Monuments to Russian soldiers in Europe. The most famous monuments to Soviet soldiers. Monument to the Holy Trinity in Budapest

5 chosen

A memorable date for all our people is approaching - June 22. This year it is the same Sunday as it was back in 1941. Like current graduates, the tenth-graders of the class of '41 met the first dawn of adulthood in their lives. Only instead of a bright tomorrow, war has come - the most terrible and bloody one. Our army went through long miles of war, liberating from the fascist invaders not only its country, but half of Europe, across which the brown plague swept like a wave of death. In many European countries, already in the post-war years, monuments and monuments to the liberating soldiers were erected, to which those who remember come from year to year...

In Berlin

A soldier with a sword in his hand and a girl in his arms in Treptow Park in Berlin is not just a symbol of victory over fascism. This is a presentation of real events - the rescue of a German girl by a wounded Russian soldier, Nikolai Maslov. As it turned out, this was not an isolated incident; thousands of children were saved by Soviet soldiers in Berlin alone. These children remember...

In Vienna

The very first monument erected in Europe to a Soviet soldier was opened in Vienna on August 19, 1945. From that day until now, the municipality of Vienna has been monitoring the order and condition of this memorial site. The bronze letters of the “Monument to Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Austria from fascism” are polished to a shine every day…. Vienna remembers.

In Warsaw

The military cemetery-memorial with a granite obelisk in memory of Soviet soldiers in Warsaw was created in 1950 and is surrounded by a city park. About 24 thousand Soviet soldiers are buried here. Despite the fact that it is located in the central part of the city, no one is going to move it anywhere. Vandals appear here too, but they are searched for and judged, and monuments are preserved and new ones are erected: in Grazanovo a monument to intelligence officer Anna Morozva, in Legionovo to five Soviet soldiers who were listed as missing. In Poland, a Catalog of burial places of Soviet soldiers, prisoners of war and civilians who died during the Second World War and were buried on the territory of the Republic of Poland was published and it continues to be updated. New monuments to Soviet soldiers are appearing, which the Poles take care of in the same way as the monuments to Polish soldiers. Poland remembers...

In Netanya (Israel)

In the city of Netanya (Israel), a memorial to Soviet soldiers was opened in 2012. This is not only a monument to those killed in World War II, but also a reminder of the contribution that Russia made to the victory over fascism - so that they remember.

In Bratislava

The Memorial to Soviet Soldiers in Bratislava on Slavin Hill was built in 1960. The center of the memorial is a pylon with a bronze figure of a victorious Soviet soldier with a raised banner and a mourning hall with 8 bas-reliefs. About 6,845 fallen Soviet soldiers are buried here.

In Kutaisi

Kutaisi no longer wants to remember those who died during the Great Patriotic War. Georgia was not under the fascist heel, but its sons fought against fascism, giving their lives. Are they forgotten?

On December 19, 2009, the most barbaric demolition of the Military Glory Memorial took place here - it was simply blown up...

In Tallinn

In Tallinn, on Tõnismägi Square, on the site of the mass grave of Soviet soldiers who died for the liberation of Estonia, stood a bronze soldier. Standing... Until 2007, when, by order of the President of Estonia, the grave was opened and the monument was moved to the outskirts of the city, without a bas-relief with the Order of the Great Patriotic War, without a torch and stars, doused in black paint...

Alyosha stands above the mountain...

One of the most famous monuments to the liberators of Bulgaria stands in Plovdiv on the top of Bunarldzhik hill. The statue of the Soviet soldier Alyosha was a symbol of Plovdiv for many years, and a song about him was the anthem of the city. It is not granite, but the centuries-old friendship of the Russian and Bulgarian people was the basis of this monument. Alas, not everyone has a long memory of this friendship and the Russian soldiers who died for the liberation of Bulgaria.

They tried to demolish the monument to Alyosha three times and three times ordinary people defended it, just as it defended their city.

In 1989, they tried to demolish the monument as a “symbol of the Soviet occupation,” but city residents were on duty around the monument around the clock.

In 1993, the mayor of the city decided to dismantle the monument, but this time the monument survived - Russian veterans, together with the residents, stood up to defend it.

One of Budapest's most famous squares, Heroes' Square, features the majestic Hungarian Millennium Monument. Its creation marked an epoch-making event for the Hungarians - the arrival of the Magyars in Europe in 896.

