Siege of Leningrad.

The Siege of Leningrad lasted 872 days—from September 8, 1941, to January 27, 1944. German and Finnish troops surrounded the city, cutting it off from the rest of the country: the enemy's goal was to wipe Leningrad off the face of the earth. Over 2.5 million people, including approximately 400,000 children, were encircled.

The main disaster was famine. Food warehouses, including those in Badayevka, burned down after air raids, making deliveries impossible. Bread rations were continually reduced: by the end of November 1941, workers received 250 grams per day, while employees, dependents, and children received only 125 grams. Bread was made with additives: cellulose, wallpaper paste, oilcake, and pine needles. People ate anything that could somehow satisfy their hunger—wood glue, belts, leaf tops, and bark.

The winter of 1941–1942 was marked by severe frosts, leaving the city without electricity or heat, and freezing water and sewer lines. To keep warm, people burned furniture, books, and parquet floors; water was drawn from ice holes in the Neva. Thousands died daily: during the siege, estimates range from 600,000 to 1.5 million Leningraders perished from hunger, cold, bombing, and shelling.

The only link between the city and the country was the "Road of Life" across Lake Ladoga. In the summer, cargo was transported by barges; in the winter, by trucks across the ice, often falling through. Food and fuel were delivered to the city along this route, and exhausted people, primarily children and women, were evacuated back. In total, more than a million people were evacuated along the "Road of Life," transporting over 1.6 million tons of cargo.

Despite the unbearable conditions, Leningrad did not surrender. Factories producing weapons and ammunition continued to operate; scientists continued their research; music blared from the Philharmonic—in August 1942, Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony was performed in the besieged city. The radio never stopped playing: its metronome became a symbol of resilience, a reminder that the city was alive.