Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –
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On the morning of September 8, in the Polytechnic buildings, the sentries of the "Memory Watch" — students of the SPbPU Military Training Center — stood in honor guard at the steles with lit candles and 125-gram pieces of bread. This is how the university has been beginning mourning and solemn events dedicated to the day the Leningrad siege began for many years. This year, the tragic date was celebrated for the 84th time.
At 12 o'clock, Polytechnic University teachers laid flowers at the memorial at the Bogoslovskoye Cemetery. And at 13 o'clock, SPbPU staff and students came to a rally at the Monument to the Fallen Polytechnicians.
Every year, in addition to the university staff and residents of besieged Leningrad, new participants appear here – first-year students who have just entered the university. Those who came to St. Petersburg from other regions know little about the blockade. Therefore, for them, this rally is one of the first lessons in the history of the city.
Associate Professor of the Higher School of Social Sciences Ivan Kolomeitsev recalled that the siege of Leningrad by Nazi troops and their accomplices lasted from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. According to official data, the number of civilian casualties reached almost 1 million 100 thousand people. During the siege, workshops for the production of equipment necessary for the front were organized at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute. Polytechnic engineers ensured the operation of the ice route on Lake Ladoga, the famous Road of Life. Military equipment developed by LPI graduates was produced at defense plants in our country.
Dear veterans, colleagues, the Leningrad blockade is one of the most dramatic pages of the Great Patriotic War. The further it goes into the past, the more vivid many of the events of those years become. It seems to me that what happened then in Leningrad has no analogues in history. As it is written on the granite slab of the monument where we have gathered, the polytechnicians did everything with their labor and military feat to withstand and win. In this mournful moment, let us remember those who gave their lives during the blockade, – Advisor to the rector's office, Professor Vladimir Glukhov addressed the participants of the rally.
The memory of the victims was honored with a minute of silence.
Veterans of the Polytechnic University, children of war and residents of besieged Leningrad Zinaida Matveyevna Filina and Irina Vasilyevna Novozhilova also spoke at the rally. They thanked the younger generation for their memory and attention to the veterans.
On behalf of the youth, 11th grade students of the Natural Science Lyceum Rodion Kurskiyev and Anatoly Zozulya spoke; they read poems by Vera Inber and Alexander Prokofiev.
The rally ended with the laying of flowers at the Monument to the Fallen Polytechnicians. After that, the cadets of the Military Training Center and the Polytechnic activists went to the Piskarevskoye Cemetery to lay a wreath and flowers at the memorial and burial site of the Polytechnicians.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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