Today was essentially a love-on-Russia fest. (Not that that's a necessarily a bad thing!) Austin and I met up at the Kievskaya metro stop this morning to make our way over to Victory Park and the Museum of the Great Patriotic War (WWII), the excursion we missed while in the Caucasus. The sky threatened rain all day, but Moscow held out for us! I managed to get a picture of the Moscow Metro today (in which photography is forbidden by law), so in case you guys were wondering what it looks like, here you go!
Victory Park was created in stages since the 1960s by the Russian government, first to commemorate victory of Napoleon and later to commemorate victory in WWII. Today the significance of the park and accompanying museum is predominately of the Russian victory and sacrifice in WWII. The park has multiple monuments to the people and soldiers who fought and lost their lives and live through the war and the German occupation of Russian territory, especially that of the Blockade of Leningrad (St. Petersburg). It's very hard to describe in words what the park and museum express. Russia took some of the largest hits and highest death tolls in World War II, and often that is forgotten by the rest of the world. But Russia certainly hasn't forgotten. If you don't know much about Russian involvement in WWII outside of the very basics, I suggest you do some reading and learn about it. What the Russians did in WWII is often covered up and tampered down by the other allied forces. I personally believe they deserve more credit than they have thus far received, but only the continual review of history will tell. So, in order to compliment my inability to describe the experience of Russia's war past, here's some pictures!
Before we ventured into the museum, we happened upon something quite awesome, if I do say so myself... OMG TANKS!
The museum itself was very cool! There was so much original material from WWII, like Nazi memorabilia taken by Soviet soldiers, original documents from the time, uniforms and artillery, and a documentation of propaganda development. The most amazing thing, hands down, was the Hall of Memories and Sorrow, which commemorates all the people who suffered and died in the Soviet Union during WWII. Photography was forbidden in the museum, but I snuck some shots because I just couldn't resist!
The museum was very moving and made you think a lot, as most WWII museums usually do. Having seen the Blockade and WWII museum in Petersburg, this visit added to my comprehension of the Russian view of the war. Feeling sufficiently somber, we decided to make one last stop on the way home to honor making fun of everyone's favorite little man target in history: Napoleon. The Russian Triumphal Arch was built in the 1820s to commemorate Russian victory over Napoleon in the War of 1812. I sense some sort of European Napoleon-Arch theme going on here on this continent...
And now as I head into my last week in Moscow, sightseeing and going to class for finals, I'm starting to muse over my time here in Russia. But I'll leave the philosophical stuff til a later ending post, for now it is time for me to do homework and study! Enjoy the pictures!
Love and Hugs to all! xoxo
(6 fulls days left in Russia!)
 | |
| Moscow Metro, Kievskaya Station |
Victory Park was created in stages since the 1960s by the Russian government, first to commemorate victory of Napoleon and later to commemorate victory in WWII. Today the significance of the park and accompanying museum is predominately of the Russian victory and sacrifice in WWII. The park has multiple monuments to the people and soldiers who fought and lost their lives and live through the war and the German occupation of Russian territory, especially that of the Blockade of Leningrad (St. Petersburg). It's very hard to describe in words what the park and museum express. Russia took some of the largest hits and highest death tolls in World War II, and often that is forgotten by the rest of the world. But Russia certainly hasn't forgotten. If you don't know much about Russian involvement in WWII outside of the very basics, I suggest you do some reading and learn about it. What the Russians did in WWII is often covered up and tampered down by the other allied forces. I personally believe they deserve more credit than they have thus far received, but only the continual review of history will tell. So, in order to compliment my inability to describe the experience of Russia's war past, here's some pictures!
 |
| Fountains at Victory Park |
 |
| St. Georges Cathedral |
 |
| Victory Monument |
 |
| Museum of the Great Patriotic War |
 |
| Open-air Artillery Museum |
 |
| Monument to Defenders of Russian Soil |
 |
| Monument to Victory over Fascism |
Before we ventured into the museum, we happened upon something quite awesome, if I do say so myself... OMG TANKS!
The museum itself was very cool! There was so much original material from WWII, like Nazi memorabilia taken by Soviet soldiers, original documents from the time, uniforms and artillery, and a documentation of propaganda development. The most amazing thing, hands down, was the Hall of Memories and Sorrow, which commemorates all the people who suffered and died in the Soviet Union during WWII. Photography was forbidden in the museum, but I snuck some shots because I just couldn't resist!
 |
| Hall of Glory (Hero of the Soviet Union recipients) |
 |
| WWII Soviet propaganda posters |
 |
| Nazi memorabilia left behind in the USSR |
 |
| Nazi regiment flags and Iron Crosses surrendered in Russia |
And now as I head into my last week in Moscow, sightseeing and going to class for finals, I'm starting to muse over my time here in Russia. But I'll leave the philosophical stuff til a later ending post, for now it is time for me to do homework and study! Enjoy the pictures!
Love and Hugs to all! xoxo
(6 fulls days left in Russia!)
No comments:
Post a Comment