fighting in leningrad?

a very stupid question i know but,
how far away from the city centre was the german blockade?
did the germans ever get into the city? or the suburbs? or were they miles away in the outskirts?

 

I recall they had their frontline in the outskirts, probably someone can give a better estimate in kilometers. However here is a map of the frontline towards late 1941.

http://www.victory.mil.ru/war/maps/002.jpg

 

good map
thats what id always thought but (as foolish as it is to base knowledge on a game,) a level in Red Orchestra (widely reguarded as a historically accurate game to be fair) depicted the germans fighting in the actual city.

 

I recall the Dutch waffen-SS unit was one of the closest units to Leningrad...?!!

"Selo-Gora, a village close to Leningrad, was the destination of the legion, as the German 90.Infantry Regiment of the 20th Infantry Division (mot.) stationed there was to be replaced by the Dutch volunteers. The legion, commanded by SS-Obersturmbannführer Arved Theuermann, saw action in January 1942 at the Wolchov-front. In the region between the cities Tschudovo and Novgorod the legionnaires had to defend the western bank of the river Wolchov."

Nederlanders in de Waffen-SS

Excellent book:

From Leningrad to Berlin: Dutch Volunteers in The German Waffen SS 1941-1945: Amazon.co.uk: Perry Pierik: Books

 

A superb book on the Leningrad siege and one I would definitely recommend...

Leningrad: State of Siege: Amazon.co.uk: Michael Jones: Books

 

i saw that wen browsing through amazon, might give it a go
cheers

 

The distance the german troops reached nearest to the center of Leningrad was around 10 kilometers (6,5 miles). It was the 209 Infantry regiment which reached this position. At this position there was already a station of the streetcar which lead to the center of the city ... The regiment reached this position on 15th of september
The 96., 122. and 121. infantry division stood around 20 kilometers (around 12 miles from the center away).

 

Just to chime in , my father took part in the battle for Leningrad as a member of a Latvian battalion doing flank protection as he described it. He did tell me they were constantly being probed and attacked by Russian units of differing sizes. He said his unit had a forest in front with about a 5 or 600 yrd open field to their line. they literally mowed down so many Russians that the terrain was changed by the bodies. He also described that a huge rail gun of some kind was used to bombard the city.

 

Out of interest, but completely separate from this thread, how did your father survive the madness of the collapsing Reich?

 

Well green he got lucky, was wounded in the Courland battle and was evacuated to Germany, he was a liason officer and interpretor. After recovery he was sent to a unit in Bordeaux France, he was still recovering from wounds to his legs and face. Anyway he was captured by the Americans.

 

Lucky indeed if he got out of the Courland pocket! I'm just curious, if he was a Latvian, shouldn't he have been sent to the Soviets? I know the Swedes forcibly sent large numbers of Baltic citizens back post war. Another shameful episode.

And thanks for sharing!

 

No the Americans had him in a camp for awhile and later he actually worked for US army. He was Latvian but Baltic German descent and was serving with a German unit when captured..