Oct/20

Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier

No comments · 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.”