Veterans Alley
On Veteranov Alley, which begins at Listvennichnaya Alley and stands opposite the former 23rd academic building, a modest yet majestic memorial honors the veterans of the Great Patriotic War from the Moscow State Agroengineering University named after V.P. Goryachkin. It was solemnly unveiled on May 6, 1970, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945). Today the Institute of Mechanics and Energy named after V.P. Goryachkin (formerly MSAU) is part of a large educational and scientific complex – the Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. The memory preserved by this obelisk, however, remains indivisible. It belongs to all who taught and studied on this land, for whom the phrases “Timiryazev student” and “defender of the Fatherland” have become synonymous. The Great Patriotic War did not spare the walls of the country’s oldest agricultural university. From the first to the last day of fighting, Timiryazev students rose to defend their homeland, serving in all branches of the armed forces: in the air, on land, and at sea. The academy, which had trained civilian specialists for the countryside, unhesitatingly gave the front its most precious asset – its best students, young scientists, and experienced professors. Lecture halls emptied, giving way to front-line roads and battlefields. The numbers speak more eloquently than words. More than two hundred students of the Moscow Institute of Mechanization and Electrification (as the university was called from 1930 to 1964) took part in the fighting. Thirty-one members of the institute’s staff fell as heroes on the battlefield and never returned to their families or their alma mater. Eternal memory to them – their deeds are forever recorded in history. Five Heroes of the Soviet Union emerged from these walls, displaying unparalleled courage on the battlefields. After the war, several graduates were awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor for their role in rebuilding the country’s agriculture from the ruins. For current and future generations of students, faculty, and local residents, this memorial is a sacred focal point of memory, gratitude, and pride. The obelisk on the shaded Veteranov Alley forms a bridge between eras, reminding us that science, work on the land, and the defense of that land are inseparable. Our duty to the past is to remember; our duty to the future is to preserve the peace won at so high a price. Each year people come here to pay silent tribute, in the park’s stillness, to those who secured our right to life, to learning, and to creation.
Address: Moscow, Listvennichnaya al., 7
