Intersections of the “Road of Life”: The Veterans’ Movement and Memory of Food Supply in Besieged Leningrad

This article examines the memorial activities of veterans of the Great Patriotic War who participated in the transport of goods to besieged Leningrad via Lake Ladoga (the “Road of Life”) and their contribution to the formation of memories about the city’s food supply during the critical period of 1941–1943. The article draws upon previously unpublished documents from federal, regional, and departmental archives, as well as collections of veterans’ memoirs published in the 1960s and 1970s. The text highlights the main stages in the development of the “Road of Life” veterans’ movement and focuses on the phenomenon of memorial conflict between representatives of the ice military motor roads and the Red Banner Ladoga Military Flotilla. Shortly after the United Council of Veterans was established in 1965, its members initiated a debate regarding the accurate interpretation of the history of the Ladoga communication line during the Siege of Leningrad. Motorists insisted that they had played a decisive role in saving the people of Leningrad from starvation, and that the term “Road of Life” referred only to transport via the ice road. The sailors, on the other hand, believed that every branch of the armed forces had made its own contribution to the “Road of Life”, and therefore the term should refer not only to the activities of motorists, but also to those of sailors, rivermen, railway workers, anti-aircraft gunners, doctors, and others. To resolve the conflict, both sides appealed to the Leningrad Regional Committee and the City Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Consequently, party officials expressed support for the position of the Ladoga Flotilla representatives and implemented changes to the remembrance policy. Thus, representatives of the veteran community successfully defended their right to remembrance and achieved a presence in the official cultural field. The well-established traditions of recounting the story of food supplies to besieged Leningrad were solidified through the efforts of various associations of participants in transport operations on Lake Ladoga.