The only way to communicate with besieged Leningrad. The road of life across Lake Ladoga: the history of the Great Patriotic War. Blockade Leningrad. A poem about the siege of Leningrad

The blockade of Leningrad lasted from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944 - 872 days. By the beginning of the blockade, the city had only inadequate supplies of food and fuel. The only way to communicate with besieged Leningrad there remained Lake Ladoga, which was within the reach of the artillery of the besiegers. The capacity of this transport artery was inadequate for the needs of the city. The famine that began in the city, aggravated by problems with heating and transport, led to hundreds of thousands of deaths among residents. According to various estimates, from 300 thousand to 1.5 million people died during the years of the blockade. The number of 632 thousand people appeared at the Nuremberg Trials. Only 3% of them died from bombing and shelling, the remaining 97% died of starvation. Photos of Leningrad S.I. Petrova, who survived the blockade. Made in May 1941, May 1942 and October 1942 respectively:

« Bronze Horseman in blockade attire.

The windows were sealed crosswise with paper so that they would not crack from explosions.

Palace Square

Harvesting cabbage at St. Isaac's Cathedral

Shelling. September 1941

Training sessions of the "fighters" of the self-defense group of the Leningrad orphanage No. 17.

New Year in the surgical department of the City Children's Hospital named after Dr. Rauchfus

Nevsky Prospekt in winter. Building with a hole in the wall - Engelhardt's house, Nevsky Prospekt, 30. The breach is the result of a German air bomb hit.

A battery of anti-aircraft guns at St. Isaac's Cathedral is firing, reflecting a night raid by German aircraft.

At the places where the inhabitants took water, huge ice slides formed from the water splashed in the cold. These slides were a serious obstacle for people weakened by hunger.

Turner of the 3rd category Vera Tikhova, whose father and two brothers went to the front

Trucks take people out of Leningrad. "The road of life" - the only way to the besieged city for its supply, passed through Lake Ladoga

Music teacher Nina Mikhailovna Nikitina and her children Misha and Natasha share the blockade ration. They talked about the special attitude of the blockade to bread and other food after the war. They always ate everything clean, leaving not a single crumb. A refrigerator full of food to capacity was also the norm for them.

Bread card of the blockade. In the most terrible period of the winter of 1941-42 (the temperature dropped below 30 degrees), 250 g of bread was given out per day for a manual worker and 150 g for everyone else.

Starving Leningraders are trying to get meat by butchering the corpse of a dead horse. One of the worst pages of the blockade is cannibalism. More than 2 thousand people were convicted for cannibalism and related murders in besieged Leningrad. In most cases, cannibals were expected to be shot.

Barrage balloons. Balloons on cables that prevented enemy aircraft from flying low. Balloons were filled with gas from gas holders

Transportation of a gas tank at the corner of Ligovsky Prospekt and Razyezzhaya Street, 1943

Residents of besieged Leningrad collect water that appeared after shelling in holes in the asphalt on Nevsky Prospekt

In a bomb shelter during an air raid

Schoolgirls Valya Ivanova and Valya Ignatovich put out two incendiary bombs that fell into the attic of their house.

Victim of German shelling on Nevsky Prospekt.

Firefighters wash off the blood of Leningraders killed in German shelling from the asphalt on Nevsky Prospekt.

Tanya Savicheva is a Leningrad schoolgirl who, from the beginning of the blockade of Leningrad, began to keep a diary in a notebook. In this diary, which has become one of the symbols of the Leningrad blockade, there are only 9 pages, and six of them contain the dates of the death of loved ones. 1) December 28, 1941. Zhenya died at 12 o'clock in the morning. 2) Grandmother died on January 25, 1942, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. 3) Lyoka died on March 17 at 5 o'clock in the morning. 4) Uncle Vasya died on April 13 at 2 am. 5) Uncle Lyosha May 10 at 4 pm. 6) Mom - May 13 at 730 in the morning. 7) The Savichevs are dead. 8) Everyone died. 9) Only Tanya is left. At the beginning of March 1944, Tanya was sent to the Ponetaevsk nursing home in the village of Ponetaevka, 25 kilometers from Krasny Bor, where she died on July 1, 1944 at the age of 14 and a half from intestinal tuberculosis, blinded shortly before her death.

On August 9, 1942, Shostakovich's 7th Symphony "Leningradskaya" was performed for the first time in besieged Leningrad. The Philharmonic hall was full. The audience was very diverse. The concert was attended by sailors, armed infantrymen, air defense fighters dressed in jerseys, emaciated patrons of the Philharmonic. The performance of the symphony lasted 80 minutes. All this time, the enemy's guns were silent: the artillerymen defending the city received an order to suppress the fire of German guns at all costs. The new work of Shostakovich shocked the listeners: many of them cried, not hiding their tears. During the performance, the symphony was broadcast on the radio, as well as on the loudspeakers of the city network.

