The Memorial of the Siege on Victory Square

Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad

This is one of the city’s must-see exhibits. Centered around a 48m high obelisk (if arriving from the airport, it makes a striking introduction to the city), the monument (unveiled in 1975) is a sculptural ensemble of bronze statues symbolizing the heavy plight (положение) of defense, and eventual victory. On a lower level, a bronze ring 40m in diameter symbolizes the city’s encirclement (окружение); a very moving sculpture stands in the center. Haunting symphonic music creates a somber atmosphere to guide you downstairs to the underground exhibition in a huge, mausoleum-like interior. Here the glow of 900 bronze lamps create an eeriness matched by the sound of a metronome (the only sound heard by Leningraders on their radios throughout the war save for emergency announcements), showing that the city’s heart was still beating. Twelve thematically assembled showcases feature items from the war and siege.

The Memorial of the Siege on Victory Square

The Memorial is dedicated to defenders of Leningrad. The monument is located in the center of the
square named after the great victory over Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The square
is flanked with two 24-storey buildings forming a kind of entrance gate to the city from the South.

The first plans for this Memorial were made at the time of the siege in 1942. There was the 1st
competition of architects and sculptors. Even then at the most difficult time they were sure that
Leningrad wouldn’t surrender. Of course, it was a symbolic competition at that time. Later in the
1960-s there were several rounds of competition in which about 300 sculptors and architects
participated and only professionals, but many amateur sculptors and architects presented their plans.
Models of the memorials were exhibited in the Russian Art Museum, in the Union of Architects.
There was a public discussion. Finally the plan presented by sculptor Anikushin and the architect
Speransky was adopted. Then in 1963 on the initiative of Leningrad poet M.Dudin people began to
collect money. Not only Leningraders, people from different parts of the Soviet Union sent money
to the construction of the monument. About 2million rubles were collected by people, and the rest of
the money was allocated by the state. When construction of the monument began, many people,
worked voluntary at the construction site. People worked on their days off, during their vacation
and not only Leningraders, people from the other parts of the country came to Leningrad to help. And
the monument was completed in a very short period of time, in 14 months. It was unveiled on the 9th
of May 1975, on the day of the 30 anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany during WWII.

This memorial is located in the Center of Victory Square. In the war time the front line was very
close from here that soldiers went to the front. And it was here in 1945 after the victory that a
wooden triumphal arch was built to greet the army that returned to Leningrad. In the time of the war
here was the line of fortification built by Leningraders. And two pill boxes that are left here to
remind us of that time. There are several sculptures that represent the Red Army soldiers, sailors,
snipers, soldiers of the army of volunteers (home guards troops). There are also statues of civilians
who built fortifications around Leningrad, who worked at Leningrad factories, and then there is a
sculptural group in the center called "The Victors". There are six meters high figures of a soldier and
a worker. They symbolize unity of the front and the rear. There is a granite obelisk of 48 m. high. It
is made of 236 granite slabs from 6 to 9 tones heavy each. Behind the obelisk there is a granite
wall shaped as a broken ring. It symbolizes the siege that was broken in January 1943. There are
torches with eternal flames on the walls and copies of orders awarded to Leningrad.

On the 9th of May 1975 30 fir-trees were planted in honor of those 30 years that had passed since the
end of the war. In the center of the pedestal made of black labrodorite there is a six-figure sculptural
group "The siege". On the 23d of February 1978 the memorial hall was open. It' s not a usual
museum. There are no copies or models in the Memorial Hall. All the exhibits were found in
Leningrad or Leningrad suburbs, and each exhibit has its specific significance. On the bronze freeze
that goes around the walls there are names of those factories and plants that worked during the siege,
39 all in all. 900 lights encircle the hall, their number corresponds the number of days of the siege.
They are made of cartridge-cases (гильза). The names of towns and villages of Leningrad region where the
most decisive battles took place are inserted on the belt of glory of the memorial hall. The walls are
made of gray concrete. It’s a symbol of fortifications around the city during the siege. On the walls
there is a mosaic panel called "The siege". It can be divided into several parts: on the left there is a
group of women exhausted by starvation, one of them has a pail with water in her hand. In the center
of the panel there are soldiers leaving for the front, then workers of Leningrad factories at their
working places, then Dmitry Shostakovich at the piano (he lived in Leningrad at the beginning of
the siege, and here he composed his 7th symphony dedicated to Leningrad and Leningraders. Dark
and rather gloomy colours dominate in the panels; they create the war time atmosphere.

