Monuments of the Great Patriotic War. Sword of Victory - a triptych of monumental Soviet monuments Famous monuments of the Second World War
Of course, the Great Patriotic War left a huge mark in the history of our Motherland. For the past 68 years, we have been honoring the memory of those who died on May 9 every year. We all know that in the vastness of Russia monuments to the Great Patriotic War were built in huge quantities. Below in the article we will consider the most famous of them, which are located in the hero cities of Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Tula, Volgograd, Novorossiysk and Smolensk. It was these cities that became most famous for their brave defense during the hostilities of 1941-43.
Let's start with Moscow. All Muscovites, of course, will say that the most significant for this city is Poklonnaya Hill, on which the Victory Park is located. The park was solemnly opened on May 9, 1995 during the celebration of Victory Day. The monuments of the Great Patriotic War located here include exhibitions military equipment, museums of the Second World War and the Holocaust, a memorial mosque and a synagogue, as well as a temple. In addition to these monuments, there are other minor structures that can be seen throughout Moscow.
Next, let's move on to St. Petersburg. Like in the capital, in the "Venice of the North" there is also Victory Park, but here it is presented in duplicate: Primorsky, which is dedicated to naval victories, and Moscow, which is built as a holistic memory of the victory. The first one does not stand out in any way, but the latter has on its territory a large number of buildings that are monuments to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. Among them, the monuments-busts of twice Heroes of Socialist Labor, natives of the city, stand out in particular. Also of note is the Rotunda monument, commemorative crosses and plaques, various sculptures and the "Temporary" chapel. In addition to these parks, it is worth mentioning the Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad museum-reserve, as well as the memorial museum of the Defense and Siege of Leningrad, in which the entire severity of the battles and the “pulling out” of victory from the fascist invaders are highlighted.
Tula is not particularly replete with monuments, however, it is worth noting the monument to the defenders of Tula in the Second World War, which is located on as well as the mound of Immortality in the city of Efremov, built at the residents' own expense.
Undoubtedly, one of the greatest cities that showed a heroic defense and no less heroic counteroffensive is Volgograd. On the most famous hill, where bloody battles took place from September 1942 until the next January - Mamaev Kurgan, there is an architectural ensemble of monuments dedicated to the Second World War. It includes, perhaps, the most famous monument of the Great Patriotic War of Russia "The Motherland Calls!", Which, by the way, is one of 3 squares (Sorrow Square, Heroes Square, Square of Those who stood to death), Monumental relief, high relief "Memory of Generations" , Military cemetery, Ruined walls. Construction, during which many architects were involved, lasted almost 10 years, from 1959 to 1967.
Next, we will briefly examine the monuments of the Great Patriotic War in Smolensk. The Mound of Immortality is located in the Readovka park, which was built by the Smolensk people in memory of the soldiers who died during the Second World War and ordinary people. It was solemnly opened on September 25, 1970. Not far from the Kurgan you can see the Eternal Flame, and in the park itself it was also built where thousands of soldiers are buried. Among other monuments of Smolensk, the monument of the Great Patriotic War "Bayonet", which was erected in memory of the soldiers of the legendary 16th Army, who defended the city in July 1941, is worthy of mention.
They keep the memory of the little people of the war. And even about God's little creatures - camels, donkeys and doves that helped to fight. These are monuments to courage and a broken world. And hope, of course.
"We'll all come back to you"
Praskovya Eremeevna Volodichkina had nine sons go to the front with one appeal. Six died in the war, three died of wounds, barely returning home. And then Praskovya Eremeevna herself left - she could not stand the grief that she inherited. And with her youngest son, Nikolai, she did not even say goodbye. He was finishing active service in Transbaikalia, they were already waiting for him to go home, but some of them were immediately taken to the front. When he was passing the Volga, he threw a note rolled up in a tube out of the window of the car: “Mom, dear mother. Don't grieve, don't grieve. Do not worry. We're going to the front. We will defeat the Nazis and we will all return to you. Wait. Your Kolka.
Isn't the movie Saving Private Ryan about a similar impossible story? Such cruel coincidences, in which people try not to believe (“The bomb does not fall into the same funnel a second time!”) Reveal the cruelty of time and fate. This is what - too. But in Russia there were several such families, we just do not know about all of them. Here, in Alekseevka, a suburb of Samara, circumstances developed in a certain way. In the 1980s, school teacher Nina Kosareva, who works at the same school where the Volodichkin brothers once studied, created an amateur memorial museum in one of the rooms of their former house. And the initiative to build the monument belongs to the working group of the regional Book of Memory.
And on the street of the former Krasnoarmeyskaya, and now the Volodichkin Brothers, a monument appeared - Praskovya Eremeevna, Alexander, Andrey, Peter, Ivan, Vasily, Mikhail, Konstantin, Fedor and Nikolai.
Monument to the crying horse
It is called the "Monument to the Weeping Horse". The orphaned, exhausted bronze horse bowed its head, mourning its rider, master, friend. Fortunately, we rarely see crying horses these days. There were many of them in the Great Patriotic War. Unfortunately, the cavalrymen were practically doomed to certain death. AT civil war, which ended (relative to the beginning of the Great Patriotic War) relatively recently - just some twenty years ago, it was the cavalry that formed the basis of the army. But between the 20s and 40s of the last century, progress, including military progress, developed at a rapid pace - much faster than army administration. And as a result, many horsemen went to the front, who were helpless in front of enemy tanks and aircraft. Ossetians have always been excellent riders. It is not surprising that among them were many dead cavalry soldiers.
Postman
Triangles of front-line letters. One of the symbols of the Great Patriotic War. They were read by the whole family, and in the villages - and sometimes by the whole street, they were kept in caskets, rivers of tears were shed over them - tears of faith, hope, love. The symbol is more rear than front. However, corporal Ivan Leontiev, forwarder-postman on the 33rd rifle regiment The 6th Red Banner Rifle Division, immortalized on this monument, died in 1944 just at the front. He was delivering mail to the front line and came under enemy artillery fire. The last letter that Ivan Leontiev himself sent home was dated January 1944. Postman Leontiev was not a special hero - and he was, of course. But he became a symbol of the profession because his military fate was typical. He was awarded a medal - like many of his fellow army postmen; many times under fire he brought letters from his relatives to the soldiers in the trenches; they were waiting for him, along with his bag full of letters - and the weight of a front-line postman's bag was on average equal to the weight of a machine gun. So said at the opening ceremony employees, veterans, heads of departments of the Russian Post - everyone who participated in thinking about and discussing the monument. The monument was created with the participation of the Russian Post.
