Cold Open

It’s late summer 1941 in Leningrad, the second-largest city in Soviet Union.

A schoolteacher named Maria hurries a group of young children through the streets. Overhead German fighter planes swoop low, spewing machine gun fire. Maria has a children stick close to the brick walls of the building lining the street, desperately trying to find safety.

A month ago, Nazi Germany broke its non-aggression pact with the USSR and attacked Russia with the biggest invasion force in the history of warfare. Since then, German forces have advanced rapidly. Now, Leningrad is under attack, and Maria is risking her life to evacuate the children in her care before the Germans cut off all escape routes from the city.

A bomb lands at the other end of the street, and the children throw themselves to the ground.

Maria urges them back to their feet again. They’re too exposed to enemy fire out in the open. Maria decides they must get to the train station, so they have to keep moving.

But as the children get up, another plane roars overhead. Bullets shatter the windows in a nearby apartment block, and the children scream. But Maria can see the train station entrance now, it isn’t far. Picking up one small child who’s sobbing uncontrollably, she hurries the others along the street as fast as she can.

Finally, they run into the train station’s cavernous lobby. It’s packed with people also desperate to escape the city. Maria knows the children with her are more protected here than out on the streets. But she also knows they won’t truly be safe until they’ve escaped Leningrad.

It’ll take several more weeks for the German forces to finally cut off the last safe route out of Leningrad. But after that there will be no escape. Nearly three million people will be left trapped inside the city, and they’ll remain there for almost 900 days. More than a million soldiers and civilians will die, and Leningrad will be reduced to ash and rubble before the longest siege of World War Two finally comes to an end on January 27th, 1944.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is January 27th, 1944: The End of the Siege of Leningrad.

Act One: A Ray of Hope

It’s August 9th, 1942, at the Grand Philharmonia Hall in Leningrad, almost a year into the siege of the city.

Backstage, 35-year-old orchestra conductor Karl Eliasberg paces nervously, his three-piece suit flapping loosely around his emaciated body. Karl is preparing for the most important performance of his life, but the constant artillery fire outside is making it difficult to focus.

When German leader Adolf Hitler ordered his generals to invade the USSR in 1941, he confidently predicted a speedy victory. German intelligence suggested that the Soviet Red Army was poorly armed and would not be able to mobilize in time to repel the Germans. But after its initial advance, the German offensive was slowed by unexpectedly fierce resistance. When the invasion extended into winter, Hitler was forced to rethink Germany’s military strategy. Rather than seek a quick victory, he instead vowed to burn the USSR to the ground—and there was nowhere he wanted to destroy more than Leningrad - the birthplace of Bolshevism, named after the father of the revolution Vladimir Lenin.

And by 1941, Leningrad was surrounded. During the winter, the Soviets could resupply Leningrad through a single route known as the Road of Life, a dangerous crossing across a frozen lake. But now that it’s summer, the lake has thawed, and Leningrad is completely cut off from the outside world. Stocks of medicine are dwindling, food stores are nearly depleted, and no one is sure how much longer the city will hold. Facing the prospect of starvation or annihilation, the people of Leningrad are in need of a morale boost. So, orchestra conductor Karl hopes that a rousing concert will be a welcome distraction.

During the first weeks of the German invasion, composer Dmitri Shostakovich began writing a symphony he titled “Leningrad.” As a resident of the city, he continued composing his music even as bombs fell around him. And although, the symphony was completed outside Leningrad, the work came to symbolize a resistance of the Soviet people, so authorities decided to perform it inside the besieged city itself. The sheet music was flown in covertly by night and presented to Leningrad’s most famous orchestra. Speakers were then installed in the streets to allow all citizens to listen in, and now, Karl is ready to lead his musicians in the most remarkable performance he’s ever given—but it will only work if the shelling stops, so the people can actually hear it.

