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Summer 1941. Hitler has
launched Operation Barbarossa,
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his long-awaited invasion
of the Soviet Union.
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The city of Leningrad
is a key objective.
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00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:46,800
The struggle for
Leningrad will lead
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00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:49,320
to One of the longest
and bloodiest sieges in history,
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00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,080
With appalling consequences
for its civilian population.
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00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:02,400
6 weeks into the war,
near the town of Staraya Russia,
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German soldiers pondered a
strange contraption captured in
recent fighting.
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It was an artillery system, but
not like anything of their own.
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Each truck carried a crude
looking frame, onto which
rockets were loaded.
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00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,280
The Soviet counter-attack here
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had been supported by dozens
of these rocket launchers.
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It had helped to stall the
advance of the entire German
Army Group North,
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striking towards Leningrad.
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00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,400
They had bought time
time that would prove crucial.
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00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,800
The BM-13 multiple
rocket launch system,
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given the girl"s name
Katyusha by the troops,
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was a rail-launch rack
on a truck chassis.
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Gears elevated and rotated the
launcher rack into the correct
firing position,
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as determined by an
artillery sight.
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00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:21,760
The rockets were very inaccurate
and would rain down over a wide
area.
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00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:26,040
But the Katyusha made up for
this with a fearsome rate of
fire.
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00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,200
One Katyusha could launch 16
rockets in less than 10 seconds.
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00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,280
Firing en masse, they could
devastate a massive area in the
blink of an eye.
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00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:45,200
Leningrad, Russia"s Baltic Sea
port, was a key objective of the
German invasion.
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From here Soviet submarines
and the Baltic Fleet
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threatened Germany"s supply of
iron ore, which came by sea from
neutral Sweden.
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00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:08,280
The plans for the German
invasion stated that the assault
on Moscow
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could proceed only after
Leningrad and its naval base at
Kronstadt had been captured.
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00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,800
Hitler, with growing confidence
in his own military genius,
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was increasingly involved
in strategic planning.
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He was now determined
that if necessary,
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the armoured forces assaulting
Moscow should be diverted to
Leningrad.
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00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:36,880
Army Group North,
advancing on Leningrad,
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had been stopped at the
so-called Luga Line in July.
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This 175 kilometre
line of fortifications
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had been hastily built by
soldiers of the reserve and
citizens of Leningrad.
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In August, Army Group North was
reinforced with tanks and dive
bombers
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from Army Group Centre.
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00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,280
They crashed through the Luga
Line, and encircled the troops
defending it.
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00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,480
The Red Army fed its new
KV heavy tanks into the battle.
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They were produced in Leningrad
itself, at the Kirov Factory.
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The front armour of a KV-1
was 75 millimetres thick.
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The German 37 millimetre
antitank gun barely made a
scratch.
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But early in the war,
fuel shortages
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and poorly trained crews who
didn"t know how to repair their
vehicle,
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meant many KV-1s and other
Soviet vehicles ended up
abandoned at the roadside.
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00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,880
On 19th August, a company of
KV"s commanded by Senior
Lieutenant Kolobanov
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took up an ambush position near
the town of Krasnogvardeysk.
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00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,280
Kolobanov picked the
position himself,
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overlooking the highway
as it wove through the marshes.
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When a column of
German tanks appeared,
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his tanks took out the lead
and rear vehicles,
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and proceeded to destroy
all 22 enemy machines.
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After the battle, Kolobanov"s
crews counted 156 marks
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where German shells had hit
their tank, but failed to
penetrate.
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00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:49,000
After hearing reports
about the KV tanks,
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Hitler once more demanded
the capture of Leningrad,
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and its factory that was
churning out these monsters.
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But there weren"t enough KV-1s
to stop the Germans everywhere.
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00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,440
While one German corps
was held at Krasnogvardeysk,
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others broke though
near Lyuban, and Tosno.
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00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,800
On 30th August, the Germans cut
the railway and the highway
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connecting Leningrad
with the rest of the country.
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00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:26,720
Finnish troops, allies of the
Germans, approached from the
north.
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The city"s electricity supply
began to fail, but still no
civilians were evacuated,
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an act which might
appear "defeatist".
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On 8th September the Germans
captured Shlisselburg
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on the shore of Lake Ladoga
the final act of encirclement.
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It was the beginning of a siege
that was to last 882 days.
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When the siege began, the city"s
population was more than 2.5
million,
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including approximately
400,000 children.
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The city contained 300,000
refugees from the Baltic
Republics and surrounding area.
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00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,000
The city"s supplies of food and
fuel were sufficient for just 30
days.
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Soviet counterattacks aimed at
lifting the siege were all
unsuccessful.
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The German encirclement near
Shlisselburg was only about 12
km wide.
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This sector was the focus of
Soviet attempts to lift the
blockade.
