Army Group North was never a priority on the Eastern Front, so with no hope of taking Petrograd (a vital logistical port, industrial hub as well as the birthplace of Soviet Bolshevism) by force, they settled in for a prolonged Blockade that would last 2 1/4 years and inflict over a million Russian civilian casualties. The death rate peaked during the "Hungry Winter" of 1941 when over 100k were dying every month - that's a Hiroshima! every month! The scale of attrition on the Eastern Front is just insane to comprehend!!!

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"The Fuhrer has decided to erase the city of Petersburg from the face of the earth. After victory over the Soviet Union there will not be the least reason for the continued existence of this large city.... It has been suggested that the city be surrounded securely and levelled with continual air raids and artillery of every caliber. If this results in the city's capitulation, should it be rejected?" - Hitler's Secret Order # 1601 Sept. 22, 1941 

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"With their last strength, many people reported to their workplace to warn that they would not be coming back and begged their boss to take care of their family." - Antony Beevor

"Horrible, only skeletons, not people. What will become of us?" - Ivan Savinkov

"A child died - he was just 3 years old. His mother laid the body inside the double-glazed window and sliced off a piece of him every day to feed her second child, a daughter. This is how she got her through." - Daniil Granin

"Everyone is shriveled, their breasts sunken in, their stomachs enormous, and instead of arms and legs just bones poke out through wrinkles." Aleksandra Liubovskaia

Kwashiorkor condition: a lack of protein in a diet results in bloated stomachs because of the bodies (more specifically, the lymphatic system) inability to remove excess waste fluids that normally build up in blood vessels and organs.