What is it about?
The siege of Leningrad constituted one of the most dramatic episodes of World War II, one that individuals and the state began to commemorate almost immediately. Official representations of 'heroic Leningrad' omitted and distorted a great deal. Nonetheless, survivors struggling to cope with painful memories often internalized, even if they did not completely accept, the state's myths, and they often found their own uses for the state's monuments. Tracing the overlap and interplay of individual memories and fifty years of Soviet mythmaking, this book contributes to understandings of both the power of Soviet identities and the delegitimizing potential of the Soviet Union's chief legitimizing myths. Because besieged Leningrad blurred the boundaries between the largely male battlefront and the predominantly female home front, it offers a unique vantage point for a study of the gendered dimensions of the war experience, urban space, individual memory, and public commemoration.
Featured Image
Photo by Vladimir Vereshchagin on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Tracing the development of Soviet commemorations of World War II and the siege of Leningrad in particular from 1941–1995, the book examines the role of local identities in the eventual delegitimization of Soviet identities.
Perspectives
My goal in writing this book was to explore how individuals who lived through the trauma of the siege tried to cope with and make sense of their experiences.
Professor Emerita Lisa A Kirschenbaum
West Chester University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Legacy of the Siege of Leningrad, 1941–1995, September 2006, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/cbo9780511511882.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