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00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,800
That summer, Soviet
counterattacks had robbed Army
Group North of valuable weeks.
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It was time that could
not be got back.
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Now the attack on Moscow would
rob Army Group North of its best
units.
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In his diary the commander of
Army Group North, Field Marshal
von Leeb, wrote:
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11th September.
Desperate shortage of time.
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The Army High Command
demands seven mobile divisions
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be handed over to its control
on 15th September.
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His tanks were on their
way towards Moscow.
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It was a desperately needed
respite for Leningrad.
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The same day General Zhukov was
appointed Commander of the
Leningrad Front.
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His deputy, Major General
Fedyuninsky, came with him.
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Ivan Ivanovich Fedyuninsky spent
most of his military career in
the Russian Far East.
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In 1939 he was made
a Hero of the Soviet Union
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for his bravery fighting the
Japanese at the Battle of
Khalkhin Gol.
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In 1941 he commanded a Soviet
Rifle Corps in Belorussia, where
he was badly wounded.
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Zhukov"s appointment immediately
inspired the defenders of the
city.
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There was new confidence
that Leningrad would be saved.
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With characteristic energy,
Zhukov began to organise the
city"s defences.
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Artillery was to be the key.
And his secret weapon,
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would be the massive guns
of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet.
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Powerful naval gunnery halted
the first German offensive
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just 7 kilometres from the city.
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The 12 inch guns of the coastal
fort of Krasnaya Gorka
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also served to hold the
German army at bay.
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00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:03,760
The shock waves from
their exploding shells
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were powerful enough to hurl
German tanks into the air.
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00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:23,160
But where the German army had
failed, the Luftwaffe might
still succeed.
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00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:31,080
Three months into the German
invasion of the Soviet Union,
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00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,480
Army Group North
was held up outside Leningrad
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by the heavy guns
of the Soviet Baltic Fleet.
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00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:42,200
So Field Marshal von Leeb turned
to his dive-bombers to sink the
enemy warships.
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Their first victim was
the old battleship Marat.
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Two 1000-kilogram
bombs struck her bow,
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causing her forward turret
magazine to explode.
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00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:04,120
She quickly sank to the bottom
of the bay. Three warships were
sunk in total,
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depriving the city"s
defences of 35 powerful guns.
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Around the city, 1,500
loudspeakers broadcast Leningrad
City Radio.
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00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:20,600
Now it was also used
to issue air raid warnings.
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00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:28,440
When there were no radio
programmes, a metronome was put
on the air.
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Slow ticking meant "all clear",
fast ticking meant "take cover".
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It became known as "the
beating heart of Leningrad".
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00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:47,520
Above the city, German bombers
were met with heavy
anti-aircraft fire.
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But the Luftwaffe only made
a few large-scale raids.
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Shelling by German heavy
artillery proved much more
lethal.
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Signs went up on street corners,
with the warning: Citizens!
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This side of the street is more
dangerous during shelling.
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00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:15,880
The Germans didn"t target
Leningrad"s tallest buildings or
church spires.
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00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:17,600
They were needed as reference
points by the artillery
spotters,
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who instead guided shells onto
the city"s bridges, houses and
shops.
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Leningrad was truly
a city on the front line.
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Monuments were protected
by sandbags and wooden screens.
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00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,600
But many would not survive
the German bombardment.
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00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:46,000
On the city"s outskirts, the
Germans captured the Catherine
Palace
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and the Grand Petergof Palace.
Both were looted and destroyed.
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00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,240
The world-famous Amber Room
was shipped to Germany.
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00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:56,400
Today, its whereabouts
remain a mystery.
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00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,840
On 8th September German bombers
targeted the wooden Badayev
Warehouses,
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where the city"s food
reserves were stored.
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00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:12,560
The glow of the fires
could be seen across the city.
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00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:15,400
Soon everyone knew that the
flour and sugar supplies had
been destroyed.
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But the situation was even worse
than many feared.
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00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,560
The city needed 1,000 tons of
food every day to prevent
starvation.
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00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,240
But less than 200 tons were
getting through the blockade.
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00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:34,840
The little that could be brought
in by air was nowhere near
enough
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to feed the city"s population.
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00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:46,880
The main supply route into
Leningrad now lay across Lake
Ladoga
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50 kilometres of open water.
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But the lake was notorious for
its strong winds and sudden
storms.
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00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:04,160
It was why, in 1718,
Peter the Great
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had ordered the construction of
the Ladoga canal along the
lake"s southern shore,
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to provide a safe
waterway to the city.
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00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:15,560
But the Germans had reached the
southern shore of Lake Ladoga,
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cutting the canal
and rail links into the city.
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00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,400
The people of Leningrad had to
build a new port from scratch
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on the lake"s western shore.