Bear and Masha
The hardships of wartime are when steppe Astrakhan camels are used as a draft force. And after all was and such. In particular, the camels Mishka and Mashka participated in the legendary Battle of Stalingrad and reached from the Lower Volga region to Berlin. Now they are cast in bronze, in their usual surroundings - next to a military gun and a soldier with a machine gun on his knees, who sat down to rest. And one of the camels, without hesitation, followed his example. Tired.
fashion magazine bronze page
A wide bronze stele, and on it - as if on an ordinary clothes hanger, on hooks, women's clothes hang. Only 17 sets, like on a bronze page from a fashion magazine. There is only one difference, and it is very significant - these are not fashionable toilets, but uniform women participating in World War II. These are work overalls, driver's overalls, protective clothing for a welder, medical uniforms ... Helmets, jackets, riding breeches. This monument is called very simply - Women in World War II.
The war has changed the lives of seven million British housewives. They replaced men - and became firefighters, air defense fighters, workers in the "women's land army" and defense factories, drivers and mechanics. And the inscription on the monument used a font from food cards of the war era.
This monument was created in 1997 by retired Major David McNally Robertson. The idea was supported by the speaker of the House of Commons, Baroness Betty Boothroyd, who became the patroness of the project and raised money for it on the TV show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? About 1 million pounds was given by Queen Elizabeth II, who herself worked as a driver during the war. The rest of the funds were provided by various charitable foundations.
Quay of Bronze Shoes
Flowers are placed not only in crystal vases, but also in bronze shoes, tightly screwed to the Danube embankment. Only 60 pairs - men's, children's and women's, new, elegant, downtrodden, old-fashioned. In 1944-1945, there were also many pairs of shoes here, only not bronze ones, but real ones - both worn out and sewn in the latest fashion of the forties. Made to last a long time to their owners, to make them beautiful and elegant, to make them comfortable to walk. But the fate of these shoes - and the whole world - was different. Before the execution, people driven to the banks of the Danube were forced to take off their shoes - so that the shoes would not be lost. She did not disappear - people disappeared.
All donkeys go to heaven
Fought and died - not only people. This monument is dedicated to animals, participants of the Second World War. Not surprisingly, he appeared in England - a country where there is a medal of Maria Deakin, the highest military award for animals. It depicts carrier pigeons, a dog, camels, horses, a mule, an elephant, a wolf, a cow and a cat. And the medal - it was first awarded in 1942 - was awarded to 60 animals: just dogs, pigeons, donkeys, and an elephant, and one cat.
The cat with the highest award was named Simon (circa 1947 - November 28, 1948). He was a ship's cat from the sloop-of-war Amethyst of the Royal Navy. Was awarded "for boosting the morale" of the sailors during the Yangtze River Incident and for keeping the ship's supplies from rats. During the clash, the cat was wounded.
The inscription "They had no choice" is concise and more than eloquent. The monument was erected with private donations.
Terkin - who is he?
The most famous fictional front-line soldier is Vasily Terkin, invented and sung by Alexander Tvardovsky. Both of them - both the author and his hero - are sitting on a bivouac in the center of Smolensk - Tvardovsky's homeland - and are joking merrily about something. In this way, Vasily Terkin, as it were, embodied, from what he invented became real - a symbol of a well-aimed word, consolation, stamina, humility and good spirits - everything that is so necessary in a war.
pigeons
Vitya Cherevichkin lived in Rostov,
He did well in school.
And in the free hour is always usually
He released his beloved pigeons.
This song was sung by the entire post-war country. During the occupation of Rostov-on-Don, the Germans strictly forbade civilians to breed pigeons, equating them with radio transmitters - they were afraid of using pigeon mail. The feat of the teenager Vitya Cherevichkin consisted in the fact that he, being an avid dovecote, drew diagrams of the location of German units in the city, and transported them with pigeons to his brother in Bataysk. For this he was shot. According to another version, he simply defended his own dovecote from the invaders. And this does not detract from his merits - you need to have great courage to protect your dovecote from the enemy.
The most faithful friend
And yet the most faithful friend of man is a dog. Everywhere - and in warmth, and in trouble, and in sorrow, and in joy. Including at the front. There is nothing to add here.
Doll and teapot
Three children are warmly and very uncomfortablely dressed. The girl is holding an old, ugly, beloved doll. The boy is holding a big teapot. He is the eldest in this group, he needs to take care of the others. These are kids besieged Leningrad. And the monument itself stands in Omsk. Why? This is evidenced by the signature on the pedestal: "More than 17 thousand children were evacuated from the besieged Leningrad to the Omsk region." That's how they brought them - exhausted, pulled out of their family (if the family was still intact, alive), saved. They were taken out along the legendary Road of Life and at the risk of this very life that had just begun.
Lidice
And again - children, children, children. In total - eighty-two children; their figures are cast in bronze in full size. That is how many children - 40 boys and 42 girls were killed by the Nazis in 1942 in the Czech mining village of Lidice. The village itself was completely destroyed. This is a very laconic, very simple, strong monument.
AiF.ru has collected stories of destroyed and forgotten monuments of the Great Patriotic War: extinguished "eternal" lights and monuments buried in garbage.
Non-eternal "eternal" fire
Photo: AiF / Ekaterina Grebenkova
Every weekend and holidays, a guard of honor from schoolchildren comes to Freedom Square in the center of Staraya Sarepta, a district of Volgograd. More than three thousand Soviet soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War are buried here.
The obelisk, 18 meters high, was opened here in 1958. And about 14 years ago, the mechanism of the Eternal Flame was also arranged, which does not work today.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Kuzmina
As explained in the administration of the Krasnoarmeisky district, the Eternal Flame is lit only at “protocol events” - only a few times a year. The reason is the lack of funding. On such days, and these are May 9, August 23 (the day the most destructive bombing of Stalingrad began), February 2 (the defeat of the Nazi troops near Stalingrad), sponsors bring a liquefied gas cylinder to the memorial, which is connected to the "eternal fire". AT common days the obelisk on the mass grave is decorated only with wreaths and fresh flowers.
Zakamsk: "eternal" according to the schedule
The symbol of the Great Victory in Zakamsk is turned on only once a year for a few hours. The Rear to Front memorial, one of the unspoken symbols of the city, is located in a cozy park. Families with children often come here for a walk.
