Leningrad 1941 - 42: Morality In A City Under Siege
by Sergey Yarov /
2017 / English / Kindle
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This book recounts one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth
century: the siege of Leningrad. It is based on the searing
testimony of eyewitnesses, some of whom managed to survive, while
others were to die in streets devastated by bombing, in icy
houses, or the endless bread queues. All of them, nevertheless,
wanted to pass on to us the story of the torments they endured,
their stoicism, compassion and humanity, and of how people
reached out to each other in the nightmare of the siege.
This book recounts one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth
century: the siege of Leningrad. It is based on the searing
testimony of eyewitnesses, some of whom managed to survive, while
others were to die in streets devastated by bombing, in icy
houses, or the endless bread queues. All of them, nevertheless,
wanted to pass on to us the story of the torments they endured,
their stoicism, compassion and humanity, and of how people
reached out to each other in the nightmare of the siege.
Though the siege continues to loom large in collective memory, an
overemphasis on the heroic endurance of the victims has tended to
distort our understanding of events. In this book, which focuses
on the "Time of Death", the harsh winter of 1941-42, Sergey Yarov
adopts a new approach, demonstrating that if we are to truly
appreciate the nature of this suffering, we must face the full
realities of people's actions and behaviour. Many of the
documents published here – letters, diaries, memoirs and
interviews not previously available to researchers or retrieved
from family archives – show unexpected aspects of what it was
like to live in the besieged city. Leningrad changed, and so did
the morals, customs and habits of Leningraders. People wanted at
all costs to survive. Their notes about the siege reflect a drama
which cost a million people their lives. There is no spurious
cheeriness and optimism in them, and much that we might like to
pass over. But we must not. We have a duty to know the whole,
bitter truth about the siege, the price that had to be paid in
order to stay human in a time of brutal inhumanity.
Though the siege continues to loom large in collective memory, an
overemphasis on the heroic endurance of the victims has tended to
distort our understanding of events. In this book, which focuses
on the "Time of Death", the harsh winter of 1941-42, Sergey Yarov
adopts a new approach, demonstrating that if we are to truly
appreciate the nature of this suffering, we must face the full
realities of people's actions and behaviour. Many of the
documents published here – letters, diaries, memoirs and
interviews not previously available to researchers or retrieved
from family archives – show unexpected aspects of what it was
like to live in the besieged city. Leningrad changed, and so did
the morals, customs and habits of Leningraders. People wanted at
all costs to survive. Their notes about the siege reflect a drama
which cost a million people their lives. There is no spurious
cheeriness and optimism in them, and much that we might like to
pass over. But we must not. We have a duty to know the whole,
bitter truth about the siege, the price that had to be paid in
order to stay human in a time of brutal inhumanity.