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The Diary of Lena Mukhina: A Girl's Life in the Siege of Leningrad
In May 1941 Lena Mukhina was an ordinary teenage girl, living in Leningrad, worrying about her homework and whether Vova - the boy she liked - liked her. Like a good Soviet schoolgirl, she was also diligently learning German, the language of Russia's Nazi ally. And she was keeping a diary, in which she recorded her hopes and dreams. Then, on 22 June 1941, Hitler broke his pact with Stalin and declared war on the Soviet Union. All too soon, Leningrad was besieged and life became a living hell. Lena and her family fought to stay alive; their city was starving and its citizens were dying in their hundreds of thousands. From day to dreadful day, Lena records her the desperate hunt for food, the bitter cold of the Russian winter and the cruel deaths of those she loved. A truly remarkable account of this most terrible era in modern history, The Diary of Lena Mukhina is the vivid first-hand testimony of a courageous young woman struggling simply to survive.
398 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
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May 27, 2015
he Diary of Lena Mukhina – An Insight in to a Very Dark Time
To many people who think they know the stories of the Second World War what happened out on the Eastern Front is often ignored in the West, even though millions more soldiers and civilians died in this theatre of war. When people do talk about sieges of cities they often refer to that of Stalingrad and often forget Leningrad.
The Diary of Lena Mukhina are the memoirs of a 16 year old girl from Leningrad who began her diary before the war, this book details the darkest of times. At times this diary is as moving as Anne Frank’s diary but we get to see some very dark times and sheds light on some of the darker things that happened during the siege.
Before the siege we do see the musings of a teenage girl with all the angst that they face at that time in their life, but things change when the siege begins and things become far darker for her and her fellow citizens. We start at times with statements that could come straight out of Soviet speak school when Lena and others were not given the full truth until after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa.
We are given the news of the invasion of Soviet territory and the people being told how well they are doing defending the motherland. It is not until the Finish army is blockading the north and the German Army has surrounded the City that the people are told the full story of what is happening.
This diary lives the horror of what happened at Lena describes this in detail and how her and her family were conscripted to trench digging. She explains how there were shifts at digging these trenches and how it was all part of the people’s effort to defend their city.
When the air raids begin in the July food rationing followed soon after and the queues that developed as her family waited for what little they were entitled too. We also see that in the following February Lena’s mother died and left her alone at 16 in a city under siege.
What stuns me is that throughout the diary is the optimism Lena clings on to is not only surprising but inspirational even when she is showing signs of succumbing to starvation herself. But her story of her survival and is important and needs a wider audience.
To some the constant notes on what she if doing to find food and fighting starvation might be tedious but for any serious historian of the period this is an important historical document.
To many people who think they know the stories of the Second World War what happened out on the Eastern Front is often ignored in the West, even though millions more soldiers and civilians died in this theatre of war. When people do talk about sieges of cities they often refer to that of Stalingrad and often forget Leningrad.
The Diary of Lena Mukhina are the memoirs of a 16 year old girl from Leningrad who began her diary before the war, this book details the darkest of times. At times this diary is as moving as Anne Frank’s diary but we get to see some very dark times and sheds light on some of the darker things that happened during the siege.
Before the siege we do see the musings of a teenage girl with all the angst that they face at that time in their life, but things change when the siege begins and things become far darker for her and her fellow citizens. We start at times with statements that could come straight out of Soviet speak school when Lena and others were not given the full truth until after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa.
We are given the news of the invasion of Soviet territory and the people being told how well they are doing defending the motherland. It is not until the Finish army is blockading the north and the German Army has surrounded the City that the people are told the full story of what is happening.
This diary lives the horror of what happened at Lena describes this in detail and how her and her family were conscripted to trench digging. She explains how there were shifts at digging these trenches and how it was all part of the people’s effort to defend their city.
When the air raids begin in the July food rationing followed soon after and the queues that developed as her family waited for what little they were entitled too. We also see that in the following February Lena’s mother died and left her alone at 16 in a city under siege.
What stuns me is that throughout the diary is the optimism Lena clings on to is not only surprising but inspirational even when she is showing signs of succumbing to starvation herself. But her story of her survival and is important and needs a wider audience.
To some the constant notes on what she if doing to find food and fighting starvation might be tedious but for any serious historian of the period this is an important historical document.
March 10, 2017
'The Diary of Lena Mukhina' was a Christmas gift and to be honest I was doubtful about it, mainly because the blurb overtly likens it to the uniquely powerful and moving diary of Anne Frank. Uh-oh, I thought, here is something trying to ride on the coat-tails of something else....
It turns out however, that the parallel is justly drawn. Lena Mukhina's journal entries never reach the heartbreaking candour and disintegrating innocence of Anne Frank - the quality of the writing simply isn't as good, nor is there the depth of observation - but the reader is drawn in nonetheless, gripped by the drip-drip, harrowing testimony of what it is like to experience the iron fist of war, seige and famine closing round a once ordered world.