The memorial "Rear to the Front" is one of the unspoken symbols of Zakamsk. Photo: AiF / Dmitry Ovchinnikov
There are drawings on half of the monuments, rubbish is scattered everywhere. Tiles are cracked in some places. In the extinct Eternal Flame, along with dirty foliage and candy wrappers, there is a plastic bottle.
A plastic bottle is lying in the extinct Eternal Flame. Photo: AiF / Dmitry Ovchinnikov
In the municipal budgetary institution "Improvement of the Kirovsky District" they said that here the Eternal Flame burns only on Victory Day: from 9 am to 10 pm. On other days, the gas is turned off - no money is found.
Maintenance of the monument, including restoration, takes place annually according to the schedule. Photo: AiF / Dmitry Ovchinnikov
The situation with the monument to the workers and employees of the shipyard, who died during the Great Patriotic War, is even worse than with the memorial "Rear to the Front". The sculpture is owned by the factory, which should take care of the pedestal, installed in 1975.
Monument to the workers and employees of the shipyard, who died during the Great Patriotic War. Photo: AiF / Dmitry Ovchinnikov
For 40 years, the monument has never been repaired. The green paint is peeling off on all sides. The eternal flame, the frame for which is made in the form of a five-pointed star, has not been burning for a long time. Candy wrappers, cigarette butts and even a gnawed bone are lying nearby.
The eternal flame, made in the form of a five-pointed star, does not burn. Photo: AiF / Dmitry Ovchinnikov
Before the holiday, they promise to bring the monument into its proper form: they will eliminate defects, touch up. On Victory Day, according to tradition, residents of the city will come here. Flowers will be laid at the memorial. Fiery patriotic speeches will again be heard from the impromptu stage, and a field kitchen will unfold next to the monument. They promise to light an eternal flame. For this, a special gas bottle will be brought. But after the holiday, the symbol of eternal memory will be extinguished again - until next year.
Mila's tragedy
More sadder fate monument to the girl Mila, which was installed on the Soldier's field in Volgograd in 1975. In January, the sculpture of a girl with a flower was destroyed by vandals. As the investigation established, a local resident pushed the monument off the pedestal in order to remove the surface layer of metal from it and hand it over to the collection point.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Kuzmina
The sculpture of Mila did not appear on the Soldiers' Field by chance. Fierce battles were going on in the Gorodishchensky district. A small detachment of Soviet soldiers took up defense here, having orders to stop the enemy offensive at any cost.
Memorial Soldier's Field. Photo: press service of the government of the Volgograd region
From here before the battle Major Soviet army Dmitry Petrakov wrote a letter to his daughter Mila, the lines of which are engraved on a granite triangle: “My black-eyed Mila! I am sending you a cornflower. Imagine: there is a battle, enemy shells are exploding around, funnels are all around and a flower is growing here. And suddenly another explosion - the cornflower is torn off. I picked it up and put it in my tunic pocket. The flower grew, reached for the sun, but it was torn off by an explosive wave, and if I had not picked it up, it would have been trampled. This is how the fascists act in the occupied settlements, where they kill the guys. Mila! Papa Dima will fight the fascists to the last breath, so that the fascists do not treat you the same way as with this flower ... "
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Kuzmina
Today weeds grow instead of cornflowers on Soldier's Field, the asphalt pavement has crumbled and cracked, the symbolic plowshares that plowed the field have rusted. And the mass grave, in which the urn with the ashes of the fallen soldiers was buried, was overgrown with thick grass.
The monument to the girl Mila was recently restored. But when the work to care for the Soldier's Field will be established, it is still unknown.
The "log of death" is buried in garbage
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Kuzmina
The mass grave, in which the soldiers of the 95th Infantry Division, along with their commander, are buried, is located right on the banks of the Volga. There were fierce battles here, when the river literally burned, and its waters turned blood red. Today it is not easy to find this obelisk. There are no signs, and not all residents of the Krasnooktyabrsky district know about the existence of the monument.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Kuzmina
It was here, in the Glubokaya Balka ravine, that the front line of the division's defense passed. The beam was shot through by the Germans to the Volga itself, the losses were huge, for which the area got its name - "Death Log".
Today, the monument is surrounded by debris. Broken bricks, fragments, bottles, packages. Judging by the huge garbage bags, residents bring and dump garbage here on purpose, not wanting to bother with waste removal.
Chelyabinsk: a monument among the stalls
In Soviet times, schoolchildren knew by heart the names of 23 Chelyabinsk motorists who became Heroes Soviet Union and full cavaliers of the Order of Glory. In Chelyabinsk, two monuments were erected to soldiers-motorists. One of them is located on the territory of a liquidated military school, it is hidden from human eyes by a high fence and a strict checkpoint. The school is closed, the monument is "liquidated" along with it.
The second monument to soldiers-motorists has always been honored and respected. Here, in the courtyard of Bazhov Street, they led excursions and laid flowers. Today the monument is forgotten, abandoned, crumbling from old age. The place has long been chosen by the owners of retail outlets.
Monument to soldiers-motorists in Chelyabinsk. Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Uvarova
“I was still small. In the 80s, she ran here with her friends to play hide and seek, - says Elena Kulumbeeva, a resident of a neighboring house. - In the nineties, the monument miraculously disappeared. We took a closer look - and it was fenced off, as it were, with a fence. To reach, it was necessary to try. And everyone forgot how so?
grew up behind the fence shopping center. The monument on its background was completely lost. To reach the monument, you need to walk three hundred meters from the road through mud that is impassable at any time of the year. The situation is also worsened by construction debris: a trailer with workers is located nearby, who now and then bring building materials right here, to the foot of the monument.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Uvarova
Near the monument - not wreaths and bouquets of fresh flowers, but an old broken chair and the same antediluvian table. This is where builders go for a smoke break.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Uvarova
It seems that, apart from them, no one has been interested in the monument for a long time. The red star on the stela had long since faded and almost merged with the gray concrete. The decoration of the monument crumbles and falls off in pieces. From the white marble fence, only rickety pieces of square tiles remained. Rusty iron bars protrude around the monument. Once there was an inscription here: "No one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten."
But nearby there is a construction of multi-apartment, multi-colored, bright houses. A stream of buyers stretches towards the shopping complex, who do not even know that on the reverse side, in a wasteland, just a few meters away, a monument rests.
Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Uvarova
St. Petersburg: a monument behind the hangar
Last winter in St. Petersburg, one of the members of the Living City social movement discovered behind the hangars of the Lenta hypermarket an abandoned monument to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. The cast-iron figure of a soldier, littered with snow, stood in the industrial zone, on the territory of the former plant of lifting transport equipment named after. Kirov. Next to the blue fence enclosing the industrial zone, there is a stele on which more than five hundred names of the dead employees of the plant are engraved. On the stele is written “1941 - 1945. No one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten. Eternal glory to the heroes. Together with the Fatherland, you all won the Victory. We have kept you in our hearts."
