IN APRIL 1945, advanced units Soviet troops went to Berlin. The city found itself surrounded by fire. The 220th Guards Rifle Regiment advanced along the right bank of the Spree River, moving from house to house towards the imperial office. Street fighting went on day and night.
An hour before the start of artillery preparation, Nikolai Masalov, accompanied by two assistants, brought the regiment’s banner to the Landwehr Canal. The guards knew that here, in Tiergarten, was the main bastion of the military garrison of the German capital. The fighters advanced to the attack line in small groups and individually. Some had to cross the canal by swimming using available means, others had to break through a barrage of fire through a mined bridge.
There were 50 minutes left before the attack began. There was silence - alarming and tense. Suddenly, through this ghostly silence, mixed with smoke and settling dust, a child's cry was heard. It came as if from somewhere underground, dull and inviting. The child, crying, uttered one word that everyone understood: “Mutter, mutter...”, because all children cry in the same language. Sergeant Masalov was the first to catch the child's voice. Leaving his assistants at the banner, he rose to almost his full height and ran straight to the headquarters - to the general.
- Let me save the child, I know where he is...
The general silently looked at the soldier who had appeared from nowhere.
- Just be sure to come back. “We must return, because this battle is the last,” the general warmly admonished him in a fatherly manner.
“I’ll be back,” said the guardsman and took the first step towards the canal.
The area in front of the bridge was covered with fire from machine guns and automatic cannons, not to mention the mines and land mines that densely littered all the approaches. Sergeant Masalov crawled, clinging to the asphalt, carefully passing the barely noticeable bumps of mines, feeling every crack with his hands. Very close by, machine-gun bursts rushed past, knocking out rocky crumbs. Death from above, death from below - and there is nowhere to hide from it. Dodging the deadly lead, Nikolai dived into the shell crater, as if into the waters of his native Siberian Barandatka.
In Berlin, Nikolai Masalov saw enough of the suffering of German children. In clean suits, they approached the soldiers and silently held out an empty tin can or simply an emaciated palm. And Russian soldiers
they shoved bread, lumps of sugar into these little hands, or seated a thin group around their pots...
Nikolai Masalov approached the canal inch by inch. Here he was, holding the machine gun, already rolling towards the concrete parapet. Fiery lead streams immediately lashed out, but the soldier had already managed to slide under the bridge.
The former commissar of the 220th regiment of the 79th Guards Division, I. Paderin, recalls: “And our Nikolai Ivanovich disappeared. He enjoyed great authority in the regiment, and I was afraid of a spontaneous attack. And a spontaneous attack, as a rule, means extra blood, especially at the very end of the war. And Masalov seemed to sense our anxiety. Suddenly a voice says: “I’m with the child. Machine gun on the right, house with balconies, shut his throat.” And the regiment, without any command, opened such fierce fire that, in my opinion, I have never seen such tension in the entire war. Under the cover of this fire, Nikolai Ivanovich came out with the girl. He was wounded in the leg, but did not say..."
N.I. Masalov recalls: “Under the bridge I saw a three-year-old girl sitting next to her murdered mother. The baby had blond hair that was slightly curly at the forehead. She kept tugging at her mother’s belt and calling: “Mutter, mutter!” There is no time to think here. I grab the girl and back. And how she will scream! As I walk, I persuade her this way and that: shut up, they say, otherwise you will open me. Here the Nazis really started firing. Thanks to our guys - they helped us out and opened fire with all guns."
Guns, mortars, machine guns, and carbines covered Masalov with heavy fire. The guardsmen targeted enemy firing points. The Russian soldier stood over the concrete parapet, shielding the German girl from bullets. At that moment, a dazzling disk of the sun rose above the roof of the house with columns, scarred by fragments. Its rays hit the enemy shore, blinding the shooters for some time. At the same time, the cannons struck and artillery preparation began. It seemed that the entire front was saluting the feat of the Russian soldier, his humanity, which he did not lose on the roads of war.
N.I. Masalov recalls: “I crossed the neutral zone. I look into one or another entrance of the houses - so that, that means, hand over the child to the Germans, civilians. And it’s empty there—not a soul. Then I'll go straight to my headquarters. The comrades surrounded, laughing: “Show me what kind of “tongue you got.” And some of the biscuits themselves, some of them shove sugar into the girl, calm her down. He handed her over to the captain in a raincoat thrown over him, who gave her water from a flask. And then I returned to the banner."
