Siege of Leningrad
Background Information - Angela Garcelon
City of Leningrad
Pre War
Before Leningrad was put under the barricade, people took everything for granted. The hadn't realized how good food scraps could be when you are starving (pg. 7).
During the War
When Lev first saw his apartment building, Kirov, he was devastated. All the people he had grown up with and come to known well, were dead (pg. 68).
Post War
Once Soviet soldiers broke through the German defences, Leningrad was finally not alone. They took back many towns and cities that the Germans had previously raided.
Horrors of War
During WWII, people had to do things that would be considered morally wrong normily. One thing they did was they were forced to eat other humans due to no food coming into the city. Another thing they did was they would starve dogs after training them that food was under tanks. Then they would put bombs on their backs causing when they would let the dogs out, they would run to the enemy tanks and then blow up the dogs. They also would kill for a chance to eat real food.
Horrors of War #2
In The City of Thieves, Lev and Kolya find a well taken care of house one night on their journey. When they knock on the door, they figure out the house is filled with women the Germans use for entertainment. The women take them in and feed them. They tell them the story of a girl that was once with them, Zoya. She was only 14 when they had taken her. once they got to the house, Zoya would not stop crying for days on end. One day the crying stopped. This is when they noticed that she was gone. When the Germans came that night, they were pissed that one of the girls had escaped. The leader sent his men searching for her. They found her shortly and brought her back. They tied her up and held her down. The leader took a wood saw and used it to cut Zoya's feet off. The women then knew what would happen if they tried to leave.