
Beyond the Siege of Leningrad
One Woman's Life during and after the Occupation: The Recollections of Evdokiia Vasil'evna Baskakova-Bogacheva
Central European University Press
Published on 30. April 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
120 pages
978-963-386-763-1 (ISBN)
Description
This memoir about the experiences of German occupation during the siege of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) was written by Moscow-born Evdokiia Vasil'evna Baskakova-Bogacheva (1888-1976), an emigre in Australia, at the age of eighty-one. The text had been forgotten in the Museum of Russian Culture in San Francisco since 1970 until the editors of this volume discovered it.
In the memoirs, after accounting on her youth spent against the background of the First World War and of the two Russian revolutions of 1917, Evdokiia describes the inferno of the Nazi occupation as experienced in a suburb of Leningrad in 1941-43. She survived for nearly two years almost on the front line, within a few kilometers of the blockade ring. As a medical practitioner, she became useful for the occupational authorities and the ever-shrinking town population, until her family was evacuated to the west in October 1943. Besides hunger, discord, disease, the hunt for food and firewood, along with violence and death, Evdokiia's account deals with various forms of cooperation between Soviet citizens and the new authorities.
All the events she recalls can be confirmed through other sources. The introduction and the detailed notes to the text help the reader to locate Evdokiia's recollections in time and place, and situate them in their historical context.
In the memoirs, after accounting on her youth spent against the background of the First World War and of the two Russian revolutions of 1917, Evdokiia describes the inferno of the Nazi occupation as experienced in a suburb of Leningrad in 1941-43. She survived for nearly two years almost on the front line, within a few kilometers of the blockade ring. As a medical practitioner, she became useful for the occupational authorities and the ever-shrinking town population, until her family was evacuated to the west in October 1943. Besides hunger, discord, disease, the hunt for food and firewood, along with violence and death, Evdokiia's account deals with various forms of cooperation between Soviet citizens and the new authorities.
All the events she recalls can be confirmed through other sources. The introduction and the detailed notes to the text help the reader to locate Evdokiia's recollections in time and place, and situate them in their historical context.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Budapest
Hungary
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Academic
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight
172 gr
ISBN-13
978-963-386-763-1 (9789633867631)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Oleg Beyda | Pavel Gavrilov
Beyond the Siege of Leningrad
One Woman's Life during and after the Occupation: The Recollections of Evdokiia Vasil'evna Baskakova-Bogacheva
Book
04/2024
Central European University Press
€116.50
Available (delivery time upon request)

Oleg Beyda | Pavel Gavrilov
Beyond the Siege of Leningrad
One Woman's Life during and after the Occupation: The Recollections of Evdokiia Vasil'evna Baskakova-Bogacheva
E-Book
04/2024
1st Edition
Central European University Press
€14.49
Available for download
Persons
Oleg Beyda is the Hansen Lecturer in Russian History at the University of Melbourne.
Pavel Gavrilov is an independent researcher of history of the Soviet partisan movement and the siege of Leningrad, based in Israel.
Pavel Gavrilov is an independent researcher of history of the Soviet partisan movement and the siege of Leningrad, based in Israel.
Content
Maps, Introduction. Beyond the Siege of Leningrad: One Woman's Life during and after the Occupation Oleg Beyda and Pavel Gavrilov A hidden past Portraits without faces In the shadow of the blockade Typical untypical Speaking Anti-Bolshevik The city of the poet: At the gates of hell The little devils of war: The mechanics of violence Human trash: Normality and deformity An (un)sentimental war: The image of womanhood A mission for the skilled: Women under the occupationThe recollections of Evdokiia Vasil'evna Baskakova-Bogacheva Early Life Chaos: The First World War, the Civil War, and the early years of Soviet power In Pushkin: Memory snapshots They are here: Start of the German occupation Survival above all: Winter-Spring 1942 Witnessing: A visit to the POW vamp and Dr. Matskevich's fate Poor people: Navigating between the different occupants Securing nutrition: More on food Throwback: 1941 Exit Pushkin: The last year beyond the siege, Bibliography, Index