Siege of Leningrad

The Siege of Leningrad, also known as theLeningrad Blockade (Russian: блокада Ленин-града, transliteration: blokada Leningrada) was aprolonged military blockade undertaken by the GermanArmy Group North against Leningrad—historically andcurrently known as Saint Petersburg—in the EasternFront theatre of World War II. The siege started on8 September 1941, when the last road to the city wassevered. Although the Soviets managed to open a narrowland corridor to the city on 18 January 1943, the siegewas finally lifted on 27 January 1944, 872 days after itbegan. It was one of the longest and most destructivesieges in history and overwhelmingly the most costly interms of casualties.[10][11]

1 Background

The capture of Leningrad was one of three strategic goalsin the German Operation Barbarossa and the main targetof Army Group North. The strategy was motivated byLeningrad's political status as the former capital of Russiaand the symbolic capital of the Russian Revolution, itsmilitary importance as a main base of the Soviet BalticFleet and its industrial strength, housing numerous armsfactories.[12] By 1939 the city was responsible for 11% ofall Soviet industrial output.[13] It has been reported thatAdolf Hitler was so confident of capturing Leningrad thathe had the invitations to the victory celebrations to be heldin the city’s Hotel Astoria already printed.[14] Althoughvarious theories have been forwarded about Nazi Ger-many's ultimate plans for Leningrad, including renamingthe city Adolfsburg (as claimed by Soviet journalist LevBezymenski)[15] and making it the capital of the new In-germanland province of the Reich in Generalplan Ost, itis clear that Hitler’s intention was to utterly destroy thecity and its population. According to a directive sent toArmy Group North on 29 September, “After the defeatof Soviet Russia there can be no interest in the contin-ued existence of this large urban center. [...] Followingthe city’s encirclement, requests for surrender negotia-tions shall be denied, since the problem of relocating andfeeding the population cannot and should not be solvedby us. In this war for our very existence, we can haveno interest in maintaining even a part of this very largeurban population.”[16] Hitler’s ultimate plan was to razeLeningrad to the ground and give areas north of the RiverNeva to the Finns.[17][18]

2 Preparations

2.1 German plans

Army Group North under Feldmarschall Wilhelm Rittervon Leeb advanced to Leningrad, its primary objective.Von Leeb’s plan called for capturing the city on the move,but due to Hitler’s recall of 4th Panzer Group (persuadedby his Chief of General Staff, Franz Halder, to transferthis south to participate in Fedor von Bock's push forMoscow),[19] von Leeb had to lay the city under siegeindefinitely after reaching the shores of Lake Ladoga,while trying to complete the encirclement and reachingthe Finnish Army under Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Man-nerheim waiting at the Svir River, east of Leningrad.[20]

Finnish military forces were located north of Leningrad,while German forces occupied territories to the south.[21]

Both German and Finnish forces had the goal of encir-cling Leningrad and maintaining the blockade perime-ter, thus cutting off all communication with the city andpreventing the defenders from receiving any supplies.The Germans planned on lack of food being their chiefweapon against the citizens; German scientists had calcu-lated that the city would reach starvation after only a fewweeks.[2][20][22][23][24][25]

2.2 Leningrad fortified region

Antiaircraft guns guarding the sky of Leningrad, in front of St.Isaac’s Cathedral

On 27 June 1941, the Council of Deputies of theLeningrad administration organised “First responsegroups” of civilians. In the next days the entire civilianpopulation of Leningrad was informed of the danger and

1

2 3 ESTABLISHMENT

over a million citizens were mobilised for the construc-tion of fortifications. Several lines of defences were builtalong the perimeter of the city in order to repulse hos-tile forces approaching from north and south by means ofcivilian resistance.[2][4]

In the south one of the fortified lines ran from the mouthof the Luga River to Chudovo, Gatchina, Uritsk, Pulkovoand then through the Neva River. Another line of defencepassed through Peterhof to Gatchina, Pulkovo, Kolpinoand Koltushy. In the north the defensive line againstthe Finns, the Karelian Fortified Region, had been main-tained in the northern suburbs of Leningrad since the1930s, and was now returned to service. A total of 306km (190 mi) of timber barricades, 635 km (395 mi)of wire entanglements, 700 km (430 mi) of anti-tankditches, 5,000 earth-and-timber emplacements and rein-forced concrete weapon emplacements and 25,000 km(16,000 mi)[26] of open trenches were constructed or ex-cavated by civilians. Even the guns from the cruiserAurora were moved inland to the Pulkovo Heights to thesouth of Leningrad.

3 Establishment

The 4th Panzer Group from East Prussia took Pskov fol-lowing a swift advance and managed to reach Novgorodby 16 August. The Soviet defenders fought to the death,despite the German discovery of the Soviet defenceplans on an officer’s corpse. After the capture of Nov-gorod, General Hoepner’s 4th Panzer Group continued itsprogress towards Leningrad.[27] However, the 18th Army— despite some 350,000 men lagging behind — forcedits way to Ostrov and Pskov after the Soviet troops of theNorthwestern Front retreated towards Leningrad. On 10July, both Ostrov and Pskov were captured and the 18thArmy reached Narva and Kingisepp, from where advancetoward Leningrad continued from the Luga River line.This had the effect of creating siege positions from theGulf of Finland to Lake Ladoga, with the eventual aimof isolating Leningrad from all directions. The FinnishArmy was then expected to advance along the easternshore of Lake Ladoga.[28]

3.1 Orders of battle

3.1.1 Germany

• Army Group North (Feldmarschall von Leeb)[29]

• 18th Army (von Küchler)• XXXXII Corps (2 infantry divisions)• XXVI Corps (3 infantry divisions)

• 16th Army (Busch)• XXVIII Corps (von Wiktorin) (2 in-

fantry, 1 armoured divisions)

Map of Army Group North’s advance into the USSR in 1941.Coral up to 9 July.Pink up to 1 September.Green up to 5 December.

• I Corps (2 infantry divisions)• X Corps (3 infantry divisions)• II Corps (3 infantry divisions)• (L Corps — Under 9th Army) (2 infantry

divisions)• 4th Panzer Group (Hoepner)

• XXXVIII Corps (von Chappuis) (1 in-fantry division)

• XXXXI Motorized Corps (Reinhardt) (1infantry, 1 motorised, 1 armoured divi-sions)

• LVI Motorized Corps (von Manstein) (1infantry, 1 motorised, 1 armoured, 1panzergrenadier divisions)

3.1.2 Finland

• Finnish Defence Forces HQ (Finnish MarshalMannerheim)[30]

• I Corps (2 infantry divisions)• II Corps (2 infantry divisions)• IV Corps (3 infantry divisions)

3.1.3 Soviet Union

• Northern Front (Lieutenant General Popov)[31]

• 7th Army (2 rifle, 1 militia divisions, 1 marinebrigade, 3 motorised rifle and 1 armoured reg-iments)

• 8th Army• X Rifle Corps (2 rifle divisions)• XI Rifle Corps (3 rifle divisions)• Separate Units (3 rifle divisions)

