Introduction

Fiery forties. Much has been written about them and more will be written, for the theme of the feat of arms is inexhaustible. The harsh years of the Great Patriotic War will never be erased in the memory of the people. A bright page in the history of the war was written by the working people of the hero city of Moscow. The eyes of millions of Soviet people and all freedom-loving mankind were riveted to Moscow. Moscow was for them the personification of the will to win, the personification of heroism, resilience and courage. In bronze, granite and marble obelisks, sculptures, memorial plaques, and the names of streets and squares, Moscow immortalized the memory of the glorious warriors who became the pride of our people. To visit these places means to touch the glory of fathers and grandfathers, to bow before their courage and heroism shown in the fight against the enemy.

German fascism, which trampled on the state and national independence of the majority of peoples Western Europe, June 22, 1941 attacked our state. In one fleeting campaign, the Nazi command expected to destroy our Armed Forces and in a month and a half to reach the Arkhangelsk-Volga-Astrakhan line. The capture of Moscow and the Central Industrial Region was the main political and strategic goal of this plan. In the autumn of 1941, the future of all mankind was decided here.

Every day Moscow acquired new features of a front-line city. She became more and more severe. Immersed in the darkness of its streets and avenues. As a result of camouflage, the Moscow Kremlin became unrecognizable. Thick covers covered the light of the Kremlin stars. Black, green, oblique and broken stripes appeared on the white stone walls of the Assumption, Annunciation and Archangel Cathedrals. Always noisy Moscow streets have become junctions of front roads. Night and day on the roads was the rumble of tanks, the rumble of tractors. Among the defenders of Moscow, an honorable place is occupied by the soldiers of the Kremlin garrison, who defended the most important objects of the capital and its ancient monuments. In honor of the fallen heroes, a plaque was installed on the Arsenal building in the Kremlin, on which exciting words are inscribed: “Eternal glory to the soldiers, sergeants and officers of the Moscow Kremlin garrison who died defending Moscow and the Moscow Kremlin from Nazi air raids in the years of the Great Patriotic War”.

Memorial "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier"

In December 1966, when the 25th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi troops near Moscow was celebrated, the remains of the Unknown Soldier, who died a heroic death while defending the Soviet capital, were buried near the ancient Kremlin wall, in the Alexander Garden. Prior to that, the ashes of the hero rested on the 40th kilometer from Moscow along the Leningradskoye highway - at the turn, where fierce battles took place in the fall of 1941. Taking into your sacred ground the remains of a hero, Moscow thereby perpetuated the memory of all those who gave their lives for the freedom of the Fatherland.

The monument is a monumental architectural ensemble (authors - architects D. Burdin, V. Klimov, and Yu. Rabaev). Above the burial place of the Unknown Soldier, in the center is a large area. Above it rises a tombstone with five steps made of red granite. Exciting words are inscribed on the slab: "Your name is not known, your feat is immortal." A bronze lamp in the form of a five-pointed star is mounted at the base of the platform. In its center burns the fire of Eternal glory.

To the left of the grave there is a granite pylon with an inscription: “1941 to those who fell for the Motherland 1945”. To the right is a row of memorial blocks. Under their slabs are capsules with the sacred land of hero cities. Here is land from the Piskarevsky cemetery, where the defenders of Leningrad, who defended the city during the blockade, are buried; from the mass graves of Kyiv and Mamayev Kurgan, where the Great Battle of the Volga was fought. Here is land from the Malakhov Kurgan, from the “Glory Belt” of Odessa, and land taken at the gates of the Brest Fortress. The other three memorial blocks perpetuated the memory of Minsk, Kerch, and Novorossiysk. The tenth memorial block is dedicated to the hero city of Tula. This entire memorial row is made of dark red porphyry. The tombstone of the soldier forever covered the battle red banner, cast from ageless copper. A soldier's helmet and a laurel branch, a symbol of popular honor to the hero, are made of the same metal. At the Eternal Flame, blazing in the very center of Moscow, the words shine: Leningrad, Kyiv, Minsk, Volgograd, Sevastopol, Odessa, Kerch, Novorossiysk, Tula, Brest Fortress. Behind each of these names is boundless devotion to the Motherland, boundless fortitude and heroism.