The monument is a whole complex of sculptures, sculptural groups and monumental structures, the center of which is a free-standing Corinthian column. At its top, at a height of 36 meters, there is a five-meter figure of the Archangel Gabriel. In his right hand he holds the Holy Crown, and in his left - the apostolic double cross. According to legend, it was the Archangel Gabriel, who appeared to him in a dream, who told Saint Stephen to convert the Hungarians to Christianity.

At the foot of the monument are depicted the leaders of the seven Magyar tribes, led by Prince Arpad, the founder of the ruling Hungarian dynasty. Behind the main monument there are two semicircular colonnades, on the edges of which there are sculptures of War and Peace, on the outer cornice of the friezes of the colonnades - symbolic images of Labor, Welfare, Knowledge and Valor. In the gaps between the columns there are sculptures of Hungarian kings, prominent military leaders and politicians. On the stone slab there is an inscription: “In memory of the heroes who gave their lives for the freedom and national independence of our people.”

Monument to Eugene Savoysky

The monument to Eugene Savoysky was opened in 1865 and is very popular among tourists. Eugene of Savoy was a commander of the Roman Empire. His greatness and courage deeply impresses tourists from different countries.

In the Hofburg, this monument is considered one of the first human monuments erected. Anton Dominik Fernkorn sculpted the horse and rider on the monument.

After which he received an apoplexy, and the work of the monument was completed by his students, but the monument was never finished, only one memory remained of these events of past years.

On the monument there is the inscription “Glorious conqueror of the Austrian enemies.”

Monument to the executed Jews on the banks of the Danube

There is a monument on the Pest embankment near the parliament building - when you come close to it, you see a lot of worn shoes - men's, women's, children's... And if you come close, you discover that all the shoes are bronze. With such an intimate but poignant monument, residents immortalized the memory of the Jews who were shot on the Danube embankment in 1944. “Before the war, Budapest was often called Judapest - in 1910, Jews made up 23.1% of the city’s population, and this does not include families who converted to Christianity,” says engineer David Singer. “The local Jewish quarter between Dohany, Kiraly and Erzheber Körut streets preserves some kind of gloomy and mystical beauty of the past.”

Monument to the Holy Trinity in Budapest

The first plague column of the Holy Trinity was built on this square in 1706 in honor of deliverance from the plague epidemic. After the epidemic broke out again in 1709, the first column was destroyed, considering that a richer column was needed to get rid of the new scourge. In 1713, a new one was installed in the Baroque style. The column was badly damaged in 1945. Its last restoration was completed in 2007.

Monument to Count András Hadik von Futak

Count Andras Hadik von Futak (Hung. futaki Hadik Andrá s gró f, Slovak. Andrej Hadí k - Andrey Gadik, German Andreas Reichsgraf Hadik von Futak), - Austrian field marshal during the Seven Years' War. He went down in history as a talented leader of flying cavalry detachments, a hero of the so-called “small war”. Hadik's cavalry raid on Berlin in October 1757, which three years later served as a model for a similar attack by the Russian general Totleben, is covered in legendary glory. For him, Hadik was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa (only twenty military leaders in the entire history of Austria received such an honor).

The only monument to Soviet soldiers in Budapest who survived the 1990s was erected in 1945; it was an obelisk with a gilded bas-relief and the inscription: “Glory to the Soviet soldiers-liberators!”

It is located in the city center between the television center and the American embassy; the military burial site that was previously located under it was moved to the city cemetery in 1958.

In the summer of 2002, the monument was dismantled for reconstruction, in agreement with the Russian Foreign Ministry, and in May 2003, the monument was returned to its original location.

Quite a few times he became the target of attacks by Hungarian nationalists.

Monument to Saint Stephen I

The monument to Stephen I, the founder of the Hungarian state, was erected by sculptor Alajos Strobl in 1906, within the walls of the Fisherman’s Bastion.

The sculptor was commissioned for this monument to celebrate the Millennium of the state. He worked on the creation of the monument for ten years, while meticulously studying the slightest historical details.

The rider on a horse symbolically holds a cross. On the pedestal there are bas-reliefs with scenes from the life of St. Stephen. The monument is guarded on all sides by four lions. On one of the reliefs you can see the image of the sculptor himself - the figure of a man who, as if addressing the king, offers a model of the church.

For the spread of the Christian faith in the Hungarian lands, Istvan I was canonized by the Catholic Church after his death and recognized as the patron saint of Hungary. August 20 - St. Stephen's Day - is the main public holiday.