3.4 Finnish participation 3

• 14th Army• XXXXII Rifle Corps (2 rifle divisions)• Separate Units (2 rifle divisions, 1 Forti-

fied area, 1 motorised rifle regiment)• 23rd Army

• XIX Rifle Corps (3 rifle divisions)• Separate Units (2 rifle, 1 motorised divi-

sions, 2 Fortified areas, 1 rifle regiment)• Luga Operation Group

• XXXXI Rifle Corps (3 rifle divisions)• Separate Units (1 armoured brigade, 1 ri-

fle regiment)• Kingisepp Operation Group

• Separate Units (2 rifle, 2 militia, 1 ar-moured divisions, 1 Fortified area)

• Separate Units (3 rifle divisions, 4 guard mili-tia divisions, 3 Fortified areas, 1 rifle brigade)

Of these, the 14th Army defended Murmansk and 7thArmy defended Ladoga Karelia; thus they did not par-ticipate in the initial stages of the siege. The 8th Armywas initially part of the Northwestern Front and retreatedthrough the Baltics. (The 8th army was transferred toNorthern Front on 14 July).On 23 August, the Northern Front was divided into theLeningrad Front and the Karelian Front, as it became im-possible for front headquarters to control everything be-tween Murmansk and Leningrad.

3.2 Severing lines of communication

On 6 August, Hitler repeated his order: “Leningrad first,Donetsk Basin second, Moscow third.”[32] From August1941 until January 1944, anything that happened be-tween the Arctic Ocean and Lake Ilmen concerned theWehrmacht ' s Leningrad siege operations.[4] Arctic con-voys using the Northern Sea Route delivered Ameri-can Lend-Lease and British food and war materiel sup-plies to the Murmansk railhead (although the rail link toLeningrad was cut off by Finnish armies just north of thecity), as well as several other locations in Lapland.

3.3 Encirclement of Leningrad

Finnish intelligence had broken some of the Soviet mil-itary codes and were able to read their low-level com-munications. This was particularly helpful for Hitler,who constantly requested intelligence information aboutLeningrad.[4][33] Finland’s role in Operation Barbarossawas laid out in Hitler’s Directive 21, “The mass of theFinnish army will have the task, in accordance withthe advance made by the northern wing of the Germanarmies, of tying up maximum Russian (sic - Soviet)

Map showing Axis encirclement of Leningrad.

strength by attacking to the west, or on both sides, ofLake Ladoga”.[34] The last rail connection to Leningradwas severed on 30 August, when the Germans reachedthe Neva River. On 8 September, the road to the be-sieged city was severed when the Germans reached LakeLadoga at Shlisselburg, leaving just a corridor of land be-tween Lake Ladoga and Leningrad which remained unoc-cupied by axis forces. Bombing on 8 September caused178 fires.[35]

On 21 September, German High Command consideredthe options of how to destroy Leningrad. Simply occu-pying the city was ruled out “because it would make usresponsible for food supply”.[36] The resolution was to laythe city under siege and bombardment, starving its popu-lation. “Early next year we enter the city (if the Finns doit first we do not object), lead those still alive into innerRussia or into captivity, wipe Leningrad from the face ofthe earth through demolitions, and hand the area north ofthe Neva to the Finns.”[37] On 7 October, Hitler sent afurther directive signed by Alfred Jodl reminding ArmyGroup North not to accept capitulation.[38]

3.4 Finnish participation

Hitler with Finland’s Marshal Carl Gustav Mannerheim andPresident Risto Ryti meeting in Imatra in 1942

By August 1941, the Finns had advanced to within 20 kmof the northern suburbs of Leningrad at the 1939 Finnish-Soviet border, threatening the city from the north; they

4 3 ESTABLISHMENT

were also advancing through East Karelia, east of LakeLadoga, and threatening the city from the east. TheFinnish forces crossed the pre-Winter War border onthe Karelian Isthmus by eliminating Soviet salients atBeloostrov and Kirjasalo, thus straightening the front-line so that it ran along the old border near the shoresof Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga, and those posi-tions closest to Leningrad still lying on the pre-WinterWar border. According to Soviet claims, the Finnish ad-vance was stopped in September through resistance bythe Karelian Fortified Region,[39] however Finnish troopshad already earlier in August 1941 received orders to haltthe advance after reaching their goals, some of whichlay beyond the pre-Winter War border. After reachingtheir respective goals, the Finns halted their advance andstarted moving troops to East Karelia.[40][41] For the nextthree years, the Finns did little to contribute to the bat-tle for Leningrad, maintaining their lines.[42] Their head-quarters rejected German pleas for aerial attacks againstLeningrad[43] and did not advance farther south fromthe Svir River in occupied East Karelia (160 kilome-tres northeast of Leningrad), which they had reached on7 September. In the southeast, the Germans capturedTikhvin on 8 November, but failed to complete their en-circlement of Leningrad by advancing further north tojoin with the Finns at the Svir River. On 9 December, acounter-attack of the Volkhov Front forced the Wehrma-cht to retreat from their Tikhvin positions to the RiverVolkhov line.[2][4]

On 6 September 1941, Germany’s Chief of Staff Al-fred Jodl visited Helsinki. His main goal was to per-suade Mannerheim to continue the offensive. In 1941,President Ryti declared to the Finnish Parliament that theaim of the war was to restore the territories lost during theWinter War and gain more territories in the east to createa "Greater Finland".[44][45][46] After the war, Ryti stated:“On August 24, 1941 I visited the headquarters of Mar-shal Mannerheim. The Germans aimed us at crossing theold border and continuing the offensive to Leningrad. Isaid that the capture of Leningrad was not our goal andthat we should not take part in it. Mannerheim and themilitary minister Walden agreed with me and refused theoffers of the Germans. The result was a paradoxical sit-uation: the Germans could not approach Leningrad fromthe north...” In fact the German and Finnish armies main-tained the siege together until January 1944, but therewas little, or no systematic shelling or bombing from theFinnish positions.[21]

The proximity of the Finnish positions – 33–35 km (21–22 mi) from downtown Leningrad – and the threat ofa Finnish attack complicated the defence of the city.At one point the defending Front Commander, Popov,could not release reserves opposing the Finnish forces tobe deployed against the Wehrmacht because they wereneeded to bolster the 23rd Army’s defences on the Kare-lian Isthmus.[47] Mannerheim terminated the offensive on31 August 1941, when the army had reached the 1939

border. Popov felt relieved, and redeployed two divisionsto the German sector on 5 September.[48]

Subsequently, the Finnish forces reduced the salientsof Beloostrov and Kirjasalo,[49] which had threatenedtheir positions at the sea coast and south of theRiver Vuoksi.[49] Lieutenant General Paavo Talvela andColonel Järvinen, the commander of the Finnish CoastalBrigade responsible for Ladoga, proposed to the Ger-man headquarters the blocking of Soviet convoys onLake Ladoga. The German command formed the'international' naval detachment (which also included theItalian XII Squadriglia MAS) under Finnish commandand the Einsatzstab Fähre Ost under German command.These naval units operated against the supply route in thesummer and autumn of 1942, the only period the unitswere able to operate as freezing waters then forced thelightly equipped units to be moved away, and changes infront lines made it impractical to reestablish these unitslater in the war.[21][33][50][51]

3.5 Defensive operations

Two Soviet soldiers, one armed with a DP machine gun, in thetrenches of the Leningrad Front on 1 September 1941

The Leningrad Front (initially the Leningrad Mili-tary District) was commanded by Marshal KlimentVoroshilov. It included the 23rd Army in the northernsector between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga, and

4.2 Supplying the defenders 5

the 48th Army in the western sector between the Gulfof Finland and the Slutsk–Mga position. The LeningradFortified Region, the Leningrad garrison, the Baltic Fleetforces, and Koporye, Southern and Slutsk–Kolpino oper-ational groups were also present.

