History

Tanya Savicheva's siege diary

During the winter of 1941 – 1942, the first winter of the Siege of Leningrad, thousands of civilians starved and froze to death. The Germans blocked off the city, hoping to get their way by starving the northern capital. Over the most difficult periods of the Blockade, people were rationed only 125 grams a day, which was not enough for most and led to many people starving to death, especially children. The entire essence of the tragic Blockade is captured in the nine short statements 11-year-old school girl Tanya Savicheva recorded in her diary. Each of her entries states the date and time each of her family members died, until she remained the only one left. Even though Tanya managed to survive the most terrible winter Leningrad had ever experienced, she did not live to see victory. She died of complications due to malnutrition during the evacuation of the city and was far from her native city when she passed. After the war was over, her short diary was put on display in the Blockade Museum in current-day St. Petersburg; there it immediately became one of the museum’s most famous pieces. Tune into RTG’s film about Tanya Savicheva’s Blockade diary, which proved to be not just a simple journal, but the chronicle of the death of an entire family and the salvation of the great city of Leningrad.

Presenter Evgeniya Al'tfel'd

Year 2013

Duration 00:36:16

Presenter Evgeniya Al'tfel'd

During the winter of 1941 – 1942, the first winter of the Siege of Leningrad, thousands of civilians starved and froze to death. The Germans blocked off the city, hoping to get their way by starving the northern capital. Over the most difficult periods of the Blockade, people were rationed only 125 grams a day, which was not enough for most and led to many people starving to death, especially children. The entire essence of the tragic Blockade is captured in the nine short statements 11-year-old school girl Tanya Savicheva recorded in her diary. Each of her entries states the date and time each of her family members died, until she remained the only one left. Even though Tanya managed to survive the most terrible winter Leningrad had ever experienced, she did not live to see victory. She died of complications due to malnutrition during the evacuation of the city and was far from her native city when she passed. After the war was over, her short diary was put on display in the Blockade Museum in current-day St. Petersburg; there it immediately became one of the museum’s most famous pieces. Tune into RTG’s film about Tanya Savicheva’s Blockade diary, which proved to be not just a simple journal, but the chronicle of the death of an entire family and the salvation of the great city of Leningrad.

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