Now we are showing the showcases:

In the 1st showcase there is some earth from one of the battle
fields in Leningrad region. There are cartridges cases, frames of a machine-gun, a cartridge belt with a single
remaining bullet, a Soviet soldier’s helmet with the holes from splinters. The Nazi were stopped
despite the enormous technical superiority. The initial period of the war was the hardest period for
our country. We were outnumbered in the sky and in the army. The collation was 1 to 3 in tanks, 1 to 3
in personnel, and 1 to 10 in aviation. But from the end of September 1941 the Nazi had to take up the
defensive position. The plan to take Leningrad by storm failed. In the Leningrad region still there are
places where no trees grow up till now, because 1 square meter of such an earth contains up to 10 kg of
metal.

The second showcase is dedicated to the Leningrad army of volunteers. It was formed of people not being
alleged for military service because of their health or age. There are application forms for
membership of teenagers or old people. It's written there "please send me to the front". About
160,000 people joined the army of volunteers and they were fighting side by side with the regular
army.

The third showcase has exhibits connected with the role of the Leningrad organization of the Communist party. There are documents of members of the Communist party, members of the young communists’ league. They are stained with blood and shot through by bullets. Communists showed real heroism and were the first to face the enemy. About 2,5 million communists fell fighting for our country.

The fourth showcase says about a contribution put in by civilians to the needs of the front. The front line was very close to the city. The frontline was only 9km from this spot. The battle against the enemy was fought not only by soldiers in the front, but by every Leningrad-citizen, by every woman, old person and a child. They worked for 12-14 hours a day without leaves or days-off. In the showcase there is a part of a lathe (токарный станок), shell and a mine which were made in Leningrad. As Leningrad was isolated from the main land, Leningrad industry was excluded from the plan of the Soviet productive industry, but workers of the city produced shells, mines, machine-guns, repaired tanks, and planes and this ammunition was used not only in the Leningrad front, some of them were sent to Moscow.

The fifth showcase is dedicated to cultural life of Leningrad. Despite all the hardships people tried to live their normal life. There were 39 schools, 20 cinemas, 3 theatres open in the city, 3 newspapers were published, and there were concerts in the Philharmonic society. There is a program of the first performance of the 7^th symphony by Shostakovich. It is of the 9^th of August 1942. There is a violin that belonged to one of the musicians of the orchestra. The radio of Leningrad was never silent; it was also a great psychological support. It connected Leningrad with the main land. In between the programs the sound of the metronome was heard, which was like the heart beat of the city, and it gave hope to people.

The sixth showcase contains some pages from a diary of a Leningrad schoolboy. He counted the air-raids. There are two phrases only repeated in his diary: “The air-raid is beginning…The air-raid has stopped”. There were days when these attacks lasted for 18 hours. More than 17,000 Leningraders were killed in the air-raids. More than 34,000 were wounded. Starvation was the greatest difficulty. On the 20^th of November 1941 the ration reached its minimum – 250 grm of bread for workers and half of it for employees and dependents. 75 % of such a bread consisted of different additions, that of saw dust, carpenter glue, cellulose. According to the documents used in the Nuremberg Trial 641,803 people died of starvation. But in the reality - 1,000000 people. There were days in January and February 1942 when over 30,000 people died each day The first winter of the siege was very cold, it was -30°-40° Centigrade. There was no fuel in the city. Leningraders used makeshift stoves to warm their flats; they used their furniture for fire. There was no electricity in the city and people used hand-made lamps, there is an example of a home-made lamp.