The diary starts in the spring of 1941 when Lena is an ordinary teenage schoolgirl, worrying about homework and boys. By June, Hitler has broken his pact with Stalin and declared war on the Soviet Union. Almost immediately Leningrad is besieged and the fight to survive for Lena, her family and the rest of the city begins. Within months hundreds of thousands are literally starving to death, their struggles made worse by the bitter cold of the Russian winter. Lena records it all, from the daily viewpoint of a 'normal' family, having suddenly to forage for truth as well as food and money.
Even to 'criticise' such a book feels wrong. Impossible. The very fact of its existence is testimony to the most formidable resilience and courage of its young author. What struck me most as I read was the way in which all her early lively everyday concerns shrink so steadily and rapidly to one sole preoccupation: How to eat. A stale crust of bread, a handful of raisins, a half teaspoon of sugar, one match, a piece of firewood - by such tiny threads does Lena's life hang. During one period she even learns to boil up glue in order to make a sort of jelly, having learnt that it contains a shred of nutritious benefit thanks to its fish bone origins. Most astonishing of all is her determination to live. Time and time again she writes: I will stay alive.
Whether she does or not, I will leave for future readers to find out for themselves. That aside, The Diary of Lena Mukhina is a book that should be read by all of us fortunate enough to live in freedom with roofs over our heads and food in our bellies. Sometimes we need to be reminded that everything we take for granted is a luxury.
It turns out however, that the parallel is justly drawn. Lena Mukhina's journal entries never reach the heartbreaking candour and disintegrating innocence of Anne Frank - the quality of the writing simply isn't as good, nor is there the depth of observation - but the reader is drawn in nonetheless, gripped by the drip-drip, harrowing testimony of what it is like to experience the iron fist of war, seige and famine closing round a once ordered world.
The diary starts in the spring of 1941 when Lena is an ordinary teenage schoolgirl, worrying about homework and boys. By June, Hitler has broken his pact with Stalin and declared war on the Soviet Union. Almost immediately Leningrad is besieged and the fight to survive for Lena, her family and the rest of the city begins. Within months hundreds of thousands are literally starving to death, their struggles made worse by the bitter cold of the Russian winter. Lena records it all, from the daily viewpoint of a 'normal' family, having suddenly to forage for truth as well as food and money.
Even to 'criticise' such a book feels wrong. Impossible. The very fact of its existence is testimony to the most formidable resilience and courage of its young author. What struck me most as I read was the way in which all her early lively everyday concerns shrink so steadily and rapidly to one sole preoccupation: How to eat. A stale crust of bread, a handful of raisins, a half teaspoon of sugar, one match, a piece of firewood - by such tiny threads does Lena's life hang. During one period she even learns to boil up glue in order to make a sort of jelly, having learnt that it contains a shred of nutritious benefit thanks to its fish bone origins. Most astonishing of all is her determination to live. Time and time again she writes: I will stay alive.
Whether she does or not, I will leave for future readers to find out for themselves. That aside, The Diary of Lena Mukhina is a book that should be read by all of us fortunate enough to live in freedom with roofs over our heads and food in our bellies. Sometimes we need to be reminded that everything we take for granted is a luxury.
May 4, 2015
It's a great book. There are some moments that are truly heartbreaking. As westerners we mostly reflect on the Western Front and the battles in the Pacific from WWII.
It's a timely reminder of the size of the cheque Russia and the Soviet Union wrote the world. This books is amazing and often I felt I didn't want to turn the page.
It's a timely reminder of the size of the cheque Russia and the Soviet Union wrote the world. This books is amazing and often I felt I didn't want to turn the page.
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June 3, 2016How to review a diary? I don’t know. This book wasn’t actually intended for publishing, though Lena wrote that she wanted it to be published. First, her story was the story of an ordinary teenage girl. She worried about friendship, boys and school. She fought with her mother (aunt actually) and she didn’t write much about the war. It was still far away for her.
The story began to change then. Lena wrote about bombs and the food rations. She no longer mentioned her first crush but wrote about people dying in the streets.
It was hard to read at times and she may not have been a great writer but she captures something so devastatingly horrible and relevant that it doesn’t really matter whether or not her prose is beautiful.
The story began to change then. Lena wrote about bombs and the food rations. She no longer mentioned her first crush but wrote about people dying in the streets.
It was hard to read at times and she may not have been a great writer but she captures something so devastatingly horrible and relevant that it doesn’t really matter whether or not her prose is beautiful.
February 21, 2018
Det er en enestående øjenvidneberetning, der giver et sjældent indblik i hvor hårdt og umenneskeligt livet i den belejrede by var.
