An absolutely bleak film, and one that almost certainly would not have been made by those who lived through it as they would have found focusing on the worst aspects of humanity by those trapped inside the city to be of bad taste, when it is the actions of those who did the RIGHT thing that would be seen as more worth memorializing in art. But once almost 8 decades have passed, people start to be drawn to the more shocking and macabre stories.

The NKVD records on the subject were not released until 2004. What they say is that in the worst period of winter 1941-1942, 100,000 people were dying of starvation per month, with 1.6-2 million people being the final death toll. The first arrests for cannibalism were in Dec 1941, with 9 arrests, and the total was 2105 a year later, with about 5/6 of those being for eating corpses rather than live people. So, ~350 arrests out of a ~3.2 million people city. Most were women, often unsupported women with dependent children, and 90% had minimal education.

The takeaway from the Siege of Leningrad is that in the most unimaginable circumstances, most residents did NOT resort to becoming the lowest savages and preferred to fight or (often) die rather than betray their dignity and values. But of course, there were those of whom that was not true, and that is also a part of history that cannot be erased.