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Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier
1 Comment · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in History, Regions, Travel
On June 30, 2020, about 7 km south-west of the city of Rzhev and 200 km north-west of Moscow, the Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier was opened. It was installed in the place where the Battle of Rzhev took place from January 5, 1942 to March 21, 1943 – one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War.
The losses of the Soviet side amounted to more than 1 million people killed, wounded and missing, the German side – more than 390 thousand people. The Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier on Google Maps. Photos by: zavodfoto.
The central object of the memorial is a 25-meter bronze sculpture of a Soviet soldier standing on a 10-meter mound. The lower part of the sculpture is a flock of 35 cranes, which symbolizes the transformation of the souls of dead soldiers into cranes mentioned in “Zhuravli” (“Cranes”) – one of the most heartfelt Russian songs about the Second World War.
There is a 55-meter alley in front of the sculpture. On both sides of it you can see granite walls in a zigzag shape with architectural and artistic metal panels covered with artificial rust. The 6 m high panels are carved with the names of 17,660 soldiers who fell in the battle and whose names were documented.
The complex with an area of 4 hectares also includes a museum and exhibition pavilion. The museum is equipped with multimedia equipment, with the help of which visitors can get acquainted with photographs, letters from the front, stories, memories of the participants of the Battle of Rzhev.
One of the features of the museum is its glass floor, through which you can see weapons, helmets, shells, grenades, and other items found by search expeditions in the vicinity of the memorial.
On a marble slab with a wreath there is the line from the poem “I was killed near Rzhev” by Tvardovsky – “We perished for the Motherland. But she is saved.”
Tags: Tver oblast
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Paul Papanek · February 12, 2023 at 5:24 am
Erection of this memorial in 2020, at a time when Putin was contemplating his monstrously criminal invasion of Ukraine, can be seen as a sick and cynical act of homage to Stalin’s callous sacrifice of millions of his own citizens and soldiers at the battle of Rzhev. Stalin fully intended to deploy under-equipped troops in near-suicidal fashion as part of Operation Mars in 1942. He secretly warned the Nazis about his own troop movements, while deceiving his own General Zhukov. His goal: divert German troops away from Stalingrad, for his counter-offensive there (Operation Uranus).
Some commenters find this monument moving and respectful. I think, instead, that it is horrific and diabolical.