World War II Leningrad: A History from Beginning to End

History describes the 872-day Siege of Leningrad as the most devastating siege in history. The German army had made its way to Leningrad before the city had the opportunity to prepare for an assault and the consequences were lethal. Accompanied by one of the worst famines in history, as well as a brutally cold winter in 1941-1942, the civilians were doomed. Of the three million people living in Leningrad at the start of the siege, more than a million would be evacuated and approximately another million would die before the assault ended in 1944.

During those 872 days, Leningrad was rendered numb as people fell dead in the streets and were not placed in coffins because no one had the strength to bury them. People ate their pets and boiled leather for food; they committed murder to obtain ration cards for the meager provisions that the city could provide; some resorted to cannibalism. Kept alive by their fervent patriotism and an astonishing will to survive, the citizens of Leningrad greeted the end of the siege with jubilation. Although they outlasted the Nazis, they could not defeat Josef Stalin as the paranoid leader punished Leningrad and its prominent Party members and stilled the voices of the heroes who lived. But Leningrad did not remain silenced, and the truth finally emerged. It’s a harrowing saga of bravery and brutality, but one that must be told.