Being there . . . among the countless other World War II Eastern Front buffs who havevicariously lived through, fought on the outskirts of, and miraculously survived the 900-daySiege of Leningrad, the 1943 – 1944 “Hero City”. During those two years alone (really 1941 –1944), it is estimated more than a million non-combatants died of bombings or starvation. Noteven Stalingrad, Kursk, Warsaw, London, Amsterdam, or Cassino suffered such frightful humandisaster. As all serious military know, the “siege” of Leningrad was really not a “siege” but ablockade systematically imposed on Hitler’s personal order to crush a heroic Soviet city and itspopulation of mainly women and children. The Fuhrer saw it, and Stalingrad, as the definingtests between Germany’s National Socialism and Russian Communism. Either Hitler or Stalinwould rule Europe after the colossal struggle.A MAJOR BLUNDER BY HITLER ON THE EASTERN FRONT IN EARLY WORLD WAR II WASBELIEVING THAT LENINGRAD, IF ENCIRCLED, WOULD “. . . FALL LIKE A FALLEN LEAF”. SOMEPLANT STEM-INCREDIBLE FOLIAGE! INEXORABLE GERMAN GRIP-TIGHTENING, BITTER WINTERBLIZZARDS, FUEL AND FOOD SHORTAGES, DISEASE, IDIOTIC FRONTLINE STRATEGIES WASTINGLIVES, 20-TON PANZER IVs, 3,000 OF THEM REMAING STATIONARY, EVEN HINTS OF LENINGRADCANNIBALISM COULDN’T DENT FIERCE SOVIET PRIDE, RESOLUTENESS, AND TENACITY. WHILEHITLER WATCHED, WAITED, AND WONDERED ABOUT THE “DAMMED LEAF THAT REFUSED TOFALL”, LENINITES QUIETLY DUG GRAVES FOR THE GERMAN DEAD – – ALLOW AUTHOR PRITBUTTAR’S STUNNING “HERO CITY – – LENINGRAD 1943 – 44” (OSPREY PUBLISHING), USINGRECENTLY RELEASED SOVIET SOURCE MATERIAL TO DESCRIBE IN EXCRUITING PAINFULCHAPTERS WHAT A HELLHOLE THE GREAT CITY OF THE CZARS HAD BECOME.Reviewed and highly, highly recommended as a satisfying Christmas gift by Don DeNevi“HERO CITY – – Leningrad 1943 – 1944”, by Prit Buttar. OSPREY PUBLISHING: 2024, 464 pages,hardcover, fully illustrated, maps, 6 ¼” x 9 ½”, $40. Visit, www.ospreypublishing.com, or, E-mail:info@ospreypublishing.com.No less than renowned and reputed WWII authors Iain MacGregor, “The Lighthouse ofStalingrad”, and Peter Caddick-Adams, “Monty and Rommel: Parallel Lives” (2012), concur thatPrit Buttar’s “Hero City – – Leningrad 1943 – 1944” (2024) may well be the final, definitive wordon the city’s fate.“Hero City” draws upon German archives to detail the horrific fighting conditions endured byordinary German soldiers. Yet, says Prit, it is also a searing indictment of the complicity of theWehrmacht forces in war crimes that have forever stained the ground in and around the greatcity. The able author argues the final two years of the blockade are defined by the slow andsteady degradation of the German fighting ability. “Not even the greatest army in the world cancontinue to fight if skilled and experienced soldiers cannot be replaced or the logistics. But evenStalin failed to exploit their numerical, and increasingly material advantage throughout 1943,
until their fighting ability steadily improved.”
Following on from his first volume, “To Besiege a City: Leningrad 1941 – 1942”, theauthor, in “Hero City”, charts the tactical and strategic successes and failures on both sides untilthe final Soviet victory in 1944. A victory not only for the city of Leningrad, but indeed, for thewhole USSR, its echoes continue to define both Russia and its politics today.Note: Buttar’s Volume 1, “To Besiege a City – – Leningrad 1941 – 1942”,is still available from Osprey. Wouldn’t both wrapped as one joyfully surprise and please the
recipient? Visit, www.ospreypublishing.com.