Poklonnaya Gora

Poklonnaya Hill is the most significant monument built in honor of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. The grand opening of the Victory Memorial in Moscow took place on May 9, 1995. On February 23, 1958, a memorial granite sign was erected on Poklonnaya Hill with the inscription: “A monument to the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War will be erected here.” Soldiers marched past him in a ceremonial march. 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 community work days and personal contributions from citizens. A plot of land of 135 hectares was allotted for the entire complex.

A lot of work has begun on design, discussion and selection best project the main monument of freedom. At the time, however, the issue remained unresolved, as none of those submitted to the competition were accepted. Everything remained unchanged until the general management of the construction of the Memorial was taken over by Moscow Mayor Yu.M. Luzhkov. And the construction, which threatened to fail, was completed in three years.

The Memorial includes: the main monument of the Victory (designed by Z. Tsereteli) 142 meters high; Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 with an area of ​​33992 sq.m. with adjoining art gallery area of ​​3550 sq.m; Victory Park, spread over 135 hectares; Church of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious, consecrated on May 6, 1995 (architect A. Polyansky, decoration by Z. Tsereteli); outdoor exhibitions - military equipment and weapons, military equipment of the Navy, railway troops, engineering structures; administrative buildings of the museum, a depository with a restoration workshop, etc. In Victory Park there are monuments to “Defenders of the Russian Land” (sculptor A. Bichugov), “To All the Fallen” (sculptor V. Znoba) and a memorial sign “A monument to the fallen defenders of Moscow will be erected here”.

Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 located in the heart of Victory Park. The introductory hall of the museum is decorated with a marble staircase, at the end of which are placed the Shield and Sword of Victory, made by Zlatoust masters. Busts of Marshal are also installed here. Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov; Generalissimo A.V. Suvorov, Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov.

The memorial part of the museum is the Hall of Glory, 25 meters high, 50 meters in diameter. On the marble walls of this hall are the surnames, names and patronymics of the Heroes of the Soviet Union, awarded this title for their exploits during the Great Patriotic War. In the center of the hall there is a sculpture “Soldier of Victory”, 10 meters high. The author of this sculpture is V.I. Chill. Under the dome of the hall are bas-reliefs of hero cities, above the wreath of glory. The vault of the dome is crowned with the order "Victory".

A military-historical exposition with relics of the war years is deployed in three exposition halls of the Guards. The Hall of Memory with the sculpture “Grieving Mother” (sculptor L. Kerbel) leaves a deep impression. The books of memory contain the names of those who died in the Great Patriotic War. On the outside of the Hall of Memory are the numbers and honorary names of the military formations of the Red Army.

Around the Hall of Remembrance there are 6 dioramas of the largest battles: “Counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow in December 1941”, “Connection of fronts. Stalingrad”, “Siege of Leningrad”, “Kursk Bulge”, “Forcing the Dnieper. 1943”, “Storm of Berlin”. Dioramas made by masters of battle painting studio named after M.B. Grekov, occupy an area of ​​1500 sq.m.

The author of the diorama “Counteroffensive of the Soviet troops near Moscow in December 1941”, Evgeny Mikhailovich Danilevsky, based the plot on the events of November-December 1941 in the north-west of Moscow in the Yakhroma region and associated with the beginning of the defeat of the Nazi troops. Main blow the enemy wanted to attack Moscow through Dmitrov along the eastern bank of the Moscow-Volga canal. The main enemy forces were concentrated here: one tank, one infantry, one motorized division. The result of this battle was a serious defeat of the "Center" grouping. The front line moved 100-170 km west of Moscow. This was the first victory of our troops.

A rich archive of film and photo documents allows you to show the visitors of the museum military everyday life literally day after day. The cycle of newsreels about military operations at the fronts and the life of the home front, which is shown in the museum, is called “War Day”.

The guides of the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War, based on unique materials, tell visitors about the work of home front workers during the war years, about anti-Hitler coalition, about the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in defeating the enemy, about the famous battles and battles, about the famous generals and commanders, about the soldiers and sailors, whose feat of arms led to the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945, to the Victory Parade in Moscow on Red Square 24 June 1945 and the end of World War II.