July 30, 2016
3.5 stars. I found this book while on a Baltic cruise aboard The Viking Sea ship. Since we would be visiting St Petersburg, I wanted to read something historical about the area. This sixteen year old girl, Lena, writes in her real life diary about the siege of Leningrad, (known today as St Petersburg)by the Germans. It is touching and so real to read about the changes in her day-to-day life. The reader witnesses Lena's transition from a typical 16 year old girl consumed with normal everyday concerns such as school, friends, possible love interests, etc to a young girl who is trying not to starve, as many of her loved ones around her die from starvation and bombings. Be sure to read the Foreward to understand the authenticity of the diary.
April 9, 2015
An emotional read. This diary has been likened to the diary of Anne Frank, and the similarities are obvious, from naïveté about war to the palpable maturity of young women in literary form. Lena's diary, however, is interesting in another historical context - her commitment to Stalinism and the communist regime underlies many entries, and made for a slightly difficult read. Yet this was the reality of her experience. The siege has been a topic of personal interest of mine for a long time. This work tells a story of the horror in such a real way, often in a tragically understated manner. It's hard to think about food and the luxury of eating in the same context now.
March 22, 2015
Przerażające. Tym bardziej przerażające, że prawdziwe.
Większość dziennika była o jedzeniu. Ile wynosi dzienny przydział z kartek, ile udało się Lenie załatwić, co było do jedzenia w stołówce. Było o jedzeniu zwierząt domowych. Było o jedzeniu galarety z kleju. Było o głodowej śmierci najbliższych. Wzruszyło mnie bardzo moment, w którym głodująca Lena za resztę pieniędzy kupiła... książki. I nie po to, żeby je zjeść.
Większość dziennika była o jedzeniu. Ile wynosi dzienny przydział z kartek, ile udało się Lenie załatwić, co było do jedzenia w stołówce. Było o jedzeniu zwierząt domowych. Było o jedzeniu galarety z kleju. Było o głodowej śmierci najbliższych. Wzruszyło mnie bardzo moment, w którym głodująca Lena za resztę pieniędzy kupiła... książki. I nie po to, żeby je zjeść.
October 27, 2025
Lena Muchina, ein 16-jähriges Mädchen, wohnhaft in Leningrad, fängt im Mai 1941 an Tagebuch zu schreiben, kurz bevor die Blockade beginnt. Während zunächst die Eintragungen geprägt sind von typischen jugendlichen Themen, Gedanken und Träumen ( Schule, Freundinnen, Freizeit, erstes Verliebtsein) ändern sich ihre Aufzeichnungen während der Belagerung radikal. Sie beschreibt die Kriegserlebnisse aus ihrer persönlichen Sicht und wir erleben hautnah mit, dass es jetzt nur noch ums Überleben geht. Man spürt regelrecht ihre Angst, die furchtbare Kälte im Winter, man leidet mit ihr, wenn sie über den Hunger, Fliegeralarme, Luftschutzräume und den Verlust (Tod) geliebter Menschen schreibt. In den letzten Seiten ihres Tagebuchs geht es fast nur noch darum, wo und was man zu essen bekommt und wieviel. Lenas Tagebuch ist kein fiktives Kriegsdrama, sondern ein historisches Dokument einer Zeitzeugin, geschrieben aus der Sicht einer Jugendlichen. Es ist ein beeindruckendes und emotional starkes Werk. Lena ist 66-jährig im Jahre 1991 gestorben. Ich kenne leider nicht den Grund, aber es tut mir leid für sie, dass sie nie geheiratet und Kinder bekommen hat, denn ein Satz in ihrem Tagebuch ist mir besonders in Erinnerung geblieben : "Solange ich lebe, will ich lieben, und wen, das werden wir noch sehen ". Lena Muchina ist eine Frau, die ich gerne kennengelernt und mal persönlich mit ihr gesprochen hätte.
August 7, 2025
Really interesting to read about an event in history that is not so well known.
We really take a lot for granted in the west, food being one. And this illustrated how the lack of food affects a life
We really take a lot for granted in the west, food being one. And this illustrated how the lack of food affects a life
April 3, 2018
"8.2.1942. Äiti kuoli eilen aamulla. Nyt olen yksin."
Piirityspäiväkirja on 16-vuotiaan Lenan noin vuoden ajan pitämä päiväkirja keskellä Leningradin piiritystä kesästä 1941- alkukesään 1942. Päiväkirja alkaa pari kuukautta ennen kuin Saksa alkaa piirittää Leningradia ja päättyy siihen, että Lena odottaa evakuointiaan.
Tuona aikana Leningrad oli lähes jatkuvan lentokone- ja tykistöpommituksen kohteena. Ilmatorjuntahälytyksiä saattoi olla pahimmillaan toistakymmentä päivässä. Lenan läheiset eivät kestäneet jatkuvaa nälkää ja lopulta tyttö 17 vuotta täytettyään eli yksin.
