"Death has become a phenomenon observed at every turn. When you step outside in the morning, you stumble over corpses lying in the gateway, and in the street. The dead bodies lie there for a long time, because there's nobody to dispose of them."
- Yelena Skriabina
The Siege of Leningrad was the longest and most destructive siege of any city in the world. For 872 days, the citizens of Leningrad were at odds with death. Encircled by German troops, the city was cut off from supplies, short of water and under the constant threat of air attacks. Yet the citizens did not give up and believed that there was no other option but to fight. Surrender was never an option.
Leningrad was a strategic location and a desired hub for the German troops. Not only was it an important port and the base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet, but it was also the symbol of the Soviet Revolution. By the start of September 1941, it became apparent that the Germans were fast approaching the city.
There was constant fighting on the outskirts of the city. The Moscow-Leningrad railway route was cut, and the enemy forces encircled Leningrad. Orders were given to fight to the end, and the three million citizens of Leningrad began preparing for the siege.
With the start of winter, temperatures dropped to -40ºC (-40ºF), freezing all the water pipes. Citizens would go down to the river, make holes in the ice and carry water home. Rats were also an enormous issue as they spread disease and ate through the already scarce supplies. People were dying right on the streets and were often left unburied.
Through all this, the city tried to keep up morale. Museums and theatres remained operational as much as possible. Among the most memorable moments was the performance of the Leningrad Symphony (written by Dmitry Shostakovich), which was transmitted everywhere by loudspeaker. Leningrad was determined to survive.
By 1943 the first breakthroughs were made and the Soviet troops were preparing to free the city. On January 14, 1944, the siege was partially lifted.
The siege continued until 27 January 1944, when the Soviet Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive expelled German forces from the southern outskirts of the city. This was a combined effort by the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts, along with the 1st and 2nd Baltic Fronts.
The Baltic Fleet provided 30% of aviation power for the final strike against the Wehrmacht.[64] In the summer of 1944, the Finnish Defence Forces were pushed back to the other side of the Bay of Vyborg and the Vuoksi River.
Red Army Choir - Little Star :tank:
Siege of Leningrad: 872 days of hunger and bombardment :t34:
Battlefield - The Siege of Leningrad Documentary :lenin-fancy:
Soviet Storm. WW2 in the East - The Siege Of Leningrad. Episode 5. :iron-soviet: this one is really good :lenin-heart:
:lenin-shining: :unity: :kropotkin-shining:
Remember, sort by new you :LIB:
Yesterday’s megathread :sad-boi:
Follow the ChapoChat twitter account :comrade-birdie:
THEORY; it’s good for what ails you (all kinds of tendencies inside!) :RIchard-D-Wolff:
COMMUNITY CALENDAR - AN EXPERIMENT IN PROMOTING USER ORGANIZING EFFORTS :af:
Join the fresh and beautiful batch of new comms:
!wallstreetbets@hexbear.net :stonks-up:
!earth@hexbear.net :flag-su: :ancom:
!recovery@hexbear.net :left-unity-2:
!neurodiverse@hexbear.net :Care-Comrade:
spoiler
:brace-cowboy:
The Trans Liberation thread has been unpinned, but I finally got around to reading it and I'd like to share my perspective.
For years before becoming a "leftist", I had vague moral positions loosely based on being kind to people whenever possible. Sometimes, my co-workers would make offensive "jokes" about people's sexuality/race/etc, but one thing that would always come up is a "joke" about how many genders there are, and how people can identify as anything [insert helicopter transphobia here]. Generally, my only response to this was along the lines of "who cares, it takes so little effort to just address people in the way they want, so we should just do that", which got mixed responses.
However, Leslie's writings have not only expanded my own understanding of gender, but also provided me with the tools and vocabulary to more effectively confront transphobia when it appears. A more comprehensive understanding of the gender spectrum hasn't really changed how I view myself or my gender identity, but does help me to better understand and support my comrades who exist on a spectrum, and not in a box labelled "M" or "F".
I think it's incredibly important that we all take time to better educate ourselves on the struggles and perspectives of oppressed people, because doing so gives us the tools to better represent them and stand together whenever possible.
./rant
:fidel-salute: