On January 27, 1944, one of the most terrible pages in the history of mankind was closed. We are talking about the blockade of Leningrad, organized by the Nazi invaders. It was on January 27, 72 years ago that the blockade of the city on the Neva was completely lifted, and today this memorable day is celebrated as the Day of Military Glory of Russia. The corresponding federal law No. 32 "On the days of military glory (victory days) in Russia" was signed in the Russian Federation in March 1995.
The original name of the Day of Military Glory is the Day of lifting the blockade of the city of Leningrad (1944). However, in 2013, it was decided to correct this name, since at the end of January 1944, the blockade was completely lifted by the Soviet troops, who had previously unblocked several sections in the Leningrad direction.
On January 27, 1944, the horror in which the city existed for 872 days and nights ended. There is still no absolutely accurate data on how many lives were taken by Hitler's plan to turn the most beautiful Soviet city - the northern pearl - into ruins and ashes. Until now, scientists argue about how many residents of besieged Leningrad died from Nazi bombs and shells, how many from hunger and cold, and how many from epidemics caused by lack of food and basic medicines.
According to the most conservative estimates, the death toll for the 872 days of the siege of Leningraders was 650 thousand people. This suggests that in one hour of the siege in Leningrad, more than 30 people were killed - and so for more than two years. And after all, we are talking here only about the civilian population. And how many soldiers of the Red Army, who did everything to free the city from the enemy's clutches, remained forever lying in the damp and cold earth?..
The blockade of Leningrad is one of those monstrous crimes of Nazism that should never leave the memory of mankind, despite the decades that have passed since the Great Patriotic War. Unfortunately, today there are enough of those who are determined not only to alter historical facts, but also to completely eradicate the seemingly obvious - about the feat of both Leningrad residents and soldiers who made efforts to lift the blockade.
Strange arguments appear that, perhaps, it would be more expedient for the Soviet leadership to surrender the city on the Neva to the enemy and thereby "save" hundreds of thousands of lives of ordinary Soviet citizens. The arguments of such a plan are strange, if only because it is one thing to talk about “expediency / inexpediency” while sitting with a cup of coffee in a warm studio of some kind of antiquated TV channel or a similar radio station, and quite another thing is to make decisions in the face of an enemy offensive on all fronts, with real experience in military strategy and tactics. The fact alone that Soviet troops for almost 900 days constrained the actions of large-scale (more than 700 thousand "bayonets") forces of the Nazi occupiers (including not only the forces of the Third Reich, but also Finland and Spain), preventing the enemy from transferring these forces on other directions and sectors of the front, inflicts a crushing blow according to ideology "it is better to surrender than to defend". Although the ultraliberal bunch is ready to compose other "arguments", just to work off their thirty pieces of silver and continue to make attempts to throw mud at the feat of Soviet soldiers.
From blockade statistics:
During the squeezing of Hitler's grip, more than 102 thousand incendiary and about 5 thousand high-explosive bombs were dropped on Leningrad. More than 150 thousand artillery shells exploded in the city.
However, neither bombs nor shells could shake the spirit of real Leningraders - people for whom the main idea was the idea of a nationwide confrontation with the enemy, and the idea of LIFE. It is not for nothing that the route on the ice of Lake Ladoga was named "The Road of Life", with the help of which more than 1.6 million tons of cargo were delivered to the city, and almost one and a half million people were evacuated from the city. For many Leningraders, it was the Road of Life that really gave them life, the meaning of which was felt in the days of the genocide of the city's population by Nazi criminals. Sometimes a small handful of bread crumbs soaked in cold water saved a person from starvation, who was found practically motionless in one of the city's cellars. An extra portion of glucose was pulled literally from the other world of Leningrad children, exhausted from hunger and illness. It hurts to look into the eyes of these children, captured by Leningrad photographers:
But it was they who, having survived all the horrors of the blockade, then studied and worked - they built, restoring their hometown, and with it the whole country bled from the war.
Among the numerous documents with evidence of Nazi war crimes during the Nuremberg Tribunal, Tanya Savicheva's tiny notebook was presented. This book contains only nine pages, on each of which a Leningrad schoolgirl made short notes about the death of her relatives and friends. From the diary of Tanya Savicheva:
December 28, 1941. Zhenya died … Grandma died on January 25, 1942 March 17 - Lyoka died, Uncle Vasya died on April 13. May 10 - Uncle Lyosha. Mom - May 15. The Savichevs died. All died. There was only Tanya left.
Lump in the throat…
Tanya herself died of exhaustion and tuberculosis in the summer of 1944, while in a boarding school. In 1981, in Shatki (Gorky Region) - at the place of Tanya's death and burial - a memorial was opened in memory of her - about a girl who spoke in short words about the horrors of the Leningrad blockade.
Eternal memory to the Leningraders and soldiers who died during the siege, who died during the liberation of the city from the death grip of Nazi ticks! Eternal glory to those who went through the terrible days and nights of the siege and became a real living symbol of insubordination and courage!
