Leningrad, 1943

‘And then we took off.  The idea of going to Leningrad – after nearly 26 years – was hard to take in ..’

Alexander Werth (1901-1969) was born in Leningrad (then called St Petersburg), where he lived for the first sixteen years of his life.  His family fled to the United Kingdom after the Russian Revolution in 1917.  Mr Werth was a naturalized British author, journalist and war correspondent.  He wrote a number of books about pre-war France and, and Russia during World War II.  This book, written after his brief visit to Leningrad in 1943, was first published in London in 1944.  In his preface to the book, Mr Werth writes that two things encouraged him to write this book: firstly, he was the only British correspondent to have been in Leningrad during the blockade; and secondly, Leningrad was his native city.  The greater part of this book, Mr Werth wrote, is a record of all that he saw and heard during his visit.

‘Werth was the first foreign correspondent (and the first Westerner) to record what remains one of the great urban tragedies of World War II: the longest siege ever endured by a modern city, during which nearly 700,000 civilians starved to death.’
In his introduction to the book, Nicholas Werth (son of Alexander) writes that the book was intended primarily for a British audience.  At the time, with little awareness of what was happening in the east, the British generally would not have been aware of the courage and tenacity of their Soviet allies.  And would not have been aware that conditions were more desperate in Leningrad than in London and Paris as a consequence of food shortages and the cold.

‘Alexander Werth’s book sheds light on the numerous survival strategies adopted during the siege, not only by ordinary people but also heads of industry and even the municipal authorities.’

While Alexander Werth would not have directly experienced the reality of life under the siege, he met with a number of people (both civilians and soldiers) and visited a number of buildings (including the Leningrad Public Library and the Kirov works) and spoke with a number of people working there about their experiences of the siege.

I found this book both informative and moving.  While I have read a little about the siege of Leningrad, accounts of events from an individual personal perspective bring the siege to life in a way that descriptions of events alone cannot.   From reading accounts of the heroism of individuals, their determination to keep going: their patriotism becomes evident.  Images of horror and terror are evoked by reference to the bombing of hospitals, mass starvation, and instances of cannibalism.  These are stark reminders both of the brutality of 20th century war, and the suffering inflicted as a consequence.

‘And now, as you see, life is almost normal.  There is this shelling, of course, and people get killed, but life has become valuable again.’

When Alexander Werth first arrived in Leningrad, he was comparing what he saw with his memories of the city he had left almost 26 years earlier.  By the time he left, those memories were fainter and he was much more aware of the city through the eyes of those surviving in it.  So many people died during this siege and yet so many of the survivors never lost hope.  They, the heroes of Leningrad, worked hard to try to ensure the survival of as much of the city itself, and as many of its treasures and people as possible.

I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in Russia’s participation in World War II, and specifically in the impacts on Leningrad. We should never forget their courage.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher I. B. Tauris for the opportunity to read an  advance copy of this book.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I enjoyed this contemporary account of Leningrad during and after the WWII battle.  I was not familiar with the journalist, but his account was open and quite readable.  I wonder how much self-censorship he practiced to keep his position in the Soviet Union.  He paints a picture of a near worker's paradise struggling, and mildly inconvenienced by the Nazi battle.  In this paradise the women wear lipstick and smart suits, and the trams keep running.  Still Werth does let the people's pluck and determination to survive come through.  That is no doubt a faithful interpretation to the survivors' fortitude.

Alexander Werth was a British journalist and war correspondent, who had been born in Leningrad but had fled Russia with his family at age 16 in 1917. In 1943 he was allowed access to his native city, which was enduring the siege that lives on in the hearts and minds of Russians to this day. He was the first foreign correspondent and the first westerner to record what was happening and his first-hand account is both harrowing and deeply moving. However much one reads about the siege – and I’ve read a lot – every account offers something more and in its immediacy this one is a welcome addition to the many books that have been written since. Well worth reading.

A first hand account of the siege of Leningrad - by a Russian-born British journalist with native Russian language.  He knew the city well, having lived there from birth and throughout his childhood.  He described the city and its inhabitants under siege in such rich language that it comes alive for the reader decades later.  The many hardships suffered by the inhabitants are endured with an impressive level of stoicism. I've read other accounts of the siege, but Alexander Werth's account really makes it come alive.

Recommended.

SUMMARY of Review Alexander Werth’s Leningrad 1943: Inside a City Under Siege is a BBC journalist’s well-edited journal of his visit to Leningrad after major holes in the Axis (German) blockade made a visit possible. Leningrad 1943 is not a military history with an eye for tactics, and it does not take place during the worst parts of the siege; however, that should not dissuade you from reading this book. Werth’s ability to succinctly tell stories infused with details, facts, and historical information, and the author’s own personal attachments to Leningrad, makes for a highly compelling read. I am giving Leningrad 1943 five out of five stars because the prose, the stories, the historical details, and Werth’s personal inquiries brilliantly provide the reader with a portrait of the survivors of this bitter siege.

