Monument «The tragedy of the peoples»
26 years ago, in 1997, a monument dedicated to the millions of people who died from the Fascist genocide was opened not far from the Victory Museum in Victory Park. Its author was People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Zurab Tsereteli. The sculptor created the composition at his own expense under the influence of patriotic feelings. During the war, Tsereteli was a child, but he remembered the hardships well. The construction of the memorial began in 1996. The monument depicts an endless queue of emaciated people who were sentenced to death by the Nazis. People gradually merge into one whole and become granite steles. Children’s toys and belongings of the victims are lying nearby. There is one inscription carved on fifteen steles: “May the memory of them be sacred, may it be preserved for centuries!” It is written in the languages of peoples who previously lived in the Soviet Union. On the last plate, a similar text is made in Hebrew. It is a symbol of the eternal memory of the millions of Jews who were subjected to genocide and ruthless extermination on the lands captured by the Nazis. There are many works by Zurab Konstantinovich Tsereteli on Poklonnaya Gora. Among them are the majestic building of the Victory Museum (Tsereteli was the artistic director of this project); a unique obelisk-bayonet Victory Monument (141.8 m high according to the number of days of war) and a sculpture of the goddess of Victory Niki with angels trumpeting victory, installed at a height of 104 m.; bronze St. George conquering the serpent, on a pedestal in front of the Monument. The sculptor also worked on many bas-reliefs that adorn the Church of St. George. Together with the architect Mikhail Posokhin, he executed bas-reliefs of the monument-ensemble of 10 fronts and 3 fleets (15 steles) and many others.
Address: Moscow, Victory Park
