The Mask of Sorrow (russian: Маска скорби, ''Maska skorbi'') is a monument located on a hill above

Magadan Magadan ( rus, Магадан, p=məɡɐˈdan) is a port town and the administrative center of Magadan Oblast, Russia, located on the Sea of Okhotsk in Nagayev Bay (within Taui Bay) and serving as a gateway to the Kolyma region. History Maga ...

, Russia, commemorating the many prisoners who suffered and died in the

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

prison camps in the

Kolyma Kolyma (russian: Колыма́, ) is a region located in the Russian Far East. It is bounded to the north by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean, and by the Sea of Okhotsk to the south. The region gets its name from the Kolyma River an ...

region of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. It consists of a large

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

statue of a face, with tears coming from the left eye in the form of small masks. The right eye is in the form of a barred window. The back side portrays a weeping young woman and a man on a cross with his head hanging backwards. Inside is a replication of a typical Stalin-era prison cell. Below the Mask of Sorrow are stone markers bearing the names of many of the forced-labor camps of the Kolyma, as well as others designating the various religions and political systems of those who suffered there. The statue was unveiled on June 12, 1996 with the help of the

Russian government The Government of Russia exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russia ...

and financial contributions from seven Russian cities, including Magadan. The design was created by the sculptor

Ernst Neizvestny Ernst Iosifovich Neizvestny (russian: Эрнст Ио́сифович Неизве́стный; 9 April 1925 – 9 August 2016) was a Russian sculptor, painter, graphic artist, and art philosopher. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1976 and lived and ...

, whose parents fell victim to the

Stalinist purges The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...

of the 1930s; the monument was constructed by Kamil Kazaev.Fischer, Victor. ''To Russia with Love: An Alaskan's Journey''. University of Alaska Press, 2012. p. 337. ASIN:B009R9R4QI It is 15 metres high and takes up 56 cubic metres of space.

Gallery

Маска Скорби.jpg, Looking at the monument from below Мемориальный комплекс жертвам политических репрессий «Маска Скорби» с обратной стороны в Магадане.jpg, Back side of the monument, showing a weeping young woman and a damaged crucifix. Religious symbol mask of sorrow magadan.JPG, One of many religious symbols carved into stone sitting on the side of the pathway up to the mask of sorrow. This is an Eastern Orthodox cross

References

{{Reflist 1996 sculptures Buildings and structures in Magadan Oblast Magadan Memorials to victims of communism Monuments and memorials in Russia Cultural heritage monuments in Magadan Oblast Objects of cultural heritage of Russia of regional significance

Gallery

See also

References