4 Defence of civilian evacuees

By September 1941, the link with the Volkhov Front(commanded by Kirill Meretskov) was severed and thedefensive sectors were held by four armies: 23rd Armyin the northern sector, 42nd Army on the western sector,55th Army on the southern sector, and the 67th Army onthe eastern sector. The 8th Army of the Volkhov Fronthad the responsibility of maintaining the logistic routeto the city in coordination with the Ladoga Flotilla. Aircover for the city was provided by the Leningrad militarydistrict PVO Corps and Baltic Fleet naval aviation units.The defensive operation to protect the 1,400,000 civilianevacuees was part of the Leningrad counter-siege oper-ations under the command of Andrei Zhdanov, KlimentVoroshilov, and Aleksei Kuznetsov. Additional militaryoperations were carried out in coordination with BalticFleet naval forces under the general command of Ad-miral Vladimir Tributs. The Ladoga Flotilla under thecommand of V. Baranovsky, S.V. Zemlyanichenko, P.A.Traynin, and B.V. Khoroshikhin also played a major mil-itary role in helping with evacuation of the civilians.

4.1 Bombardment

Nurses helping wounded people during a German bombardmenton 10 September 1941

By 8 September, German forces had largely surroundedthe city, cutting off all supply routes to Leningrad and itssuburbs. Unable to press home their offensive, and facingdefences of the city organised by Marshal Zhukov, theAxis armies laid siege to the city for 872 days.The air attack of 19 September was particularly brutal.It was the heaviest air raid Leningrad would suffer dur-ing the war, as 276 German bombers hit the city killing

1,000 civilians. Many of those killed were recuperatingfrom battle wounds in hospitals that were hit by Germanbombs. Six air raids occurred that day. Five hospitalswere damaged in the bombing, as well as the city’s largestshopping bazaar. Hundreds of people had run from thestreet into the store to take shelter from the air raid.[52][53]

Artillery bombardment of Leningrad began in August1941, increasing in intensity during 1942 with the ar-rival of new equipment. It was stepped up further dur-ing 1943, when several times as many shells and bombswere used as in the year before. Torpedoes were oftenused for night bombings by the Luftwaffe. Against this,the Soviet Baltic Fleet Navy aviation made over 100,000air missions to support their military operations duringthe siege.[54] German shelling and bombing killed 5,723and wounded 20,507 civilians in Leningrad during thesiege.[55]

4.2 Supplying the defenders

US propaganda film showing the Leningrad Road of Life duringthe siege of the city. From Why We Fight

Supplies being unloaded from a barge on Lake Ladoga to anarrow-gauge train in 1942

To sustain the defence of the city, it was vitally impor-tant for the Red Army to establish a route for bringinga constant flow of supplies into Leningrad. This route

6 5 EFFECT ON THE CITY

was effected over the southern part of Lake Ladoga andthe corridor of land which remained unoccupied by axisforces between Lake Ladoga and Leningrad. Transportacross Lake Ladoga was achieved by means of watercraftduring the warmer months and land vehicles driven overthick ice in winter (hence the route becoming known as“The Ice Road”). The security of the supply route was en-sured by the Ladoga Flotilla, the Leningrad PVO Corps,and route security troops. Vital food supplies were thustransported to the village of Osinovets, from where theywere transferred and transported over 45 km via a smallsuburban railway to Leningrad.[56] The route would alsobe used to evacuate civilians from the besieged city. Thiswas because no evacuation plan had been made availablein the chaos of the first winter of the war, and the citywas completely isolated until 20 November 1941, whenthe ice road over Lake Ladoga became operational.This road was named the Road of Life (Russian: Доро-га жизни). As a road it was very dangerous. There wasthe risk of vehicles becoming stuck in the snow or sink-ing through broken ice caused by the constant Germanbombardment. Because of the high winter death toll theroute also became known as the “Road of Death”. How-ever, the lifeline did bring military and food supplies inand took civilians and wounded soldiers out, allowing thecity to continue resisting their enemy.

5 Effect on the city

Main article: Effect of the Siege of Leningrad on the city

The two-and-a-half year siege caused the greatest de-struction and the largest loss of life ever known in amodern city.[21][57] On Hitler’s express orders, most ofthe palaces of the Tsars, such as the Catherine Palace,Peterhof Palace, Ropsha, Strelna, Gatchina, and otherhistoric landmarks located outside the city’s defensiveperimeter were looted and then destroyed, with many artcollections transported to Nazi Germany.[58] A numberof factories, schools, hospitals and other civil infrastruc-ture were destroyed by air raids and long range artillerybombardment.The 872 days of the siege caused unparalleled famine inthe Leningrad region through disruption of utilities, wa-ter, energy and food supplies. This resulted in the deathsof up to 1,500,000[59] soldiers and civilians and the evac-uation of 1,400,000 more, mainly women and children,many of whom died during evacuation due to starva-tion and bombardment.[1][2][4] Piskaryovskoye MemorialCemetery alone in Leningrad holds half a million civil-ian victims of the siege. Economic destruction and hu-man losses in Leningrad on both sides exceeded thoseof the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Moscow, or theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The siegeof Leningrad is the most lethal siege in world history, and

The diary of Tanya Savicheva, a girl of 11, her notes about star-vation and deaths of her sister, then grandmother, then brother,then uncle, then another uncle, then mother. The last three notessay “Savichevs died”, “Everyone died” and “Only Tanya is left.”She died of progressive dystrophy shortly after the siege. Her di-ary was shown at the Nuremberg trials.

some historians speak of the siege operations in terms ofgenocide, as a “racially motivated starvation policy” thatbecame an integral part of the unprecedented Germanwar of extermination against populations of the SovietUnion generally.[60][61]

Three men burying victims of Leningrad’s siege in 1942

Civilians in the city suffered from extreme starvation, es-pecially in the winter of 1941–42. From November 1941to February 1942 the only food available to the citizenwas 125 grams of bread, of which 50–60% consisted ofsawdust and other inedible admixtures. For about twoweeks at the beginning of January 1942, even this foodwas available only for workers and military personnel.In conditions of extreme temperatures, down to −30 °C(−22 °F), and city transport being out of service, even adistance of a few kilometers to a food distributing kioskcreated an insurmountable obstacle for many citizens.Deaths peaked in January–February 1942 at 100,000 permonth, mostly from starvation.[62] People often died onthe streets, and citizens soon became accustomed to thesight of death.

