. General leadership was entrusted to Marshal K. E. Voroshilov. Marshal G.K. Zhukov was sent to coordinate actions on the Volkhov Front.

Preparation of the offensive

During December, the troops were intensively preparing for battle. All units were 100% staffed with personnel and equipment, up to 5 sets of ammunition for each piece of heavy weapons were accumulated. Leningrad during the blockade was able to provide the front with all the necessary military equipment and small arms. And for tailoring uniforms, not only specialized enterprises were involved, but also citizens who had personal sewing machines. In the rear, sappers reinforced existing bridge crossings and erected new ones. About 50 kilometers of roads were laid to ensure the approach to the Neva.

Particular attention was paid to the training of fighters: they had to be taught how to fight in the winter in the forest and attack a fortified area equipped with strongholds and long-term firing points. In the rear of each formation, training grounds were arranged, simulating the conditions of the areas of the proposed offensive. To break through engineering, special assault groups were created. Walkways were built. All commanders, up to and including company commanders, were provided with updated maps and photographic diagrams. The regrouping was carried out exclusively at night or in non-flying weather. The activities of front-line reconnaissance were intensified. The location of enemy defensive objects was precisely established. Staff games were arranged for the commanding staff. The final phase was to conduct exercises with live firing. The camouflage measures, the dissemination of disinformation, as well as the strictest observance of secrecy, have borne fruit. The enemy learned about the planned offensive in just a few days. The Germans did not manage to further strengthen the dangerous directions.

balance of power

The formations of the Leningrad Front as part of the 42nd, 55th, 67th armies held the defense of the city from the inner southeastern side of the ring on the Uritsk-Kolpino line, the right-bank territories of the Neva - to Ladoga. The 23rd Army conducted defensive operations from north side on the Karelian Isthmus. The military aviation forces consisted of the 13th Air Army. The breakthrough of the blockade was provided by 222 tanks and 37 armored vehicles. The front was commanded by Lieutenant General L. A. Govorov. The infantry units were supported from the air by the 14th Air Army. 217 tanks were concentrated in this direction. General of the Army K. A. Meretskov commanded the Volkhov Front. In the direction of the breakthrough, using reserves and applying a regrouping of forces, it was possible to achieve superiority in manpower by four and a half times, artillery - seven times, tanks - ten times, aviation - twice. The density of guns and mortars from the side of Leningrad was up to 146 units per 1 km of the front. Also, the offensive was supported by the artillery of the ships of the Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga Flotilla (88 guns with a caliber from 100 to 406 mm) and naval aircraft.

On the Volkhov direction, the density of guns ranged from 101 to 356 units per kilometer. The total strength of the strike force on both sides reached 303,000 soldiers and officers. The enemy besieged the city with twenty-six divisions of the 18th Army (Army Group North) and a formation of four Finnish divisions in the north. guns and mortars.The Wehrmacht group was commanded by General G. Lindemann.

Battle on the Shlisselburg ledge

On the night of January 11-12, aviation of the Volkhov Front and the 13th air army The Leningrad Front was dealt a massive bombing strike against predetermined targets in the intended breakthrough area. On January 12, at half past nine in the morning, artillery preparation began. The shelling of enemy positions lasted two hours and ten minutes. Half an hour before the start of the attack, attack aircraft raided the fortified defenses and artillery batteries of the Germans. At 11.00, the 67th Army from the Neva and units of the second shock and eighth armies of the Volkhov Front launched an offensive. The infantry attack was supported by artillery fire with the formation of a fire shaft one kilometer deep. The Wehrmacht troops fiercely resisted, the Soviet infantry advanced slowly and unevenly.

For two days of fighting, the distance between the advancing groups was reduced to two kilometers. Only six days later, the advancing formations of the Soviet army managed to unite in the area of workers' settlements No. 1 and No. 5. On January 18, the city of Shlisselburg (Petrokrepost) was liberated and the entire territory adjacent to the Ladoga coast was cleared of the enemy. The width of the land corridor in different sections was from 8 to 10 kilometers. On the day of the breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad, a reliable land connection between the city and the mainland was restored. The joint grouping of the 2nd and 67th armies tried unsuccessfully to build on the success of the offensive and expand the bridgehead to the south. The Germans were pulling up reserves. From January 19, within ten days, the German command deployed five divisions to dangerous sectors and a large number of artillery. The offensive in the Sinyavino area bogged down. In order to hold the conquered lines, the troops went on the defensive. A positional war began. The official end date for the operation is January 30th.