Alkuosa päiväkirjasta on murrosikäisen tytön kuvausta koulunkäynnistä ja pojista kiinnostumisesta. Piirityksen alettua samat mielenkiinnon kohteet ovat edelleen läsnä Lenan päiväkirjamerkinnöissä, mutta vaihtuvat pikkuhiljaa ilmatorjuntahälytysten ja säännöstellyn ruoan määriin. Lopulta kyse onkin enää vain ja ainoastaan ruoasta. Ja lopulta mahdollisuudessa evakuointiin.
Kirja on koskettava ja piirtää tärkeän kuvan piiritettyjen elämästä. Vaikka pommituksesta, nälästä ja kuolemanpelosta tulee jokapäiväistä, silti piiritetyt pyrkivät pitämään yllä jonkinlaista arkea kauppoineen, kouluineen ja juhlapäivineen.
Kirjan alussa on tiivis kuvaus sodan tilanteesta piiritysvaiheen alussa sekä Suomen osuudesta siinä ja päiväkirjan jälkeen on lyhyt kuvaus Lenan myöhemmästä elämästä.
Piirityspäiväkirja on 16-vuotiaan Lenan noin vuoden ajan pitämä päiväkirja keskellä Leningradin piiritystä kesästä 1941- alkukesään 1942. Päiväkirja alkaa pari kuukautta ennen kuin Saksa alkaa piirittää Leningradia ja päättyy siihen, että Lena odottaa evakuointiaan.
Tuona aikana Leningrad oli lähes jatkuvan lentokone- ja tykistöpommituksen kohteena. Ilmatorjuntahälytyksiä saattoi olla pahimmillaan toistakymmentä päivässä. Lenan läheiset eivät kestäneet jatkuvaa nälkää ja lopulta tyttö 17 vuotta täytettyään eli yksin.
Alkuosa päiväkirjasta on murrosikäisen tytön kuvausta koulunkäynnistä ja pojista kiinnostumisesta. Piirityksen alettua samat mielenkiinnon kohteet ovat edelleen läsnä Lenan päiväkirjamerkinnöissä, mutta vaihtuvat pikkuhiljaa ilmatorjuntahälytysten ja säännöstellyn ruoan määriin. Lopulta kyse onkin enää vain ja ainoastaan ruoasta. Ja lopulta mahdollisuudessa evakuointiin.
Kirja on koskettava ja piirtää tärkeän kuvan piiritettyjen elämästä. Vaikka pommituksesta, nälästä ja kuolemanpelosta tulee jokapäiväistä, silti piiritetyt pyrkivät pitämään yllä jonkinlaista arkea kauppoineen, kouluineen ja juhlapäivineen.
Kirjan alussa on tiivis kuvaus sodan tilanteesta piiritysvaiheen alussa sekä Suomen osuudesta siinä ja päiväkirjan jälkeen on lyhyt kuvaus Lenan myöhemmästä elämästä.
February 4, 2022
"So even the death of someone as dear as Aka can have its positive side. As the Russian proverb says, 'it's a blessing in disguise'. Now Mama will be able to get 400g of bread a day, which is quite a lot. And we can get more at the canteen too. We'll be able to carry on like this for a whole month."
This quote sums up all the horrors of the wartime famine in Leningrad in the years 1941-1942. Lena Mukhina is a young and ambitious but quite regular girl in the city and in this book you read about the famine from her almost daily perspective. I was a bit fearful for this book because of the haughty comparison between Mukhina and Anne Frank, but after reading I get the parallels. Mukhina doesn't possess Frank's writing talent, but there are a lot of interesting thoughts to be found here. The Diary of Lena Mukhina is a horrible chapter of Leningrads history and essentially a story about a lost generation. Definitely worth reading.
This quote sums up all the horrors of the wartime famine in Leningrad in the years 1941-1942. Lena Mukhina is a young and ambitious but quite regular girl in the city and in this book you read about the famine from her almost daily perspective. I was a bit fearful for this book because of the haughty comparison between Mukhina and Anne Frank, but after reading I get the parallels. Mukhina doesn't possess Frank's writing talent, but there are a lot of interesting thoughts to be found here. The Diary of Lena Mukhina is a horrible chapter of Leningrads history and essentially a story about a lost generation. Definitely worth reading.
August 27, 2014
Questo libro è senza ombra di dubbio una testimonianza storica dell’orrore di una guerra, ed è stato per me una lettura molto interessante, sono rimasta colpita dal fatto che nonostante tutto ciò che ha vissuto il popolo russo, non ha perso l’umanità, e il senso di fratellanza tipico dell’ideologia comunista.
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August 8, 2022
Choć nie można 16-letniej Lenie odmówić pewnego talentu, trudno jej dziennik oceniać w kategoriach literackich. To wstrząsający zapis bolączek codziennego życia w oblężonym, dogorywającym z głodu mieście. Tym bardziej wstrząsający, że relacje z oblężonych miast oglądamy teraz codziennie w serwisach z newsami. Wyobraźnia pracuje intensywnie. Chyba już zawsze będę w domu trzymać większe zapasy jedzenia na czarną godzinę.
