“A capitulation of Leningrad or Moscow is not to be accepted, even if offered.”3 What was to happen to them he made clear to his commanders in a directive of September 29: The Fuehrer has decided to have St. Petersburg [Leningrad] wiped off the face of the earth* The further existence of this large city is of no interest once Soviet Russia is overthrown… The intention is to close in on the city and raze it to the ground by artillery and by continuous air attack… Requests that the city be taken over will be turned down, for the problem of the survival of the population and of supplying it with
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