Memorial of Glory – Panfilov Park – Almaty – Kazakhstan

Posted on 23/09/2025 by Michael

Memorial of Glory

Memorial of Glory – Panfilov Park – Almaty – Kazakhstan

The Memorial of Glory, the monument to the fallen of the Great Patriotic War in Almaty, is one of the largest I’ve had the opportunity of visiting. The complex consists of;

The high relief ‘Oath’ is an image of a young Red Army man leading the horses of his fallen comrades. It is located on the left side of the main axis of the memorial complex. The dates 1917-1920 are the period of the War of Intervention (Russian Civil War) when the Bolsheviks fought against, and defeated, local reactionary ‘White’ forces – who had the support of international capitalism – following the October Revolution.

Oath

The high relief ‘The Feat’ depicts images of the Panfilov Heroes. These are the 28 soldiers who fought (and most of whom died) fighting the Nazi invaders at Dubosekovo Station near Volokolamsk (Moscow) in November 1941. The bas-relief on the podium is made by the copper embossing technique and recreates a representation of the 15 Soviet Republics in the outline of the map of the Soviet Union. The words of the Panfilov Heroes’ political commander, Vasily Klochkov, are spelt out in copper relief letters on the podium; ‘Russia is great and there is no retreat. Moscow is behind us!’.

The Feat

The high relief ‘Trumpeting Glory’ represents images that reference the victory of the Soviet Union over German Nazism. It is located on the right side of the main axis of Memorial walk. In front of this high relief are further cubes of labradorite under which are capsules with the earth of the Hero Cities.

Trumpeting Glory

Architects;

T.K. Basenov, R.A. Seydalin, V.N. Kim

Sculptors;

V. V. Andryushchenko, A.E. Artimovich

The Memorial of Glory was inaugurated on 8th May 1975, on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany (Victory Day). On the same day the Eternal Flame was ignited.

Eternal Flame

Separate memorials at the complex;

to the 601,011 Kazakhs who died in the Great Patriotic War
to first discoverers of air routes in Kazakhstan; pilots T Svonio and ND Zorin and OGPU officer D Litvin who died ‘in the line of duty’ on 10th October 1931
the ‘sacred soil of the Hero Cities, stained with the blood of the fraternal peoples’ who died in the Great Patriotic War, is kept here’ – capsules of the soil being underneath the large cubes of labradorite bearing the names of the cities where some of the most important battles of the Great Patriotic War were fought. These are located in front of the two alto-reliefs ‘Oath’ and ‘Trumpeting Glory’.
to Kazyl Karibzhanov (1912-1960) – renowned for his work in the collectivisation of agriculture in Kazakhstan;
to Tashem Utelov, Beisenbai Umbetbayev (1885-1925) and Zhubanyshi Baribayev

all Communist Party members who worked for the Revolution in Semirech’ye, the region in which Almaty is located

Monument to the Afghan Warriors, commemorating the Kazakh soldiers who died in the war in Afghanistan – sculptor Kazbek Satybaldin; architects Tokhtar Yeraliev and Vladimir Sidorov.

Monument to the Afghan Warriors

On any visit to the memorial in the daytime it would be surprising if you did not encounter groups of schoolchildren, especially of primary school age, not being introduced to their history. Also, it appears that there’s been a re-introduction of the ceremonies that were common during the Soviet period. Until 1990 children, mainly the Young Pioneers (the organisation of Communist Youth) would mount ‘guards of honour’ beside the Eternal Flame on important national occasions, especially May 8th – Victory Day. This ceremonial involvement of school children has now been taken on by the older children of a local grammar school that bears the name of Panfilov.

There’s a pedestrian avenue in the park where the names of the local Heroes of the Soviet Union are attached to marble plinths. This avenue runs from just behind the principal sculpture of ‘The Feat’ in the direction of Gogol Street.

At the far end of the memorial, up a flight of steps, is the Museum of Military History. At the top of the building is a fine high relief with images of Soviet symbols of the Star and Hammer and Sickle.

Location;

Panfilov Park

GPS;

43.25893 N

76.95506 E

How to get there;

The park is within a short walking distance from the main thoroughfares of Tole Bi Street and Furmanov Avenue. Many buses and trolley buses pass along these roads from all parts of the city.

More on the USSR

VI Lenin badge picture gallery

Posted on 31/08/2025 by Michael

VI Lenin

More on the USSR

VI Lenin badge picture gallery

I don’t really know when the wearing of badges with the image of VI Lenin started to become common place in the Soviet Union.

Images of the first Bolshevik leader were used soon after his death, especially in photo-montages, for example, promoting the scheme of the ‘Electrification of the whole country’. The Soviets had long understood that in a (at that time but quickly diminishing as literacy campaigns took root) predominantly peasant country with high levels of illiteracy that the visual image – especially in the form of cheap to produce posters – were an effective weapon to get over the government’s message. This was later stepped up during the 1930s with the programmes of collectivisation of agriculture and the industrialisation of the country in the Five Year Plans.

