The Road of Life

The Road of Life

After heavy and fierce battles, the Red Army units overcame the powerful German fortified zones to the south of Lake Ladoga, and on 18 January the two fronts met, opening a land corridor to the besieged city.

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The Road of Life (Доро́га жи́зни, doroga zhizni) was the ice road winter transport route across the frozen Lake Ladoga, which provided the only access to the. The Road of Life. At first, I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die.

The city of Leningrad was still subject to at least a partial siege, as well as air and artillery bombardment, until a Soviet offensive broke through the German lines, lifting the siege on 27 January For the heroic resistance of its citizens, Leningrad was the first city awarded the honorary title of Hero City in Although the Russians had previous historical experience in ice road construction an ice railroad had been laid over the Kola River near Murmansk during World War I , and another over a portion of Lake Baikal during the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway , [2] none of their prior endeavors were as complicated or as urgent as the Ladoga supply route.

A foot of ice [30 cm] would be laid down in 24 days at 23 above. Although only a foot of ice was required to support mass transit along the route, the actual thickness of the ice typically ranged from 3—5 feet [91— centimetres], a density thick enough for nearly any task. Once the route had been confirmed and tested for stability, larger plows and snow carving machines were then used to widen the ice road and make it more suitable for automobile transport.

Road of Life

As soon as the ice hardened, the Road of Life was reconstructed again in the winter of , and once more in the following winter of In total the ice road was used to ship more than , tons of goods, mostly rations and fodder, into Leningrad. In the first winter of the siege the ice road operated until 23 April On 23 April , three cars carrying onions crossed the nearly melted route, delivering the last supplies to reach Leningrad via ice road that year.

In the summer, with the start of the navigable period, deliveries to the city continued thanks to the Ladoga Military Flotilla. In the Road of Life was replaced by the Road of Victory — a railway, laid on the narrow path conquered during operation Iskra from Leningrad to Volkhov.

Now the Road of Life, within the limits of Saint Petersburg , is often referred to as Ryabovskoe Highway, but within Vsevolozhsk , the Road of Life is the official name. In total there are seven monuments along the Road of Life, 46 memorial poles along the road, and 56 memorial poles along the railway.

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Homer Harris

March Learn how and when to remove this template message. The Siege of Leningrad.

Life and Death in Besieged Leningrad, Temperatures frequently dropped far below zero degrees, freezing the lake and turning it into an escape and supply route. Engineers and local fishermen developed a construction plan for a road across the ice.

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A reconnaissance group on skis explored and marked possible routes. Places with thin ice were bridged using tree trunks and crushed blocks of ice. That was how the legendary ice road - officially named Military Road No. It was known by the residents of Leningrad as the "Road of Life".

Horse-drawn sleighs were the first vehicles on the ice road. Starving horses had to pull goods and people along the treacherous snow-covered path. Not all managed to finish the distance. But, many horses with urgently needed food returned to the city. When the last stocks of flour ran out, bakers tried to make bread substitutes with dust.

Eventually, trucks with food also began to drive across the ice road. The first ones to return loaded with goods were welcomed with cheers as well as tears. But, in the first two weeks alone, trucks broke through the ice and sank. The drivers - among them many young women - delivered their vital supplies to the starving city. Even totally exhausted they continued their work.

They had to fight against hunger, cold and the danger of falling asleep at the wheel. The truckers attached cooking pots on the front of the cab so that the noise would keep them awake. During the winter of , the daily bread ration in Leningrad was only grams per person. Contemporary witnesses claim that the piece of bread displayed in St.

Passage across the ice

Petersburg's Road of Life museum is significantly larger than the bread ration at the time. The bread was made of a mixture unthinkable today and contained bark, bran, pomace, pine needles and a bit of flour. During the second winter of the siege, thousands were evacuated across the ice road.

Teksuo - The Road Of Life (Official Video)

People had to wait at Leningrad's Finland train station for the next opportunity to leave the city. But there wasn't enough space on the trains to bring all the people to the lake. Many of them — mainly children — died before they could start their journey across the frozen lake.