During the period of political repression , a large number of people died. At the hands of the Soviet government, people of different nationalities suffered. If a person was under suspicion of the slightest manifestation of anti-Soviet convictions, his fate became unenviable. In one city of Russia, a monument was erected to victims of political repression - St. Petersburg was the first city to perpetuate these terrible events in the life of our country. It was installed in October 2016, it is also planned to erect a monument in Moscow.
History
Remembrance Day for victims of political repression serves to honor the victims of the brutality of the Soviet regime. On this day in 2016, residents of St. Petersburg gathered in various places throughout the city to honor the memory of their family members, many of whom were sent to prison due to lies and slander, or those killed under the suspicion of the Soviet regime.
In the Soviet Union, the criteria by which people were tagged as dissidents were rather vague. But despite the reasons, a monument to the victims of political repression was erected in honor of every person who suffered during this difficult period. These were people who did not want to abandon their religion, farmers with excess land, philosophers and writers suspected of anti-Soviet propaganda. In addition, a wide range of ethnic groups and nationalities were also subjected to repression, including Poles, Germans and Crimean Tatars. Any person who had even the slightest signs of anti-Soviet addiction was hit by the iron fist of Soviet power.
Monument to victims of political repression (Moscow)
A new monument to the victims of political repression will be erected on the Moscow Avenue of Academician Sakharov in 2017. According to documents on the website of the government, state. The Gulag History Museum put forward this initiative at the request of President Putin. After this initiative was approved by the Moscow commission of the city parliament on monumental art in February 2015, everyone could offer their own design, which will be used to make a monument to the victims of political repression.
According to official figures, the memorial will be given the name "Wall of Sorrow." The lion's share of the funds for its construction will have to be allocated by the state. A fund was also opened where people could contribute money for the construction of the memorial. Already collected more than 750,000 rubles.
Sculptor of the monument of political repression in Moscow
Vladimir Putin instructed to erect a monument that will be created in Moscow in order to remember people who suffered during this difficult time. In accordance with a document published on the government website, applications were submitted for the creation of a sketch, according to which a monument to the victims of political repression in Moscow would be created. It was decided to make a memorial based on the sketches of George Frangulyan, a sculptor from Georgia.
The Wall of Sorrow memorial, created by Georgy Frangulyan, will appear, as reported, on Academician Sakharov Avenue. The monument is planned to be installed in October next year (2017).
Other famous works by Frangulyan: a statue of singer Bulat Okudzhava, composer Aram Khachaturian in Moscow, as well as a rich tombstone of former President Boris Yeltsin.
Who is the author of the monument in St. Petersburg
In the 1990s, memorials began to appear in memory of people who suffered and died at the hands of the Soviet authorities. The most famous of them is the obsessive work of the artist Mikhail Shemyakin, a prominent member of the Leningrad Union of Artists. He wished to work without enclosing himself with a framework, for which he was literally expelled from his native country. Only after a while he was able to return to his homeland.
Monument to the victims of political repression in St. Petersburg
The famous Egyptian sphinxes on the University Embankment became the prototype of two figures, which from a distance are almost not noticeable in the granite landscape of the Neva embankments in the city of St. Petersburg. The Monument to the Victims of Political Repression is best seen in close proximity. From a close distance, it is evident that the sphinxes are strangely emaciated, with prominent ribs. You can see that half of their faces are bare skulls. What this means can be understood even by a person who does not have knowledge of those events. The country has a shortage of goods, hunger. The population is declining. And the government is concerned about what they think and say about it. It was a difficult situation. But at the moment, the consequences of these times are practically not reflected in modern life.
The upper pedestals of the two sphinxes are decorated with bronze plates, on which are quotes of famous poets and writers who have become victims of repression. This is the signature of diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and others. Between the two sphinxes that adorn the monument to the victims of political repression, there is a composition of granite blocks with a window between them, symbolizing the window of the prison cell.
The number of victims of repression
Several million people are believed to have died during the repression in the Soviet Union, which culminated in massacres and the number of prisoners in the late 1930s under the leadership of Joseph Stalin.
Many historians have argued that the most extreme periods of Soviet repression, such as the Red Terror and Stalinist purges, are statistically the largest systematic population decline. Despite the Soviet rehabilitation in the post-Stalin years, the number of victims who could have been victims of repression totals tens of millions, and the number is growing to this day. Many of the names of these victims have not yet been disclosed. It’s not just that they erect monuments to the victims of political repressions in Russia. These events must not be forgotten. Let everyone remember what Soviet totalitarianism is. These events should not remain aloof, overgrown with oblivion.
A large number of names, a list of which was compiled for the general public, were read aloud at the memorials on October 30. During the meeting, a lack of attention from the state to this topic was pointed out.