Stalin wouldn’t have shed a tear if Hitler wiped it off the map. He was very suspicious of people from Leningrad. He had Kirov bumped off, out of fear he would use Leningrad as a base to rival Stalin.
He had most of the “Heroes of Leningrad” killed after the war, because of the fact they pretty much operated outside of Stalin’s authority during the Seige.
True. Close friends of mine there were survivors of the Siege of Leningrad. Quite some stories they had they had to tell.
St. Petersburg is such a beautiful city. When I was there during the tail end of the Yeltsin years, the poverty and desperation (and cruelty of the oligarchs and their mafia “enforcers”) were heartbreaking. Still, the old beauty of the city shone through, and perhaps inspired its inhabitants. Those who say architecture inspires culture are likely on to.something.