Siege of Leningrad in PHOTOS by Boris Kudoyarov

History
RUSSIA BEYOND
For the entire 900 days of the blockade, photographer Boris Kudoyarov worked in the besieged city. His ‘Leningrad Cycle’ has become a classic of war photo reporting and it’s an invaluable testimony to the human feat of Leningrad’s denizens.

It is impossible for a modern person to fully comprehend the tragedy that the Soviet people experienced during the 900 days of the Siege of Leningrad. The city was cut off from food supplies and there were constant problems with electricity, water supply and heating. Residents were forced to literally survive – burn books and furniture for warmth, bathe in the ice of the frozen Neva River, cook soup from wallpaper glue… From September 1941 to January 27, 1944, when the blockade was finally lifted. More than a million people perished.

Boris Kudoyarov was a war correspondent for the ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda’ newspaper. He made more than 3,000 shots in the besieged city, taking pictures of both the life of ordinary people and soldiers-defenders in the first echelon. Thanks to his emotional photos, people today can get an idea of one of the most terrible episodes of World War II, albeit distant.

Take a look at some of his unique works below.

Cabbage instead of roses, 1942

Nevsky Prospect during the siege, 1943

Defenders of Leningrad, 1941-1944

Pushkin town. Alexander Palace, 1944 (This Leningrad suburb  was occupied by the Nazis and they left a whole cemetery in the courtyard of the former imperial palace).

Ladoga Lake. Bread to Leningrad, 1942

Air Defense post atop of the St. Isaac's Cathedral, 1941

Leningrad under the siege. Evacuation of the wounded after shelling, 1943

A street in the besieged city, 1942 (the announcement reads "The enemy at the gates of Leningrad", "All forces to defend our native city!" and others)

Residents of the city and servicemen reading the text of the order to the Leningrad Front troops to lift the Siege of Leningrad, 1944

Defenders of Leningrad, 1941-1944

Streets of the besieged city, 1941-1943

Nevsky Prospect, 1941

Ladies serving in air defense units, 1941–1944

Blockade Nevsky Prospekt, 1941 (inscription on the fence: "Quiet passage. Dangerous. Unexploded bomb.")

Shelling aftermath on Nevsky Prospekt, 1942

Evacuation, 1941

A cameraman on a street of the besieged city, 1941

Dmitry Shostakovich's Seventh Leningrad Symphony performing at the Leningrad Philharmonic, 1941

Streets of the besieged Leningrad, 1941

An air defense post, 1941-1944

A street in Leningrad, 1942

A group of sailors on the Dvortsovaya (Palace) Embankment, 1942

Keep studying, 1942

Nevsky Prospect, 1941-1944

A street of the besieged city, 1942 (the poster reads: "Red Army soldier, save")

Battles for the liberation of Leningrad from the blockade. The 1st line of defense of the Germans, 1944

Fighting in Pulkovo, a suburb in Leningrad, 1944

Streets in the besieged city. A waiting line for a fresh newspaper, 1942-1943

The facade of the destroyed Peterhof Palace, 1943

Photos by Boris Kudoyarov and other photographers can be seen at the The Face of the Blockade exhibition, which will be on display in the ‘ROSPHOTO’ museum and exhibition center in St. Petersburg from January 25, 2024.

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