Lenin Square – Stalingrad

Posted on 06/12/2024 by Michael

Lenin Square

Lenin Square – Stalingrad

Following the dissolution of the (Revisionist) Soviet Union at the end of 1991 many of the monuments to Socialist Heroes were removed. Some were ‘attacked’ and vandalised, some were later removed officially and put into some sort of storage. But this wasn’t the case everywhere. Often the names of streets were changed, but again, this wasn’t always the case. One of the cities where you can still find major monuments to the Socialist period and statues of Socialist leaders and heroes is the city of Stalingrad.

Running from the southern edge of the city centre, parallel to the River Volga, and going way past the Mamayev Kurgan and the Motherland Calls statue is Lenin Avenue. This arrives at Lenin Square which is opposite the House of Officers Cultural Centre and on the river side of the avenue. It is here you find a tall, stepped plinth, ending in a circular platform on which stands a twice life-size statue of VI Lenin.

The square is now called Lenin Square but whether that was the case before the statue was installed I have been, as yet, unable to find out. This statue was a relatively late addition, being inaugurated in 1960 on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of VI Lenin’s birth. It’s possible a not so impressive statue stood in that square before 1960.

VI Lenin Statue

Lenin Statue

Lenin is looking towards the city with his back to the River Volga. His right hand is outstretched and his left hand is clutching the lapel of his overcoat. Here we get the impression that Lenin is giving a speech out in the open, in the winter months. This is not an unusual stance for a statue of the first Bolshevik leader.

The statue itself looks in good condition however, the plinth itself is in need of some tender care and attention. Being in Stalingrad we have the extremes of weather which will take its toll on outside monuments and over time it seems water has gotten behind some of the marble slabs on the facade of the plinth and they are starting to come away from the concrete underneath. The Lenin installation has only one word at the base, on the front, which is the name of Lenin in Cyrillic (ЛЕНИН).

Sculptor;

Yevgeny Vucetich, who also created The Motherland Calls! at Mamayev Kurgan, the statue of ‘Iron Felix’ Dzerzhinsky, that used to stand in front of the Lubyanka Building in Central Moscow but which is now in Muzeon Art Park, as well as the statue ‘Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares’, which stands outside the United Nations Building in New York and a copy of which is immediately outside the entrance to the New Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

‘Pavlov’s House’ Memorial Arch and Wall

‘Pavlov’s House’ Mural

However, Lenin Square is quite a large space and it includes other elements of Socialist history and examples of Socialist art. Behind the statue of Lenin is a memorial arch which forms the rear of what is known in Stalingrad as ‘Pavlov’s House’. ‘Pavlov’s House’ became a symbol of the resistance of ordinary soldiers against the Nazi invasion where Sergeant Pavlov, with a small group of men, held out for 58 days. Being virtually surrounded by the invading fascists they survived by being supplied through tunnels constructed towards the river from where supplies arrived from across the Volga. This defiance became a symbol (and was promoted as such) of resistance to the Nazi fascist invasion.

As in all wars, in all countries, some form of resistance takes on an importance much greater than it might have been militarily. Almost certainly this small holdout against the invaders wasn’t the most important of the innumerable struggles in the city but it was indicative of the resistance of the Red Army and the people of Stalingrad to the invaders.

After the war most what remained of the building was demolished and a new apartment block constructed in its place. There’s now a small part, which faces towards the Stalingrad Panorama Museum, that remains as a monument to the affair. Again, at an unknown date to me, the memorial arch was constructed on the eastern edge of Lenin Square at the rear of the apartment complex.

The memorial arch is a collection of columns, surmounted by an entablature, in a concave formation which encompasses virtually the whole of the open space of Lenin Square. Exactly in the middle of the arrangement of columns, and directly behind the Lenin statue, is a wall that goes from ground level to the top of the columns.

