“The terrible past cannot be justified by any higher so-called benefits of the people. “The terrible past cannot be justified by any higher so-called benefits of the Frangulyan people, a monument to victims of repression
Photo: Victoria Odissonova / Novaya Gazeta
“The terrible past cannot be erased from the national memory. Moreover, it is impossible to justify it with anything: no higher so-called benefits of the people,” President Vladimir Putin said at the opening ceremony of the “Wall of Sorrow” monument dedicated to the victims of political repression in the USSR. — When it comes to repression, the death and suffering of millions of people, it is enough to visit the Butovo training ground, other mass graves victims of repression, of which there are many in Russia, to understand: there can be no justification for these crimes.”
The opening of the monument - a thirty-meter double-sided bronze bas-relief by sculptor Georgy Frangulyan - took place on the Day of Remembrance for Victims of Political Repression. In addition to politicians, human rights activists, historians, cultural figures and clergy, the victims of illegal repression and their children - just a few very elderly people - came to the opening of the monument.
In his speech, Putin said that the consequences of the repressions are still felt; entire classes and peoples, workers, peasants, engineers, military leaders, priests, government officials, scientists and cultural figures have been subjected to them. “The repressions spared neither talent, nor services to the Motherland, nor sincere devotion to it. Each could have been brought against far-fetched and absolutely absurd charges,” he said and added that the very memory, clarity and unambiguous position regarding these gloomy events “serves as a powerful warning to their repetition.”
At the end of his speech, Putin quoted the words of Natalia Solzhenitsyna, who also came to the opening: “Know, remember, condemn and only then forgive.” After which the president said that it was impossible to call for settling scores and “again pushing society to the dangerous line of confrontation.” The president did not mention Stalin’s name in his speech, nor did he mention any of the perpetrators of political repression.
Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill, Federation Council member Vladimir Lukin and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Victoria Odissonova / Novaya Gazeta In turn, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill said at the opening that “monuments are needed for human healing.” “Coming here, remembering the tragic events of our history, people should not feel despondency and despair, they should think about their descendants and about what kind of country and what kind of history they will leave as a legacy,” the patriarch said.
The last speaker at the opening was Vladimir Lukin, a member of the Federation Council and Chairman of the Foundation for the Memory of Victims of Political Repression.
After a minute of silence and the laying of flowers at the monument, it was opened to visitors. Let us remind you: the monument is located at the intersection of Sakharov Avenue and the Garden Ring.
direct speech
Photo: RIA Novosti “Crippled destinies call to our memory from the memorial wall”
Speech by Federation Council member Vladimir Lukin at the opening of a monument to victims of political repression
- A person is weak... And at these moments I can’t help but think about the fate of my family. Especially two women. Both are my grandmothers.
One of them, besides my mother, had three more sons. The elder was brutally killed in one of the skirmishes of the civil war. The life of the second one ended nearby, in Kommunarka. He was included in one of the execution lists of 1937, signed by five then members of the PB of the Communist Party, headed personally by Stalin. The third, despite the reservation given to prominent scientists, joined the ranks of the militia and died defending Moscow in the fall of 1941. Three sons - three deaths.
The youngest daughter - my mother - was arrested in the same year, 1937, immediately after my birth. She was tortured, just like my father. But they were lucky: in 1938, after the fall of Yezhov, they were released, and they both managed to take part in the defense of Moscow. My father was the commissar of the 7th Bauman Militia Division, the monument to whose fighters, as many of you know, stands on the 242nd km of the Minsk Highway.
And his younger brother was forced, after my father’s arrest, to renounce him in order to save himself and the rest of his family.
Imagine the feelings of my second grandmother, whose sons never shook hands with each other, even at her grave.
And there were thousands, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of families in our country with a similar or similar fate. It is no longer possible to count.
It is they, their crippled destinies, that appeal to our memory, our conscience from the memorial wall.
The 20th century for our country is a century of great victories, but also of great tragedies. Our society and the younger generation know quite well about the most important great victory, although there are some gaps here too.
About the main great tragedy - mass repressions, terrible terror associated with the revolution, civil war, Stalin's totalitarian dictatorship, the younger generation knows little.