A few days later, the sculptor E.V. Vuchetich arrived at the regiment and immediately found Masalov. Having made several sketches, he said goodbye, and it is unlikely that Nikolai Ivanovich at that moment had any idea why the artist needed him. It was no coincidence that Vuchetich drew attention to the Siberian warrior. The sculptor carried out an assignment from a front-line newspaper, looking for a type for a poster dedicated to the Victory of the Soviet people in the Patriotic War. These sketches and sketches were useful to Vuchetich later, when he began work on the project of the famous monument ensemble. After the Potsdam Conference, the heads of the Allied Powers Vuchetich was summoned by Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov and proposed to begin preparing a sculptural ensemble-monument dedicated to the Victory of the Soviet people over Nazi Germany. It was originally intended to be placed in the center of the composition
a majestic bronze figure of Stalin with an image of Europe or a globe hemisphere in his hands.
Sculptor E.V. Vuchetich: “The main figure of the ensemble was looked at by artists and sculptors. They praised and admired. But I felt dissatisfied. We need to look for another solution.
And then I remembered the Soviet soldiers who, during the storming of Berlin, carried German children out of the fire zone. He rushed to Berlin, visited Soviet soldiers, met with heroes, made sketches and hundreds of photographs - and a new, his own decision matured: a soldier with a child on his chest. He sculpted a figure of a meter-tall warrior. Under his feet is a fascist swastika, in right hand machine gun, the left one is holding a three-year-old girl.”
The time has come to demonstrate both projects under the light of the Kremlin chandeliers. In the foreground is a monument to the leader...
- Listen, Vuchetich, aren’t you tired of this guy with a mustache?
Stalin pointed the mouthpiece of his pipe towards the one and a half meter figure.
“This is just a sketch,” someone tried to intercede.
“The author was shell-shocked, but not without language,” Stalin said abruptly and fixed his gaze on the second sculpture. - And what's that?
Vuchetich hastily removed the parchment from the soldier’s figure. Stalin examined him from all sides, smiled sparingly and said:
“We will place this soldier in the center of Berlin, on a high burial hill... Just you know, Vuchetich, the machine gun in the soldier’s hand must be replaced with something else.” A machine gun is a utilitarian object of our time, and the monument will stand for centuries. Give him something more symbolic. Well, let's say a sword. Weighty, solid. With this sword the soldier cut the fascist swastika. The sword is lowered, but woe will be the one who forces the hero to raise this sword. Do you agree?
Ivan Stepanovich Odarchenko recalls: “After the war, I served in the Weissensee commandant’s office for another three years. For a year and a half, he carried out an unusual task for a soldier - he posed for the creation of a monument in Treptower Park. Professor Vuchetich for a long time I was looking for a sitter. I was introduced to Vuchetich at one of the sports events. He approved my candidacy, and a month later I was sent to pose for a sculptor.”
The construction of a monument in Berlin was considered a task of extreme importance. A special construction department was created. By the end of 1946, there were 39 competitive projects. Before their consideration, Vuchetich came to Berlin. The idea of the monument completely captured the imagination of the sculptor... Work on the construction of the monument to the liberating soldier began in 1947 and lasted more than three years. A whole army of specialists was involved here - 7 thousand people. The memorial occupies huge area at 280 thousand square meters. The request for materials puzzled even Moscow - ferrous and non-ferrous metals, thousands of cubic meters of granite and marble. An extremely difficult situation was developing. A happy accident helped.
Honored Builder of the RSFSR G. Kravtsov recalls: “An exhausted German, a former prisoner of the Gestapo, came to me. He saw our soldiers picking out pieces of marble from the ruins of buildings, and hastened with a joyful statement: he knew a secret granite warehouse a hundred kilometers from Berlin, on the banks of the Oder. He himself unloaded the stone and miraculously escaped execution... And these piles of marble, it turns out, on Hitler's instructions, were stored for the construction of a monument to the victory... over Russia. This is how it happened...
During the storming of Berlin, 20 thousand Soviet soldiers died. More than 5 thousand soldiers are buried in the mass graves of the memorial in Treptow Park, under the old plane trees and under the mound of the main monument. Recalls former gardener Frieda Holzapfel: “Our first task was to remove bushes and trees from the site intended for the monument; mass graves were supposed to be dug in this place... And then cars with mortal remains began to arrive dead soldiers. I just couldn't move. It was as if a sharp pain pierced me all over, I started crying bitterly and couldn’t help myself. In my mind at that moment I imagined a Russian woman-mother, from whom the most precious thing she had was taken away, and now she was being lowered into a foreign German land. Involuntarily, I remembered my son and husband, who were considered missing. Perhaps they suffered the same fate. Suddenly a young Russian soldier came up to me and said in broken German: “Crying is not good. The German kamerad sleeps in Russia, the Russian kamerad sleeps here. It doesn't matter where they sleep. The main thing is that there is peace. Russian mothers cry too. War is not good for people!” Then he came up to me again and thrust some kind of package into my hands. At home, I unwrapped it - there lay half a loaf of soldier’s bread and two pears...”
