On October 30, 2017, a monument dedicated to the victims of repression will open in Moscow. The author of the project is George Frangulyan . The monument is installed on Sakharov Avenue. The Wall of Sorrow is the name of the monument.
Background
In 1961, at the next party congress, Nikita Khrushchev raised the issue of debunking the Stalin personality cult. Then for the first time they considered the idea of creating a monument to the victims of repression. But things didn’t go beyond conversations. Moreover, Khrushchev offered to pay tribute to the memory of “ faithful Leninists ” - party members shot during the years of Stalinism. When the era of the so-called thaw ended, the idea of creating a monument was completely forgotten. They remembered her in the late eighties.
"Solovetsky stone" and other monuments
In the perestroika years, the topic of the victims of repression was pleased to be discussed. The most suitable times have come for the installation of the monument. The monument opened on the Lubyanka is called the Solovetsky Stone. It is made of granite brought from the territory of the former camp. The grand opening took place on October 30, 1990. Where mass executions took place in the 30s, sculptural compositions, memory walls, chapels, memorial plaques were subsequently installed . One of them - the " Mask of Sorrow " - is located in Magadan. The memorial tablet with the inscription " Last address " is installed in many cities of Russia.
Preparing to create the Wall of Sorrow
Since the beginning of the nineties, the country has been open to many monuments. What is the need to create another one? The fact is that in many countries that were part of the USSR, monuments dedicated to the victims of Stalinist repression have existed for several decades. In Moscow, only a mortgage stone. In size and composition, this monument does not convey the tragedy and grief that thousands of Soviet families had to endure.
The installation of the Wall of Sorrow has been raised more than once by Vladimir Fedotov, chairman of the Council for the Development of Society and Human Rights. In October 2014, a draft monument was presented to the President of Russia. At the end of December, an agreement was reached on the location of the monument.
Competition
When it comes to creating such a monument, the author of the future project is selected for several months. In February 2015, a competition started. Only one of its participants was to become the author of the monument. It was assumed that some projects could be used in other cities of Russia.
In total, the jury considered more than three hundred options. To select a suitable project, an exhibition was organized, which lasted about a month. The winner was George Frangulyan . The monument to the victims of repression could have been called differently. The Wall of Sorrow is the name of the monument created by Frangulyan . The second place in the competition was taken by Sergey Muratov with the Prism project. Third - Elena Bocharova ( " Broken Fates " ).
The memorial will be installed at the intersection of Sadovo-Spasskaya Street and Sakharov Avenue. “ The Wall of Sorrow ” , according to the jury, is most consistent with the spirit of the gloomy Stalin era , in addition, it has a very capacious , speaking name. The erection of the monument is carried out not only at the expense of the state, but also through public donations.
Description of the Wall of Sorrow monument in Moscow
This monument is quite impressive in size. Until the opening, it will be stored in a park near Sakharov Avenue. The height of the monument is 6 meters. The length is 35 meters. In the creation of the Wall of Sorrow, 80 tons of bronze were used. The monument is a two-sided bas-relief, which depicts human figures. Images are both flat and voluminous.
In the photo " Walls of Sorrow " , presented above, you can see human figures. There are about six hundred of them here. On a heavy wall, the composition of which is based on a game with volumes , there are quite large gaps, made in the form of a human silhouette. You can go through them. This is a kind of artistic design of the sculptor: modern people have the opportunity to feel in place of the victims of an omnipotent and merciless system.
The Wall of Sorrow in Moscow is not just a monument. This is a warning that will allow descendants to realize the sad consequences of authoritarianism, the fragility of human life. Perhaps such a sculptural composition will protect representatives of the future generation from repeating the mistakes of the past. On the " Wall of Sorrow " only one single word is knocked out. But this word is present in 22 languages. The edges of the wall are repeatedly engraved with "P omni " .
The Wall of Sorrow is located in the square, which is framed by granite stones. In front of the relief are several spotlights mounted on granite pillars. The road to the monument is paved with stones. This is an unusual building material. The road to the " Wall of Sorrow " is paved with stones brought from camps, places of mass executions, as well as settlements whose residents were subjected to forced deportation: Irkutsk, Ukhta, Vorkuta, Khabarovsk Territory, Bashkiria and other regions of Russia.
Next to the monument is the building of Sogaz . According to the sculptor, this building symbolizes power and slowness. In a way, it is part of the monument. She creates a suitable, gloomy background for the wall, symbolizing tens of thousands of human victims.
Historical reference
About how many people died during the years of repression, even today there is no exact information. Mass arrests began in the late 1920s and ended only after Stalin’s death. The most terrible was the period 1937 - 1938. Then about 30 thousand people were sentenced to death.
The victims of repression are not only those who were convicted under a political article and sentenced to death. Wives , husbands, relatives of those arrested were sent to camps. Children under 15 years old were to be placed in cities far from Moscow, Leningrad, Minsk, Kiev, Tiflis.