The Siege of Leningrad: 872 Days of Hell | Free Documentary History

The Siege of Leningrad by the Wehrmacht began on September 8th, 1941, and ended on January 27th, 1944. For 872 days the city was surrounded. Within, the inhabitants fell into despair, starvation, and cannibalism. The desperation didn’t begin to subside until the spring of 1942, when aid packages reached the city via Lake Ladoga, and yet, despite the protestations of the Soviet propaganda machine, it was still not possible to feed all of Leningrad’s population.

Over one million people lost their lives during this period. It is a remarkable story both of heroism and mankind’s failings – and one of the worst atrocities carried out by Germany during the Second World War. The unbreakable will and suffering of the people of modern-day St Petersburg remains, to this day, the stuff of legend.