Monument to the People of Budapest

The monument to the people of Budapest, located in the Hungarian capital, near the Parliament building, represents old shoes (60 pairs in total) standing on the Danube embankment.

This monument is a memory of the Jews who died during the Second World War, residents of the city, who were shot on the city embankment.

The Germans gave the order to remove boots before execution. This was done for the sake of economy; the boots were then given to German soldiers for use.

Monument to the victims of the Holocaust

The monument to the victims of the Holocaust is located in the courtyard of the Great Synagogue of Budapest and is an unusual solution by the architect - a weeping willow tree made of metal.

The leaves of the memorial tree bear the names of some of the 600 thousand Jews who died during the Holocaust in Hungary. The sound of leaves when the wind blows reminds humanity of one of the most terrible periods in its history.

The idea of ​​the monument belongs to the sculptor Imre Varga. It was installed in 1990 in the Memorial Park of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who, by sacrificing his position and life, saved the lives of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust in the courtyard of the Great Synagogue of Budapest.

Monument to Ronald Reagan

A two-meter bronze statue of the politician was installed in the center of Budapest in 2011. It is located near the US Embassy and the monument to Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of the city from the Nazis during World War II.

Monument to Mihaly Vörösmarty

The monument to the romantic poet Mihaly Vörösmarty is sheltered from bad weather and cold weather, the poet is depicted reading his “Appeal” to the Hungarian people. A line from the poem is engraved on the pedestal: “Always be faithful to your country, O Hungarians!”

Monument to the Naked Boy in Budapest

Budapest is very interesting for its monuments and unusual sculptures located on the streets of the city. The Monument to the Naked Boy on Vaci Street is one of the many attractions of Budapest. Váci Street is one of the most popular streets in Central Budapest, and therefore one of the busiest streets along which tourists and city residents are always walking.

There are numerous restaurants and shops on the street, mainly aimed at satisfying the needs of visitors. Here, on Vaci Street, you can walk, do shopping, and also eat delicious food. In addition, you can relax in one of several cozy squares with interesting and charming sculptures. The statue of a naked boy (or a “pissing” boy) is a famous meeting place for citizens and visitors of Budapest.

Monument to Elizabeth of Bavaria

Amalia Eugenia Elisabeth (German: Amalia Eugenia Elisabeth) is the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I, princess of Bavaria by birth. Empress of Austria since April 24, 1854, Queen Consort of Hungary since June 8, 1867. The Empress loved Hungary, studied history and the Hungarian language, and enjoyed reading Hungarian literature. Elizabeth was very popular in Hungary. Immediately after the assassination of Empress Elizabeth, the Hungarians began raising funds for the monument. Several competitions were held until, in 1920, the project of Derdeja Zala and Reže Hikiš was chosen. The monument was erected in September 1932 in Pest. After the war, it ended up in a warehouse, and in 1986 it was reinstalled - but on the Buda side of the Danube.

Monument to a policeman in Budapest

If you walk around Budapest, you will definitely notice a large number of interesting sculptures and monuments. Some of them are very memorable and unusual, for example, a monument to a policeman, who is officially called “Officer of Order”. This is a life-size bronze sculpture depicting a policeman who calmly observes order and traffic on the street.

The monument to the policeman is located in Budapest, in the Fifth District, on the corner of Zrinyi utca and Oktober 6 streets. The sculpture of the policeman was created by the famous Hungarian architect Illyes Andras in 2008.

Monument to Ignaz Alpar

The monument to the architect Ignaz Alpar was erected in the Budapest city park at the entrance to the Vajdahunyad Castle he built. Initially, in 1896, the castle was made of wood and was used as a decoration for the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the Hungarians finding their homeland, and in 1904 the creation was made of stone.

In gratitude to the great architect, the Society of Architects of Hungary erected a bronze monument in 1958 on the territory of one of his most beautiful creations.

On the golden autumn days, the Cossacks, with great enthusiasm and gratitude to the liberators from the fascist plague, celebrate the assault days and nights of Liberation. The majestic feat of Soviet soldiers, partisans, and underground fighters who took part in the defeat of a group of German troops is always in the hearts of grateful descendants.

The Germans defended the Zaporozhye bridgehead with six divisions and one regiment of heavy assault guns. The Soviet Supreme Command concentrated three armies, an air army and two tank corps against the Germans, including such a famous formation as the 8th Guards Army under the command of General Chuikov, the defender of Stalingrad.

