The Leningrad Blockade, 1941-1944: A New Documentary History from the Soviet Archives

550 Pages·2012·8.9 MB·English

by  Richard Bidlack

ANNALS OF COMMUNISM
Each volume in the series Annals of Communism will publish selected and pre-
viously inaccessible documents from former Soviet state and party archives in a
narrative that develops a particular topic in the history of Soviet and international
communism. Separate English and Russian editions will be prepared. Russian and
Western scholars work together to prepare the documents for each volume. Docu-
ments are chosen not for their support of any single interpretation but for their par-
ticular historical importance or their general value in deepening understanding and
facilitating discussion. The volumes are designed to be useful to students, scholars,
and interested general readers.
EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF THE ANNALS OF COMMUNISM SERIES
Jonathan Brent, Yale University Press
PROJECT MANAGER
Vadim A. Staklo
AMERICAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Ivo Banac, Yale University Robert L. Jackson, Yale University
Zbigniew Brzezinski, Center for Norman Naimark, Stanford University
Strategic and International Studies General William Odom (deceased),
William Chase, University of Pittsburgh Hudson Institute and Yale University
Friedrich I. Firsov, former head of the Daniel Orlovsky, Southern Methodist
Comintern research group at the University
Russian State Archive of Social and Timothy Snyder, Yale University
Political History (RGASPI) Mark Steinberg, University of Illinois,
Sheila Fitzpatrick, University of Chicago Urbana- Champaign
Gregory Freeze, Brandeis University Strobe Talbott, Brookings Institution
John L. Gaddis, Yale University Mark Von Hagen, Arizona State
J. Arch Getty, University of California, University
Los Angeles Piotr Wandycz, Yale University
Jonathan Haslam, Cambridge University
RUSSIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
K. M. Anderson, Moscow State N. S. Lebedeva, Russian Academy of
University Sciences
N. N. Bolkhovitinov, Russian Academy S. V. Mironenko, director, State Archive
of Sciences of the Russian Federation (GARF)
A. O. Chubaryan, Russian Academy of O. V. Naumov, director, Russian State
Sciences Archive of Social and Political History
V. P. Danilov, Russian Academy of (RGASPI)
Sciences E. O. Pivovar, Moscow State University
A. A. Fursenko, secretary, Department V. V. Shelokhaev, president, Russian
of History, Russian Academy of Political Encyclopedia Association
Sciences (head of the Russian Editorial (ROSSPEN)
Committee) Ye. A. Tyurina, director, Russian State
V. P. Kozlov, director, Federal Archive Archive of the Economy (RGAE)
Agency of Russia (Rosarkhiv)
The Leningrad Blockade,
1941–1944
A New Documentary History
from the Soviet Archives
Richard Bidlack and Nikita Lomagin
Translations by
Marian Schwartz
New Haven & London
Published with assistance from the Louis Stern Memorial Fund.
Copyright © 2012 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bidlack, Richard, 1954–
The Leningrad blockade, 1941–1944 : a new documentary history from the Soviet archives /
Richard Bidlack and Nikita Lomagin ; translations by Marian Schwartz.
p. cm. — (Annals of communism)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 300-1 1029- 6 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Saint Petersburg (Russia)—History—Siege, 1941–1944. 2. Saint Petersburg (Russia)—
History—Siege, 1941–1944—Sources. I. Lomagin, Nikita. II. Title.
D764.3.L4B48 2012
947′.21—dc23
2011047638
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Yale University Press gratefully acknowledges the financial support
given for this publication by the John M. Olin Foundation, the Lynde
and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Historical Research Foundation,
Roger Milliken, the Rosentiel Foundation, Lloyd H. Smith, Keith
Young, the William H. Donner Foundation, Joseph W. Donner, Jere-
miah Milbank, and the David Woods Kemper Memorial F oundation.
To our wives,
Nancy and Anastasia,
for their love, support, and encouragement
Contents
List of Maps(cid:29)ix
Acknowledgments(cid:29)xi
Note on Transliteration(cid:29)xv
Note on the Documents(cid:29)xvii
Soviet Terminology, Acronyms, and Abbreviations(cid:29)xix
List of Documents(cid:29)xxi
Chronology of the Leningrad Blockade(cid:29)xxvii
INTRODUCTION(cid:29)1
CHAPTER 1. Leningrad During the Second World War and
Its Aftermath(cid:29)15
CHAPTER 2. Who Ruled Leningrad?(cid:29)78
CHAPTER 3. Policies of Total War(cid:29)184
viii Contents
CHAPTER 4. The Struggle to Survive(cid:29)262
CHAPTER 5. The Popular Mood(cid:29)329
CHAPTER 6. The Question of Organized Opposition(cid:29)368
CONCLUSIONS(cid:29)404
APPENDIX A. Daily Bread Rations(cid:29)413
APPENDIX B. Official Monthly Rations for Food Other than
Bread(cid:29)414
APPENDIX C. Rations Actually Distributed Other than Bread,
1 January–31 March 1942, According to
Leningradskaia Pravda(cid:29)416
Notes(cid:29)419
Bibliography of Sources Cited(cid:29)461
Index(cid:29)475
Photo gallery follows page 328
Maps
The City of Leningrad(cid:29)16
The Advance of German Army Group North toward Leningrad,
22 June–20 August 1941(cid:29)33
The Front Line on 25 September 1941(cid:29)37
The German Advance to Tikhvin in November 1941(cid:29)47
Piercing the Blockade in January 1943(cid:29)64