One of the longest and deadliest sieges, the Siege of Leningrad, occurred in the Soviet Union during World War II.

Not only were those trapped within Leningrad in danger from military forces, but they were also trapped in some of the most extreme conditions imaginable.

Those who survived did so through a variety of innovative methods.

We must let history teach us, and the Siege of Leningrad is one of those history lessons that reminds us to practice not just basic preparedness, but extreme preparedness.

Here’s what happened, and more importantly, what we can learn:

The Siege of Leningrad

The Siege of Leningrad took place from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944 when the city of Leningrad—now known as St. Petersburg—was surrounded by the German and Finnish armed forces.

At the start of the siege, approximately 2.8 million people—including 400,000 children—were trapped inside the city.

Leningrad was wholly encircled, with the vital rail and necessary supply lines cut off.

The first harsh, cold winter of the Siege of Leningrad was devastating. The extremely low temperatures led to electrical failures, so there was no heat. The municipal water pipes froze, which disrupted the potable water supply.

This first brutal winter resulted in the deaths of 650,000 people. They died from starvation, exposure, disease, and gunfire.

Without the ability to get supplies, those who remained dealt with extreme wartime rationing.

Essential workers were given a daily ration of only 250 grams of bread, and non-essential workers and dependents were given a daily ration of only 125 grams of bread (a little more than a slice of bread).

According to Histories of Everyday Life in Totalitarian Regimes, “No one expected that Leningrad would hold out until the Germans retreated in 1944,” … but Leningrad did.

In January 1944, the siege ended, and 300,000 civilians survived.

Here are some of the survival lessons from the Siege of Leningrad:

 

Resourcefulness in Food Shortages

According to Histories of Everyday Life in Totalitarian Regimes:

Far more people trapped in Leningrad during the siege died of hunger. […] Documents released at the Nuremberg trials in Germany in 1945 and 1946 (when high-ranking Nazis were prosecuted for war crimes) showed that the mass starvation was not an accident but rather a deliberate plan on Hitler’s part.

Leningrad's food supply was completely cut off, so they had to survive in the winter on whatever they had stored.

It got so bad that people made “bread” from sawdust and used wallpaper paste made of potato starch.

According to Britannica Academic, “Starvation-level food rationing was eased by new vegetable gardens that covered most open ground in the city by 1943.”

The survivors were resourceful. They made do with what they had and started growing their own food. 

Don’t let what happened to them happen to you. Stock up on long-term emergency food and heirloom seeds.

Building a Community for Survival

Community was essential for survival.

The people stuck within Leningrad formed small, trusted groups to share resources, protect each other, and maintain morale.

According to Making Memory in Wartime, “The story of heroic Leningrad – an embattled, united, and courageous community – provided a shared narrative that helped Leningraders to make sense of their own experiences and to sustain hope.”

 

Psychological Resilience

The trauma inflicted during the Siege of Leningrad has been intensely studied because of the survivors’ psychological resilience.

To support these studies, the survivors told their stories and shared their diaries from this awful time.

Some things that stood out were that they created routines and focused on accomplishing small daily goals.

The survivors also told stories about maintaining hope through art, music, and literature.

For instance, in Life Becomes History: Memories and Monuments, the authors discuss how those in Leningrad kept expecting the end of the siege to come.

The author writes:

Perhaps nowhere were expectations more palpable than in Leningrad. The blockaded city resounded with the music of Dmitrii Shostakovich and the poetry of Anna Akhmatova – two Leningraders whom the prewar Soviet state had roundly condemned.

Adapting to Extreme Conditions

The harsh winter made survival difficult. The electricity didn’t work. The water supply froze.

According to the Digital Encyclopedia of European History:

There were no more city trams, so the starving population had to walk to get around. There was no more heating in apartments. The cold was terrible. During the winter of 1941 temperatures regularly reached –20° C and even dropped to –40° C. The inhabitants had to burn anything they could find to stay warm, causing numerous fires.

Extreme cold temperatures are not needed to destroy America’s fragile grid. A strong wind gust is enough!

Be sure to invest in a generator today.

 

Securing Clean Water and Sanitation

In addition to deaths from exposure to the cold and starvation, there were also many deaths attributable to disease.

When the city’s water pipes froze, it cut off access to clean, potable water for citizens. Drinking unclean water can cause diseases and even death.

The survivors went to great lengths to get clean water for drinking and maintaining hygiene.

They melted snow or drew water from holes in the ice of the frozen Neva River and other nearby frozen canals.

Always have access to clean water. Keep water purifying tablets in your emergency kit.

Preserving and Stretching Limited Supplies

Those stranded in Leningrad during the siege had to stretch their food and supplies as far as they could.

One method was strategically consuming low-calorie foods.

Here is a passage from Making Memory in Wartime:

In the late 1970s, Valentina Moskovtesva, who was a child during the war, remembered that Leningrad radio had taught her how to survive. The radio advised: “’Don’t eat your whole 1225 grams at once, eat it by halves.’ … And I did it this way: eat a little piece in the morning, a little piece in the evening. I paid attention to what they said on the radio.”

And they would use up everything. No food or supplies went to waste.

 

Medical and First Aid Adaptations

Just as food supplies were cut off, so were medical supplies. The people of Leningrad had to improvise when it came to medical care.

This meant prioritizing care for those with the best survival chances, improvising medical procedures, and using natural remedies when possible.

Time Magazine reports:

Wound treatment was kept simple: gunshot wounds had their edges cut away, were not sewed up; wounds involving bone were usually put in plaster casts (the Orr-Trueta method which got its first full tryout in the Spanish War; TIME, July 8, 1940), and left alone, perhaps for weeks. “Some surgeons made a habit of using sphagnum moss for surgical dressings.”

In addition to a first aid kit complete with traumatic injury supplies, invest in a medical handbook that can be used to figure out care in extreme conditions where medical professionals are out of reach.

Preparedness for Long-Term Isolation

It’s hard to wrap our minds around those 872 days of isolation. But we should prepare for it, just in case. Because you never know what could happen. 

If it’s happened before, who says it won’t happen again?

Could you and your family survive this type of extreme emergency? Do you have the right emergency supplies? Do you have the skills to survive?

Having a stocked pantry, learning how to grow your own food and cook over a fire, and anticipating changing circumstances will go a long way towards your survival. 

Prepare for extremes, friends.

In liberty,

Elizabeth Anderson

Preparedness Advisor, My Patriot Supply