November 18th 1941
The beginning of laying the “Road of Life”. During the Great Patriotic War, the 88th separate bridge-building battalion began ice reconnaissance of Lake Ladoga with the aim of creating an ice road to besieged Leningrad. Work to create the route, which led about 20 thousand people, began in October. On November 19, an order was signed for the troops of the Leningrad Front “On the organization of a road and tractor road across Lake Ladoga.”
On November 22, the first convoy of GAZ-AA trucks entered the ice. The ice road, which became known as Military Automobile Road No. 101 (VAD-101), began operating on November 26, 1941. The entire road had to be moved to a new track due to ice fatigue. And during the first month of work, the road was transferred to new routes four times, and some sections of it even more often. Trucks regularly delivered food
The route was laid out and marked with milestones. The Ice Road was a well-organized highway that provided drivers with confident driving at high speed. The track was served by 350 traffic controllers, whose tasks included dispersing cars, indicating the direction of movement, monitoring the safety of ice and other duties. The road has become a complex engineering structure. Its builders made road signs, milestones, portable shields, bridges, built bases, warehouses, heating and medical stations, food and technical assistance stations, workshops, telephone and telegraph stations, and adapted various means of camouflage. This work required dedication and courage, as it had to be carried out under any conditions - severe frosts, freezing winds, blizzards, shelling and enemy air raids. In addition, lighthouse lanterns with blue glass were installed - first at every 450-500 m, and then at 150-200 m
On November 24, 1941, the Military Council of the Leningrad Front adopted resolution No. 00419 “On the construction of Military Highway No. 102 (VAD-102).” Thus, now the delivery of goods to Leningrad began to be carried out along two roads.
The road consisted of two ring routes, each of which had two separate directions of movement - for freight traffic (to the city) and for empty traffic or evacuation (from the city). The first route for transporting goods to the city ran along the route Zhikharevo - Zhelannye - Troitskoye - Lavrovo - station. Lake Ladoga, the length of the route was 44 km; for empty vehicles and evacuation from the city - Art. Lake Ladoga or Borisova Griva - Vaganovsky Descent - Lavrovo - Gorodishche - Zhikharevo with a length of 43 km. The total length of the flight along the first ring road was 83 km.
The second route for cargo transportation ran along the route Voybokalo - Kobona - Vaganovsky Spusk - station. Lake Ladoga or Borisova Griva (58 km) and for empty or evacuation - station. Lake Ladoga or Borisova Griva - Vaganovsky descent - Lavrovo - Babanovo - Voybokalo (53 km). The total length of the second ring route was 111 km. The former Tikhvin - Novaya Ladoga highway ceased to function, but was maintained in working order.
Despite frosts and snowstorms, enemy artillery fire and air strikes, and the enemy’s occupation of Tikhvin on November 8, the movement of freight vehicles did not stop for almost a single day. In November-December, 16,449 tons of cargo were delivered along the route.
The “Road of Life” is not only a route on the ice of the lake, it is a path that had to be overcome from the railway station on the western shore of the lake to the railway station on the eastern shore and back. The road worked until the last possible opportunity. In mid-April, the air temperature began to rise to 12 - 15°C and the ice cover of the lake began to quickly collapse. A large amount of water accumulated on the surface of the ice. For a whole week - from April 15 to 21 - the vehicles walked through solid water, in some places up to 45 cm deep. On the last trips, the vehicles did not reach the shore and carried the loads by hand. Further movement on the ice became dangerous, and on April 21 the Ladoga Ice Route was officially closed, but in fact it functioned until April 24, as some drivers, despite the order to close the route, continued to travel on Ladoga. When the lake began to open up and traffic on the highway stopped, highway workers moved 65 tons of food products from the eastern to the western shore. In total, during the winter of 1941/42, 361,109 tons of various cargoes were delivered to Leningrad along the ice route, including 262,419 tons of food.
This was forty years ago. Having failed to capture Leningrad by storm without overcoming its defenses, the enemy hoped for the city's quick death from starvation as a result of a complete blockade. Obviously, the German command did not even think about the possibility of organizing any serious communication across Lake Ladoga. But the concept of the impossible became very relative when it came to saving Leningrad. For 152 days, from November 22, 1941 to April 24, 1942, and 98 days, from December 23, 1942 to March 30, 1943, there was a Road of Life - an ice route laid along Lake Ladoga, along which the city received the most necessary things in order to live and fight. Chauffeur Ivan Vasilievich Maksimov from the first to the last day he drove cars with cargo for Leningrad and took people out. He tells how it happened. Photographs of the war years, collected by participants in the Ladoga epic, explain his story.
They don't know on earth yet
Scarier and more joyful than the road.
“On the night of November 22, the first column of ten vehicles descended from the western shore onto the ice. I was in this column. It was a dark and windy night over the lake. There was no snow yet, and the black stripes of the ice field often seemed like open water. I won’t hide it, fear froze our hearts, our hands were shaking: probably both from tension and from weakness - for four days, like all Leningraders, we received biscuit a day... But our convoy had just been in Leningrad. And I saw how people died from hunger... Salvation was on the eastern shore. We understood that we had to get there at any cost. Not all the cars reached the shore, but the first group move was completed. I even remembered the first hot soup that we received. The next day these cars were heading back , bringing bread to Leningraders. While the ice was thin, it was impossible to fully load the car. We adapted to the situation - we used sleigh trailers to reduce the load on the ice.
