The Siege of Leningrad
July 7, 2008 – 10:53 amI hope you had a pleasant Fourth of July celebration and managed to take time to give thanks for the remarkable men (yes, all men, but not without some advice from their wives) who created that amazing document in Philadelphia in which they pledged “to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” They had a task to perform and they did it. Our past and present history is full of such people, both here in our country and around the world. For the next few entries, I will focus on a group of very special women living in Leningrad during World War II.
Back in the mid-1980’s, my husband and I traveled to Moscow and Leningrad. Of course, one of the highlights of any visit to Leningrad is the Hermitage, the home of many great works of art. As we moved from room to room, we noticed old women, probably younger than I now am, sitting in a corner. They had medals pinned to their dresses, sometimes hanging in a row much like Sunday School pins of days gone by.
Somehow or other we learned that these women were suvivors of the Siege of Leningrad. My husband was much more versed in history than was I, and he was greatly impressed by these women. I was pretty much in the dark about their exploits of survival during the dark days when their city was under siege, but I have since had the opportunity to learn something about their heroism.
A few years ago, I saw an ad for the book, Writing the Siege of Leningrad: Women’s Diaries,Memoirs, and Documentary Prose” by Cynthia Simmons and Nina Perlina. I was just beginning to consider writing a book about World War II from a woman’s perspective here in our country. I thought the Leningrad book might be helpful, so I ordered it. I had no idea what I was in for.
The Siege of Leningrad began September 8, 1941 when German troops established a war front just south of the city while Finnish troops moved across the northern rim, prohibiting movement of travel in or out of the ciry. The inhabitants were trapped. The cover of the book states that between 1945 and 1991, an average of one book per day was written about this subject in the USSR alone. The story of Leningrad during this period and the preceding years is much too complex for me to even mention, but some of these women’s stories will give some insight into their struggles and the great tragedy for millions of people. I’ll publish a few of these stories in the next few days.
Meanwhile, for more World War II stories, go to www.peggeorge.com.
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