This book attempts to present another view of the Leningrad blockade and the battles around the city through documentary records of people who were on opposite sides of the front line. About his vision of the initial period of the blockade from August 30, 1941 to January 17, 1942. told by: Ritter von Leeb (commander of Army Group North), A. V. Burov (Soviet journalist, officer), E. A. Scriabina (resident of besieged Leningrad) and Wolfgang Buff (non-commissioned officer of the 227th German Infantry Division) Thanks to the efforts of Yuri Lebedev, a military translator and chairman of the St. Petersburg Reconciliation Center, we have the opportunity to learn about how both the German soldier and the woman of besieged Leningrad saw the blockade. Against the background of the chronicle of military operations, the human perception of terrible everyday life is clearly visible and the answer to the question is given: why did Hitler’s troops fail to take Leningrad in September 1941, when, it would seem, the fate of the city was decided?