[31], The Soviets built new ice roads for the winter of 1942-1943. [14] As the ice melted in the spring, the ice road melted, and was replaced with a flotilla system that continued to ferry goods across the massive lake.[36]. Leningrad, now restored to its earlier name of St. Petersburg, suffered a uniquely horrific fate in the years between 1941 and 1944. The menu in Leningrad during this period of the war included wallpaper, window putty and soup made of boiled leather. The first ones to return loaded with goods were welcomed with cheers as well as tears. The ice road that saved Leningrad - by Martin Cherrett 1803: *Thomas Jefferson-Aaron Burr After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, German armies had by early September approached Leningrad from the west and south . 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. A week later, they captured the town of Shlisselburg and cut off the last open roadway. The Soviet command in Leningrad immediately sent reinforcements to the island, but they were not needed in the end - the air force had solved the problem. Evacuation of people from besieged Leningrad by trucks along the "Road of Life". [1] But, many horses with urgently needed food returned to the city. 1913: Woodrow Wilson-Thomas R. Marshall Leningrad: The Road of Life (2014) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. When the roads opened for the winter of 1941-1942, Leningrad Front deployed an elaborate organization onto the ice to manage and support traffic, which included road guides, communications points, road service commandant posts, medical and rescue service points, feeding points, and combat security posts. Menu. The film was directed by Aleksey Kozlov,[2][3] who co-wrote the screenplay and produced by Arkady Fateev. The road was opened at a time when food rations in the city were lowered to the meagre 250 grams of bread per day for workers and 125 grams for everyone else, and thousands of people began to die of starvation. Then there were no birds anymore. Click here to find out more. Temperatures frequently dropped far below zero degrees, freezing the lake and turning it into an escape and supply route. The Road of Life - Wikipedia The victory was heralded with a 24-salvo salute from the citys guns, and civilians broke into spontaneous celebrations in the streets. In defiance of the Germans, the concert was broadcast over loudspeakers pointed toward the enemy lines. Soldiers of Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts greeting each other after breaking the blockade. While the center and southern elements struck at Moscow and Ukraine, the Wehrmachts Army Group North sped through Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and moved on Leningrad, a city of over 3 million situated on the Neva River near the Baltic Sea. One Leningrad scientist noted: "At 5C [23F], 4 inches [10cm] of ice would form in 64 hours; at 10C (14F), 4 inches would form in 34 hours, at 15C [5F], 4 inches in 23 hours. 1979-present: IranSaudi proxy conflict The "Kobona" ("") plaque in the hamlet of Kobona, dedicated to the Road of Life (1964, architects M. N. Meisel'. 1896-1954: Jim Crow era For many of them it was a one-way journey. It was known by the residents of Leningrad as the "Road of Life". The Soviets hoped that the recapture of Tikhvin on 8 December and the reopening of the railroad would permit the Red Army to break the encirclement in the short-term;[23] this may have led to traffic on the road stopping on 8 December and operations being formally suspended on 12 December. [22] By February 1942, large snow banks on either side of the route had been made into massive ice walls, which shielded transport from the lake's harsh winds. 1946-1991: Indochina Wars They were the only Soviet winter surface routes into the city while it was besieged by the German Army Group North under Feldmarschall Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. Food was brought into the city across the ice and more than one million people were able escape. 1978present: Afghanistan conflict (23.04.2015). The city would experience one of the longest and most destructive sieges in history. [28], Soviet forces defended the ice roads, connecting land routes, and other road-related infrastructure.[26][28]. By September 8, a water route via nearby Lake Ladoga stood as Leningrads only reliable connection to the outside world. 101 - a horse-drawn vehicle with supplies headed toward Leningrad. The Soviets continued to use the Road of Life in the following winters. But, in the first two weeks alone, 157 trucks broke through the ice and sank. The Soviets had already made several failed attempts to break through the blockadeusually with little progress and crippling casualtiesbut in January 1943, the Red Army succeeded in prizing a small land bridge from the Nazis. There was only one opening out of the encircled city, which was across the frozen Lake Ladoga. As the famine intensified, one 12-year-old Leningrader named Tanya Savicheva recorded the dates of the deaths of all her family members in a journal. The "Voibokalo" ("") plaque at the Voibokalo railway station, commemorating the Road of Life (1975, architect S. S. Natonin). From the summer of 1941, there were already supply problems for the Wehrmacht. Few were