Tatiana Nikolaevna Savicheva

Tanja Sawitschewa

Tanja Nikolajewna Sawitschewa ( Russian Татьяна Николаевна Савичева ; born January 23, 1930 in Dworishchi near Gdow ; † July 1, 1944 in Schatki, Gorky Oblast ) was a Russian student who kept a diary during the blockade of Leningrad in World War II .

Tanja Sawitschewa was the youngest child of the baker Nikolai Rodionowitsch Sawitschew and the seamstress Maria Ignatiewna Sawitschewa. Her father died when she was six years old, leaving a mother with five children - three girls, Tanya, Shenya and Nina, and two boys, Mikhail and Lyoka. The family planned to spend the summer 1941 in the country, but by the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany on June 22, the situation changed. Except for Mikhail, who had already left the city, everyone stayed in besieged Leningrad and worked for the army. The mother sewed the uniforms, Lyoka worked on the planer in the Admiralty's factory, Shenya in the ammunition factory, Nina on the construction of defenses. Tanja dug trenches and planted bombs at the age of eleven.

One day Nina went to work and never came back. She was sent to Lake Ladoga and then hastily evacuated. The family knew nothing about it and thought she was dead. After a few days of mourning, Tanja received Nina's notebook from her mother, which later became Tanja's diary. Tanja had already kept a diary before, but it fell victim to the stove in the cold winter when there was nothing else left for heating.

The first entry is dated December 28th. Shenya got up every day when it was still dark outside. She walked seven kilometers to the factory, where she worked two shifts each day, making mine casings. After work, she donated blood. Her weak body couldn't take the strain and she eventually died while working. Next, the grandmother Yevdokia Grigorievna died, then Lyoka. Uncle Vasya and Uncle Lyosha followed. The mother was the last. At this time Tanja leafed through her diary and added the last comment.

In August 1942, 140 children from Leningrad, including Tanya Savicheva, were evacuated to Krasny Bor ( Gorky Oblast ). Except for Tanja, they all survived. Anastasija Karpova, a teacher at the local orphanage, wrote to Tania's brother Mikhail, who was outside Leningrad in 1941: “Tanya is now alive, but she does not look healthy. A doctor who recently visited her said she was very sick. She needs rest, special care, nutrition, a better climate and, above all, tender maternal affection. ”In May 1944 Tanja was admitted to the Schatkowski Hospital, where she died a month later on July 1st, 1944.

Among the evidence presented by the prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials was Tanja's diary. It consisted of a few pages - one page for each dead person.

Nina and Mikhail returned to Leningrad after the war. Tanja's diary can now be seen in the Saint Petersburg City Museum; a copy is in the Piskaryovskoye memorial cemetery . The asteroid (2127) Tanya was named after her.

Content of the diary

Extract from the diary kept by Tanja Sawitschewa and exhibited in the museum in Petersburg

• Schenja died on December 28 at 12.00 a.m. 1941 (28 декабря 1941 года. Женя умерла в 12 часов утра.)
• Grandmother died on January 25, 3 p.m. 1942 (Бабушка умерла 25 января 1942-го, в 3 часа дня.)
• Lyosha died on March 17th at 5 a.m. 1942 (Лёша умер 17 марта в 5 часов утра.)
• Uncle Vasja died on April 13 at 2 a.m. after midnight, 1942 (Дядя Вася умер 13 апреля в 2 часа ночи.)
• Uncle Lyoscha on May 10 at 4 p.m. 1942 (Дядя Лёша 10 мая в 4 часа дня.)
• Mother on May 13th at 7.30 a.m. 1942 (Мама - 13 мая в 730 утра.)
• The Savichevs died. (Савичевы умерли.)
• All died. (Умерли все.)
• Only Tanja stayed. (Осталась одна Таня.)

Musical processing

Fredrik Vahle set the story of Tanja Sawitschewa to music under the title Tanja (published in 1983 on the album Der Friedensmaler ).

Web links

Commons : Tanya Savicheva  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files