January 21, 2024
This book was fantastic. I don't know why it took me so long to read. It should be a mandatory book for high school students.
I am a fan of history and historical fiction books, so this topic was appealing. I had to remind myself multiple times that this had been a real girl, a real teenager enduring during this time period. Because of that, there were parts that were confusing, and she constantly mentions new characters. I am not familiar with many Russian names and Russian nicknames for those names, so that had been confusing, as to who all she was talking about, had she mentioned that person before, etc. Considering this was a real account, it was easy to look past though. The way she describes her Mama dying, heartbreaking! And the whole time, I'm thinking, "this is real." As a reader who struggles when I read historical fiction because often the author chooses to write about a modern character with modern thinking placed in a historical setting, this was refreshing.
Two complaints I have for the book actually come from the Editor or Translator(?).
1) Footnotes- I did appreciate some of the footnotes explaining the times and Russian culture, the constant footnotes were tiresome. For instance, footnotes that told me the correct street names were meaningless to me. I have not been to St. Petersburg, nor with the current political climate in Russia, I do not plan on going so this was pointless to me. I did not need footnotes telling me when she was quoting from a song or which book she was referencing. For me, those footnotes could have been deleted in favor of adding footnotes for the Russian names that previously stated confused me.
2) Foreword- The foreword came in two parts. Part 1 perfectly did what a foreword should. It provided detail for the reader in the story. As an American who grew up in the 90s/2000s, school didn't cover the Leningrad siege. I had never heard of it until reading Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah, so it covered details that were great in a foreword. Part 2 however read more as an Epilogue. I wish it would have been an Epilogue. I knew I'd have to reread this part as soon as I finished again so I could put all the pieces together, especially as the diary just ends. To put it at the beginning of the book was very puzzling to me.
On an ending note, I rated this book 4 stars. As I do not really have a reasoning on how I rate books, I randomly said 4 and not 5 for this. I tend to rate books higher than other people, simply because when I rate a book at a 1, I really want others to know how much I hated it. It's impossible to 'rate' this book however based on a normal book rating system anyways. This author was just a child, writing for herself (at least for most of the book). She writes about boys and friends and normal teenager things, even after the siege starts. I did think it cute that she switches 80% in for future readers.
I am a fan of history and historical fiction books, so this topic was appealing. I had to remind myself multiple times that this had been a real girl, a real teenager enduring during this time period. Because of that, there were parts that were confusing, and she constantly mentions new characters. I am not familiar with many Russian names and Russian nicknames for those names, so that had been confusing, as to who all she was talking about, had she mentioned that person before, etc. Considering this was a real account, it was easy to look past though. The way she describes her Mama dying, heartbreaking! And the whole time, I'm thinking, "this is real." As a reader who struggles when I read historical fiction because often the author chooses to write about a modern character with modern thinking placed in a historical setting, this was refreshing.
Two complaints I have for the book actually come from the Editor or Translator(?).
1) Footnotes- I did appreciate some of the footnotes explaining the times and Russian culture, the constant footnotes were tiresome. For instance, footnotes that told me the correct street names were meaningless to me. I have not been to St. Petersburg, nor with the current political climate in Russia, I do not plan on going so this was pointless to me. I did not need footnotes telling me when she was quoting from a song or which book she was referencing. For me, those footnotes could have been deleted in favor of adding footnotes for the Russian names that previously stated confused me.
2) Foreword- The foreword came in two parts. Part 1 perfectly did what a foreword should. It provided detail for the reader in the story. As an American who grew up in the 90s/2000s, school didn't cover the Leningrad siege. I had never heard of it until reading Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah, so it covered details that were great in a foreword. Part 2 however read more as an Epilogue. I wish it would have been an Epilogue. I knew I'd have to reread this part as soon as I finished again so I could put all the pieces together, especially as the diary just ends. To put it at the beginning of the book was very puzzling to me.
On an ending note, I rated this book 4 stars. As I do not really have a reasoning on how I rate books, I randomly said 4 and not 5 for this. I tend to rate books higher than other people, simply because when I rate a book at a 1, I really want others to know how much I hated it. It's impossible to 'rate' this book however based on a normal book rating system anyways. This author was just a child, writing for herself (at least for most of the book). She writes about boys and friends and normal teenager things, even after the siege starts. I did think it cute that she switches 80% in for future readers.
June 12, 2021
Takes you back to Leningrad…
Beautiful, strongly emotional timeline of the horrible Leningrad siege. Fully recommend it- Her (Lena's) diary is like a time travel that gives you a vivid experience of how it really was in those days and what all people had to endure to just survive. Should make you feel sad and more appreciative of what we have today, which, unfortunately, so many of us take for granted. It isn’t a book but a collection of memories of a young girl’s daily life during WW2 (The Siege of Leningrad). Bless her for what she endured and Thanks to her that she recorded it for us..❤️ You really want to continue reading it….Just so interesting…Highly highly recommend it!
