Famine of 1941-42

Categories / Army. Navy/Blokade
FAMINE of 1941-42, one of the most tragic events in the history of St. Petersburg. The famine occurred during the Siege of 1941-44. Leningrad did not have enough food reserves before the war, and had for some time been supplied from outside the city. As soon as the war began, however, the previously successful food supply system was completely disrupted. On 18 July 1941, a rationing system was introduced in Leningrad that used ration-books to distribute essential products. After railway links between Leningrad and the rest of the country were broken, and the Siege started on 8 September 1941, food supply deteriorated sharply. Part of the food reserves was lost in September after a fire at the Badaev Storage. On 12 September 1941, Leningrad had only enough flour and grain reserves for 35 days, cereals and pasta for 30 days, meat for 33 days, fats for 45 days, and sugar and confectionary for 60 days. In September-November 1941, the food allowance was reduced by five times, which was insufficient for survival. In October (daily allowances in the army were sharply reduced as well), with various substitutes and additives used as food (cake, cellulose), dogs, cats, and pigeons all began to be eaten. In November-December 1941, death from starvation (nutritional dystrophy) became citywide. In January - February 1942, 453 acts of cannibalism and corpse-eating were officially recorded. In November 1941, the "Road of Life" was opened to supply the city with food. Despite the critical state, many establishments (mostly defence companies) and institutions still worked. In order to help the most exhausted people, aid and meal stations began to be opened from 29 December 1941, and limited-access high-diet cafeterias from 21 April 1942. A major contribution to rescuing survivors was made by youth Service Teams. A mass evacuation of the city was also undertaken. Mass deaths from hunger generally ended by summer 1942. The number of victims is not exactly known, but it is likely that between 800,000 and 1.500.000 people died. Some of the dead were cremated (the crematorium was situated on the territory of the present-day Moscow Victory Park); all the city's cemeteries were used as mass grave sites (especially, the Piskarevskoye and Serafimovskoye cemeteries, which became memorial cemeteries later on).

References: Адамович А. М., Гранин Д. А. Блокадная книга. Л., 1989; Жизнь и смерть в блокированном Ленинграде: Ист.-мед. аспект. СПб., 2001.

A. Y. Chistyakov. Адамович А. М., Гранин Д. А. Блокадная книга. Л., 1989
Жизнь и смерть в блокированном Ленинграде: Ист.-мед. аспект. СПб., 2001 Badaev Storage
Siege of 1941-44
Road of Life
Ration Cards
1942