On October 13, Soviet troops managed to make a major penetration into the German defenses. There was a turning point in the operation. By the end of the day on October 13, as a result of a bold tank attack, the 38th Tank Corps broke through the enemy’s defenses in the southeast, and the 1st Mechanized Corps - in the northeastern sections of the bridgehead, pushing the defending Germans to the outskirts of Zaporozhye.

After 10 p.m. on October 13, more than 200 tanks and self-propelled artillery units began the first night assault in the history of the Great Patriotic War, and early in the morning of October 14 they broke into Zaporozhye, and by the end of the day, together with the infantry, they captured the city, eliminating the bridgehead.

In the battles for the city, the Nazis lost about 23 thousand soldiers and officers, 160 tanks and self-propelled guns, 430 guns, mortars and much other equipment. By order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin, thirty-one formations and units that particularly distinguished themselves during the liberation of Zaporozhye were given the honorary name “Zaporozhye”. Five rifle divisions, two aviation divisions and two tank brigades were awarded the Order of the Red Banner for their distinction in the battles for the liberation of Zaporozhye and for the valor and courage they demonstrated.

On October 14, 1943, at 23.30, in the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, the troops that liberated Zaporozhye were saluted with twenty artillery salvoes from two hundred and twenty-four guns.

People remember the sacrifices and blood of our soldiers, their immortal feat will remain in their hearts forever.

Communists of the Zaporozhye city party organization of the Communist Party of Ukraine held a rally and laid flowers on the Walk of Fame, at the stele of our fellow countryman Alexey Gordeevich Eremenko.

The first secretary of the Zaporozhye regional committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Alexey Vasilyevich Baburin, made a speech and congratulations.

The communists held a march of grateful heirs of the Victors, performed Soviet songs, songs of the war years.

Press center of Zaporozhye OK KPU

TASS DOSSIER. On October 21, changes to the decommunization law of 2016 come into force in Poland, which provide for the demolition of monuments and memorials paying "tribute to persons, organizations, events or dates symbolizing communism or other totalitarian system."

The exceptions are monuments located in the territories of various burial sites, objects displayed for scientific purposes or as works of art, as well as monuments included in the register of architectural monuments. The editors of TASS-DOSSIER have prepared material about the main monuments in honor of Soviet soldiers in European countries.

After World War II, approximately 4 thousand monuments to Soviet liberating soldiers were erected in Central and Eastern Europe, where more than 1 million soldiers and officers of the Red Army were buried. Of these, approximately 1 thousand were in Hungary, over 500 in Poland and about 60 in Czechoslovakia (in 1993 the country was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia). After the collapse of the USSR, the process of demolishing or moving these monuments from the central streets of cities to the periphery or to military cemeteries began in Eastern European countries.

As a rule, such actions took place by decision of local authorities. Over the years, Russia, as the legal successor of the USSR, has concluded bilateral agreements with many countries of the near and far abroad, providing for the maintenance of military graves and monuments in proper order. Among such states are Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic. Until now, the Russian Federation does not have such agreements with Bulgaria, Lithuania, Estonia and a number of other countries in Eastern Europe that were previously part of the socialist camp.

Austria

The most famous monument to Soviet soldiers-liberators in Austria is the monument in Vienna on Schwarzenbergplatz. It was built in memory of the 17 thousand Soviet soldiers who died during the Vienna offensive during World War II. The idea of ​​creating the monument belonged to the Soviet command. The authors are architect S. Yakovlev and sculptor M. Intezaryan.

The monument was opened on August 19, 1945. It represents a 12-meter figure of a soldier. On the warrior’s chest is a Shpagin submachine gun, on his head is a golden helmet, in one hand he holds the Victory Banner, in the other - a golden shield with the coat of arms of the USSR.

The figure of a soldier is installed on a 20-meter pedestal. Stalin’s order to liberate Vienna, the text of Sergei Mikhalkov’s poetic address to the soldiers, the second verse of the USSR national anthem as amended in 1943, and a quote from Stalin’s speech of May 9, 1945 are carved on it. Behind the monument there is a colonnade with an engraving in Russian: “Eternal glory to the heroes of the Red Army who fell in battles with the Nazi invaders for the freedom and independence of the peoples of Europe.” Along the edges are figures of Soviet soldiers at the time of the battle.