saved. Siege of Leningrad | Soviet history | Britannica Road of Life - Wikipedia Road of Life tour - Dark Tourism - the guide to dark travel Later, settling weather and high snow walls flanking the roads made control easier, allowing the interval between posts to increase to 1-2 km. They had to fight against hunger, cold and the danger of falling asleep at the wheel. Kosygin requested support to evacuate 500,000 civilians on 21 January. On June 22, 1941, in defiance of a nonaggression pact signed two years earlier, some 3 million German soldiers streamed across the Soviet frontier and commenced a three-pronged attack. Among the evacuees is NKVD investigator Vadim Petruchik, who led the case against Nastya's father. On 19 November, the Leningrad Front ordered the construction of the 101st BAD (voenno-avtomobil'naia doroga, or military vehicular road) ice road across the lake from Kobona to Vaganova via Shlisselburg Bay, spanning 27-32 km. The road which led to the lake during the siege was hilly and twisting and was often shelled by Nazi artillery. [33][34] The new railroad drew heavy German artillery fire and required frequent repairs. Updated: August 29, 2018 | Original: September 8, 2016. 1983: SovietAfghan War | Lebanon War More than one million people died. Thousands of similar tragedies played out in Leningrad during what became known as the Hungry Winter, and yet the city still held out against the Nazi siege. People brought out vodka, Leningrader Olga Grechina wrote. "Road of life" through Lake Ladoga: historical facts - Quanyin The car had to be driven with great care. [33], The Soviets also started construction of a railroad over the ice. [20][25] Large scale civilian evacuation - mainly of those unable to work, such as women, children and the infirm[26] - only began in late-January 1942 with the large allocation of resources and vehicles by the GKO; 554,186 civilians were evacuated from 22 January to 15 April. 1893: Grover Cleveland-Adlai Stevenson I It was Adolf Hitler, who had originally wanted to capture the city and raze it to the ground, who ordered the troops to stop. The Luftwaffe, Germanys air force, also conducted regular bombing runs over the city. 15 km of track on the western edge of the lake was complete by mid-January. [3], On 8 September 1941, Army Group North captured Shlisselburg on the shores of Lake Ladoga, east of Leningrad, and took control of all land routes to Leningrad. By November, food shortages had seen civilian rations cut to just 250 grams of bread a day for workers. [28] The ice roads were declared out of service on 21 April. The study of ice condition along the projected routes began on November 12. Helen Dovgiallo. The Road of Life - Wikimapia The poor feeder forest roads from Zaborye - the closest railhead before the recapture of Tikhvin - exacted their own toll in abandoned and unserviceable vehicles. Construction and operation were performed under German artillery and aerial bombardment. 2003: War on terror: Afghanistan Iraq But it was commonly just called the Street of Life. It was serviced by around 4,000 vehicles as well as horse-drawn transport. This website uses cookies. 1776-1924: American Indian Wars A key factor in the survival of Leningrad during its 900 day siege was the "Road of Life" built across a frozen Lake Ladoga during the winter months of 1941, 1942, and 1943, and lasting nearly half a year. We prepared road signs, landmarks, portable shields and bridges, in case of cracks on ice. The idea of an ice road had been discussed in Leningrad since September 1941. The numbers vary between 1,000 and 2,000 cases. The Road of Life ( Spanish: El camino de la vida) is a 1956 Mexican drama film directed by Alfonso Corona Blake. Cargo transportation by water With the melting of ice, the road through Lake Ladoga did not cease to exist. Karl K. Koch - Leningrad - The Road of Life Adam Aljovich 310 subscribers 259 views 9 years ago Music video telling us the story of the famous "Road of Life". Luckily, in the winter of 1941-1942 the ice averaged three-to-five feet thick. Theft and murder for ration cards became a constant threat, and the authorities eventually arrested over 2,000 people for cannibalism. Launched in 2008, World at War magazine brings the S&T style to a focus on World War II. Late 1960s-1998: The Troubles It stars Maria Melnikova as Nastya Tkachyova, Andrey Mironov-Udalov as cadet Kostya Gorelov, as well as Gela Meskhi, Anastasiya Melnikova in their debut cinematic roles. The Road of Life ( , doroga zhizni) was the set of ice road transport routes across Lake Ladoga to Leningrad during the Second World War. On November 22, 60 vehicles drove across the ice towards Kobona. In addition, a telephone and telegraph cable was laid for communication with Moscow and a high voltage power cable which delivered electric power to Leningrad from the Volkhov hydro power plant. Movies. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. [4], Saving Leningrad was released in the Russian Federation by Universal Pictures International on January 27, 2019,[5] on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the lifting of the blockade in Saint Petersburg (Then, Leningrad). In this battle, the fascist military flotilla on the Ladoga Lake was completely defeated and from that time on, enemy ships did not cause us any troubles.. The commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the blockade was held two years ago at the German Parliament. It was built in 1966 by workers of the Kalininsky district of Leningrad to the east of the village of Vaganovo at the Vaganovsky slope where the land stretch of "The Road of Life" was begun. Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox. No appeals were allowed. Cutting the railroad precipitated the fall of Leningrad. This page was last edited on 13 December 2022, at 16:48. At the site of the tragedy, the first to come are not rescuers, but enemy aircraft.[10]. The Ladoga route became known as the Road of Life, but Leningrad still remained woefully undersupplied. A fourth-generation combat Veteran, Kyle retired from the United States Army in 2010. 1863: American Civil War [22][16][26] When the ice roads melted, reserves - rebuilt from mid-January - were sufficient to last until ship traffic on the lake resumed. Among those who survived were 184 people (160 who were brought to the Oryol and 24 to the Selemzha), which belonged to the Naval Medical Academy and the Navy's Hydrographic Administration, and another 56 civilians.[8][9]. In November 1941, the Soviets were able to transport 1,500 tons of food into the city. In addition, a whole class of cadets of the Leningrad Military School of Engineering and the students of the vocational school, along with officers, women and all the children and technical and artillery personnel who were with them, perished. 1863: Abraham Lincoln-Hannibal Hamlin During the second winter of the siege, thousands were evacuated across the ice road. Look for more information regarding the siege of Leningrad in the upcomingWorld at War issue #49with the article Starvation Winter and join the conversation onFacebook! The siege actually lasted 872 days. 2014 13+. The bread was made of a mixture unthinkable today and contained bark, bran, pomace, pine needles and a bit of flour. Eventually, trucks with food also began to drive across the ice road. survive, thus it was coined "the road of life." Still, though, people were not nearly getting enough food and had to resort to desperate . But in reality the Road of Life had many components: an air bridge with the mainland, the Ladoga military flotilla which was protecting the communications, and the Northwestern river shipping company which carried cargoes during the navigation period when the lake was not covered with ice. While the loss of life was tremendous, the people of Leningrad persevered. His mother laid the body inside the double-glazed window and sliced off a piece of him every day to feed her second child, a daughter. On August 30, 1941, the German army entered the Neva , cutting off all railways to Leningrad. In this case, the same skated ice boats, who carefully inspected the route, often helped out. Historians describe the fate of Leningrad as the largest unprecedented demographic disaster in a city. [21], Personnel and goods were evacuated from the pocket over the roads. But there wasn't enough space on the trains to bring all the people to the lake. The name the Road of Life given by Leningrad residents to the ice road across Lake Ladoga is not a poetic symbol. (ru). Without wasting time on the Road of Life, or as it was officially called - the Military Road No. One of the Longest Sieges of WWII: The Destruction of Leningrad At the same time, 460 people were killed in a barge towed by the gunship, "Selemdzha", which was carrying fuel and military supplies to Leningrad. While Leningrads civilians made a frantic attempt to construct trenches and antitank fortifications in the late summer of 1941, the Soviets unprepared Red Army and volunteer forces were defeated in one engagement after another. [20], Traffic resumed by late-December. How did the supplies shipped in winter over the "Road of Life" to This angered the German soldiers. More than 300 traffic controllers, mostly women, stood along the Road of Life, dressed all in white with flags and flashlights. Ladoga: Saving the Road of Life, A World War II Story Leningrad: The Road of Life (2014) - Quotes - IMDb The Ladoga ice road was operational also in the winter of 1942-1943, when it was used not only to deliver supplies to the city but also to prepare the assault of the Red Army to break through the siege. The ice became thinner, sagged more noticeably and the first cracks appeared. However, even to sustain those rations the city needed at least 1,000 tonnes of food per day. Nearly 1.5 million people were able to escape across Lake Ladoga and more than 1.5 million tons of food were delivered to the residents of Leningrad over the ice road . A. Horse-drawn sleighs were the first vehicles on the ice road. For the Germans, the Road of Life was like a bone in the throat. The Siege of Leningrad The Siege of Leningrad On September 8, 1941, German forces closed in around the Soviet city of Leningrad, initiating a siege that would last nearly 900 days and claim. It was built on the project of the architect V.G. The only way that connected Leningrad with the mainland now was along Lake Ladoga. They were the only Soviet winter surface routes into the city while it was besieged by the German Army Group North under Feldmarschall Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb. The created "Road of Life" (Leningrad) passed near the front line, it demanded protection, which was provided by military units. They said that almost the entire way they stepped on vehicles roofs. She and her husband were veterans of the Great Patriotic War, and back in 1996 we all sat about the table on Victory Day and talked about the siege. 