N.I. Masalov recalls: “I learned about the monument in Treptower Park by chance. I bought matches at the store and looked at the label. Monument to the soldier-liberator in Berlin by Vuchetich. I remembered how he made a sketch of me. I never thought that this monument depicts that battle for the Reichstag. Later I found out: the marshal told the sculptor about the incident on the Landwehr Canal Soviet Union Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov."
The monument gained increasing popularity among people from many countries and gave rise to various legends. So, in particular, it was believed that a Soviet soldier actually carried a German girl from the battlefield during a firefight, but was seriously wounded and died in the hospital. At the same time, some enthusiasts, who were not satisfied with this legend, undertook repeated, but so far unsuccessful, searches for the unknown hero.
On May 8, 1949, the “Warrior Liberator” monument was unveiled in Treptow Park in Berlin. One of three Soviet war memorials in Berlin. Sculptor E. V. Vuchetich, architect Ya. B. Belopolsky, artist A. V. Gorpenko, engineer S. S. Valerius. Opened on May 8, 1949. Height - 12 meters. Weight - 70 tons. The “Warrior Liberator” monument is a symbol of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War and World War II, and the liberation of the peoples of Europe from Nazism.
The monument is the final part of a triptych, which also consists of the monuments “Rear to Front” in Magnitogorsk and “The Motherland Calls!” In Volgograd. It is implied that the sword, forged on the banks of the Urals, was then raised by the Motherland in Stalingrad and lowered after the Victory in Berlin.
The center of the composition is a bronze figure of a Soviet soldier standing on the ruins of a swastika. In one hand the soldier holds a lowered sword, and with the other he supports the German girl he saved.
Sculptor E. Vuchetich is working on creating a model of the “Warrior-Liberator” monument. In the sketch of the monument, the soldier held a machine gun in his free hand, but at the suggestion of I.V. Stalin, E.V. Vuchetich replaced the machine gun with a sword. The names of those who posed for the sculpture are also known. Thus, three-year-old Svetlana Kotikova (1945-1996), the daughter of the commandant of the Soviet sector of Berlin, Major General A.G. Kotikova, posed as a German girl held in the hands of a soldier. Later, S. Kotikova became an actress; her role as teacher Maryana Borisovna in the film “Oh, this Nastya!” is best known.
There are four versions of who exactly posed for the sculptor E.V. Vuchetich for the soldier’s monument. However, they do not contradict each other, since it is possible that at different times different people could pose for the sculptor.
According to the memoirs of retired colonel Viktor Mikhailovich Gunaza, in 1945 in the Austrian city of Mariazell, where Soviet units were stationed, he posed for the young Vuchetich. Initially, according to the memoirs of V. M. Gunaza, Vuchetich planned to sculpt a soldier holding a boy in his hands, and it was Gunaza who advised him to replace the boy with a girl.
According to other sources, for a year and a half in Berlin, Soviet army sergeant Ivan Stepanovich Odarchenko posed for the sculptor. Odarchenko also posed for the artist A. A. Gorpenko, who created a mosaic panel inside the pedestal of the monument. In this panel, Odarchenko is depicted twice - as a soldier with the sign of a Hero of the Soviet Union and a helmet in his hands, and also as a worker in blue overalls with his head bowed, holding a wreath. After demobilization, Ivan Odarchenko settled in Tambov and worked at a factory. He died in July 2013 at the age of 86.
According to an interview with Rafail’s father, the son-in-law of the commandant of Berlin A.G. Kotikov, who refers to the unpublished memoirs of his father-in-law, the cook of the Soviet commandant’s office in Berlin posed as a soldier. Later, upon returning to Moscow, this cook became the head chef of the Prague restaurant.
It is believed that the prototype of the figure of a soldier with a child was Sergeant Nikolai Masalov, who in April 1945 carried a German child from the shelling zone. In memory of the sergeant, a memorial plaque was installed on the Potsdamer Brücke Bridge in Berlin with the inscription: “During the battles for Berlin on April 30, 1945, near this bridge, risking his life, he saved a child caught between two fronts from the fire.” Another prototype is considered to be a native of the Logoisk district of the Minsk region, senior sergeant Trifon Lukyanovich, who also saved a girl during urban battles and died from wounds on April 29, 1945.
The memorial complex in Treptower Park was created after a competition in which 33 projects took part. The project of E.V. Vuchetich and Ya.B. Belopolsky won. The construction of the complex was carried out under the leadership of the 27th Directorate of Defense Constructions of the Soviet Army. About 1,200 German workers were involved in the work, as well as German companies - the Noack foundry, Puhl & Wagner mosaic and stained glass workshops, and Späth nursery. The sculpture of a soldier weighing about 70 tons was made in the spring of 1949 at the Leningrad plant “Monumental Sculpture” in the form of six parts, which were sent to Berlin. Work on the creation of the memorial was completed in May 1949. On May 8, 1949, the memorial was inaugurated by the Soviet commandant of Berlin, Major General A.G. Kotikov. In September 1949, responsibilities for the care and maintenance of the monument were transferred by the Soviet military commandant to the magistrate of Greater Berlin.