Dmitri Shostakovich in a fire suit. During the blockade in Leningrad, Shostakovich, together with students, went out of town to dig trenches, was on duty on the roof of the conservatory during the bombing, and when the roar of bombs subsided, he again began to compose a symphony. Subsequently, having learned about Shostakovich's duties, Boris Filippov, who headed the House of Art Workers in Moscow, expressed doubts whether the composer should have risked himself like that - "because it could deprive us of the Seventh Symphony", and heard in response: "Or maybe otherwise this symphony would not have existed. All this had to be felt and experienced. "

Residents of besieged Leningrad cleaning the streets from snow.

Anti-aircraft gunners with an apparatus for "listening" to the sky.

On the last journey. Nevsky Avenue. Spring 1942

After the shelling.

On the construction of an anti-tank ditch

On Nevsky Prospekt near the Khudozhestvenny cinema. The cinema under the same name still exists on Nevsky Prospekt, 67.

A bomb crater on the Fontanka embankment.

Saying goodbye to a peer.

A group of children from kindergarten Oktyabrsky district for a walk. Dzerzhinsky Street (now Gorokhovaya Street).

In a ruined apartment

Residents of besieged Leningrad disassemble the roof of the building for firewood.

Near the bakery after receiving a bread ration.

Corner of Nevsky and Ligovsky prospects. Victims of one of the first first shelling

Leningrad schoolboy Andrey Novikov gives an air raid signal.

On Volodarsky Avenue. September 1941

The artist behind the sketch

Seeing off to the front

Sailors of the Baltic Fleet with the girl Lyusya, whose parents died during the blockade.

Commemorative inscription on the house number 14 on Nevsky Prospekt

Diorama of the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War on Poklonnaya Hill

Today is a special day in St. Petersburg. It was on this day, in 1941, that the Nazis closed the blockade ring around Leningrad, in which the city lived for a terrible 872 days. It was on this day that the Nazis for the first time carried out a massive bombardment of the Northern capital, an enemy ring closed around the city and the countdown of the terrible days and nights of the defense of Leningrad began, which shocked the whole world with its tragedy and heroism. The city was often bombed, and hunger became a constant companion of every Leningrader.

The only way to communicate with besieged Leningrad was Lake Ladoga, which was within the reach of the besiegers' artillery. The capacity of this transport artery was inadequate for the needs of the city. The famine that began in the city, aggravated by problems with heating and transport, led to hundreds of thousands of deaths among residents.

The capture of Leningrad was integral part developed Nazi Germany plan of war against the USSR - the plan "Barbarossa". It provided that Soviet Union must be completely destroyed within 3-4 months of the summer and autumn of 1941, that is, during a lightning war ("blitzkrieg"). By November 1941, German troops were to capture the entire European part of the USSR.

According to Hitler's plan, Leningrad was to be wiped off the face of the earth, and the troops defending it were to be destroyed. Having failed in attempts to break through the defense Soviet troops inside the blockade ring, the Germans decided to starve the city out. On September 13, shelling of the city began, which continued throughout the war.

September 8, 1941 is considered the beginning of the blockade, when the land connection between Leningrad and the whole country was interrupted. However, the inhabitants of the city lost the opportunity to leave Leningrad two weeks earlier: the railway connection was interrupted on August 27, while tens of thousands of people gathered at the stations and in the suburbs, waiting for the possibility of a breakthrough to the east. The situation was further complicated by the fact that with the outbreak of the war, Leningrad was flooded with at least 300,000 refugees from the Baltic republics and neighboring Russian regions.

More than 2.5 million inhabitants, including 400 thousand children, turned out to be in the besieged city. There were very few food and fuel supplies. The catastrophic food situation of the city became clear on September 12, when checks and accounting of all edible stocks were completed. The resulting famine, exacerbated by bombing, problems with heating and paralysis of transport, led to hundreds of thousands of deaths among the inhabitants.

But Leningraders continued to work - administrative and children's institutions, printing houses, clinics, theaters worked, scientists continued to work. Teenagers worked in factories, replacing their fathers who had gone to the front.

Lake Ladoga remained the only way to communicate with besieged Leningrad. On November 22, the movement of cars began along the ice road, which was called the Road of Life. The Germans bombed and shelled the road, but they failed to stop the movement. In winter, the population was evacuated and food was delivered. In total, about a million people were evacuated.

Part of the emaciated people taken out of the city could not be saved. Several thousand people died from the consequences of starvation after they were transferred to mainland. Doctors did not immediately learn how to care for starving people. There were cases when they died, having received a large number of high-quality food, which for an exhausted organism turned out to be essentially poison. At the same time, as all researchers unanimously note, there could have been much more victims if the local authorities of the regions where the evacuees were placed had not made extraordinary efforts to provide Leningraders with food and qualified medical care.

In December 1941, the situation deteriorated sharply. Death from starvation has become massive. The sudden death of passers-by on the streets became commonplace - people went somewhere about their business, fell and died instantly. Special funeral services picked up about a hundred corpses daily from the streets. Another important factor in the increase in mortality was the cold. January and early February 1942 became the most terrible, critical months of the blockade.

