The way frontline Leningrad celebrated September 1

The Siege of Leningrad is one of the most tragic pages in the history of the Great Patriotic War. More than 75 years have been passed from the time of these sorrowful events, but the research for little-known documents of an unexampled peoples' feat continues. Marking the anniversary of the Great Victory, the Presidential Library made a significant contribution to preserving our common memory of the war. Leningrad residents, their children and grandchildren provided more than 4,000 unique documents for digitization to the Presidential Library on Senate Square, 3. This collection features memories of children who lived in Leningrad during the war. The besieged city was full of children and youth, who survived and worked for the Victory displaying courage and heroism. How did they spend September 1 in the besieged city?

"On September 1, 1941, we did not have classes", - wrote Zinaida Arkadyevna Itkina, a third-grader of School No. 218 (Rubinstein Street, 13), in the Siege diary. The Presidential Library released her records more than 70 years later after creation.

"In September 1941", writes I. Malakhov in the diary, - "I would have to sit at the school desk in the 9th grade. But the war changed everything ... the students dig antitank ditches. Will classes begin? I don’t think so, because the front is too close. And I want to study! Lyova Rabkevich and I intend to apply to the nonresident school (if it is open)".

A week later, on September 8, 1941, the city was besieged. At that time, there were 201,082 schoolchildren in Leningrad. It was decided to continue their education in the city. But in November 1941, only 90,152 people launched the study. The reason was the mass evacuation of children. Besides, many high school students replaced their parents, conscripted for the army, by the factory machines. Hunger arose greatly. In the winter of 1941-1942, during the most troublesome period of the Siege, the number of schools decreased drastically. By the spring of 1942, only 2,800 children and teenagers attended classes. This information is mentioned in the book "School No. 138 in the Years of the Siege" - a collection of memories of students and teachers of the educational institution, which, little by little, restores the memory about the Siege period.

"October 1941. The classes came unexpectedly", I. Malakhov continues records. - "Consultations began on October 15, and the "academic year" began on November 3 ... Teachers exercise well, intelligible and clearly, especially the physics master. We live in a school where we have light and heat. But, there is no heat at home, because we should spare firewood... Students eat soup without ration cards. Sometimes, they serve a dessert... At the same time with the beginning of classes in Leningrad, the second German offensive against Moscow was launched... "

So children and teenagers of the besieged city kept records, blending school news with reports from the Soviet Information Bureau about the front situation.

The realities of the first Siege winter, the most hungry and coldest, changed school life completely.

"In the winter of 1942, the janitor of our house, Uncle Vasya, told the primary school children to come to the air-raid shelter in houses 8 or 10 at Vladimirsky Avenue", is written in the Siege diary of Zinaida Arkadyevna Itkina. "Next day, the kids, all who could, ran to this air-raid shelter. The roadway of Vladimirsky Avenue was covered with snow so densely that the tram rails were not visible. Women, children and olds sat on chairs taken from apartments or on the floor in the air-raid shelter. There was a table near the wall. A young man - a teacher, was sitting topside at the table. There was a group of ten children of 9-10 years old. We sat on long benches, and the teacher read and spoke to us, we even drew something. We came every day and "studied" for several hours, despite the long everyday bombing.

In 1942, the new academic year was different. "Back at Desks" article, published in the Leningradskaya Pravda newspaper (1942, No. 208, September 2), states: "Long before the classes, school halls came to life. Actually, the school doors were open wide even in the summer months: the children of the elementary grades worked in circles, gathered here for excursions. Yesterday they sat down at their desks again. <…> After school, the children went to the canteen, where the robust dinner was cooked for them.

The school is repaired. Water supply and sewerage system are in order. Part of the firewood has already been collected. The premises are clean; flowers are on the tables. A library and a methodical study are opened. Pupils received books and notebooks.

High school students are still engaged in agricultural work; in a month they also will sit down at their desks.

Yesterday, the classes began in lots of city schools. The first day proved that Leningrad schools are well prepared for lessons.

The second academic year in the frontline city is launched".

The article "We Take Care of Leningrad Children like Relatives" in the Leningradskaya Pravda newspaper (1942, No. 210, September 4) spotlights the life of Leningrad kindergartens and schools in the evacuation:

"A year ago, in the days when enemy tanks and motorized convoys rushed to Leningrad, we sent thousands of our children to the far regions of the country, deep in the rear ... For a long time, there was no news about children living far from their parents. But then the letters began to arrive like a flow. They are from the directors and nuns of kindergartens. Teachers and schoolchildren also write.

Elementary students of the 249th School of the Oktyabrsky district and the pupils of the 49th Boarding School of the Smolninsky district write from the city of Shadrinsk, Chelyabinsk Region: "The teachers take care of us like relatives. In winter, we received "good" and "excellent" marks. Everyone is accepted in the following classes. There are no pupils who repeat a year. When the summer vacations came, our boarding schools planted vegetables. The harvest will be good. Now, we eat our cucumbers, carrots, radishes. On August 15, a group of schoolchildren began to pick mushrooms and berries in the forest. We have already prepared 150 kilograms of mushrooms. The second group of schoolchildren went to the kolhoz for harvesting work. The third group prepares fuel for the winter. The motto "Let's help the front and Leningrad with excellent studies and excellent work!" is deep in our hearts".

A year later, an article "Schools to Launch Classes Today" in the Leningradskaya Pravda newspaper (1943, No. 206, September 1) begins with the positive words:

"Classes of the elementary schools in Leningrad begin today.

- Leningrad schoolchildren, - said to our correspondent the head of the City Department of Public Education, Comrade Nikitin, - had a good rest in pioneer school camps in summer. Tomorrow they will return to their desks again.

The schools are well arranged for the new academic year. The larger part of schools has already completed renovation work. Roofs, water supply and sewerage, stoves are repaired; the school premises are restored. <…>

Fuel for six months has already been delivered to schools; several schools in the Vyborgsky and Primorsky districts have full storages of firewood...

High school students engaged in agricultural work will start classes on October 1".

When the Siege of Leningrad was broken in the winter of 1943, there was much more encouraging news. The spirit of schoolchildren's diary records changed notably. Here is a fragment of the book "The Girl from the Siege", digitized by the Presidential Library. It contains the personal Siege records of Leningrad resident Alisa Konstantinovna Bolshakova:

"On September 1, 1943, I went to Girls' School No. 335 ... I was wearing a check dress, in my hands was a yellow straw briefcase. My mother explained to me that things came to us from American parcels, American humanitarian aid. Near the school, I quickly got familiar with the girl. We sat down at the same desk".

Less than five months preceded the complete lifting of the Siege on January 27, 1944...