1935 Filippov City Map or Plan of Leningrad / St. Petersburg, Russia

This is a 1935 I. F. Filippov city map or plan of Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia. Focused on the city center, districts throughout the city, including Petrogradsky, Vasileostrovsky, Moskovsky, and Vyborg are shaded different colors to allow for easy differentiation. Tram lines are illustrated by solid red lines running along the streets, while bus lines are indicated by dashed lines, all of which are identified with numbers inscribed in circles. Railroads are marked by solid black lines. Some important buildings, including the Peter and Paul Fortress, are noted.

1935 in Leningrad

In 1935, movement around the Soviet Union was increasing. Populations were being shifted from the country to the city, and even between cities. Industrialization was the most important goal for Stalin and his regime. Per Lesley Rimmel, Leningrad itself increased in population by 180.4% between 1926 and 1934. This population explosion caused severe strain to housing, food, and other supplies in Leningrad. Even so, work was available to almost anyone that wanted it. Companies were desperate to reach the production goals put forth in the First Five Year Plan and were less concerned about an individual's legal work status than if they were able to complete their assigned tasks.

The Beginning of The Great Purge and Stalin's Terror

An markedly complex situation, life in Leningrad and the Soviet Union fell off the cliff by the end of the year and would never fully recover. By the end of 1934, Stalin had eliminated all threats to his unrestrained control of the U.S.S.R. and was planning what has become known as the Great Purge. One of Stalin's most loyal supporters, Sergey Kirov, was murdered in December 1934 and Stalin used his death as a pretext for the purge, in which over a million people were killed and thousands of others exiled. One of the first acts of the purge was the March 1935 deportation of 'alien elements' from Leningrad. To oversimplify the work of Lesley Rimmel, this mass deportation was undertaken as a means to depopulate an overcrowded city, in which over 11,000 individuals, including women and children, were forcibly removed from the city.

Publication History and Census

This map was compiled by I. F. Filippov and published by the Leningrad Regional Executive Committee and the Leningrad Council in 1935. We have been unable to locate any other examples in any collection public or private.