The Presidential Library: New acquisitions

To mark the 71^st anniversary of the full liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade the Presidential Library updated its collections with new materials of its own production and from private collections.

A set of photos by V. Gulyakin Road of Life: Embodied Memory of the Blockade contains more than 200 images of certain monuments, memorials and museums along the highway St. Petersburg – Moriee, Vsevolozhsk district, Leningrad region, which imitates the onshore part of the Road of Life.

The history of restoration of the Pavlovsk Palace, which was greatly affected by military operations and German occupation, can be seen on the pages of the historic wall calendar published by the Presidential Library: Pavlovsk. Revived beauty: celebrating the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 / author of the text: L. V. Koval; compiler A. D. Barkhatova, L. V. Koval (St. Petersburg, 2014). Each front sheet contains two photos of the same place taken during the destruction (1944-1967) and after the restoration.

1st rank captain in retirement A. S. Maslakov’s Baltic squadron fire (St. Petersburg, 2012) includes three documentary stories telling about the sailors who defended Leningrad, about the destroyer "Stroiny," about the submarine C-13, which torpedoed the Nazi liner "Wilhelm Gustloff." The edition contains unique data on the battle positions of the ships of the Baltic squadron.

Diary of Lucya (Julia) Hordikaynen Life in the occupation and the early postwar years: Pushkin. Gatchina. Estonia (St. Petersburg, 2011) is a look at the events through the eyes of a child, an ordinary girl from an educated family in Leningrad. The author was fixing everything that happened around quite unsophisticatedly so that today's reader has an opportunity to feel that time.

Another source of personal origin allowing us to trace the vicissitudes of life of a particular family in wartime is represented by the documents from the archives of Sokolovs family.

Certificate of registration at the place of evacuation testifies that July 2, 1941 Nadezhda Feodorovna Sokolova together with her two children and her mother was evacuated from Leningrad and arrived at their point of destination - the village Kurilovo, Yaroslavl region.

In the village there was a boarding school for evacuated children, whose director was N. F. Sokolova. Reviews of her work in this position can be found in the following documents: Parents about the boarding school № 38. Opinions of parents about the school; Opinions regarding the work of the Director of the Boarding № 38 Nadezhda Feodorovna Sokolova (1941, 1943); A copy of the letter to Nadezhda Fyodorovna Sokolova expressing gratitude for the education of children.

At the same the husband of Nadezhda Sokolova, Vasily Nikitich, remained in Leningrad. His Letters written in the period from July 1941 to December 1942 tell about life in the besieged city.

More recent events at the front are reflected in several letters-postcards from Prague, sent in February 1945 to his family in Leningrad (N. F. and V. N. Sokolovs) by Boris Fedorovich Sinev: [St. Vitus Cathedral] = Praha / P. J. Středočeský ; [Church of Our Lady in front of Tyn] = Praha / P. J. Středočeský; [Charles Bridge] = Praha / P. J. Středočeský; [Old Town Hall] = Praha / P. J. Středočeský.

In addition the website features digital copies of brochures intended to help the residents of the besieged city to survive the famine: the books told about the methods of preparation and use in food of various plants: Using foliage of garden plants for food and harvesting it for future use / Central Directorate of Leningrad canteens, restaurants and cafes of the USSR People's Commissariat of Trade (Leningrad, 1942); Using wild edible plants for food: [collection of articles] / professor O. V. Troitskaya et al.; Central Directorate of Leningrad canteens, restaurants and cafes of the USSR People's Commissariat of Trade (Leningrad, 1942); V. N. Girenko Brief practical guide to place, care and store vegetables and potatoes in specialized and adapted premises: [practical guide] / V. N. Girenko, V. S. Kiselev; Lenzagotplodoovoschtorg (Leningrad, 1943).

Preparation of new materials will continue.