Bulgaria

There are approximately 400 monuments in Bulgaria dedicated to our compatriots. One of the most famous is the memorial to the Soviet soldier-liberator in Plovdiv (“Alyosha”), opened in November 1957. The 11.5 m high sculpture on a 6 m pedestal stands on top of Bunardzhik Hill (or Liberators Hill). Attempts to demolish Alyosha as a “symbol of Soviet occupation” were repeatedly made by the Plovdiv authorities. However, every time this was prevented by townspeople and public organizations. In 1998, the Bulgarian Supreme Court ruled that the monument was a World War II monument and could not be destroyed. Nevertheless, acts of vandalism are periodically committed against it (Nazi symbols and anti-Russian inscriptions are applied).

The monument to the Soviet Army, erected in the center of Sofia in 1954, had a similar fate. The complex includes figures of a Soviet soldier and a Bulgarian peasant woman and worker on a pedestal, as well as high reliefs at the base. The capital authorities have been discussing the dismantling of this memorial since 1993, but no legislative decisions have been made. The monument has been repeatedly used by anti-Russian youth as an art object. So, in 2011, the figures of one of the high relief groups were painted to resemble American comic book heroes.

The Monument to Bulgarian-Soviet Friendship in Varna is the largest monument in the city, erected in 1978 on Crane Hill at an altitude of 110 m above sea level. On two 23-meter wings there are high relief groups of Soviet soldiers and Bulgarian women greeting them. At the end of the 1980s, the monument began to lose popularity among townspeople; currently it is in disrepair, the area around it is used as a sports ground. In recent years, city authorities have been considering restoring the memorial.

Great Britain

In London, a monument dedicated to “the citizens of the USSR who died during the Second World War” was unveiled in the park of the Imperial War Museum on May 9, 1999. The composition by sculptor S. Shcherbakov represents a three-meter figure of a woman with a bowed head, holding a bell in her raised hands.

At the foot of the monument there is a granite slab with words of memory.

Hungary

In Hungary, since the early 1990s, most of the monuments to Soviet soldiers have been demolished or moved to military cemeteries or to the Monument Park near Budapest (Memento Park), opened in 1993 on the initiative of the architect Akos Elejod. Numerous monuments to Lenin, a prominent figure of the Hungarian Communist Party Bela Kun, Hungarian-Soviet friendship, etc. were also moved to this park. Here is the figure of a Soviet soldier removed from the memorial complex on Gellert Mountain in Budapest. The memorial, called the Liberation Monument, was opened in 1947 and was the most famous monument to Soviet liberating soldiers in the country. The second figure of the complex - a woman holding a palm branch above her head - remained on the pedestal. Today this figure is known as the Freedom Monument.

Currently, only one monument to Soviet soldiers remains in Budapest. The 14-meter obelisk was installed in 1945 in the city center on Freedom Square. In the central part of the stone stele there is a gilded coat of arms, under which is engraved the inscription: “Glory to the Soviet soldiers-liberators.” In the lower part there is a bas-relief. The obelisk is crowned with a golden star. The military burial located under the monument was moved to the city cemetery in 1958. Despite the fact that all the sights in the city are illuminated at night, this obelisk is not illuminated. The issue of moving it from the city center is being discussed at different levels; the monument has been desecrated several times.

Germany

One of the most famous monuments in the world to Soviet soldiers who fell during the Second World War is the monument in Treptower Park in Berlin. It was opened on May 8, 1949 and is a 12-meter tall figure of a soldier cast in bronze. In one hand he has a sword cutting a swastika, with the other he is clutching a rescued German girl to his chest.

This is a collective image of a Soviet soldier-liberator, created by sculptor E. Vuchetich. The work was carried out in 1946-1949. The monument was erected in the memorial complex where over 7 thousand Soviet soldiers who died during the storming of Berlin are buried.

Latvia

In Latvia, as a rule, monuments dedicated to Soviet soldiers are in good condition. In August 2016, the actions of the authorities of the city of Limbazi (in northern Latvia) to demolish the monument to Soviet sailors, erected in 1974, caused a great stir. According to official data, it was in disrepair and could not be restored or moved.

