# Russian tale from World War 2? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-tale-from-world-war-2/586340 "2011-06-21T20:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-tale-from-world-war-2/586340/41 "2011-06-27T19:19:43Z")
Pavlov’s House is an awesome story. Would make a great film. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_of\_Lucan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_of_Lucan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-tale-from-world-war-2/586340/42 "2011-06-27T19:44:31Z")
People have mentioned the story of the people of Leningrad - now St. Petersburg again. I can’t point you at any fictional book, but read any history of it. In essence, it was a city of two million people who fought the Germans to a standstill. Total casualties were over a million. Half starved workers built tanks, guns and ammunition in the city to send out to the front nearby. There was almost no food, and bitter cold winter weather. Most deaths were from cold or starvation. You will find plenty of material for a film about war and individual bravery if you visit Leningrad. Don’t let them take you to the Tsar’s palaces. Ask to see the Siege memorial from communist times on Moskovskiy. Or go to the outside of the city, where there is a graveyard, with 50 or 60 mounds where 600,000 dead are buried from the battle. They had to blow holes in the ground with explosive to bury 10,000 people a day. Talk to survivors or to their children. It’s very evocative. During the siege, the radio staion had a metronome ticking when there was no report to give. They called it the Beating Heart of Leningrad. In the memorial, you hear it most of the time. There’s a theme for you ---
**Author:** ![Dingbang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@Dingbang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dingbang)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-tale-from-world-war-2/586340/43 "2011-06-27T20:43:02Z")
The metronome, the beating heart of Leningrad. I love it. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-tale-from-world-war-2/586340/44 "2011-06-28T05:58:49Z")
Also re Leningrad, they still held concerts at night and tried their best to keep life as normal as possible for the people of the city. You could easily make 10 movies about the siege of Leningrad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russian-tale-from-world-war-2/586340.md?page=2)