On the top left of this wall there’s a huge, stylised depiction of the head of a Russian Red Army soldier, taking up more than a quarter of the available space. Next to this image, at the top right are the numbers and words (in Cyrillic);

58 ДНЕЙ В ОГНЕ

meaning;

58 days of fire (the time they were holding out against the invaders)

Underneath are images representing the story of the resistance in the building. On the left-hand side you have two soldiers, one kneeling and firing a very long-barrelled gun which is known as a PTRS 41 anti-tank rifle. This is something I never knew existed until I read the story about ‘Pavlov’s House’. It seems that from their vantage point on the top of the block of flats the Red Army soldiers were able to do quite serious damage to any tanks which tried to get close to the building. Even to this day battle tanks concentrate their armour on the surrounds of the vehicle leaving the turret as the weakest point. This Soviet made anti-tank rifle was very effective if it could be fired from a high point. The bullet would pierce the weak armour and then ricochet within the vehicle causing mayhem in the process.

Above this kneeling soldier is another who is about to swing a landmine down on the approaching tanks or Nazi soldiers. They didn’t have artillery as such so the mines were the most powerful armament they could use as a substitute. On the right-hand side there’s an image of four soldiers – two of them, who are standing one in front of the other, are firing heavy machine guns at the enemy. Behind them, lying on the ground, is an image of a wounded comrade. Standing, and dominating the whole of the group, is a soldier (in profile and facing to the right) holding a rifle by the barrel, vertically, in his right hand and his left arm outstretched in front of him towards the enemy. His mouth is open as he’s shouting for others to come and join the fight. This is a common representation in Socialist Realist art indicating moving forward and calling upon others to join the advance or the battle against the enemy. This can be seen, for example, in many of the Albanian lapidars.

Below the group of soldiers, at the bottom of the wall, there’s a list of the names of those soldiers who held out for the 58 days.

To the left of the wall, on the railings which constitute the majority of the lower part of the arch, there’s a large, cast iron wreath inside of which is the ceremonial five pointed star. In the centre of the star is the Hammer and Sickle – the symbol of the Soviet Union. Surrounding that are the words;

ОТЕУЕСТВЕННАЯ ВОИНА

meaning

Fatherland War

Emanating from both sides of the wreath are metal ribbons attached to the railings. So in place of a temporary wreath that would be placed at the memorial on significant dates we have one that is permanently in place.

Memorial to NKVD Soldiers

NKVD Memorial

In the square there’s also another, smaller memorial. This is to Lenin’s right and closer to the road and entrance to the Metro station. This is a small memorial garden, with decorated marble, which mark a mass grave and commemorates the soldiers of the 13th Guards Rifle Division and the 10th Division of the NKVD (Narodnyy komissariat vnutrennikh del, Народный комиссариат внутренних дел), the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, who died in the battles for Stalingrad.

The inscription at the head of the memorial (which resembles a large individual grave you would find in a cemetery) reads;

ВЕЛИКИЕ ПОДВИГИ ВАШИ БЕССМЕРТНЫ

YOUR GREAT DEEDS ARE IMMORTAL

СЛАВА О ВАС ПЕРЕЖИВЕТ ВЕКА ПАМЯТЬ О ВАС НАВСЕГДА СОХРАНИТ РОДИНА

YOUR FAME WILL OUTLIVE THE AGES, YOUR MEMORY WILL BE PRESERVED FOREVER BY YOUR HOMELAND.

АВГУСТ 1942 – ЯНВАРЬ 1943

AUGUST 1942 – JANUARY 1943

I have been, unfortunately, unable to find out exactly why this specific memorial to those particular soldiers was created nor exactly when the memorial was installed.

Location;

Lenin Square (Ploshchad Lenina)

GPS;

48.7166934° N

44.5303396° E

DMS;

48°42′59.42″ N

44°31′49.29″ E

How to get there;

The entrance/exit of the Ploshchad Lenina Metro station is right at the square. Also any bus heading in the direction of Mamayev Kurgan, from the centre of town, passes by the square. The square is also on the way to the Stalingrad Panorama Museum, the Stalingrad Siege Museum.