Is that bad. Ignorance is not an argument, Spinoza said. No wise lessons can be learned from ignorance.
Some of our citizens believe that dredging up the bloody past is unpatriotic. I am convinced that this opinion is wrong.
Motherland and Truth are concepts of equal magnitude. You cannot love the Motherland without loving the Truth. Without distinguishing good from evil, truth from untruth, fanaticism from humanity. The sovereign right to life, security, freedom and personal happiness of a person is no less important than any sovereignty. It is remarkable that our current Constitution begins precisely with this normative provision.
“All progress is reactionary if man collapses,” said the poet.
Only a free person can be a true patriot!
Current and future generations of our citizens must, firstly, know about this terrible drama. Reluctance to know is intellectual cowardice, a grave moral sin. And great danger. After all, hiding the truth is a sure way to relapse into tragedy.
Secondly, it is important to remember what happened to the country in the twentieth century. Remember the victims of mass state terror - The best way get rid of the illusion that all the country’s complex problems can be solved quickly and sharply - as they liked to say at that time - with a dashing “cavalry attack”.
Thirdly, we must clearly, decisively and irreversibly condemn the actions of those who spun the “red wheel” of mass terror. They have no and cannot have any excuses. Even taking into account the fact that in this bloody carnival, their executioners also disappeared after their victims.
And finally, fourthly - and this is the most difficult thing - we need to try to forgive the participants in this terrible historical drama.
Of course, to forgive not their terrible deeds, but their tragic mistakes that led to them, their self-deceptions, their utopian fantasies.
In my opinion, to forgive means, first of all, to try to expel from one’s own souls the atmosphere of hatred and intolerance towards everything different, towards everything “not one’s own”, towards everything “incomprehensible”.
Get rid of the sweet but poisonous illusion of your own unique rightness and infallibility.
We cannot change the past. We cannot pretend that it did not exist at all. But we can, remembering the past, try to suppress the viruses of anger and hatred in ourselves.
And thereby block access to the present and future to the bloody passions of the past.
The memory of the terrible tragedy that occurred on our land in the twentieth century should become part of our historical memory. We, the heirs of the victims of mass repression, are grateful to all those who contributed to the creation of the Memory Monument.
On October 30, 2017, the opening of the national memorial “Wall of Sorrow”, dedicated to the victims of political repression of the Soviet era, took place in Moscow, reports IA Regnum.
The opening ceremony was attended by the President Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. They said solemn words and laid flowers at the monument.
The opening of the “Wall of Sorrow” occurred after a meeting of the Development Council civil society, where issues related to ensuring environmental and electoral rights of citizens were discussed. Vladimir Putin, speaking at this meeting, emphasized that the year of the centenary of the revolution should draw a line under the split in society.
“The very memory, clarity and unambiguous position regarding these dark events serves as a powerful warning against their repetition. The terrible past of repression cannot be erased from the memory of the people and cannot be justified by anything,” Vladimir Putin noted.
According to the president, the consequences of political repression “are still being felt,” but this is not a reason to settle scores. The monument, located on Sakharov Avenue and representing a thirty-meter bronze bas-relief, was described by Vladimir Putin as “grand and piercing.”
After the president's speech, a funeral composition was performed by the choir. Then the cordon around the monument was lifted, and everyone was able to enter the territory. People laid flowers, prayed and lit candles. Opponents of the “Wall of Sorrow” also gathered at the ceremony; some organized single pickets.
Memorial "Wall of Sorrow"
The “Wall of Sorrow” memorial was erected in accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin dated September 30, 2015 No. 487 “On the construction of a memorial to victims of political repression.”
In 2015 State Museum history of the Gulag held a competition for memorial projects. The jury included 25 public figures and human rights activists: L.M. Alekseeva, N.D. Solzhenitsyn, V.P. Lukin, D.A. Granin and others. A total of 336 projects were presented. The winner of the competition was the project of sculptor G.V. Frangulyan "Wall of Sorrow".
To raise funds for the creation and installation of the memorial, the Foundation “Perpetuating the Memory of Victims of Political Repression” was established. The foundation has collected more than 43 million rubles in donations. The Moscow Government also took part in financing the project.