In January 1942, the Red Army made its first attempt to break through the blockade. The troops of the two fronts - Leningrad and Volkhov - in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bLake Ladoga were separated by only 12 km. However, the Germans managed to create an impenetrable defense in this area, and the forces of the Red Army were still very limited. The Soviet troops suffered huge losses, but did not manage to move forward. The soldiers who broke through the blockade ring from Leningrad were severely exhausted.

Only on January 18, 1943, the encirclement was broken through, and the enemy was driven back from the city. January 27, 1944 - The day of the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad, which became the most bloody in the history of mankind.

According to various sources, from 400 thousand to 1.5 million people died in the city over the years.

By order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief dated May 1, 1945, Leningrad received the title of Hero City for the heroism and courage shown by the inhabitants during the blockade. On May 8, 1965, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Hero City of Leningrad was awarded the order Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to find the names of all the dead, but it is necessary to remember this terrible date, these terrible events that led to the death of thousands of people.

September 8 is rightfully considered a sacred date for Petersburgers. Despite the fact that quite a lot of time has passed, the memory of their feat will be eternal.

Today is the anniversary of the complete lifting of the blockade of Leningrad.

This, like May 9, is a holiday with tears in our eyes. It is impossible to do without tears - many, many lives were taken by the blockade, the losses for many of us are irreparable.

A test of the courage and resilience of ordinary citizens, incredible living and working conditions in a besieged city - that's what it was. And the city survived.

About the blockade

War again

Another blockade...

Or should we forget about them?

I hear sometimes:

"No need,

There is no need to open wounds."

It's true that we're tired

We are from tales of war

And flipped through the blockade

The lyrics are enough.

And it may seem:

And persuasive words.

But even if it's true

Such a truth -

Wrong!

To again

On earth planet

That winter did not happen again

We need,

So that our children

This was remembered

I don't need to worry

So that that war is not forgotten:

After all, this memory is our conscience.

As a force, we need.

Yuri Voronov

Let's remember how it was, and look at the photos of those years.

Leningrad blockade- military blockade by German, Finnish and Spanish troops (Blue Division). Lasted from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944, 872 days. (The blockade ring was broken on January 18, 1943)

The capture of Leningrad was an integral part of the war plan developed by Germany against USSR- plan " Barbarossa » . According to the plan, the Soviet Union was supposed to be completely defeated within 3-4 months of summer and autumn 1941, during a lightning war (" blitzkrieg"). By November 1941, German troops were to capture the entire European part of the USSR. According to plan " Ost” (“Vostok”) was supposed to exterminate a significant part of the population of the Soviet Union within a few years.

Chronicle of the blockade

At the end of August 1941 years the German units broke through Luga defensive line and rushed to Leningrad with south.

By the beginning of September, the Finns have crossed old Soviet-Finnish border(until 1939) on the Karelian Isthmus to a depth of 20 km from the north.

September 4, 1941 city ​​exposed first artillery shelling from the occupied city Tosno.

6 September 1941 Hitler with his order (Weisung No. 35) stops the offensive Group of Forces "North" to Leningrad and gives orders to the field marshal Leebu to give a significant number of troops for the attack on Moscow.

Only the only railway connection with the coast of Lake Ladoga from the Finland Station has survived - The road of life.

Later the Germans continued surrounding the city with a blockade ring, no more than 15 km from the city center, and went on to a long blockade. In this situation, Hitler, by his decision, doomed the population of the city to starvation.

On the same day, German troops unexpectedly found themselves in the suburbs of the city. German motorcyclists even stopped the tram on the southern outskirts of the city (route No. 28 Stremyannaya St. - Strelna).

But the city was ready for defense. Throughout the summer, day and night, about half a million people, mostly women and children, created defense lines in the city. One of them, the most fortified, called the "Stalin Line" passed along bypass channel. Many houses on the defensive lines were turned into long-term strongholds of resistance.

September 13 arrived in the city Zhukov who took command of the front.
According to G. K. Zhukova, “The situation that developed near Leningrad, Stalin at that moment assessed as catastrophic.

1944 Lifting of blockade
Operation January Thunder
January 14 the Krasnoselsko-Ropshinsky operation of the troops of the Leningrad Front began, as a result of which January 27 1944 blockade was completely lifted!
As a result of a powerful offensive by the troops of the Leningrad Front, German troops were thrown back from Leningrad at a distance of 60-100 km and, 872 days after start the blockade is over.

On this day, Moscow ceded the right to fireworks to Leningrad in commemoration of the final lifting of the blockade.

Interesting fact: order signed to the victorious troops, contrary to the established order, not Stalin, but on his behalf - Govorov, commander of the Leningrad Front. None of the commanders of the fronts during the Great Patriotic War was awarded such a privilege.
………..
Results of the blockade

Population loss
During the years of the blockade died, according to various sources, from 600 thousand to 1.5 million people. Yes, on Nuremberg Trials figured the number of 632 thousand people. Only 3% of them died from bombing and shelling; the remaining 97% starved to death.
Most of the inhabitants of Leningrad who died during the blockade are buried on Piskarevsky Memorial Cemetery.
On the stones are carved the lines of a writer who survived the siege Olga Bergholz. In a long row of graves lie the victims of the blockade, the number of which in this cemetery alone is 640,000 people who died of starvation and more than 17,000 people who fell victim to air raids and artillery shelling.


