ST. PETERSBURG, January 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday said an elder brother perished in the devastating Siege of Leningrad by Nazi forces. "My parents said that in 1941, authorities took kids away from [their] families, they also took a child [away] from my mother to save him," Putin said at a meeting with World War II veterans who survived the Siege of Leningrad.
His brother was infected with diphtheria and died, the prime minister added. "They told us that he died, but did not specify where he was buried. It's quite possible that he was buried here [at Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetry]."
Vladimir Putin was born 11 years later on October 7, 1952, in Leningrad.
The Siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) lasted from September 1941 to January 1944, when food and military supplies were brought to the city via Lake Ladoga, the only route named the Road of Life that connected the city with the rest of Russia.
In January 1942, in the midst of an unusually cold winter, when Adolf Hitler's forces tightened their grip on the home of the Bolshevik Revolution, the city's food rations reached an all time low of only 125 grams (about 4-1/2 oz.) of bread per person a day. In just two months, 200,000 people died in Leningrad of cold and starvation.
In January 1943, the siege was broken and a year later, on January 27, 1944 it was fully lifted.
"It's important to remember these difficult times, these heroic times," Putin said.
Keywords: Russia, Government, Politics - Russia, History, Soviet Union - Russia News - Russia
ST. PETERSBURG, January 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday said an elder brother perished in the devastating Siege of Leningrad by Nazi forces.
"My parents said that in 1941, authorities took kids away from [their] families, they also took a child [away] from my mother to save him," Putin said at a meeting with World War II veterans who survived the Siege of Leningrad.
His brother was infected with diphtheria and died, the prime minister added. "They told us that he died, but did not specify where he was buried. It's quite possible that he was buried here [at Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetry]."
Vladimir Putin was born 11 years later on October 7, 1952, in Leningrad.
The Siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) lasted from September 1941 to January 1944, when food and military supplies were brought to the city via Lake Ladoga, the only route named the Road of Life that connected the city with the rest of Russia.
In January 1942, in the midst of an unusually cold winter, when Adolf Hitler's forces tightened their grip on the home of the Bolshevik Revolution, the city's food rations reached an all time low of only 125 grams (about 4-1/2 oz.) of bread per person a day. In just two months, 200,000 people died in Leningrad of cold and starvation.
In January 1943, the siege was broken and a year later, on January 27, 1944 it was fully lifted.
"It's important to remember these difficult times, these heroic times," Putin said.