On this day in 1941, Nazi Germany and its allies begin the Siege of Leningrad, one of the longest, brutal & destructive sieges in history.

It would last for 2 years, 4 months, 2 weeks & 5 days. The goal was not to occupy the city, but to starve it into extinction.

By early 1942, an estimated 100,000 people were dying in Leningrad a month, mostly from starvation. Due to the desperation, at the worst point of the siege, workers only received 250 grams of bread a day, their dependents only received 125 grams.

In total desperation, people boiled wallpaper paste for starch, chewed their leather belts, and even scraped glue from furniture to eat.

The harsh cold of the Russian winter was faced with no electricity, no heat, and no fuel, with Leningrad’s citizens freezing to death in -30 degrees Celsius.

Up to 1.5 million Red Army soldiers & civilians died in the siege in a heroic sacrifice to ensure that the city does not fall to the Nazis.

Adolf Hitler wanted to wipe out the city bearing Vladimir Lenin’s name, and exterminate the population who he viewed as sub-human. The resilience of the people of Leningrad outlasted defeated Hitler’s hatred.

I have returned from my trip to China, where we held several conferences and made numerous visits to Chinese provinces, prefectures and cities, including an autonomous region on the tripoint of North Korea, China and Russia (probably the safest place on Earth given it involves three nuclear-armed powers). The main point of the visit was to discuss the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the most extensive construction project in human history, connecting approximately 150 nations across Eurasia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania. Our Chinese hosts were more than welcoming, with impeccable organization and rather exhausting schedule, which was still well worth the effort given the things we saw. I'll soon post images and videos of our visit.