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00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,160
In the first week of the siege,
barges were unloaded straight
onto the beach.
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It was the beginning
of a supply route
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that would come to be known
as the Road of Life .
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00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:45,080
Food rationing had been
introduced at the start of the
war.
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Leningrad workers received
800 grams of bread a day,
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00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:51,920
their dependants
received 400 grams.
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00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:56,800
By the beginning of October, it
had been reduced to half that
amount.
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00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,960
It wasn"t nearly enough to
sustain those required to do
physical work.
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00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,320
At the end of November, the city
was on the brink of starvation.
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Bread rations were cut further:
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00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,440
250 grams for a worker,
125 grams for everyone else.
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00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,160
The quality of the
bread was falling too,
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00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:22,720
as the authorities turned to
unlikely ingredients to increase
its bulk.
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00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:27,720
Bakers used burnt flour
recovered from the ruins of the
Badayev Warehouses.
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00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:33,600
They used oats intended
for the horses, soya, barley,
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00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:35,920
and even cellulose
from the Goznak paper mill.
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00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:39,680
People often had
to queue for hours
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in the freezing cold to receive
these meagre rations.
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00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:50,000
In November, 11,000 died
from starvation 350 each day.
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00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:54,200
The medical staff could
only look on helplessly.
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00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,600
The early winter led to hopes
that Lake Ladoga would quickly
freeze solid,
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00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:05,760
allowing trucks to bring in
supplies across its frozen
surface.
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00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:08,560
But the ice took time to harden.
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00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,760
The Soviets had hoped to
establish a road bridge across
the ice
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00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:19,040
using the shortest route.
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00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,720
But this would put convoys
within range of the German
artillery batteries
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00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:25,080
on the southern shore.
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00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,800
Slowly the ice thickened. On
20th November, across 180
millimetres of ice,
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00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,280
the first horse-drawn sleighs
crossed the lake.
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00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:40,280
Two days later, the
first trucks crossed.
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00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:45,640
It was a perilous crossing.
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00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,760
The 2-ton vehicles carried
much less than their full load.
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00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,400
But several still crashed
through the ice, disappearing
into the frozen depths.
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00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:04,480
Drivers stood on their running
boards, ready to leap clear if
the ice began to crack.
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00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:10,920
On their return journey, the
same trucks were used to
evacuate
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00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:12,440
as many civilians as possible.
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00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:18,600
The Road of Life was
30 kilometres long.
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00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,960
It included garages, rest stops,
and field hospitals.
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00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,160
There were several alternative
routes, depending on the ice and
driving conditions.
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00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:37,640
To defend the road, two
defensive lines were constructed
on top of the ice,
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00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:39,560
8 kilometres from the
German-held shore.
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00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:43,520
They included machinegun nests
and ice trenches.
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00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:48,520
The road was also protected by
anti-aircraft guns and air
cover.
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00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:55,960
But German bombs and shells
still claimed many victims.
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00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,640
In the first week alone,
52 trucks were lost.
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00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,640
Despite these extraordinary
efforts to keep the city
supplied,
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00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:23,880
and to get the civilians out,
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00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:30,200
53,000 Leningraders died in
December most from starvation.
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00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:36,160
There were reports of people
dropping dead in the street
without warning.
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00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,840
Each day, burial detachments had
to remove 100 corpses from
Leningrad"s pavements.
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00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:48,280
The diary of one Leningrader
recorded how despair gave way to
apathy.
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00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:55,040
People now die in a very simple
manner: first, they lose
interest in everything.
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00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:01,840
Then, they lie in bed, and never
rise again. They die as if
falling asleep.
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00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:07,760
And the surrounding people,
half-dead themselves, pay them
no attention.
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00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:18,240
Many drivers on the Road of Life
made two trips every day one
by day, one by night.
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00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:21,920
Dozens of trucks were wrecked
in traffic accidents,
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00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:27,280
more than were destroyed
by German aircraft.
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00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:29,520
So the order was given for
vehicles to start using their
headlights.
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00:19:33,120 --> 00:19:35,600
Trucks that crashed
through the ice sank so fast,
212
00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:40,640
that for several minutes the
ghostly glow of their headlights
213
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:42,120
could be seen at the
bottom of the lake.
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00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,640
Almost 300 trucks were lost
in the first month of the Road.
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00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:54,040
But they had kept
the city alive.
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00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,320
Hundreds of thousands perished
from starvation in that first
winter.
217
00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:09,800
The scale of the suffering
was almost beyond imagination.
218
00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:18,760
More than a million
would die before this,
219
00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:24,440
the most devastating siege in
history, was finally over.
220
00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,000
Leningrad, encircled
by German and Finnish forces,
221
00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:43,160
witnessed hundreds of civilian
deaths every day.
