Abstract: | The main aim of the article is to draw attention to a different hell than that of the Nazi concentration
camps, namely, the cruel test of human possibilities, impulses, and reactions
that was the Siege of Leningrad. Mass famine, which had a solid scientific basis and proved
to be one of the most effective weapons of the 20th century, was again used there. The besieged
man, left to his survival instinct, shows an only seemingly (in)human face, which
is manifested in eating domestic animals but also in cannibalism (this was a taboo issue
for many years). Fortunately, the horrific experiment conducted on the city’s inhabitants revealed
also successful, even heroic, attempts to maintain humanity and dignity. One of these
is surely the history of the Leningrad Zoo, which functioned as usual during the siege (except
for the winter of 1941–1942). It demonstrates not only the importance of bonds between man
and animal, but also confirms that, in the face of suffering, famine, and fear, all beings are equal. |