"We waited a week for Grandpa, but he froze to death before reaching the city." Residents recounted the horrors of the Leningrad siege.

September 8, MINSK . On the day the Siege of Leningrad began in 1941, which lasted 872 days, commemorative events were held in Minsk, BelTA reports.

Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Samoryadova was only two years old when the war began. Her father was drafted to the front, and she remained in Leningrad with her mother.
"I don't have any personal memories; I was too young. But the scale of the tragedy is evidenced by the fact that my parents didn't survive the Siege. We were evacuated to the Vologda Region in 1943, which saved us from starvation. it was a terrible time, which my mother preferred to keep silent about. She was happy that my father found us and brought us to Belarus," said Lyudmila Aleksandrovna. After

the war, the family moved to the Sharkovshchina District of the Vitebsk Region. In Belarus, Lyudmila graduated from high school, then university, and dedicated more than 50 years to teaching music.
"I can't find the words to express my joy at living here, in this beautiful and bright country. It's hard to even talk about it; it brings tears to my eyes. Belarus saved our family," shared Lyudmila Alexandrovna.

Lyubov Iodovna Tsymbarevich was born in 1936 in Leningrad. "My parents had three children—sisters Vera, Nadezhda, and Lyubov. However, the youngest sister, the same age as the war, lived only about a month. Our care fell on our mother's shoulders, but she would leave us alone and rush to the factory, where they gave us two liters of soy MILK for work. That's how we survived for a year and a half. It's hard to believe now what we went through. But there was nothing to eat. Grandfather, the main breadwinner and the only man in the family, tried to transport potatoes on a children's sled in the bitter cold. We waited for him for a week, but he froze to death and fell, never reaching the city. The soldiers brought us documents and told us about it," the veteran shared her memories.
Peace, she says, is the most valuable thing on earth, as it allows children to laugh and grow up carefree.

"I'm married to a Belarusian. After graduating from the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute, he came to Omsk, where we were evacuated from Leningrad during the siege. We met there and then came to Minsk. I worked my whole life as a design engineer at one of the capital's factories and am happy to have contributed to this wonderful country. But no matter how good life was, the memories of my mother's quinoa cakes, which she collected and baked for us hungry children, are still vivid. And even though I live in abundance, I still measure how much bread I can buy. Having experienced such grief, a part of it remains with us forever. We cannot allow such a thing to happen again," said Lyudmila Iodovna.

Representatives of the public organization "Belarusian Union of Survivors of the Siege of Leningrad" today took part in a flower-laying ceremony at the Eternal Flame at the Victory Monument.
"This year is special – we're celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. We've had our share – we were bombed, we were shot at, and it was impossible to hide from this disaster. One in three people in the Republic of Belarus died, but it turned out to be kind to us. But those who suffered themselves will understand and offer a helping hand. This is holy land, and for that, God protects it, as does its hardworking, wise people. I want to thank our dear President on behalf of all of us. And I want to wish for the youth that they never know what war is," said Maria Davydovna Yagodnitsyna, chairperson of the Belarusian Union of Survivors of Leningrad.
Photo by Nikolai Petrov