Soviet war memorial and monument to the soldier-liberator in Treptower park. Soviet soldier Nikolai Masalov prototype of the monument to the Soldier-Liberator in Berlin (10 photos)

On May 8, 1949, a monument to the Soldier-Liberator in Treptow Park was solemnly opened in Berlin. This memorial was erected in memory of 20,000 Soviet soldiers who died fighting for the liberation of Berlin and has become one of the most famous symbols of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Few people know that the real story served as the idea for creating the monument, and the main character of the plot was the soldier Nikolai Masalov, whose feat was undeservedly forgotten for many years.

Monument to the Soldier-Liberator in Berlin and its prototype - Soviet soldier Nikolai Masalov

The memorial was erected at the burial site of 5,000 Soviet soldiers who died during the capture of the capital of Nazi Germany. Along with the Mamaev Kurgan in Russia, it is one of the largest and most famous of its kind 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, during the storming of Berlin, carried a German girl out of the shelling.

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, slightly curled at the forehead. She kept fiddling with her mother's belt and calling: "Mutter, mutter!"

No time to think here. I am a girl in an armful - and back. And how she sounds! I'm on the go and so and so I persuade: shut up, they say, otherwise you will open me. Here, indeed, the Nazis began to shoot. Thanks to our people - they helped us out, opened fire from all trunks.

The sergeant was wounded in the leg, but the girl was reported 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 supply manager in a kindergarten. His feat was remembered only after 20 years.

In 1964, the first publications appeared about Masalov in the press, and in 1969 he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Berlin.

Ivan Odarchenko - a soldier who posed for the sculptor Vuchetich, and a monument to the Liberator Warrior

Ivan posed for the sculptor for six months, and after the monument was erected in Treptow Park, he stood guard near 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 monument to the Veteran in Tambov.

Monument to the Veteran in the Tambov Victory Park and Ivan Odarchenko, who became the prototype of the monument

It was an exact copy of the sword of the Pskov prince Gabriel, who fought together with Alexander Nevsky, and this was symbolic: Russian soldiers defeated the German knights on Lake Peipsi, and after several centuries defeated them again.

The sculpture was transported to Berlin in parts. According to Vuchetich, after it was brought from Leningrad, one of the best German casters examined it and, finding no flaws, exclaimed: “Yes, this is a Russian miracle!”

Vuchetich prepared two drafts of the monument. Initially, it was planned to place a statue of Stalin with a globe in his hands as a symbol of conquering the world in Treptow Park. As a fallback, Vuchetich proposed a sculpture of a soldier with a girl in his arms. Both projects were presented to Stalin, but he approved the second one.

This fact was documented, although eyewitnesses claimed that during the liberation of Berlin there were several dozen such cases. When they tried to find that very girl, about a hundred German families responded. The rescue of about 45 German children by Soviet soldiers was documented.

69 years ago, on May 8, 1949, the Monument to the Liberator in Treptow Park. This memorial was erected in memory of 20 thousand Soviet soldiers who died in the battles for the liberation of Berlin, and has become one of the most famous symbols of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Few people know that the real story served as the idea for creating the monument, and the soldier became the main character of the plot. Nikolai Masalov whose feat was undeservedly forgotten for many years.

The idea for the composition of the monument was a real story: on April 26, 1945, Sergeant Nikolai Masalov, during the storming of Berlin, carried a German girl out of the shelling. 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, slightly curled at the forehead. She kept fiddling with her mother's belt and calling: "Mutter, mutter!" No time to think here. I am a girl in an armful - and back. And how she sounds! I'm on the go and so and so I persuade: shut up, they say, otherwise you will open me. Here, indeed, the Nazis began to shoot. Thanks to our people - they helped us out, opened fire from all trunks. The sergeant was wounded in the leg, but the girl was reported 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 supply manager in a kindergarten. His feat was remembered only after 20 years. In 1964, the first publications appeared about Masalov in the press, and in 1969 he was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Berlin.

The prototype of the Warrior-Liberator was Nikolai Masalov, but another soldier, Ivan Odarchenko from Tambov, who served in the Berlin commandant's office, posed for the sculptor. Vuchetich noticed him in 1947 at the celebration of the Day of the Athlete. Ivan posed for the sculptor for six months, and after the monument was erected in Treptow Park, he stood guard near 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 monument to the Veteran in Tambov.

The model for the statue of a 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 held a machine gun in his hands, but it was 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 soldiers defeated the German knights on Lake Peipsi, and after several centuries defeated them again.

Work on the memorial was carried out for three years. Architect Y. Belopolsky and sculptor E. Vuchetich sent a model of the monument to Leningrad, and a 13-meter figure of the Liberator Warrior weighing 72 tons was made there. The sculpture was transported to Berlin in parts. According to Vuchetich, after it was brought from Leningrad, one of the best German casters examined it and, finding no flaws, exclaimed: “Yes, this is a Russian miracle!”

