Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Who murdered Sergei Kirov? The trigger was pulled by Leonid Nikolaev, also a
party member - hence his access to the building - and reportedly a disgruntled de-
votee of the displaced Zinoviev. But circumstantial evidence pointed the finger at
Stalin. Kirov's murder was the first act in a much larger drama. According to Stalin, it
proved that the party was infiltrated by saboteurs and spies. The ensuing police cam-
paign to uncover these hidden enemies became known as the Great Purges, which
consumed nearly the entire postrevolutionary Soviet elite. Leningrad intellectuals
were especially targeted. More than 50 Hermitage curators were imprisoned, includ-
ing the Asian art specialist, accused of being an agent of Japanese imperialism, and
the medieval armour specialist, accused of harbouring weapons. Successive waves of
arrest, exile and execution effectively transformed the Leningrad elite, making it
much younger, less assertive and more Soviet. When it was finally over, Stalin stood
as personal dictator of unrivalled power - even by tsarist standards.
Harrison Salisbury's
The 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad
is a fascinat-
ing forensic reconstruction of the Nazi blockade. It's not for those with a
passing interest in the blockade, but for those who want to vicariously suf-
fer through the darkest hours of the city.
The Siege
On 22 June 1941 Leningraders were basking in the summer solstice when Foreign
Minister Molotov interrupted state radio to announce an 'unprecedented betrayal in
the history of civilised nations'. That day, German Nazi forces launched a full-scale
military offensive across the Soviet Union's western borders. Stalin's refusal to be-
lieve that Hitler would break their nonaggression pact left Leningrad unprepared and
vulnerable.
The German code-name for its assault on Leningrad was Operation Nordlicht
(Operation Northern Lights). The Führer ordered his generals to raze the city rather
than incur the cost of feeding and heating its residents in winter. By July German
troops had reached the suburbs, inflicting a daily barrage of artillery bombardment
and aerial attacks. All Leningraders were mobilised around the clock to dig trenches,
erect barricades, board up buildings. The city's factories were dismantled, brick by
brick, and shipped to the other side of the Urals. Hermitage staff crated up Catherine's
collection for a safer interior location; what they did not get out in time was buried on
