Marking the 80th anniversary of the breaking of the siege of Leningrad: Exhibition “Fighting Leningrad” opened

On January 18, 2023, the exhibition Fighting Leningrad marking the 80th anniversary of the breaking of the siege of Leningrad opened at the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps.

To mark the anniversary, the museum has prepared an exhibition that shows what weapons were in the hands of the defenders of Leningrad. Of particular interest are the pieces made directly in besieged Leningrad. Even such enterprises as the Skorokhod Factory or the Nevsky Soap Factory were involved in the production of weapons or its individual elements. One of the displays showcases booby traps disguised as a cobblestone, a fragment of a brick, or Krylov’s Fables candies. They became new products of Leningrad perfumery and confectionery factories converted for military needs.

The creators of the exhibition could not ignore one very important for the museum topic – the role of its workers in the defence of the city. Therefore, the exhibits include combat units which the Museum of Artillery supplied from its collections to militia divisions and paramilitary organizations. These were all types of weapons suitable for use – weapons from the period of World War I, trophies of the Civil War and Soviet-Finnish War, etc.

Visitors will also have an opportunity to see samples of war trophies, captured by the Leningrad Front troops during Operation Iskra – German, Japanese, Finnish, American, Belgian, Italian, Austrian and Swiss rifles, pistols, submachine guns, etc. Many of them are exhibited for the first time.

The exposition is also complemented by rare photographs, archival documents, posters of the wartime, objects of painting and graphics.