The word of the poetess Olga Bergholz sustained life in besieged Leningrad

“Vera Ketlinskaya, who headed the Leningrad branch of the Writers' Union in 1941, recalled that Olenka, as everyone called her then, visited her during the first days of the war. Unusually serious and self-disciplined, she asked Ketlinskaya how she could help. Ketlinskaya sent Bergholz to the literary and dramatic editorial staff of the Leningrad Radio”, - said Natalia Rogova, the chief librarian of the manuscript department of the National Library of Russia, as part of the Knowledge of Russia video lecture, which was included in the Presidential Library’s collection.

May 16, 2019 marks the 109th anniversary of the birth of Olga Bergholz (1910–1975) - the poetess, who became the voice of besieged Leningrad, a symbol of unyielding spirit, which was supported in people by her radio broadcasts. The Presidential Library’s portal features electronic copies of Olga Bergholz’s books: a collection of poems “Leningrad”, published in 1944, a 1945 play “They Lived in Leningrad”, written in collaboration with Georgy Makogonenko, as well as other materials. The Presidential Library’s portal has been enriched with audio recordings of the famous besieged reporter Matvey Frolov, of which 131 have been included in the collections and are already available in the electronic reading room of the Presidential Library. They reflect the first train from the Mainland, about the production of military orders for "Electrosila", which turned out to be on the front line; the voice of Olga Bergholz is captured as well.

... The first poetic work of young Olga was published in 1925, Korney Chukovsky followed her successes in the works. In the pre-war fate of Bergholz there was much that could break her. This woman had to endure the death of her daughters, a divorce with her husband - a famous poet Boris Kornilov, the arrest of her father, and then herself on charges of having links with the enemies of the people; six months after her arrest, she was released and fully rehabilitated. Her first husband Boris Kornilov was shot down in February 1938.  

With beginning of the siege, Olga Bergholz from the lyrical heroine suddenly became a poet personifying the resilience of the besieged city which is detailed in Leningrad collected works:

… Я говорю с тобой под свист снарядов,

угрюмым заревом озарена.

Я говорю с тобой из Ленинграда,

страна моя, печальная страна...

Над Ленинградом – смертная угроза…

Бессонны ночи, тяжек день любой.

Но мы забыли, что такое слезы, что называлось страхом и мольбой.

as well as

Был день как день.

Ко мне пришла подруга,

не плача, рассказала, что вчера

единственного схоронила друга,

и мы молчали с нею до утра.

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Как мы в ту ночь молчали, как молчали…

Но я должна, мне надо говорить

с тобой, сестра по гневу и печали…

The reality was so cruel that it seemed people were not up to poems. But Bergholz wrote and read them so that they became a fulcrum for everyone who listened to them. In the House of Radio, she almost daily broadcasted radio programs, which later appeared in her book “This is Radio Leningrad!”

Sixty-five year old Olga Fedorovna died on November 13, 1975. She was buried at the Volkovskoye Cemetery. Many citizens did not manage to say goodbye to their beloved poetess, since the obituary was printed in the newspaper only on the day of the funeral. The monument on the grave of the poetess appeared only after 30 years.

Today, one of the streets in Petersburg is named after Olga Bergholz, and the granite slabs of the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery continue to talk to the residents and guests of the city with the monumental in spirit of the words of the poetess:

Здесь лежат ленинградцы.

Здесь горожане – мужчины, женщины, дети.

Рядом с ними солдаты-красноармейцы.

Всею жизнью своею они защищали тебя, Ленинград

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Их имён благородных мы здесь перечислить не сможем,

Так их много под вечной охраной гранита.

Но знай, внимающий этим камням:

Никто не забыт и ничто не забыто.