September 22, 1941 – Hitler Releases Secret Directive for Erasure of City of St. Petersburg

On this day in history Hitler issued a directive expressing his goal of wiping the city of St. Petersburg from the face of the earth. He also decreed that, should there be a request for capitulation from either St. Petersburg or Moscow, the Germans should deny it.

Furthermore, he stipulated that no German soldier was to enter these cities:

By our fire we must force all who try to leave the city through our lines to turn back. The exodus of the population through the smaller, unguarded gaps toward the interior of Russia is only to be welcomed. Before the cities are taken, they are to be weakened by artillery fire and air attacks, and their population should be caused to flee.

All commanding officers shall be informed of this will of the Fuehrer.”

As a result of these orders, as reported at the Nuremberg trials:

. . . . 8,961 household and annexed buildings, sheds, baths, et cetera, with a total volume of 5,192,427 cubic meters were completely destroyed, and 5,869 buildings with a total volume of 14,308,288 cubic meters were partially destroyed. Completely destroyed were 20,627 dwellings, with a total volume of 25,429,780 cubic meters, and 8,788 buildings, with a total volume of 10,081,035 cubic meters were partially demolished. Six buildings dedicated to religious cults were completely, and 66 such buildings partially, destroyed. The Hitlerites destroyed, ruined, and damaged various kinds of institutions valued at more than 718 million rubles, as well as more than 1,043 million rubles’ worth of industrial equipment and agricultural machinery and implements.”

A street after a German artillery raid during the Siege of Leningrad by Vsevolod Tarasevich

Documents further establish that the Germans “bombed and shelled, methodically and according to plan, day and night, streets, dwelling houses, theaters, museums, hospitals, kindergartens, military hospitals, schools, institutes, and streetcars, and ruined most valuable monuments of culture and art. Many thousands of bombs and shells hammered the historical buildings of Leningrad, and at its quays, gardens, and parks.”

Bronze Horseman camouflaged from German aircraft during the Siege of Leningrad

You can read more about this directive from the Nuremberg Trial Proceedings, online here.