Evening star., 1943-01-20
Leninqrud Relieved


From every aspect the raising of
the siege Of Leningrad is ire
mendous achievement which should
have far-reaching consequences In
the first place, it reunites this great
metropolis, with its heavy industry
and port facilities, to the general
Russian war effort. For almost a
year and half, the population and
garrison have been unable to do
much more than hold out with
minimum of effort. Last winter,
supplies ran so low that an estimated
100000 persons died Of famine,
cold and disease. The trickle of
supplies obtainable by air and over
the surface Of Lake Ladoga was in
sufficient to make up deficits in mu-
nitions and food. Also, lack of oil
presumably kept the powerful Baltic
fleet virtually immobilized. All this
will be changed, and Leningrad
should soon be transformed into
base for aggressive action on the
northern end of the German battle
front, to say nothing of a possible
blow at Finland which might reopen
direct rail connections with Muir
mansk on the Arctic.
Now that the German strangle-
hold around Leningrad is broken, the
Axis high command may execute a
retirement from this entire north
ern salient, already endangered by
the Russian capture of Velikie Luki
with its threat to the communica-
tions Of the army before Leningrad.
That would bring Russian pressure
to the line of the Baltic States,
but the sacrifice might have to be
made in order to save the present
intermediate Axis defense front from
being caught and enveloped In a
gigantic pincer movement.
The intensive blasting of the
heavily fortified German corridor,
eight miles wide and tipped by the
fortress of Schluesselburg on the
southern shore Of Lake Ladoga,
seems to show that the Russian high
command has found the answer to
the German hedgehog defense. If
ever there was q hedgehog, this was
one. The entire area was a mass of
concrete pill boxes and strong points.
During most OF the year it was
further protested by surrounding
marshes. Only in the dead OF winter,
when sub-arctic iron frosts had
deeply frozen the bogs, could the
Russians have brought up heavy ar
tillery and tanks to do the job. The
attack was thus climatically well
timed.
That the Russians could have de-
livered such pulverizing assaults as
those on Velikie Luki and the Lenin-
grad corridor simultaneously with
their great offensives In the south
speaks volumes for their reserves OF
equipment and trained manpower.
1t looks as though the new industrial
centers beyond the Urals must be
functioning with tremendous eff
cheney, for the amounts of American
and British materiel received would
presumably not have repaired the
wastage Of last summers campaign
and yielded the abundant surplus
now being expended along the entire
eastern front. Russia's recuperative
and offensive power thus appears to
be much greater than had generally
been assumed by foreign observers.
The uplift to Russian morale and
the corresponding depression on the
Axis are likewise important factors
Leningrad was the birthplace of the
Red Revolution and it's industrial
workers were the shock troops of the
new order. The news of Leningrad's
liberation has electrified the whole
Soviet Union, energizing both the
armies and the civilian population
just at the moment when the latter
is passing through trying ordeal of
self-Sacrifice. SO momentouS a tri-
umph, coming as a climax to a string
Of successes on other fronts, will
make current privations seem su-
premely worth while and will psy-
chologically tighten the heaviest
burdens. Russian morale should be