The Penalty for Stealing Food was Death
When the food started to run low and starvation became rampant, stealing food was common. Bands of thieves would wander the streets to steal ration cards or food. Police struggled to keep up with the thefts and those who were caught faced stiff penalties. There were accounts of murder in order to get ration cards and even people who would pretend family members who had died of starvation still lived so that they could continue to collect their rations.
The Red Army did what they could to supply the city by sending trucks of food across the frozen lake Ladoga. These trucks faced air bombings by the Germans and many were blown to pieces before they could make it across the lake or delivered into the city. Soldiers would then quickly try and gather the food for placement on another truck or to bring to the city center. Sometimes people of the city would steal the food that was blown across the ground knowing that if caught they would face a firing squad. But it was the truck drivers that were the most common culprits of food theft. Once the city had run out of food the truck drivers were their only salvation. This meant that a truck driver who took food and sold it in the city could make a substantial sum. One truck driver who was caught stealing was told to kneel in the snow and then ten executioners fired upon him. By contrast a truck driver who was caught accepting a bribe for driving someone out of the city faced only 10 days in solitary confinement.
There were also punishments for those who engaged in cannibalism. During the siege a special police force was created to combat cannibalism but they still struggled to maintain order and prevent the people from eating the dead or killing the living for their flesh. However, after the siege was lifted all those who were believed to have engaged in cannibalism faced criminal charges and some were sentenced to death.