Leningrad (St Petersburg) - A Trip to the Battlefield - May 2006

 This story must start with an acknowledgement of the horrendous suffering borne by the people of this remarkable city from 1941 through to 1944. One of the victims from the siege was called Tanya Savicheva and her iconic image can be seen throughout the city. Her journal is kept at the St Petersburg Museum of History. My friends Natalya Makeeva and Katerina Stepanova translated some passages for me. The journal has been transcribed onto a powerfully evocative memorial which can be found near the start of the 'Road of Life' to the East of the modern day city.

Inscriptions:

Hzenya (Evgeniya) died on the 28th of December at 12.30 in the morning 1941

Grandmamma died on the 28th of January at 3 p.m. 1942

Uncle Vasya died on the 13th of April at 3 a.m. 1942

Leka died on the 17th of March at 5 a.m. 1942

Uncle Lesha died on the 10th of May at 4 p.m. 1942

Mama died on the 13th of May at 7.30 a.m. 1942

The last 3 sheets: “Family Savichevy is all dead, Tanya is alone"

In August 1942 Tanya Savicheva was taken out of the city to Gor’kovskaya oblast. Tanya was in poor health (because of starvation) and doctors couldn’t help her. She died on the 1st of July 1944. But her brother Michail stayed alive (he was partisan) and her sister Nina also (she worked with a building batallion near Ladoga Lake).

Some 500,000 victims of the siege were buried in the vast Piskaryovskoe cemetery a picture of which I have posted below.

Of course, many people survived and it is a credit to the modern day city that their sacrifice and achievement is still acknowledged today - in particular on Veterans day when the survivors parade through the city.

Leningrad - The City

 This page is devoted to a set of pictures taken within the city limits. Many were taken inside one or other of the excellent military museums.

The picture on the left (below) is of the Astoria Hotel. There is a rumour that the Germans had arranged to have their victory dinner here once the city had fallen. Some say that menus were printed. I found no evidence to suggest that either had any basis in fact. The middle picture shows the Cruiser Aurora decked out for Victory Day. During the siege the ship was moored at Oranienbaum, its mighty guns supporting the defenders of the enclave. It was sunk by the Germans but after the war was refloated. On the right the blue sign in Nevsky Prospekt warns shoppers to walk the other side so as to avoid incoming German fire (it has been left in situ to remind passers by of the black days of the siege).

Some of the following pictures show pieces of Nazi iconography. There are Russian propaganda caricatures of Hitler & Goebbels and uniform remnants from some of the Axis SS Divisions that fought in the area - Flemish, Scandinavian and the SS Police Division. The other photograph shows a Russian soldier removing a German directional sign.

The following pictures show the main War Memorial situated on the main route in from the West quite close to the siege perimeter. The Memorial houses a museum and a quiet place of remembrance. I was struck by the unusual lighting made out of shell cases.

And finally three pictures of artillery pieces. Two  are from the truly fantastic St Petersburg Artillery Museum. The remaining picture was taken on the West of the city at the point where the siege lines were closest to the city centre.

Just stepping away from all things military for a moment - St Petersburg is an astonishing city. Beautiful architecture, terrific museums, vibrant streets and proud people. It could have been so very different had the local populace not held their collective nerve during the war years. As one elderly resident told me "I never doubted that the city would survive. Those that did 'let the lamp of hope go out' didn't survive"