Siege of Leningrad
September 8th, 1941 through January 27th, 1944
Siege length - 872 days World War II
Leningrad was one of the main objectives of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941
It was here that the main base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet was, as well as important industry that was churning out weapons.
The conquest of Leningrad was not just an operational request of the German HQ.
Adolf Hitler also saw the symbolic significance of the city of Leningrad.
Conquering the city would have been a massive blow in morale for the Soviets, who are already.
weakened by the huge German success on the front.
Furthermore, Adolf Hitler wanted the city razed to the ground, its population killed or driven further East as part of his "Generalplan Ost"
However, Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, also realized the importance of Leningrad both strategic and symbolically and stated that.
it could not fall into German hands.
Conquest of Leningrad was the objective of Army Group North, under command of Field Marshal from Carlito
He consisted of the 18th Army, led by Field Marshal
Georg von Küchler, the 4th Panzer Group and the 16th Army.
At the beginning, the Germans had no difficulty in fighting against the Soviet armies at the North Western Front.
By July 10th, Küchler managed to push the Soviet troops out of the Baltic states, forcing them into defensive operations to save Leningrad from being surrounded.
The Soviets meanwhile never managed to halt the German attacks and were constantly forced to retreat to new defensive positions.
While the German 18th Army was marching towards Leningrad, the 4th Panzer Group was making important progress towards Luga and Novgorod.
and then moved further towards Lake Ladoga in order to cut off Leningrad from the rest of the country.
On August 30th, the Germans reached the Neva River, which allowed them to start bombing Leningrad.
The first bombs dropped on Leningrad on September 4th, 1941
On September 8th, 1941, the German forces managed to reach the shores of Lake Ladoga.
which meant that the city was cut off by land.
The siege.. would begin.
From the North, Leningrad was attacked by the Finns, Germany's ally.
Their offensive eventually proved to be a huge problem for the Germans, as the Finns were satisfied with just.
reclaiming the territories lost in the 1939 Winter War and not pushing further on to the city itself.
This would prevent a complete encirclement around the city.
Under Hitler's orders, effective on September 15th, von Leeb lost the 4th Panzer Group
which was to be transferred to Army Group Center for the upcoming Moscow offensive.
This would provide some relief for the Soviet defenders.
but the German artillery bombardment would ensure the siege would still continue as heavily as before.
As a consequence of allowing the Germans to surround Leningrad, the Soviet commander of the North Western Front, Marshal Kliment Voroshilov.
was replaced with the more capable General Georgy Zhukov, who quickly organized the defense of Leningrad.
The whole civilian population of Leningrad was organized into building defensive positions.
Leningrad was completely surrounded with defensive fortifications. Wooden obstacles, barbed wire,
anti-tank trenches and ordinary trenches were all built.
Anti-aircraft guns,
the Baltic Fleet,
and tanks, some of which have been produced in factories during the siege, added to the defence.
After a month of constant artillery preparation and bombardment,
the Germans were eventually ordered not to mount a full-scale assault on the city, as it was believed it would cost them too many soldiers.
Hitler's directive from October 7th, 1941 ordered the German forces to hold the city under siege,
therefore starving the Soviet defenders to death.
However, the Germans didn't expect such a heroic resistance by the Leningrad defenders.
The siege would last for 872 days, during which citizens were severely lacking food, water, energy, heating and medicine.
By the beginning of winter, Leningrad had lost around 50,000 lives
The arrival of winter did have one benefit- it caused Lake Ladoga to become frozen, which allowed the Soviets to establish a corridor.
over it to get much-needed supplies into the city.
This ice corridor was remembered as the "Road of Life" and it served not only to bring supplies to the city when other supply lines were being,
cut off, but also a way to evacuate civilians to safety.
The road was, however, a constant target of the German Luftwaffe, so transport of goods and people was a dangerous venture.
Nevertheless, a great famine remained present during the entire siege and it was the reason for the majority of the casualties.
At some point, citizens were allowed a daily portion of only,
125 grams of bread made of flour and sawdust. On some days, not even that.
Despite all the atrocities, the city authorities were persistent in keeping morale as high as possible.
The stalemate of the siege was occasionally interrupted by several Soviet attempts to break it.
The first one was in late summer 1942,
when Soviet troops from the East started an offensive in order to connect with the Leningrad defenders.
At the same time, the Germans were preparing an offensive to capture the city without awareness of the Soviet plans.
When the Soviets attacked, the German forces had to abandon their plans, but managed to repel the enemy away from the city.
The next attempt to break the siege was more successful.
On January 12th, 1943, the Red Army commenced a full-scale offensive on the German positions on the South bank of Lake Ladoga.
After a week of heavy fighting the Soviets managed to destroy the German positions.
and to establish a land route with Leningrad, allowing more supplies into the city.
A year later in January 1944, when it became obvious that German ambitions and the Soviet Union were doomed, Red Army units.
started a new offensive that resulted in a complete lift of the siege.
During the 872 days of the siege from September 8th, 1941 to January 27th, 1944,
more than 1 million of the Leningrad defenders and citizens lost their lives
Most of the deaths were due to great famine but shelling and air bombing took their toll as well.