7

5.1 Cannibalism

While reports of cannibalism appeared in the winter of1941–42, NKVD records on cannibalism were not pub-lished until 2004. Most evidence for cannibalism that sur-faced before this time was anecdotal. Anna Reid pointsout that “for most people at the time, cannibalism wasa matter of second-hand horror stories rather than di-rect personal experience.”[63] Indicative of Leningraders’fears at the time, police would often threaten unco-operative suspects with imprisonment in a cell withcannibals.[64] Dimitri Lazarev, a diarist during the worstmoments in the Leningrad siege, recalls his daughter andniece reciting a terrifying nursery rhyme adapted from apre-war song:

A dystrophic walked alongWith a dull lookIn a basket he carried a corpse’s arse.I'm having human flesh for lunch,This piece will do!Ugh, hungry sorrow!And for supper, clearlyI'll need a little baby.I'll take the neighbours’,Steal him out of his cradle.[65]

NKVD files report the first use of human meat as food on13 December 1941.[66] The report outlines thirteen caseswhich range from a mother smothering her eighteen-month-old to feed her three older children to a plumberkilling his wife to feed his sons and nieces.[66]

By December 1942, the NKVD arrested 2,105 cannibalsdividing them into two legal categories: corpse-eating(trupoyedstvo) and person-eating (lyudoyedstvo). The lat-ter were usually shot while the former were sent to prison.The Soviet Criminal Code had no provision for cannibal-ism so all convictions were carried out under Code Article59—3, “special category banditry”.[67]

Instances of person-eating were significantly lower thanthat of corpse-eating; of the 300 people arrested in April1942 for cannibalism, only 44 were murderers.[68] 64% ofcannibals were female, 44% were unemployed, 90% wereilliterate, 15% were rooted inhabitants, and only 2% hadany criminal records. More cases occurred in the outlyingdistricts than the city itself. Cannibals were often unsup-ported women with dependent children and no previousconvictions, which allowed for a certain level of clemencyin legal proceedings.[69]

Given the scope of mass starvation, cannibalism was rel-atively rare.[70] Far more common was murder for rationcards. In the first six months of 1942, Leningrad wit-nessed 1,216 such murders. At the same time, Leningradwas experiencing its highest casualty rate, as high as100,000 people per month. Lisa Kirschenbaum notes“that incidents of cannibalism provided an opportunityfor emphasizing that the majority of Leningraders man-

aged to maintain their cultural norms in the most unimag-inable circumstances.”[70]

6 Soviet relief of the siege

Soviet ski troops by the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad

On 9 August 1942, the Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad"by Dmitri Shostakovich was performed by the LeningradRadio Orchestra. The concert was broadcast on loud-speakers placed in all the city and also aimed towardsthe enemy lines. The same day had been previously des-ignated by Hitler to celebrate the fall of the city with alavish banquet at Leningrad’s Astoria Hotel,[71] and wasa few days before the Sinyavino Offensive.

6.1 Sinyavino Offensive

Main article: Sinyavino Offensive (1942)

The Sinyavino Offensive was a Soviet attempt to breakthe blockade of the city in early autumn 1942. The2nd Shock and the 8th armies were to link up with theforces of the Leningrad Front. At the same time the Ger-man side was preparing an offensive, Operation Nordlicht(Northern Light), to capture the city, using the troopsfreed up after the capture of Sevastopol.[72] Neither sidewas aware of the other’s intentions until the battle started.

8 7 TIMELINE

The offensive started on 27 August 1942, with somesmall-scale attacks by the Leningrad front on the 19th,pre-empting "Nordlicht" by a few weeks. The success-ful start of the operation forced the Germans to redirecttroops from the planned "Nordlicht" to counterattack theSoviet armies. The counteroffensive saw the first deploy-ment of the Tiger tank, though with limited success. Af-ter parts of the 2nd Shock Army were encircled and de-stroyed, the Soviet offensive was halted. However theGerman forces had to also abandon their offensive onLeningrad.

6.2 Operation Iskra

Main article: Operation Iskra

The encirclement was broken in the wake of OperationIskra (Spark), a full-scale offensive conducted by theLeningrad and Volkhov Fronts. This offensive startedin the morning of 12 January 1943. After fierce battlesthe Red Army units overcame the powerful German for-tifications to the south of Lake Ladoga, and on 18 Jan-uary 1943 the Volkhov Front’s 372nd Rifle Division mettroops of the 123rd Rifle Brigade of the Leningrad Front,opening a 10–12 km (6.2–7.5 mi) wide land corridor,which could provide some relief to the besieged popu-lation of Leningrad.

6.3 Lifting the siege

The siege continued until 27 January 1944, when theSoviet Leningrad-Novgorod Strategic Offensive expelledGerman forces from the southern outskirts of the city.This was a combined effort by the Leningrad andVolkhov Fronts, along with the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts.The Baltic Fleet provided 30% of aviation power for thefinal strike against the Wehrmacht.[54] In the summer of1944, the Finnish Defence Forces were pushed back tothe other side of the Bay of Vyborg and the Vuoksi River.

7 Timeline

7.1 1941

• April: Hitler intends to occupy and then de-stroy Leningrad, according to plan Barbarossa andGeneralplan Ost[73]

• 22 June: The Axis powers' invasion of Soviet Unionbegins with Operation Barbarossa.

• 23 June: Leningrad commander M. Popov, sendshis second in command to reconnoitre defensive po-sitions south of Leningrad.[74]

People gathering water from shell-holes on Nevsky Prospect, be-tween Gostiny Dvor and Ostrovsky Square.

A victim of starvation in besieged Leningrad suffering frommuscle atrophy in 1941.

• 29 June: Construction of the Luga defence forti-fications (Russian: Лужский оборонительный ру-беж) begins[75] together with evacuation of childrenand women.

• June–July: Over 300,000 civilian refugees fromPskov and Novgorod escaping from the advancingGermans come to Leningrad for shelter. The armiesof the North-Western Front join the front lines atLeningrad. Total military strength with reserves andvolunteers reaches 2 million men involved on allsides of the emerging battle.

• 19–23 July: First attack on Leningrad by ArmyGroup North is stopped 100 km (62 mi) south ofthe city.

• 27 July: Hitler visits Army Group North, angry atthe delay. He orders Field Marshal von Leeb to takeLeningrad by December.[73]

• 31 July: Finns attack the Soviet 23rd Army at theKarelian Isthmus, eventually reaching northern pre-Winter War Finnish-Soviet border.

7.2 1942 9

• 20 August – 8 September: Artillery bombard-ments of Leningrad hit industries, schools, hospitalsand civilian houses.