Monument to the Defenders of Moscow (Leningradskoe shosse 40th kilometer)

40th kilometer of the Leningrad highway... The city of Zelenograd is one of the newest and most beautiful districts of Moscow. It spread freely in the forest near Moscow near the Kryukovo station. Here in November-December 1941. The defenders of the Motherland fought to the death. From here they began their victorious journey to the west. In the history of the great battle for Moscow, the battle near Kryukovo is one of its brightest pages. At the end of November 1941 two groups of Nazi troops broke into this area, previously operating one in Volokolamsk, the other in Klin directions. The enemy sought to crack the defenses of our troops on the move and break through to the capital. The soldiers of the Eighth Guards named after I.V. had a chance to defend Kryukovo. Panfilov of the rifle division, the second guards cavalry corps of General L.M. Dovator and the First Guards Tank Brigade, General M.E. Katukov. Desperately, despising death, they fought for every street, for every house. Our soldiers retreated only on the night of December 3rd. They understood that Kryukovo had become a stronghold of the enemy, wedged into our defenses near Moscow. To knock him out of these positions is a task of paramount importance. On January 4-6, attacks on the enemy dug in in Kryukovo were carried out by units of the 44th Cavalry and 8th Guards Divisions, together with the 1st tank brigade. The Nazis stubbornly resisted, did everything to contain the onslaught of our troops. In these battles, our soldiers performed feats of unfading glory. Only on December 6, 200 enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed. As a result of heavy fighting, the enemy was broken and on December 8th he fled from Kryukovo in a panic. Thousands of soldiers and officers died, throwing the enemy away from Moscow at the cost of their lives.

June 24, 1974 the opening of a monument to the defenders of Moscow, designed by architects I. Pokrovsky, Yu. Sverdlovsky and A. Shteiman, took place. At the grand opening there were those who had traveled the roads of the war to Berlin and those who, remaining in the rear, forged formidable weapons, and those who, having been born after the war, had never heard the thunder of cannons.

On the hill of Glory, which forever covered the ashes of the heroes, a forty-meter obelisk in the form of a trihedral bayonet rises. The contours of a five-pointed star are embossed on it. At an angle to the obelisk stands a monumental stele with a bas-relief of a warrior. A heavy helmet shadows his eyes, sternly looking out of the stone. A laurel branch is carved on one of the blocks. The words are inscribed next to it: “1941. Here, the defenders of Moscow, who died in the battle for their homeland, remained forever immortal.

At the foot of the hill on a black marble slab is a bronze bowl. On its inner side there is an ornament made of red copper - an oak branch - a symbol of eternal life. On the cup there is an inscription: "The Motherland will never forget its sons."

Monument to the Moscow heroes-militias.

In the terrible time of danger hanging over the Motherland, hundreds of thousands of Moscow workers went to the people's militia. In the first days of the war alone, Muscovites filed 167,470 applications. Within four days, 12 divisions of the people's militia were created in Moscow. It was envisaged that they would carry the defense on the near approaches to the capital. But the situation at the front developed in such a way that in mid-July all the militia divisions advanced to the distant approaches, occupying the second line of defense at the turn: Lake Seliger - Rzhev - Vyazma - Dorogobuzh - Lyudinovo. In September 1941 Moscow divisions of the people's militia were included in the regular formations. The Moscow People's Militia carried their battle flags high, sacredly preserving the glorious fighting traditions of the Muscovites. For courage and steadfastness shown in battles with the enemy, three divisions - the Leningrad, Kyiv and Kuibyshev regions of Moscow were awarded the high rank of guards. The Union of Artists presented the workers of the Voroshilovsky District with a sculptural composition, which immortalized the feat of the militia in bronze. It was installed on Narodnogo Opolcheniya Street on May 8, 1974. Sculptor O. Kiryukhin. A memorial plaque has been opened on one of the residential buildings. It is inscribed in gold with the words:

The Street of the People's Militia was named in 1964. in honor of those formed in Moscow in 1941. divisions of the people's militia who fought for the freedom and independence of our Motherland and took part in the defeat of the fascist hordes near Moscow.

Mikhailova street

Evgeny Vitalievich Mikhailov belongs to the number of glorious pilots who repeated the feat of Nikolai Gastetello.

A monument to him was erected on the street named after him (sculptor G. Shakirov). The face of a young man in a flight helmet, as it were, protrudes from a steel stele, symbolizing the wing of an aircraft.

In March 1944 on his combat account there were 83 sorties and 5 enemy aircraft shot down. He was twice awarded military orders, front-line newspapers wrote about him. March 17, 1944 Evgeny Mikhailov, having completed the task, sent his plane to the base. Fascist anti-aircraft gunners fired from the ground. The gas tank was pierced by shrapnel, flames flashed on the wing. It was possible to jump out with a parachute, but there are enemies on the ground. The brave falcon preferred death to captivity. But he wanted this death to cost the Nazis dearly. And the pilot sent the burning plane to the train with fuel, standing on the tracks of the railway station ...

October 26, 1944 Evgeny Vitalyevich Mikhailov was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

There is a memorial plaque in the lobby of the Moscow school where the hero studied. At the site of Mikhailov's death, a bronze bust of the hero was erected on a high marble pedestal.

Rogachevsky lane

December 1, 1941 at the fork of the Rogachev highway near the village of Kiovo, the last attempt of the Nazi troops to break through our defenses failed. Positions there were held by artillerymen of the 13th battery of the 864th anti-aircraft regiment. Two 85-mm guns of this battery, located on the sides of the Rogachev highway, in a fierce and bloody battle, one after another, repelled the attacks of the Nazis, destroying 6 tanks and hundreds of Nazis. On December 2, the last counterattack was delivered. As a result, the enemy's attempt to break through to Moscow along the Rogachev highway was thwarted. In memory of the battles on the Rogachev highway, one of the Moscow lanes, located in the Timiryazevsky district, got its name. A memorial was erected at the fork of the Rogachevskoye and Krasnopolyanskoye highways - an anti-aircraft gun on a concrete pedestal.

Monument to the soldiers of the 3rd shock army. Silver Forest. Tamanskaya street.

April 27, 1975 In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the Victory of the people over Nazi Germany, in Serebryany Bor, one of the picturesque districts of Moscow, a grand opening of a monument dedicated to the soldiers of the 3rd shock army took place. It is a large rectangular stele designed by the Muscovite artist A.A. Andreeva. The facade of the monument is a giant five-pointed star made of steel. Beneath a color photograph of the fascist Reichstag on fire, a red stripe skillfully embedded in concrete marks the battle path of this illustrious army.

The inscription reads:

Here in Serebryany Bor in December 1941. the headquarters of the 3rd shock army was located, whose troops took part in the defeat of the enemy near Moscow, liberated the cities and towns of the Kalinin and Pskov regions, Soviet Latvia and Poland. In 1945 stormed Berlin and hoisted the banner of victory over the Reichstag.

Plant "Compressor" Memorial plaque, monument.

The Moscow Kompressor plant became the first enterprise in the country to establish serial production of the famous Katyusha rocket launchers. This task was set before the management of the plant at the end of June 1941. The factory workers showed genuine labor heroism, and in August the first BM-13 installations were presented for testing.

The gunners who were present at them were delighted with the effect of this formidable weapon. By the beginning of December 1941. as part of the three fronts that went on the counteroffensive, there were already 415 rocket artillery installations. On the territory of the plant, as a monument to the labor glory of workers, there is a “Katyusha” on a granite pedestal, and a memorial plaque is installed on the facade of the building. On the golden marble the words burn:

Here in the harsh years of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The workers of the Kompressor plant forged weapons that were formidable to the enemy: rocket-propelled mortars, the famous Katyushas.

Yablochkov street. Square, monument-monument.

The burning tank rushed forward, through the hurricane of enemy artillery fire, through a minefield in which several tanks had already been blown up. Only a few meters remained until the end, when a mine exploded under the caterpillar. Dare overtook the heroic crew, but a passage was made in the minefield, and our tanks rushed into it. This feat near the walls of the old Russian city of Kozelsk was performed by tankers from one of the units of the 3rd Panzer Army. This army was formed in 1942. mainly from volunteers - Muscovites and Tula and became the first major tank unit. Now, in a small square on Yablochkova Street in Moscow, there is a monument-monument crowned with a combat tower of the famous T-34. The words carved on granite indicate that the monument was erected in honor of the soldiers by the 3rd Guards Tank Army.

Memorial plaques on the buildings of former hospitals.

On a number of buildings of the medical service located in different districts of Moscow, commemorative plaques have been installed that have almost the same content:

In this building from the first days of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. housed a hospital for wounded soldiers Soviet army.

