Russia at war 1941-1945

In addition, the Army and the Baltic Navy had some small "emergency reserves" of food; but these did not amount to much.

Short of breaking through the blockade, and re-establishing rail communications with the

"mainland", there was little hope of replenishing these meagre reserves. Lake Ladoga was very poorly equipped, and what little shipping it had was under constant German air

attack. The food reserves in Leningrad were, moreover, constantly threatened with further destruction by air raids. Considerable quantities of grain, flour and sugar had already been destroyed, notably on September 8, largely because even some of the most

elementary air-raid precautions had not been observed. There was still no centralised control, and the food in the city was held by numerous organisations; thus, for several days after the ring of the blockade had closed, it was still possible to eat in "commercial"

restaurants, which were not subject to rationing, and which used up as much as twelve per cent of all the fats and ten per cent of all the meat consumed in the city. Certain tinned goods, such as tinned crab, could still be bought in shops without ration-cards for some time after September 8.

The explanation given now for all this carelessness is that both the civilian and the military authorities were so concerned with building defences and keeping the Germans out of Leningrad that they had "no time to give much thought to the problem of food.

[ Pavlov, op. cit., p. 64.]

An example of the general confusion, both in Leningrad and elsewhere, quoted by the

same author, is the order sent from Moscow to Leningrad, several days after the blockade had begun, to despatch several wagon-loads of sugar and confectionery from Leningrad to Vologda!

The first sign that the authorities were alarmed by the food situation in Leningrad was the decision, on September 2, to cut down rations to 22 oz. of bread a day for workers, 14 oz.

for office workers and 11 oz. for children and dependants. On September 12, there was a second cut in rations—the bread ration now was just over 1 lb. for workers, 11 oz. for office-workers and children and 9 oz. for dependants.

There was also a reduction in the meat and cereals rations [By cereals (krupa) are meant millet, rice, semolina, buckwheat, etc.], but, to make up for this, the sugar, confectionery and fats ration was increased as follows:

Sugar and conf.

Fats

Workers

4.5 lb. monthly

2 lb. 2 oz.

3 lb. 12.5 oz.

Employees

1 lb. 2 oz.

monthly

Dependants

3 lb. 5 oz. monthly

11 oz.

Children (to

3 lb. 12.5 oz.

1 lb. 2 oz.

12)

monthly

These sugar and confectionery rations of three to four pounds a month and of fats of one to two pounds a month, though by no means generous by ordinary standards, were wholly out of proportion with Leningrad's miserable food reserves; those in charge of

Leningrad's defence still had the over-optimistic idea that the blockade would, somehow, be broken before long.

This did not happen, and to economise on "real" flour, the authorities soon had to embark on a feverish search for substitutes, which could be used as admixtures in the baking of bread. When, in September, several barges carrying grain were sunk by the Germans on Lake Ladoga, a large proportion of the grain was recovered by divers and though,

normally, it would have been unfit for human consumption, this mouldy grain was to be used as an admixture. As from October 20, bread was composed of 63% rye flour, 4%

flax-cake, 4% bran, 8% wholemeal, 4% soya flour, 12% malt flour, 5% mouldy flour; a

few days later, with the malt flour reserves running out, new substitutes began to be used, such as cellulose, after it had been processed in a certain way, and cotton cake. "During that highly critical period, these substitutes represented a saving of twenty-five days'

rations." True, the cellulose and mouldy flour gave the bread a mouldy and bitter taste,

"but, in those days, taste was what people stopped worrying about".

Needless to say, oats which was intended as fodder for horses, was consumed by people, and horses—at least a small number of which it was essential for the Army to keep—

were fed on tree leaves and the like. Other incredible substitutes for proper food were devised. In the port of Leningrad a stock of 2,000 tons of sheep guts was discovered; this was turned into a horrible jelly, the smell of which had to be neutralised through the admixture of cloves; at the height of the famine, this sheeps' gut jelly was often to be supplied to ration-card-holders instead of meat.

As distinct from all other cities in the Soviet Union during the war, where people could buy a few extras in the kolkhoz market, the population of Leningrad was absolutely and solely dependent on its ration cards.

There were, of course, some black sheep. In September and the first half of October there were numerous cases of fraud; many people managed to have two or more ration cards;