September 08, 2015

City Under Siege


City Under Siege

For many people, the word “siege” conjures up images of medieval citadels beset by siege towers and battering rams, with trebuchets representing the pinnacle of artillery power. But as recently as 74 years ago, September 8, 1941, the Soviet city of Leningrad found itself surrounded by Nazis and their allies.

The ensuing 900-day siege cut the population of Leningrad – now St. Petersburg – by an estimated one million people. The Germans dropped over 148,000 artillery shells and bombs on the city – a long way from the trebuchets of the Middle Ages. In the fall months, incendiary bombs made quick work of the city’s grain stores; in later years, cynical rumors circulated that Stalin had ordered them burned to speed the destruction of a city he didn’t like.

A few months into the siege, ration cards became the only source of food, and getting that food – full as it was of sawdust and other fillers – took precedence over everything else, including staying out of the way of the shelling. As more and more died of hunger and shelling, death and destruction became normalized.

Already at 6 in the morning I get on my pants, hat, blazer, and overcoat, and go to take my place in line. The store won’t open until 8, and the line is long, 2-3 people across. You stand there and wait, while an enemy plane flies low and slow over the street and rains down from its guns; the people scatter, and then they get back into the line, without panic – it gives you chills… (Siege diary of Angelina Efremovna Krupnova-Shamova)

Images of the siege

As ration cards replaced money, they also became the most common target for theft. Desperate times called for desperate measures – but even those were not always sufficient. Krupnova-Shamova wrote of a “friendly” old woman who couldn’t save herself, even by stealing:

In the morning, an old lady stopped by. ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘you haven’t gone to get bread yet, give me your cards, I’ll go.’ We got our cards for ten days, from the first to the tenth, and the last three were left – 250 grams, and three for 125 grams each, for three days. That old lady never did bring us that bread… But April 9 I saw her dead in the courtyard – so there’s nothing to judge her for, she was a good person…

Of all the records of the siege, none are as harrowing, as pure a distillation of that awful experience, as the famous 9-sentence diary of 11-year-old Tanya Savicheva:

December 28, 1941. Zhenya died at 12:00. 1941.

Grandma died January 25 at 3. 1942.

Leka died March 17 at 5 in the morning. 1942.

Uncle Vasya died April 13 at 2 at night. 1942.

Uncle Lyosha, May 10, 4 in the afternoon. 1942.

Mama – May 3, 7:30 in the morning. 1942.

The Savichevs have died.

Everyone has died.

Only Tanya is left.

Year after year, the Siege of Leningrad fades further and further out of living memory. Those who remember it, who survived it, are fewer and fewer. But to this day, on Nevsky Prospekt, St. Petersburg’s busiest street, passers-by can still read a sobering reminder from those times:

“Citizens! During shelling this side of the street is especially dangerous.”

Sources: Diary of Krapnova-Shamova, Diary of Tanya Savicheva; translations by Eugenia Sokolskaya

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons, vk.com, Eugenia Sokolskaya

 

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955