Beautiful, strongly emotional timeline of the horrible Leningrad siege. Fully recommend it- Her (Lena's) diary is like a time travel that gives you a vivid experience of how it really was in those days and what all people had to endure to just survive. Should make you feel sad and more appreciative of what we have today, which, unfortunately, so many of us take for granted. It isn’t a book but a collection of memories of a young girl’s daily life during WW2 (The Siege of Leningrad). Bless her for what she endured and Thanks to her that she recorded it for us..❤️ You really want to continue reading it….Just so interesting…Highly highly recommend it!
March 6, 2023
Harrowing content and timely to read it now with the ongoing war in Ukraine, this diary being set at a time when Soviet Russia was an ally and the struggles of the citizens of Leningrad were supported by the west including Britain. Ukraine was then part of the Soviet Union and there are references to the cities that are being destroyed now.
80 years on and nothing has been learned and Russia now treats Ukraine as Germany treated Russia.
80 years on and nothing has been learned and Russia now treats Ukraine as Germany treated Russia.
February 6, 2017
Noget af det, som fascinerede mig mest ved denne bog, var at se ændringen i Lenas tankegang og liv, da hun går fra at drømme om drenge og kærlighed til at drømme om en ordentlig mæthedsfølelse og mere end få hundrede gram brød. Dagbogen virker ganske autentisk og fortæller historien om hverdagen i Leningrad under Anden Verdenskrig.
December 25, 2017
Although this book is mildly repetitive, I on the other hand believe this adds to the accuracy and her inescapable existence during such a prolific time. But also the ambiguous ending works in Mukhina’s favour, leaving her life in Leningrad - dead or alive - the end of story is prolific and her development as a character is tragic but gripping, humbling to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2024
A tough read & would’ve liked more information on wheat happened to her subsequently - but as no one knows, that’s never going to be known. The small amount of food they survived on is incredible, particularly if compared with what we all eat these days.
February 2, 2026
The struggle to survive
The horrors of war and the struggle to not die of starvation. Lena was an admirable person, who in spite of incredible odds, fought hunger, loneliness and danger with optimism and grace. What a strong person she was!
The horrors of war and the struggle to not die of starvation. Lena was an admirable person, who in spite of incredible odds, fought hunger, loneliness and danger with optimism and grace. What a strong person she was!
April 26, 2018
4th Tuesday had an interesting discussion about the siege of Leningrad. I just don’t think this was the best vehicle for me to learn about this bleak period of history.
May 16, 2018
Страшная книга-дневник участницы 16-летней девушки — участницы Блокады.
May 17, 2021
Dull, boring and tedious pity party
March 30, 2023
Wonderful!
November 26, 2023
Heart breaking.
The siege of leningrad should be more known.
The siege of leningrad should be more known.
March 26, 2017
Germans walked here once, when the ground was covered with snow, scarred with shell craters, trenches and earthworks and woven with barbed wire, and the cold icy wind whistled in their ears.....Though still recent, they are already in the past, those historic days when the breakthrough occured, when the Germans stopped advancing, when the Germans were pushed back, when the Germans retreated, when the Germans ran, when we entered Berlin, when the last burst of gunfire, the last explosion and the last rifle shot rang out. Those days when we greeted our valiant warriors with victory-true heroes, every one of them.
Lena wrote this vision of the future in the early months of the siege.
In the Reichstag in Germany you can still see the graffiti left by the Soviet soldiers who stormed the building at the end of the war. I remember seeing some read out on TV. I remember one of the Cyrillic scrawls read out 'this is for Leningrad!' The Nazis certainly deserved it.
It's inevitable that Lena's diary was going to be compared to Anne Frank's diary. Both were young girls writing diaries whilst living in fear of the Nazis. The books are very different in my opinion. The girls' personalities are different. The material conditions they experience are different. Anne was hiding from the Gestapo in occupied Europe which meant she led a very different life from Lena who, whilst living in a city under siege by the Nazis, was never actually within occupied territory. Never saw a Nazi unless it was in a plane high above the city. The hardships faced by both girls were very different. For example Anne never experienced bombing or shelling like Lena did, whilst Lena never had to cower in an attic scared to breathe lest she be discovered. So although they might be considered part of the same genre, I don't really see much similarities between the two.
The people of Leningrad undoubtedly underwent immense hardships. The longest siege in modern history. A total of three and a half million Soviet casualties. Two and a half million died from starvation alone. Lena has a tendency to gloss over much of the suffering and remains very positive and focused on the future. History records that the famine within the city was so bad that some people resorted to cannibalism. Perhaps we don't hear of this because Lena is evacuated after the first year of the four year siege? We don't hear of anything that grim in Lena's diary but we do hear how people, Lena's family included, resort to removing the glue from window frames to use as food. They killed the family cat for food. We hear day by day accounts of the rations. At one point during the winter people are down to only one hundred grams of bread a day. Which is nothing considering people are still going to work, students are still studying in school. Through the course of her diary Lena loses her real mother, her adoptive mother (her aunty) and her grandmother. She eventually gets evacuated to family in Moscow when a window of opportunity opens in the siege.
