Day of complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade (1944, January 27)

More than 70 years have passed since the moment whenSoviet troops succeeded in finally lifting the blockade of Leningrad, which lasted for almost 900 long and terrible days and nights. Fascist troops surrounded this second most important city in the USSR in September 1941. But, despite numerous fierce battles, constant artillery bombardments and bombings, the most important cultural, industrial and political center of the Soviet state managed to withstand an incredible onslaught of the enemy.

After that, the German command decided to takeThe northern capital is in a ring. And no matter how hard it was for the residents of the city and the soldiers of the Red Army, they nevertheless, by the cost of inhuman efforts, brought closer, as they could, this day of complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade. Unfortunately, not everyone lived to see this significant date.

The First Siege of Winter

It must immediately be said that in the siege of LeningradNot only the German troops took part. To this, the Finnish army, the Italian Navy, the Spanish "Blue Division", and volunteers from many European countries have also put their hand. The city was almost completely cut off from the rest of the country. During the siege the main road, supplying its inhabitants with food in the cold season, was the Road of Life. So called the way that ran along the ice of Lake Ladoga. The townspeople endured incredible privations, and this continued until the day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade came.

But the ice road could not fully coverall the needs of such a large city. As a result, Leningrad lost, according to various estimates, from several hundred thousand to one and a half million of its inhabitants. The vast majority of people died from hunger and hypothermia caused by an acute shortage of food and fuel. The first siege winter of 1941-1942 turned out to be the most severe, therefore the main losses occurred precisely at this time. Subsequently, the supply has improved slightly, and even the townspeople managed to organize subsidiary farms, after which the number of deaths decreased significantly.

Documentary confirmation

Unfortunately, many residents of the city did not waitthe time when the day came to complete the lifting of the siege of Leningrad. This WWII page is one of the most terrible and heroic in the history of the country. It is enough only to remember the tragic records in the schoolgirl's diary by Tanya Savicheva. There are only nine pages in it, six of which are devoted to the death of her relatives - her brother, sister, mother, grandmother and two uncles.

Indeed, almost all members of this family diedin the first blockade winter, from December 1941 to May 1942. The very same girl was rescued and evacuated to the Greater Land. But since Tanya's health was thoroughly undermined by many months of malnutrition, she died two years later. She turned 14 then.

Finally came the day of the complete lifting of the blockadeLeningrad. As it turned out later, Tanya was still mistaken. Her older sister and brother survived, and thanks to them, the whole world recognized her diary. These records became one of the symbols of that terrible blockade. At the Nuremberg trial, Tanin's diary was presented as evidence of an inhuman and brutal fascist regime.

Road of Victory

In January 1943, the Red Army, having madeincredible efforts and putting on the battlefield a large number of their soldiers, conducted an operation code-named "Iskra." During it the troops of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts managed to breach the German defense. As a result, a narrow corridor was built along Lake Ladoga. On it, the land connection of the blockaded city with the Big Land was restored.

On this site in a short time pavedmotorway and railway line, which were named "Dear Victory". After that, the country was able to arrange the supply of food and fuel to the city, as well as evacuate the majority of the civilian population, especially women and children. But this did not end the blockade of Leningrad. The day of liberation of the city will come only in a year.

The turning point

In 1943 the Red Army held a number ofimportant strategic operations. These include the Battle of Stalingrad, the battle on the Orel-Kursk Bulge, the Donbass and the Dnieper. As a result, by the year 1944, a very favorable situation developed, which largely brought the day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade. On January 27 this will happen, and until then the fascist troops were still a serious threat. The Wehrmacht did not lose its fighting capacity, as evidenced by the military operations conducted by him. Under his control, there were still significant parts of the territory of the USSR.

By that time, the second front in Western Europe stilldid not open, and this was in the hands of fascist Germany, since it allowed Hitler to concentrate all his fighting power in the east. The same military actions that were conducted in Italy had no serious consequences and had virtually no effect on the Wehrmacht. Therefore, the day of complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade was constantly postponed.

Plans for the liberation of the city

At the very end of 1943, the Stavka decidedDevelop a whole series of strikes against enemy troops. The offensive was planned from Leningrad to the Black Sea, with special attention paid to the flanks of the Soviet-German front.

First of all, it was necessary to break up the grouparmies "North", to unblock the city of Leningrad and to liberate the Baltic states. In the southern direction, it was required to clear not only the Crimea but also the Right-bank Ukraine from the fascist troops, and then to reach the border of the Soviet Union.

The day of the complete liberation of the city of Leningrad from the blockade brought, as best they could, the soldiers of the 2nd Baltic, Volkhov and Leningrad fronts, as well as the soldiers of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet.

Fights for the Northern Capital

The offensive began on 14 January. From the Oranienbaum bridgehead attacked the 2nd shock, and the next day - and the 42nd Army of the Leningrad Front. Immediately, Volkhovsky joined them. I must say that the enemy troops had a well-organized line of defense, and at the same time they offered stubborn resistance. Also at the speed of the offensive, the Red Army was affected by a marshy woodland. In addition, the unexpected January thaw prevented the maneuvering of armored vehicles.

Five days after the offensive beganSoviet troops managed to liberate Krasnoe Selo and Ropsha. By this time, the Peterhof-Strelninskaya fascist grouping was partially surrounded and destroyed, and its remains - were thrown from the blockaded city by 25 km. Under the same threat was the Mginsky compound, but the Germans withdrew their troops in time. The day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade (1944) was rapidly approaching. Meanwhile, the Red Army drove invaders from other cities.

