a man of amazing destiny, through whose hands passed tens of thousands of loaves of bread, which fed the inhabitants of besieged Leningrad

By the beginning of the blockade, there were few food supplies in the city. And if in mid-July, bread ration cards per adult accounted for 800 grams for workers and 500 grams for dependents, then with the beginning of the blockade, these norms were cut several times. The bread allowance for dependents and children was 125 grams each.

The bread itself has dramatically changed its composition. His recipe has been preserved:

food cellulose – 10%, cake – 10%, wallpaper dust – 2%, bagpipes – 2%, needles – 1%, rye wallpaper flour (coarse) – 75%. Cellulose helped make bread bulky. Gradually, the amount of rye flour decreased. Nevertheless, the saving bread seemed to be the most delicious dish.

Baker Daniil Ivanovich, returning from work, observed hungry and exhausted people on the streets of Leningrad. He saw how neighbors were dying, how someone was constantly being buried, and heard the crying of hungry children. And when he came to work, he was surrounded by the aroma of baking bread. It was a stark contrast: the monstrous hunger and the aroma of fresh bread.

It’s hard to imagine what it would be like for a hungry person to bake bread and not even take a bite. The baker began to lose strength, lost weight, resembled only a shadow of his former self, but still remained honest and believed that he had no right to take too much, as it would cost another person’s life.

On February 3, 1942, Daniil Ivanovich died of exhaustion at his workplace. His “Death certificate” says that the cause of death was dystrophy. For Daniel Kutinen, conscience turned out to be more precious than life, and his act is a real heroism. Daniil Ivanovich was buried at the Shuvalov cemetery. His name is included in the book of memory of the siege of Leningrad.

@NasheSovetskoeDetstvo