Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg in 1703 on marshland by the sea. In World War II the city, then called Leningrad, endured an 872-day siege, and hundreds of thousands of people died.
Hermitage staff hid and guarded the museum’s treasures throughout. After the war, the palaces the Nazis wrecked, like Peterhof, were rebuilt piece by piece.
Doomscroll Buster is a series of short videos about people who faced dark times and made beauty anyway. Watch them all in the Doomscroll Buster section at pastpassport.com.