August 30, 2024: the new exhibition entitled "The Blockade Diary of Yakov Rubanchik" was unveiled to the public at the Taganrog Museum of Architecture and Urbanism yesterday, on the eve of Taganrog's Liberation Day. This is a joint project between the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg and the Taganrog Group of Museums.


On January 27, 2024, Russia commemorated the 80th anniversary of the Lifting of the Siege (Blockade) of Leningrad. One of the survivors of the Blockade was Taganrog-born architect and artist Yakov Rubanchik (1899-1948).

During the Great Patriotic War (World War II), he chose to stay with his family in the besieged city of Leningrad, where they spent all the 872 days of the Blockade. Rubanchik was an eyewitness, whose drawings chronicled the tragic events. Later on, these pictures were assembled into Yakov Rubanchik's archive.


Over 300 colorful artworks present the everyday life of the besieged city in 1941-1944. They contain many details that were not reported in common newsreels and photo reviews on the Blockade. Yakov Rubanchik's archive reflects work and life, hunger and cold, the death of relatives and friends, and at the same time the tenacity and courage of the inhabitants of the unconquered city.


Taganrog City Manager Andrey Fateyev and director of the Taganrog Group of Museums (TGLIAMZ) Yelizaveta Lipovenko gave their welcome speeches at the opening ceremony. Representatives of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, namely curator of its branch, the Mansion of Rumyantsev, Victoria Kravtsova and museum guide Y. Ulanova, were also involved in the event.

As for the international coverage, the participants and guests of the ceremony watched the video clips of the welcome addresses by Yakov Rubanchik's niece Yelena Sverdlova (Israel) and the president of "Forum Russische Kultur Gütersloh" Dr. Günter Bönig (Germany). Earlier, in May, The Book Day was marked in Gütersloh, Germany with an exhibition on the history of the Siege of Leningrad, based on historical photographs made in besieged Leningrad and drawings of Taganrog-born architect and artist Yakov Rubanchik.


In the framework of the exhibition, about 100 drawings from the series "Leningrad in the Days of the Great Patriotic War: an Architect's Diary," most of the time preserved at the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, are combined with unique showpieces from the collection of the Taganrog Group of Museums. In 2022, it was enriched with Yakov Rubanchik's memorabilia, donated by Yelena Sverdlova and her son Yevgeny. The memorabilia are exhibited for the first time ever.

Visitors and residents of the city are welcome to see "The Blockade Diary of Yakov Rubanchik" Tuesday to Sunday, from 10AM to 6PM in the Taganrog Museum of Architecture and Urbanism at Ulitsa Frunze, 80.