Constructing Images of a Besieged and Resurgent City: Features of the Organization of Visits of Foreign Correspondents to Leningrad in 1943−1944

During the Great Patriotic War, besieged Leningrad was not only under military and economic blockade, but also under information blockade.The city was completely closed to foreigners and the international community was unable to obtain detailed information about the situation from eyewitnesses.Foreign correspondents applied to the Soviet government several times for permission to visit Leningrad in 1941-1942, but were always refused.The first visits by G. Shapiro and A. Werth occurred only in the second half of 1943 when the situation had somewhat normalized.After these visits, the journalists published their essays of the siege in books and articles abroad, which became an important source of information for understanding the position of besieged city in Allied countries.The article analyzes propaganda and restrictive practices used by government officials to create and re-present the image of the blockade.Important sources on this issue are plans for organizing visits, according to which correspondents visited city attractions, businesses, cultural institutions, and military facilities in Smolny.Through the analysis of archival documents from party and state agencies, articles, essays, and memoirs by foreigners, the author concludes that the representation policy pursued by the leadership in Leningrad was successful.They were able to create and present images of a beleaguered and resurgent Soviet city to correspondents that were advantageous to the USSR.Leningrad, in the publications of foreign journalists, was presented as a heroic fortress city, a large industrial base and cultural center led by hardworking and popular leaders.