Total number civilian casualties in the city for the entire duration of the war exceeds 1.2 million people. Also, the bodies of many dead Leningraders were cremated in the ovens of a brick factory located on the territory of the present Moscow Victory Park. A chapel was built on the territory of the park and a monument to the "Trolley" was erected - one of the most terrible monuments of St. Petersburg. On such trolleys, the ashes of the dead were taken to nearby quarries after burning in the furnaces of the plant.
May 8 at Tsarskoye Selo in which the Germans set up an infirmary. famous the Amber Room donated Peter I king Prussia, was completely taken out by the Germans.
……………….
But Leningrad and Leningraders survived and won!!


In the blockade days, we never found out:
Where is the line between youth and childhood?
We were given medals in forty-three
And only in the forty-fifth - passports.

We are now living a double life:
in the ring and the cold, in hunger, in sorrow,
we breathe tomorrow
happy, generous day -
we have conquered this day.

And will it be night, morning or evening,
but on this day we'll get up and go
army warrior towards
in his liberated city.

We'll go out without flowers
in crumpled helmets,
in heavy padded jackets, in frozen
half masks
as equals, welcoming the troops.

And spreading sword-shaped wings,
bronze Glory will rise above us,
holding a wreath in charred hands.

Olga Berggolts
January - February 1942
………….

Blockade of Leningrad - a military blockade by German, Finnish and Spanish (Blue Division) troops with the participation of volunteers from North Africa, Europe and the naval forces of Italy during the Great Patriotic War of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).

It lasted from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944 (the blockade ring was broken on January 18, 1943) - 872 days.

By the beginning of the blockade, the city did not have enough food and fuel supplies.

The only way to communicate with Leningrad was Lake Ladoga, which was within the reach of the artillery and aircraft of the besiegers; the enemy’s united naval flotilla also operated on the lake. The capacity of this transport artery did not meet the needs of the city. As a result, the massive famine that began in Leningrad, aggravated by the especially harsh first blockade winter, problems with heating and transport, led to hundreds of thousands of deaths among residents.

The battle for Leningrad was the longest during the Great Patriotic War, and lasted from July 10, 1941.

to August 9, 1944, during the 900-day defense of Leningrad, Soviet troops fettered the large forces of the German and the entire Finnish army, contributed to the victories of the Red Army in other sectors of the Soviet-German front. The defense of Leningrad became a symbol of the courage and heroism of the Soviet people and its Armed Forces. Leningrad residents showed examples of steadfastness, endurance and patriotism.

The inhabitants of the city paid a heavy price, whose losses during the blockade amounted to about 1 million people.

During the war, Hitler repeatedly demanded to raze the city to the ground, to exterminate its entire population, to suffocate it with hunger, to suppress the resistance of the defenders with massive air and artillery strikes. About 150,000 fireworks hit the city.

shells, more than 102 thousand incendiary and about 5 thousand high-explosive bombs.

Defense of Leningrad

But his defenders did not flinch.

The defense of Leningrad acquired a nationwide character, expressed in the close cohesion of the troops and the population under the leadership of the city defense committee. In July - September 1941, 10 divisions of the people's militia were formed in the city. Despite the most difficult conditions, the industry of Leningrad did not stop its work. During the period of the blockade, 2 thousand tanks, 1.5 thousand aircraft, thousands of guns, many warships were repaired and produced, 225 thousand aircraft were manufactured.

machine guns, 12 thousand mortars, about 10 million shells and mines. The city defense committee, party and Soviet bodies did everything possible to save the population from starvation.

Assistance to Leningrad was carried out along the transport highway across Lake Ladoga, called the Road of Life.

Transportation during navigation periods was carried out by the Ladoga Flotilla and the North-Western river shipping company. On November 22, a military highway began to operate, laid on the ice of Lake Ladoga, along which only in the winter of 1941/42.

more than 360 thousand tons of cargo were delivered. Over the entire period of operation, over 1.6 million tons of cargo were transported along the Road of Life, about 1.4 million people were evacuated.

human. To supply oil products to the city, a pipeline was laid along the bottom of Lake Ladoga, and in the fall of 1942 an energy cable was laid. From the sea, Leningrad was covered by the Baltic Fleet.

It also provided military transportation in the Gulf of Finland and on Lake Ladoga. On the territory occupied by the enemy of the Leningrad, Novgorod and Pskov regions, partisans launched an active struggle.

On January 12-30, 1943, an operation was carried out to break the blockade of Leningrad ("Iskra"). The strike groups of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts participated in the operation with the assistance of part of the forces of the Baltic Fleet and long-range aviation. The duration of the operation is 19 days. The width of the combat front is 45 km. The depth of advance of the Soviet troops is 60 km. The average daily advance rate is 3-3.5 km. During the offensive, the troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts broke through the blockade of Leningrad, creating a corridor 8-11 km wide, which made it possible to restore land communications between the city and the country.