69 years ago, on May 8, 1949, the Monument to the Soldier-Liberator in Treptower Park. This memorial was erected in memory of the 20 thousand Soviet soldiers who died in the battles for the liberation of Berlin, and became one of the most famous symbols of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Few people know that the idea for creating the monument was real story, and the main character of the plot was a soldier Nikolay Masalov, whose feat was undeservedly forgotten for many years.
The memorial was erected at the burial site of 5 thousand Soviet soldiers who died during the capture of the capital of Nazi Germany. Along with Mamayev Kurgan in Russia, it is one of the largest and most famous of such monuments in the world. The decision to build it was made at the Potsdam Conference two months after the end of the war.
The idea for the composition of the monument was a real story: on April 26, 1945, Sergeant Nikolai Masalov carried a German girl out from under fire during the storming of Berlin. He himself later described these events as follows: “Under the bridge I saw a three-year-old girl sitting next to her murdered mother. The baby had blond hair that was slightly curly at the forehead. She kept tugging at her mother’s belt and calling: “Mutter, mutter!” There is no time to think here. I grab the girl and back. And how she will scream! As I walk, I persuade her this way and that: shut up, they say, otherwise you will open me. Here the Nazis really started firing. Thanks to our people - they helped us out and opened fire with all guns.” The sergeant was wounded in the leg, but he carried the girl to his own. After the Victory, Nikolai Masalov returned to the village of Voznesenka, Kemerovo region, then moved to the city of Tyazhin and worked there as a caretaker in a kindergarten. His feat was remembered only 20 years later. In 1964, the first publications about Masalov appeared in the press, and in 1969 he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Berlin.
Nikolai Masalov became the prototype of the Warrior-Liberator, but another soldier posed for the sculptor - Ivan Odarchenko from Tambov, who served in the Berlin commandant's office. Vuchetich noticed him in 1947 at the celebration of Athlete’s Day. Ivan posed for the sculptor for six months, and after the monument was installed in Treptow Park, he stood guard next to him several times. They say that people approached him several times, surprised by the similarity, but the private did not admit that this similarity was not at all accidental. After the war, he returned to Tambov, where he worked at a factory. And 60 years after the opening of the monument in Berlin, Ivan Odarchenko became the prototype of the Veteran’s monument in Tambov.
The model for the statue of the girl in the arms of a soldier was supposed to be a German woman, but in the end, the Russian girl Sveta, the 3-year-old daughter of the commandant of Berlin, General Kotikov, posed for Vuchetich. In the original version of the memorial, the warrior was holding a machine gun in his hands, but they decided to replace it with a sword. It was an exact copy of the sword of the Pskov prince Gabriel, who fought together with Alexander Nevsky, and this was symbolic: Russian warriors defeated the German knights on Lake Peipsi, and several centuries later they defeated them again.
Work on the memorial took three years. Architect J. Belopolsky and sculptor E. Vuchetich sent a model of the monument to Leningrad, and there a 13-meter figure of the Liberator Warrior was made, weighing 72 tons. The sculpture was transported to Berlin in parts. According to Vuchetich’s story, after it was brought from Leningrad, one of the best German foundries examined it and, finding no flaws, exclaimed: “Yes, this is a Russian miracle!”
Vuchetich prepared two designs for the monument. Initially, it was planned to erect a statue of Stalin holding a globe in Treptower Park as a symbol of the conquest of the world. As a fallback option, Vuchetich proposed a sculpture of a soldier holding a girl in his arms. Both projects were presented to Stalin, but he approved the second one.
The memorial was inaugurated on the eve of the 4th anniversary of the Victory over fascism, May 8, 1949. In 2003, a plaque was installed on the Potsdam Bridge in Berlin in memory of the feat of Nikolai Masalov accomplished in this place. This fact was documented, although eyewitnesses claimed that there were several dozen such cases during the liberation of Berlin. When they tried to find that same girl, about a hundred German families responded. The rescue of about 45 German children by Soviet soldiers was documented.
At the Motherland from a propaganda poster from the times of the Great Patriotic War there was also a real prototype: .
...And in Berlin on a holiday
Was erected to stand for centuries,
Monument to the Soviet soldier
With a rescued girl in her arms.
He stands as a symbol of our glory,
Like a beacon shining in the darkness.
This is him - a soldier of my state -
Protects peace throughout the world!