222
00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,560
But these were not
collateral casualties.
223
00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:49,760
Hitler had decided that
Leningrad should be wiped off
the map.
224
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,480
Secret orders entitled "The
Future of Leningrad", stated:
225
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:57,840
After Soviet Russia
has been defeated,
226
00:20:57,840 --> 00:20:59,800
the further existence of this
population centre is of no
interest.
227
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,840
In this war for existence,
228
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:06,600
we have no interest in keeping
even part of this great city"s
population.
229
00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:14,760
For the Soviet Union, it was
vital that Leningrad be held at
all costs.
230
00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:20,640
It was an important industrial
city with many factories,
231
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:22,200
and the home base of
the Baltic Fleet.
232
00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:29,320
Its loss would mean the loss of
the northern port of Murmansk,
233
00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:32,320
where the Arctic convoys arrived
carrying military aid from
Britain and America.
234
00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:40,400
And for many, Leningrad remained
the cultural and spiritual
capital of the USSR.
235
00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,560
Its fate was watched by people
from across the Soviet Union.
236
00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:49,960
They came to see their fate
entwined with that of the city.
237
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:57,280
The Soviet High Command decided
to breach the encirclement at
its thinnest point,
238
00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:00,800
the Shlisselburg-Sinyavino
corridor.
239
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,640
Here, only 10km separated troops
of the Red Army"s Leningrad
Front,
240
00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:09,720
from the front line
of the Volkhov Front.
241
00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,360
But it was heavily defended,
with three lines of
fortifications.
242
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:20,520
On the night of 19th September,
243
00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:26,280
a small force led by Captain
Vasiliy Dubik crossed the Neva
river in fishing boats.
244
00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:34,520
His men quietly landed on the
far bank, and took the German
trenches by surprise.
245
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,800
With this foothold
across the river,
246
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,080
a Soviet Marine brigade moved
rapidly to reinforce Dubik"s
position.
247
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:51,680
This strip of land, called by
the soldiers the Nevsky
Pyatachok ,
248
00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:53,520
the "Neva Patch" would
become legendary.
249
00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:02,160
Two German parachute regiments,
redeployed from Crete,
250
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:04,600
were amongst the reinforcements
sent to crush the Soviet
bridgehead.
251
00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:08,440
They were plunged straight
into the ferocious fighting.
252
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,400
They failed to eliminate
the bridgehead,
253
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:21,120
but had squeezed it until it was
just 2 kilometres long, and 500
metres deep.
254
00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:27,000
In October, this
tiny strip of land
255
00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:28,800
was the only hope for lifting
the siege of Leningrad.
256
00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:33,560
All Red Army reserves were on
their way to Moscow,
257
00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:35,040
were another desperate
battle raged.
258
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:41,880
The struggle at the bridgehead
was brutal, attritional warfare.
259
00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:45,440
German shells swept back
and forth across the whole area,
260
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,640
forcing the Soviet soldiers
to dig deep to find cover.
261
00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:01,560
Another attempt to break through
was planned for November.
262
00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:05,280
By now bread rations in the city
were down to 125 grams.
263
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:08,720
They weren"t much more
for front-line soldiers.
264
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,720
One commander conducted an
exercise to test the strength of
his men.
265
00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:17,840
Most were exhausted after
walking just 400 metres.
266
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:29,920
In a speech at Munich on 8th
November, Hitler declared:
267
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,280
Leningrad has nothing to count
upon. It will fall, sooner or
later.
268
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,120
There are no forces
to raise the siege.
269
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,800
Leningrad is doomed to die
from starvation.
270
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,600
At the beginning of November,
the Red Army got tanks across
the Neva,
271
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:48,280
and captured more
German trenches.
272
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,400
In turn the Germans fed
in their own reinforcements.
273
00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,960
In November, the Red Army lost
5,000 men killed in the Neva
Patch.
274
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:04,000
The Germans too
suffered heavy losses.
275
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:07,840
The tiny bridgehead
had become a slaughterhouse.
276
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,640
In Leningrad itself, 4,000 were
dying every day from starvation.
277
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,240
On some days this
figure rose to 7,000.
278
00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:24,520
January 1942 became the worst
month of the entire Siege.
279
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,240
Non-workers had their food
ration stopped entirely.
280
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:30,840
The electricity supply failed.
281
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:36,120
Water pipes froze solid in
temperatures of minus 30 degrees
centigrade.
282
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,760
Furniture, wooden fences,
anything that would burn was
used for firewood.
283
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,920
One Leningrader, Yelena
Skriabina wrote in her diary:
284
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:54,920
Death has become a phenomenon
observed at every turn.
285
00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,000
When you step outside
in the morning,
286
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,880
you stumble over corpses lying
in the gateway, in the street.