• 21 August: Hitler’s Directive No.34 orders “En-circlement of Leningrad in conjunction with theFinns.”[76]

• 20–27 August: Evacuation of civilians is blockedby attacks on railways and other exits fromLeningrad.[77]

• 31 August: Finnish forces go on the defensive andstraighten their front line.[41] This involves crossingthe 1939 pre-Winter War border and occupation ofmunicipalities of Kirjasalo and Beloostrov.[41]

• 6 September: German High Command's AlfredJodl fails to persuade Finns to continue offensiveagainst Leningrad.[43]

• 2–9 September: Finns capture the Beloostrovand Kirjasalo salients and conduct defensivepreparations.[49][78]

• 8 September: Land encirclement of Leningrad iscompleted when the German forces reach the shoresof Lake Ladoga.[21][73]

• 10 September: Joseph Stalin appoints GeneralZhukov to replace Marshal Voroshilov as LeningradFront commander.[79]

• 12 September: The largest food depot inLeningrad, the Badajevski General Store, isdestroyed by a German bomb.[80]

• 15 September: von Leeb has to remove the 4thPanzer Group from the front lines and transfer it toArmy Group Center for the Moscow offensive.[81]

• 19 September: German troops are stopped 10 km(6.2 mi) from Leningrad. Citizens join the fightingat the defence lines.

• 22 September: Hitler directs that "Saint Petersburgmust be erased from the face of the Earth”.[82]

• 22 September: Hitler declares, "....we have no in-terest in saving lives of the civilian population.”[82]

• 8 November: Hitler states in a speech at Munich:“Leningrad must die of starvation.”[21]

• 10 November: Soviet counter-attack begins, forc-ing Germans to retreat from Tikhvin back to theVolkhov River by 30 December, preventing themfrom joining Finnish forces stationed at the SvirRiver east of Leningrad.[83]

• December: Winston Churchill wrote in his diary“Leningrad is encircled, but not taken.”[84]

1,496,000 Soviet personnel were awarded the medal for the de-fence of Leningrad from 22 December 1942.

• 6 December: Great Britain declared war on Fin-land. This was followed by declaration of war fromCanada, Australia, India and New Zealand.[85]

7.2 1942

• 7 January: Soviet Lyuban Offensive Operation islaunched; it lasts 16 weeks and is unsuccessful, re-sulting in the loss of the 2nd Shock Army.

• January: Soviets launch battle for the Nevsky Py-atachok bridgehead in an attempt to break the siege.This battle lasts until May 1943, but is only partiallysuccessful. Very heavy casualties are experiencedby both sides.

• 4–30 April: Luftwaffe operation Eis Stoß (ice im-pact) fails to sink Baltic Fleet ships iced in atLeningrad.[86]

• June–September: New German railway-mounted

10 9 SEE ALSO

artillery bombards Leningrad with 800 kg (1,800 lb)shells.

• August: The Spanish Blue Division (División Azul)transferred to Leningrad.

• 14 August – 27 October: Naval DetachmentK clashes with Leningrad supply route on LakeLadoga.[21][33][51]

• 19 August: Soviets begin an eight-week-longSinyavino Offensive, which fails to lift the siege, butthwarts German offensive plans (Nordlicht).[87]

7.3 1943

• January–December: Increased artillery bombard-ments of Leningrad.

• 12–30 January: Operation Iskra penetrates thesiege by opening a land corridor along the coast ofLake Ladoga into the city. The blockade is broken.

• 10 February – 1 April: The unsuccessfulOperation Polyarnaya Zvezda attempts to lift thesiege.

7.4 1944

• 14 January – 1 March: Several Soviet offensiveoperations begin, aimed at ending the siege.

• 27 January: Siege of Leningrad ends. Germansforces pushed 60–100 km away from the city.

• January: Before retreating the German armiesloot and destroy the historical Palaces of the Tsars,such as the Catherine Palace, Peterhof Palace, theGatchina and the Strelna. Many other historic land-marks and homes in the suburbs of St. Petersburgare looted and then destroyed, and a large number ofvaluable art collections are moved to Nazi Germany.

• During the siege, 3,200 residential buildings, 9,000wooden houses (burned), 840 factories and plantswere destroyed in Leningrad and suburbs.[88]

8 Additional notes

8.1 Controversy over Finnish participation

Almost all historians regard the siege as a German oper-ation and do not consider that the Finns effectively par-ticipated in the siege. Russian historian Nikolai Barysh-nikov argues that active Finnish participation did occur,but historians have been mostly silent about it, most likelydue to the friendly nature of post-war Soviet–Finnishrelations.[89] The main issues which count in favor of the

former view are: (a) the Finns mostly stayed at the pre-Winter War border at the Karelian Isthmus (with smallexceptions to straighten the frontline), despite Germanwishes and requests, and (b) they did not bombard thecity from planes or with artillery and did not allow theGermans to bring their own land forces to Finnish lines.Baryshnikov explains that the Finnish military in the re-gion was strategically dependent on the Germans, andlacked the required means and will to press the attackagainst Leningrad any further.[90]

8.2 Monument to the 'Road of Life'

On 29 October 1966, a monument to the Road of Lifewas erected. Entitled “Broken Ring”, designed and cre-ated by Konstantin Simun, this monument pays tributenot only to the lives saved via the frozen Ladoga, but alsothe many lives broken by the blockade.The monument is a huge bronze ring with a gap in it,pointing towards the site that the Soviets eventually brokethrough the encircling German forces. The Germanbunker they captured is preserved as a memento oppo-site the break.In the centre a Russian mother cradles her dying soldierson. It is customary for newlyweds to come here to givethanks to the fallen. While being sited in the centre of aroundabout, it can be accessed by an underpass.The monument has an inscription saying “900 days 900nights”. The inside of the monument can be visited andcontains artefacts from this period, such as journals.

8.3 Deportation of civilians

Deportations of Finns and Germans from the Leningradarea to inhospitable areas of the Soviet Union began inMarch 1942 using the Road of Life.[91] However, the situ-ation in Leningrad during the blockade was worse in com-parison with the eastern areas where the most of the cityresidents were evacuated. Inhospitable areas of the SovietUnion hosted millions of the evacuees a lot of factories,universities, theaters were also evacuated there.

9 See also

• World War II casualties

• List of famines

• Effect of the Siege of Leningrad on the city

• Operation Nordlicht (Northern Light)

• Consequences of Nazism

• Hero-City Obelisk

11

• Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery

• Leningrad Affair

• Axis powers

• Eastern Front

• Operation Barbarossa

10 ReferencesNotes

[1] Brinkley 2004, p. 210

[2] Wykes 1972, pp. 9–21

[3] Baryshnikov 2003; Juutilainen 2005, p. 670; Ekman,P-O: Tysk-italiensk gästspel på Ladoga 1942, Tidskrift iSjöväsendet 1973 Jan.–Feb., pp. 5–46.

