Popular Front activists held a meeting of young people with veterans and leaders of public organizations at the St. Petersburg regional election headquarters of Russian presidential candidate Vladimir Putin, who spoke about life in Leningrad during the fascist blockade.
Co-chairman of the headquarters Alexey Demidov thanked the veterans. “It means a lot that today’s students can hear directly from you the real stories of that terrible time. This needs to be remembered and told,” he said.
Another co-chairman of the headquarters, Evgeny Shuvalov, also emphasized the importance of sharing experience between generations: “You, the older, mature generation, can tell and pass on to the younger generation everything that they need to know from primary sources.”
The youth who came to the meeting asked questions about where the blockade survivors got their strength to fight the enemy and what they dreamed about. Veterans recalled that all 900 days Leningraders were warmed by thoughts of victory.
A resident of besieged Leningrad, Alla Dokish, said that she was a four-year-old child during the war: “I remember well how fascist planes flew, threw bombs on the city, and houses collapsed. It was a terrible year 1942. They gave out 125 grams of bread on ration cards, and there were always queues at the bakery. But we went through the war and survived.”
“During the blockade, my sister and I lived in the Moscow region. I was just a little girl, but both I and she hold all the memories in our hearts and know that without the unity and enthusiasm that was then, victory would have been impossible. I can only say that I’m proud to be a Leningrader,” Larisa Ershova, chairman of the district Union of Public Organizations, shared her story.
Deputy Chief of Staff of Vladimir Putin’s regional election headquarters, Ekaterina Mashkova, believes that the opportunity to meet people who went through the war and blockade is a reward for the younger generation. “This is a story about the courage of our people, their resilience and heroism. We must pass it on by word of mouth, and that is why live meetings are so important. When we complain today about traffic jams or the fact that it’s cold outside, we must remember that when there was a blockade, hunger, people continued to work, defend the city and did it for us,” Mashkova noted.
Let us remind you that on January 18, St. Petersburg celebrated the 81st anniversary of the breaking of the siege of Leningrad. On this day in 1943, soldiers of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, during Operation Iskra, broke the blockade ring established by German and Finnish troops. The blockade was completely lifted on January 27, 1944.
Source: Rosbalt
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