22 Remarkable and Rare Photos of the Siege of Leningrad!

The Leningrad Blockade is known as one of the deadliest, most prolonged and lengthy sieges in history. Although sieges were an extremely common method of breaking down city walls and royal fortresses during the Middle Ages and the Crusades, they fell out of favor as warfare advanced during World War I and all the skirmishes and battles that followed within the international community.

Sieges were, and still are, a brutal method of bringing an entire city to its knees – but, of course, an effective tactic through which nations and their armies can win a war not only against an enemy country but also its people.

This is what Germany hoped would happen during the Leningrad Blockade – that the people and military of the U.S.S.R. would fall, and give in to their advances. Despite the great difficulty, great terror, and great disadvantage, the U.S.S.R. held its ground against incredible destruction.

Leningrad was the site of one of the most detrimental, most damaging, and deadliest sieges in all of history, but its citizens and soldiers held out for almost 900 days under fire from German troops to see a brighter future.

From 1941 to 1943, the air raids and siege tactics grew only more deadly and more intense as the Soviets attempted to handle incredibly severe attacks upon Leningrad. Schools, hospitals, factories, and shopping centers were all considered fair and equal locations for the vicious German onslaught.

As the German military forces and their Finnish allies laid siege to Leningrad, half a million civilians died.

After a terrible 872 days, on January 27th 1944, the Leningrad Blockade ended, and German forces left the city to its own devices.

By the siege’s end, as many as 1,500,000 military men and civilians were killed, and 1,400,000 citizens were evacuated from the city itself in hopes of saving lives. 3,200 residential buildings, 9,000 wooden houses, and 840 factories and plants were destroyed in Leningrad and suburbs.