Yes, this was propaganda – but which society before or since hasn’t used all the methods to hand to get across their message?

Also, in the 1920s images of Vladimir Ilyich would have been common in state and public buildings. (This happens in the present day in the USA where there’s always an image of the present President in public buildings down to and including post offices – so not a uniquely Soviet phenomenon.) However, I don’t know to what extent this practice would have developed in private houses.

(In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea you will find the image of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in virtually every home – normally the two of them side by side. However, I have never seen an example where the image of the present leader (Kim Jong Un) is on display in either a public or private forum. It is almost virtually impossible for foreigners to acquire a badge similar to those which every citizen wears in public.)

Returning to the Soviet Union I have not come across any badges with the image of Soviet leaders (and here I’m talking principally about VI Lenin, JV Stalin and FE Dzerzhinsky – the only three I have seen personally depicted on a badge – I’m ignoring here the traitorous Gorbachev and the vodka sodden idiot Yeltsin) prior to the 1970s. If there have been personal badges earlier they tended to be of a Red Star or a Hammer and Sickle – and from the early days the Hammer and Plough. But nothing of the leadership.

1970 saw the hundredth anniversary of the birth of VI Lenin – and many of the badges produced made direct reference to that anniversary. My assumption is that in an effort to boost their credibility (and to piggy-back on the admiration the people of the Soviet Union had for the first Bolshevik leader) the then Revisionist leaders of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union instigated the wearing of a small badge with Lenin’s image. It must be remembered that this was only a few years after the beginning of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China which included the wearing of a badge with the image of Chairman Mao.

Whenever the mass production of these badges started – and for whatever reason – there may be many readers who haven’t had the opportunity to see examples of these images of VI Lenin. Hence, the slide show below to rectify that omission.

Also included are a few examples of badges with the image of JV Stalin. These have been produced in very recent years and, to the best of my knowledge, none were ever produced in the erstwhile Soviet Union.

More on the USSR

Monument to the Militia of the Proletarsky district – Moscow

Posted on 27/08/2025 by Michael

Monument to the Militia of Proletarsky district

More on the USSR

Monument to the Militia of the Proletarsky district – Moscow

Turning right just a few minutes walk from the street entrance to the Avtozavodskaya Metro station (the one that has some of the most impressive mosaics at platform level in the whole of the Moscow Metro system) is another impressive piece of art work from the Socialist period. This is the Monument to the Militia of the Proletarsky district which stands in the square at the beginning of the wide Avtozavodskaya Avenue.

It was inaugurated on 6 May 1980 and is dedicated to the inhabitants of the Proletarsky district of Moscow who died on all fronts during the Great Patriotic War.

The team that created the monument were; sculptors Fedor Dmitrievitch Fiveysky and Nina Grigorievna Skrynnikova; architect PPI Studenikin; engineer B Dubovoy.

The principal theme of the monument is the unity of the battle front and the home front.

We are presented by a symbolic banner of victory with a central flag pole and the banner fluttering in the wind. Towards the base of the mast are the numbers – in relief – 1941 and 1945 (the duration of the Great Patriotic War) with a small, polished, copper star between the two numbers. On the side facing towards the Metro station, considered to be the front of the monument, on the right, is a group of the armed, civilian militia marching towards the conflict. On the left are uniformed Red Army soldiers, gesturing and looking in different directions. All the individuals are male – there’s no female presence on the sculpture.

At the rear the emphasis is on the home front. Notice the apartment buildings, in the centre on the left hand side, which are surrounded by anti-aircraft guns. Barrage balloons are in the sky and at the back smoke is billowing out of factory chimneys. Rows of trucks are coming off the production line, destined for the front, and shells, ammunition and weapons are also shown as products of the factories. On the extreme left, on the edge, can be made out anti-tank defences which also constitute the monument at the point on the outskirts of Moscow where the Nazi attack was halted. (This is on the way to the present Sheremetyevo airport.)

High up, above the inscription, is a large Star, indicating this is a Socialist Moscow that is fighting and being defended by the Red Army and its people.

The inscription reads, in Russian;

Подвиг пролетариев, павших за свободу и независимость Родины, навсегда останется в памяти народа. Вечная слава героям

which translates as;

The exploit of the proletarians who have fallen for the freedom and independence of the homeland will forever remain in the memory of the people. Eternal glory to the heroes.

At the base of the mast, at the back, are the names of the sculptural/architectural team of the creators of the monument.

The sculpture is 15 metres high and the design is of copper sheeting forged on a steel framework. The whole structure rests on a stepped, polished, red granite base.

During the May 9th holiday this monument is the site of various celebratory events by both civilian and military organisations – the aftermath of one such which can be seen in some of the photographs.

(If you were to turn left from the entrance of Avtozavodskaya Metro station, go to the next junction and cross the road you will find yourself next to ‘VI Lenin amongst the fir trees’ at Avtozavodskaya Street, 23.)