The southern coast of Lake Ladoga was cleared of the enemy. Despite the fact that the further offensive of the Soviet troops did not receive development, the operation to break the blockade was of great strategic importance and was turning point in the battle for Leningrad.

The enemy's plan to starve the defenders and residents of the city was thwarted. The initiative to conduct hostilities in this area passed to the Red Army.

The troops of the Leningrad, Volkhov and part of the forces of the 2nd Baltic Fronts, in cooperation with the Baltic Fleet, carried out the Leningrad-Novgorod strategic offensive operation.

As a result of the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, a heavy defeat was inflicted German group armies "North" and the blockade of Leningrad was finally lifted, almost the entire Leningrad and Novgorod regions, as well as the main part of the Kalinin region, were liberated, Soviet troops entered Estonia. Thus, favorable conditions were created for defeating the enemy in the Baltic.

According to the Federal Law "On Days military glory(victorious days) of Russia” dated March 13, 1995.

Leningrad blockade

The blockade of Leningrad lasted exactly 871 days. This is the longest and most terrible siege of the city in the history of mankind. Almost 900 days of pain and suffering, courage and selflessness.

Many years after the breaking of the blockade of Leningrad, many historians, and even ordinary people, wondered if this nightmare could have been avoided. Escape - apparently not. For Hitler, Leningrad was a "tidbit" - after all, the Baltic Fleet and the road to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk are located here, from where help from the allies came from during the war, and if the city had surrendered, it would have been destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth.

Was it possible to mitigate the situation and prepare for it in advance? The issue is controversial and deserves a separate study.

The first days of the siege of Leningrad

On September 8, 1941, during the offensive of the fascist army, the city of Shlisselburg was captured, thus the blockade ring was closed. In the early days, few believed in the seriousness of the situation, but many residents of the city began to thoroughly prepare for the siege: in just a few hours, all savings were withdrawn from the savings banks, the shops were empty, everything that was possible was bought up.

Not everyone managed to evacuate when systematic shelling began, but they began immediately, in September, the evacuation routes were already cut off. There is an opinion that it was the fire that occurred on the first day of the siege of Leningrad in the Badaev warehouses - in the storage of the city's strategic reserves - that provoked a terrible famine during the siege days.

However, recently declassified documents give slightly different information: it turns out that there was no such thing as a "strategic reserve", since in the conditions of the outbreak of war to create a large reserve for such a huge city as Leningrad was (and at that time about 3 million people) was not possible, so the city ate imported food, and the existing stocks would only be enough for a week.

Literally from the first days of the blockade, ration cards were introduced, schools were closed, military censorship was introduced: any attachments to letters were prohibited, and messages containing decadent moods were confiscated.

Siege of Leningrad - pain and death

Memories of the blockade of Leningrad people who survived it, their letters and diaries reveal a terrible picture to us.

A terrible famine struck the city. Money and jewelry depreciated. The evacuation began in the autumn of 1941, but only in January 1942 did it become possible to withdraw a large number of people, mostly women and children, through the Road of Life. There were huge queues at the bakeries, where daily rations were given out. In addition to hunger, besieged Leningrad was also attacked by other disasters: very frosty winters, sometimes the thermometer dropped to -40 degrees.

Fuel ran out and water pipes froze - the city was left without electricity and drinking water. Another problem for the besieged city in the first blockade winter was rats. They not only destroyed food supplies, but also spread all kinds of infections. People were dying, and they did not have time to bury them, the corpses lay right on the streets. There were cases of cannibalism and robbery.

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 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 the clearest examples of amazing selflessness and love for the Motherland, life, and 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 "Leningrad". 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 siege, 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.

Road of Life - the pulse of the besieged city

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 came to the city along this route, and until late autumn, until storms made navigation impossible, barges went along the Road of Life. Each of their voyages was a feat - enemy aircraft constantly made their bandit raids, the weather conditions were often not in the hands of the sailors either - the barges continued their voyages even in late autumn, until the very appearance of ice, when navigation was no longer possible in principle.

On November 20, the first horse and sledge convoy descended onto the ice of Lake Ladoga. A little later, trucks went along the ice Road of Life. The ice was very thin, despite the fact that the truck was carrying only 2-3 bags of food, the ice broke through and it was not uncommon for the trucks to sink. At the risk of their lives, the drivers continued their deadly journeys until the very spring. 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".

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, for various reasons, many children remained 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 with unnecessary noise, they danced without music, and the floors were covered with hay.

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

Breakthrough of the blockade of Leningrad

In 1943, a turning point occurred in the war, and at the end of the year, Soviet troops were preparing to liberate the city.

On January 14, 1944, during the general offensive of the Soviet troops, the final operation began to lift the blockade of Leningrad. The task was to inflict a crushing blow on the enemy south of Lake Ladoga and restore the land routes connecting the city with the country. By January 27, 1944, the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, with the help of Kronstadt artillery, broke through the blockade of Leningrad. The Nazis began to retreat. Soon the cities of Pushkin, Gatchina and Chudovo were liberated.

The blockade was completely lifted.

