The Longest and Worst Sieges in history

25. The siege of Leningrad caused horrendous civilian casualties

According to some historians, the loss of civilian life in the siege of Leningrad equated to genocide. 1.5 million Soviet civilians and soldiers died during the siege, with most of the civilian deaths attributed to starvation. Over 1 million additional civilians died of starvation while being evacuated from the city. The siege was the worst in history in terms of the numbers killed. Well over 500,000 Germans were killed in the siege before the Germans withdrew in the face of Russian counterattacks beginning in January, 1944. NKVD records, finally released in 2004, indicated cannibalism was wider spread in the city of horrors than previously believed. In April 1942 alone, the NKVD arrested more than 300 civilians for cannibalism. The majority were women.

Most of the city was destroyed by the German aerial and artillery bombardment, its infrastructure left in ruins and its people decimated. The United States Military Academy at West Point published a study which estimated more Soviet casualties that occurred during the siege than those suffered by the combined British and American armies for the entire war, including those in the Pacific Theater of Operations. There have been sieges of longer duration before and since Leningrad, including that of Kosovo, but none approach it in terms of human cost. The city has since been entirely rebuilt, with some historic sites restored. It is today known once again as St. Petersburg, as it had been under the Tsars.