287
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,720
The dead bodies lie there for a
long time, because there"s
nobody to dispose of them.
288
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,800
Even in the worst months of the
siege, the people of Leningrad
still went to work.
289
00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:44,680
The Kirov Factory, just 4
kilometres from the frontline,
290
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:48,120
didn"t stop producing tanks
for a single day.
291
00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,280
Half-assembled tanks were even
used to fire on the enemy from
the factory floor.
292
00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:56,440
The Leningrad Institute
of Plant Industry
293
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,640
was dedicated to the research
of commercial crops.
294
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:02,640
It contained the world"s
largest seedbank.
295
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:09,000
28 Institute workers died from
starvation during the Siege.
296
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,000
But the plant breeding
collection containing several
tons of crops,
297
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,560
rice and potatoes,
remained intact.
298
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:23,160
In February 1942, the food
situation gradually began to
improve.
299
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:27,000
The ration was increased
to 500 grams for workers,
300
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:32,800
400 grams for office workers,
300 grams for children and
non-workers.
301
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:39,120
The revolting additives to the
bread were used less and less.
302
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,520
People now received their
rations on time, and, almost, in
full.
303
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:51,680
On 16th February meat, in the
form of frozen beef and mutton,
304
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:53,720
was distributed amongst the
population for the first time in
months.
305
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:56,080
Things were starting to look up.
306
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:04,200
So far in the war, the Red
Army"s prospects of lifting the
Leningrad Siege
307
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,000
had been limited, because
the fighting around Moscow
308
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:08,360
had sucked up all
available reserves.
309
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:13,360
But by January 1942, the German
army was retreating from Moscow.
310
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:17,800
Now a large-scale operation
was possible at Leningrad.
311
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,040
Soviet divisions on
the Volkhov River
312
00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,520
prepared to assault the flank
and rear of German Army Group
North.
313
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:31,840
Swampy, broken ground meant
that tanks were of little use.
314
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,080
The success of this offensive
would be down to the infantry
and the artillery.
315
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:46,720
Meanwhile General Fedyuninsky
was put in command of the 54th
Army,
316
00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,280
tasked with breaking
through to the besieged city.
317
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,920
The Germans turned
the high railway embankment
318
00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:58,000
near the village of Pogostye
into a formidable earthwork.
319
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,320
Red Army losses were horrendous
their progress, minimal.
320
00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:25,240
The 2nd Shock Army under General
Klykov attacked German positions
321
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,720
near the town of Lyuban, to the
south of the fortified corridor.
322
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:36,400
But in their haste
to raise the siege,
323
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:38,840
the Stavka High Command ordered
attacks that were not properly
planned,
324
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:41,400
and lacked proper
artillery support.
325
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,920
One divisional commander,
General Antyufeyev, reported:
326
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:51,480
After crossing the river
and climbing the left bank,
327
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,400
our infantry came under intense
machinegun and mortar fire.
328
00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:58,840
Our artillery couldn"t suppress
the enemy fire.
329
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,400
It couldn"t even make a proper
ranging, and didn"t have enough
ammunition.
330
00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:09,120
The survivors had to return
to their starting positions.
331
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:17,400
Red Army units had advanced 30
kilometres through the frozen
forests and swamps.
332
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,280
It was the same distance
again to reach Leningrad.
333
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:27,760
The threat of encirclement
hovered over the German troops.
334
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,280
The logical decision seemed
to be to order a retreat.
335
00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,680
But Hitler had forbidden
any more retreats.
336
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,080
Field Marshal Von Leeb,
Commander of Army Group North,
337
00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,600
asked to be relieved of command.
General Von Kuchler was now in
charge.
338
00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:48,800
Von Kuchler concentrated on
holding key roads and railways.
339
00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:51,800
This approach was the
Germans" salvation.
340
00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,760
Army Group North was able to
keep its units resupplied,
341
00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:59,040
and reserves could be moved
quickly to threatened areas.
342
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,080
Meanwhile, the lead units
of the 2nd Shock Army
343
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:11,960
had to be supplied by the only
road that ran along a corridor,
344
00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:15,800
just 5 kilometres wide, between
the villages of Zamoshye and
Spasskaya Polist.
345
00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:22,960
The forward units were short
of ammunition, food and fuel.
346
00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:26,440
The Soviet offensive
was called off in February.
347
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:30,400
Now the men prepared to defend
the ground they"d captured.
348
00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:36,160
But it wasn"t easy digging-in
in the middle of a swamp.
349
00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:39,280
And the supply problems meant
many soldiers began to suffer
from malnutrition.
350
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,360
In March, Hitler demanded
that von Kuchler
351
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,080
encircle the Soviet troops
that had dented the German line.
352
00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,800
The operation was
codenamed Wild Beast .