G. Rublev
On May 8, 1950, one of the most majestic symbols of the Great Victory was opened in Berlin's Treptower Park. The liberating warrior climbed to a height of many meters with a German girl in his arms. This 13-meter monument became epoch-making in its own way.
Millions of people visiting Berlin try to visit here to worship the great feat of the Soviet people. Not everyone knows that according to the original plan, in Treptow Park, where the ashes of more than 5 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers rest, there should have been a majestic figure of Comrade. Stalin. And this bronze idol was supposed to hold a globe in its hands. Like, “the whole world is in our hands.”
This is exactly what the first Soviet marshal, Kliment Voroshilov, imagined when he summoned the sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich immediately after the end of the Potsdam Conference of the Heads of the Allied Powers. But the front-line soldier, sculptor Vuchetich, prepared another option just in case - the pose should be an ordinary Russian soldier who tramped from the walls of Moscow to Berlin, saving a German girl. They say that the leader of all times and peoples, having looked at both proposed options, chose the second. And he only asked to replace the machine gun in the soldier’s hands with something more symbolic, for example, a sword. And so that he chops down the fascist swastika...
Why exactly the warrior and the girl? Evgeniy Vuchetich was familiar with the story of the feat of Sergeant Nikolai Masalov...
A few minutes before the start of a fierce attack on German positions, he suddenly heard, as if from underground, a child’s cry. Nikolai rushed to the commander: “I know how to find the child! Allow me! And a second later he rushed to search. Crying came from under the bridge. However, it is better to give the floor to Masalov himself. Nikolai Ivanovich recalled this: “Under the bridge I saw a three-year-old girl sitting next to her murdered mother. The baby had blond hair that was slightly curly at the forehead. She kept tugging at her mother’s belt and calling: “Mutter, mutter!” There is no time to think here. I grab the girl and back. And how she will scream! As I walk, I persuade her this way and that: shut up, they say, otherwise you will open me. Here the Nazis really started firing. Thanks to our people - they helped us out and opened fire with all guns.”
At this moment Nikolai was wounded in the leg. But he didn’t abandon the girl, he brought it to his people... And a few days later the sculptor Vuchetich appeared in the regiment, who made several sketches for his future sculpture...
This is the most common version that the historical prototype for the monument was soldier Nikolai Masalov (1921-2001). In 2003, a plaque was installed on the Potsdamer Bridge (Potsdamer Brücke) in Berlin in memory of the feat accomplished in this place.
The story is based primarily on the memoirs of Marshal Vasily Chuikov. The very fact of Masalov’s feat has been confirmed, but during the GDR, eyewitness accounts were collected about other similar cases throughout Berlin. There were several dozen of them. Before the assault, many residents remained in the city. The National Socialists did not allow the civilian population to leave, intending to defend the capital of the “Third Reich” to the last.
The names of the soldiers who posed for Vuchetich after the war are precisely known: Ivan Odarchenko and Viktor Gunaz. Odarchenko served in the Berlin commandant's office. The sculptor noticed him during a sports competition. After the opening of the memorial, Odarchenko happened to be on duty near the monument, and many visitors, who did not suspect anything, were surprised by the obvious portrait resemblance. By the way, at the beginning of work on the sculpture he was holding a German girl in his arms, but then she was replaced by the little daughter of the commandant of Berlin.
It is interesting that after the opening of the monument in Treptower Park, Ivan Odarchenko, who served in the Berlin commandant’s office, guarded the “bronze soldier” several times. People approached him, amazed at his resemblance to the liberating warrior. But modest Ivan never said that it was he who posed for the sculptor. And the fact that the original idea of holding a German girl in his arms, in the end, had to be abandoned.
The prototype of the child was 3-year-old Svetochka, the daughter of the commandant of Berlin, General Kotikov. By the way, the sword was not at all contrived, but an exact copy of the sword of the Pskov prince Gabriel, who, together with Alexander Nevsky, fought against the “dog knights”.
It is interesting that the sword in the hands of the “Liberator Warrior” has a connection with other famous monuments: it is implied that the sword in the soldier’s hands is the same sword that the worker gives to the warrior depicted on the “Rear to Front” monument (Magnitogorsk), and which is then raised by the Motherland on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd.
The “Supreme Commander-in-Chief” is reminded by his numerous quotes carved on symbolic sarcophagi in Russian and German languages. After the reunification of Germany, some German politicians demanded their removal, citing crimes committed during the Stalinist dictatorship, but the entire complex, according to interstate agreements, is under state protection. No changes are allowed here without the consent of Russia.
Reading quotes from Stalin these days evokes mixed feelings and emotions, making us remember and think about the fate of millions of people in both Germany and the former Soviet Union who died during Stalin’s times. But in in this case quotes should not be taken out of the general context; they are a document of history necessary for its comprehension.