1943: World War II: Europe Atlantic Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East In January 1943 the Soviet's Operation Iskra broke the encirclement, and the ice roads were used in conjunction with land routes for the remainder of the winter.[1][2]. [24] Throughput was increased by running more convoys per road per day, which placed great pressure on drivers. Each of the one-and-a-half-tonne trucks carried only five to six sacks of flour for fear that the ice would not support any more weight. The Siege of Leningrad | HISTORY On June . The name the Road of Life given by Leningrad residents to the ice road across Lake Ladoga is not a poetic symbol. Menu. TV Shows. Lake Ladoga is a large freshwater lake that borders the eastern part of the Karelian Isthmus. Similar work was being done on the eastern shore of the lake. 1953: Dwight D. Eisenhower-Richard Nixon .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}5956N 3020E / 59.933N 30.333E / 59.933; 30.333, Last edited on 13 December 2022, at 16:48, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Road_of_Life&oldid=1127237091. [14] A team of engineers was quickly assembled to ensure that the proposed 48km (30mi) route would be structurally sound. Despite an increase in shelling and bombing from the Germans, the once-starving city sprang back to life. 1963: Civil rights | Space Race | Vietnam War The siege lasted from September 8, 1941, until January 27, 1944. Two halves of a white semi-circular arch represent the breaking of the encirclement of Leningrad. In spring of 1942, when navigation was restored, the Ladoga war flotilla appeared on the lake again. Already in November, teams of hydrographers and scouts began going out onto the still thin ice (10 cm) to determine the contours of the future route, which soon became known as the Road of Life. [18], On the day of the first truck convoy, Leningrad officials asked the State Defense Committee (GKO) to support the road. The Road of Life is commemorated by seven monuments and 46 memorial poles along the road, and 56 memorial poles along the railway; all are part of the Green Belt of Glory ( ). 1947-present: Indo-Pakistani conflict Ryabovskoe Highway, also called as "The Road Of Life" for being the only unblocked road which is connected besieged Leningrad through Lake Ladoga with the rest of Russia. Together with "Selemzha", The boat "Oryol" helped to tow the barge and together they managed to save 240 people, 216 and 24 people respectively. History It was the deadliest blockade in human history. Road of Life. The Road of Life (Russian: , doroga zhizni) was the transport route across the frozen Lake Ladoga, which provided the only access to the besieged city of Leningrad in the winter months during the Great Patriotic War. On 1 May 1945 Stalin named Leningrad (along with Stalingrad, Sevastopol, and Odessa) one of the hero cities of the war. Only Tanya is left.. 1776-1865: Slavery in the United States, 2013: Barack Obama-Joe Biden In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. The search for enemy saboteurs was carried out by skated ice boats and yachts with gunners on board. More than three hundred cars went under the ice during this time and the number of soldiers, sailors, personnel of security and civilian services who gave their lives to keep the Road of Life alive and functioning cannot be accurately counted. In August 1942, Leningrad even played host to a performance of composer Dmitri Shostakovichs seventh symphony, which had been written during the early days of the siege. The Road of Life | World at War It was only possible to support the army by letting the people starve. Menu. Mass starvation had already begun by October 1941. It is winter of 1941 in the besieged city of Leningrad. [26] That month the Germans intensified their air attacks on the ice road, including round-the-clock attacks on some days. The resulting ice-holes, covered by a crust of ice and just a little covered with snow, were almost invisible and therefore deadly for drivers, especially at night, when the main traffic was flowing. [22] Soviet strategy also interfered. But, even during the pure struggle for survival, the people of Leningrad showed great fortitude. Some of the Kirov Plants facilities and specialists were not evacuated to the Urals and continued to produce KV heavy tanks literally near the front lines. The soldiers strapped themselves with ropes. 1933: Franklin D. Roosevelt-John N. Garner In fact during the 872 days of blockade died more Leningrad citizens than British and Americans together during all WW II. Celebrating the importance of the Road of Life, the United Nations made it a World Heritage Site in 1990. 