”Scottish and Leningrad Albums”

Государственное бюджетное общеобразовательное учреждение средняя общеобразовательная школа № 46 с углубленным изучением английского языка Приморского района г. Санкт-Петербурга

An oral presentation of the topic ”Scottish and Leningrad Albums”

at St Petersburg Forum ‘KNOWLEDGE OF SCOTLAND’ Competition  for St Petersburg schools

                                              By Liza Tokareva, 10 form

                                     English teacher: I.A. Zasetskaya

                                                                                                                                                                               2018

                                                       May the blessing of the good be on you!

May compassion and sympathy

                                                                            For the suffering

Heighten your spirit!

I’m … the Spirit of compassion and solidarity. I’m flying above the Earth which is shuddering from hatred caused by people’s aggression. And the highest destiny of mine is to soften your hearts and to plant the seeds of mercy for the oppressed in your souls!

However, there is a country, which makes me rejoice, “the birth-place of valour, the country of worth”. Yes, I’m speaking about Scotland, whose people have always known what compassion and solidarity mean.

When I look back into the past I see striking examples of people’s democracy and solidarity. And here is one of these cases.

In 1941, Hitler unleashed against the Soviet Union a military invasion on the scale unknown in the human history. When Leningrad was besieged, there was a rise of support for Russia, particularly in the West of Scotland.

The Scots knew about the great contribution of women volunteers defending the city. Leningrad had no water, electricity or heating. People got only 125 grams of bread a day. Still, the war industry worked and the city did not surrender.

In Airdrie and Coatbridge, the women members of the Russia Today Society were desperately anxious to help. They decided to send messages solidarity to the women of Leningrad. Tired after the working day the Scottish volunteers collected 6,000 signatures, in spite of the blackout, sometimes pushing their babies in prams. Not a single person refused to sign these messages of goodwill! With great care were the messages pasted into an album.

The Scottish wrote to the women of Leningrad:” We wish to express our admiration for your heroic struggle against the enemy of all freedom-loving people. Your fight is our fight and we shall not fail you or be unworthy of your sacrifice.”

Margaret Plant, an art teacher, designed the Album cover and decorated it with the local Tartan and a quotation from Burns’ famous song about solidarity. The Scots also raised a substantial amount of money to support the besieged. Soon it was clear that the Album should be sent off without delay, for in Leningrad deaths from cold and starvation had reached 4000 a day. The gift was gratefully received in Leningrad.

The Leningrad Album was conveyed to Scotland in 1943. It seemed a miracle that women struggling with hunger and cold, face to face with death, should find force to respond to the pledge of solidarity. The album was bound in ancient embroidery and filled with messages, photographs and 3,300 signatures.  Its pages were adorned with beautiful watercolours and engravings of Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva, a well-known graphic.

The Leningraders wrote: “We have been moved to the depths of our soul by the words of love from far-off Scotland. The women of Leningrad, just like the women of Airdrie and Coatbridge, have risen to defend their homes. We are proud that we have such a worthy ally.”

The last lines of the Album written by the distinguished poet Vera Inber were devoted to the women of Leningrad:

Houses without light, stoves without heat,

Hard work, deprivation, grief and loss -

All these are endured.

You are the soul of Leningrad,

Its great maternal strength.

Nothing overwhelms it.

Both the Albums reveal solidarity and the high human spirit uncrushed even in the darkest days of the ordeal. Nowadays many countries tend to rewrite the history for  political reasons and convert their former allies into enemies. But not Scotland, the only country where the hymn of solidarity is sung in the Parliament!

Is there for honest Poverty

That hings his head, an' a' that;

The coward slave-we pass him by,

We dare be poor for a' that!

For a' that, an' a' that.

Our toils obscure an' a' that,

The rank is but the guinea's stamp,

The Man's the gowd for a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,

A marquis, duke, an' a' that;

But an honest man's abon his might,

Gude faith, he maunna fa' that!

For a' that, an' a' that,

Their dignities an' a' that;

The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,

Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may,

(As come it will for a' that,)

That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,

Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.

For a' that, an' a' that,

It's coming yet for a' that,

That Man to Man, the world o'er,

Shall brothers be for a' that.