After the Battle of Berlin, the sports park near Treptower Allee became a soldiers' cemetery. Mass graves are located under the alleys of the memory park.
The work began when Berliners, not yet divided by the wall, were rebuilding their city brick by brick from the ruins. Vuchetich was helped by German engineers. The widow of one of them, Helga Köpfstein, recalls: much in this project seemed unusual to them.
Helga Köpfstein, tour guide: “We asked why the soldier was holding a sword rather than a machine gun? They explained to us that the sword is a symbol. A Russian soldier defeated the Teutonic knights on Lake Peipus, and a few centuries later he reached Berlin and defeated Hitler.”
60 German sculptors and 200 stonemasons were involved in the production of sculptural elements according to Vuchetich’s sketches, and a total of 1,200 workers took part in the construction of the memorial. They all received additional allowances and food. German workshops also produced bowls for the eternal flame and mosaics in the mausoleum under the sculpture of the liberating warrior.
Work on the memorial was carried out for 3 years by the architect J. Belopolsky and the sculptor E. Vuchetich. Interestingly, granite from Hitler's Reich Chancellery was used for construction. 13 meter figure Warrior-liberator was manufactured in St. Petersburg and weighed 72 tons. It was transported to Berlin in parts by water. According to Vuchetich’s story, after one of the best German foundries carefully examined the sculpture made in Leningrad and made sure that everything was done flawlessly, he approached the sculpture, kissed its base and said: “Yes, this is a Russian miracle!”
In addition to the memorial in Treptower Park, monuments to Soviet soldiers were erected in two other places immediately after the war. About 2,000 fallen soldiers are buried in Tiergarten Park, located in central Berlin. In the Schönholzer Heide park in Berlin's Pankow district there are more than 13 thousand.
During the GDR era, the memorial complex in Treptower Park served as the venue for various kinds official events, had the status of one of the most important state monuments. On August 31, 1994, a ceremonial roll call dedicated to the memory of the fallen and the withdrawal of Russian troops from a united Germany was attended by one thousand Russian and six hundred German soldiers, and the parade was hosted by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
The status of the monument and all Soviet military cemeteries is enshrined in a separate chapter of the treaty concluded between the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic and the victorious powers in World War II. According to this document, the memorial is guaranteed eternal status, and the German authorities are obliged to finance its maintenance and ensure its integrity and safety. Which is done in the best possible way.
It’s impossible not to talk about future destinies Nikolai Masalov and Ivan Odarchenko. After demobilization, Nikolai Ivanovich returned to his native village of Voznesenka, Tisulsky district, Kemerovo region. A unique case - his parents took four sons to the front and all four returned home victorious. Due to shell shock, Nikolai Ivanovich was unable to work on a tractor, and after moving to Tyazhin he got a job as a supply manager in kindergarten. This is where journalists found him. 20 years after the end of the war, fame fell on Masalov, which, however, he treated with his characteristic modesty.
In 1969 he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Berlin. But when talking about his heroic deed, Nikolai Ivanovich never tired of emphasizing: what he did was no feat; many would have done the same in his place. This is how it was in life. When German Komsomol members decided to find out about the fate of the rescued girl, they received hundreds of letters describing similar cases. And the rescue of at least 45 boys and girls by Soviet soldiers has been documented. Today Nikolai Ivanovich Masalov is no longer alive...
But Ivan Odarchenko still lives in Tambov (information for 2007). He worked at a factory, then retired. He buried his wife, but the veteran has frequent guests - his daughter and granddaughter. And at parades dedicated to the Great Victory, Ivan Stepanovich was often invited to portray a liberating warrior with a girl in his arms... And on the 60th anniversary of the Victory, the Memory Train even brought an 80-year-old veteran and his comrades to Berlin.
Last year, a scandal erupted in Germany around monuments to Soviet liberating soldiers erected in Berlin's Treptower Park and Tiergarten. In connection with the latest events in Ukraine, journalists from popular German publications sent letters to the Bundestag demanding the dismantling of the legendary monuments.
One of the publications that signed the openly provocative petition was the newspaper Bild. Journalists write that Russian tanks have no place near the famous Brandenburg Gate. "Bye Russian troops threaten the security of a free and democratic Europe, we do not want to see a single Russian tank in the center of Berlin,” write angry media workers. In addition to the authors of Bild, this document was also signed by representatives of the Berliner Tageszeitung.
German journalists believe that Russian military units stationed near the Ukrainian border threaten the independence of a sovereign state. "For the first time since graduating cold war Russia is trying to suppress a peaceful revolution in Eastern Europe"- write German journalists.
