Evening star., 1942-09-17
Also leninorod

Also Leninerod
The prolonged struggle for Stalin-
grad, now seemingly reaching its tre-
mendous climax after many weeks Of
unremitting slaughter. tends to OBJ
scure another siege, 1000 miles to the
northward, about which compare
lively little has been said. Yet a cur
rent dispatch from Walter Kerr, Mos
COW correspondent of the New York
Herald Tribune, tells a story about
that second siege which surpasses
even the drama on the Volga in
tenacious heroism and stark horror.
The story was written to commemo-
rate the first full year Of the siege of
Leningrad. On September 1e. 1s41,
Field Marshal Ritter Won Leeb, COM
mander OF the German left wing in
Hitler's blitz attack on the Soviet
Union, forged the last link in the
chain OF steel which cut off all land
communication between the great
port-metropolis on the Gulf of Fin
land and the rest of Russia. ST.
multaneously, the Firms had forged
similar chain across the narrow pen
insula north of Leningrad which di-
vldes the Finnish Gulf from extensive
Lake Ladoga. Thus, Russias S historic
window to the west" created by
Peter the Great and bearing his name
until the former capital of the Tsars
was renamed after Lenin, the archi-
tect OF the Bolshevik Revolution. was
sorely beset. Supplies and reinforce
ments could reach it only by a
hazardous and insufficient water
route across Lake Ladoga, segments
OF whose shores remained in Russian
hands.
Leningrad is the second largest city
IN Russia. The census of 1899 gives
1t population of 100000. When
the siege began, those who had left
the city were probably replaced by
refugees from the German advance.
and there must have been a very
large garrison. The chances are that
nearly 100000 civilians and troops
were jammed into the city limits.
plus certain rural areas on its north
ern and eastern sides. This huge
mass OF humanity was thenceforth
subjected to all the horrors of mod
ern warfare. In some sectors the
German lines were close to the city.
which was Systematically bombarded
by heavy guns and flights of Stuka
bombers. Many OF the great ware
houses holding foods for three years
consumption were destroyed. AS the
terrible winter closed down, the pop
ulation suffered in unheated houses
and starved on rations which, for the
OLD and unemployable, ran down to
one and one-half slices of bread per
day. All the public services ceased to
junction. There was no electric light,
no running water, no sewage disposal.
The sick died in their homes or on
the streets for lack of medical and
hospital care. The Moscow censor
passes MIR. Kerr's appalling statement
that certainly more than 1000 900
did die, and I have heard the number
put as high as 100000"
Yet Leningrad has not surrendered.
and goes into its second year of siege
still full OF fight. During the past
week, the North Russian Army has
staged an offensive aimed at the mar
row corridor Of fortified territory
which chokes OF land communica-
tion with Leningrad, and the garrison
Is hammering at the other side.
During the summer, conditions in
Leningrad have naturally been easier,
ana when Lake Ladoga freezes
deeply, as it soon will, temporary rail-
way tracks can be laid across the ice.
as was done last winter. The forti-
flcations OF Leningrad are so strong
that the Germans have never been
able to storm them by frontal assault.
From all this, 1t would perhaps be
erroneous to argue that Stalingrad
can likewise hold out indefinitely.
The strategic conditions are not the
same. But the spirit is identical in
both cases. So it can be predicted
that Stalingrad will hold to the death
and inflict terrible price on the in
vaderS,