What did Stalin give to almost every major official who helped the city of Leningrad survive its bitter siege?
a) 100,000 roubles
b) A generous pension
c) An execution

Answer below.











c) An execution. After the siege, Leningrad's heroic officials were brought to Moscow and given positions of power. Stalin however, feared they might plot against him and arrested them on trumped-up charges and had them shot after interrogations and secret trials in 1950. He closed the Leningrad siege museum which was only re-opened 40 years later, and suppressed information about the city's history, important aspects of which remain unknown to this day.