The composition of the square on which the memorial is installed includes “weeping stones” brought from 82 regions of Russia. The inscription “Know... Do not forget... Condemn... Forgive!” is placed on the stones. by N.D. Solzhenitsyna.
The “Wall of Sorrow” is a double-sided high-relief wall with several arches, composed of the outlines of numerous figures symbolizing those killed as a result of repression. The length of the wall is 30 meters, height - 6. Along the edges of the monument there are two relief tablets with the word “Remember” written in 22 languages (in 15 languages of the former republics of the USSR, in German and 6 official languages UN).
The monument was erected at the intersection of Academician Sakharov Avenue and the Garden Ring.
The Wall of Sorrow memorial is open to everyone.
Memory of the victims of political repression
The process of rehabilitation of victims of mass political repression in the USSR from the late 1920s to the early 1950s. began after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953.
In 1961, at the XXII Congress of the Communist Party Soviet Union(CPSU) First Secretary of the Central Committee (Central Committee) of the CPSU Nikita Khrushchev first voiced the idea of erecting a monument to the victims of political repression.
At the same time, archives and museums began to collect memoirs and biographical information about the executed and injured citizens. In 1964, after Leonid Brezhnev came to leadership in the USSR and the end of Khrushchev’s “thaw,” the process of rehabilitation and perpetuation of the memory of victims of repression was suspended.
In September 1987, a commission of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee was created to further study materials related to political repression. In 1987-1990 A number of legislative acts were issued, including resolutions of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee “On the construction of a monument to the victims of repression” (July 4, 1988) and “On perpetuating the memory of victims of repression of the period of the 30-40s and early 50s” (June 28, 1989 of the year).
Monument "Solovetsky Stone"
In the late 1980s - early 1990s. activists of the Memorial society proposed to erect a monument to the victims of political repression in Moscow. By agreement with the Moscow City Council, the location for it was chosen in the park of the Polytechnic Museum on Dzerzhinsky Square (now Lubyanka Square) opposite the building of the former NKVD (KGB).
The monument was a granite boulder brought from the territory of the former Solovetsky camp special purpose(Arhangelsk region). The stone was chosen by journalist Mikhail Butorin (at that time chairman of the board of the Arkhangelsk regional organization“Conscience”) and Arkhangelsk architect Gennady Lyashenko.
The grand opening of the monument, called the “Solovetsky Stone,” took place on October 30, 1990. The artist-architect S. Smirnov and designer V. Corsi took part in the creation of the sculptural composition.
In February 2008, it became known about plans to move the Solovetsky stone for construction work. In May 2008, after protests by human rights activists, they decided to leave the stone in place and assign it the status of a landmark.
Other famous monuments to victims of political terror
Today in Russia, hundreds of monuments, obelisks, steles, foundation stones, memorial signs, crosses and memorial plaques related to the history of repressions and the memory of their victims have been installed at the sites of mass executions, on the territory of former camp centers and in the settlements of special settlers.
Large monumental forms were also installed - chapels, belfries, walls of memory, sculptural compositions, memorials, memorial complexes.
Here are some of the most famous monuments and memorial complexes to victims of political terror:
Monument to the “Victims of Political Repression” in St. Petersburg. Located opposite the Crosses prison on the Robespierre Embankment). Opened on April 28, 1995. The author of the project is sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin. The sculptures in the form of two bronze sphinxes were cast in the USA and presented by the author to the city.
Sculpture "Moloch of totalitarianism". Opened on May 15, 1996 at the entrance to the Levashovskoye Memorial Cemetery in St. Petersburg. Authors: Nina Galitskaya and Vitaly Gambarov.
Memorial "Mask of Sorrow" in Magadan. Opened June 12, 1996. Authors: Ernst Neizvestny and Kamil Kazaev.
Memorial and museum complex in memory of deported peoples in the village of Nasyr-Kort (Ingushetia). Opened on February 23, 1997. Author of the project: Murad Polonkoev.
Bas-relief “Execution with Guardian Angel” in the Sandarmokh tract in Karelia. Opened on August 22, 1998 (under reconstruction since 2006) on the territory of the memorial cemetery. Authors: Grigory Saltup and Nikolai Ovchinnikov.
