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"Only one kilometer separates us from the Volga. But we cannot break through to it. We've been fighting for this one kilometer longer than we did for the whole of France," a German soldier wrote home in January 1943. For 200 days and nights, artillery fire, tank salvos, bomb explosions, and air raids were unceasing in the besieged Stalingrad. The Battle of Stalingrad radically changed the course of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 and World War II in favor of the Soviet Union and its allies but reduced the city to rubble.
Like any other big city in the world, Stalingrad has a spirit and style of its own, determined by its historic past and its present and reflected in a symbol known all over the world. Paris, for instance, the city of love and romantic adventure, is symbolized by the Eiffel Tower; New York, the business centre of the world, by Wall Street. Volgograd, the site of the famous Battle of Stalingrad, has its own symbol the sculpture "The Motherland Calls". After the war the allies proposed that the Soviet Union rebuild the city on the opposite bank of the Volga, surrounding the ruins with barbed wire to preserve them as a monument to those great and tragic days. But the residents decided to restore the city on its former site. The city was founded in 1589 at the confluence of the Volga with its tributary, the Tsaritsa River, and called Tsaritsyn. There are several versions and legends about the origins of the name. One of the legends says that the daughter of the Khan of the Golden Horde adopted Christianity and her father ordered her to be thrown into the river. From then on the river was called the Tsaritsa (the tsar's daughter). In 1925, however, the city was renamed Stalingrad in honor of Josef Stalin and several years after Stalin's death it became Volgograd, which means a city on the Volga. Today the city is 41 3 years old. Volgograd commemorates the famous battle in its many monuments and museum expositions and memorial complexes. The Battle of Stalingrad Museum & Panorama, known all over the world, consists of a panorama, one of the largest in the world, and a museum of some 4,000 exhibits, including such unique items as the Sword of Honor, a gift from King George VI of Britain, and a Message of Eternal Gratitude from the U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt. The panorama brings to life the final stage of the crushing defeat of Nazi troops near Stalingrad — the battle on the Mamayev Mound on January 26, 1943. The dramatic nature and grand scale of these events continue to inspire filmmakers. Not long ago a Hollywood film, Enemy at the Gate, was on general release, depicting a confrontation between two snipers, a Russian and a German. The Mamayev Mound is the main historical sight in Volgograd. This memorial ensemble, occupying an area of 26 hectares, took eight years to complete. The world famous sculpture "The Motherland Calls", which is 52 meters tall and weighs 8 tons, can be seen from miles off. I remember being impressed by my grandfather's words that a life-size car can be placed on the palm of the symbolic woman depicting Motherland. Despite its imposing size, against the skyline, the sculpture seems to be soaring up like a bird into the sky. Another historic site, the Soldiers' Field, at the western entrance into the city, was created on the site of battles so fiercely fought and so densely stuffed with shells and mines that for 30 years after the war its soil could not be used for farming. This small but impressive memorial depicts a girl and the triangle of a soldier's letter. For the lack of paper during the war, Russian soldiers sent relatives letters without envelopes, folding them into triangles. The sculpture carries words from soldier's letter to his daughter from the frontline: "My dark-eyed Mila, I'm enclosing a cornflower Just imagine: fighting is ongoing, there are shell holes all around and a flower nearby. Then comes another explosion and tears the flower off. I picked it up and put it into my shirt pocket Mila your Daddy will fight the Nazis until the last drop of his blood' until his last breath to make sure they never do to you what they did to this flower." 60 years have passed since the last shot was heard in Volgograd, but we cannot consider the war over until the last soldier is buried. In 1997, after many years of searching for the dead bodies of missing soldiers, the International Association of Cooperation for Military Memorials and War Graves opened a cemetery in the settlement of Rossoshki with the graves of some 3,000 Soviet soldiers and officers. A few years later a cemetery for soldiers who fought on the German side appeared across the road. Dozens of people from many countries have already found the graves of their missing relatives. Another historical site is a monument to the Victims of Stalingrad of 1 942-1943, erected in the settlement of Peschanka It is an unusual monument in that it takes the shape of the edge of a pyramid with a memorial room at the back. The edge is reminiscent of a spearhead or a spike of barbed wire. It leans toward a gravestone with a cross as if protecting it. The edge is made of steel plates as a reminder of the weapons of war, which are fated to rust. According to Igor Shuvarikov, the Director of the region's oldest tourist agency, Volgograd Sputnik, in operation for more than 40 years, memorial tourism is becoming increasingly popular among foreign tourists. People feel the need to visit monuments related to World War II and are always willing to join excursions to such sites as the Soldiers' Field and the cemetery in Rossoshki.Volgograd Sputnik arranges meetings with veterans of World War II, notably, of the Battle of Stalingrad, and draws up tourist programs including participation in all festivities devoted to the 60th anniversary of the battle, taking into account individual wishes. On February 2, 2002, all of Russia will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the victory at the Battle of Stalingrad. The city and regional authorities have prepared a variety of festive and ceremonial events, including a concert with the participation of leading artists, a torch procession, and firework display. On eve of the anniversary, February 1, Volgograd will launch the All-Russian Festival of Amateur Art called The Victory Salute. The festival will go on for two years and finish in Moscow in May 2005, during the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War. The Russian President Vladimir Putin and the U.S. President George W. Bush are expected to attend the opening ceremony. Celebrations in Volgograd include the opening of a new muse-um on the premises of the Central Department Store in which the Commander-in-Chief of Nazi troops in Stalingrad, Field Marshal Paulus, surrended 60 years ago. It may be interesting for German guests to learn some details of that historic event. Tourists can also visit the Soldiers' Cafe on the premises of the museum with a genuine frontline menu. Materials presented by the SHSHIK Publishing House (“Moscow today and tomorrow” October. 2002) |
On Fabruary 2, 2003
Russia will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its victory at the Battle of
Stalingrad