Other titles:LENINGRAD (CITIES AT WAR) [Alternative Title]
Summary: An account of the 900 day siege of Leningrad by the Germans (June 1941 - January 1944) during which the city's official death toll was 632,000, although estimates put the figure closer to a million.
Description: Using both actuality film and interviews with survivors, the film traces events chronologically through the three stages of the siege: the first encirclement and heavy air raids; second, the long attempt to starve the city out, which brought incredible hardships, especially during the first winter (up to 10,000 deaths in a single day) when only the improvised supply route over the frozen Lake Ladoga and the endurance of the people kept the city in Russian hands; third, after the complete blockade was broken in 1943, the systematic, heavy artillery bombardment which continued until the Germans were pushed out of artillery range. The film attributes the survival of the city almost entirely to its ordinary inhabitants, who possessed "a fierce local pride, a pride so deep it was almost a faith" giving them the strength to endure suffering as "a daily routine" - "Leningraders didn't think of themselves as heroes".
Alternative Title:LENINGRAD (CITIES AT WAR) [Alternative Title]
Colour:B&W
Digitised:
Object_Number:MGH 312
Sound:Sound
Access Conditions:NON-IWM
Featured Period:
Production Date:1968-11-26
Production Country: GB
Production Details: Granada Television (Production company)
Novosti (Production company)
Darlow, Michael (Production individual)
Darlow, Michael (Production individual)
Wooller, Mike (Production individual)
Naden, David (Production individual)
Spilny, Yuri (Production individual)
Ryan, Ted (Production individual)
Freeman, Ray (Production individual)
Samoilovich, Tamara (Production individual)
Norman, Bruce (Production individual)
Naden, David (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations:
Keywords: Russia (geography)
Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W
Sound format: Sound
Soundtrack language: English
Title language: English
Subtitle language: None
Technical Details: Format: 35mm
Number of items/reels/tapes: 6
Footage: 4894 ft; Running time: 55 mins
