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Indcin
is is he sy f he siege f Leningad, he deadlies blckade f a ciy in hman hisy. Leningad sis a he nh-easen cnef he Balic, a he head f he lng, shallw glf ha divides heshen shes f Finland fm hse f nhen Rssia. Befehe Rssian Revlin i was he capial f he Rssian Empie, andcalled S Peesbg afe is fnde, he sa Pee he Gea. Wihhe fall f Cmmnism weny yeas ag i egained is ld name,b f is lde inhabians i is Leningad sill, n s mch fLenin as in hn f he appximaely hee-qaes f a millincivilians wh saved  deah ding he alms nine hnded days– fm Sepembe 1941  Janay 1944 – ding which he ciy wasbesieged by Nazi Gemany. Ohe mden sieges – hse f Madidand Saajev – lased lnge, b nne killed even a enh as many peple. And hiy-ve imes me civilians died in Leningadhan in Lndn’s Bliz; f imes me han in he bmbings f Nagasaki and Hishima p gehe.On 22 Jne 1941, he midsmme mning n which Gemany aacked he Svie Unin, Leningad lked mch he same as i haddne befe he Revlin. A seagll cicling ve he gilded needlef he Admialy spie wld have seen he same view as weny-fyeas pevisly: belw he chppy gey Rive Neva, lined by paks
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745g.indd 1
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2 troutoand palaces;  he wes, whee he Neva pens in he sea, hecanes f he naval dckyads;  he nh, he zigzag basins f hePee and Pal Fess and gid-like sees f Vasilyevsky Island; he sh, f cncenic waeways – he pey Mika, clly clas-sical Gibyedv, bad, gand Fnanka and wkaday Obvdniy –and w gea blevads, he Izmailvsky and he Nevsky Pspek,adiaing in pefec symmey pas he Wasaw and Mscw ailway sains  he facy chimneys f he indsial disics beynd. Appeaances, hgh, wee decepive. Owadly, Leningad was n mch aleed; inwadly, i was pfndly changed andamaised. I is cnveninal  give he sy f he blckadea lmic happy-sad-happy pgessin: he peace f a midsm-me mning shaeed by news f invasin, he call  ams,he enemy haled a he gaes, descen in cld and savain,spingime ecvey, vicy ewks. In ealiy i was n likeha. Any Leningade aged hiy  ve a he sa f he siegehad aleady lived hgh hee was (he Fis Wld Wa, heCivil Wa beween Blsheviks and Whies ha fllwed i, andhe Wine Wa wih Finland f 1939–40), w famines (he sding he Civil Wa, he secnd he cllecivisain famine f 1932–3, cased by Salin’s vilen seize f peasan fams) andw maj waves f pliical e. Hadly a hsehld, paic-laly amng he ciy’s ehnic miniies and ld middle classes,had n been ched by deah, pisn  exile as well as impv-eishmen. F smene like he pe Olga Beggls, daghef a Jewish dc, i was n ndly meldamaic  sae ha‘we meased ime by he inevals beween ne sicide and henex’.
1
e siege, hgh niqe in he size f is deah ll, wasless a agic inelde han ne dak passage amng many.e agedy ase fm he cmbined hbis f Hile andSalin. In Ags 1939 hey had asnished he wld by pingidelgy aside  fm a nn-aggessin pac, nde which hey divided Pland beween hem. When Hile ned n Fance he
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745g.indd 2
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trouto 3fllwing sping Salin sd aside, cnining  spply his ally  wih gain, meals, bbe and he vial cmmdiies. gh iis clea fm wha we nw knw f Salin’s cnvesains wih hisPlib ha he expeced  be fced in wa wih Gemany sne  lae, he iming f he Nazi aack – cde-namedBabassa  ‘Redbead’ afe a csading Hly Rman Empe– came as a devasaing shck. e new, ply defended bdehgh Pland was ven alms immediaely, and wihin weekshe panic-sicken Red Amy fnd iself defending he majciies f Rssia heself.Chief vicim f his npepaedness was Leningad. Immediaely pe-wa, he ciy had a pplain f js ve hee millin. Inhe welve weeks  mid-Sepembe 1941, when he Geman andFinnish amies c i  fm he es f he Svie Unin, abhalf a millin Leningades wee dafed  evacaed, leaving js ve 2.5 millin civilians, a leas 400,000 f hem childen,apped wihin he ciy. Hnge se in alms immediaely, andin Ocbe plice began  ep he appeaance f emaciaedcpses n he sees. Deahs qadpled in Decembe, peaking in Janay and Febay a 100,000 pe mnh. By he end f wha was even by Rssian sandads a savage wine – n sme daysempeaes dpped  -30°C  belw – cld and hnge hadaken smewhee and half a millin lives. I is n hese mnhsf mass deah – wha Rssian hisians call he ‘heic peid’ f he siege – ha his bk cncenaes. e fllwing w siege wines wee less deadly, hanks  hee being fewe mhs lef feed, and  fd deliveies acss Lake Ladga, he inland sea Leningad’s eas whse sh-easen shes he Red Amy cnin-ed  hld. In Janay 1943 ghing als cleaed a fagile landcid  f he ciy, hgh which he Svies wee able bild a ailway line. Maliy nneheless emained high, akinghe al deah ll  smewhee beween 700,000 and 800,000 –ne in evey hee  f f he immediae pe-siege pplain
745g.indd 3
745g.indd 3
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15/06/2011 13:24:05
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