Work of medical and nutritional healthcare facilities in Leningrad (January – April 1942)

Abstract

The hierarchy of food supply in besieged Leningrad is one of the most polemical questions in historiography. The subject of this research is the measures taken by the city administration during the first winter of blockade (1941-1942) aimed at maintenance of vitality of Leningraders who were highly valued for economy of the city or regarded as creative elite of the city. The goal consists in clarification of facts on the work of medical and nutritional inpatient facilities intended for persons suffering from dystrophy, including municipal inpatient facility for emaciated workers of science, technology, art and executive personnel, located the Hotel Astoria. The work of medical and nutritional inpatient facilities in the period from January to April of 1942 had not previously become the subject of separate research for national or foreign historians. The conducted research demonstrate that the establishment of such healthcare facilities was the first attempt to organize food supply for citizens suffering from dystrophy. In the conditions of severe shortage of food resources, the city administration was able to help only a limited circle of people. Working in the extreme conditions with no electricity, water, shortage of qualified medical personnel, limited food funds, medical and nutritional inpatient facilities were could not fully solve the tasks imposed on them.