The most famous Soviet memorial is located in the southwest of Riga in Victory Park. This is the Monument to the Soldiers of the Soviet Army, erected in November 1985. The center of the sculptural composition is a 79-meter stele, on both sides of which there are bronze sculptures on pedestals of different heights - a 10-meter figure of the Motherland and three 7-meter figures of soldiers. The maintenance of the monument is financed from the budget of Riga. Nationalist groups have repeatedly committed acts of vandalism against the monument, and parliament has more than once received proposals to consider the issue of its demolition. In October 2017, the collection of signatures for the dismantling of the monument began again on the website of public initiatives.

During the Soviet era, about 100 monuments to Lenin were erected in Latvia, and the country even developed its own direction in sculpture. In the two neighboring Baltic countries - Lithuania and Estonia - there were approximately 50 monuments to the leader of the revolution, where, as a rule, they were created according to a single model. In the early 1990s, almost all of these sculptures were dismantled in the Baltic states. There are only a few figures left in Latvia; they are owned by private owners, the rest are stored in various warehouses.

Lithuania

In Lithuania, in 1989-1991, many Soviet-era monuments were dismantled. As a rule, they were taken to warehouses on the territories of municipal enterprises, where there were no proper storage conditions. In 2001, near the city of Druskininkai, Lithuanian businessman Vilyumas Malinauskas opened a park museum. On an area of ​​20 hectares, he collected a large number of dismantled monuments, including sculptures of Lenin. Today this museum ranks fifth in the country in terms of attendance.

In November 2014, the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture issued an order according to which real estate objects with symbols of the Soviet period will not be included in the register of cultural monuments.

In July 2015, the dismantling of sculptures of workers, soldiers, students and peasants, which were installed in 1952 in the city center on the Green Bridge, began in Vilnius. Authorities say the statues, previously designated as cultural heritage sites, are in disrepair. However, no restoration of the figures was announced. In 2017, information appeared in the media about the plans of the Lithuanian authorities to transfer these sculptures to the Lithuanian Art Museum, which in turn could transport them to a park in Druskininkai.

Norway

The monument to Soviet soldiers who fell during the liberation of Norway from fascist occupation was erected on November 7, 1947 in Oslo in the northeastern part of the Vestre Gravlund cemetery over a mass grave where 347 Soviet soldiers were buried. Its author is the Norwegian sculptor K. Serlie.

The monument is a tetrahedral stele made of gray granite standing on a pedestal. On the front edge there is a bas-relief of a Soviet soldier with a machine gun in his hands. The words "Norway thanks you" are carved on the pedestal in Norwegian. On the sides - in Norwegian and Russian - "In memory of the Soviet soldiers who died in the battle for a common cause in 1941-1945." On May 9, 2000, a granite memorial plaque was installed next to the stele.

Poland

The most famous monument to Soviet soldiers on Polish territory is the monument to brotherhood in arms in Warsaw.

It was installed in November 1945 on the square of the Vilna Station. The sculptural composition consists of figures of three Soviet soldiers on a six-meter pedestal. At its foot, like sentries, stood the figures of four soldiers of the Polish Army with bowed heads. The inscription on the pedestal in Russian and Polish reads: “The residents of Warsaw erected this monument to brothers in arms who gave their lives for the freedom and independence of the Polish people.”

In February 2015, the Warsaw City Council decided not to return the monument, which was under reconstruction, to its place, but to move it to another part of the city. One of the possible places is the cemetery-mausoleum of Soviet soldiers in Warsaw.

Romania

In the late 1980s, tensions arose between the Soviet Union and Romania due to the decision of the Romanian authorities to remove the Monument to Soviet Soldiers, erected here in 1945, from the center of Bucharest.

It represents the figure of a Soviet soldier rushing forward with a waving banner in his hands. The monument was moved from Victory Square to a small square on the Kiseleva highway. These measures were explained by the construction of the metro. In the 1990s, when the country was undergoing a massive dismantling of monuments from the Soviet period, the soldier’s sculpture was again moved, this time to the military cemetery in Herastreu Park, where the burial of Soviet soldiers is located.

Slovakia

The monument-mausoleum to the fallen soldiers of the Soviet army in Bratislava on Mount Slavin was built in 1960 by a group of Slovak sculptors led by A. Trizuljak.

The mausoleum is crowned by a 39.5 m high stele with a nine-meter sculpture of a warrior holding a banner in his hands. Next to the memorial there is a military cemetery where 6,845 Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of the city are buried.

A bronze double door with eight bas-reliefs leads into the mausoleum. Inscriptions on the walls document the stages of the military journey of the Soviet Army and the Czechoslovak Army Corps from the Dukla Pass to Bratislava. There are bronze statues of warriors around the building.

