Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad presented in the Presidential Library’s materials

January 12, 1943 "Iskra" “blinded” fascists. This was the name of one of the most famous operations of the Red Army and the Navy during the Great Patriotic War breaking the Siege of Leningrad. On this day, the Soviet fighters struck the first crushing blow to the occupier’s steel ring. The complete series of the events of almost 900 terrible days of the siege of the city on the Neva is presented in a special digital collection of the Presidential Library "Defence and Siege of Leningrad".  

Operation “Iskra” had been prepared for a month. Its plan was to break through the so-called bottle throat - Shlisselburg-Sinyavinskiy ledge on the southern shore of Lake Ladoga. This small icy site became the main hope of Leningrad. It separated the city from the "mainland", and that is why it was vigilantly guarded by the elite units of the German army: more than 50 thousand soldiers, 450 guns, 250 mortars and 50 tanks. Among them - the latest "Tigers", recognized in the world at that time invincible. The only chance to break the siege is a counter-blow from two fronts: the Leningradsky from the west and the Volkhovsky from the east. The offensive of our army should have been supported by ships, coastal artillery and aviation of the Baltic Fleet and the Ladoga flotilla.    

All this resulted in a chain of bloody battles. Especially sharp moments of the heroic confrontation is available on newsreel footage on the Presidential Library’s portal.

D. V. Pavlov, who during the war was authorized by the State Defense Committee for the food supply of the troops of the Leningrad front and the population of Leningrad detail in his memoirs on this deadly battle for freedom. Here is a fragment from his book “Leningrad in the Siege” (1985): “The German fascist units, relying on a powerful defensive belt 14–15 kilometers deep, a dense network of trenches with a lot of firing points, had a strong resistance. After seven days of extremely heavy fighting, the enemy was thrown 10 kilometers from the southern coast of Ladoga. Artillery played a very important role in breaking through the enemy defense. For the period from January 12 to January 18, only the artillery of the 2nd Shock Army fired about 639 thousand shells and mines at the enemy. The sixteen-month siege of Leningrad by the efforts of the Soviet soldiers on January 18, 1943 was broken. With joyful beating hearts, Leningrad residents took this blessed message”.

A corridor along the shore of Lake Ladoga was built. N. Yu. Shpirina’s abstract in “Defensive and offensive operations of the Soviet troops on the external front of the siege of Leningrad in 1941–1942” notes that Operation “Iskra” was a serious step towards complete victory over the Nazis, highlighted a new vector in the war: “In winter 1942/1943 there was a radical change both on the entire Soviet-German front, and in the battle for Leningrad. It was from 1943 that the balance of forces was changing in the Leningrad direction, and the overall strategic initiative passes into the hands of the Soviet troops, who, since January 1943, have been conducting only offensive operations.

After breaking through the blockade ring in an unprecedentedly short timeframe, a motorway and a railway were built on the site won back from the enemy, which literally brought life back to the city on the Neva. Here is what D. V. Pavlov writes in the above-mentioned book “Leningrad in the Siege”: “For 18 days a 33-km-long road was built and a temporary railway bridge was built across the Neva. As soon as the direct railway connection with the country was established, the supply of the city improved. They brought coal, the industry received electricity, frozen factories, factories came to life”.

The author emphasizes the incredible, unprecedented resilience of the residents of Leningrad, who not only sought to survive, but also daily inspired our army for feats: “The Leningrad residents sent letters to the front, letters with small but necessary things (for example, mittens, scarf, tobacco pouch, etc.). Who sent the parcel, whose hands knitted a scarf or embroidered pouch? Of course, a woman, but who is she? No matter who she is, she is sweet and dear to the heart of a soldier. Gifts, letters warmed the souls of the fighters, lifted their spirits ... Although there was no firewood or coal, and the winter was fierce, gunfire was fired day and night, fires burned, tormented by acute hunger - Leningrad residents suffered everything. People found in themselves such a force that can overcome the most terrible ordeals - this is love for the Motherland”.

Operation “Iskra” was only the beginning - the blockade was completely lifted on January 27, 1944. But “Iskra” has even more lit the fire of the future Victory. The valor of the Red Army and Navy in the battles for the liberation of the Northern capital is perpetuated in a multitude of studies, films, photographs and monuments. One of the most impressive is the diorama of the museum “Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad”, which is located near the Kirovsk in the Leningrad Region. The Presidential Library also contains hundreds of photographs of the city’s defenders themselves - for example, a photograph of the Baltic Fleet’s Marine Marine Corps detachment (1942), which is being prepared for a combat mission, or a 1943 postcard image of partisans working behind enemy lines.

In November 2018, a large-scale project started in the Presidential Library dedicated to preserving the historical memory of the Siege of Leningrad. More than 150 people have already responded to the call of the organization to share testimonies about that time. With the participation of the Presidential Library in St. Petersburg, the Unified City Information Center emerged, which coordinates the work of the media, public organizations and cultural institutions covering events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade.  

In addition, in the framework of the “Siege Diary” - a weekly program on the channel “St. Petersburg” - Alexey Voronovich, a senior researcher at the Presidential Library, tells unknown details about the life of the city on the Neva from 1941 to 1944. For example, about the special role of poetry in the besieged city or how from the first months of the blockade, the morale of Leningrad residents was sought to support people throughout the country and abroad.

The Presidential Library’s portal provides access to a virtual tour of the exhibition halls of the temporarily closed State Museum of Defence and Siege of Leningrad and get familiar with the electronic collection “Defence and Siege of Leningrad”, which includes official documents, periodicals, memories of Leningrad residents, food cards, photo and newsreels.