On January 27 of the coming year, St. Petersburg will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade. The Committee for external relations of St. Petersburg has developed a special set of events dedicated to this anniversary.
Veterans of the great Patriotic war - members of the defense of Leningrad and residents of the besieged city living abroad, invited by the Committee to St. Petersburg to participate in the city events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the city. In total, it is planned to take about 90 people from 20 countries: Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Germany, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, USA, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, Estonia.
It is planned that veterans will take part in the solemn funeral ceremony of laying wreaths and flowers at the Piskarevsky memorial cemetery, as well as become spectators of a festive concert in the great concert hall "October", dedicated to the anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad, and the Parade of the troops of the St. Petersburg territorial garrison on Palace square.
In addition, a cultural program has been prepared for them, which will include a sightseeing tour of the Northern capital and new attractions of the city. One of the points of the program will be a gala dinner in honor of the Leningrad Victory, in which the guests will be presented a specially prepared concert program.
Ambassadors of the anti-Hitler coalition member States and countries that were part of the USSR, as well as heads of foreign partner cities of St. Petersburg and heads of Russian regions, to which Leningrad residents and Leningrad enterprises and cultural institutions were evacuated, will also be invited to the events dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the blockade.
The Committee for external relations of St. Petersburg will also ensure the transfer of 15,000 commemorative signs "in honor of the 75th anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi blockade" to veterans living in other regions of Russia and abroad. The awards ceremony will be organized with the support of administrations of Russian and foreign cities and regions, organizations of compatriots abroad, the Russian foreign Ministry and Rossotrudnichestvo.
In a number of foreign countries, the Committee will organize a show of performances " the First day of the world – - the artists of one of the leading St. Petersburg theaters will present a specially prepared production in the partner cities of St. Petersburg, where the largest number of blockades live, namely in five countries: Germany (Berlin and Hamburg), USA (Washington and St. Petersburg), Estonia (Tallinn, Narva), Latvia (Riga, Daugavpils), Belarus (Minsk).
Currently, the Committee also prepared a photo exhibition " I'm talking to you from Leningrad..." dedicated to the feat of the residents of the besieged city, preparing an anniversary photo album based on the materials of the exhibition. The exhibition will be presented at foreign events and on the Basis of information business centers of St. Petersburg abroad (currently they operate in Alexandroupolis, Hamburg, Milan, Beijing and Shanghai).
Digital copies of the exhibition will also be sent to Russian centers of science and culture abroad and organizations of Russian compatriots for their subsequent printing and exhibiting.
In March 2019, it is planned to hold the fifth annual educational project for children of Russian compatriots "read the blockade book". The target audience for the project is children of Russian compatriots living abroad (age: from 12 to 16 years), and also accompanying from among teachers of history, culture of Russia, Russian language and literature of organizations of primary and secondary education.
For young students there will be held lectures, interactive, game classes, excursions on the subject of "Blockade of Leningrad" and the Russian language, as well as given creative tasks. They will be able to listen to the stories about the heroism of Leningrad, see the awards, orders, medals, military-historical equipment, weapons samples of the war. For participants therer will be held a tour of the famous "Road of life". They will visit Piskarevskoye memorial cemetery, where they will lay a wreath and flowers at the foot of the monument "mother Motherland", as well as listen to a tour of the history of the world's largest mass grave.
At the end of the project, the young participants will meet with veterans and residents of the besieged Leningrad, listen to their stories about the blockade and present their pre-prepared creative program.
In April 2019, with the support of the Committee for external relations of St. Petersburg, an international conference dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the lifting of the blockade and the role of the SIS countries in the liberation of Leningrad with the participation of foreign experts and researchers will be held.
At the request of the Scottish side, assistance will be provided in the transmission of a digital copy of the famous "Scottish album", composed of handwritten messages from Scottish women to women of the besieged Leningrad, for the Mitchell library in Glasgow (Scotland) within the traditional days of Scotland in St. Petersburg.
Also in 2019, at the initiative of the Committee for external relations of St. Petersburg in Jerusalem (Israel) will be a monument dedicated to the heroic deeds of the defenders and residents of Leningrad during the blockade ("Candle of memory").