Czech

In 1991, in Prague, unknown persons painted the Monument to the Tank Liberators pink, and then, by decision of the authorities, it was dismantled. Currently it is located in the military-technical museum in Leshany. Repeatedly radical groups of citizens raised the issue of dismantling the monument to Marshal Konev on the Interbrigade Square in Prague. It was installed in 1970. According to media reports, this is one of the few surviving monuments in the country dedicated to Soviet military leaders and politicians. Most of them were dismantled in the 1990s and are now stored in various museums.

The memorial to Soviet soldiers who died for the freedom and independence of Czechoslovakia is located at the Olsany Cemetery in Prague. The architect K. Benes and the sculptor J. Brugi worked on the project. The composition consists of two figures of Soviet soldiers standing on both sides of a high slab, one of them in summer uniform, the other in winter uniform. Under the figures of soldiers there are tablets with carved inscriptions in Czech and Russian: “Eternal glory to the soldiers of the Red Army who fell in battles for the honor and independence of the Soviet Motherland and the liberation of the Slavic peoples from fascism. 1941-1945.”

A five-pointed star with a hammer and sickle rises above the slab. Nearby are the graves of more than 400 Red Army soldiers who died in the last days of the war during the final stage of the Prague offensive operation. The identical tombstones have bas-reliefs: a five-pointed star, crossed banners, bronze guns and names.

Estonia

In Estonia, a law on burials was passed in January 2007, which allows for the dismantling of monuments that “pose a threat to public order” and the relocation of the graves of Soviet soldiers who died in Estonia during World War II.

The fate of military graves and monuments is decided by the Estonian Ministry of Defense and a special ministerial commission, and not by municipal authorities, as was previously the case. On the basis of the law, a monument to Soviet soldiers, known in Estonia as the “Bronze Soldier,” was moved from the center of Tallinn to a military cemetery on the outskirts of the city. The monument represents a two-meter figure of a warrior bowing his head as a sign of grief. He has a helmet in one hand, the other is clenched into a fist. The author of the monument is the Estonian sculptor E. Roos.

The monument was originally opened in the park on Tõnismägi Hill in 1947. It was dedicated to Soviet soldiers who died in the battles for Tallinn in September 1944. The square also contained a mass grave of 13 soldiers, whose names were carved on slabs on the wall behind the soldier. From the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, the Eternal Flame burned at the monument. The transfer of the monument led to complications in relations between Russia and Estonia.

The most famous monument to the Soviet soldier-liberator in Bulgaria is “Alyosha”, located in the city of Plovdiv on Bunardzhik hill. The monument is an 11.5-meter reinforced concrete sculpture of a Soviet soldier looking east. In his hand is a PPSh pointed towards the ground. The monument was created by a group of sculptors - Vasil Radoslavov, Lyubomir Dalchev, Todor Bosilkov and Alexander Kovachev. "Alyosha" was installed in 1954, and opened on November 5, 1957.

The sculpture is erected on a 6-meter pedestal, lined with syenite and granite. The pedestal is decorated with bas-reliefs “The Soviet Army Beats the Enemy” and “The People Meet the Soviet Soldiers.” A wide staircase of one hundred steps leads to the monument, standing in the middle of a large observation deck.

The idea to build a monument in honor of Soviet liberating soldiers on Bunardzhik Hill was born among the residents of Plovdiv back in 1948. The initiative came from the people, without any recommendation from above. On May 9, 1948, the City-wide Initiative Committee for the construction of a monument to Soviet soldiers was created, which included public figures, architects, artists, writers and teachers. It was headed by the head of the Plovdiv military garrison, General Asen Grekov. A year later, a pan-Bulgarian competition for monument designs was announced, in which ten creative teams took part. The commission settled on two options: “Red Hero” and “Victory”. In 1950, the “Red Hero” was finally chosen, created by a team led by Vasil Radoslavov.

The prototype of the monument is a private of the combined company of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, Alexey Ivanovich Skurlatov, a former shooter of the 10th separate ski battalion of the 922nd rifle regiment, transferred to signalmen due to a serious injury. In 1944, he restored the Plovdiv-Sofia telephone line. In Plovdiv, Skurlatov became friends with a telephone exchange worker, Metodi Vitanov. Vitanov gave a photograph of Alexey to the sculptor Vasil Rodoslavov, and he created a monument based on this image.