1973: Watergate | Vietnam | Space Race During the evacuation of people from Leningrad, the barge was bombed by Nazi warplanes and went to the bottom, killing more than 1,000 people. Wagner Group Russia's war in Ukraine Heat and drought Leningrad: The city that refused to starve Volker Wagener / cl 09/08/2016 It was Leningrad, not Stalingrad that was the Eastern Front's. Legendary road: 80 years ago, Soviet soldiers and civilians built the But on these days the way was than dangerous so the true appellative was Death Route and nobody named it as Road of Life. 1873: Ulysses S. Grant-Henry Wilson Piping was sourced from the Izhorsk factory in the city. It was done out of pure desperation, in order to survive and not go crazy. How do the supplies shipped over the road compared with a "normal" volume of supplies delivered by ship during the summer months? Leningrad: The Road of Life (2014) - IMDb The numbers increased dramatically in the following months, with over 253,000 tons of food being transported over the ice road. On November 22, 1941, the first lorries carrying foodstuffs drove to Leningrad across the ice of Lake Ladoga. The Leningrad "Road of Life" is the only road which is during 900 days of the siege of Leningrad (1941-1944) used to connect the city with so called "Big Land" (the rest of USSR free of. All Rights Reserved. Cannibalism was not uncommon during the almost-900-day siege. Officials had been dangerously negligent in stockpiling food, so the Soviets had to bring in fresh supplies across Lake Ladoga, which offered the only open route into the city. This article appears in: October 2013 By Bob Kunzinger Georgina's mother sat next to me at her dining room table. [35], Measuring 219km (136mi) in length and 138km (86mi) wide, Lake Ladoga (or Lake Nevo as it was called in ancient times) is one of Europes largest lakes. The number of vehicles that could be assembled from Leningrad was limited. On September 8, 1941, troops of the Army Group North captured the city of Shlisselburg on the shore of Lake Ladoga, thereby closing the ring of the blockade on land around the second largest city of the Soviet Union. The British historian Anna Reid said that for many years the level of suffering of the population was suppressed because the perpetrators were fathers and grandfathers who had been on the Eastern Front. [20] A severe winter in late-November,[21] as well as a surprise thaw starting on 30 November reduced traffic. The Road of Life operated from September 1941 to March 1943. There were theatre performances, the museums were open and in the summer of 1942 Dmitri Schostakowitsch premiered his seventh symphony. , , , . The historian Jrg Ganzenmller, from the city of Jena, said the starvation of Leningrad's people was necessary to guarantee that there were enough supplies for the German army. How the 'Road of Life' saved besieged Leningrad A reconnaissance group on skis explored and marked possible routes. Also, it could not prevent the laying of the main pipeline for supply of the blockade Leningrad with combustible fuel and fuel at the bottom of the lake in May-June 1942. Many of them mainly children died before they could start their journey across the frozen lake. 900 Days of the Leningrad Siege, The rest of the city had been almost completely encircled by the Germans and their Finnish allies to the north. The dangers were countless as the number of losses. [10] The offensive achieved little, and was cancelled on 28 October due to the severity of the German attack. Most of them starved to death. Food remained in short supply, but the city had pulled itself back from the brink of collapse. Video: 'Road To Life: How Leningrad Held Out Against The Odds | WWII In Numbers | War Stories'. The group was discovered by enemy observers, after which the German artillery opened fire. Video: 'The World at War: Red Star: The Soviet Union - 1941-1943 (11 of 26)' (Nov. 22, 1941, at 13:41), 2013: War on terror: Afghanistan Iraq | Syria [26], Other supplies in the spring of 1942 partially revived factory production and city transport;[7] fuel had run out in January. Following it, trucks. [22], Once the route had been confirmed and tested for stability, larger plows and snow carving machines were then used to widen the ice road and make it more suitable for automobile transport. The "Katyusha" ("") monument, at the 17th km, near the village of Kornevo, erected in 1966 by the architects A. D. Levyenkov, P. I. Melnikov, L. V. Chulkevich and the designers G. I. Ivanov and L. V. Izyurov. Starving horses had to pull goods and people along the treacherous snow-covered path. The tide would finally begin to turn early the next year. At the 6th Berlin International Film Festival it won the Honourable Mention (Director) award. Culture of the Leningrad Oblast [13], " "" ", " " ", " " ", "On the day of the 75th anniversary of the lifting of the blockade of Leningrad, the film, "Action on the blood. Known as the Road of Life, this transport route would save the lives of many in the city. At that time, the Ladoga Flotilla completely dominated in the waters of the lake and the danger to the convoys came from the enemy aviation and artillery, installed on the shore. [14] 1650 of the 1770 km of roads built during the winter of 1941-1942 required repeated snow removal. On the night of September 17, 1941, during the evacuation of people from Leningrad, the barge leaked and sank in the depths of the Ladoga Lake with a thousand people on it.
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