From Orthodoxy and the World (translated from the original Russian):
Twelve-year old Tanya Savicheva started her diary just before Anne Frank. They were of almost the same age and wrote about the same things – about the horrors of fascism. And, again, both these girls died without seeing victory day – Tanya died in July of 1944 and Anne in March of 1945. «The Diary of Anne Frank» was published all over the world and told the author’s story to many people. «The Diary of Tanya Savicheva» was not published at all – it contains only seven scary notes about the deaths of her family members in Leningrad at the time of the Blockade. This small notebook was presented at the Nuremberg trials as a document condemning the terrors of fascism.
Today «The Diary of Tanya Savicheva» is in the museum of history of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg ) and a copy is at the Piskarev cemetery where 570 thousand people who died in Leningrad during the 900-day blockade rest (1941-1943).
The child’s hand, losing strength quickly due to extreme hunger, wrote short words and wrote them unevenly. The delicate soul of the child was paralyzed by extreme suffering and was unable to feel anymore. Tanya just wrote down facts that surrounded her – tragic visits of death to her home.
«Grandma died on the 25th of January at 3’o’clock 1942.»
«Leka died on the 17th of March at 5 in the morning. 1942.»
«Uncle Vasya died on the 13th of April at 2 in the afternoon. 1942.»
«Uncle Lyusha died on the 10th of May at 4 in the afternoon. 1942.»
«Mom died on the 13th of March at 7:30 in the morning. 1942»
« Everyone died . Only Tanya is left .»
Link to the rest at Orthodoxy and the World
The siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) lasted 872 days (often rounded up to 900 days), from September 8, 1941, to January 27, 1944.
Leningrad had a population estimated to be about 3.5 million people at the beginning of the siege. It was the northernmost large city in the world at the time (about as far north as Oslo and Helsinki and nearly as far north as Anchorage and Whitehorse).
Several hundred thousand Russians escaped before the city was completely cut off. An estimated one million Russians, the majority of whom were civilians, died during the siege. While some Russians were killed by bombing and artillery fire, most died from starvation. About 600,000 Germans, virtually all military, also died.
In Leningrad, dogs, cats and rats were eaten. When a Russian chemist discovered how to make wallpaper paste edible, that substance was mixed into the bread that was distributed to soldiers and civilians. Sawdust was also mixed into bread. Reports of cannibalism were confirmed many years later.
During the first winter, daily bread rations for civilians were 125 grams (about 4.5 ounces). It was an extraordinarily cold winter, with temperatures falling to -40 degrees Fahrenheit (and the same temperature in Celcius). Many dwellings suffered bombing damage and central heating was turned off in many residential buildings.
My classmates and I read this when we were about Tanya’s age.
The translation of the notes is not quite accurate: Tanya couldn’t bring herself to write “died” about her Uncle Lyosha and her mama — only the dates and time.
I remember that was one of the things that struck me.
It’s even more moving that way, Sasha.
In college I had to take a 20th Century Russian history course. We spent a fair amount of time on the Siege of Leningrad, and while I can’t remember all of the facts I learned, I remember the horror of it all.
« Everyone died . Only Tanya is left .
It doesn’t have to be a lot of words to just utterly break your heart.