Such boards are available on the buildings: hospital named after S.P. Botkin, 6th City Hospital, Sklifosovsky Institute of Emergency Medicine, 1st City Hospital. Behind the modest words of the text of the commemorative plaques is the selfless work of hundreds of Moscow medical workers. At the end of 1941 in Moscow and the region there were over 200 hospitals in which tens of thousands of the wounded were being treated. Medicine won a huge victory in the Great Patriotic War. She returned to service 72% of the wounded and sick soldiers. In honor of the glorious medical patriots in Moscow near the building of the 1st Medical Institute named after I.M. Sechenov erected a monument (sculptor L. Kerbel).

French military building

On Kropotkinskaya Embankment stands a two-story building with a figured roof, decorated in the Old Russian style. During the Second World War, the French military mission was located here. In May 1956 a solemn ceremony of opening a memorial plaque on the mission building in memory of the French pilots of the Normandie-Niemen regiment took place. The inscription in French and Russian is carved on the board:

In memory of the French pilots of the Normandie-Niemen regiment, who fell during the Second World War, fighting side by side with the soldiers of the Soviet Army.

The following are the names of forty-two French pilots. The regiment's combat path went from the Moscow region to East Prussia. Its pilots made 5,300 sorties, conducted 869 air battles, shot down 268 aircraft and destroyed a significant amount of Nazi manpower and equipment on the ground.

Monument to G.K. Zhukov

Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov made a huge contribution to the victory of our country over Nazi Germany. Thanks to his skillful actions, the Nazis were defeated.

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the victory, a monument to this talented commander was erected on Manezhnaya Square. G.K. Zhukov is depicted on horseback.

Conclusion

On the night of May 1, 1945. after a break of almost four years, in Moscow, as well as throughout the country, the blackout was lifted, the street lights were lit again and the ruby ​​stars of the Kremlin flashed. The light over Moscow heralded the last hour of the war.

Late evening May 8, 1945. the solemn voice of the announcer sounded, announcing the unconditional surrender of Germany. May 9, 1945 was declared Victory Day. On this day, Moscow saluted twice: at 20.00 - in honor of the liberation of the capital of Czechoslovakia, Prague, and at 22.00 - in commemoration of complete victory over Germany.

For military exploits on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, more than 800 Muscovites received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

And June 24, 1945. On Red Square, the Victory Parade was held, in which the consolidated regiments of ten fronts, made up of the most distinguished soldiers - heroes of the battles, participated. After a solemn march, 200 fighters threw 200 banners of the defeated fascist army, captured in battles, to the foot of the Lenin Mausoleum to the beat of a drum.

Valiant warriors and tireless workers - it was they who brought the well-deserved glory to Moscow and the Motherland. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany, Moscow was awarded the honorary title of Hero City.

75 years ago, on June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. The victory in it became the greatest test and the greatest pride for our people. The memory of fallen soldiers, home front workers and civilians is immortalized in numerous memorials on the territory of our country. Today you can visit each of these memorials, lay flowers and remember your heroes, who are in every Russian family.

1. Monument-ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad", Mamaev Kurgan, Volgograd. This is perhaps the most famous memorial dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, majestic and symbolic. It was built for 8.5 years: from 1959 to 1967. The chief architect is Evgeny Vuchetich.

200 steps lead from the foot to the top of the mound. This number was not chosen by chance: it was how many days the Battle of Stalingrad lasted, which put an end to the offensive of the Nazi troops. The center of the memorial is the sculpture "The Motherland Calls!" - for many years it was the tallest statue in the world: the height is 52 meters. This is 1.5 times the size of the Statue of Liberty in New York. "Motherland" is a unique engineering structure made of iron and concrete, with thin walls (25-30 cm), which maintains balance thanks to amazingly accurate calculations. In addition to it, the memorial complex includes the Square of those who stood to death, the Hall military glory, Square of Sorrow, Ruined Walls. When visiting the ruin walls and the Hall of Military Glory, you can hear the voice of the legendary Soviet announcer Yuri Levitan and sound fragments specially recorded for the memorial. In 1965, on Mamaev Kurgan, a capsule was laid for the participants in the war to descendants, which should be opened on May 9, 2045, on the day of the centenary of the Victory. Since 2014, Mamaev Kurgan has been a candidate for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

2. Museum-reserve "Prokhorovskoye field", Belgorod region, Prokhorovka settlement. On July 12, 1943, the vicinity of the Prokhorovka railway station became the site of the largest tank battle in history.