Karl peers out of a window, careful to stand back in case the glass suddenly shatters. But he realizes it’s not German artillery going off, it’s Soviet guns that are firing. Despite the shortage of ammunition, Soviet generals have authorized a special attack designed to silence the Germans for just this one evening. As the time of the performance approaches, the Soviet guns stop firing, and since the Germans are pinned down in their bunkers by the onslaught, they aren’t in a position to return fire on Leningrad, so the city is suddenly, and miraculously quiet.

Karl hurries into the auditorium. Leningrad officials, politicians, and military officers are waiting for him in the tiered seating. But Karl is thinking more about the far larger audience of ordinary people outside. He smiles at his nervous musicians. And just like the city, the orchestra is a shadow of its former self. Almost half of Karl’s musicians are gone—evacuated, starved to death, or killed by enemy artillery. The empty chairs scattered across the stage are a bitter reminder of what all of them have lost.

Karl takes a deep breath. Then, he raises his baton, lowers it softly, and his ragtag orchestra of starved and traumatized musicians begins to play.

The 90-minute symphony is composed of four movements: "War,” "Reminiscence,” “Home Expanses,” and "Victory.” The early acts reflect the horror of the siege, while the later movements promise a Soviet triumph to come.

Outside, the streets are filled with the music and the people of Leningrad listen intently. They know the symbolism of the performance, and they’re proud of their stubborn resistance. Rather than falling to the German army as Hitler predicted, the Nazis remain outside the city, frustrated at the stalemate, terrified of the coming winter.

When the performance is over, Karl lowers his baton and turns to accept the applause of the audience. His orchestra’s music will act as a ray of hope across the besieged city. But darker days will follow. The German assault will continue for almost six months more and thousands will die before the Soviet Army will finally stage a daring counter-assault in the hope of breaking the relentless siege and bringing relief to the people of Leningrad.

Act Two: Fighting Back

It’s early on February 10th, 1943, just outside the Russian town of Krasny Bor, 17 months after the siege of Leningrad began.

The sun has not yet risen, meaning that 46-year-old Soviet Lieutenant General Vladimir Sviridov must squint through the darkness at his enemy. Though he can’t yet make them out, General Sviridov knows that there are Spanish volunteers allied with the Germans entrenched between his own forces and Krasny Bor. The town lies 12 miles southeast of the center of Leningrad, on the main road to the Soviet capital Moscow. The Spanish troops defending it are dug in deep, but General Sviridov has been tasked with capturing the town and punching a hole in the enemy forces which have been strangling Leningrad for a year and a half.

Since the siege began, the people of Leningrad have relied on small supplies of food and medicine sneaked through enemy lines. Initially, the Road of Life across the frozen lake was the only route in for aid. But recently, a Soviet attack opened up another corridor. At five miles wide, this new route was big enough to build a railroad through it, but the trains were still in range of enemy artillery. Every attempt to reach Leningrad was fraught with danger, and many lives were lost running the gauntlet of enemy guns.

So, a few days ago, General Sviridov was told to widen the corridor by capturing the town of Krasny Bor. If he fails, he knows that hundreds of thousands more Soviet civilians and soldiers will die of starvation, and the Germans may finally achieve their goal of breaking the will of the defenders of Leningrad. But if General Sviridov succeeds, the Soviet Army may be able to put the Germans invaders on the back foot and begin the liberation of Leningrad.

As the sun rises, General Sviridov orders his men to begin the attack. A thousand guns fire simultaneously, catching the Spanish by surprise. Dirt, ice, and rubble fly into the air as the ground is ripped apart by explosions. Through his binoculars, General Sviridov watches as hundreds of Spanish troops are cut down by the relentless Soviet barrage.

But the Spanish volunteers are zealous believers in the fascist cause and they don’t retreat. So, after two hours of nonstop shelling, General Sviridov orders a frontal assault. There are only 6,000 Spanish soldiers against nearly 40,000 Soviets troops and 30 tanks. But the Red Army has been weakened by months of limited rations, and General Sviridov knows the Spanish will put up a fierce resistance.