Memorial complex "Katyn" in the Smolensk region. Opened on July 28, 2000. It unites the Polish military cemetery and the burial places of Soviet citizens - victims of political repression. The authors of the project for the Polish part are sculptors Zdislaw Pidak, Andrzej Solyga, Wieslaw and Jacek Synakiewicz. The Russian part was designed in creative workshop number 4 of the Union of Architects of Russia under the leadership of Mikhail Khazanov.
Memorial complex "Mednoe" in the Tver region. Opened on September 2, 2000. Polish prisoners of war, executed in 1940, and Soviet citizens (victims of the repressions of 1937-1938) are buried here. The design of the Russian part of the Memorial was carried out by Workshop No. 4 of the Union of Architects of the Russian Federation under the leadership of Mikhail Khazanov, the chief architect is Nikita Shangin. Authors of the concept of the Polish cemetery: creative Group under the direction of sculptors Zdzislaw Pidek and Andrzej Solyga.
"Monument to the Victims of Political Repression" in Ufa (Bashkortostan). Installed on December 23, 2000. Authors: Yuri Soldatov and Leonid Dubinsky.
Worship cross on the territory of the former Butovo training ground(one of the sites of mass executions; near the village of Drozhzhino, Leninsky district, Moscow region). Placed on August 7, 2007 on a foundation made of stones from the Solovetsky Islands and elements of previously destroyed Orthodox churches.
On December 10, 2014, the “Last Address” campaign started in Moscow. The goal of this project is to install personal signs of a single type on the facades of houses, the addresses of which became the last lifetime addresses of the victims of these repressions. St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Barnaul, Irkutsk and other cities of the Russian Federation already participate in the program.
On October 30, 2017, a monument dedicated to the victims of repression will open in Moscow. Author project - Georgiy Frangulyan. The monument was installed on Sakharov Avenue. "Wall of Sorrow" is the name of the monument.
Background
In 1961, at the next party congress, Nikita Khrushchev raised the issue of debunking Stalin’s personality cult. It was then that the idea of creating a monument to the victims of repression was first considered. But the matter did not progress beyond conversations. Moreover, Khrushchev proposed paying tribute to the memory of “loyal Leninists” - party members executed during the years of Stalinism. When the era of the so-called Thaw ended, the idea of creating a monument was completely forgotten. We remembered her in the late eighties.
and other monuments
During the perestroika years, the topic of victims of repression became quite discussed. Now is the most opportune time to install a monument. The monument unveiled at 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, and chapels were subsequently installed. One of them, “Mask of Sorrow,” is located in Magadan. A memorial plaque with the inscription "Last Address" is installed in many cities of Russia.
Preparing to create the "Wall of Sorrow"
Since the early nineties, many monuments have been opened in the country. Why is there a need to create another one? The fact is that in many countries that were part of the USSR, monuments dedicated to the victims of Stalin’s repression have existed for several decades. In Moscow there is only a foundation stone. In size and composition, this monument does not convey the tragedy and grief that thousands of Soviet families had to endure.
The issue of installing the “Wall of Sorrow” was raised more than once by Vladimir Fedotov - chairman Council for Community Development and Human Rights. In October 2014, the President of Russia was presented with a draft of the monument. At the end of December, an agreement was reached regarding the location of the monument.
Contest
When it comes to creating such a monument, the author of the future project is chosen over the course of several months. The competition started in February 2015. 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 competition jury considered more than three hundred options. To select a suitable project, an exhibition was organized, which lasted about a month. The winner was Georgy Frangulyan. The monument to the victims of repression could have had a different name. "Wall of Sorrow" is the name of the monument created by Frangulyan. Sergei Muratov took second place in the competition with his project “Prism”. Third - Elena Bocharova ("Torn Fates").
The memorial will be installed at the intersection of Sadovo-Spasskaya Street and Sakharov Avenue. "Wall of Sorrow", according to the jury, is the most appropriate gloomy spirit Stalin era In addition, it has a very succinct, telling name. The construction of the monument is carried out not only at the expense of the state, but also at the expense of public donations.
Description of the monument "Wall of Sorrow" in Moscow
Quite impressive in size. Until the opening, it will be stored in the park next to Sakharov Avenue. The height of the monument is 6 meters. Length 35 meters. 80 tons of bronze were used to create the Wall of Sorrow. The monument is a double-sided bas-relief depicting human figures. The images are both flat and three-dimensional.