The results of the offensive

As a result of the offensive carried out by the Soviet troops, units of the Wehrmacht army were thrown back from the shore of Ladoga, but the city itself still remained in the frontline zone. The breaking of the blockade during Operation Iskra showed the maturity of the military thought of the highest command personnel. The defeat of an enemy grouping in a heavily fortified area by a coordinated joint strike from the outside and from the outside became a precedent in the domestic military art. The armed forces have gained serious experience in conducting offensive actions in wooded area winter conditions. Overcoming the enemy's layered defensive system showed the need for thorough planning of artillery fire, as well as the operational movement of units during the battle.

Side losses

The casualty figures testify to how bloody the battles were. The 67th and 13th armies of the Leningrad Front lost 41.2 thousand people killed and wounded, including irretrievable losses amounted to 12.4 thousand people. The Volkhov Front lost 73.9 and 21.5 thousand people, respectively. Seven enemy divisions were destroyed. The losses of the Germans amounted to more than 30 thousand people, irretrievable - 13 thousand people. In addition, about four hundred guns and mortars, 178 machine guns, 5,000 rifles, a large amount of ammunition, and one and a half hundred vehicles were taken as trophies by the Soviet army. Two of the newest heavy tanks T-VI "Tiger" were captured.

big win

Operation ''Spark'' to break the blockade achieved the desired results. Within seventeen days, along the shores of Lake Ladoga, highway and a railway line thirty-three kilometers long. On February 7, the first train arrived in Leningrad. A stable supply of the city and military units was restored, and the supply of electricity increased. The water supply has been restored. The situation of the civilian population has improved significantly, industrial enterprises, formations of the front and the Baltic Fleet. Subsequently, more than eight hundred thousand civilians were evacuated from Leningrad to the rear areas.

The liberation of Leningrad from the blockade in January 1943 was key point in the defense of the city. The Soviet troops in this direction finally seized the strategic initiative. The danger of the connection of German and Finnish troops was eliminated. January 18 - the day the blockade of Leningrad was broken - the critical period of the city's isolation ended. The successful completion of the operation was of great ideological significance for the people of the country. Not the largest battle of the Second World War attracted the attention of the political elite overseas. US President T. Roosevelt congratulated the Soviet leadership on military success, and sent a letter to the residents of the city, in which he recognized the greatness of the feat, their unbending stamina and courage.

Museum of Breaking the Siege of Leningrad

All along the line of confrontation, memorials were erected in memory of the tragic and heroic events of those years. In 1985, in the Kirovsky district of the region, near the village of Maryino, a diorama "Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad" was opened. It was in this place that on January 12, 1943, units of the 67th Army crossed the Neva on ice and broke through the enemy defenses. is an artistic canvas measuring 40 by 8 meters. The canvas depicts the events of the attack on the German defenses. In front of the canvas, the subject plan, 4 to 8 meters deep, recreates three-dimensional images of fortified positions, communication channels, and military equipment.

The unity of the composition of the pictorial canvas and volumetric design creates a stunning effect of presence. On the very bank of the Neva there is a monument "Breakthrough of the Blockade". The monument is a T-34 tank mounted on a pedestal. The combat vehicle seems to be rushing to connect with the troops of the Volkhov Front. On the open area in front of the museum there is also an exhibition of military equipment.

The final lifting of the blockade of Leningrad. 1944

The complete lifting of the siege of the city took place only a year later as a result of a large-scale Leningrad-Novgorod operation. The troops of the Volkhov, Baltic and Leningrad fronts defeated the main forces of the 18th army of the Wehrmacht. January 27 became the official day of lifting the almost 900-day blockade. And 1943 was recorded in the historiography of the Great Patriotic War as the year of breaking the blockade of Leningrad.

January 27 is the Day military glory Russia - Day of lifting the blockade of the city of Leningrad (1944), established in accordance with federal law dated March 13, 1995 "On the days of military glory (victory days) of Russia".

January 27 marks the Day of Military Glory of Russia - the Day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade (1944), the site reports with reference to fnkaa.ru.

It was established in accordance with the Federal Law of March 13, 1995 "On the days of military glory (victory days) of Russia" and was previously called the Day of lifting the blockade of the city of Leningrad (1944). In November 2013, the name of the day of military glory was changed to "Day of the complete liberation by the Soviet troops of the city of Leningrad from the blockade of its Nazi troops (1944)".

