/ world today news/ Almost 900 days of famine in a complete environment, a million dead, three thousand destroyed and seven thousand damaged buildings, dozens of destroyed historical and architectural monuments – these are the results of the blockade of Leningrad, which was finally lifted exactly 80 years ago . During Operation January Thunder, Soviet troops inflicted a heavy defeat on Army Group North. About one of the most significant days of the Great Patriotic War – in the material.
Keeping the Spark
Hitler saw Leningrad not only as a strategically important point on the map, but also as a “symbolic center”. Therefore, his plans were truly monstrous: to lead the natives to a slow, painful death. And then to raze the city to the ground.
In September 1941, three million people were trapped by fire. By the end of 1942, 622 thousand remained. Some have been evacuated, but many are starving – there is a catastrophic food shortage. Leningrad is surrounded by a group of 730 thousand soldiers.
Help is trickling in. The city is connected to the main forces only by sky and the Road of Life – through Lake Ladoga. They constantly change their routes so as not to come under fire from the Nazis. In summer there are barges.
Several times they try to break through the blockade. However, the German Army Group North was very well entrenched and repulsed the attacks repeatedly. The Red Army does not have enough men, there is simply nowhere to allocate additional units.
Everything changes after Stalingrad.
The liberated forces were transferred to the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. And on January 12, 1943, Operation “Spark” began. Six days later, the blockade was broken.
Already on February 7, the first train with food arrived at the Finnish station. Delivery standards established for other industrial centers of the country were returned to Leningrad. This dramatically improves the situation of civilians and troops on the Leningrad front. Hundreds of thousands of people were saved from starvation.
“On the day the blockade was broken, my mother and I went to light candles in the Transfiguration Church, which was not closed for a single day,” recalls Irina Zimneeva, a survivor of the blockade. “Mom was happy that she was starting a new life. People on the streets were lively, despite the bitter cold. It was only said that ours had gone on the offensive. And soon they began to bring food and their own production resumed. Already in 1943, the Leningrad confectionery factory “Krupskaya” produced three tons of candies.
But the complete defeat of the Nazis is still far away. After receiving reinforcements, they hold their positions. And they continue to shell the city.
“January Thunder”
“By November 1943, the enemy was forced to clear almost two-thirds of the territory of our homeland that he had captured. But near Leningrad, the Nazis, having surrounded themselves with a powerful line of defensive structures, continued to improve their positions and hoped to they kept them as the basis of the entire left wing of the Eastern Front,” recalled General Ivan Fedyuninsky, who commanded the 2nd Shock Army of the Leningrad Front from December 1943, after the war.
In September 1943, the Soviet command learned that German troops wanted to withdraw from the city to the so-called “Panther” line: Narva River – Lake Peypus – Pskov – Ostrov – Idritsa. Based on this, a large-scale operation began to be planned for the defeat of the 18th German army and the complete liberation of Leningrad from the siege.
There are two options. The first involves pursuing the retreating Nazis to destroy them on the move and prevent them from entrenching themselves in new positions. The second is a breakthrough of the echelon defense if the Wehrmacht does not retreat.
Hitler forbids the 18th Army to retreat. The operation was called “January Thunder”. The general plan was simultaneous attacks of the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts on the flanks of the 18th Army in the area of Peterhof-Strelna and Novgorod. Then advance to Kingisep and Luga. Victory here creates prerequisites for the liberation of the Baltic republics.
Collapse at the front
“I can’t describe how I felt when we were told during the formation that we would finally go into a decisive offensive,” recalled Ivan Vorobyov, a machine gunner from the 43rd Rifle Corps of the 2nd Shock Army. “I will finally see my native Leningrad, hug my wife and two daughters. From the very beginning of the war I went to see them. But along with the joyful anticipation came fear. What if I died right on my doorstep? But I diligently pushed those thoughts away and kindled my hatred for the enemy. We still had to win”, he added.
Almost half a million soldiers of the Red Army are participating in the operation. The Soviet side has the advantage in infantry, artillery and tanks.
The “January Thunder” thundered on January 14, when the troops of the 2nd Shock Army went on the offensive from the Oranienbaum bridgehead, and a day later units and formations of the 42nd Army advanced to meet them from near Pulkovo.
A large number of anti-tank ditches and minefields, as well as effective German artillery fire, lead to heavy losses in tank units. Nevertheless, the Soviet soldiers stubbornly moved forward, liberating village after village. The aviation of the 13th Air Army helps a lot.
On January 20, the main forces of the two armies met in the area south of Ropsha. They completely surrounded and then destroyed the remnants of the Peterhof-Strelna group of the Wehrmacht.
The next day, the troops of the 67th Army of the Leningrad Front and the 8th Army of the Volkhov Front, noticing that the enemy was retreating, rushed to attack. The main objective is the liberation of Krasnogvardeisk, a key junction of German railway and highway communications. In addition, it made it possible to take control of the October Railway, the main artery connecting Leningrad with the rest of the country. The city was liberated on January 26.
And on January 27, they officially announced the complete lifting of the blockade.
„No blockages!
“On that day, January 27, for some reason the radio did not work in our house, and my mother and I did not know anything about the long-awaited event for everyone,” says Vsevolod Inchik, a resident of Leningrad. “In the evening, I suddenly heard a terrible roar, but it was completely different from the sounds of enemy fire. I jumped out onto Gorokhovaya Street and saw searchlights in the dark sky and rockets flying over the Admiralty. I stood spellbound and only the cries of the people, “The blockade is over! There is no blockade!” they brought me out of my stupor. It was a feast: our sorrows are over.”
A 324-gun salute thundered over the city. Everyone shakes hands, hugs and cries. The worst is behind them.
During the years of the blockade, according to various sources, from 600 thousand to one and a half million people died. Only three percent of them were killed by bombs and artillery shells. The rest die of hunger, cold and disease. Most are buried in the memorial Piskarivsko cemetery.
Despite the heavy losses, the city revived very quickly. People were returning from evacuation. And after several decades, Leningrad and its suburbs were restored to their former glory. The northern capital has not lost its status as an intellectual and cultural center of the country. But the horrors of the blockade are not forgotten here.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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