Remembering and Rebuilding: Leningrad after the Siege from a Comparative Perspective

Abstract

Remembering and Rebuilding: Leningrad after the Siege from a Comparative Perspective

The paper takes as its starting point the recognition that when compared with other post-catastrophic cities, Leningrad appears to be an outlier that offers little insight into more «typical» cases. Blockaded for almost nine-hundred days, Leningrad suffered less damage to its physical plant than the iconic destroyed cities of World War II. At the same time, the city's relatively intact cityscape barely hinted at the vast human losses–perhaps one million Leningraders died of starvation–that also defy comparison. The uniqueness of the Leningrad case underscores the utility of comparisons grounded in local subjectivities. I propose a comparative analysis structured around examining the key questions – what was destroyed, what was rebuilt, how was the story told – from the perspective of people who lived in the city before, during and after the catastrophe.