Siege of Leningrad

The Siege of Leningrad (PROSE: Scratchman) began in 1941, on the Eastern Front of World War II, when the forces of Nazi Germany surrounded the Russian city of Leningrad. (PROSE: Cabinets of Curiosities)

History
Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, (PROSE: The Shadow in the Glass, AUDIO: The Night Witches) the invasion of the Soviet Union, in June 1941. (PROSE: Just War, Losing the Audience) The Red Army suffered huge losses (PROSE: The Shadow in the Glass) in the face of the staggering German advance. The invaders won victory after victory in the ensuring months. (PROSE: Just War)

As the Russians fell back, German Panzer divisions descended on Leningrad, threatening the city with siege. When the enemy tanks were as little as ten miles away, the curator of the Palace Museum organised the evacuation of all valuable artefacts to Siberia to spare them from damage, destruction or theft by the Germans. However, he was unable to move the Amber Room, which was too fragile. Instead, he papered over the Amber Room and covered the floor in sand to hide the fact that it was not just a normal room. The curator then fled Leningrad to safety with the rest of the collection.

The Wehrmacht subsequently surrounded Leningrad. The efforts to conceal the Amber Room proved ineffectual. The German's discovered its value within hours after reaching the palace. They stripped it apart and had it transported back to Germany. (PROSE: Cabinets of Curiosities)

Numerous barricades were constructed to defend the city. (PROSE: Scratchman)

By the end of 1942, the siege appeared to have been broken, or entry into Leningrad at least made possible; when Isabella Zemanova resolved to flee Stalingrad as that city withstood its own siege, she passed through Leningrad while en route to Murmansk, on Erimem's advice. (PROSE: The Beast of Stalingrad) The Germans were ultimately thrown out from Russia and Soviet territory, and the Red Army had fought them all the way back to Berlin by April 1945. (PROSE: The Shadow in the Glass)

Aftermath and legacy
Towards the end of the war, as Germany herself was surrounded, the Amber Room looted from the palace in Leningrad was spirited away. As it was never recovered, it was presumed that it has been destroyed in a fire. (PROSE: Cabinets of Curiosities)

The Fourth Doctor was reminded of the Siege of Leningrad when villagers on a Scottish island erected a barricade inside the church to keep out the living scarecrow attackers. He implied he has been present in besieged Leningrad during one of his earliest incarnations. (PROSE: Scratchman)

Behind the scenes

 * In the real world, the Siege of Leningrad lasted from September 1941 to January 1944.
 * If real-world factors apply to the DWU, Isabella Zemanova's journey to Leningrad in late 1942 and early 1943 was possible, via the over, or the land corridor opened by , but Murmansk still lay beyond territory  to the north. An alternative route through the unoccupied areas of eastern , adjacent to , lay east of the Finnish lines.