We are together in the fight against fascism – Park Pobeda – Moscow

We are together in the fight against fascism
We are together in the fight against fascism

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We are together in the fight against fascism

This particular sculpture, impressive as it is, poses and challenge to me when being asked ‘What is a piece of Socialist Realist art?’ Art can be realist without having any reference to socialism even though it might represent a worker or workers sympathetically. But what takes one piece of work from a mere representation of a person or an event to a different level, to imbue it with a meaning that is over and above what is merely in front of the viewer.

My simple interpretation of that has been the intention of the artist at the time of the work’s creation, the intended audience and what was hoped would be achieved by it’s presentation to the public. But these intentions and hopes are not concrete. They can exist in one period of time but can just disappear if (and unfortunately) or when the social system reverts to what it was pre-Revolution – as happened in the Soviet Union (and all the other post-Socialist societies).

But if, as it did, Revisionism took control soon after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953 can those works of art produced after that date until 1991 still be considered works of Socialist Realism? They were still produced for the same audience as were the target in the 1930s and 1940s but for a different purpose, after the mid-50s the aim was to project an image of being in favour of revolutionary change whilst at the same time doing everything practically to avoid such a transformation occurring.

The history (or more accurately to say, its genesis) of this particular monument is quite unique and exceptional, fitting in more with the political agenda of the Russian Government at the time rather than a desire to remind future generations of the sacrifice made by those during the Great Patriotic War or the desire to foment a willingness of self sacrifice amongst a population who are attempting to build Socialism.

On 19th December 2009 a Soviet era monument, the Kutaisi Glory Memorial, which had been unveiled in 1981, was blown up by Georgian fascists under the cloak of ‘nationalism’ and ‘reconstruction’ of the city. The location of the monument was to be the site of the new Parliament building.

The original plan was for the monument to be destroyed on 21st December (coincidentally the anniversary of Stalin’s birth) and a mass demonstration had been planned to oppose this desecration of the memory of all those Soviet citizens (including those from Georgia) who had died in the fight against fascism. The decision the destruction should take place two days earlier than originally planned is considered to have made to circumvent any opposition. Because the task was rushed it was botched with pieces of concrete flying all over the place, some of it killing a woman and her eight year old daughter who lived close by.

But the destruction of this monument also has to be taken in the context of what was happening in the region at the time. This was just after the short war between Russia and Georgia, in 2008, over the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia – one started by Georgia under the encouragement of the US. This was all part of a strategy to surround (with hostile NATO states) and eventually dismember the Russian Federation – which had been the intention of the neo-liberals in the west since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

For that reason the demolition of the memorial was more than an attack on the memory of all those who died fighting fascism it was part of the present war against Russia. This created a sense of urgency, an advert for the commission was circulated and by July 2009 there were already six maquettes of the proposed statue to be erected on a site in Park Pobeda (Victory Park) in Moscow. These designs were on display in the Great Patriotic War Museum, awaiting a popular vote.

At the same time the maquettes were on display in Moscow Hilary Clinton was visiting Tbilisi, adding fuel to the conflict and mouthing her meaningless phrases about the US in support of national liberation of those countries ‘occupied’ and vowing never ending US support for ‘the fight for freedom’. Similar declarations, before and subsequently, ultimately led to the situation we have in the Ukraine at the moment and have led to continued efforts by the US to destabilise other countries in eastern Europe – cut short recently by Trump’s rethink on how to allocate resources to maintain the US’s ‘full spectrum dominance’ in the region.

So a somewhat unique genesis of a World War II monument.

The design of the monument follows many, well established tropes for such statues. In general it depicts the events surrounding the Fall of Berlin, the occupation of the fascist liar by Soviet troops, the raising of the Red Flag over the Reichstag and the first ever Victory Day Parade in Red Square in Moscow.

A common theme of the three, separate components of the statue is the dominance of Soviet over Nazi weaponry, imagery and culture. At the very top two Soviet soldiers are in the process of raising the Red Flag, one of the soldiers pointing his weapon at the pile of German weapons that lay discarded on the ground. Amongst this pile of weapons and debris is a toppled German eagle. We’ve won, you’ve lost!

