How Russians Survive the 900-Day-Long Siege of Leningrad

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 26 October 2023

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The first year of the siege of Leningrad that began in September 1941 marked the opening stage of a 900-day-long struggle for survival that left over a million dead. The capture of the city came tantalizingly close late that year, but Hitler paused to avoid costly urban fighting. Determined to starve Leningrad into submission, what followed was a winter of unimaginable suffering for ordinary citizens and defenders alike. First-hand accounts from Soviet and German soldiers, many never previously published, together with those of the civilians trapped in the city detail the relentless specter of death which defined life in and around Leningrad.

Today’s guest is Prit Buttar, author of “To Besiege a City: Leningrad 1941-42.” Personal vignettes give a glimpse into the reality of life in a city under siege. The teenage volunteer climbers, weak from hunger, scaling the slender spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress to shroud it in camouflage as the German bombers circle overhead like vultures. Or the soldier trombonist completing a long day on the front line to perform Shostakovich’s epic Seventh Symphony alongside a starving and sickly orchestra – an act of defiance broadcast to defenders and attackers alike.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This guy here with another episode of the History Unplugged Podcast, holding the city under siege
0:09.5	is one of the oldest military tactics and it dates back to at least the early Bronze Age,
0:14.0	but what did the longest and worst sieges happen within living memory?
0:18.0	And that's the siege of Leningrad that took place from late 1941 to 1944.
0:23.1	Germany cut off nearly all supplies to the city and an estimated 1.5 million star to death.
0:28.6	The absolute darkest hours were in the early months, when in that first winter of 1941,
0:33.1	many people had to resort to cannibalism. The capture of the city came close at
0:36.8	ear, the Hitler paused to avoid costly urban fighting. He was determined to starve Leningrad
0:41.1	in his submission, and although the city was ground down, it never broke.
0:44.4	Look at the first year of the siege as today's guest, Pritt Booter,
0:47.6	author of, to the siege of city, Leningrad 1941 to 1942. We look at military strategy and
0:53.4	glimpses into the reality of life in a city under siege, such as teenage volunteer climbers
0:58.2	who are weak from hunger, but scale the city's most notable landmarks in order to camouflage it
1:02.8	and keep German bombers from using it as a reference point to batter the city.
1:06.3	There's also the story of a soldier-traum bonus completing a long day on the front line to perform
1:10.8	Church to Covish's epic 7 Symphony alongside a star being in sickly orchestra.
1:15.4	Overall, we look at the strategic failings about the German and Russian sides,
1:19.1	while we can have the horrific realities of daily life during a merciless war.
1:22.6	Hope you enjoyed this discussion with Pritt Booter.
1:24.4	In one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for work from our sponsors.
1:55.2	City Seaches were the cornerstone of military strategy going back to essentially the bronze
2:12.4	agent up to the early modern period, but they're not really used anymore as a military tactic,
	...

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