In the photo "Wall of Sorrow" presented above, you can see human figures. There are about six hundred of them here. On the heavy wall, the composition of which is based on playing with volumes, there are quite large gaps, made in the shape of a human silhouette. You can go through them. This is a kind of artistic design that allows people to feel like they are victims of an all-powerful and merciless system.
The Wall of Sorrow in Moscow is not just a monument. This is a warning that will allow posterity to realize the sad consequences of authoritarianism, the fragility 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" there is only one word engraved. But this word is present here in 22 languages. Along the edges of the wall, “Remember” is engraved multiple times.
The "Wall of Sorrow" is located in the park, which is framed by granite stones. In front of the relief there are several spotlights mounted on granite pillars. The road to the monument is paved with stones. This is unusual construction 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 Sogaz building. According to the sculptor, this building symbolizes power and clumsiness. In a way, she is part of the monument. It creates a fitting, eerie backdrop for a wall that represents tens of thousands of human victims.
Historical reference
Even today there is no exact information about how many people died during the years of repression. Mass arrests began in the late 20s and ended only after Stalin's death. The worst period was 1937-1938. Then about 30 thousand people were sentenced to death.
Victims of repression include not only those who were convicted under political charges and sentenced to death. The wives, husbands, and relatives of those arrested were sent to the camps. Children under 15 years of age were to be placed in cities far from Moscow, Leningrad, Minsk, Kyiv, and Tiflis.
The monument will appear in the park at the intersection of Academician Sakharov Avenue and the Garden Ring. During the installation of the high relief, traffic will not be restricted.
The high relief “Wall of Sorrow” by People’s Artist of Russia, sculptor Georgy Frangulyan and architect Andrey Frangulyan will begin to be installed in the capital on August 6. A sculptural composition in memory of the victims of political repression will appear at the intersection of Academician Sakharov Avenue and the Garden Ring. Due to its scale, they plan to transport the bronze monument from the sculptor’s workshop in the town of Khimki near Moscow to the installation site in parts. The installation of the monument will be completed on August 28. There will be no restrictions on the passage of vehicles.
“On the afternoon of August 6, installation of only the first part of the monument will begin. In general, it consists of 11 fragments, which will be completely delivered to the park by August 23. The height of the structure is six meters and the length is 30 meters. The phased installation of such a large-scale sculptural composition will not create inconvenience for the townspeople,” the capital said.
“Wall of Sorrow” is a double-sided high relief with several arches. It consists of many faceless bronze human figures merging together. They seem to take off from the ground and rush to the sky. On both sides of the “Wall” there are bronze sheets with text on which the word “Remember” is carved on different languages peace.
In the park, the monument will be installed in a semicircle on a specially prepared site and all its elements will be secured. The sculptural composition will be framed by retaining walls made of granite slabs. In front of the high relief, seven granite pillars with spotlights will be placed, the rays of which are directed into the sky. According to the sculptor's idea, the light of the spotlights personifies the souls of people. At night, the entire monument will be illuminated by special lamps with a soft yellow glow. The area around the monument will be paved with round stones. Trees will be planted next to the “Wall of Sorrow.”
They also plan to improve the park itself at the intersection of Academician Sakharov Avenue and the Garden Ring. Repairs will be carried out on an area of 5.4 thousand square meters. In the park, work has been partially completed on installing cable ducts and a base for new paving. After which granite side stones will be installed and granite paving will be completed. The stairs in the park will be repaired and landscape lighting will be installed on the lawns.
In 2015, a competition was held to select a design for the monument. 340 concepts were presented there. As a result, the project of sculptor Georgy Frangulyan and architect Andrey Frangulyan was chosen.
The works of Georgy Frangulyan can be seen in Moscow - this is a monument to Bulat Okudzhava on Arbat, a monument to Joseph Brodsky on Novinsky Boulevard, a monument to Aram Khachaturyan on Bryusov Lane, a monument to Dmitry Shostakovich on Kosmodamianskaya Embankment and others. The “Wall of Sorrow” is scheduled to open before October 2017.