353
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:56,320
A simultaneous assault
by five German divisions
354
00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:58,280
effectively sealed off
the Soviet penetration.
355
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:05,240
The Soviet 2nd Shock Army was
virtually cut off from the rest
of the army
356
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:08,960
just a tiny corridor, 1.5 to 2
kilometres wide, was left open.
357
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,040
All that remained was for the
Germans to crush the encircled
Soviet units.
358
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:22,520
But first, they launched a fresh
assault against the Neva Patch.
359
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,720
By April, 1,000 Soviet soldiers
were dug in there.
360
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:30,720
The Germans waited until the
River Neva was full of drifting
ice,
361
00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:34,640
making it impossible for the
Soviets to reinforce the
bridgehead.
362
00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:39,440
Then they unleashed
a torrential artillery barrage.
363
00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,080
The last sign of life seen
from across the river
364
00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:44,880
was a crude banner bearing
the single word, "Help".
365
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,240
Meanwhile, the encircled 2nd
Shock Army received a new
commander,
366
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,280
Lieutenant General
Andrey Vlasov.
367
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,240
By the beginning of May, the
Stavka had decided to try to
extricate
368
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:04,800
the remnants of this
battered force.
369
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:09,920
But the day before the planned
withdrawal, the Germans
attacked.
370
00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:18,280
The Soviets fought desperately
to hold the perimeter,
371
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:21,080
as units began to withdraw
through the tiny corridor back
to the front line.
372
00:34:22,720 --> 00:34:26,080
But it was slow progress.
And four days later,
373
00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:29,000
the Germans finally cut off
the 2nd Shock Army.
374
00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:35,040
A Soviet artillery officer
recorded conditions inside the
pocket:
375
00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:41,000
The entire area was swept by
German fire. The dead and
wounded lay all around.
376
00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:47,040
Some were delirious, others
cried out for water to drink,
377
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:49,400
some even asked us to shoot
them, because they couldn"t do
it themselves.
378
00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:52,960
The Germans didn"t attack.
They kept us trapped,
379
00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:58,280
like an animal in its lair, and
bombed and shelled without
mercy.
380
00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:07,200
The last soldiers to escape
slipped out under cover of
darkness.
381
00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:12,000
By the end of June, 10,000 had
got away. But the Germans had
30,000 prisoners.
382
00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:21,200
Amongst them was the Commander
of the 2nd Shock Army, General
Andrey Vlasov.
383
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,840
Vlasov agreed to cooperate
with his German captors,
384
00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:34,960
and became a willing tool of
Nazi propaganda. He wrote
pamphlets entitled,
385
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:39,040
The Appeal of The Russian
Liberation Committee
386
00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:41,000
to Soldiers and Commanders
of the Red Army ,
387
00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,520
and, Why have I taken up the
struggle against Bolshevism? .
388
00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:51,840
In them, he appealed to Red
Army soldiers to join a new,
389
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:54,080
anti-Bolshevik Russian
Liberation Army.
390
00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:00,480
Vlasov helped to recruit Russian
prisoners of war to fight
against Stalin..
391
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:06,320
General Vlasov
became so notorious,
392
00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,880
that Russians referred to all
Soviets who sided with the
Germans as "Vlasovtsy".
393
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:13,960
But most had no allegiance
to General Vlasov.
394
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:17,240
The so-called "Hiwis"
were Soviet prisoners-of-war
395
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:20,520
who helped the Germans
in non-combat roles.
396
00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:26,360
And many anti-Bolsheviks
and nationalists from the USSR
397
00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:29,440
fought in their own Wehrmacht
units, known as the Eastern
Legions.
398
00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:36,520
Most of Vlasov"s Russian
Liberation Army was captured
near Prague in 1945.
399
00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:42,640
Its men were sent to the Gulag
Vlasov and other officers were
hanged as traitors.
400
00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:52,080
The Red Army had failed to break
the Leningrad Siege in the
spring of 1942.
401
00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:56,720
Now the Road of Life across
Lake Ladoga began to melt.
402
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:07,880
On just one day, 20th April,
about 80 trucks were lost
through the thinning ice.
403
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:09,800
The Road of Life was closed
to heavy vehicles.
404
00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:13,280
The Russians waited anxiously
for the lake to open to
shipping.
405
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:16,600
They knew that when it did,
406
00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:18,720
ships and ports would come under
heavy air and artillery attack.
407
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:25,640
The severe winter meant it
wasn"t until the 22nd May
408
00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:28,600
that the lake was clear of
drifting ice. The first ships
made their crossings,
409
00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:31,800
evacuating civilians
and bringing in supplies.
410
00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:37,120
Soviet air defences proved
highly effective.
411
00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:39,960
Only one per cent of incoming
supplies were lost to German air
attack.
