bb8s:

history meme | ten moments; symphony no. 7 played during the siege of leningrad (august 9, 1942)

The 872 day siege of Leningrad caused the greatest destruction and the largest loss of life ever known in a modern city. The siege is the most lethal in world history, and some historians speak of the siege operations in terms of genocide, as a “racially motivated starvation policy” that became an integral part of the unprecedented German war of extermination. On 9 August 1942, the Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad“ by Dmitri Shostakovich was performed by the Leningrad Radio Orchestra. The score had passed the German lines by air one night in March 1942. The concert was broadcast on loudspeakers placed throughout the city and also aimed towards the enemy lines. This was the date initially chosen by Hitler to celebrate the taking of Leningrad. {x}