[4] Carell 1966, pp. 205–210

[5] http://ww2stats.com/cas_ger_okh_dec41.html

[6] http://ww2stats.com/cas_ger_okh_dec42.html

[7] http://ww2stats.com/cas_ger_okh_dec43.html

[8] http://ww2stats.com/cas_ger_okh_dec44.html

[9] Glantz 2001, pp. 179

[10] The Siege of Leningrad, 1941 – 1944

[11] Walzer, Michael (1977). Just and Unjust Wars. p. 160.ISBN 978-0465037070. More civilians died in the siegeof Leningrad than in the modernist infernos of Ham-burg, Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, takentogether.

[12] Carell 1963

[13] Saint Petersburg-The Soviet Period,"Saint Petersburg.”Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica On-line. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 19 Jul. 2011.

[14] Orchestral manoeuvres (part one). From the Observer

[15] Bezymenskiĭ, Lev (1968). Sonderakte “Barbarossa”.Deutsche Verlag-Anstalt. p. 204.

[16] Reid (2011): pp. 134–5

[17] In a conversation held on 27 November 1941 withthe Finnish Foreign Minister Witting, Hitler stated thatLeningrad was to be razed to the ground and then given tothe Finns, with the River Neva forming the new post-warborder between the German Reich and Finland.

[18] Hannikainen, Olli; Vehviläinen (2002). Finland inthe Second World War: between Germany and Russia.Palgrave Macmillan. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-333-80149-9.

[19] Reid (2011): p. 129

[20] Carell 1966, pp. 205–208

[21] Baryshnikov 2003

[22] Higgins 1966

[23] Brinkley 2004, pp. 210

[24] Miller 2006, pp. 67

[25] Willmott 2004

[26] Bidlack, Richard (2013). The Leningrad Blockade. NewHaven: Yale University press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0300198164.

[27] Carruthers, Bob (2011). Panzers at War 1939-1942.Warwickshire: Coda books. ISBN 978-1781591307.

[28] Хомяков, И (2006). История 24-й танковой дивизииркка (in Russian). Санкт-Петербург: BODlib. pp. 232с.

[29] Glantz 2001, p. 367

[30] National Defence College 1994, pp. 2:194,256

[31] Glantz 2001, p. 351

[32] Higgins 1966, pp. 151

[33] Juutilainen 2005, pp. 187–9

[34] Führer Directive 21. Operation Barbarossa

[35] "St Petersburg – Leningrad in the Second World War" 9May 2000. Exhibition. The Russian Embassy. London

[36] Reid (2011): p. 132

[37] Reid (2011), p. 133

[38] “Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Vol. 8”, from The AvalonProject at Yale Law School

[39] Карта обстановки на фронте 23 Армии к исхо-ду 11.09.1941 (in Russian). Архив Министерстваобороны РФ. фонд 217 опись 1221 дело 33. 1941.

[40] Raunio, Ari; Kilin, Juri (2007). Jatkosodan hyökkäystais-teluja 1941. Keuruu: Otavan kirjapaino Oy. pp. 153–159. ISBN 978-951-593-069-9.

[41] National Defence College 1994, p. 2:261

[42] Glantz 2001, pp. 166

[43] National Defence College 1994, p. 2:260

[44] Vehviläinen 2002

[45] Пыхалов, И. (2005). Великая Оболганная война.ISBN 5-699-10913-7. Retrieved 2007-09-25. Сосслылкой на Барышников В. Н. "ВступлениеФинляндии во Вторую мировую войну. 1940–1941гг.” СПб, 2003, с. 28

[46] "И вновь продолжается бой...”. Андрей Сомов.Центр Политических и Социальных ИсследованийРеспублики Карелия. Politika-Karelia. 2003-01-28.Archived from the original on 2007-11-17. Retrieved2007-09-25.

12 10 REFERENCES

[47] Glantz 2001, pp. 33–34

[48] Platonov 1964

[49] National Defence College 1994, pp. 2:262–267

[50] YLE: Kenraali Talvelan sota (in Finnish)

[51] Ekman, P-O: Tysk-italiensk gästspel på Ladoga 1942,Tidskrift i Sjöväsendet 1973 Jan.–Feb., pp. 5–46.

[52] Bombing of Leningrad

[53]

[54] Гречанюк 1990

[55] Glantz 2001, p. 130

[56] Reid (2011): p. 201

[57] Spencer C. Tucker (23 December 2009). A GlobalChronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to theModern Middle East: From the Ancient World to the Mod-ern Middle East. ABC-CLIO. p. 1929. ISBN 978-1-85109-672-5.

[58] Nicholas, Lynn H. (1995). The Rape of Europa: the Fateof Europe’s Treasures in the Third Reich and the SecondWorld War. Vintage Books

[59] Salisbury 1969, pp. 590f

[60] Ganzenmüller 2005, pp. 17,20

[61] Barber 2005

[62] Reid, Leningrad, p. 284

[63] Reid, Anna. Leningrad: The Epic Siege of World War II1941-1944. New York: Walter and Company, 2011. p.286

[64] Salisbury E. Harrison. The 900 Days: The Siege ofLeningrad. New York: Harper and Row, 1969. p. 481

[65] Reid, Leningrad, p. 354

[66] Reid, Leningrad, p. 287

[67] Reid, Leningrad, p. 291.

[68] Reid, Leningrad, p. 288

[69] Reid, Leningrad, p. 292

[70] Lisa A. Kirschenbaum (4 September 2006). The Legacyof the Siege of Leningrad, 1941–1995: Myth, Memories,and Monuments. Cambridge University Press. p. 239.ISBN 978-1-139-46065-1.

[71] Vulliamy, Ed (25 November 2001). “Orchestral manoeu-vres (part 1)". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 December2012.

[72] E. Manstein. Lost victories. Ch 10

[73] Cartier 1977

[74] Glantz 2001, p. 31

[75] Glantz 2001, p. 42

[76] Higgins 1966, pp. 156

[77] The World War II. Desk Reference. Eisenhower Cen-ter director Douglas Brinkley. Editor Mickael E. Haskey.Grand Central Press, 2004. Page 8.

[78] “Approaching Leningrad from the North. Finland inWWII (На северных подступах к Ленинграду)" (inRussian).

[79] Glantz 2001, p. 64

[80] Glantz 2001, p. 114

[81] Glantz 2001, p. 71

[82] Hitler, Adolf (1941-09-22). “Directive No. 1601” (inRussian).

[83] Carell 1966, pp. 210

[84] Churchill, Winston (2000) [1950]. The Grand Alliance.The Second World War 3 (The Folio Society ed.). Lon-don: Cassel & Co.

[85] pp. 98–105, Finland in the Second World War, BergharhnBooks, 2006

[86] Bernstein, AI; Бернштейн, АИ (1983). “Notes of avi-ation engineer (Аэростаты над Ленинградом. Запискиинженера — воздухоплавателя. Химия и Жизнь №5)"(in Russian). pp. с. 8–16.