An abandoned monument to WWII veterans was found behind the hangars of a hypermarket. Photo: Living City Movement
Contrary to the inscription, the memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the Great Victory was not preserved. These photos were taken almost a year and a half ago - in the winter of 2013. During this time, the blue fence was replaced with a concrete fence with barbed wire. Now there is no way to get to the monument at all. To the question of an AiF.ru correspondent, one of the workers of the industrial zone, who was passing by, answered: “I don’t know any monument. Go away, you can't take pictures here." Most likely, the monument to the heroes of the War has already been dismantled.
Now there is no way to get to the monument at all. Photo: AiF / Yana Khvatova
Monuments to soldiers of the Great Patriotic War
National Memorial of Military Glory
According to the Decree of the President Russian Federation No. 1297 dated November 17, 2009, the memorial architectural ensemble of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was given the status of a National Memorial of Military Glory and it is included in the State Code of Especially Valuable Objects cultural heritage peoples of the Russian Federation
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a memorial architectural ensemble in Moscow, in the Alexander Garden, near the walls of the Kremlin.
On December 3, 1966, in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the defeat of the German troops near Moscow, the ashes of the unknown soldier were transferred from the mass grave at the 41st kilometer of the Leningrad Highway (at the entrance to the city of Zelenograd) and solemnly buried in the Alexander Garden.
On May 8, 1967, a memorial architectural ensemble " Tomb of the Unknown Soldier", designed by architects D. I. Burdin, V. A. Klimov, Yu. R. Rabaev and sculptor N. V. Tomsky. The Eternal Flame was lit on the grave by L.I. Brezhnev, who accepted the torch from the Hero of the Soviet Union A.P. Maresyev. A bronze composition is installed on the tombstone - a soldier's helmet and a laurel branch lying on a battle banner. In the center of the memorial there is a niche with the inscription - “Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal” (offered by S. V. Mikhalkov) from labradorite with a bronze five-pointed star in center, in the middle of which burns the Eternal Flame of Glory.
To the left of the grave there is a wall made of crimson quartzite with the inscription: "1941 TO THE FALL FOR THE HOMELAND 1945"; on the right - a granite alley with blocks of dark red porphyry, which contain capsules with the earth of hero cities: "Stalingrad" (from Mamaev Kurgan) - until September 2004, the inscription read "Volgograd", "Leningrad" (from the Piskarevsky cemetery), " Kerch (from the defense lines), Kyiv (from the foot of the Obelisk to the participants in the defense of the city), Minsk (from the defense lines), Novorossiysk (from the defense lines), Odessa (from the defense lines), Sevastopol (from Malakhov Kurgan), "Tula" (from the defense lines), "Brest Fortress" (from the foot of the walls).
On December 12, 1997, in accordance with the Decree of the President of Russia, post No. 1 of the guard of honor was transferred from the Lenin Mausoleum to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The guard is carried out by the military personnel of the Presidential Regiment. The changing of the guard takes place every hour. In connection with the work on the creation of the National Memorial of Military Glory, the guard of honor was not exhibited from December 16, 2009 to February 19, 2010. Also, wreath and flower laying ceremonies at the memorial were suspended for this period. On December 27, 2009, with military honors, temporarily for the period of reconstruction, the Eternal Flame was moved to Poklonnaya Hill in Victory Park.
On Defender of the Fatherland Day, February 23, 2010, the Eternal Flame was returned to the Kremlin wall.
A new element has appeared in the National Memorial of Military Glory for the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory - a stele in honor of the cities of military glory, which is installed next to the Alley of Hero Cities, near the Grave Unknown Soldier.
On the days of memory dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, statesmen, veterans, delegations, heads foreign states and governments lay wreaths and flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Eternal flame of memory and glory
Eternal flame- a constantly burning fire, symbolizing the eternal memory of something or someone. Continuous combustion is achieved by supplying gas to a certain place where a spark occurs. Usually included in the memorial complex. The first Eternal Flame in the USSR was lit at the monument to the fallen heroes near the village of Pervomaisky, Shchekinsky district Tula region May 9, 1957 In many cities of the former Soviet Union, the Eternal Flame burns in memory of those who died in the Great Patriotic War.
Three Eternal Flames burn in Moscow: on Tomb of the unknown soldier, on the Poklonnaya Hill, on the Transfiguration Cemetery.
Eternal Flame on Poklonnaya Hill
A frame from the NTV channel On April 30, 2010, the second Eternal Flame was lit on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow. It was decided to light a fire on Poklonnaya Hill at the request of the Council of Veterans of the city of Moscow. From December 2009 to February 2010, the flame was located here, transferred from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during the reconstruction memorial complex at the walls of the Kremlin. Later, the fire was returned to its historical place. In addition, near the Eternal Flame on Poklonnaya Hill, it was decided to create a kind of Post No. 1 for students of cadet corps. Ten times a year during the days of military glory and major public holidays young guys will keep watch here. The torch, lit at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden, was transferred with honors to the memorial on Poklonnaya Hill. Honorary citizen of Moscow, participant of the battle for Moscow, chairman of the Moscow Council of Veterans of War, Labor and Law Enforcement Bodies Vladimir Dolgikh, Hero of Russia Colonel Vyacheslav Sivko, member of the Moscow Children's Public Organization "Commonwealth" Nikolai Zimogorov were honored to light a new "hearth of memory". Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who took part in the ceremony, said that the new Eternal Flame would in no way compete with the memorial at Kremlin wall. On the contrary, they will complement each other.
Eternal flame at the Transfiguration Cemetery
On April 30, 2010, at the military memorial necropolis of the Preobrazhensky cemetery, a solemn ceremony of lighting the third Fire of Memory in Moscow took place. A torch with a particle of the main Eternal Flame of the country at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden arrived at the Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery after lighting the Fire of Memory and Glory on Poklonnaya Hill.
The eternal flame at the Preobrazhensky cemetery was lit because it was the first and only one in Moscow - it was brought here in 1956 from Leningrad, from the Field of Mars. It burned until the pipes wore out. The fire was lit only on holidays.