Monument to the Soviet Red Army, Liberty Square, Budapest

Posted on 23/09/2024 by Michael

Monument to the Soviet Red Army

Monument to the Soviet Red Army, Liberty Square, Budapest

The monument to the liberating Red Army consists of a column, stepped at its lower levels, surmounted by a large, golden, three-dimensional star. On the face of the column, around half way up, is a golden representation of the State emblem of the Soviet Union.

Below the emblem, in black lettering are the words, in Cyrillic,

СЛАВА СОВЕТСКИМ ГЕРОЯМ ОСВОЂОДИТЕЛЯМ

and then in Hungarian;

DÍCSÖSÉG A FELSZABADÍTÓ SZOVJET HÖSÖKNEK

These translate as;

GLORY TO THE SOVIET HEROES, LIBERATORS

The column sits on a platform which is reached by a short series of five steps on both sides. To the left, rear and right of the column there’s a low wall. On this wall, immediately to the left and right of the column, the names of some of the Soviet fallen officers are engraved in gold lettering. This seems strange to me. Ninety-five thousand Red Armymen must have died in the battle for Budapest but why just single out the officers to be named on the memorial?

There are two, semi-circular bas reliefs – one that most people see on the ‘front’ of the monument and the other at the back.

Monument to the Soviet Red Army – 01

The one at the front depicts a common theme on such monuments, a group of eight Red Armymen advance, weapons at the ready, attacking a position held by the Nazi occupiers. The first group of four, on the left, includes a soldier – who is not shown to be armed – who holds aloft the Soviet Flag (although there’s no indication of the hammer and sickle or a star) whilst looking back, urging those behind to join in the attack. This is a common aspect of such Socialist Realist sculpture and can be seen in, for example, on some structures in Albania and Russia. Another soldier in this group is dragging along a Pulyemyot Maksima PM1910, a heavy Maxim machine gun (versions of which seem to have been used for more than a hundred years).

The second group of four are on the right and they are accompanied by a tank, the gun barrel of which looms ominously above them. Three of them are soldiers with a submachine gun (almost certainly a PPSh-41) and the fourth, at the top, is an officer with a pistol. They are all aiming and firing at the Nazis.

In the background can be seen the outline of some of the most distinctive buildings in the centre of Budapest, many of them ruins, demonstration of the fierceness of the fighting. (Something like 80% of the buildings of Budapest were either destroyed or severely damaged by the end of the final battle.)

Monument to the Soviet Red Army – 02

In many ways the back of the column is a mirror of the front. There’s the emblem of the Soviet Union and the same inscription in both Russian and Hungarian. There’s also a semi circular bas relief but although it is also an image of attacking Soviet Red Armymen it tells a sightly different story.

Here we have a group of four soldiers on the attack with an even more ruined image of Budapest in the background. They are moving from left the right and the soldier on the extreme left is standing and is about to throw a stick hand grenade with his right hand. At the same time he holds a submachine gun (probably again a PPSh-41) in his left hand. The other three of the group are advancing and firing against the Nazi enemy in the seriously damaged remains of Budapest before the final liberation on 13^th February 1945.

A combination of lack of maintenance and climate probably is the cause of the damage to the images at the back. Although providing a green and natural backdrop the large trees behind the monument create a humid environment and in the winter that area probably doesn’t get any sun at all. And there is obvious damage caused by humidity on the bas relief panel. To the left of the panel water damage has changed the colour of the bronze from green to a dirty brown. Above the panel there are signs of mould around the lettering and the Soviet emblem doesn’t shine so bright as it does at the front.

On the other hand the façade that people normally see gets the full force of the sun so there’s an element of self-maintenance here as the damp and mould don’t have an opportunity to establish themselves and grow. Also any damage here would be noticed immediately. On my visit a dozen or more big tour groups stood in front of the monument and were treated to an anti-Soviet, anti-Russian diatribe, with no reference to the fact that the Hungarians were firm supporters of the Nazis and it was a combined force of German and Hungarian fascists that were surrounded in late December 1944 before the final liberation 50 days later.

In the centre of the base of the platform, in gold lettering, is the date ‘1945’, the year of liberation. There’s a small, reasonably well tended flower bed in front of the bas relief panel, with red flowers. On my visit there was also a large bunch of red roses, left at some time in the recent past to commemorate some specific event, unknown to me.