FULL REVIEW:

“In this book I have recorded in detail what I saw and heard, but refrained from drawing too many conclusions. Let the details in their cumulative effect speak for themselves.” (Preface)

Alexander Werth, a BBC War correspondent in the Soviet Union, in September 1943 reports to work in the northern reaches of the Soviet Union, Leningrad also known as St. Petersburg, Russia’s window into Europe. By 1943 the city had endured a ceaseless siege, where the Germans and Finnish armies isolated the city from the world. The solders, as well as women, children, and the elderly survived shellings, fires, diseases, and famines to save their city – they would not surrender. Just how bad was the siege? The author accounts that between September 1941 and July 1942 between 650,000 – 700,000 residents died, “a mortality rate 15 times the peacetime average.”

This book is a well-edited diary of journalist’s notes, and takes place after the worst of the siege, in 1943, when serious holes were made in the German and Finnish contra and counter valences. Though Werth’s visit was no cakewalk, it certainly is not an account of a Leningrad in the midst of the worst moments of the siege. Werth considers the cost of the siege, and whether or not it was worth the loss of life, while also highlighting stories of citizens who survived the worst of the siege.

Given that Leningrad 1943 is a journal, it is full of contemplations that time has made complete: “Perhaps, in the course of years, when thoughts of the siege and the blockade fade in people’s memories, they may again colloquially refer to the city by its own name: but it was significant that throughout my stay not one person would have called the city Petrograd or St. Petersburg.” 

Why did Werth care about the name of the city? He was born and raised in St. Petersburg, prior to the Bolsheviks rise to power. As a young boy he fled Russia, moving throughout Europe, and eventually became a BBC war correspondent stationed in the Soviet Union. In addition to recounting the story of those who survived the siege, Werth’s rells insightful personal moments, for example, when he climbs the stairs of his old apartment, discovering what it had become. I immediately identified with Werth’s personal reasons for being in Leningrad – St. Petersburg – names he interchanges depending on the stories he is recounting.

The author, obviously interested in the role books and news played in Leningrad during the war, meets with librarians, teachers, and writers. One resident recounts: “The Leningrad Public Library was of great help to us in the blockade. People went there at first – actually before the blockade began – and studied every conceivable book on the sieges of towns. Then during the blockade there were no matches in Leningrad; scientists and other went the to the Public Library…” St. Petersburg, a town much like London, rich in literary history, found comfort in their books; and similar to London, turned to their own music, like Tchaikovsky.

Werth visits the “hedgehog” – mostly civilian built – frontlines where the Red Army was holding back the Finns and Germans. He tours the Kirov factory, where soviet workers endure sever shellings, yet return to the factory to fuel the war effort. At one point, the author visit’s a boys’ school and asks the pupils: “’Can anybody tell me anything about America?’ Two hands went up. One of the boys said, ‘They’ve got skyscrapers 150 stories high.’ ‘They make a lot of trucks for the Red Army.’ ‘We get American chocolate.’ ‘The Americans are very rich,’ came the replies. ‘Have any of you ever seen an American?’ Nobody had.” Each adventure is carefully recounted, letting the “details speak for themselves.”

The details add up to a city of indomitable strength; a city pulled between its European St. Petersburg-past and its Soviet Leningrad-now. Werth, with a journalist’s keen eye for making details captivate hearts, tells the poignant stories of the people of Leningrad, the citizens and soldiers, who made daily personal sacrifices for the betterment of their city, a city which would indeed be referred to by “future generations as St. Petersburg.” 

Alexander Werth’s Leningrad 1943: Inside a City Under Siege, is an outstanding, personal account of a time and a place history should not soon forget. Werth’s expertise as a journalist shines brilliantly, as he documents stories providing an emotional and vibrant glimpse into Leningrad as the Axis’s siege was grinding to a halt. I am giving Leningrad 1943 five out of five stars because the prose, the stories, the historical details, and Werth’s personal inquiries brilliantly provide the reader with a portrait of the survivors of this bitter siege of St. Petersburg.

Tags: WWII, Eastern Front, Russian Campaign, Operation Barbarossa, Leningrad, St. Petersburg, Soviet Union, Russia, Siege Warfare, Diary, Journal, Journalist’s Account of War, Leningrad Blockade, Siege of Leningrad, Russian Front of WWII, Famine, Cannibalism, Literature and War, Music and War, Stalin, Post-War Recovery, Civilian Stories, Children and War