Aeronautics Federation of Belogorye / belaero.ru

More than 1,500 tanks of the Red Army and fascist invaders fought in it. This fight turned the tide Battle of Kursk and war in general. In memory of the Battle of Prokhorovka, the Prokhorovka Field Museum-Reserve was created. An observation post has been reconstructed here, from which General Pavel Rotmistrov, commander of the 5th Guards Tank Army, gave orders. memorial sign in the bend of the Psel River, it was erected in honor of the feat of Senior Lieutenant Pavel Shpetny. All nine people who were part of his platoon, while knocking out seven enemy tanks. In 2010, the museum of military glory "The Third Military Field of Russia" was opened in Prokhorovka. The main monument of the memorial is the 59-meter Belfry with a bell that strikes three times an hour, recalling the historical role of the three military fields: Kulikovsky, Borodinsky and Prokhorovsky. And the architectural dominant of the complex is the temple in the name of the holy supreme apostles Peter and Paul, on the walls of which the names of 7382 soldiers who died in these bloody battles are inscribed.

3. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Moscow. The memorial was opened in May 1967 after the burial of the ashes of an unknown soldier who died in the battle for Moscow near the Kremlin wall.



Brian Jeffery Beggerly / flickr.com

The remains were transferred from the mass grave to 41 km of the Leningrad highway. The monument consists of a tombstone covered with a bronze battle banner, on which lie a soldier's helmet and a laurel branch. And in the center burns the Eternal Flame of Glory. He was brought in 1967 from the Champ de Mars. At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the fire was lit by Leonid Brezhnev, Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee, having received a torch from the hands of the legendary pilot Alexei Maresyev. Nearby is the inscription "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal." In 1997, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, a guard of honor was established at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. And in 2014, the All-Russian Day of the Unknown Soldier appeared, which is celebrated on December 3.

4. Krivtsov Memorial, Oryol Region . At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, a stronghold of a group of fascist troops was located in the region. In 1942, the Bolkhov operation was carried out, with the bloodiest battle in the Krivtsovo-Chagodaevo-Gorodishche area.



After the offensive, the Soviet troops were able to advance 20 km, but then they stopped. This did not allow the enemy to transfer forces to the Battle of Stalingrad. During the Bolkhov operation, more than 21 thousand soldiers and officers were killed, and more than 47 thousand were injured. The Krivtsov Memorial is located in the "Valley of Death" - this is almost the official name of the valleys of the Oka and Zusha rivers. The memorial ensemble consists of two parts: a monument to the fallen soldiers, in the form of a 15-meter pyramid, and a square of mourning ceremonies with two mass graves, on which the monument "Eternal Flame of Glory" and a 9-meter obelisk are installed.

5. Murmansk "Alyosha" - a monument to "Defenders of the Soviet Arctic during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." It was founded in 1969 on the Zeleny Mys hill, where anti-aircraft batteries were located, which defended the city from air raids.


The Murmansk region is the only region where the enemy did not pass more than 30 km from the state border. And the most fierce fighting took place on the right bank of the Western Litsa River, later renamed the Valley of Glory. Alyosha's gaze is directed precisely there. Until now, there is no exact data on the number of deaths in the defense of the region. Murmansk "Alyosha" is the highest monument in Russia after Mamaev Kurgan. Its height together with the pedestal is 42.5 meters. The ensemble of the memorial includes the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Eternal Flame, a granite stele to the Defenders of the Arctic. Two capsules are immured at the foot of the monument - one with sea ​​water from the site of the death of the ship "Fog", the second - with land from the Valley of Glory and the battle area at the Verman line.

6. Rear to front, Magnitogorsk. This is the first part of a triptych of monuments, including "The Motherland Calls" in Volgograd and "Warrior-Liberator" in Berlin.



As conceived by the authors, the sword, forged by home front workers in the Urals, is raised by the Motherland on Mamaev Kurgan, and is already lowering it after the victory of the soldiers in Berlin. The monument is located on a hill, its height is 15 meters. In the center of the monument there are two figures - a warrior and a worker. The worker looks towards the metallurgical plant, and the warrior - to the west, where the hostilities took place. Nearby is an eternal flame. The monument was made in Leningrad, and then erected on a fortified hill in Magnitogorsk. Later on the granite trapezes were carved the names of the inhabitants of the city who received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in World War II and who died - more than 14 thousand in all.