Preobrazhensky necropolis - the largest memorial of military memory in Moscow. Soldiers who died of wounds in Moscow hospitals during the Great Patriotic War are buried here. Some burials were individual, some were fraternal. 10678 people are buried here. Some mass graves contain up to 20 graves. The nameless are getting smaller. Without tablets, only the graves of 43 fighters. In addition to mass graves, the cemetery has the graves of 41 Heroes of the Soviet Union, 3 Heroes of Russia and 3 full holders of the Order of Glory.
Obelisk in commemoration of conferring an honorary title on Moscow - " Hero City»
Obelisk in commemoration of conferring the honorary title on Moscow - Hero City - The Motherland highly appreciated the contribution of Muscovites to the defeat of the enemy: hundreds of thousands of Muscovites were awarded orders and medals, more than 800 of them were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, over 800 thousand people were awarded the medal "For Valiant work in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 8, 1965, Moscow was awarded honorary title"Hero City" with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.
To commemorate the conferment of the honorary title of "Hero City" on Moscow, a 40-meter "Obelisk" was erected in the park at the fork of Kutuzovsky Prospekt and Bolshaya Dorogomilovskaya Street. The "Obelisk" was opened on May 9, 1977. The authors of the monument are architects G. Zakharov, Z. Chernysheva, sculptor A. Shcherbakov.
Lined with gray hewn granite, the Obelisk ends with a five-pointed gold star. On the facade of the monument is the text of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On conferring the city of Moscow with the honorary title of "Hero City", made of overlaid gilded bronze letters. Above the text - cast in bronze and gilded bas-relief order of Lenin. Three 4-meter granite figures - a warrior , worker and female workers - flank and close the obelisk, trapezoidal in plan. Each figure is located on its pedestal. The whole structure is raised on a turf hill with a bypass platform, to which three granite stairs lead. The monument expresses the unity of the front and rear, the greatness and heroism of the glorious defenders of Moscow who defended the capital Soviet state from enemy invasion.
Monument to the Defenders of the Russian Land
"View photo" The monument "To the Defenders of the Russian Land" was opened in 1998 at the intersection of Kutuzovsky Prospekt and Minskaya Street. Sculptor A. Bichugov.
The monument embodies the continuity of generations of defenders of the Motherland: a warrior of Ancient Russia with a sword in his hands, a soldier of the Patriotic War with Napoleon and a hero of the Great Patriotic War. The monument is the Stele of the 1st Guards Moscow-Minsk Motorized Rifle Division The monument was erected in 1976 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the division and her exploits in the Great Patriotic War. It is located on the Square of the Moscow-Minsk division (crossing of Malaya Filevskaya and Minskskaya streets), Minskaya, 13. Architect O.K. Gurulev, artist-architect S.I. Smirnov, sculptor I.P. Kazansky. On the monument there is an inscription "Area of the MOSCOW-MINSK DIVISION". Below it are bas-reliefs of the orders that the division was awarded: Lenin, the Red Banner, Suvorov, Kutuzov, and the badge of the guards. The inscriptions are carved below: “The square of the Moscow-Minsk division was named in 1976 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the formation of the 1st guards proletarian Moscow-Minsk division and its military exploits in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” "The stele was installed by the chiefs of the Metrostroy."
Memorial Complex of Victory on Poklonnaya Hill
Victory Park (in Moscow) - a memorial complex of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. in the west of Moscow. The memorial complex was opened on May 9, 1995 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Great Victory. Victory Park is bounded from the north by Kutuzovsky Prospekt, from the west by Minskaya Street, from the east by General Yermolov Street, from the south by Brothers Fonchenko Street and residential buildings located near the Moscow-Sortirovochnaya station of the Kyiv direction of Moscow railway. Poklonnaya Gora is located in the eastern part of the memorial complex, not far from it is the Moscow metro station Pobedy Park .
History of Victory Park. For the first time, it was proposed to build a monument to a national feat as early as 1942 (architect Ya. Chernihovsky). But it was not possible to implement it in wartime conditions. On February 23, 1958, a memorial granite sign was erected on Poklonnaya Gora with the inscription: "A monument to the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 will be erected here." At the same time, trees were planted around, a park was laid, which was named after the Victory. In the 1970s and 1980s, 194 million rubles were collected from subbotniks and personal contributions from citizens for the construction of a monumental monument. In the future, funds were allocated by the state and the government of Moscow. A plot of land of 135 hectares was allocated for the entire complex. In the 90s, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Victory, the Victory Memorial Complex was built, opened on May 9, 1995.
Main alley "Years of war"
The main alley "Years of War", located between Victory Square and the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War, consists of five terraces, symbolizing the five years of the war. over five water surfaces 1418 fountains were erected - so many days the war continued and blood was shed. In the center of the square is a 141.8-meter-high stele crowned with the goddess of victory Nike. At the foot of the obelisk, on a granite podium, there is a statue of St. George the Victorious, who strikes a snake with a spear - a symbol of the victory of good over evil.
Victory Monument - an obelisk on Pobediteley Square in Victory Park on Poklonnaya Gora
Project architect - Zurab Tsereteli, design and calculation - TsNIIPSK, under the leadership of B.V. Ostroumov. An obelisk made of extra strong steel weighing 1000 tons and 141.8 meters high (10 centimeters for each day of the war), covered with bronze bas-reliefs. At a height of 122 meters, a 25-ton bronze figure of the goddess of victory Nike is attached to the stele. At the foot of the obelisk on a granite podium is a statue of George the Victorious slaying a dragon with a spear. The Victory Monument was opened on May 9, 1995 as part of the Victory Memorial Complex.
Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War
The main object of the complex is the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War, founded in 1993 on the initiative of veterans of the Great Patriotic War. It was opened on May 9, 1995 during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Victory. The museum building was designed by a group of architects headed by A.T. Polyansky. The general fund of the museum is 50 collections with a volume of more than 50 thousand items.