The other thing that marks Lena different from Anne is that Lena's story is a story of endurance and survival. Lena was fortunately able to escape to safety. She survived the war and lived into old age. Anne died in the holocaust.
August 22, 2016
3.5 Stars
This book begins just prior to when Hitler broke his pact with Stalin and invaded Russia. For Leningrad, Hitler decided to bombard the city with artillery fire, rather than waste military resources occupying it. They were just going to let its citizens starve to death, which many of them did. Leningrad was besieged. This book gives us an interesting perspective; life inside the besieged city. Our author, 16 year old Lena, is more concerned with catching the eye of her affections(Vova), than anything else at the start of this diary. What immediately struck me upon turning the first page is how completely unaware our author is about what is to become of her life in the months to follow. The only things bothering her for the first few entries are boys and exams. Pretty archetypal for a 16 year old girl of any era. However, things soon begin to change. Lena learns of the Nazis invasion and we slowly watch a young girl, once so full of life and enthusiasm for the future, transform into a frail “Systemically Malnourished” young woman. She has to do a lot of growing up (in a small amount of time) as she watches those around her perish due to starvation, or die during the harsh winter that engulfs Leningrad.
Throughout the atrocities that Lena faces, she has one trait that is more distinguished than any others; her unfathomable optimism. I say unfathomable because if I were to go through what this young woman had to endure, I would surely succumb to the grips of depression. But not Lena. Even as all around her is falling, she writes: "everything we have to endure is temporary”. There is something both beautiful and terrifying about having such perennial faith in her homelands ability to win the unwinnable. Her admiration for her fellow countrymen as they defend the “motherland” is omnipresent throughout. She hails them as “Heroes”, and bestows the upmost praise upon them for doing their “duty”. It’s harrowing to think that 80% of males born in 1923(So Lena’s age when the war started, 18 when the blockade began) did not survive ww2. Many of Lena’s friends, classmates, and acquaintances, all met their tragic end in a bid to protect their cherished home land.
This book is well worth a read for anyone even slightly interested in history. An estimated 800,000 people died during the siege. This number is almost too big to comprehend. It’s easy to forget that 800,000 is not just a number. Every single one of those 800,000 was a human. An individual, with their own voice, their own thoughts and opinions. Their own story to tell. Lena’s story brings a well needed human voice back to the numbers.
This book begins just prior to when Hitler broke his pact with Stalin and invaded Russia. For Leningrad, Hitler decided to bombard the city with artillery fire, rather than waste military resources occupying it. They were just going to let its citizens starve to death, which many of them did. Leningrad was besieged. This book gives us an interesting perspective; life inside the besieged city. Our author, 16 year old Lena, is more concerned with catching the eye of her affections(Vova), than anything else at the start of this diary. What immediately struck me upon turning the first page is how completely unaware our author is about what is to become of her life in the months to follow. The only things bothering her for the first few entries are boys and exams. Pretty archetypal for a 16 year old girl of any era. However, things soon begin to change. Lena learns of the Nazis invasion and we slowly watch a young girl, once so full of life and enthusiasm for the future, transform into a frail “Systemically Malnourished” young woman. She has to do a lot of growing up (in a small amount of time) as she watches those around her perish due to starvation, or die during the harsh winter that engulfs Leningrad.
Throughout the atrocities that Lena faces, she has one trait that is more distinguished than any others; her unfathomable optimism. I say unfathomable because if I were to go through what this young woman had to endure, I would surely succumb to the grips of depression. But not Lena. Even as all around her is falling, she writes: "everything we have to endure is temporary”. There is something both beautiful and terrifying about having such perennial faith in her homelands ability to win the unwinnable. Her admiration for her fellow countrymen as they defend the “motherland” is omnipresent throughout. She hails them as “Heroes”, and bestows the upmost praise upon them for doing their “duty”. It’s harrowing to think that 80% of males born in 1923(So Lena’s age when the war started, 18 when the blockade began) did not survive ww2. Many of Lena’s friends, classmates, and acquaintances, all met their tragic end in a bid to protect their cherished home land.
This book is well worth a read for anyone even slightly interested in history. An estimated 800,000 people died during the siege. This number is almost too big to comprehend. It’s easy to forget that 800,000 is not just a number. Every single one of those 800,000 was a human. An individual, with their own voice, their own thoughts and opinions. Their own story to tell. Lena’s story brings a well needed human voice back to the numbers.
