OLLI Bonus Program: The Siege of Leningrad with Peter Kirchikov
Thursday, July 21, at 6:30 p.m. in the Large Auditorium
Join us as Peter Kirchikov, a Ukraine native, historian and author will explore how the Russians held off the Nazis for 900 days in the longest and bloodiest battle of the World War II. The siege of Leningrad began in September,1941 when German troops completed their encirclement of the city. As his blitzkrieg rushed towards Moscow, Hitler made the strategic decision to bypass Leningrad and strangle the city into submission rather than commit valuable resources to attacking it directly.
Within weeks, the city’s oil and coal supplies were exhausted. With no heat the water pipes froze and broke, denying the residents drinking water. Food supplies were cut. Reports of cannibalism began to appear. Thousands died – and the frozen earth meant their bodies could not be buried. Corpses accumulated in the city’s streets, parks and other open areas. To compound the misery, the Germans incessantly bombarded the city with air and artillery attacks. In the end, the  citizen’s of Leningrad prevailed.