Considering the presence of various fascist groups in Hungary and the constant harping on about the 1956 counter-revolution I’m slightly surprised the monument is in such a good condition. There is a government to government agreement that the monument will not be removed but that wouldn’t normally stop Hungarian Nazi sympathisers.

Location;

Szabadság tér (Liberty Square)

South-east of the Parliament Building.

GPS;

47.50417º N

19.05057º E

Memento Park, Budapest

Posted on 20/09/2024 by Michael

Memento Park

Memento Park, Budapest

This is a collection of statues, bas reliefs and busts that used to be located in public spaces in the city of Budapest during the period of the countries Socialist construction. This is similar (but not an exact equivalent) of the Park of the Fallen/Muzeon Art Park, Moscow, and the Museum of Socialist Art – Sofia, Bulgaria. It consists of 41 items, spread out over three sections, in the open air. The collection consists of what might be called the seminal works that were on display in the city but the curation also seems to have chosen some of the exhibits based upon the uniqueness of their design. Hungarian sculptors seemed to have followed a slightly different path in representing individuals and events from some of the other countries in Eastern Europe. Here you will see figures that are almost abstract, still ‘figurative’ but a shift away from the norm of the time.

What to look for;

a couple of good Lenins – although one of them looks slightly different from what we’re used to – and one of which Vladimir Ilyich holds his scrunched up cap in his left hand;

Memento Park – 01

an interesting, stylised, made of stone, ‘the only Cubist-style monument of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in the world’ to the right of the main entrance;

Memento Park – 07

a truly monumental statue of a Soviet Red Army man – who used to be placed at base of the memorial to Freedom in present day Liberty Square;

Memento Park – 02

the large statue group as a monument to Bela Kun and the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic, a late statue (1986) its composition is quite unique and seems to be open to a whole number of interpretations;

Memento Park – 03

a couple of monuments to Georgi Dimitrov, the Bulgarian leader of the Communist (Third) International;

Memento Park – 04

the two bas relief panels that were originally planned to be part of the decoration of one of the Budapest metro system;

Memento Park – 05

the robotic forms of the three Hungarian volunteers of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War;

Memento Park – 06

the wall to commemorate the defeat of the Hungarian Counter-Revolution of 1956.

Memento Park – 08

More information about all the statues in the Park can be found in the official guide book, In the shadow of Stalin’s boots.

It’s a bit of a mixed message. It thinks it’s critical of the Socialist past – which the narrative puts down to be one only of Soviet occupation – but, from time to time, has to acknowledge that it was the Soviet Red Army that liberated the country from the Nazis. The only country that threw out the fascists, first the Italian and then the Germans, without the direct intervention of the Red Army, was the Albanians. The rest of Eastern Europe didn’t do it by themselves.

Perhaps one of the most telling statements made in the book is on page 4, second paragraph. Here it states ‘Hungary finished the Second World War in 1945 on the losing side’. By December 1944 the Red Army had surrounded Budapest but it took them 50 days to destroy the resistance of the German Nazis and their Hungarian collaborators. The remnants of this support for fascism obviously were not totally destroyed throughout the country and it was from this seed that the counter-revolution of 1956 grew – nurtured by the capitalist ‘West’.

Location;

To the south west of the city centre, just outside the official city limits.

1223 Budapest XXII. district, Balatoni út – Szabadkai utca corner

GPS;

47.42671015031753º N

18.999903359092098º E

How to get there by public transport;

From central Budapest take the Metro line No. 4 to Kelenfold, the end of the line. Once out of the metro system and in the passageway under the railway lines of the mainline station look for a sign pointing you to Örmezö which will take you to the bus station (blue buses) where you want to catch either the 101E, 101B or the 150. There’s an electronic information board as you come up from the underpass indicating how long before they depart. This is an express bus with few stops and Memento Park is the second of these, indicated on a screen as well as being announced. The second time the voice mentions a stop it is imminent. The entrance is just behind the bus as you get off, look for the black boots.

Memento Park website