The Rzhev Memorial to the Soviet Soldier (russian: Ржевский мемориал Советскому солдату) is a Russian memorial park located in the

Rzhevsky District Rzhevsky District (russian: Рже́вский райо́н) is an administrative and municipalLaw #4-ZO district (raion), one of the thirty-six in Tver Oblast, Russia. It is located in the south of the oblast and borders with Staritsky District ...

of the

Tver Oblast Tver Oblast (russian: Тверска́я о́бласть, ''Tverskaya oblast'', ), from 1935 to 1990 known as Kalinin Oblast (), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Tver. It was named after Mikhai ...

. The park is dedicated to the

Battles of Rzhev The Battles of Rzhev (russian: Ржевская битва, Rzhevskaya bitva) were a series of Red Army offensives against the Wehrmacht between January 8, 1942, and March 31, 1943, on the Eastern Front of World War II. The battles took place ...

Overview

History

The idea to build the memorial came from veterans of the war who collectively wrote to the Committee of the

Union State of Russia and Belarus The Union State,; be, Саю́зная дзяржа́ва Расі́і і Белару́сі, Sajuznaja dziaržava Rasii i Bielarusi, links=no. or Union State of Russia and Belarus,; be, Саю́зная дзяржа́ва, Sajuznaja dziar� ...

and to scouts of the Russian Military Historical Society (RMHS) in 2017 asking them to create a monument in honor of the

diamond jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th annivers ...

of the victory. Andrei Korobtsov and Konstantin Fomin were the respective sculptor and architect for the project, both being chosen following an international competition that looked into the matter. The erection of the monument began in January 2020 and was completed by early May. Despite being completed in time for the anniversary celebrations on 9 May, it was decided, in light of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic, that the opening date would be pushed a month later. It was opened in a public ceremony on 30 June attended by Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

, Belarusian President

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian language, Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian language, Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лука� ...

and

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

veterans of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Monument

The monument features a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

25-metre statue of a soldier in the

standing on a 10-metre mound. On the road leading to the mound, there are images of soldiers on broken walls situated on both sides, as well as the names of those who were killed in action during the battle. Around 34 million

rubles The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

were allocated to the monument from the regional government, alongside the 650 million rubles allocated by the Union States, the budget 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 private donations. The construction of the monument was also financed and supported by organizations such as

Lukoil The PJSC Lukoil Oil Company ( stylized as LUKOIL or ЛУКОЙЛ in Cyrillic script) is a Russian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Moscow, specializing in the business of extraction, production, transport, and sale of petrol ...

. The image of a soldier dissolving in a flock of birds originates from the poem

Zhuravli "Zhuravli" (russian: «Журавли́», p=ʐʊrɐˈvlʲi, '' Cranes''), first performed in 1969, is a famous Russian language song about soldiers who did not come back alive from battles. The song was composed by Yan Frenkel on translation of p ...

Rasul Gamzatov Rasul Gamzatovich Gamzatov ( av, ХӀамзатазул Расул ХӀамзатил вас, Ħamzatil Rasul Ħamzatil vas, ; russian: Расу́л Гамза́тович Гамза́тов, p=rɐˈsul ɡɐmˈzatəvʲɪtɕ ɡɐmˈzatəf, a=Rasu ...

, which became iconic thanks to its adaptation to music by

Yan Frenkel Yan Abramovich Frenkel (russian: link=no, Ян Абрамович Френкель) (November 21, 1920, Kyiv – August 25, 1989, Riga, USSR) was a popular Soviet Ukrainian composer and performer of Jewish descent. Biography Yan Frenkel was a ...

"I sometimes feel that the soldiers
Who have not returned from the bloody fields
Never lay down to earth
But turned into white cranes..."

References

External links

* {{coord, 56.2185, 34.2626, type:landmark_region:RU, display=title Parks in Russia World War II memorials in Russia Geography of Tver Oblast Tourist attractions in Tver Oblast Soviet military memorials and cemeteries Monuments and memorials in Russia