《禁忌花园：列宁格勒围城中的植物学家及其不可能的选择》（The Forbidden Garden）
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2024-12-17 22:51
浙江
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The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice
by Simon Parkin
《禁忌花园：列宁格勒围城中的植物学家及其不可能的选择》
在第二次世界大战列宁格勒大围城期间，世界上首个种子库的植物学家们面临着一个不可能的选择：是吃掉种子活下来，还是保护他们毕生的心血以结束世界饥饿？1941年夏天，德军包围了列宁格勒，计划围困这座苏联城市，让饥恶使市民屈服，人类有史以来时间最长的封锁就此开始。据保守估计，封锁造成75万人丧生，是长崎和广岛原子弹爆炸死亡人数总和的四倍，其中大多数人是饿死的。而当时，世界上最大的种子和植物收藏馆就存放在市中心一座由宫殿改建的建筑中。在过去二十年，在世界著名探险家尼古拉·瓦维洛夫的领导下，植物研究所里手工收集了来自各大洲的25万多颗种子，是有史以来最大的植物活体图书馆。但随着围城战的持续，试图撤离这些无价藏品的努力失败了。植物学家们被困在城市中，物资供应日益减少，他们面临着一个可怕的问题：是将这些种子分发给城市中饥寒交迫的人们，还是将它们保存起来，还是希望未来的科学家可以利用它们培育作物，防止未来的饥荒？《禁忌花园》利用从未见过的原始资料，首次讲述了在封锁最黑暗的日子里留在植物研究所的植物学家们的故事，他们中的许多人为完成保留种子的任务最终献出了生命。在气候变化、战争和供应链问题影响粮食安全的今天，这个引人入胜的故事依然具有现实意义和紧迫性。From the award-winning author of The Island of Extraordinary Captives, the riveting, untold true story of the botanists at the world’s first seed bank who were faced with an impossible choice during the Second World War’s Siege of eat the seeds to stave off starvation, or protect their life’s work to potentially end world hunger?In the summer of 1941, German troops surrounded Leningrad with a plan to besiege the Russian city and starve its citizens into submission. So began the longest blockade in recorded history. By conservative estimates, it would claim the lives of three-quarters of a million people–four times the number killed in the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima combined. Most died by starvation. At that time, the world’s largest collection of seeds and plants were stored in a converted palace building in the city center. Hand-collected during the previous two decades under the leadership of the world-famous explorer Nikolai Vavilov, the Plant Institute represented the greatest living library of plant matter ever assembled, more than a quarter of a million seeds from every continent. But as the siege wore on, attempts to evacuate this priceless collection failed. Trapped in the city with dwindling supplies, the botanists faced a terrible should they distribute the seeds to the city’s starving population, or preserve them in the hopes that future scientists might use them to breed crops and prevent future famine? Drawing from previously unseen primary sources, The Forbidden Garden tells for the first time the story of the botanists who remained at the Plant Institute during the darkest days of the blockade, many of whom sacrificed their lives in service to their mission. As climate change, wars, and supply chain issues impact food security in today’s times, this fascinating story remains as relevant and urgent as ever.
