Presidential Library preserves the memory of Besieged Leningrad

On September 8, 1941, the Siege of Leningrad began, lasting for 872 days. It is one of the most tragic and heroic chapters in the history of the Great Patriotic War and Russia, as well as humanity as a whole.

Fewer and fewer eyewitnesses remain, but diaries, memoirs, and letters help keep the memory alive.

Recently, the Presidential Library, in collaboration with the newspaper "Petersburgsky Dnevnik" and Radio "Rossiya", launched a project to gather historical materials - documents from the personal archives of those who lived through the siege. Over 200 people participated, donating more than 4,000 documents to the Library's collection. These include siege diaries, letters, memories, personal records related to work, studies, military service, evacuations, and urban life during the siege; ration cards, work books, school diaries, receipts for money transfers, death notices, evacuation certificates; as well as photos and drawings.

As a result of the digitization of materials, approximately 22,000 scans were obtained. Many of the transferred documents had been kept exclusively within families for many years and were made available for the first time during this project. Now, the unique eyewitness accounts from the siege days are part of the electronic collection at the Presidential Library, and are accessible to users from all over the world.

These siege diaries contain more than simply important details about life in the besieged city and significant events. The authors convey their thoughts, experiences, and, most importantly, their feelings."We stayed in Leningrad. I don't know whether I'll still be alive, but if my heart can survive, let's just say goodbye. My happiness, you weren't with me for a long time, but you brought me many happy moments." These lines by Yuri Khazanov were dedicated to his wife and daughter. Before the war, he had a heart condition that prevented him from joining the army. During the siege of the city, he described his life and the daily struggles of living in Leningrad.

His last entries date back to the beginning of February 1942: "I want to live. I'm only 27 years old and I have the right to live. Yes, there must be a turning point. Eight months of torment has been too much for my strength and health."

Yuri Khazanov was evacuated from the city, but exhausted and sick, he died on the way to Nizhny Novgorod. His daughter donated his diary to the Presidential Library.

The two heavy school notebooks contain the entries of Igor Malakhov, who was 16 or 17 at the time. In neat school handwriting, he writes about the difficult days of the siege. Realizing he was living in historic times, Igor recorded news from the front and eagerly listened to reports on the Battle of Moscow in the autumn of 1941. Reading his diary, it's easy to see that a young man wrote it, as despite malnutrition and sickness, he talks enthusiastically about his trips to the cinema and theatre, discussing performances and films.

The Presidential Library continues to receive documents and materials from private archives of residents of the besieged city and their families. This year, the library digitized 600 storage items from the personal archives of the Morozov family. Sisters Irina and Lyudmila, along with their mother, Agrippina Ivanovna, lived on Chekhov Street in Leningrad. The girls maintained a large correspondence that was not interrupted during the years of the siege. All these materials are now available in the library collection.

The materials presented in the Defence and Siege of Leningrad digital collection allow you to learn about the tragic events of the siege and the liberation of the city on the Neva River. The collection includes digital copies of official documents, newspapers, and memoirs and diaries from residents of the city as well as grocery cards and photo and news reels.