The scandalous document was sent to the Bundestag. By law, German authorities must review it within two weeks.
This statement by German journalists caused a storm of indignation among readers of Bild and Berliner Tageszeitung. Many believe that newspapermen are deliberately escalating the situation around the Ukrainian issue.
Over the course of sixty years, this monument has truly become an integral part of Berlin. It was on postage stamps and coins; during the GDR times, probably half of the population of East Berlin was accepted as pioneers. In the nineties, after the unification of the country, Berliners from the west and east held anti-fascist rallies here.
And neo-Nazis more than once smashed marble slabs and painted swastikas on obelisks. But each time the walls were washed, and the broken slabs were replaced with new ones. The Soviet soldier in Treptover Park is one of the most well-kept monuments in Berlin. Germany spent about three million euros on its reconstruction. Some people were very annoyed by this.
Hans Georg Büchner, architect, former member of the Berlin Senate: “What is there to hide, in the early nineties we had one member of the Berlin Senate. When your troops were withdrawing from Germany, this figure shouted - let them take this monument with them. Now no one even remembers his name.”
A monument can be called a national monument if people go to it not only on Victory Day. Sixty years have changed Germany greatly, but it has not changed the way Germans look at their history. Both in the old Gadeer guidebooks and on modern tourist sites, this is a monument to the “Soviet soldier-liberator.” To the common man, who came to Europe in peace.
Berlin is known for its parks and green areas. More than a third of the entire territory of the German capital is given over to recreation areas. Treptower Park occupies a special place in this rich list. Its main attraction is the monument to Soviet soldiers-liberators, opened back in 1949. This is the largest memorial complex dedicated to those killed in World War II outside of Russia. The memorial has not only historical, but also artistic value. Dozens of talented sculptors, architects and artists from the USSR and Germany were involved in its creation.
Pay your respects to Russian soldiers in Treptower Park. (Click to enlarge)
History of Treptower Park
The history of one of Berlin's largest parks begins in early XIX century, when an “artificial forest” was planted on the banks of the Spree River. When the Directorate of City Gardens was created in the capital of Brandenburg, its head Gustav Mayer began developing projects for several parks at once, among them Treptow Park.
On a warm summer day, you can rent a boat and sail along the Spree.
Treptow's project included not only alleys and lawns, but was also landscaped with fountains, piers, ponds, a sports area and a rose garden. Mayer himself only managed to take part in the park's groundbreaking ceremony. All works were completed after his death, for the public Treptow was opened in 1888. Grateful Germans have not forgotten the master’s contribution landscape design, his bust is installed here on one of the alleys.
The spirit of Gustav Mayer dwells forever in the heart of his creation.
IN late XIX and at the beginning of the 20th century, it was Treptow Park that was the favorite vacation spot of the townspeople. The place was quiet, secluded, away from the main city highways. Berliners sailed boats along the Spree, dined in summer cafes, watched carp in the pond, and walked along shady alleys.
After the war, in 1949, on the eve of May 9, a memorial to Soviet soldiers-liberators was opened in the park. In the same year, the entire complex was transferred to the jurisdiction of the city authorities of Berlin. Who were obliged to maintain order, renovate and restore the memorial. The contract is unlimited. According to this agreement, the German side has no right to change anything on the territory of the complex.
A small fountain made the park even more picturesque.
In the mid-50s, through the efforts of German designers, a sunflower garden and a huge rose garden appeared in Treptow Park in Berlin. At the same time, sculptures lost during the war were installed in the park, and a fountain began to function.
Memorial to the Soldier-Liberator
The storming of Berlin in April 1945 cost the lives of 22 thousand Soviet soldiers. In order to perpetuate the memory of the dead, as well as resolve the issue of burials of soldiers, the command Soviet army announced a competition for best projects memorials. Treptower Park became the place where about 7 thousand soldiers and officers who died in the war were buried. last days war. Therefore, the issue of creating a memorial complex here was approached with particular demands.
The park serves as a living monument to all those who died in the last days of the war.
In total, more than 30 projects were presented. The chosen work was the work of the architect Belopoltsev (the first monumental work) and the sculptor Vuchetich (the author of famous sculptural portraits of Soviet military leaders). For this project and its implementation, the authors were awarded the Stalin Prize, 1st degree.
The memorial can be divided into several parts:
- Sculpture "Grieving Mother"- opens the complex, is the beginning of the “legend” of the memorial;
- Alley of birches- leads the visitor to the entrance to the fraternal cemetery of Soviet soldiers;
- Symbolic gate- bowed banners and sculptures of mourning soldiers;
The sculpture of a grieving soldier is only a small part of the whole complex. (Photo enlarges when clicked)
- - symbolic marble cubes with bas-reliefs telling the exploits of Soviet soldiers during the war; in the central part of the alley there are five mass graves, where 7,000 soldiers are buried; the sarcophagi themselves are made of marble slabs from the Reichstag;
More than 7,000 Russian soldiers are buried in the alley of sarcophagi. (Photo enlarges when clicked)
- Sculpture of a warrior-liberator- the main dominant feature of the complex.