[87] Glantz 2001, pp. 167–173

[88] Siege of 1941–1944

[89] Baryshnikov 2003, p. 3

[90] Baryshnikov 2003, p. 82

[91] Klaas 2010

Bibliography

• Barber, John; Dzeniskevich, Andrei (2005), Lifeand Death in Besieged Leningrad, 1941–44, Pal-grave Macmillan, New York, ISBN 1-4039-0142-2

• Baryshnikov, N. I. (2003), Блокада Ленинградаи Финляндия 1941–44 (Finland and the Siege ofLeningrad), Институт Йохана Бекмана

• Glantz, David (2001), The Siege of Leningrad 1941–44: 900 Days of Terror, Zenith Press, Osceola, WI,ISBN 0-7603-0941-8

• Goure, Leon (1981), The Siege of Leningrad, Stan-ford University Press, Palo Alto, CA, ISBN 0-8047-0115-6

• Granin, Daniil Alexandrovich (2007), LeningradUnder Siege, Pen and Sword Books Ltd, ISBN 978-1-84415-458-6

13

• Kirschenbaum, Lisa (2006), The Legacy of theSiege of Leningrad, 1941–1995: Myth, Memories,and Monuments, Cambridge University Press, NewYork, ISBN 0-521-86326-0

• Klaas, Eva (2010), Küüditatu kirjutas oma mäles-tused raamatuks (in Estonian: A Deportee Pub-lished His Memories in Book) (in Estonian), VirumaaTeataja

• Lubbeck, William; Hurt, David B. (2010), AtLeningrad’s Gates: The Story of a Soldier with ArmyGroup North, Casemate, ISBN 1-935149-37-7

• Platonov, S. P. (ed.) (1964), Bitva za Leningrad,Voenizdat Ministerstva oborony SSSR, Moscow

• Anna Reid: Leningrad: The Epic Siege of WorldWar II, 1941–1944. Walker and Co., New York2011. ISBN 978-0-8027-1594-4

• Salisbury, Harrison Evans (1969), The 900 Days:The Siege of Leningrad, Da Capo Press, ISBN 0-306-81298-3

• Simmons, Cynthia; Perlina, Nina (2005), Writingthe Siege of Leningrad. Women’s diaries, Memories,and Documentary Prose, University of PittsburghPress, ISBN 978-0-8229-5869-7

• Willmott, H. P.; Cross, Robin; Messenger, Charles(2004), The Siege of Leningrad in World War II,Dorling Kindersley, ISBN 978-0-7566-2968-7

• Wykes, Alan (1972), The Siege of Leningrad, Bal-lantines Illustrated History of WWII

Further Reading

• Backlund, L. S. (1983), Nazi Germany and Finland,University of Pennsylvania. University MicrofilmsInternational A. Bell & Howell Information Com-pany, Ann Arbor, Michigan

• Baryshnikov, N. I.; Baryshnikov, V. N. (1997), Ter-ijoen hallitus, TPH

• Baryshnikov, N. I.; Baryshnikov, V. N.; Fedorov,V. G. (1989), Finlandia vo vtoroi mirivoi voine (Fin-land in the SecondWorldWar), Lenizdat, Leningrad

• Baryshnikov, N. I.; Manninen, Ohto (1997), Sodanaattona, TPH

• Baryshnikov, V. N. (1997), Neuvostoliiton Suomensuhteiden kehitys sotaa edeltaneella kaudella, TPH

• Bethel, Nicholas; Alexandria, Virginia (1981), Rus-sia Besieged, Time-Life Books, 4th Printing, Re-vised

• Brinkley, Douglas; Haskey, Mickael E. (2004), TheWorld War II. Desk Reference, Grand Central Press

• Carell, Paul (1963), Unternehmen Barbarossa —Der Marsch nach Russland

• Carell, Paul (1966), Verbrannte Erde: Schlacht zwis-chen Wolga und Weichsel (Scorched Earth: TheRussian-German War 1943–1944), Verlag UllsteinGmbH, (Schiffer Publishing), ISBN 0-88740-598-3

• Cartier, Raymond (1977), Der Zweite Weltkrieg(The Second World War), R. Piper & CO. Verlag,München, Zürich

• Churchill, Winston S., Memoires of the SecondWorld War. An abridgment of the six volumes ofThe Second World War, Houghton Mifflin Com-pany, Boston, ISBN 0-395-59968-7

• Clark, Alan (1965), Barbarossa. The Russian-German Conflict 1941–1945, Perennial, ISBN 0-688-04268-6

• Fugate, Bryan I. (1984), Operation Barbarossa.Strategy and Tactics on the Eastern Front, 1941, Pre-sidio Press, ISBN 978-0-89141-197-0

• Ganzenmüller, Jörg (2005), Das belagerteLeningrad 1941–1944, Ferdinand SchöninghVerlag, Paderborn, ISBN 3-506-72889-X

• Гречанюк, Н. М.; Дмитриев, В. И.; Корниенко,А. И. (1990), Дважды, КраснознаменныйБалтийский Флот (Baltic Fleet), Воениздат

• Higgins, Trumbull (1966), Hitler and Russia, TheMacmillan Company

• Jokipii, Mauno (1987), Jatkosodan synty (Birth ofthe Continuation War), ISBN 951-1-08799-1

• Juutilainen, Antti; Leskinen, Jari (2005), Jatkoso-dan pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki

• Kay, Alex J. (2006), Exploitation, Resettlement,Mass Murder. Political and Economic Planning forGerman Occupation Policy in the Soviet Union, 1940– 1941, Berghahn Books, New York, Oxford

• Miller, Donald L. (2006), The story of World WarII, Simon $ Schuster, ISBN 0-7432-2718-2

• National Defence College (1994), Jatkosodan histo-ria 1–6, Porvoo, ISBN 951-0-15332-X

• Seppinen, Ilkka (1983), Suomen ulkomaankaupanehdot 1939–1940 (Conditions of Finnish foreigntrade 1939–1940), ISBN 951-9254-48-X

• Симонов, Константин (1979), Записи бесед с Г.К. Жуковым 1965–1966, Hrono

• Suvorov, Victor (2005), I Take My Words Back,Poznań, ISBN 9666968746

14 11 EXTERNAL LINKS

• Vehviläinen, Olli; McAlister, Gerard (2002), Fin-land in the Second World War: Between Germanyand Russia, Palgrave

Fiction related to the Siege of Leningrad

• Benioff, David (2008), City of Thieves, Viking Pen-guin, ISBN 978-0-670-01870-3

11 External links• Leningrad blockade part1 on YouTube (Retrieved on

29 June 2008)

• 900days. A documentary about the Siege ofLeningrad by Jessica Gorter.

• “In the vortex of congealed time”, by Oleg Yuriev.An overview of the literature of the Siege ofLeningrad.

• The Siege of Leningrad. A collection of documents,articles and links to photographs and footage.

[1] ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННАЯ ИСТОРИЯ. Тема 8 (in Russian).Ido.edu.ru. Retrieved 2008-10-26.