In the center of the Memorial Hall there is an electrified relief map showing the shifting front lines of the war around Leningrad, Leningrad regions, Lake Ladoga.

On the southern wall the memorial plaque is fixed with names of those defenders of the city who were awarded with golden star medal. There are 665 names of people of different ages, men and women, those who fell in battle actions and those who survived. Large bronze sheets form the Chronicle; changed daily, these are engraved with the events in Leningrad on each day of the blockade. The bronze book entitled the chronicle of the heroic days of the Leningrad siege. The number of pages corresponds with a number of days of the siege. Every morning the pages are changed. It’s always with dates of 1941,1942,1943,1944. Every page carries information of the major events that took place on the respective days. There is information of achievements in the front and also information of different events of cultural life. There are 3 banners: the Naval Banner, the Banner of the Army, the Banner of Air Forces.

The seventh showcase is dedicated to the Ladoga Lake communication. In summer time the barges crossed the lake evacuating people and bringing food to the citizen. When the lake was frozen, an ice-road was built, that road became known as “The road of life”. It began to operate on November 22d, 1941 when the ice was about 14 cm thick, and it was operating for 152 days. The last lorries went across the lake at the end of April 1942 when the ice started to melt. The road of life really saved many people’s lives, about half a million people were evacuated via this road. There are parts of a Soviet plane which was crushed over the lake.

The eighth showcase contains anti-air raids defenders. There is a pair of tongs (щипцы) that were used for extinguishing of incendiary bombs (зажигательная бомба). There is a helmet of a fireman and an incendiary bomb. Most of the firemen were young girls who displayed real courage and heroism.

The ninth showcase is dedicated to the resistance movement in the Leningrad region, a guerilla movement. There were 13 partisan brigades active in the territory of Leningrad region occupied by the Nazi troops. There are leaflets published by partisans, a piece of a rail that was blown up and an explosion machine. Partisans made about 150,000 explosions of rails and other enemy’s communications.

The tenth showcase is about the Leningrad pilots. There is a Soviet pilot’s helmet, pilot’s map; a steering wheel of a Soviet plane, there is a part of the propeller of the Soviet plane which performed the 44^th air-ram (таран) in the Leningrad sky. An air-ram is the most difficult and dangerous maneuver. It was repeated 50 times during the siege. 202 pilots became heroes of the Soviet Union, and 12 - double-heroes.

The eleventh showcase is dedicated to the Baltic navy. There is a braid pendant (ribbons) of a Soviet ship. When it is raised, it means that a ship is in a full fighting trim (в боевой готовности). So in full fighting trim were the ships the names of which are printed on the ribbons. Among them there is the cruiser Aurora. The guns were dismantled from the cruiser and stood at the Pulkovo Hills. Sailors from the cruiser participated in the defense of the city. 150 seamen of the Baltic Navy became the heroes of the Soviet Union.

The twelfth showcase contains 3 medals: the defense medal for the heroic labor, the defense medal for the Second World War, the defense medal for the partisan in WWII. After the victory in the Leningrad battle there was a long way to come to the final victory. And when that day came, Leningraders with the whole country greeted the victorious army. So the mosaic panel is called “Victory”. The colors are bright and joyful. The soldiers were met with flowers. On the right there is a grey-headed woman that met her son, and near her there is a woman in the dark dress, she is the Symbol of the eternal memory of those mothers, widows, sisters whose dears were never back. Millions of Soviet people perished in that war, and over a million of them were Leningraders. There are very few families in this country who didn’t one or another way suffer from that war. That’s why we don’t want anything like that to repeat.

Now let us ask the curator of the museum to show us a seven-minute documentary film played on the large screen at the touch of a button. And you will get more or less Chronicles of those tragic days of every day suffering by Leningraders.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29