June 7, 2016
Germans use to emphasize the meaning of the Stalingrad battle, in which German soldiers empocketed and which was a sign for the final defeat. But especially in Germany, the tragedy of another city battle, another siege is often overlooked, and even ignored. According to Nazi plans, Leningrad, the second biggest Russian city and important cultural and historical site, was to be destroyed during the "Barbarossa" campaign. However, when the Germans could not advance as quickly as they originally wished, they changed their plans: instead of being destoryed, the city should be empocketed, food supply interupted and the civilian population left to starve to death. The complete disorganisation and chaotic failure of Stalinist bureaucracy as well as the early grim winter did their bit to conjure one of the biggest catastrophes of war history, but on he other hand a touching example of humanitarian aid and courage.
Lena Muchina, a 16 year old girl, provides, through her diary an insight into the every day live of this time, the almost constant occupation with hunger and finding nourishment. She is not the person to tell the huge touching stories of that time, such as the sacrifice of those employees who risked to starve in the mid of a huge collection of edible seeds in order to preserve them to mankind, or the heroic performance of Shostakovich's Leningrad symphony in the occupied town. Nor does Lena tell the gruesome stories of people kidnapping or killing children in order to eat them, or the stealing of corpses. Lena's story is relatively "normal": her family of three women hangs together, until the older women die and Lena is left alone. They kill and eat the family cat, they make food of glue, and dream modest dreams of eating until saturation. Her story is also one of the diversity of human nature: some persons seek to survive and become more or less regardless of others, or even selfish, others find resources to help their fellows. Lena's story is, finally, a story of Stalinist autocracy, in which, in the end, the actual fate of the starving inhabitants of the "heroic city" matters much less than its propagandistic worth.
Lena Muchina, a 16 year old girl, provides, through her diary an insight into the every day live of this time, the almost constant occupation with hunger and finding nourishment. She is not the person to tell the huge touching stories of that time, such as the sacrifice of those employees who risked to starve in the mid of a huge collection of edible seeds in order to preserve them to mankind, or the heroic performance of Shostakovich's Leningrad symphony in the occupied town. Nor does Lena tell the gruesome stories of people kidnapping or killing children in order to eat them, or the stealing of corpses. Lena's story is relatively "normal": her family of three women hangs together, until the older women die and Lena is left alone. They kill and eat the family cat, they make food of glue, and dream modest dreams of eating until saturation. Her story is also one of the diversity of human nature: some persons seek to survive and become more or less regardless of others, or even selfish, others find resources to help their fellows. Lena's story is, finally, a story of Stalinist autocracy, in which, in the end, the actual fate of the starving inhabitants of the "heroic city" matters much less than its propagandistic worth.
March 24, 2016
I always wanted to read The Diary of Anne Frank but my curiosity was put to rest after I watched a dramatized version of the book on TV. In all fairness, I still want to read the book whenever I get a chance to comprehend the aspects that are left for self-interpretation of the reader, which is not the case when you watch it as a movie.
But in the meantime, I stumbled upon a similar book called ‘The Diary of Lena Mukhina’ at the local library. Similar to Anne Frank’s diary, ‘The Diary of Lena Mukhina’ is an account of a Leningrader's life during the siege of Leningrad (now known as St. Petersburg). The Leningrader in this case is a 16 year old girl called Lena.
I am of the opinion that this being a diary, a personal journal of one's life, should not and does not qualify for a book review. But after having read the compilation of entries, I think it would be unfair not to acknowledge the impact it creates with its powerful mix of childish naivety and adult wisdom; one can feel Lena’s mind and heart being poured into the pages of her diary during one of the most difficult times of her life and perhaps the life of every Leningrader.
This diary is a testimony of her maturity, of her love for the country and the value system that surrounded it. It is a journey of Lena’s coming of age (within a span of one year when this diary was written) ; an account of the extraordinary range of emotions that she experienced and tackled some of the most difficult ones with such tenderness and maturity - that makes this read a beautiful experience.
But in the meantime, I stumbled upon a similar book called ‘The Diary of Lena Mukhina’ at the local library. Similar to Anne Frank’s diary, ‘The Diary of Lena Mukhina’ is an account of a Leningrader's life during the siege of Leningrad (now known as St. Petersburg). The Leningrader in this case is a 16 year old girl called Lena.
I am of the opinion that this being a diary, a personal journal of one's life, should not and does not qualify for a book review. But after having read the compilation of entries, I think it would be unfair not to acknowledge the impact it creates with its powerful mix of childish naivety and adult wisdom; one can feel Lena’s mind and heart being poured into the pages of her diary during one of the most difficult times of her life and perhaps the life of every Leningrader.
This diary is a testimony of her maturity, of her love for the country and the value system that surrounded it. It is a journey of Lena’s coming of age (within a span of one year when this diary was written) ; an account of the extraordinary range of emotions that she experienced and tackled some of the most difficult ones with such tenderness and maturity - that makes this read a beautiful experience.
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