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 Inberg, her lines are a hymn to the great city and at the same time a requiem for the departed.

"Glory to you too, great city,
Merged front and rear.

In unprecedented difficulties
Survived. Fought. Won"

The Great Patriotic War

Battle of Kursk (with photo)

Battle of Stalingrad (with photo)

Poems about WWII

The collapse of the USSR (CIA contribution)

The need to pave new road to Leningrad arose after the blockade around the city was closed. The only possibility was to use Lake Ladoga for these purposes. After the onset of cold weather, right on the ice, a complex traffic artery, the configuration of which changed depending on the conditions. People called it the Road of Life.

The road of life of besieged Leningrad

In terms of attacking the Soviet Union, Hitler assigned a special place to the capture and destruction of Leningrad. The fall of this historic capital and cradle of the revolution should have preceded the complete defeat of Moscow. Leningrad and Moscow were undoubtedly important strategic points and transport hubs. But even more important was their role in the minds of Soviet citizens. For Hitler, the paramount moment was to undermine the morale of the defenders. Like no one else, he knew how important it was to either inspire or demoralize the crowd.

Therefore, the army group "North" under the command of Fedor von Bock received an order to destroy Leningrad. Initially, it was assumed that the city would be taken immediately, using the blitzkrieg technique. But by the time the troops german army approached the intended goal, it has already become clear that on Soviet territory lightning war does not work. The military leaders were against a direct assault on the fortified city. So the blockade of Leningrad was proposed. Instead of suffering the inevitable human losses during the assault, the Germans decided to starve the city to death. Constantly watering it with generous artillery fire.

Cars take people out of besieged Leningrad along the "Road of Life".

At first, roads and railways were cut off. And on September 8, 1941, after the capture of Shlisselburg, the history of the besieged Leningrad began - one of the most tragic in the Great Patriotic War. The only message from outside world for Leningraders there was only a road that began on the shore of Lake Ladoga. This thin thread, which the defenders of Leningrad managed to stretch at the cost of incredible efforts, gave life and hope.

The road of life through Lake Ladoga

When the blockade ring closed, the only way to communicate with besieged Leningrad remained - through Lake Ladoga, the coast of which continued to be controlled during the Great Patriotic War Soviet army. This lake was very difficult to navigate. Unexpected squally gusts of wind often hit the ships. Therefore, the coast was not equipped with any moorings or piers.

The first delivered cargoes were dumped directly on the wild coast. At the same time, work was urgently carried out to deepen the bottom and equip the harbor. Dugouts were dug on the shore and warehouses were equipped. Telephone and telegraph cables were laid under water. From the coast to the nearest line railway laid a narrow gauge railway.

Already on September 12, just four days after the start of the blockade of Leningrad, the first batch of cargo was delivered across Lake Ladoga. There were 60 tons of various ammunition and 800 tons of food. Leningraders were taken on the return flight. During the autumn navigation, before the ice made it impossible to move around the lake, 33.5 thousand people were evacuated from the city by water. During the same time, 60 thousand tons of cargo were delivered to Leningrad.

In addition to adverse weather conditions, transportation was complicated by constant German air raids. The use of available tugs and barges for delivery was strongly encouraged. However, even the full workload of all ships could not provide food for the encircled city in full. In addition, the task was further complicated by the fact that not only food had to be supplied. Weapons were needed to wage war and defend the city. Therefore, part of the cargo was ammunition.

How the Road of Life was laid

From the very beginning it was clear that the shipping route was a temporary measure. The cold was to come soon. Therefore, ahead of time, employees of the Hydrological Institute and the road department of the Leningrad Front began to design road, which was supposed to be laid directly on the ice of the frozen Lake Ladoga.

In the documents, it was called the military highway No. 101. Heating points were to be located at every fifth kilometer of the route. And the road itself was planned to be 10 meters wide. But in reality, everything was much more complicated than on paper. Despite the fact that the Road of Life passed, as the Leningraders themselves called it, in places of the smallest depths, often the ice broke through, taking not only valuable cargo, but also many human lives.

The length across Ladoga was about 30 kilometers. Tens of thousands of people worked together in this relatively small area under difficult conditions. They were truck drivers and horse-drawn drivers, mechanics who repaired cars, traffic controllers whose task it was to guide drivers along the safest routes. In addition, there were those who directly laid the road. And it was necessary to lay it constantly. Sometimes because the road was covered with snow, sometimes because it was necessary to choose areas with a stronger layer of ice, and sometimes because the road was damaged by German air raids, which were carried out with enviable regularity.

The road of life was constantly being repaired. Divers strengthened it with all possible improvised means, diving under the ice and installing decks and supports there. It was far from being just a wide track laid across the ice. Installed along the road road signs. Medical and heating points were built along the route of the trucks. There were warehouses and bases along the route. Technical assistance stations, workshops and food stations were also equipped. Telephone and telegraph communications passed along the road.

The food situation

Meanwhile, the situation in the city was getting worse. In fact, it reached a critical point, stepped over it and confidently moved on. Food was sorely lacking. At the beginning of the siege, there were approximately 2.9 million people in the city. There were no any significant stocks of food in Leningrad. It functioned at the expense of products supplied from the Leningrad region.