412
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:46,160
The Germans sent
for Italian MAS torpedo boats,
413
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:48,640
which had proved effective in
the Mediterranean, and Siebel
armed ferries,
414
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:51,920
which had been designed
for the invasion of England.
415
00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:57,480
But despite grand expectations,
Axis naval forces failed to make
an impact.
416
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:02,800
Russian tugs and barges
had an extremely shallow draft,
417
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:04,920
so torpedoes passed
harmlessly underneath them.
418
00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:11,240
Their naval bases and ships were
hit hard by the Red Army air
force.
419
00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:17,240
Axis naval operations
were abandoned.
420
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:24,920
It remained critical to break
the siege of Leningrad.
421
00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:30,360
The Road of Life, by water or
ice, brought in the bare minimum
to keep the city fed,
422
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:33,840
and the troops supplied
with fuel and ammunition.
423
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:41,480
Six months later, in November
1942, the Front Commanders
424
00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:45,760
and General Zhukov and Marshal
Voroshilov began to plan
Operation Iskra.
425
00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:50,720
It was decided to attack once
more at the "bottleneck",
426
00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:52,280
where the German
encirclement was thinnest.
427
00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:56,920
Units of the Volkhov Front
would attack from without,
428
00:38:56,920 --> 00:38:59,600
as troops of the Leningrad front
attacked from within.
429
00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:06,440
The artillery barrage began
at dawn on 12th January 1943.
430
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,640
As the last shells whistled
overhead, the assault began.
431
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:20,000
But everywhere, the Red Army
ran into fierce resistance
432
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:21,480
from well-entrenched
German troops.
433
00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:29,440
T-34s could only crawl across
what was effectively a heavily
cratered peat bog.
434
00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:34,960
They were easy pickings
for the German antitank guns.
435
00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:41,520
But the simultaneous attack on
both fronts began to bear fruit.
436
00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:44,400
After two days, just 2
kilometres separated the Soviet
troops.
437
00:39:47,720 --> 00:39:48,840
These final metres
proved the hardest.
438
00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:52,200
Soviet tanks were knocked out
or got stuck in the bog.
439
00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:56,000
It was up to the infantry to
storm the German positions.
440
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:05,480
General Fedyuninsky,
now Deputy Front Commander,
441
00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:09,000
repeatedly visited the front
line to urge his men on.
442
00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:11,680
He ordered attacks
around the clock.
443
00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:13,880
There was to be no let up
for the German defenders.
444
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:21,520
The German tactic, as before,
was to hold key positions along
the transport network.
445
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:26,440
Work Settlements
Number 1 and Number 5,
446
00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:29,720
on the only road between the
Lake and the rail terminus, were
turned into fortresses.
447
00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:34,960
If the Red Army could just cut
the road, the German defence was
doomed.
448
00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:42,400
Von Kuchler had to decide
whether to hold on, or withdraw
from the bottleneck .
449
00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:45,480
He opted to hold on.
450
00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:03,400
Under unrelenting assault from
both sides, the German defences
began to crumble.
451
00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:13,720
The Red Army, sustaining
massive losses all the way,
452
00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:18,040
fought through the intricate
German defences. At the last
moment,
453
00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:22,000
German units at Shlisselburg
made a dash for safety, but not
many made it.
454
00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:29,680
At midnight on 18th January
1943, Yuri Levitan,
455
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:32,320
the voice of Soviet wartime
radio, was able to announce:
456
00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:38,360
After seven days of fighting,
troops of the Volkhov and
Leningrad Fronts
457
00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:41,920
met on the 18th January and
raised the Siege of Leningrad!
458
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:49,760
In just 3 weeks a railway was
built across the cratered
landscape of the bottleneck.
459
00:41:54,040 --> 00:41:57,320
It was just 5 kilometres from
the German lines, and under
constant shellfire.
460
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:02,640
Leningrad was still
on the front line.
461
00:42:04,240 --> 00:42:06,600
But at last it was getting
enough food and fuel.
462
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,320
The Red Army lacked the strength
to push the Germans back any
further.
463
00:42:12,720 --> 00:42:15,320
The reserves of German
Army Group North had arrived,
464
00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:16,680
and were dug in on
the high ground.
465
00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:24,360
German defences were
traditionally built around the
MG-34 or the MG-42 machinegun.
466
00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:30,920
The rest of the infantry were
effectively there to support the
machinegun team.
467
00:42:30,920 --> 00:42:34,840
By autumn 1943, the Red Army had
developed tactics for attacking
German infantry.
468
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:40,960
Soviet rifle platoons, supported
by artillery and mortars,
469
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:44,360
aimed to wipe out enemy
machinegun positions in the
first few minutes of the
assault.
470
00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:49,360
The remaining rifle-armed
Germans would be seriously
outgunned by Soviet troops,
471
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:51,440
armed with submachine-guns.
