hey guys just got some more info. on the siege
1941
April: Hitler intends to occupy and then destroy Leningrad, according to plan Barbarossa and Generalplan
22 June: The Axis powers' invasion of Soviet Union begins with Operation Barbarossa.
23 June: Leningrad commander M. Popov, sends his second in command to reconnoitre defensive positions south of Leningrad.
29 June: Construction of the Luga defence fortifications (Russian: ) begins together with evacuation of children and women.
June–July: Over 300,000 civilian refugees from Pskov and Novgorod escaping from the advancing Germans come to Leningrad for shelter. The armies of the North-Western Front join the front lines at Leningrad. Total military strength with reserves and volunteers reaches 2 million men involved on all sides of the emerging battle.
19–23 July: First attack on Leningrad by Army Group North is stopped 100 km (62 mi) south of the city.
27 July: Hitler visits Army Group North, angry at the delay. He orders Field Marshal von Leeb to take Leningrad by December.
31 July: Finns attack the Soviet 23rd Army at the Karelian Isthmus, eventually reaching northern pre-Winter War Finnish-Soviet border.
20 August-8 September: Artillery bombardments of Leningrad hit industries, schools, hospitals, and civilian houses.
21 August: Hitler's Directive No.34 orders "Encirclement of Leningrad in conjunction with the Finns."
20–27 August: Evacuation of civilians is blocked by attacks on railways and other exits from Leningrad.
31 August: Finnish forces go on the defensive and straighten their front line.
This involves crossing the 1939 pre-Winter War border and occupation of municipalities of Kirjasalo and Beloostrov.
6 September: German High Command's Alfred Jodl fails to persuade Finns to continue offensive against Leningrad.
2–9 September: Finns capture the Beloostrov and Kirjasalo salients and conduct defensive preparations.
8 September: Land encirclement of Leningrad is completed when the German forces reach the shores of Lake Ladoga.
10 September: Joseph Stalin appoints General Zhukov to replace Marshal Voroshilov as Leningrad Front commander.
12 September: The largest food depot in Leningrad, the Badajevski General Store, is destroyed by a German bomb.
15 September: von Leeb has to remove the 4th Panzer Group from the front lines and transfer it to Army Group Center for the Moscow offensive.
19 September: German troops are stopped 10 km (6.2 mi) from Leningrad. Citizens join the fighting at the defence lines.
1,496,000 Soviet personnel were awarded the medal for the defence of Leningrad from 22nd December 1942.
22 September: Hitler directs that "Saint Petersburg must be erased from the face of the Earth".
22 September: Hitler declares, "....we have no interest in saving lives of the civilian population."
8 November: Hitler states in a speech at Munich: "Leningrad must die of starvation.
10 November: Soviet counter-attack begins, forcing Germans to retreat from Tikhvin back to the Volkhov River by 30 December, preventing them from joining Finnish forces stationed at the Svir River east of Leningrad
December: Winston Churchill wrote in his diary "Leningrad is encircled, but not taken.
6 December: Great Britain declared war on Finland. This was followed by declaration of war from Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand.
1942
january: Soviet Lyuban Offensive is launched; it lasts 16 weeks and is unsuccessful, resulting in the loss of the 2nd Shock Army.
January: Soviets launch battle for the Nevsky Pyatachok bridgehead in an attempt to break the siege. This battle lasts until May 1943, but is only partially successful. Very heavy casualties are experienced by both sides.
4–30 April: Luftwaffe operation Eis Stoß (ice impact) fails to sink Baltic Fleet ships iced in at Leningrad.
June–September: New German artillery bombards Leningrad with 800 kg (1,800 lb) shells.
August: The Spanish Blue Division (División Azul) transferred to Leningrad.
14 August – 27 October: Naval Detachment K clashes with Leningrad supply route on Lake Ladoga.
19 August: Soviets begin an eight-week-long Sinyavino Offensive, which fails to lift the siege, but thwarts German offensive plans (Nordlicht).
1943
Hero-City Obelisk
January–December: Increased artillery bombardments of Leningrad.
12–30 January: Operation Iskra penetrates the siege by opening a land corridor along the coast of Lake Ladoga into the city. The blockade is broken.
10 February – 1 April: The unsuccessful Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda attempts to lift the siege.
[edit]1944
14 January – 1 March: Several Soviet offensive operations begin, aimed at ending the siege.
27 January: Siege of Leningrad ends. Germans forces pushed 60–100 km away from the city.
January: Before retreating the German armies loot and destroy the historical Palaces of the Tsars, such as the Catherine Palace, Peterhof Palace, the Gatchina, and the Strelna. Many other historic landmarks and homes in the suburbs of St. Petersburg are looted and then destroyed, and a large number of valuable art collections are moved to Nazi Germany.
During the siege, 3200 residential buildings, 9000 wooden houses (burned), 840 factories and plants were destroyed in Leningrad and suburbs.