In addition, even the small stocks that were available were destroyed in warehouses during the first shelling. The system of issuing products by cards was introduced immediately. However, the issuance rates were constantly cut. By November 1941, the situation was critical. Bread distribution rates fell below the required physiological minimum. Only 125 grams of bread were given out per day. For workers, the ration was a little more - 200 grams. This is a small piece of bread. And nothing more. By that time, all stocks had long been exhausted. Many did not survive the harsh winter of 1941.

And do not forget that these 125 grams were not bread made from pure flour, albeit of the lowest grade. Everything that could be edible was added to the bread - food cellulose, cake, wallpaper dust, sacking. There was also the concept of measles flour. It was formed from a sodden, seized and hardened crust, like cement. On the way to Leningrad, many cars sank along with food. Special brigades, under the cover of darkness, searched for these places and, with the help of ropes and hooks, lifted sacks of flour from the bottom. Some part in the very middle could remain dry. And the rest of the flour turned into a hard crust, which was then broken up and added to the blockade bread.

Route to Leningrad

The situation in the city was well known to the drivers of vehicles that delivered tens of tons of various cargoes to the shores of Ladoga in the Leningrad blockade and took evacuees from there. They risked their lives every minute, going out onto the ice of Lake Ladoga. And these are not just big words. In just one day on November 29, 1941, 52 cars went under water. And this is on a stretch of 30 kilometers! Of which the first few kilometers can not even be taken into account - the road there was relatively safe.

On the way, the driver was constantly in danger of going under the ice. Therefore, no one closed the car doors, despite the chill penetrating to the marrow of the bones. So there was a chance to have time to get out of the sinking car. When the situation was especially dangerous (trucks made trips on the already melting ice), the drivers rode all the way on the running board of the car. The thirty-kilometer ice section thus turned into a serious and lengthy test. After all, I had to go at low speed. But almost every driver made two flights a day.

However, the dangers did not end there. The Germans tried to inflict air strikes on the columns during the transport of goods. They aimed both at the trucks themselves and along the route, trying to destroy the track itself. Capricious weather also practically attacked the Ladoga military road. The rising snowstorm quickly leveled the road laid on the ice with the surrounding untouched landscape. There was an extremely great danger of going astray. Many drivers died from the cold, getting lost in a blizzard. To prevent such incidents, many road signs were installed along the route.

Sinking cars on the Road of Life.

blockade winter

In total, Leningraders had to endure three blockade winters. And although it was at this time that the ice road operated best, and a considerable amount of tons of cargo could be delivered along it, it was the winters of the blockade that were the most difficult time for Leningraders. After all, cold was added to the acute problem of malnutrition. There was no central heating, no electricity. Those lucky ones who were able to acquire a potbelly stove, slowly burned everything that could burn in it. In some cases, even furniture and parquet were used.

During the first winter - from December 1941 to February 1942 - a quarter of a million people died in Leningrad. But with the increase in the norms for the issuance of bread, the death rate became less. In order for the delivery of goods to the besieged city to take place more massively and safely, already in the winter of 1942 they began to build an ice railway, which was supposed to pass directly along the lake. However, its construction was not completed, since on January 18, 1943, the blockade of Leningrad was broken, and the need for Lake Ladoga station disappeared.

There was another way, which was called the little road of life. It passed along the surface of the Gulf of Finland. Most of the defenders of Leningrad moved along this small route. This way they got to the defended "patch". Numerous soldiers wounded in battle were also sent back along it.

And when the blockade was broken, another road appeared, which was unofficially called the "Road of Victory". It was built right in the swamps and difficult rough terrain for the rapid evacuation of the population and the transport of the necessary products and ammunition.

"Road of Victory"

Sections of ice roads were calculated and laid based on the data of divers and scientists from the Hydrological Institute. On the operational military map, the Road of Life constantly changed its outlines. Often the reason was that the delivery of goods took place in areas that, due to the bombing, became accident-prone. And the weather kept changing. Temperature changes, underwater currents and other external factors sometimes greatly influenced the entire route, and sometimes only a separate section of the route. Traffic on ice tracks was corrected by traffic controllers. During the first winter alone, the ice road moved completely 4 times. And some sections changed their configuration 12 times.

It is with such changes that the difference in data on the length of the path in historical documents is associated. In addition, the map of military highway No. 101 included an overland section to railway station. Some indicated the full mileage, and some indicated only the section that they called the "Road of Life" on the ice of Lake Ladoga.

Monuments on the Road of Life

• Flower of Life;
• Katyusha;
• broken ring;
• Crossing;
• Diary of Tanya Savicheva;
• Lorry;
• Rumbolovskaya mountain.

In addition to them, 102 memorial pillars were installed along the highway and the railway and memorial steles. Some of the stelae are included in the complex of monuments and memorials, and some are installed separately.

Among the memorial structures on the Road of Life, the “one and a half” monument stands out. There simply is no other like it. "Lorry" was popularly called a car with a carrying capacity of one and a half tons. It was on such trucks that people and goods were transported along the Road of Life. In the place of the road, where there were the most massive shellings, a life-sized truck, poured out of bronze, rises today.