In front of the museum is Pobediteley Square, to which the central alley of Victory Park leads from Kutuzovsky Prospekt. In the museum building there is the Hall of Memory, in which there are Books of Memory in special showcases - 385 volumes, in which the names of people who died in the war are inscribed; Hall of Fame, six dioramas dedicated to the main events of the war. The museum's funds contain authentic items of weapons and military equipment, numismatics, philately and philocartery, household items, a large number of handwritten and documentary and photographic materials, materials visual arts telling about the Great Patriotic War, the joint struggle of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition against Germany and its allies. The museum houses the Banner of Victory, hoisted on April 30, 1945 over the Reichstag in Berlin. Exposition of the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
Hall of Remembrance
Hall of Remembrance on the ground floor. There is a sculptural group of Lev Kerbel "Weeping Mother" based on the motive of Michelangelo's "Pieta". Monument to the victims of the Great Patriotic War. The woman, bending in sorrow over the defeated warrior, is both the mother mourning her son, and the brother's sister, and the husband's wife. This is the face of sadness, morning-you, grief, always experienced in its own way. But sculpture also has a common meaning for all. Five hundred years ago, Michelangelo sculpted Pieta from marble - "Christ, taken from the crucifix, is stretched out on the lap of the Mother of God mourning him." This plot is old, Christian, so the sculpture takes on a new meaning. The fallen warrior is mourned by the Mother of God, and he is like Christ, who sacrificed himself to save people. But that's not all. In the teachings of Orthodoxy, Russia, Russia is the house of the Virgin. Hence the well-known concept - Motherland. She mourns for her Savior. In Russian icon painting there is a plot similar to drinking - the Assumption. The apostles and saints on earth mourn the Mother of God; appeared in the radiance of Glory, Christ takes her soul, in the form of a swaddled baby, to heaven. Along the walls in the Hall of Remembrance there are glass cabinets that contain 385 volumes of the Book of Memory with a list of all those who died in the battles for the Motherland and went missing. Information about each of them can also be obtained using the e-book of Memory. The military-historical exposition is located around the entire perimeter of the building. The central relic is a table from the 1945 Yalta Conference at which Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met.
Hall of Fame
The main one in the Pantheon of Victory Park is the Hall of Fame. At the top of the dome of the Hall of Fame is the Order of Victory. The Hall of Fame is decorated with the sculpture "Soldier - the winner", the author of which is the sculptor V. Znoba. There are 6 dioramas in the hall, created by famous masters of the Studio of Military Artists. M.B. Grekova: “The counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow in December 1941”, “Connection of fronts. Stalingrad", "Siege of Leningrad", "Kursk Bulge", "Forcing the Dnieper", "Storming Berlin". On the marble walls of the hall, 11,717 names of war veterans awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the highest award in the Great Patriotic War, are carved.
Monument "Spirit of the Elbe"
Bow mountain. Monument "Spirit of the Elbe". Dedicated to the meeting of allied troops on the Elbe River in April 1945. Installed in 1995 by the Park Pobedy metro station. Views Photo Sights of Moscow. The monument was opened in 1995 in the western part of Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill. Address: Poklonnaya Gora, Victory Park, Park Pobedy metro station. The Spirit of the Elbe monument is dedicated to the meeting of the Allied Forces on the Elbe River in April 1945.
Monument to the Missing
In the mighty sculpture "Missing", standing on the alley of tankers, there is acute pain and suffering in the form of a wounded soldier, and in our hearts - bitterness and sadness, because feat and death always go side by side. This monument perfectly conveys the suffering of soldiers in the war. These heroes, even heroes, because no one recognizes their names will not see their faces at the victory parades. The sculptor K. Sokolovsky conveyed all this in his creation in the best possible way. The monument to the "Missing" was opened in 1995.
Monument "Tragedy of peoples"
Monument "Tragedy of Peoples" - a monument to the prisoners of Nazi concentration camps, established in 1997. Sculptor - Zurab Tsereteli. The height of the monument is 8 m. It was originally located on Victory Square.
Monument to the Soldiers of the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition
The monument to the Soldiers of the countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition was solemnly opened on May 9, 2005 on Partizan Alley. The author is Mikhail Pereyaslavets. A 20-meter white marble stele topped with the emblem of the United Nations (UN) is located in the center of the Alley of Partisans, one of the most beautiful alleys of Victory Park. At the foot of the stele is a pedestal on which four bronze figures of soldiers of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France rise.
Monument to the Spaniards-volunteers who fought in the ranks of the Red Army and died in the fight against fascism during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The monument was erected in 2001 in the western part of Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill. Architect A. Miche. Engineer S. I. Vorontsov.
Exhibition of military equipment
File: Voorug pgm.JPG A unique exhibition of military equipment and engineering and fortifications has been launched in the open-air Victory Park. More than 300 samples of heavy equipment of the USSR and its allies, Germany and its allies, who took part in the battles, are presented here.
See also: Official website: http://www.poklonnayagora.ru/
Monument to the soldiers of the Moscow air defense on the Sky Defenders Square in Krylatskoye
Erected in 1995. The authors of the monument, sculptor L. E. Kerbel and architect E. G. Rozanov, immortalized the feat of all air defense heroes: pilots and sky scouts, anti-aircraft gunners, fighters of balloon barriers. The monument is an expressive and laconic composition: in front is the figure of the Motherland with a baby in her arms, saving our future. As a historical background of the ongoing event, at a distance, 13 meters from this statue, a screen of metal structures in the form of a stylized radar installation with bronze high reliefs rises, on it are genuine wartime anti-aircraft guns with episodes of the heroic defense of the Moscow sky. Here is an air battle in which our fighter plane defeated a fascist vulture. Here are the girls in military uniform carry a balloon along the embankment. All these are pictures of the war years. And on the reverse side of the screen are inscribed the names of the air defense units that defended Moscow from fascist aviation.
Monument to the Fallen (Heroes - Defenders of the Motherland) at the cinema "Brest". Address: st. Yartsevskaya, 21. Sculptor Alexander Burganov.
A memorial sign to the underground workers of the Young Guard. Installed in the park near the church at the intersection of Molodogvardeyskaya and Yartsevskaya streets.
Molodogvardeyskaya Street is named in memory of the underground heroes of Krasnodon and their immortal feat during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
monuments who died in the Great Patriotic War on the territories of the enterprises of the Western District
Monument to those who died during the Great Patriotic War, workers of the Nogin factory. Installed in the factory. Address: Vitebskaya street, possession 9. The factory was transferred to Yuzhny administrative District in 2003. Representative offices of various companies are located on the territory of the former factory.
Monument to those who died during the Great Patriotic War, MRTZ workers. Installed on the territory of MRTZ. Address: st. Vereiskaya, 29.
The monument to the workers of VILSA who died during the Great Patriotic War was opened in 1964. Address: Mozhaysky district of Moscow, st. Gorbunova, d. 2.
Monument to the workers of the Rublevskaya waterworks who did not return from the battlefields during the Great Patriotic War. Installed on the territory of the Rublevskaya waterworks. Architect Podstavkin P.K.