472
00:42:55,720 --> 00:43:00,160
But from late 1943, the Germans
began to change the balance once
more,
473
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:04,000
with the introduction
of the MP-43.
474
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,400
Now if the infantry squad"s
machine gun team was knocked
out,
475
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:11,240
a squad armed with the new
MP-43s could still provide
heavy,
476
00:43:11,240 --> 00:43:12,840
accurate fire against
enemy attackers.
477
00:43:14,240 --> 00:43:16,480
Hitler himself gave
the new weapon its name
478
00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:18,080
Sturmgewehr the assault rifle.
479
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:25,720
It wasn"t until the
beginning of 1944
480
00:43:25,720 --> 00:43:29,520
that the Stavka launched the
operation that would finally end
the siege of Leningrad.
481
00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:36,120
By then, German Army Group North
had had nearly two years
482
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:37,400
to dig in on the
outskirts of the city.
483
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:45,240
The Stavka planned to begin the
operation at the Oranienbaum
bridgehead,
484
00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:47,680
which had stubbornly held out
against the Germans
485
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:49,480
thanks to the heavy guns of
its coastal fort.
486
00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:53,880
From here, the Red Army
would launch itself
487
00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:55,240
against the flank
of German Army Group North.
488
00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:59,200
Leading the attack
would be General Fedyuninsky
489
00:43:59,200 --> 00:44:02,000
at the head of the
2nd Shock Army,
490
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:04,640
which had been secretly
redeployed to the bridgehead
under cover of darkness.
491
00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:10,800
By attacking from the coast, the
massive firepower of the Baltic
Fleet
492
00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:14,720
could be used to support the
assault more than a 100 heavy
naval guns
493
00:44:14,720 --> 00:44:15,800
were available for
the operation.
494
00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:19,320
They included the guns of
the battleship Marat,
495
00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:22,960
refloated after being sunk
by Stukas in 1941.
496
00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:27,520
And the enormous coastal guns
of the Krasnaya Gorka fort.
497
00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:31,600
The assault began on
14th January 1944.
498
00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:36,000
Soviet newspapers and radio
carried no reports about the
operation.
499
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:40,480
But the people of Leningrad
could hear the distant thunder
of the bombardment.
500
00:44:42,160 --> 00:44:44,920
They knew what it meant that
the final offensive was
underway,
501
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:49,040
the one that would end the siege
once and for all.
502
00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:50,680
No one doubted its success.
503
00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:56,600
The attack from Oranienbaum
caught Army Group North by
surprise.
504
00:44:58,480 --> 00:45:01,520
In the face of an overwhelming
Soviet assault, German defences
collapsed.
505
00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:06,680
A week later, Soviet troops,
laden with captured trophies,
506
00:45:06,680 --> 00:45:08,320
met at the town of Ropsha.
507
00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:12,160
German Army Group North"s
retreat became a rout.
508
00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:15,200
The frontline raced
away from Leningrad.
509
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:19,000
The rumble of guns receded
into the distance.
510
00:45:20,720 --> 00:45:24,520
At long last, silence descended
over the city of Leningrad.
511
00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:28,480
According to official reports,
512
00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:31,600
642.000 civilians died during
the Siege of Leningrad.
513
00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:35,520
But many deaths never made it
into an official report.
514
00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:39,600
The real total was probably
nearer one million.
515
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:46,000
3% were caused by bombs
and shells. 97% by starvation.
516
00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:53,000
About 1.8 million people were
evacuated from Leningrad during
the war.
517
00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:57,480
By 1945, the city"s population
was just one-fifth
518
00:45:57,480 --> 00:45:59,440
of what it had been
at the start of the war.
519
00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:05,280
This was the longest siege of a
large city in World War Two,
520
00:46:06,440 --> 00:46:08,120
and the costliest
siege in history.
521
00:46:11,240 --> 00:46:14,320
Army Group North was bogged down
in the forests and swamps around
Leningrad
522
00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:16,760
for more than 2 years.
523
00:46:16,760 --> 00:46:19,640
It comprised one fifth of German
strength on the Eastern Front.
524
00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:25,080
But pinned outside Leningrad, it
was unable to influence the
war"s decisive battles,
525
00:46:26,240 --> 00:46:27,840
all of which were
fought on other fronts.
526
00:46:31,880 --> 00:46:36,640
Far to the south, in the vast
open expanse between Kharkov and
the Volga River,
527
00:46:36,680 --> 00:46:40,120
the Red Army would have to learn
to fight another kind of war
528
00:46:40,160 --> 00:46:43,160
highly mobile armoured warfare.
529
00:46:44,840 --> 00:46:48,920
And it was here in the south, in
1942, the that world would learn
the name of another
530
00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:52,520
Soviet city Stalingrad.
52380
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