At the numerous requests of the inhabitants of the city, primarily the blockade, in December 2014 the name of the day of military glory was again corrected, it became known as "The day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade (1944)". The new name of this day most accurately reflects not only the role of Soviet troops in the liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade, but also the merit of the inhabitants of besieged Leningrad in protecting the city.

The blockade of the city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) was carried out German troops from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944 in order to break the resistance of the city's defenders and take it. The German command attached important strategic and political significance. For almost 900 days, communication with Leningrad was maintained only through Lake Ladoga and by air. The enemy conducted continuous bombing and artillery shelling of the city, made numerous attempts to capture it. During the siege of Leningrad, more than 641,000 inhabitants died from starvation and shelling (according to other sources, at least one million people). Under the conditions of the blockade, Leningraders worked at defense enterprises, fought in divisions of the people's militia.

Soviet troops repeatedly tried to break through the blockade ring, but achieved this only in January 1943 during the strategic offensive operation of the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts in cooperation with the Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga military flotilla. The operation was carried out on January 12-30, 1943 in order to restore land communications that connected the city with the country. The offensive was carried out on the Shlisselburg-Sinyavinsky ledge (between the city of Mga and Lake Ladoga), which the enemy turned into a powerful field fortified area (up to five fully equipped divisions and four divisions in operational reserve). To break through it, the Soviet command created two powerful strike groups, which broke through the enemy defenses with counter strikes and formed a corridor 8-11 kilometers wide along the shore of Lake Ladoga, restoring the land connection between Leningrad and the country. The further offensive of the Soviet troops to the south did not develop, but the breakthrough of the blockade became a turning point in the battle for Leningrad.

The final defeat of the Nazi troops near Leningrad and the complete lifting of the blockade of the city took place during the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, carried out on January 14 - March 1, 1944 by the troops of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts together with the Baltic Fleet. At the same time, strikes against the flank groups of the German 18th Army near Leningrad and Novgorod Soviet troops defeated its main forces, then, advancing on the Narva and Moscow directions, defeated the 16th army of the enemy.

During the offensive on January 20, Novgorod was liberated, by the end of January - the cities of Pushkin, Krasnogvardeisk, Tosno, the Oktyabrskaya railway connecting Moscow with Leningrad was cleared of the enemy.

On January 27, 1944, the blockade of Leningrad was completely eliminated. On this day, artillery salutes and fireworks were given in Leningrad (the only exception during the Great Patriotic War, other salutes were made in Moscow). On the evening of January 27, the Leningrad radio transmitted the text of the order to the troops of the Leningrad Front with a message about the complete lifting of the blockade. Tens of thousands of city residents took to the streets, squares, embankments of the Neva River. The fireworks began at 20:00: 24 volleys of artillery guns sounded, accompanied by fireworks and illuminated by anti-aircraft searchlights.

During the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, the enemy army group "North" was thrown back 220-280 kilometers, three of its divisions were destroyed and 23 were defeated.

The heroic defense of Leningrad became a symbol of the courage of the Soviet people. At the cost of incredible hardships, heroism and self-sacrifice, the soldiers and residents of Leningrad defended the city. Hundreds of thousands of those who fought were awarded government awards, 486 received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, eight of them twice.
On December 22, 1942, the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad" was established, which was awarded to about 1.5 million people.

On January 26, 1945, the city of Leningrad itself was awarded the Order of Lenin. Since May 1, 1945, Leningrad has been a hero city, and on May 8, 1965, the city was awarded the Gold Star medal.

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

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

Olga Berggolts "Leningrad Poem".

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…based on directives supreme command I order:

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Road of Life" for besieged Leningrad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Life of besieged Leningrad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Victims of the siege of Leningrad

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

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

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

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

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

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

Liberation of besieged Leningrad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(O. Bergholz, 1944)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The historical significance of the Battle of Leningrad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bergholz Olga (1941).

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

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

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

In 1941, Hitler launched military operations on the outskirts of Leningrad in order to completely destroy the city. On September 8, 1941, the ring around the important strategic and political center closed. On January 18, 1943, the blockade was broken, and the city had a land communication corridor with the country. On January 27, 1944, the Soviet troops completely lifted the Nazi blockade of the city that had lasted for 900 days.

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

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

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

Nazi genocide. Leningrad blockade

On the evening of January 27, 1944, fireworks rumbled over Leningrad. The armies of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts pushed back the German troops from the city, liberated almost the entire Leningrad region.