7. Monument to the Sailor and the Soldier, Sevastopol . A 40-meter monument with a difficult fate. The decision to build a memorial complex at Cape Khrustalny was made back in the 70s of the last century, but construction began only decades later.


Nanak26/flickr.com

Construction proceeded slowly, then it was mothballed, as the project was recognized as unsuccessful, and in the late 80s the possibility of dismantling the monument was seriously discussed. Subsequently, the supporters of the monument won, and money was allocated for the restoration, but it was not possible to complete the initially approved project. Now the monument to the Soldier and the Sailor is a must-visit place for tourist groups, although there are many of its critics among the locals.

8. Poklonnaya Hill, Moscow. For the first time in 1942, on the site of a hill between the Setun and Filka rivers, it was proposed to erect a monument to the national feat of 1812. However, in the difficult conditions of the Great Patriotic War, it was not possible to implement the project.



Victory Park on Poklonnaya Hill

Subsequently, a sign was installed on Poklonnaya Hill promising that a monument to the Victory would appear on this site. A park was laid out around it, which also received a similar name. The construction of the memorial began in 1984, and was completed only 11 years later: the complex was inaugurated on May 9, 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the war. The ceremony was attended by the heads of 55 states. On the territory of Victory Park there are churches of three confessions (Orthodox, a mosque and a synagogue), which symbolize the multinationality of the liberators' army. The Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War has a unique collection, including 1.5 thousand volumes of the "Book of Memory" and its electronic counterpart, which record the fate of Soviet soldiers who defended their country from the Nazis. There is also an exhibition of military equipment in the park. Well, the center of the monument is the Victory Monument.

9. Piskarevsky Memorial Cemetery, St. Petersburg . This is the largest burial place for the victims of the Second World War, in 186 mass graves about 420 thousand inhabitants of besieged Leningrad who died of hunger, cold and disease, 70 thousand soldiers who fought heroically for the northern capital were buried.


Taryn/flickr.com

The grand opening of the memorial took place on May 9, 1960. The dominant feature of the ensemble is the monument "Motherland" with a granite stele on which Olga Bergholz's epitaph with the famous line "No one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten" is engraved. The poetess wrote this poem specifically for the opening of the Piskarevsky memorial. From "Motherland" there is a 300-meter alley, on which red roses are planted. It ends at the Eternal Flame. Here on Piskarevsky cemetery in the military museum there is a diary of Tanya Savicheva.

10. Cranes, Saratov. Yuri Menyakin, the creator of the memorial complex in memory of the Saratov people who died in the war, was inspired by the song "Cranes" to the verses of Rasul Gamzatov.



Therefore, the main theme of the monument was bright memory and bright sadness. A wedge of 12 silvery cranes flying west symbolizes the souls of fallen soldiers. In the center of the monument there are three five-pointed stars covered with gold leaf, made by analogy with the highest award of the USSR - the Hero of the Soviet Union. Five flights of stairs lead to the monument, on which cities are carved, in the protection and liberation of which Saratov residents took part. The area around the complex is paved with paving stones. It symbolizes the beginning of the war, when the soldiers from the parade on Red Square went straight to the front.

Hello dear.
On the eve of the holiday, let us recall some of the famous monuments
So...
"Warrior Liberator"- a monument in Berlin's Treptow Park.
Sculptor E. V. Vuchetich, architect Ya. B. Belopolsky, artist A. V. Gorpenko, engineer S. S. Valerius.
Opened May 8, 1949.
Height - 12 meters. Weight - 70 tons.


"Motherland" (Batkivshchyna-mother)
The author of the memorial is Yevgeny Vuchetich;
After Vuchetich's death, the Ukrainian sculptor Vasily Borodai took charge of the project;
Sculptors: Fried Sagoyan, Vasily Vinaykin. Architects: Victor Elizarov, Georgy Kisly, Nikolay Feshchenko.
Opened as part of the museum complex in 1981 on Victory Day.
The height of the Motherland sculpture (from the pedestal to the tip of the sword) is 62 meters.
The total height with the pedestal is 102 meters.
In one hand, the statue holds a 16-meter sword weighing 9 tons, in the other - a shield measuring 13 × 8 meters with the coat of arms of the USSR (weighing 13 tons).
The entire structure is all-welded and weighs 450 tons.
The frame itself begins at a depth of 17.8 meters (from the entrance to the museum). A concrete well with a diameter of 34 meters goes to this depth.