The Soviet soldiers approach the Spanish defenses in tanks, on foot, and on skis, and they have to fight for every yard of their advance. The Spanish soldiers sprint from their foxholes and trenches, launching grenades and Molotov cocktails. They form choke points to slow the advance and spring deadly ambushes from hidden bunkers. The casualties are horrific. But eventually, the sheer weight of numbers on the Red Army’s side win the day. General Sviridov’s men fight their way through the defenses and into the town of Krasny Bor.

By the time they do, the sun is high in the sky, and the destruction wrought by the Soviet artillery is plain to see. Spanish soldiers lie in the rubble, wounded and dying. Medics scramble among the wreckage, carrying the injured away to a makeshift hospital. But General Sviridov isn’t prepared to show mercy. Just as Adolf Hitler is willing to destroy Leningrad to teach the Soviet people a lesson, so General Sviridov is willing to annihilate the enemy forces at Krasny Bor to complete his mission. He lifts a radio to his mouth and orders his artillery to bombard the town’s hospital and his snipers to target the medics.

After hours of fighting, only a handful of Spanish soldiers remain alive inside Krasny Bor. Soviet tanks then proceed to their main objective, the town’s train station, where the last Spanish defenders are soon killed. When General Sviridov finally walks through the rubble and into the train station, his officers tell him that the attack has cost them nearly ten thousand men. But the town is back in Soviet hands.

This Battle of Krasny Bor will go down in history as one of the most vicious battles of World War Two. The Soviet victory there will be less decisive than expected, though. Although the Soviets have broken through German lines, elsewhere the enemy will respond by digging in even deeper. The deadly siege of Leningrad will continue. It will take another, even more brutal assault a year later to finally liberate the city.

Act Three: Victory

It’s January 27th, 1944, in the Field of Mars, a large square in the center of Leningrad, 872 days after the siege began.

49-year-old Soviet General Leonid Govorov raises his saber high above his head. He holds it there, enjoying the sense of anticipation that ripples through the vast crowd of men before him. The siege of Leningrad is over and the city is free.

Eighteen months ago, General Govorov was appointed commander of the Soviet forces in Leningrad. He launched a number of offensives on the Germans surrounding the city and bit by bit, he seized and widened corridors through enemy lines to allow more supplies through. Then, only two weeks ago, General Govorov stepped up his campaign. He ordered a wider counterattack that pushed the Germans and their allies away from Leningrad, finally lifting the siege of the city after more than two years. Although the Soviet attack continues to push the enemy away from Leningrad, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin has declared that the siege is over, and General Govorov has returned to Leningrad to lead the city’s celebrations.

The General slowly lowers his uplifted saber, and 324 guns lined up in neat rows fire simultaneously. For the first time in years, the people of Leningrad don’t run for cover when they hear the sound of artillery. Instead, the crowd cheers the loud explosions. It’s soon followed by another, and another. And in total, the guns fire 24 volleys.

And as this artillery rings out in celebration, the guns on Soviet warships offshore open fire too. A few church bells join in, although there aren’t many that have survived the German bombardment. Instead, Leningrad is a scene of devastation. Few buildings have survived unscathed. And no one knows for certain how many Soviet citizens and soldiers have been killed or died of sickness and starvation during the long months of the German assault.

The siege of Leningrad will be remembered as one of the most brutal battles of a brutal war. But the city’s successful resistance will also become a symbol of Soviet defiance. In his symphony inspired by the city, composer Dmitri Shostakovich promised that after all of Leningrad’s suffering, victory would one day come, and he was right. Eventually, Red Army soldiers will advance more than 1,000 miles to the German capital of Berlin, where they will bring an end to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime, fifteen months after the siege of Leningrad ended on January 27th, 1944.

Outro

Next on History Daily. January 28th, 1069. The death of the Earl of Northumbria leads William the Conqueror to unleash a terrible vengeance on the people of Northern England.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack.

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Owen Long.

Edited by Scott Reeves.

Managing producer, Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.