Urban Damage
Severe destruction of homes was caused by the Nazi air-bombings, as well as by daily artillery bombardments of Leningrad. Major destruction was done during August and September 1941, when artillery bombardments were massive for several weeks in a row. Then regular air-bombings continued through 1941, 1942, and 1943. Most heavy artillery bombardments resumed in 1943, and increased six times in comparison with the beginning of the war. Hitler and the Nazi leadership were angered by their failure to take Leningrad by force. Hitler's directive No. 1601 ordered that "St. Petersburg must be erased from the face of the Earth" and "we have no interest in saving lives of civilian population."
Hundreds of buildings, public schools, hospitals and industries were destroyed by the Nazi bombings and air-raids. Museums and palaces in the suburbs were destroyed, vandalized and looted by the Nazis, while the personnel of museums were trying to save some art. Only parts of art collections from the famous suburban palaces of the Tsars were evacuated in time, while some of the saved art was stored in the basements of the Hermitage until the end of war.
Destruction of Leningrad during the siege in 1941–1944 was evaluated as a bigger event than the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Thousands of homes, industries, roads and transportation structures, schools, hospitals, power plants and other infrastructure of the large city were completely destroyed, or severely damaged during 29 months of constant bombings and fires.
Read more about this topic: Effect Of The Siege Of Leningrad On The City
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