Blockade

Lydia Leonidovna Slonimskaya's memories of the blockade were written immediately after the war, based on diary entries and family correspondence. They are subjective, like any memoirs, but their candor, and sometimes harshness, stems from a love for her native Petersburg - Leningrad, her roots, family, and dear ones. Their confidential tone allows one to feel the time of war, difficult to describe, and to mentally try to put oneself in the shoes of Leningraders fighting for their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
«…My husband and I - we are both dead people. I know that I have taken on an impossible task. The blockade awaits its bard - like the scale of Dostoevsky and Blok. I have only described our shared lot of misfortunes and the scenes and encounters that came my way» (quote from the book)
On the cover: A burnt house on Ligovsky Avenue. 1942. Photo by Sergey Strunnikov (1907–1944).