Liberation of Novgorod

It happened on the 20th of January. It should be noted that before the war Novgorod was a fairly large cultural, scientific and industrial center. It is hard to imagine, but in one of the most ancient Russian cities, no more than 40 buildings survived. They did not spare the fascists and the greatest monuments of Old Russian painting and architecture. The temples of Peter and Paul were completely destroyed in Kozhevniki and Savior on Ilin. From them there were only burned skeletons of walls. The St. Nicholas and St. Sophia cathedrals were partially destroyed and looted. The Novgorod Kremlin has also suffered greatly.

It seems that the reason for such grandiosedestruction in the city could become a plan for the German military and political leadership. It said that the Novgorod lands were to be settled by East Prussian colonists, so they tried to destroy all the evidence of the historical and cultural presence of the Russian people. Even the monument, timed to the millennium of Russia, was dismantled. The Germans were going to set it on remelting.

Guerrilla movement

Ten days after the liberation of NovgorodSlutsk, Pushkin and Krasnogvardeisk managed to repel the Germans from the Germans, leaving at the line in the lower reaches of the Luga River. There they occupied several bridgeheads. At the same time, the Soviet partisan detachments that were active in those parts became more active. To combat them, the German command threw one battalion from each of the available field divisions, as well as separate guard divisions. In response, the Central Partisan Headquarters inflicted a series of attacks on the rear of the fascist troops.

Liberation of the Northern Capital

Finally, came the long-awaited day of removalthe blockade of the city of Leningrad (1944). On January 27, the text of the order to the soldiers of the Leningrad Front was read by local radio. It reported that the blockade was completely removed. After that, tens of thousands of miraculously surviving residents and his defenders hurried to the streets of the city.

Exactly at 20:00 was produced 24 volleys of 324 guns, which were accompanied by fireworks, as well as illumination from antiaircraft searchlights. In Moscow, too, there were solemn artillery salutes and fireworks. It is interesting that for the city on the Neva made the only exception during the entire war. The remaining salutes were only launched in Moscow.

Further offensive

Despite the fact that the day of complete liberationLeningrad from the fascist blockade, finally, the Red Army continued to attack the retreating German units on the Luga, Narva and Gdov tracks. The Germans responded with desperate counterattacks. Sometimes they managed to take in the environment some parts of the Red Army. On February 4, Soviet troops liberated Gdov, as a result of which they reached Lake Peipsi. On February 15, they managed to break through the Luga defensive line.

As a result of our operations, our troopsThey destroyed the long-term fascist defense and threw the invaders into the Baltics. The heaviest fighting lasted until March, but still the Red Army failed to free Narva. The Volkhov Front was disbanded, and its troops were transferred: one part - to Leningrad, and the other - to the second Baltic.

With the onset of spring 1944, Soviet unitscame to the well-fortified German line "Panther". But for almost two months of continuous and fierce fighting the Red Army suffered huge losses in technology and in manpower. And this is in conditions of a catastrophic shortage of ammunition! Therefore, the Stavka decided to transfer troops to the defensive regime.

Day of Remembrance

In 1995, the Federal Law was passed inaccording to which 27 January is celebrated - the Day of Military Glory of Russia (the Day of the lifting of the siege of the city of Leningrad). In 2013, the President signed a new document on this date. It was made some changes concerning the new name: The Day of Military Glory was renamed the Day of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the fascist blockade.

January 27 is a symbol of courage, incredibledeprivation, self-sacrifice and heroism of both Soviet soldiers and ordinary residents of the city. Hundreds of thousands of people who fought for Leningrad were awarded various government awards. 486 people began to wear the highest title of Hero of the USSR, eight of them - twice.

War myths

Despite the fact that since thesetragic events, more than 70 years have passed, the topic of the blockade of the Northern capital remains as hotly debated. Some political scientists and historians have suggested that if the totalitarian regime of Stalin allowed the German and Finnish troops to surrender the city, they would have avoided such unjustified victims by civilians, and on January 27, the day of the complete liberation of Leningrad, would not have become so sad in the history of the country.

In saying this, people forget that the Northern Capitalwas the most important strategic military object. Its collapse would surely cause irreparable consequences, possibly affecting the outcome of the war. The fact is that Leningrad held around itself considerable enemy forces, which was the Army Group North. Capturing the city, these German troops could be deployed to storm Moscow or conquer the Caucasus. In addition, in this situation it was necessary to take into account the moral factor, since the loss of Leningrad could greatly undermine the morale not only of the Soviet people, but also of the Red Army as a whole.

Plans for Germany and its allies

Hitler's leadership did not just countto seize the largest military-political and industrial center of the Soviet Union, which was the city on the Neva. It planned to completely destroy Leningrad. And the proof of this is the diary entry made by the Chief of Staff of the German Land Forces, Franz Halder. It said that Hitler made an unequivocal decision regarding Moscow and Leningrad, which was the need to "level them with the land." The Germans were not going to feed and feed these cities with a huge population.

In addition, Finland claimed the wholeLeningrad region, and Hitler promised to give it as soon as it devastates this territory. They also believed that the occupation of a city with a huge population was unprofitable for them, since they did not have such large stocks of food. This suggests the conclusion that the “civilized Europeans”, with whom the Germans and the Finns were considered, offered to completely destroy the Soviet city and condemn its inhabitants to starvation.

Whatever it was, but the great victory waswas conquered, and such a holiday as the Day of Lifting the Siege of the City of Leningrad (1944, January 27) exists, and people remember the victims that the country suffered as a result of the attack by the German fascist invaders and their allies.