[2] Фотогалерея: "От Волги До Берлина. Основные опе-рации советской армии, завершившие разгром врага.”(in Russian). victory.tass-online.ru (ИТАР-ТАСС). Re-trieved 2008-10-26.

Hero-City Obelisk

15

12 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

12.1 Text• Siege of Leningrad Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Leningrad?oldid=674311136 Contributors: AxelBoldt, Kpjas, Bryan

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Bryant, Nikai, Cherkash, Ruhrjung, TobiasConradi, RodC, Wik, Tuomas, Raul654, Oaktree b, AnonMoos, Jason M, Adam Carr, Dimadick, Paranoid, ChrisO~enwiki, Chrism,Goethean, Altenmann, Seglea, DavidFisher, Meelar, Halibutt, Profoss, Whiskey, Oberiko, Everyking, DO'Neil, OldakQuill, Kolt, Dvava-sour, Gdr, Knutux, Albrecht, Lesgles, DragonflySixtyseven, Maximaximax, Sam Hocevar, Kahkonen, Lacrimosus, Perl guy, Shahab, D6,Jayjg, N328KF, Wesha, CALR, Zaphod-Swe, Discospinster, Rich Farmbrough, Hydrox, Ross Uber, Ahkond, Ivan Bajlo, Gerry Lynch,SpookyMulder, Bender235, El C, Shanes, Oniongirl, Sf, David Crawshaw, Jtact, Sole Soul, Pearse, TomStar81, Martey, Smalljim, .:Ajvol:.,Elipongo, Get It, Ilyenkova, Man vyi, SecretAgentMan00, Espoo, Alansohn, Mick Knapton, Carbon Caryatid, Corporal, Ekko, JanSöder-back, Denniss, Hohum, Max rspct, Cmapm, Ghirlandajo, Axeman89, Hq3473, Woohookitty, StradivariusTV, Pol098, Tabletop, JeremyBentham, Sam Coutu-Oughton, Deansfa, RuM, LimoWreck, Graham87, Melesse, Rjwilmsi, Tim!, Alexander Gerashchenko, Koavf, Quale,Erebus555, Ian Lancaster, Kirillz, ElKevbo, CalPaterson, Ghepeu, Valip, Dougluce, Dinosaurdarrell, Titoxd, FlaBot, RexNL, Goudzovski,Russavia, MoRsE, Chobot, Jaraalbe, Dj Capricorn, Kummi, YurikBot, Kinneyboy90, Brandmeister (old), RussBot, Bleakcomb, Kurt Ley-man, GregLoutsenko, Kirill Lokshin, Shell Kinney, Fifat, Alex Bakharev, Sanguinity, Czyrko, Ryright, SM, Misza13, Grafikm fr, Zagalejo,Rwalker, Bota47, David Underdown, Nick123, Salmanazar, Square87~enwiki, Pil56, Capt Jim, Maphisto86, Lt-wiki-bot, Silverhorse,Nikkimaria, Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry, Ilya O. 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Own work Original artist: LA2• File:CaminoDeLaVidaLeningrado.ogv Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/CaminoDeLaVidaLeningrado.

ogv License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.36071 Original artist: Department of Defense.Department of the Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (09/18/1947 - 02/28/1964). ARC Identifier 36071 / Local Identifier 111-OF-51943

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16 12 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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• File:German_advance_into_USSR.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/German_advance_into_USSR.png License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Transferred from en.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:Shizhao usingCommonsHelper.Original artist: . Original uploader was JHB at en.wikipedia

• File:Hitler_Mannerheim_Ryti.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Hitler_Mannerheim_Ryti.jpg Li-cense: Public domain Contributors: Published in Suomen Kuvalehti 1942, republished 2006.http://www.suomenkuvalehti.fi/?id=7048&pollaction=results&qid=710 Original artist: Unknown

• File:Leningrad_Siege_May_1942_-_January_1943.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Leningrad_Siege_May_1942_-_January_1943.png License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work by uploader, simplified work based on map28 from the M. M. Minasjan/ M. L. Altgowsen (u.a.): Die Geschichte des Großen Vaterländischen Krieges der Sowjetunion, Bd.2, DeutscherMilitärverlag, Berlin (Ost) 1965. (Kartenband) Original artist: Memnon335bc

• File:Leningrad_skiers.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/de/Leningrad_skiers.jpg License: ? Contributors:

Российский государственный архив кинофотодокументов Original artist:Unknown

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• File:RIAN_archive_216_The_Volkovo_cemetery.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/RIAN_archive_216_The_Volkovo_cemetery.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: RIA Novosti archive, image #216,http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/#216 35 mm film / 35 мм негатив Original artist: Boris Kudoyarov / Борис Кудояров

• File:RIAN_archive_310_Foodstuffs_for_Leningrad.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/RIAN_archive_310_Foodstuffs_for_Leningrad.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: RIA Novosti archive, image #310,http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/#310 35 mm film / 35 мм негатив Original artist: Boris Kudoyarov / Борис Кудояров

• File:RIAN_archive_324_In_besieged_Leningrad.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/RIAN_archive_324_In_besieged_Leningrad.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: RIA Novosti archive, image #324,http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/#324 35 mm film / 35 мм негатив Original artist: Boris Kudoyarov / Борис Кудояров

• File:RIAN_archive_5634_Antiaircrafters_guarding_the_sky_of_Leningrad.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/RIAN_archive_5634_Antiaircrafters_guarding_the_sky_of_Leningrad.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: RIANovosti archive, image #5634, http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/#5634 35 mm film / 35 мм негатив Original artist: David Trahtenberg /Давид Трахтенберг

• File:RIAN_archive_58228_Leningrad_Front_Soldiers_Before_Offensive.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/RIAN_archive_58228_Leningrad_Front_Soldiers_Before_Offensive.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: RIANovosti archive, image #58228, http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/#58228 6x7 film / 6х7 негатив Original artist: Vsevolod Tarasevich /Всеволод Тарасевич

• File:RIAN_archive_888_Nurses_helping_people_wounded_in_the_first_bombardment_in_Leningrad.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/RIAN_archive_888_Nurses_helping_people_wounded_in_the_first_bombardment_in_Leningrad.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: RIA Novosti archive, image #888, http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/#888 6x7film / 6х7 негатив Original artist: Vsevolod Tarasevich / Всеволод Тарасевич

• File:RIAN_archive_907_Leningradians_queueing_up_for_water.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/RIAN_archive_907_Leningradians_queueing_up_for_water.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: RIA Novosti archive, image#907, http://visualrian.ru/ru/site/gallery/#907 6x9 film / 6х9 негатив Original artist: Boris Kudoyarov / Борис Кудояров

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Public domain Contributors: from world-war.ru Original artist: Pages of a diary written by Tanya (in the public domain because Tanya didnot work during the War), photocopy and page order don't produce a new copyright. Photo of Tanya (in the upper right corner) is also inthe public domain (see the appropriate picture)

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