Memorial to the fallen and those who died from wounds in the Great Patriotic War at the Kuntsevo cemetery
Memorial on the mass grave of soldiers who died in the Great Patriotic War and died of wounds. Installed on the initiative of the enterprises of the Kuntsevsky district at the Kuntsevsky cemetery in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Victory in 1975. An eternal flame burns on the memorial. Address: Kuntsevo cemetery (Ryabinovaya st.)
Memorial plaques to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War
Memorial plaque on Artamonov Street, houses No. 3 and No. 20, named in 1961 in honor of the Hero of the Soviet Union Alexei Alekseevich Artamonov. School students, working on the project "Names of Heroes - to the Streets of the Western District", found a mistake in the name of the hero on the memorial plaque at houses No. 3 and No. 20 on Artamonov Street, with which they turned to the district council. The head of the council, Stolpovsky Anatoly Alekseevich, supported the initiative: it was decided to eliminate the inaccuracy, and install a new plaque in memory of Hero A.A. Artamonov to coincide with the Victory Day. May 9, 2007 new board. The opening ceremony was attended by relatives of the hero - the wife of his son T.I. Artamonova, granddaughter Elena Vyacheslavovna and great-grandson Vasily.
A memorial plaque on Botylev Street in Rublevo is installed on the building former school No. 580, where the military unit that defended Moscow was formed. The street is named after the Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Andreyevich Botylev.
Memorial plaque on Bogdanov Street, 50, named after the Marshal of the Armored Forces Bogdanov Semyon Ilyich.
A memorial plaque on Bolshaya Ochakovskaya Street, 33 commemorates the Hero of the Soviet Union, partisan Elena Fedorovna Kolesova.
Memorial plaque on Vatutin street, house number 1, named after the Hero of the Soviet Union Vatutin Nikolai Fedorovich.
Memorial plaque on Klochkov Street, named after the Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Georgievich Klochkov.
Memorial plaque on Natasha Kovshova Street, house number 5/2, named after the Hero of the Soviet Union, Red Army sniper Natalya Venediktovna Kovshova.
Memorial plaque on Matrosov Street, house number 1, named after the Red Army soldier, Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Matrosov Matrosov.
Memorial plaque on Marshal Nedelin Street, house 40, named after the Hero of the Soviet Union, Chief Marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin in 1961.
Memorial plaque on Pivchenkova Street, house number 10, named after the Hero of the Soviet Union Vladimir Timofeevich Pivchenkov in 1961.
Memorial plaque on Polosukhina street, house number 4, bldg. 1 named in 1966 in honor of V.I. Polosukhin, commander of the 32nd Infantry Division, famous in the battles near Mozhaisk.
Memorial plaque on Rashchupkina Street, house number 25, named after the tanker, Hero of the Soviet Union, Andrei Ivanovich Rashchupkin, who lived in this house before the war.
Memorial plaque on Aleksey Sviridov street, house number 1, named after the hero of the Soviet Union Aleksey Andreevich Sviridov in 1965.
Memorial plaque on Tolbukhin street, house 8, named after Marshal - Hero of the Soviet Union Fedor Ivanovich Tolbukhin.
Few people know that one of the most famous and high Soviet sculptures - "The Motherland Calls!", Which is installed in Volgograd on Mamaev Kurgan, is only the second part of the composition, which consists of three elements at once. This triptych (a work of art, consisting of three parts and united by a common idea) also includes the monuments: “Rear to Front”, which is installed in Magnitogorsk and “Warrior-Liberator”, located in Treptow Park in Berlin. All three sculptures are united by one common element - the Sword of Victory.
Two of the three monuments of the triptych - "The Warrior-Liberator" and "The Motherland Calls!" - belong to the hand of one master, monumental sculptor Evgeny Viktorovich Vuchetich, who three times in his work addressed the theme of the sword. The third Vuchetich monument, which does not belong to this series, was installed in New York in front of the UN headquarters. The composition entitled "Let's beat swords into plowshares" shows us a worker who turns a sword into a plow. The sculpture itself was supposed to symbolize the desire of all the people of the world to fight for disarmament and the triumph of peace on Earth.
The first part of the trilogy "Rear to Front", located in Magnitogorsk, symbolizes the Soviet rear, which ensured the country's victory in that terrible war. In the sculpture, a worker hands over a sword to a Soviet soldier. It is understood that this is the Sword of Victory, which was forged and raised in the Urals, later it was raised by the "Motherland" in Stalingrad. The city in which there was a radical turning point in the war, and Nazi Germany suffered one of its most significant defeats. The third monument of the "Liberator Warrior" series lowers the Sword of Victory in the very lair of the enemy - in Berlin.
The reasons why Magnitogorsk was given such an honor - to become the first Russian city in which a monument to home front workers was erected, should not surprise anyone. According to statistics, every second tank and every third shell during the war years was fired from Magnitogorsk steel. Hence the symbolism of this monument - a worker of a defense plant, standing in the East, hands over a forged sword to a front-line soldier who is sent to the West. Where the trouble came from.
Later, this sword forged in the rear will lift up in Stalingrad on Mamaev Kurgan "Motherland". The place where the turning point in the war took place. And already at the end of the composition, the "Warrior-Liberator" will lower the sword on the swastika in the very center of Germany, in Berlin, completing the defeat of the fascist regime. A beautiful, concise and very logical composition that unites the three most famous Soviet monuments dedicated to the Great Patriotic War.
Despite the fact that the Sword of Victory began its journey in the Urals and ended it in Berlin, the triptych monuments were built in the reverse order. So the monument "Warrior-Liberator" was installed in Berlin in the spring of 1949, the construction of the monument "Motherland Calls!" ended in the fall of 1967. And the first monument of the Rear to the Front series was completed only in the summer of 1979.
"Rear - Front"
Monument "Rear - Front"
The authors of this monument were the sculptor Lev Golovnitsky and the architect Yakov Belopolsky. Two main materials were used to create the monument - granite and bronze. The height of the monument is 15 meters, while outwardly it looks much more impressive. This effect is created by the fact that the monument is located on a high hill. central part monument is a composition that consists of two figures: a worker and a soldier. The worker is oriented to the east (in the direction where the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works was located), and the warrior looks to the west. Where the main events took place fighting during the Great Patriotic War. The rest of the monument in Magnitogorsk is an eternal flame, which was made in the form of a flower star made of granite.
