Comments on: 65 years ago, was to lift the blockade of Leningrad

65 years ago, was to lift the blockade of Leningrad

zzazazz — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:42:07 -0800

Every day we go on to the streets, dying at his defenders who thought about us. About us, that they were not destined to see. But we can remember!

And imagine that the horror that the people was to survive.

WWII era Photographs, I assume, of Leningrad combined with current photographs. This era has also recently been portrayed effectively by David Benioff in his novel City of Thieves. Found the pictures via Warren Ellis who thinks the photographer may be Sergei Larenkov.

By: cowbellemoo

cowbellemoo — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:51:29 -0800

This is great.

By: thatbrunette

thatbrunette — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:59:53 -0800

Wow. Gently and beautifully done.

By: ClanvidHorse

ClanvidHorse — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:14:09 -0800

A great post. It is stuff like this that keeps me coming back to MeFi even when I am pissed off with it. Thanks. I've never seen anyone use that technique before. Also, what are the blimp/zeppelin type things? Anti-aircraft defences maybe?

By: brassafrax

brassafrax — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:19:27 -0800

Yup, barrage balloons.

By: Happy Dave

Happy Dave — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:38:14 -0800

Warren Ellis thinks they're Stalingrad (now Volvograd). Anyone speak Russian?

By: Tullius

Tullius — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:43:06 -0800

Ленинграда is Leningrad. From what I understand, there wouldn't be as much similarity between contemporary photos of Stalingrad and wartime photos.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 13:47:49 -0800

Amazing. Thank you for the link!

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:11:40 -0800

From what I understand, there wouldn't be as much similarity between contemporary photos of Stalingrad and wartime photos. My impression is that Stalingrad was destroyed much more completely, as it endured a lengthy siege. All the wartime photos of it I've seen are of mostly rubble with the odd chimney & wall. Interesting how much of Leningrad/Whateveritscallednow has endured.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:16:45 -0800

Amazing and moving. Thank you.

By: stFire

stFire — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:24:49 -0800

It's of st Petersburg (which in WWII indeed was Leningrad). Or atleast some of the photos are. The three before last are of Peter the great's statue found on the bank of the neva. (unless there's a copy in Stalingrad) Nevertheless, great pics.

By: bl1nk

bl1nk — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:41:59 -0800

Devil Rancher - a large reason why Leningrad survived the war was that the Germans never sought to assault the city and get bogged down in urban combat, as they did in Stalingrad. Instead, they blockaded it for nearly three years and drove some of the inhabitants towards cannibalism.

By: Faze

Faze — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:45:01 -0800

What a magnificent technique! I hope it catches on, and talented copycats do it just as well for every city in the world. (And these pictures are all unquestionably Leningrad/Petersburg, comrades.) Very moving.

By: KokuRyu

KokuRyu — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:23:18 -0800

These pictures, while astounding, also make me wonder about how history is used. Why specifically compare modern scenes with their siege/WWII counterparts? It might also be interesting to compare modern St Petersburg with photos taken in the 18th century.

By: Artw

Artw — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:23:30 -0800

Let me set my customary snark about Warren Ellis asside and say wow, because these are utterly amazing. And yes, that's St Petersburg. I can thoroughly recommend the Museum of the Leningrad siege. After seeing a brief mention in a guidebook I led my poor wife through slushy snow and what turned out to be a near-blizzard conditions so we could have a look at it, suffering footwear failures along the way and arriving after sunset - this turned out to be a good mood setter. Inside everything was in Russian with a minimum of English signage, so the museum attendants, ancient babushka types, enthusiastically led us around and told us the story of the siege. The didn't speak English either, so somehow They were very, very old to be working in a museum (not uncommon, since gangster-capitalists ate all the state apparatus that was to keep them in old age, so you see a lot of old ladies at coat stands in museums), and after a while we started wondering if they could have been old enough to be there. They certainly really hated the Germans in a way that surpassed the academic. The siege was harsh. Corpse eating harsh. Baby eating harsh. Rats and cats were distant happy memories for those guys. After the tour they offered us the opportunity to pose with rusty old machine-guns and have our pictures taken, which usually I'd be up for like a shot, but the siege had put a downer on it, so we tipped heavily and left instead. Then we drank lots of vodka in a basement bar decorated to look like the inside of a submarine.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:32:16 -0800

Re-posted at English Russia now with a bit of commentary translated into English, seems the artist is Sergei Larenkov. Superb concept.

By: pita

pita — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:50:29 -0800

by chance come across this a minute ago. historic value possibly less.