Monument "Lorry" on the "Road of Life"

Flower of Life

The road of life passed near Vsevolozhsk. There, on the third kilometer of the memorial route, in 1968 the Flower of Life complex was opened. It is dedicated to the youngest victims of the besieged Leningrad. Indeed, during the years of the blockade, children became not only passive victims of hunger and shelling. To the best of their ability, they helped in the defense of the city, taking on those duties that in other circumstances would have been entrusted only to adults. Schoolchildren extinguished incendiary bombs, stood guard, helped in hospitals and collected raw materials for military needs.

The memorial complex consists of three parts. First, a 15-meter sculpture of a flower appears before the visitor, on the petals of which the words of a popular children's song in the USSR: "Let there always be sunshine" and the image of a pioneer boy are carved. This is followed by the Alley of Friendship, which consists of nine hundred birches - according to the number of blockade days. Scarlet pioneer ties are tied on tree trunks in memory of the dead children. Behind the alley is a mound. It is rare that a mention in the guidebooks of the Road of Life is complete without a photo of this mound. Among other attractions, there is a diary of a girl recreated in stone, who successively entered the death dates of her family members into a notebook in an incorrect children's handwriting.

Monument "Flower of Life" on the "Road of Life"

broken ring

On the western shore of Lake Ladoga, where the Road of Life began, there is another monument. With severe brevity, he symbolically illustrates Interesting Facts about the road. Two massive half-arches, in the form of a broken ring, seven meters high, remind of the blockade ring. And the rupture of the memorial The torn ring points to the Road of Life. Under the ring towards the descent to the lake, right along the masonry, there is a concrete track from the wheels of the car.

From here, during the years of the blockade, trucks began their journey, delivering a valuable cargo of food and ammunition to the besieged city. Under the imposing monument, the words from a poem by Bronisław Kezhun are carved:

“Descendant, know: in harsh years,

Faithful to the people, duty and Fatherland,

Through the hummocks of the Ladoga ice

From here we led the way of Life,

So that life never dies.

Monument "Broken Ring" on the "Road of Life"

Osinovetsky lighthouse

The road of life is most often associated with trucks on ice and snowstorms. However, when the ice melted, it did not stop functioning. Just in warm weather, the Ladoga flotilla took over the load. Often it was even more difficult and dangerous than driving on ice. The coastline of Lake Ladoga has never favored shipping.

In late spring, summer and early autumn, ships cruising the lake were guided by the light of the Osinovetsky lighthouse, located on the southwestern shore. This lighthouse is still functioning today. Excursions are not carried out there, since the lighthouse is classified as a strategic facility and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense.

The construction of the Osinovetsky lighthouse began in 1905. Since then, he has not interrupted his work. The light of the lighthouse indicates the western border of the bay, from which the Neva begins its journey. It rises 74 meters above the lake level, and the light of the lighthouse is visible at a distance of 40 kilometers.

Monument "Osinovetsky Lighthouse" on the "Road of Life"

Due to the fact that the Osinovetsky lighthouse during the years of the blockade served as an important landmark for ships sailing along the Road of Life, it is classified as a cultural heritage site, although it is not a monument as such.

Katyusha

The road of life was the only link between besieged Leningrad and the rest of the country. The only artery that carried food and ammunition. She was what kept the city alive. The defenders of Leningrad understood this very well, the Leningraders themselves understood this, and the Germans understood this. They desperately tried to cut off this last line of communication in order to finally crush the resistance and destroy the weakened city.

The road of life was under constant fire. To protect against enemy aircraft, the legendary Katyusha installations were used on it. In memory of this, on the site where anti-aircraft units were located during the war years, a monument was erected, reminiscent of these defensive weapons that covered the movement of trucks. It consists of steel beams directed to the sky, each of which is 14 meters long. There are 5 such beams in total. They represent the famous "Katyusha".

Monument "Katyusha" on the "Road of Life"

A poem about the siege of Leningrad

Deep experiences of Leningraders about wartime and blockade hometown found their outlet in art. Poems dedicated to the Road of Life, paintings, photographs, literary essays– everything that could help express feelings was used. Olga Berggolts, Eduard Asadov, Vera Ibner, Boris Bogdanov, Vsevolod Rozhdestvensky, Vladimir Lifshits are the most famous poets who sang the siege days in their works. But this list is far from complete.

And even today, seven decades later, this theme continues to inspire poets and words of memory, pain and gratitude harmoniously add up to rhymed lines. Here is an excerpt from a contemporary poem:

Road of Life, dear Ladoga,

Oh, how many you were able to save then!

For our grandfathers, grandmothers, I know

There is no sacred place in the world!

I stand before you on my knees

I stand and look thoughtfully into the distance,

From all post-war generations,

As God, I thank you.

And I know: I still dream at night

To all who survived in that blockade hell,

The flow of cars, a sleepless string,

Carrying bread on the Ladoga ice ....

Natalia Smirnova