On the left hand side we have a group of Soviet soldiers who are greeting others, unseen, as they stand beside the burnt out dome of the Reichstag building. Under their feet and before them, discarded on the ground, are Nazi weapons, ruined machinery, barbed wire, destroyed Nazi standards (with the swastika broken) and on top of all this detritus a dove of peace is in the process of alighting.

On the right hand side we have the depiction (the only example I’ve seen in a monumental form) of an episode that took place during the first Victory Parade where Soviet solders entered Red Square with dozens of captured Nazi banners, marched to the Lenin Mausoleum, upon which Comrade Stalin and other members of the Soviet leadership were standing to review the parade, and there the troops threw the Nazi standards down into the mud at the door of Lenin’s resting place. In the background of the monument can be seen the Spasskaya Tower and the building that used to be the Lenin Museum but which is now the Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812.

However, there are two aspects which differentiate this monument from those that would have been created even in the Revisionist period of the Soviet Union. And both these are on the right hand side. Amongst the group of soldiers cheering there is one face that is looking out directly at the viewer whilst all the rest are looking to the front. Also, tucked behind the folds of the flag on that side is an incongruous figure on a horse. This figure is long haired and bearded and is totally out of place. A Christ figure? And I couldn’t work out what he has in his hand.

At the rear of the monument are two plaques. One explaining the reason for its existence and the other with the names of those involved in its creation.

Translation of the plaques on the rear of the monument. (Machine translated so apologies for any eccentricities.)

Monument to the Unity of the Peoples of the Soviet Union who fought and won together in the Great Patriotic War.

Symbolising the inviolability of monuments to victorious soldiers

It was opened in 2010 in memory of the Glory Memorial which was barbarously destroyed in the city of Kutaisi on December 19, 2009

Built with folk remedies

Sculptors/Architects; – the names listed. However, I don’t know the exact level of their involvement but assume that Shcherbakov was the principal sculptor.

S A Shcherbakov

A N Kovalchuk

I N Voskresenskiy

B V Perfiliev

V V Seliverstov

A A Ustenko

E H Zhivotinsky

G J Gattenberger

In the centre of the concave, stone wall set back a few metres from the statue the high structure pays homage to the monument that was blown up in Tbilisi. The large letters (in Russian) declare the name of the ensemble – ‘We are together in the fight against fascism’. Lower down and on either side are smaller images of other memorials from other Soviet Republics. I can identify Mother Armenia in Yerevan, the original monument in Kutaisi and the Motherland Calls! in Stalingrad but have problems with the others.

On either side of the installation stand two pillars upon which is place a horizontal, large, golden star.

Closest public transport;

Park Pobeda Metro station

Location;

In Victory Park (Park Pobeda), Moscow

GPS;

55.72845 N

37.50152 E

How to get there:

From the metro station head towards the obelisk and main museum but take a path off to the left which goes beside the church. Keep on this track as it goes past the entrance to the Military Weapons Museum (on your left) and then rises as it skirts around the left of the principal, circular structure. The monument is on the left hand side of the track.

More on the USSR

Statue of VI Lenin at the VDNKh – Moscow

Pavilion No 1 and Lenin statue

Pavilion No 1 and Lenin statue

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Statue of VI Lenin at the VDNKh – Moscow

When the VDNKh (the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy) was first built in its present format, from the late 1940s to the 1950s, once you passed through the arches of the main entrance the statue of Lenin would have been the first real structure you would have come across.

After entering the park there was a long, wide ‘square’ with a grassed area and a series of fountains on either side. This would take you towards Pavilion 1, the pavilion of the Russian Soviet Republic. Placed in front of this building was a statue of VI Lenin.

So, originally its prominence was obvious. It was the first construction in the park that any visitor would come across. And all visitors would pass this statue as the rest of the park used to spread out behind. Present structures and attractions on the left and right of this entrance square are more recent additions as are other, newer entrance points.

VDNKh - 2020

VDNKh – 2020

However, relatively recently (within the last four years, as far as I can tell) a new, ugly, blue, tubular glass and steel pavilion has been constructed in this open space, completely changing the atmosphere and the approach to the park. The way it was designed originally the visitor would be initially confronted by the grandeur of Pavilion 1 with its towering spire surmounted by a large golden star. After that first impression visitors would be able to experience the various buildings within the park representing the other Soviet Republics. So, although this modern ‘transformation’ hasn’t physically destroyed the buildings it has completely changed the initial experience for the visitor on entering the park.

The statue of Lenin is placed exactly in the central point of the building behind (symmetry dominates Socialist architecture of the post-Patriotic War period) and is one of the biggest in Moscow. It is also probably the one which is seen by the greatest number of people, the park being busy virtually every day of the week.

When I visited the park in 2024 not only was there this ugly tubular building filling the grand approach to Pavilion 1 itself there was also a temporary structure attached to the front of the building. This, I believe, was part of a temporary exhibition and hopefully has been removed by now. However, all these new and/or temporary structures only seek to diminish both the buildings and the impression that was part of the original design.

VI Lenin at VDNKh

VI Lenin at VDNKh

The statue depicts Lenin standing, looking slightly up and towards his left. He’s wearing an overcoat, which is open, and his left hand is clutching the lapel. His right arm just hangs loosely by his side. The statue is placed on a plinth, possibly a couple of metres high, and is probably twice life-size.

On either side of the plinth there are 4 rectangular flower beds with low green shrubs which are surrounded, on three sides, by red poppies (at least in the spring and summer).

Sculptor;

P.P. Yatsyno

Year:

1954

Location;

VDNKh is located in Ostankinsky District of Moscow and is served by VDNKh subway station, north east of the city centre, on Line 6, the brown line. The statue stands in front of the Russian Soviet Republic exhibition hall, about 100m inside the main entrance gate of the Exhibition site.

GPS;

55°49′47″N

37°37′56″E

Opening times;

‘VDNKh is open around the clock’.

Entrance;

Free to the complex.

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – Ulitsa 1905 Goda – Line 7

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 01

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 01

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery

Moscow Metro – Ulitsa 1905 Goda – Line 7

Ulitsa 1905 Goda (Russian: Улица 1905 года) is a Moscow Metro station in the Presnensky District and is on the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya Line, between Begovaya and Barrikadnaya stations. The station was opened on 30 December 1972, as part of the Krasnopresnenskiy radius.

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 02

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 02

It is named after the nearby street, which in turn is named to commemorate the Revolution of 1905.

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 03

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 03

The station is considered to be the first in Moscow of the modified column tri-span ‘Sorokonozhka’ design which signified that the era where functionality dominated metro architecture had ceased. The number of pillars was lowered from 40 to 26, and the interpillar distance increased from 4 to 6.5 metres. The architect, Robert Pogrebnoi, applied a decoration of pink marble to the pillars of varying shades. The walls were also decorated with marble instead of ceramic tiles for the first time. The grey marble shade is punctuated with metallic artworks showing the numbers 1905 and torches (works of Yury Korolev). Grey granite covers the floor.

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 04

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 04

The western vestibule is underground with an exit to Year 1905 street, whilst the eastern vestibule is a surface rotunda building (very unusual for a shallow station) and is situated in the middle of Krasnopresnenskaya Zastava square. It is decorated inside with mosaics of the events of 1905.

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 05

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 05

Text above from Wikipedia.

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 06

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 06

Just in front of the main entrance to the metro station at Krasnopresnenskaya Zastava square is a large statue commemorating the struggle of the workers against Tsarism during the 1905-07 Revolution – Monument to the Heroes of the Revolution of 1905-1907.

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 07

Ulitsa 1905 Goda – 07

Location;

Year 1905 street/Krasnopresnenskaya Zastava square

GPS;

55.7650°N

37.5613°E

Depth;

11 metres (36 ft)

Opened;

30 December 1972

More on the USSR

Moscow Metro – a Socialist Realist Art Gallery