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The Siege of Leningrad
In 1941, Hitler broke the peace agreement with the Soviet Union, and the German troops ruled over the frontiers. They wanted access to the huge oil resources in the south, and they wanted to invade the big cities. Leningrad was an attractive goal for them, because of the city’s status as an earlier capital city and as a center for the political life. Hitler didn’t only want to control the city; he would also like the Slavic race to be exterminated. His goal was to surround Leningrad and prevent the population to get any supplies.
The siege began on the 8th of September 1941, when Nazi soldiers surrounded the city completely along with the Finnish soldiers from the northern front.
The siege of Leningrad was the most destructive and long lasting of all sieges in modern history. It ended on the 27th of January 1944, 872 days after it had begun.
On the 8th of September, the Germans had cut off all of Leningrad and its suburbs’ supply routes, and the bombardment that had already been going on for a month became more intense. The bombing of Leningrad cost about 6,000 civilians their lives and 20,000 were wounded.
On the 12th September the largest food depot in Leningrad was destroyed by German bombs.
Because of the isolation, it wasn’t possible for the people to get more food, but the Red Army established a route for bringing supplies into Leningrad. The security of the supply routes was ensured by a lot of security troops. The route was also used as an evacuation route for the civilians from the city. Even though it was a very dangerous road, the supplies kept on coming, and helped civilians and wounded soldiers to come out, and it allowed the city to resist their enemy.
The road was called the Road of Life, and it crossed a lake.
But even though the Red Army helped with food, many people were starving and in the winter of 1941-1942 it was hard to gain access to food, and this forced people to eat only 125 g. of bread each day, which consisted about 50-60% of sawdust. And it was distributed by ration cards.
Hungry gangs started to attack defenseless people. They killed them and ate them, because all of the rats, birds and pets already had been eaten. This led the police to form an anti-cannibalism unit.
There were two major attempts to free Leningrad. The first was in the autumn of 1942, where the Soviets tried to free the city, but meanwhile the Germans tried an offensive operation to capture the city. None of them succeeded, so the siege returned to its previous stage.
The second attempt, in January 1943, was a little more successful for the Soviets. Once again the Germans tried to capture the city and once more the Soviets tried to push them back.
After 6 days of battling, the Soviets acquired a 10-12 km wide land corridor outside the city, which gave some relief to the citizens.
The siege lasted until the 27th of January 1944 when the Germans finally were beaten and banished by the Soviet army, but some of the Finnish forces stayed until the summer of 1944.
Now the city was liberated, but the siege had had a catastrophic damage on the city. Many of the palaces of the old tsars were destroyed and it had cost about 1,5 million Soviet lives.
The city now began to rebuild, and they also had to adapt to the world again.
On the 8th of December 1991, three representatives; one from Russia, one from Ukraine and one from Belarus, went to Minsk, and broke up the Soviet Union. Same year Leningrad changed its name to Saint Petersburg, because the citizens didn’t want to be remembered as a big participator in the Second World War, and they wanted to forget Lenin.
Written by Victor, Villiam, Emma og Nina
In 1941, Hitler broke the peace agreement with the Soviet Union, and the German troops ruled over the frontiers. They wanted access to the huge oil resources in the south, and they wanted to invade the big cities. Leningrad was an attractive goal for them, because of the city’s status as an earlier capital city and as a center for the political life. Hitler didn’t only want to control the city; he would also like the Slavic race to be exterminated. His goal was to surround Leningrad and prevent the population to get any supplies.
The siege began on the 8th of September 1941, when Nazi soldiers surrounded the city completely along with the Finnish soldiers from the northern front.
The siege of Leningrad was the most destructive and long lasting of all sieges in modern history. It ended on the 27th of January 1944, 872 days after it had begun.
On the 8th of September, the Germans had cut off all of Leningrad and its suburbs’ supply routes, and the bombardment that had already been going on for a month became more intense. The bombing of Leningrad cost about 6,000 civilians their lives and 20,000 were wounded.
On the 12th September the largest food depot in Leningrad was destroyed by German bombs.
Because of the isolation, it wasn’t possible for the people to get more food, but the Red Army established a route for bringing supplies into Leningrad. The security of the supply routes was ensured by a lot of security troops. The route was also used as an evacuation route for the civilians from the city. Even though it was a very dangerous road, the supplies kept on coming, and helped civilians and wounded soldiers to come out, and it allowed the city to resist their enemy.
The road was called the Road of Life, and it crossed a lake.
But even though the Red Army helped with food, many people were starving and in the winter of 1941-1942 it was hard to gain access to food, and this forced people to eat only 125 g. of bread each day, which consisted about 50-60% of sawdust. And it was distributed by ration cards.
Hungry gangs started to attack defenseless people. They killed them and ate them, because all of the rats, birds and pets already had been eaten. This led the police to form an anti-cannibalism unit.
There were two major attempts to free Leningrad. The first was in the autumn of 1942, where the Soviets tried to free the city, but meanwhile the Germans tried an offensive operation to capture the city. None of them succeeded, so the siege returned to its previous stage.
The second attempt, in January 1943, was a little more successful for the Soviets. Once again the Germans tried to capture the city and once more the Soviets tried to push them back.
After 6 days of battling, the Soviets acquired a 10-12 km wide land corridor outside the city, which gave some relief to the citizens.
The siege lasted until the 27th of January 1944 when the Germans finally were beaten and banished by the Soviet army, but some of the Finnish forces stayed until the summer of 1944.
Now the city was liberated, but the siege had had a catastrophic damage on the city. Many of the palaces of the old tsars were destroyed and it had cost about 1,5 million Soviet lives.
The city now began to rebuild, and they also had to adapt to the world again.
On the 8th of December 1991, three representatives; one from Russia, one from Ukraine and one from Belarus, went to Minsk, and broke up the Soviet Union. Same year Leningrad changed its name to Saint Petersburg, because the citizens didn’t want to be remembered as a big participator in the Second World War, and they wanted to forget Lenin.
Written by Victor, Villiam, Emma og Nina