An artificial hill was erected on the bank of the river to install the monument, the height of which was 18 meters (the base of the hill was specially reinforced with reinforced concrete piles so that it could withstand the weight of the erected monument and not collapse over time). The monument was made in Leningrad, and in 1979 it was installed on the spot. The monument was also supplemented with two man-height trapeziums, on which the names of the inhabitants of Magnitogorsk, who received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the war, were listed. In 2005, another part of the monument was opened. This time the composition was supplemented with two triangles, on which you can read the names of all the inhabitants of Magnitogorsk who died during the hostilities in 1941-1945 (a little more than 14 thousand names are listed in total).
"Rear - Front"
Monument "Motherland is calling!"
Monument "Motherland is calling!" is located in the city of Volgograd and is the compositional center of the monument-ensemble "To the Heroes Battle of Stalingrad", which is located on Mamaev Kurgan. This statue is considered one of the highest on the planet. Today she ranks 11th in the Guinness Book of Records. At night, the monument is effectively illuminated by spotlights. This sculpture was designed by sculptor E. V. Vuchetich and engineer N. V. Nikitin. The sculpture on Mamaev Kurgan is a figure of a woman standing with a sword raised up. This monument is a collective allegorical image of the Motherland, which calls on everyone to unite in order to defeat the enemy.
Drawing some analogy, we can compare the statue "Motherland is calling!" with the ancient goddess of victory, Nike of Samothrace, who also called on her children to repel the forces of the invaders. Subsequently, the silhouette of the sculpture "Motherland is calling!" was placed on the emblem and flag of the Volgograd region. It is worth noting that the peak for the construction of the monument was created artificially. Prior to this, the highest point of the Mamaev Kurgan in Volgograd was the territory, which was located 200 meters from the current peak. Currently, there is the Church of All Saints.
"Motherland is calling!"
The creation of the monument in Volgograd, excluding the pedestal, took 2,400 tons of metal structures and 5,500 tons of concrete. At the same time, the total height of the sculptural composition was 85 meters (according to other sources, 87 meters). Before starting the construction of the monument, a foundation was dug on Mamayev Kurgan for a statue 16 meters deep, and a two-meter slab was installed on this foundation. The height of the 8000-ton statue itself was 52 meters. In order to ensure the necessary rigidity of the frame of the statue, 99 metal cables were used, which are in constant tension. The thickness of the walls of the monument, made of reinforced concrete, does not exceed 30 cm, the inner surface of the monument consists of separate chambers that resemble the structures of a residential building.
Initially, the 33-meter sword, which weighed 14 tons, was made of stainless steel in a titanium sheath. But the huge size of the statue led to a strong swaying of the sword, this was especially noticeable in windy weather. As a result of such impacts, the structure gradually deformed, the sheets of titanium plating began to shift, and when the structure swayed, an unpleasant metal rattle appeared. To eliminate this phenomenon, in 1972 the reconstruction of the monument was organized. In the course of the work, the blade of the sword was replaced with another one, which was made of fluorinated steel, with holes made in the upper part, which were supposed to reduce the effect of the windage of the structure.
"Motherland is calling!"
Once the main sculptor of the monument, Yevgeny Vuchetich, told Andrei Sakharov about his most famous sculpture, “The Motherland Calls!” “The bosses often asked me why a woman’s mouth was open, it’s ugly,” Vuchetich said. The famous sculptor answered this question: “And she screams - for the Motherland ... your mother!”
Monument "Warrior-Liberator"
On May 8, 1949, on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, a solemn opening of a monument to Soviet soldiers who died during the storming of the German capital took place in Berlin. The Warrior-Liberator monument was erected in Berlin's Treptow Park. Its sculptor was E. V. Vuchetich, and the architect was Ya. B. Belopolsky. The monument was opened on May 8, 1949, the height of the warrior sculpture itself was 12 meters, its weight is 70 tons. This monument has become a symbol of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, it also personifies the liberation of all European peoples from fascism.
The sculpture of a soldier with a total weight of approximately 70 tons was produced in the spring of 1949 in Leningrad at the Monumental Sculpture factory, it consisted of 6 parts, which were then transported to Germany. Work on the creation of the memorial complex in Berlin was completed in May 1949. On May 8, 1949, the memorial was solemnly opened by the Soviet commandant of Berlin, Major General A. G. Kotikov. In September 1949, all responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the monument were transferred by the Soviet military commandant's office to the magistrate of Greater Berlin.
"Warrior Liberator"
The centerpiece of the Berlin composition is a bronze figure of a Soviet soldier standing on the ruins of a Nazi swastika. In one of his hands he holds a lowered sword, and with the other hand he supports the rescued German girl. It is assumed that the prototype for this sculpture was a real soviet soldier Nikolai Maslov - a native of the village of Voznesenka, Tisulsky district Kemerovo region. During the storming of the German capital in April 1945, he saved a German girl. Vuchetich himself created the monument "Warrior - Liberator" from the Soviet paratrooper Ivan Odarenko from Tambov. And for the girl, 3-year-old Svetlana Kotikova, who was the daughter of the commandant of the Soviet sector of Berlin, posed for the sculpture. It is curious that on the sketch of the monument, the soldier held a machine gun in his free hand, but at the suggestion of Stalin, the sculptor Vuchetich replaced the machine gun with a sword.
The monument, like all three monuments of the triptych, is located on a mound, a staircase leads to the pedestal. Inside the pedestal is a round hall. Its walls were decorated with mosaic panels (author - artist A. V. Gorpenko). The panel depicted representatives of various nations, including the peoples of Central Asia and the Caucasus, who lay wreaths at the grave of Soviet soldiers. Over their heads in Russian and German It is written: “Now everyone recognizes that the Soviet people, by their selfless struggle, saved the civilization of Europe from fascist pogromists. This is the great merit of the Soviet people to mankind. In the center of the hall was a cubic pedestal made of black polished stone, on which a golden casket with a parchment book in a red morocco binding was placed. The names of the heroes who fell in the battles for the German capital and were buried in mass graves were inscribed in this book. The dome of the hall was decorated with a chandelier with a diameter of 2.5 meters, which is made of crystal and rubies, the chandelier reproduces the Order of Victory.
"Warrior Liberator"
In the fall of 2003, the sculpture of the "Warrior-Liberator" was dismantled and sent for restoration work. In the spring of 2004, the restored monument returned to its rightful place. Today, this complex is the center of commemorative celebrations.
Sources of information:
http://ribalych.ru/2014/08/04/unikalnyj-triptix
http://www.pravda34.info/?page_id=1237
http://defendingrussia.ru/love/pamyatniki_pobedy
http://www.tgt.ru/menu-ver/encyclopedia/tourism/countries/dostoprimechatelnosti/dostoprimechatelnosti_155.html
https://en.wikipedia.org