Main sculpture of the memorial
The figure of a soldier with a girl in his arms is full of symbolic details that make up the main meaning of the entire complex:
- Trampled and cut swastika- symbolizes the victory over Nazism;
- Lowered sword- the sculptor wanted to depict his hero with a machine gun in his hands, but Stalin personally ordered to replace modern weapons with a sword, which immediately made the sculpture more monumental in meaning. Despite the fact that the weapon is lowered, the hero clutches it tightly in his hand, ready to repel anyone who dares to disturb the peace.
- Girl in arms- was intended to symbolize the nobility and selflessness of Soviet soldiers who do not fight with children. Initially, the sculptor intended to depict a boy in the arms of the hero; the girl appeared when the author learned about the feat of Sergeant Masalov, who saved a German girl during the assault on the German capital.
The most famous and symbolic sculpture is the Liberator Warrior!
Two soldiers served as models for the sculptor - Ivan Odarchenko(infantry sergeant) and Victor Gunaza(paratrooper). Both models were spotted by Vuchetich during sports competitions. Posing was boring, so during the sessions the soldiers replaced each other.
Eyewitnesses of the creation of the sculpture claim that at first the author of the monument chose the cook of the Berlin commandant's office as a model, but the command was dissatisfied with this choice and asked the sculptor to replace the model.
The model for the girl in the arms of a soldier was the daughter of the Berlin commandant Kotikov, a future actress. Svetlana Kotikova.
Pedestal of the main sculpture
At the base of the sculpture of the liberating warrior there is a memorial room, in the center of which there is a black stone pedestal. On the pedestal there is a gilded casket; in the casket there is a parchment folio bound in red. The folio contains the names of those buried in the memorial's mass graves.
The mosaic panel is a classic image of the friendship of Soviet peoples.
The walls of the room are decorated with mosaic panels. On them, representatives of all republics of the USSR lay wreaths on the graves of fallen soldiers. At the top of the panel there is a quote from Stalin’s speech at one of the ceremonial meetings.
The ceiling of the memorial room is decorated with a chandelier in the form of the Order of Victory. High-quality rubies and rock crystals were used to make the chandelier.
The ceiling is decorated with a chandelier made of rock crystal and rubies, and a quote from Stalin's speech is carved on the wall.
Park life today
Since the early 90s of the 20th century, events have been held very rarely in the park. In the spring, especially on the eve of Victory Day, it can be very crowded. Mostly tourists and “Russian” Berliners with children come to the boat. Representatives of a number of embassies lay wreaths on May 8 and 9. The monument to the soldier-liberator is surrounded by flowers these days.
Frequent guests in the park are representatives of numerous anti-fascist organizations in Germany, who hold their rallies and ceremonial events here.
For most of the year, the Treptow Park memorial is deserted. Cleanliness and safety are meticulously maintained here; even in the snowy winter, all paths are cleared.
In winter the park freezes...
There are several attractions in the park that attract tourists:
- children's playground with slides, towers and water attractions;
- the boat station offers walks along the Spree;
- Archenhold Observatory, where you can view a telescope with huge lenses.
Children will find it especially interesting to visit the Archenhold Observatory.
Berlin travel companies offer tours of the German capital, which include a visit to Treptow Park. There are no separate excursions around the memorial.
How to get there?
The Berlin transport map shows that the best way to get to Treptow Park is by train: routes S7 and S9 to the Ostkreuz stop, then transfer to the circle line to the Treptower Park stop.
The whole thing will take no more than 30 minutes from the center of Berlin.
There are several more buses (166, 365, 265). But in this case you will have to take a walk along Pushkin Alley.
The journey from the center of Berlin to the park will not take more than half an hour.
Andres Jakubovskis
What do tourists say?
Evgeniy, 36 years old, Moscow:
“Treptower Park on May 9 makes a strong impression. I saw parents reading with their children the inscription in Russian over a mass grave: “The Motherland will not forget its heroes!” A large group of young anti-fascists chanted something loudly and took pictures in front of the monument. There are a lot of people. We returned to the station by boat. We paid 5 euros and had a lot of fun.”
Irina, 24 years old, Belgorod:
“We booked the excursion at a Russian tourist office and paid 25 euros. The route included the zoo, the Reichstag, the museum island and Treptower Park. The guide was knowledgeable and told me a lot of interesting things. There was no one on the territory of the memorial except us. But there are flowers everywhere.”
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