Only victory and life: The Presidential Library provides new materials marking the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi siege

January 27, 2019 marks 75 years since the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi siege. Thus, the Presidential Library presents the updated section “Defenders of the Fatherland: Living Memory”, part of the collection “Memory of the Great Victory”, which is available on the institution’s portal. The section has been enriched with memories of real heroes - people who not only survived those terrible 872 days, but managed to retain the best human qualities.

Letters, photographs, notes — all these valuable evidences of the epoch were handed over to the Presidential Library to digitize by families who are familiar with the siege firsthand.

Natalya Litvinenko, daughter of the resident of the besieged city on the Neva River covered by the steel ring, shared the memories of her mother, Nina Petrovna Polotskaya. The woman said that, despite all the hardships and mortal danger that literally followed people on the heels, the Leningrad residents kept their hopes up: “Every family had sheets and bed sheets instead of walls. The Germans bombed the city mercilessly. A few days later the city was surrounded by the Nazis - the siege began. Everyone believed in victory, but they still did not understand how much we would get”.

The worst danger for the residents of the besieged city in those years was not even enemy bombing, but hunger, which everyone could become a victim at any moment. Moreover, N. P. Polotskaya recalls, cold weather raged - it was unbearably difficult to survive: “From unbearable hunger they cooked and ate everything: paste, sawdust, leather belts. We ate... school leather shoes. And when, in addition to the precious bread, the most beloved, most desired food in the blockade, they got something else that is considered humanely real food, it was happiness”.

The memories of the child blockade. G. A. Zavinskaya in her notes tells how the kindergarten survived, in which she was brought up and where her mother worked then. The author remembered forever how educators, by all means, tried to keep their children from childhood. They even cooked kissel ... from the wallpaper: “I did not participate in the preparation of the wallpaper, I only heard adults joking: is it kissel striped or flowered today?”

G. A. Zavinskaya writes about how the kindergarten was preparing for the New Year. And this is heroism, inexhaustible, everlasting faith of both adults and children: “Life in the kindergarten continued, the regime and order were strictly followed — walks, daytime sleep, and even some classes did not have enough light. The year 1942 was approaching. We decided to decorate the walls of the basement drawings of children. Paper, colored pencils, additional smoke clots. And the pictures - the war, and ours, of course, defeat the Nazis. And there were also casseroles with porridge, sausage and bagels with poppy seeds. It became elegant. There was no radio ... someone brought a phonograph”.

Everybody tried to keep the fire of life alive. In a note by Professor A. Makarov, a doctor of medical sciences, you can read about how doctors fought for the life of scientists: “I began to look for a room where I could take the scientists who remained in the city and provide them with medical care. The administration of LDU willingly went to meet me and put at my disposal a room in which there was a fireplace, which was daily heated. Here I was taking the sick. When at the beginning of 1942 dystrophy began to increase sharply among scientists, the administration of LDU, with my assistance, organized a 50-bed hospital on the third floor”.

Another important task during the siege was to preserve the richest heritage of culture and science. Beating out of strength, not sparing himself and no matter what, in the besieged Leningrad, actors and musicians, museum workers, researchers continued to work. The eminent scientist Boris Piotrovsky recounts this in detail in his memoirs, which are available on the Presidential Library’s portal: “In the harsh days of the Leningrad siege, the scientists, despite difficulties and hardships, continued their work. On December 29, at a meeting in the frozen hall of the A-library [kademii] n [auk], bundled-up people gathered with difficulty walking, in which it was difficult to recognize familiar Orientalists. But the meeting was lively. After the war, these reports were searched, and they were printed, and the blockade did not give any discounts on the quality of reports”.   

And if the military defended the population of their native city with weapons in their hands, the scientists accomplished feats, preserving the spiritual world of Leningraders and developing Russian science. “I met my old acquaintances, historians, who had changed a lot, their faces and hands, but full of energy, bloated with bourgeois, even though many were on the verge of death ... For example, in Leningrad in winter My big work was completed in 1941/42, bringing me a doctoral degree and a state award ... And many, many feelings were invested in short lines of dedication: “The cherished memory of my comrades, young scientists who died defending Leningrad,” says in the recordings of B. B. Piotrovsky.

The Presidential Library’s portal regularly tells about the pages of the history of the Great Patriotic War and, in particular, the siege of Leningrad. For example, you can go on a virtual tour of the exhibition halls of the temporarily closed State Museum of Defence and the Siege of Leningrad and get familiar with the electronic collection "Defence and Siege of Leningrad", which includes digital copies of official documents, newspapers, memories of city residents, food cards, and photos - and newsreels.

In November 2018, a large-scale project, dedicated to preserving the historical memory of the 872 days of the siege of the city on the Neva River in 1941-1944 was launched. About 200 people responded to the call of the Presidential Library to share testimonies about that time.

With the participation of the Presidential Library, the Unified City Information Center, which coordinates the work of the media, public organizations and cultural institutions covering events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi siege has been established. .

Aleksey Voronovich, a senior researcher at the Presidential Library, broadcasts weekly on the Saint Petersburg TV Channel, in the program “Siege Diary”, giving unknown details about the life of a city surrounded by the enemy - for example, the special role of poetry or the spirit of Leningrad supported by people abroad.