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

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

At first glance, such a statement may seem erroneous. The term "holocaust", which takes root in Russia with some difficulty, denotes the Nazi policy aimed at the extermination of the Jews. The practice of this destruction could be different. Jews were brutally killed during the pogroms carried out by the Baltic and Ukrainian nationalists, they were shot at Babi Yar and the Minsk Pit, they were killed in numerous ghettos, they were destroyed on an industrial scale in numerous death camps - Treblinka, Buchenwald, Auschwitz.

The Nazis strove for final decision the Jewish Question," to the destruction of the Jews as a nation. This incredible crime was averted thanks to the victories of the Red Army; however, even a partial implementation of the Nazi plan of genocide led to truly horrific results. About six million Jews were exterminated by the Nazis and their accomplices, about half of whom were Soviet citizens.

The Holocaust is an undeniable crime, a symbol of the Nazi policy of genocide against "racially inferior" peoples. The criminality of the blockade of Leningrad in the eyes of many, both in the West and in our country, does not look so obvious. Very often one hears that this is, of course, a huge tragedy, but war is always cruel in relation to the civilian population. Moreover, there are statements that the Soviet leadership is allegedly guilty of the horrors of the blockade, which did not want to surrender the city and, thereby, save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

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

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

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

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

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

A week and a half later, on September 29, 1941, these plans were recorded in the directive of the Chief of Staff of the German Naval Forces:

“The Fuhrer decided to wipe the city of Petersburg from the face of the earth. After the defeat of Soviet Russia, the continued existence of this largest locality is of no interest .... It is supposed to surround the city with a tight ring and, by shelling from artillery of all calibers and continuous bombing from the air, raze it to the ground. If, due to the situation that has developed in the city, requests for surrender are made, they will be rejected, since the problems associated with the stay of the population in the city and its food supply cannot and should not be solved by us. In this war being waged for the right to exist, we are not interested in saving at least part of the population.

A characteristic commentary on these plans was given by Heydrich in a letter to the Reichsführer SS Himmler dated October 20, 1941: “I would like to humbly draw attention to the fact that clear orders regarding the cities of Petersburg and Moscow cannot be implemented in reality if they are not initially executed with all cruelty.

A little later, at a meeting at the headquarters of the High Command of the Ground Forces, the Nazi plans for Leningrad and its inhabitants were summed up by Quartermaster General Wagner: “There is no doubt that it is Leningrad that must die of starvation.”

The plans of the Nazi leadership did not leave the right to life to the inhabitants of Leningrad - just as they did not leave the right to life to the Jews. It is significant that the famine was organized by the Nazis in the occupied Leningrad region. It turned out to be no less terrible than the famine in the city on the Neva. Since this phenomenon has been studied much less than the Leningrad famine, here is an extensive quote from the diary of a resident of the city of Pushkin (former Tsarskoe Selo):

December 24th. The frosts are unbearable. People are dying of hunger in their beds by the hundreds a day. About 25 thousand remained in Tsarskoe Selo by the arrival of the Germans. 5-6 thousand were dispersed to the rear and the nearest villages, two thousand - two and a half were knocked out by shells, and according to the last census of the Council, which was carried out the other day, there were eight and something thousand . Everything else is dead. It’s not surprising at all when you hear that one or another of our acquaintances has died ...

27th of December. Carts drive through the streets and collect the dead from their homes. They are folded into anti-air slots. They say that the whole road to Gatchina is lined with corpses on both sides. These unfortunates gathered their last junk and went to change for food. On the way, one of them sat down to rest, he didn’t get up anymore ... The old people from the nursing home, distraught with hunger, wrote an official request addressed to the commander of the military forces of our section and somehow sent this request to him. And it read: “we ask permission to eat the elderly who died in our house.”

The Nazis deliberately doomed hundreds of thousands of people to starvation both in besieged Leningrad and in the Leningrad region occupied by them. So the blockade and the Holocaust are indeed phenomena of the same order, undeniable crimes against humanity. This, by the way, has already been legally fixed: in 2008, the German government and the Commission for the presentation of Jewish material claims against Germany (Claims Conference) came to an agreement according to which the Jews who survived the siege of Leningrad were equated with the victims of the Holocaust and received the right to one-time compensation .

This decision is certainly the right one, opening up the right to receive compensation for all blockade survivors. The blockade of Leningrad is the same crime against humanity as the Holocaust. Thanks to the actions of the Nazis, the city was actually turned into a gigantic ghetto dying of starvation, the difference of which from the ghettos in the territories occupied by the Nazis was that auxiliary police units did not break into it to carry out massacres and the German security service did not carry out mass executions here. However, this does not change the criminal essence of the blockade of Leningrad.

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