The first flights are etched in my memory as the most difficult. We drove slowly, tensely, as if testing the way... After a few days, we took a closer look, felt the road, and gained confidence.
The harsh winter of 1941 seemed to be rushing to our rescue. Every day the ice became thicker and stronger. Traffic intensity and vehicle loading increased. For the first month I did not leave my car. It was also my home... Having crossed the lake, I quickly handed over the cargo, drove to the side, covered the “front” with the cabin with a tarpaulin in order to retain the heat from the hot engine longer, and fell asleep. After two or three hours I woke up from the cold, started the engine, took the cargo and went on the flight again.
People from Leningrad were transported from the western to the eastern shore. These flights were the most stressful and painful for me. Exhausted from hunger, people lay and sat motionless, seemingly indifferent. There were cases when paramedics, removing people from a car, reported that someone had died on the road. From pity, anger and grief, my heart sank, a lump came to my throat... I was always in a hurry when I was traveling with people, it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to do everything in time and I was terribly afraid of delays on the road.
At the end of December the number of flights increased. When counting, I was among the leading ones. Once on the eastern bank, in Kobon, where food warehouses were located, before the vehicle was unloaded, I was called to the commander and presented with a gift from the Leningraders. These were warm things. Squeezing the gift in my hands, I listened to the words of gratitude, but in response I could not say a single word... I did not cry, only tears flowed and flowed down my cheeks.
I was given a day of rest. They sent me to the sanitary station - within a month I was so overgrown that I couldn’t even see my eyes, a long beard had grown, my clothes had become salty and stiff. This was the first break since the start of work on the ice track.
The road was quickly developed. Mass transportation began. Trucks on the highway traveled in blizzards and blizzards, day and night, often falling into ice holes pierced by bombs and shells, dying before reaching the shore, or drowning. But despite incredible difficulties, food delivery did not stop. Soon we even abandoned camouflage, and at night, with headlights on, cars walked in a continuous stream.
The road was under fire all the time. However, most of the bombs and shells fell nearby. The drivers maneuvered and changed speed. The road workers immediately found new, workarounds or “patched” the road - they laid wooden walkways and froze the decking. The route was destroyed, but the road continued to live.
Driving on ice itself was difficult and dangerous. Under the influence of strong winds and changes in the water level in the lake, frequent movements of the ice fields occurred, and ice mountains, sometimes five to ten meters high, appeared along the way. Cracks and fissures appeared. It was necessary to build a lot of switchboards and walkways. During the winter of 1941 - 1942, the bridge-building battalion installed 147 prefabricated bridges on the ice of the lake, capable of withstanding the weight of not only loaded vehicles, but even tanks.
Gradually, the road, one might say, became settled. Along the route, tents and snow houses appeared for road workers and repairmen who lived here to come to the aid of the drivers at any moment. In such houses, “potbelly stoves” were installed, and telephone cables were pulled to them.
At the seventh kilometer of the route there was a tent for a sanitary and medical station. Olya Pisarenko, a military paramedic, lived there throughout the harsh winter. She surprised even the Ice Road veterans with her courage and endurance. She worked without rest or sleep, often under severe fire providing medical assistance to the wounded and frostbitten.
One day, her section of the road was bombed by sixteen fascist planes. Bombs riddled the highway. Olya fell into a hole. With difficulty they helped her get out, but she did not leave the track, she was barely alive and frostbitten, she continued to help the wounded.
A front actually passed along the highway. And every flight completed was like a battle won. The track was extremely busy. Here are entries from the diary of the headquarters of the 64th regiment, whose personnel were always on the ice and servicing the road.
“On November 23, 1941, several horses and cars fell through the ice.
5th of December. Fascist air raid on the fourteenth kilometer... A car with gasoline was set on fire. Between the tenth and fifteenth kilometers, thirty shells exploded, and about one hundred and forty bombs were dropped along the entire route. Between the twentieth and twenty-fifth kilometers a longitudinal crack formed."
Despite everything, traffic along the highway did not stop. Immediately after the raids, road workers went out onto the ice, laying new roads. Immediately the traffic controllers ran to the cars, showing the drivers a new path. And the traffic controllers were Leningrad Komsomol girls. They stood in the icy wind or snow at a distance of 350-400 meters from each other during the day with flags, and at night with lit bat lanterns. They kept their heroic watch around the clock in any weather.
In January, heavy anti-aircraft artillery could be installed on the strengthened ice. When it appeared, it was almost impossible for the enemy to precisely bomb the road.
The route was covered by troops of the Ladoga air defense region, anti-aircraft artillery and fighter aviation regiments of the front and navy, soldiers of rifle units and marines, border troops and an NKVD division. All approaches to the Ice Road were mined. As a result of all these measures, the flow of goods to Leningrad increased every day.
A team was even organized to lift cars and tanks from the bottom of the lake. After repairs, they returned to service again.
Road participants rejoiced at every increase in rations for Leningraders. On December 25 there was the first increase in the bread quota. The minimum was 250 grams per day for workers, 125 grams for everyone else. But already in April, Leningraders were given an average of half a kilogram of bread and the norms for other products were increased. The city lived and continued to fight.
In April, the snow began to melt, the water rose, and it filled the ruts of the road. That's when our torment began. You start slipping or braking a little, and the ice beneath you goes into the water. On April 24, the route was closed.
The legendary Road of Life existed for 152 days.
Tributes to our memory of war heroes sometimes bypass the names of those who ensured victory in the rear. But in vain.
interesting additions to the discussion a year ago -
The road of life. The road of life. The “Road of Life,” the only military strategic transport route that connected besieged Leningrad with the country in September 1941 and March 1943, passed through Lake Ladoga. During navigation periods... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"
The road of life- In 1941 1942 this was the name of the road on the ice of Lake Ladoga, which connected Leningrad, blocked by German troops, with the “Mainland”, i.e. the rear. Food and ammunition were delivered to the city along this road, and they were taken out of the city along it... ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions
The road of life- the only military strategic transport route that connected besieged Leningrad with the country in September 1941, March 1943, passed through Lake Ladoga. During navigation periods, transportation along the “D. and." were carried out along the water route... ... St. Petersburg (encyclopedia)
THE ROAD OF LIFE- during the Great Patriotic War, the only transport route through Lake Ladoga. (during periods of navigation on water, in winter on ice), connecting from September 1941 to March 1943 blockaded Leningrad with the country ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
The road of life- ROAD, and, f. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
THE ROAD OF LIFE- during the Great Patriotic War, the only transport route across Lake Ladoga (during periods of navigation on water, in winter on ice), connecting blockaded Leningrad with the country in September 1941-March 1943. Source: Encyclopedia Oteche...Russian history
THE ROAD OF LIFE- ROAD OF LIFE, during the Great Patriotic War, the only transport route across Lake Ladoga (during periods of navigation on water, in winter on ice), connecting from September 1941 to March 1943 blockaded Leningrad with the country ... encyclopedic Dictionary
The road of life- A memorial kilometer sign on the Kushelevka Piskarevka railway section, near the Bogoslovskoe cemetery “Road of Life” during the Great Patriotic War, the only transport route across Lake Ladoga. During periods of navigation on water, ... ... Wikipedia
The road of life- (“Road of Life”), the only military strategic transport route across Lake Ladoga, connecting from September 1941 to March 1943 Leningrad, blocked by Nazi troops, with the rear regions of the country during the Great... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The road of life- Book High The route on the ice of Lake Ladoga, along which during the Great Patriotic War besieged Leningrad was supplied with food and weapons. The victories near Leningrad helped create the Road of Life on the ice of Ladoga, which saved many... ... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Literary Language
Books
- Road of Life, Lindes Emma Category: Miscellaneous Publisher: Nestor-History, Manufacturer: Nestor-History, Buy for 770 UAH (Ukraine only)
- The Road of Life, Lindes Emma, 1970. Former Cambridge graduate, handsome Conrad Helldorf returns to his native Berlin to find out the truth about his father, who died before his birth in the fall of 1944. Conrad’s new life... Category: Contemporary foreign prose Publisher:
The only way, other than ineffective aviation, for evacuating people from besieged Leningrad, as well as for delivering provisions and military cargo back to the city in September-November 1941, was Lake Ladoga, along which ships of the Ladoga Flotilla sailed daily. However, it was obvious that the German ring around the city would not be broken before the onset of cold weather, and in order to avoid the possibility of a complete blockade of Leningrad in winter, it was necessary to find a way out as soon as possible. And such a solution was found - this is the idea of creating ice crossings across Lake Ladoga, which later received the name “Road of Life”.
At first, many were quite skeptical about this idea, since they doubted that the ice would be able to carry the huge amount of cargo that was going to be transported through it. The Germans did not believe in this either; in the leaflets scattered over Leningrad they literally wrote the following: “it is impossible to supply the million-strong population and the army across the ice of Lake Ladoga.” However, leaving a city of three million without supplies for the whole winter actually meant dooming its inhabitants to certain death, and work on creating an ice crossing began. First, as a result of the titanic work of the Logistics Directorate on the Leningrad Front, all the information available at that time about the transportation of heavy cargo on ice, as well as about the ice regime specifically on Lake Ladoga, was collected in less than a month. As a result of these studies, the most suitable route for the crossing was Novaya Ladoga - Chernoushevo - Lemassar - Kobona. On November 20, 1941, the first horse-drawn carts went along the “Road of Life,” and a day later the famous GAZ-AA (one and a half trucks).
Despite the fact that it seemed that a huge amount of theoretical preparation had been carried out before the creation of the ice crossing, and besides, the winter of 1941-1942 was very harsh and snowy, Lake Ladoga presented an unpleasant surprise. It often happened that a convoy of trucks loaded to capacity covered the route without any problems, and the light vehicle following them fell through the ice. Moreover, it failed instantly, leaving no chance for the people inside. This was due to the phenomenon of resonance, little studied at that time, or rather a flexural-gravitational wave, in order to avoid which, all cars were ordered to travel at a strictly defined speed. After several such cases, the crossing received its second, more terrible name - “Death Road”.
The Germans also did not forget about the “Road of Life”, regularly carrying out air raids and artillery strikes on the lake, since their positions were literally a few kilometers from the crossing. Therefore, many lorry drivers, when driving at night, drove without turning on their headlights, in order to somehow protect themselves from air strikes; one might say that they were driving almost blindly. The drivers who worked on the “Road of Life” deserve a separate story. They spent 12 hours behind the wheel in terrible cold (most even drove with the doors open so they could jump out in case of falling through the ice), making 5-7 flights a day across the entire Lake Ladoga, but at the same time they received the same meager rations, like ordinary blockade survivors. However, none of them complained, since everyone understood how important their work was for the siege survivors and the soldiers who defended Leningrad.
The ice crossing in the winter of 1942-1943 posed an even greater danger than the year before. As a result of a mild winter with frequent thaws, the ice often broke, and this led to an even greater number of failures, but the “Road of Life”, even in such conditions, continued to operate until April 24, 1943, that is, even after the siege of Leningrad was lifted. In just two years, according to official statistics, more than 640 thousand people were evacuated across the ice of Lake Ladoga, 575 thousand tons of various cargo were delivered to the city, and about 300 thousand soldiers and officers were transported to the Leningrad Front. That is, it is obvious that the creation of the “Road of Life” in November 1941 was one of the key factors, which, at least minimally, made it possible to provide food for the city residents and Leningrad defense soldiers, and this in turn directly influenced the overall outcome of the Battle of Leningrad.
…………………………………………
Lake Ladoga, Road of Life, Osinovets.
In September, on one of the days when in St. Petersburg they remembered the beginning of the blockade 70 years ago, I went to Lake Ladoga. There, on the coast in the village of Osinovets, there is a museum of the Road of Life. This museum is a branch of the Central Naval Museum, and, as its director says, is the most visited museum in the Leningrad region.
At the Ladoga Lake station, where I arrived by train from the Finlyandsky Station, there is a memorial steam locomotive ESH-4375. During the war years, such vehicles carried cargo and passengers to Lake Ladoga. The motto on board is: “Everything for the front, everything for victory!”
On the memorial plaque “Eshki”, as the railway workers affectionately called this locomotive, it is written: “On this locomotive in the period 1941-1942, the Komsomol-youth brigade of the locomotive depot TCH-12 consisting of: senior driver Vasily Eliseev, assistant driver Ivan Belyaev, fireman Boris Alexandrov, as part of a locomotive column, delivered 2,312 heavy trains with 2 million tons of ammunition, fuel and food to besieged Leningrad and for the front. Honor and glory to the heroic railway workers for their courageous work on the “Road of Life.”
Along the railway track from St. Petersburg to the station there are memorial kilometer poles, one of them is in the foreground.
The Road of Life was the only transport route across Lake Ladoga during the Great Patriotic War. During periods of navigation - on water, in winter - on ice. Connected besieged Leningrad with the country from September 12, 1941 to March 1943. The road laid on ice is often called the Ice Road of Life (officially - Military Highway No. 101). During the Great Patriotic War it was called "Road of Death".
The original building of the Ladoga Lake station station. In the same building there is a museum dedicated, naturally, to the Road of Life.
I left his visit until the next time, since I learned about him shortly before the return train to St. Petersburg departed.
After walking a little along the road behind the station building, I reached Lake Ladoga.
Ladoga amazes with its size. Water all the way to the horizon, you can’t even believe that this is a lake, it seems like you’re standing on the seashore.
Lake Ladoga is one of the largest lakes in Europe, its length from north to south is 207 km, and from west to east 136 km, with an average depth of 51 m.
They also say that Lake Ladoga has a difficult temperament - the weather can change very quickly, and small ripples can give way to strong excitement. So in September 1941, a storm destroyed dozens of barges in this part of the coast and killed over a thousand people.
In winter, due to strong winds, there is no even ice on the surface of the lake, ice moves and hummocks form. This complicated the construction of the Road and the transportation of goods on ice.
The Leningrad blockade was established on September 8, 1941, when Shlisselburg was captured by fascist troops. This was the last land route that led from Leningrad to the mainland. Ladoga remained as the last hope for supplying the besieged city. There were no piers or piers on the shores of Ladoga. But already in September the first navigation on Lake Ladoga began. From the mainland, cargo was delivered first to Volkhov, from there to Novaya Ladoga, and then by water to the western bank to the Osinovets lighthouse. On September 12, two barges loaded with 626 tons of grain and 116 tons of flour arrived here first. This date is considered the beginning of the Road of Life. In total, before the end of navigation in 1941, 60 thousand tons of various cargoes, including 45 thousand tons of food, were delivered to the besieged city by water, and about 33,500 Leningraders were evacuated.
Entrance to the museum.
There are many exhibits on the site near the museum.
Military transport aircraft Li-2. It was this Li-2 that Alexander Rogozhkin filmed in the film “Peregon”.
On similar planes, food and medicine were delivered to Leningrad during the blockade.
On November 17, two groups carried out reconnaissance of the ice route. On November 20, the first horse-drawn convoy of 350 sleighs, headed by Senior Lieutenant M.S. Murov, set off along the ice Road of Life from Vaganovsky Descent near the village of Kokkorevo. Upon arrival in Kobona, 63 tons of flour were loaded onto the sleigh. On the morning of November 21, the convoy arrived at Cape Osinovets. On November 22, the first convoy of 60 GAZ-AA vehicles (better known as “lorry”) under the command of Captain V.A. Porchunov set off for Kobona for food. In total, during the first winter of the blockade, the ice road was open until April 24 (152 days). During this time, 361,109 tons of various cargo were transported, including 262,419 tons of food. More than 550 thousand Leningraders and more than 35 thousand wounded were evacuated from the city. Thanks to these transportations, the norms for the distribution of bread were increased from December 25: to workers and technical workers by 100 grams, and to employees, dependents and children by 75 grams.
The second navigation along Ladoga began on May 23, 1942, during which 1,099,500 tons of various cargo were transported in both directions, of which more than 790 thousand tons were transported to besieged Leningrad, including 353 thousand tons of food. About 540 thousand people were taken from the city to the mainland, including more than 448 thousand evacuated residents. Also, about 290 thousand soldiers and officers were transferred to replenish the Leningrad Front. In 1942, a pipeline for supplying fuel and a cable were laid along the bottom of Lake Ladoga, through which electricity was supplied to Leningrad from the partially restored Volkhov hydroelectric station.
From December 19, 1942 to March 30, 1943, the ice Road of Life was in operation again for 101 days. During this period, more than 200 thousand tons of various cargo were transported, including over 100 thousand tons of food, and about 89 thousand people were evacuated.
Reconnaissance of the ice route was carried out on such horse-drawn convoys.
Monument to military units that defended the Road of Life.
Turret from T-34.
Lots of anti-aircraft, naval and field guns.
Glowing buoy Zheleznitsa. The buoy was placed on the water route near the Zheleznitsa Bank. During the war days it was the main point for orientation when sailing.
Self-propelled landing double-hold tender. Load capacity 25 tons, speed 5 knots. They were built under blockade conditions, which is why they have simple angular shapes. They were equipped with engines from the ZiS-5.
Towing steamer Izhorets 8. In September 1941, it arrived at the port of Osinovets with ammunition and food. During the first navigation he transported a large number of different cargoes. After the war, the ship was repaired, sailed on White Lake, and in 1976. from Belozersk was brought to Osinovets and placed in eternal parking in the museum.
Sea hunter MO-215.
These were fast ships (they could reach speeds of up to 50 km/h), they carried out various operations, landing and picking up scouts in the occupied territory.
A lorry raised from the bottom of Lake Ladoga.
During the first 2 weeks of the ice road, 157 cars went under the ice. Drivers drove with the doors open in order to have time to leave the cab if the car began to fall through the ice. But they still died often.
During the two blockade winters, more than 1,100 vehicles went under the ice - one in four.
The brake light bulbs remained intact.
A fragment from another truck.
These are like fragments of an Il-2 attack aircraft.
Armor plate. Are these bullet marks?
Museum building. Inside there is an exhibition of five halls dedicated to the history of the creation and work of the heroic military communications that ensured life and communication between besieged Leningrad and the country from the end of November 1941 to March 30, 1943. The exhibitions are arranged in chronological order.
45 mm cannon on a ship's pedestal, 120 mm mortar, quad Maxim machine gun.
There was no electricity in the museum and the lighting of the stands did not work. Apparently, electrical problems are not that rare here.
The blockade survivors were brought on a tour by bus.
The excursion is conducted by the director of the museum A. B. Voitsekhovsky. He tells an interesting story.
In the museum you can buy a disc with a film, where the director also gives a tour of the museum and tells interesting facts about the construction and functioning of the Road of Life. The film also includes rare chronicle footage.
For example, I learned that a pipeline was laid along the bottom of the lake, through which fuel and various oil products were pumped to besieged Leningrad. Almost a prototype of Nordstream.
An electrical cable was also laid.
Or how in the summer they transported empty railway tanks by floating to the mainland.
An artillery rangefinder tube, the barrel of one of the three 100 mm cannons blown up by the Germans, and a steering wheel from a minesweeper.
Scheme of the Road of Life. 
There is another attraction nearby. The Osinovetsky lighthouse, founded in 1905, is the second highest on Ladoga (after Storozhensky): 70 m from base to top, 74 m from the fire to sea level, and its light can be seen 40 km away. The lighthouse is operational, 366 steps lead to a 500-watt lamp, which lights up every four seconds at night from April to November.
Links
They say that during the war years this path was called “The Road of Death.” It is unknown how many people died of exhaustion, were killed, fell through the ice, froze or went missing here in 1941-42. The highway was bombed and shelled, it was covered with snow, cars often fell into ice holes (after all, they were driving at night). People rode in trucks, carts, and walked. Eyewitnesses write that there were robberies. They took away suitcases from the exhausted. But there was - and this is the main thing - something else: courage, nobility, self-sacrifice, honesty. In total, about 1 million 376 thousand people were evacuated from Leningrad. Among them are my very young grandparents. They called the path “The Road of Life.”
Boarding trams of evacuating residents of Leningrad, 09/18/1941
The blockade began on September 8, 1941. On this day, the last road connecting Leningrad with the country was cut. A narrow section between the Finnish border and the front line. The 45-kilometer-long highway ended on the shores of Lake Ladoga. Further - on barges, in winter - on a semi-truck on the ice. Of course, on foot - about 30 kilometers. Few made it. Food was being transported towards the besieged city. There were no marinas or piers on Ladoga at that time. But already on September 12, the first navigation began. On November 22, the first convoy of trucks entered the ice of the Road of Life. From September 12, 1941 to March 1943, the route connected besieged Leningrad with the country.
It is impossible to restore the exact route from Leningrad to Cape Osinovets. Firstly, closer to the lake there was a whole network of forest roads. Secondly, the modern highway A 128 coincides with the old broken country road only approximately. To understand, to feel how difficult it was...
The first seven kilometers of the journey passed within the city, along the so-called Rzhev corridor. Along this route, trucks and special locomotives-trams brought people to the Rzhevka station. The first control point was located at the corner of the Revolution Highway and Bolsheokhtinsky Prospekt. Here:
Further - the road went east - along the Revolution Highway and Ryabovskoye Highway. To the Rzhevka railway station. The area was subject to heavy shelling and bombing. In particular, on March 29, 1942, the Rzhevka station building was destroyed by a bomb attack. On that day, a large number of trains with ammunition and fuel accumulated at the station, and the explosions of German shells caused explosions of shells in the cars and fuel in the tanks. As a result of “explosions of enormous force,” the station and adjacent buildings were completely destroyed, killing several hundred people - railway workers, military personnel, evacuated Leningraders, and local residents.
3 kilometers of road. Here in 1968, probably the most famous monument to the dead children was erected - “Flower of Life”. The memorial includes: the Flower of Life monument, Friendship Alley, and the funeral mound “Tanya Savicheva’s Diary”, consisting of eight steles - pages of the siege diary. “The Savichevs died. Everyone died. There was only Tanya left...” Tanya Savicheva died in evacuation, near Nizhny Novgorod, in July 1944. She survived the crossing of Lake Ladoga, but the Blockade did not let her go...
Nearby is a birch grove. The trees are tied with red scarves. Previously, in the spring, the birch grove near the monument was red with pioneer ties...
10 kilometer – a sharp rise up - Rumbolovskaya Mountain. At the top there is an observation deck, from where on a clear day you can see the panorama of the city. There are memorial cemeteries nearby.
Near the “12 kilometer” stela you can turn into a field. A section of that very, real road has been preserved here. More precisely, it is a restored fragment. There are concrete slabs nearby. Having driven a hundred meters along the cobblestones, you can imagine the conditions in which military drivers worked.
Cobblestone. Perhaps that's the one...
17th kilometer of the Road of Life. Behind the village of Kornevo is a monument to anti-aircraft gunners - “Katyusha”. On the hill where the monument now stands, during the war there was an anti-aircraft battery that protected the Road of Life.
Thirty kilometer. Mass grave. Walking past the steles, you involuntarily pay attention to unusual surnames. A lot of them. St. Petersburg has always been an international city...
Here the cars went onto the ice of Lake Ladoga. A track was laid along the ice. There were repair shops along it, traffic controllers stood at every kilometer, and water intake points were located every 5 km. Anti-aircraft artillery and fighters protected the sky above the highway, road workers blocked cracks in the ice and
craters from enemy bombs with wooden bridges...
45 kilometer. Lake Ladoga station. Here the road meets the railway tracks. This and other locomotives brought evacuated residents of the besieged city to the shore of Ladoga, and brought food and ammunition back.
Ladoga mound in the village of Osinovets. Mass grave "Ladoga Mound". The memorial was created on the initiative of the Red Pathfinders of the Baganovo eight-year school. "To military sailors, car drivers and other heroes of Ladoga who died during the Siege of Leningrad on the "Road of Life" in 1941-1943."
At the beginning of the last century, many ships did not reach their destination - they simply sank in treacherous Ladoga. Then the naval authorities of the Russian Empire decided to build a lighthouse in Osinovets. The project was drawn up in 1905, but construction was completed only six years later. Our people built it wonderfully, but there was an incident with the most important part of the lighthouse, the system of mirrors - they had never done anything like this in Russia in those years. Therefore, the “top” was ordered from the British. We must pay tribute to the queen's subjects - the English masters did not disappoint, and the system works properly to this day.
This is the highest of the eight lighthouses of Lake Ladoga - 73 meters. There are 366 steps leading up in a circle. From the top tower you can see 50 kilometers ahead.
Cape Osinovets. In this place on the coast of Lake Ladoga, ships never landed - this was considered impossible. But anything became possible to save the city - and barges loaded with grain arrived here. From here barges with people left for the campaign. This voyage was especially dangerous - not only German planes and artillery, but the elements themselves were raging: in one night alone from September 16 to 17, over 1000 people died on barges broken by a storm.
Cape Osinovets, 1941
Museum in the village of Osinovets. Dedicated to the feat of the soldiers of the Leningrad Fleet, the Ladoga Military Flotilla, the heroes of the so-called “Road of Life” - military communication through the southern part of Lake Ladoga, along which Leningrad was connected with the entire country during the siege of the city. The museum displays ship flags and battle banners, weapons and military equipment of those years, models of ships, aircraft, and vehicles involved in transportation; documents and photographs. This is in words. In fact, outdoor exhibits are crumbling. Literally. In particular, the rust ate the famous semi-truck - GAZ - AA almost to the ground. And in the 70s I saw her safe and sound. If restoration is not carried out, the same will happen to other exhibits.
A bus plying along the Road of Life. Not preserved. Photo taken in 1988
Howitzer 122 mm caliber model 1938. Participated in the first Blockade
Tugboat "Izhorets No. 8" ("Karedzh")
In September 1941, he arrived at the port of Osinovets with ammunition and food. During the first navigation he transported a large number of different cargoes. After the war the ship was repaired. Under the name "Koredzh" it sailed on the White Lake. In 1976, it was brought from Beloozersk to Osinovets and placed in eternal parking in the museum.
Patrol boat MO-215
Built in Leningrad. On August 16, 1941 it entered service. He fought his way to the border with Nazi Germany. Participated in military operations on Lake Ladoga and in the Gulf of Finland. Traveled about 5 thousand miles. Made 24 military campaigns. Sank 5 enemy barges and boats. Was damaged in battles.
Wooden cladding did not contribute to preservation in the open air. The hull is rotten and sagging on the keel blocks, the artillery and deck equipment have been dismantled (the guns are installed at the entrance to the museum).
Self-propelled landing double-hold tender
Military transport aircraft Li-2
Soviet military transport aircraft, production of which began in 1942 in Tashkent on the basis of the PS-84 passenger aircraft (1939), created, in turn, on the basis of licensed production of the American Douglas DC-3. It was in this vehicle that my grandparents were evacuated from Leningrad.
One of the carts on which Leningraders were transported
Turret of the T-34 tank. The true story is unknown. Probably stood on one of the armored boats of the Ladoga flotilla.
People waited for days for water transport on the shore in tents like these.
I understand that I haven’t said much about the Road of Life. There are many more monuments and unique rarities that are worth writing about. There are dozens of published manuscripts - this is invaluable evidence. No matter how pretentious it may sound, I want it so that no one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten.
Our route:
The trip was made possible thanks to Ruslan
There are different roads - highways, city, village, broken and well-groomed, there are even racing and ring roads, but there was and is one road, the price of which is the life of Leningraders, and it is impossible not to remember it.
On September 8, 1941, the Nazis captured the city of Shlisselburg at the source of the Neva, surrounding Leningrad from land. The 871-day siege of Leningrad began.
Under the blockade, the only possible transport communication connecting Leningrad with the rear, not counting the air route, was Ladoga.
By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Lake Ladoga was little developed, poorly studied, it did not have the necessary lake fleet, settling bays and no marina facilities.
On August 30, 1941, the GKO (State Defense Committee) decided to deliver goods to Leningrad through Lake Ladoga. On the western shore of the lake, the construction of a port began in the small Osinovets Bay, 55 km from Leningrad, not far from the Ladoga Lake station, the final station of the Irinovskaya railway roads.
Transportation was entrusted to the Ladoga Military Flotilla and the North-Western River Shipping Company. On September 12, 1941, two barges arrived at the piers of Cape Osinovets from the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga, delivering 626 tons of grain and 116 tons of flour. This is how the blockade “artery” of Leningrad began to operate, which the people called the Road of Life.
From September 12 to November 15, when navigation officially ended, 24,097 tons of grain, flour and cereals, more than 1,130 tons of meat and dairy products and other cargo were delivered across Ladoga. 33,479 people were evacuated from Leningrad by water. Each voyage across the lake was a feat. Autumn storms on Ladoga made navigation impossible. Enemy aircraft, which often attacked transport ships and piers, posed a serious danger to ship traffic. And only thanks to the skill and courage of the teams, the ships made voyages throughout the entire navigation. The amount of food brought across Ladoga was the city's 20-day requirement.
With the onset of freeze-up, transportation by water ceased. Preparations have begun for the construction of a winter road on the ice of Lake Ladoga. After reconnaissance, study of the ice situation and construction of the first line of the ice highway, on November 20, a horse-drawn convoy headed by Senior Lieutenant M.S. descended onto the ice from Vaganovsky Descent near the village of Kokkorevo. Murov. About 350 sleds headed to the eastern shore of the lake to Kobona. Having loaded 63 tons of flour onto a sleigh, the convoy arrived in Osinovets on the morning of November 21. The next day, November 22, a convoy of 60 GAZ-AA vehicles under the command of Major V.A. Porchunov left for Kobona for food (the first ten vehicles were commanded by Captain Biryukovich). Having completed a difficult voyage, the convoy returned on November 23, delivering 33 tons of food. The ice was so fragile that a two-ton truck carried only 2-3 bags of food.
Thus was born the now famous ice track, which was called Military Highway No. 101.
In early December, the ice became stronger and three-ton ZIS-5 vehicles were launched onto the track; The drivers were already driving without fear of ice failures.
Despite frosts and snowstorms, enemy artillery fire and air strikes, the enemy’s occupation of Tikhvin on November 8, the movement of freight vehicles did not stop for almost a single day; in November-December 16,449 tons of cargo were delivered along the highway, which allowed from December 25 for the first time during the blockade, the bread ration should be slightly increased.
From January 1, 1942, the cargo supply route for Leningrad stabilized, and traffic along it was streamlined. The road has become a complex engineering structure. Its builders made road signs, milestones, portable shields, bridges, built bases, warehouses, heating and medical stations, food and technical assistance stations, workshops, telephone and telegraph stations, and adapted various means of camouflage.
The “Road of Life” is not only a route on the ice of the lake, it is a path that had to be overcome from the railway station on the western shore of the lake to the railway station on the eastern shore and back. 
The road consisted of two ring routes, each of which had two separate directions of movement - for freight traffic (to the city) and for empty traffic or evacuation (from the city).
The first route for transporting goods to the city ran along the route Zhikharevo - Zhelannye - Troitskoye - Lavrovo - station. Lake Ladoga, the length of the route was 44 km; for empty vehicles and evacuation from the city - Art. Lake Ladoga or Borisova Griva - Vaganovsky Descent - Lavrovo - Gorodishche - Zhikharevo with a length of 43 km. The total length of the flight along the first ring route was 87 km.
The second route for cargo transportation ran along the route Voybokalo - Kobona - Vaganovsky Spusk - station. Lake Ladoga or Borisova Griva (58 km) and for empty or evacuation - station. Lake Ladoga or Borisova Griva - Vaganovsky descent - Lavrovo - Babanovo - Voybokalo (53 km). The total length of the second ring route was 111 km. The former Tikhvin - Novaya Ladoga highway ceased to function, but was maintained in working order.
Movement along the highway was provided by four road maintenance regiments, three separate bridge-building battalions, the Syask and Novo-Ladoga work battalions and two work companies. Maintenance of the most critical section was entrusted to the 64th Road Maintenance Regiment.