"Motherland is calling!"— Volgograd.
The monument is the central part of the triptych, which also consists of the monuments "Rear to Front" in Magnitogorsk and "Warrior-Liberator" in Treptow Park in Berlin. It is understood that the sword, forged on the banks of the Urals, was then raised by the Motherland in Stalingrad and lowered after the Victory in Berlin
Sculptor - E. V. Vuchetich. Engineer N. V. Nikitin
The sculpture is made of prestressed concrete - 5500 tons of concrete and 2400 tons of metal structures (without the base on which it stands).
The total height of the monument is 85 meters (the sculpture itself) - 87 meters (the sculpture with the mounting plate). It is installed on a concrete foundation 16 meters deep. The height of the female figure without the sword is 52 meters. The mass of the monument is over 8 thousand tons.
The statue stands on a 2-meter-high slab, which rests on the main foundation. This foundation is 16 meters high, but it is almost invisible - most of it is hidden underground.


Monument "Rear to front". Magnitogorsk. It is considered the first part of the triptych, which also consists of the Motherland monuments on Mamaev Kurgan in Volgograd and the Liberator Warrior in Treptow Park in Berlin.
Sculptor - Lev Nikolaevich Golovnitsky, architect - Yakov Borisovich Belopolsky.
Material - bronze, granite. Height - 15 meters.



Monument to the heroic defenders of Leningrad on Victory Square in St. Petersburg
Sculptor: M. K. Anikushin. Architects: V. A. Kamensky, S. B. Speransky
Construction 1974-1975
Height 48 m
Material: bronze, granite



"Motherland"- in St. Petersburg at the Piskarevsky memorial cemetery.
The authors of the ensemble are architects A. V. Vasiliev, E. A. Levinson, sculptors V. V. Isaeva and R. K. Taurit (“Motherland” and reliefs on the side walls), M. A. Vainman, B. E Kaplyansky, A. L. Malahin, M. M. Kharlamova (high reliefs on the central stele).

"Alyosha"- a monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator, in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv on the hill Bunardzhik ("Hill of the Liberators").
Sculptors V. Radoslavov and others, architects N. Marangozov and others.
Height 10 meters
The prototype of the monument is an ordinary consolidated company of the 3rd Ukrainian Front Alexei Ivanovich Skurlatov, a former shooter of the 10th separate ski battalion of the 922nd rifle regiment, transferred to signalmen due to a serious wound. In 1944 he restored the Plovdiv-Sofia telephone line. In Plovdiv, Aleksey Ivanovich became friends with a telephone exchange worker, Metodi Vitanov, a member of the Bulgarian Resistance. Metodi Vitanov gave the photo of Alexei to the sculptor Vasil Rodoslavov, who created the monument based on this image


Memorial - "Brest fortress is a hero"
The memorial "Brest Hero Fortress" was built according to the designs of the sculptor Alexander Pavlovich Kibalnikov.



Sculpture "Unbowed Man" in Khatyn
Architects: Yu. Gradov, V. Zankovich, L. Levin. Sculptor S. Selikhanov. The grand opening of the Khatyn memorial complex took place on July 5, 1969.


Broken ring.(Kokkarevo, Leningrad region)
Architect V. G. Filippov. Sculptor K. M. Simun, Design engineer I. A. Rybin;


Have a nice time of the day.

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". On ordinary 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

Even sadder is the fate of the monument to the girl Mila, which was erected 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 surface layer metal and hand it over to the collection point.

Photo: AiF / Nadezhda Kuzmina

The sculpture of Mila did not appear on the Soldiers' Field by accident. 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 of the 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 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 of the Soviet Union and full holders 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?

Behind the fence grew a 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

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 huge numbers of monuments to the Great Patriotic War were built in the vastness of Russia. 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 of military equipment, museums of the Great Patriotic War and the Holocaust, a memorial mosque and synagogue, and 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 Kurgan you can see 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.