Soviet WW2 Medal for the Defense ofLeningrad, Variation 1.
Thisis a GUARANTEED ORIGINAL medal made at the Soviet Mint during the 1940s andofficially awarded by the Soviet authorities during or immediately after WW2 –NOT a replica!
Themedallion is in brass, measures 37.8 mm in height including the eyelet, 32.1 mmin width, and weighs 16.6 g not including the suspension and connecting link.The front has a Russian inscription “For the Defense of Leningrad”. The artworkfeatures a line of city’s defenders including Red Army soldiers, Navy sailor,and armed civilians representing workers militia and civil defense. On thereverse is the motto “For Our Soviet Motherland!” The medal is a Variation 1characterized by a separate eyelet soldered to the main body of the medallion.This version was made only during the 1940s.
Themedal is in GREAT condition. Both sides show almost no wear to the highpoints, and the raised artwork and lettering remain beautifully preserved andcrisp. There are some tiny dings and contact marks, mostly on the reverse andnone of them very noticeable. There are no edge bumps, nicks or significantscratches. The brass shows a nice patina that adds character and only someminor blemishes, none of them very detractive.
Themedal comes on an ORIGINAL SUSPENSION device, a WW2 two-layer model in brasswith a self-locking pin. The old, possibly original ribbon is faded, shows somesoiling and wear at the edges, but remains sound and very attractive, adding agreat deal of character to the medal. Note that its ends were secured on theback with some black thread by the original owner of the medal to keep theribbon from unraveling – an interesting personal touch! The connecting linkbetween the medal and suspension appears to be of the period, probably originalto the medal.
The Germans besieged Leningrad in the early fall of 1941,shortly after their invasion of the Soviet Union. They soon managed to cut offall of Leningrad’s overland links to the Soviet interior and set fire to theBadayevskie Warehouses containing the bulk of the city’s food stores. Accordingto the Hitler’s declared plan, the “city of thieves” was to be not stormed butrather starved out of existence, to wipe out what the Nazis considered thecradle of Soviet communist ideology.
Thepopulation of Leningrad, well over four million strong prior to the war, wassoon starving, with meager food rations getting smaller by the day and supplies offuel quickly dwindling in the face of brutal winter. The blockaded city wasalso subjected to regular artillery barrages and air raids. None of thishowever seemed to break the Leningraders’ will to resist. A Sovietcounteroffensive in December brought some respite by gaining back the railwaystation of Tikhvin, a vital terminus allowing some supplies to be brought inover the frozen Lake Ladoga and some of the most vulnerable of the city’spopulation to be evacuated. Later, power cables were laid over the bottom ofthe lake to provide desperately needed electricity. The Soviet Air Forcemaintained an aerial bridge to the city, its pilots as well as intenseanti-aircraft fire taking heavy toll on the marauding Luftwaffe. The Red Armyremained active repeatedly trying to open an overland route to the city, and italso kept a beachhead on the Gulf of Finland connected to the main Leningradforce by the Soviet Navy. Behind the siege lines, partisans remained a constantthorn in the German side making life miserable for the invaders. Despite theodds, Leningrad continued to operate throughout the war with its factorieschurning out ammunition and weapons (including tanks) and even its philharmonicorchestra regularly performing on the radio.
Nazisiege of Leningrad lasted almost three years and proved to be possibly the mosthorrific in modern human history. The human toll was beyond description: by theend of the ordeal, as many as million and a half of Leningrad’s citizens hadperished from hunger, disease, and bombardment. Some had resorted tocannibalism as the only means of survival. However, the fact that the oldRussian capital never surrendered to the hated German foe was a matter of greatpride, a huge morale booster for the rest of the Soviet population.
TheMedal for the Defense of Leningrad was among the earliest Soviet WW2 awards. Itwas established in December 1942, when the siege was still ongoing and itsoutcome was yet uncertain. The medal was manufactured by the rump LeningradMint (the bulk of its machinery and personnel had been evacuated in 1941, justbefore the city got cut off). Unlike most other Soviet campaign medals of WW2,the Leningrad Medal was awarded not only to military personnel but also tocivilians who remained in the city during the blockade and took part in itsdefense either by working at war factories or manning civil defense posts onthe roofs of Leningrad’s buildings.
AnORIGINAL, EARLY ISSUE Defense of Leningrad Medal can be a great addition to anycollection of WW2 militaria!
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