From January 7 to January 19, transportation almost doubled, and on January 18, the road fulfilled the plan for the first time (an average of 2 thousand tons of cargo was delivered to Leningrad daily).
As of January 20, the city was already provided with flour for 21 days, meat for 20, cereals and fat for 9, and sugar for 13 days. The increase in traffic made it possible to increase bread rations for Leningraders twice (January 24 and February 11).
The ice track worked smoothly. In order to further reduce vehicle mileage, on January 11, 1942, the State Defense Committee adopted a resolution on the construction of a 40 km long Voybokalo-Lavrovo-Kosa railway line within a month. In harsh winter conditions, in front of the Germans, the construction of the road was completed by February 10. The branch came close to the lake. The length of the route was reduced by more than half, and fuel consumption by 200 tons per day. A separate route, called the “coal” route, was laid from the station. Spit to st. Osinovets and along it special vehicles transported fuel for Leningrad.
The pace of cargo transportation on the highway increased every month. So, it was transported: November - December 1941 - 16,499 tons
January 1942 - 52,934 t
February - 86,041 t
March - 118,332 t
Three weeks of April - 87,253 tons
The ice road worked until the last opportunity. In mid-April, the air temperature began to rise to 12 - 15° and the ice cover of the lake began to quickly collapse. A large amount of water accumulated on the surface of the ice. For a whole week - from April 15 to 21 - the vehicles walked through solid water, in some places up to 45 cm deep. On the last trips, the vehicles did not reach the shore and carried the loads by hand. Further movement on the ice became dangerous, and on April 21 the Ladoga Ice Route was officially closed, but in fact it functioned until April 24, as some drivers, despite the order to close the route, continued to travel on Ladoga. When the lake began to open up and traffic on the highway stopped, highway workers moved 65 tons of food products from the eastern to the western shore.
In total, during the winter of 1941/42, 361,109 tons of various cargoes were delivered to Leningrad along the ice route, including 262,419 tons of food.
During the same period (from January 22 to April 15), 554,186 people were evacuated.
Of these: Families of workers and employees - 193,244
Workers and employees - 66,182
Military families - 92,419
Students of vocational schools - 28,454
Researchers, teachers, students (with families) - 37,877
Collective farmers from the Karelian Isthmus - 27,274
Children from orphanages - 12,639
Wounded Red Army soldiers - 35,713
At the end of May 1942, sailors of the Ladoga Military Flotilla and watermen of the North-Western Shipping Company opened a new navigation along the routes Osinovets - Kobona, Osinovets - Novaya Ladoga. And during this navigation, 1 million 99.5 thousand tons of cargo were transported in both directions: of which more than 790 thousand tons were sent to the besieged city, including 353 thousand tons of food. About 540 thousand people were also transported to the mainland, of which more than 448 thousand were evacuated residents. About 290 thousand soldiers and officers were transferred to replenish the Leningrad Front.
According to some information, in 1942, a pipeline was laid along the bottom of Lake Ladoga to supply fuel to the city and the front, but without this data, I do not presume to say this.
But the construction of the power line began in August 1942. The builders had to build, under continuous bombing and shelling, 104 km of route through forests and swamps and almost 23 km along the bottom of Lake Ladoga, which was especially difficult. With the help of a barge moving along Lake Ladoga, the cable was lowered into the water. All work was carried out at night and only in calm weather to prevent damage to the cable. The developed high-speed cable laying methods made it possible to complete the construction of an underwater transmission line in 8 - 9 days. To lay the first cable line, the builders needed only 45 days instead of 60. On September 23, 1942, Leningrad received electricity from the Volkhov hydroelectric station. The diving team continued its work into the dark October nights. In October, divers laid four more lead cables with a total length of 96 km along the bottom of the lake. In the last days of October, work was especially difficult due to the storm. By November 1, having overcome all difficulties, the divers laid the last string of cable. In December 1942, the supply of electricity to Leningrad increased 4 times compared to the month of February, which had the smallest amount of electricity received by Leningrad during the entire period of the siege. The cable for the power transmission line was manufactured by the team of the Leningrad plant "Sevkabel". People, weakened by hunger, completed the most difficult task: they made 120 kilometers of three-phase electric cable.
At the end of October 1942, preparatory work began on the construction of a route across Lake Ladoga. In connection with the proposal of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front and the People's Commissariat of Railways of the USSR, the State Defense Committee decided to build not only a highway but also a pile-ice railway crossing on the ice of Lake Ladoga. It was planned to build a crossing with a length of 35 km with a normal railway track. A narrow-gauge railway was to be built at a distance of 100-200 m south of the main route. The construction of the railway crossing began, and it was laid for 12.5 km, but due to the breaking of the blockade and the construction of a railway line on the territory liberated from the enemy, it was decided to limit the road to an ice road across the lake.
The importance of the Ladoga communication cannot be overestimated. It saved the lives of Leningraders, allowed the city to withstand the blockade, and was the path through which it communicated with the entire country, which provided it with all possible support.
On the western shore of Lake Ladoga, near Cape Osinovets, the “Road of Life” museum has now been created, a branch of the Central Naval Museum. The numerous documents and relics collected here tell about the courage and exploits of those who maintained and protected the water and ice routes that connected the city on the Neva with the mainland during the Great Patriotic War. The “Broken Ring” memorial complex was built near Vaganovsky Spusk.
