"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:


The State and Revolution

:lenin-shining: :unity: :kropotkin-shining:

The Conquest of Bread

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:

  • longhorn617 [any]
    ·
    4 years ago

    “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house”

    I've always found this quote dumb. Oh, the master has guns, can I not have them too, now?

    • thethirdgracchi [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I think it's more to do with the systems in place. Fred Hampton has a better, more explanatory quote that explains the same concept:

      We don’t think you fight fire with fire best; we think you fight fire with water best. We’re going to fight racism not with racism, but we’re going to fight with solidarity. We say we’re not going to fight capitalism with black capitalism, but we’re going to fight it with socialism.

      • longhorn617 [any]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        Ignoring that using controlled burns is actually an effective way to fight wildfires, no one here is saying "We are all going to start hedge funds to take over capitalism and make the world good." People are enjoying that they can put $100 into a stock on Robinhood and make a hedge fund go bankrupt and possibly leave a bunch of brokerage firms holding the bag, and maybe make some money while doing it. The users trying to cry about how this makes everyone who finds it funny not a true leftist sound like a bunch of miserable dweebs.

        • thethirdgracchi [he/him, they/them]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Oh I 100% agree, that's my original point here. Power to the players, :kim-peace: death to hedge funds and critical support to our WSB comrades. Plus, as an accelerationist this is hella fun :sicko-yes: