The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is an architectural memorial ensemble in the city of Moscow, near the walls of the Kremlin, in the Alexander Garden. For 34 years, the Eternal Flame has been burning in the center of the composition . People come to the monument to bow to the fighter who sacrificed his life for his Motherland.
Description
The tombstone is decorated with a composition of bronze: a laurel branch and a soldier's helmet, reclining on the banner of military glory. In the center of the architectural composition is a niche of labradorite, where the words are carved: "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal." In the middle of the niche is a bronze five-pointed star, in which the Eternal Flame of military glory burns.
To the left of the burial is a wall of quartzite with the words written on it: "1941 to the fallen for their homeland 1945." To the right of the grave is a granite alley with blocks of dark red porphyry. Each of them depicts the Golden Star medal and the name of the hero city is inscribed: Kiev, Leningrad, Odessa, Stalingrad, Minsk, Sevastopol, Smolensk, Murmansk, Tula, Brest, Novorossiysk, Kerch. The blocks contain capsules with earth taken from the listed objects.
On the right side of the alley there is a stele of red granite, on which the names of forty cities of military glory are immortalized .
Idea of creation
In 1966, Muscovites were preparing with special solemnity to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the defense of their city. The position of the first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee at that time was occupied by Nikolai Yegorychev. This man was one of the communist reformers who played an important role in state policy.
They began to celebrate the anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War with great pomp since 1965, after Moscow became a hero city, and on May 9 they made a festive, non-working day. It was then that the idea arose to erect a monument to ordinary soldiers who lost their lives during the defense of the capital. Yegorychev decided to make this monument popular. In 1966, Nikolai Grigoryevich called Kosygin Alexei Nikolaevich and said that in Poland there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and offered to put such a monument in Moscow. Yegorychev replied that he was just considering this project. Soon, the sketches of the memorial were shown to the first leaders of the country - Mikhail Andreevich Suslov and Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev.
Seat selection
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a monument close to the heart of every person. The choice of the site on which it will be located was given exceptional importance. Yegorychev immediately proposed to establish a memorial in the Alexander Garden, near the Kremlin wall. There just found a suitable place. However, Brezhnev did not like this idea. The biggest obstacle was that there was an obelisk in this territory, created in honor of the centenary of the Romanov dynasty in 1913. After the coup of 1917, the names of the reigning persons were erased from the pedestal, and in their place the names of the revolutionary leaders were knocked out. The list of titans of the revolution was compiled personally by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. But in the USSR everything that was connected with this man was not allowed to be touched. However, Yegorychev took a risk by deciding to move the obelisk a little to the side without the highest approval. Nikolai Grigoryevich was sure that he would not get permission anyway, and the discussion of this issue would drag on for many years. Together with the head of the architectural headquarters of the capital, Fomin Gennady, they moved the obelisk, so dexterously that no one noticed. However, in order to begin building global work, the approval of the Politburo was necessary, which Yegorychev received with great difficulty.
Search for the remains
The tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow was intended for a fighter who died for his homeland. Then, a large-scale construction was carried out in the city of Zelenograd, during which a mass grave with the remains of soldiers was discovered. However, the Politburo had many sensitive issues. Whose ashes to bury? What if it will be the remains of a German or a shot deserter? Now each of us understands that any person is worthy of prayer and memory, but in 1965 they thought differently. Therefore, all the circumstances of the death of warriors were thoroughly tested. We chose the remains of a soldier on whom the military uniform survived (there were no commander insignia on it). As Yegorychev later explained, the deceased could not be wounded and taken prisoner, because the Germans did not reach Zelenograd, the unknown was also not a deserter - they removed the belt from them before being shot. It was clear that the body belonged to a Soviet man who heroically died in the battle for the defense of Moscow. No documents were found under him; his ashes were truly nameless.
Burial place
The military developed a ritual for the solemn burial of an unknown soldier. The body of a fighter from Zelenograd was delivered to Moscow on a gun carriage. In December 1966, in the morning of December 6, thousands of people reached Gorky Street. They cried as the procession marched past. The funeral procession reached Manezhnaya Square in mournful silence. The last few meters the coffin was carried by leading party members such as Marshal Rokossovsky. Evgeny Konstantinovich Zhukov was not allowed to carry the remains, since he was in disgrace. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a photograph of which you can see in this article, has become a landmark place, which everyone sought to visit.
Eternal flame
On May 7, 1967, a torch from the Eternal Flame on the Field of Mars was lit in Leningrad . On the baton, fire was delivered from the capital. They say that all the way from Leningrad to Moscow was littered with people. On the morning of May 8, the procession reached the capital. The first pilot at the Manege Square was the legendary pilot, a hero of the Soviet Union, Alexei Maresyev. A unique newsreel capturing this moment has been preserved. People froze in anticipation of the most important event - the lighting of the Eternal Flame.
The opening of the memorial was entrusted to Yegorychev. And to light the Eternal Flame happened to Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev.
Commemorative inscription
Everyone who comes to the memorial sees at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier the words: "Your name is unknown, your deed is immortal." This inscription has authors. When the Central Committee approved the project of creating the monument, Yegorychev gathered the leading writers of the country - Simonov, Narovchatov, Smirnov and Mikhalkov - and invited them to compose an epitaph. We settled on the proposal: "His name is unknown, his feat is immortal." When everyone dispersed, Nikolai Grigoryevich thought about what words each person would approach the grave with. And he decided that the inscription should contain a direct appeal to the deceased. Yegorychev phoned Mikhalkov, and they came to the conclusion that the line that we can see today should appear on the granite slab.
Nowadays
In 1997, on December 12, a Decree of the President of Russia was signed, according to which the guard of honor is transferred from the Lenin Mausoleum to the place where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located. Every hour there is a change of guard. In November 17, 2009, in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 1297, the burial became a National Memorial of Military Glory. From December 16, 2009 to February 19, 2010, the monument was reconstructed, due to which the guard of honor was not exhibited, and the laying of flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was temporarily suspended. February 23, 2010 the Eternal Flame was returned to the Alexander Garden, it was lit by Dmitry Medvedev, then the President of the Russian Federation.
Conclusion
The monument to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has become a symbol of grief for all the fighters who sacrificed their lives for the sake of saving the Motherland. Everyone who was involved in the creation of this memorial felt that this was the main thing in his life. We will disappear, our descendants will leave, and the Eternal flame will burn.