The memorial was solemnly opened on the eve of the 4th anniversary of the Victory over fascism, May 8, 1949. In 2003, a plaque was erected 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 during the liberation of Berlin there were several dozen such cases. When they tried to find that very girl, about a hundred German families responded. The rescue of about 45 German children by Soviet soldiers was documented.

The Motherland from the propaganda poster of the Great Patriotic War also had a real prototype:.

Berlin is known for its parks and green spaces. More than a third of the entire territory of the German capital is given over to recreation areas. Treptow Park occupies a special place in this rich list. Its main attraction is the monument to Soviet soldiers-liberators, opened in 1949. This is the largest memorial complex dedicated to those who died in World War II outside of Russia. The memorial has not only historical, but also artistic value. Dozens of talented sculptors, architects and artists of the USSR and Germany were involved in its creation.

Pay your respects to the Russian soldiers in Treptower Park. (Click to enlarge)

History of Treptower Park

The history of one of the largest parks in Berlin begins at the beginning of the 19th 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 to develop projects for several parks at once, Treptow Park was among them.

On a warm summer day, you can rent a boat and sail the Spree.

Treptov's project included not only alleys and lawns, but was ennobled with fountains, piers, ponds, a sports ground and a rose garden. Mayer himself managed to participate only in the park laying ceremony. All works were completed after his death, for the public Treptow was opened in 1888. Grateful Germans have not forgotten about the contribution of the master of landscape design, his bust is installed here on one of the alleys.

The spirit of Gustav Mayer has settled forever in the heart of his creation.

At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, it was Treptow Park that was the favorite resting place of the townspeople. The place was quiet, secluded, away from the main city highways. Berliners sailed in boats along the Spree, dined in summer cafes, watched carps in a pond, 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 handed over to the city authorities of Berlin. Which were obliged to maintain order, renovate and restore the memorial. The contract is indefinite. According to this agreement, the German side does not have the right to change anything on the territory of the complex.

A small fountain made the park even more picturesque.

In the mid-50s, thanks to 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 Liberator

The storming of Berlin in April 1945 cost the lives of 22,000 Soviet soldiers. In order to perpetuate the memory of the dead, as well as to resolve the issue with the burial places of soldiers, the command of the Soviet army announced a competition for the best projects of memorials. Treptow Park became the place where about 7 thousand soldiers and officers who died in the last days of the war were buried. Therefore, the issue of creating a memorial complex here was especially demanding.

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 work of the architect Belopoltsev (the first monumental work) and the sculptor Vuchetich (the author of famous sculptural portraits of Soviet military leaders) was chosen. For this project and its implementation, the authors were awarded the Stalin Prize of the 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 about 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 Reichstag marble slabs;

More than 7,000 Russian soldiers are buried on the alley of sarcophagi. (Photo enlarges when clicked)

Sculpture of a warrior-liberator- the main dominant of the complex.

The 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 whole complex:

Trampled and dissected 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 that modern weapons be replaced with a sword, which immediately made the sculpture more monumental in meaning. Despite the fact that the weapon is lowered, the hero grips it tightly in his hand, ready to fight back anyone who dares to disturb the peace.
girl in arms- was intended to symbolize the nobility and disinterestedness of Soviet soldiers who do not fight with children. Initially, the sculptor intended to depict a boy in the hands of the hero, the girl appeared when the author learned about the feat of Sergeant Masalov, who saved the German girl during the storming of the German capital.

The most famous and symbolic sculpture is the Liberator Warrior!

Two soldiers served as models for the sculptor at once - Ivan Odarchenko(infantry sergeant) and Victor Gunaza(paratrooper). Both models were seen by Vuchetich during sports. Posing was a boring thing, so the soldiers replaced each other at the sessions.

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 unhappy 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 warrior-liberator there is a memorial room, in the center of which there is a black stone pedestal. There is a gilded casket on the pedestal, in the casket there is a parchment folio in a red binding. The tome contains the names of those who are buried in the mass graves of the memorial.

Mosaic panel - a classic image of the friendship of the Soviet peoples.

The walls of the room are decorated with mosaic panels. On them, representatives of all the republics of the USSR lay wreaths on the graves of fallen soldiers. At the top of the panel 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. For the manufacture of the chandelier, high-quality rubies and rock crystals were used.

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 beginning of the 90s of the XX century, events in the park have been held very rarely. In the spring, especially on the eve of Victory Day, it is very crowded here. Mostly tourists and "Russian" Berliners with children come to the court. Representatives of a number of embassies lay wreaths on May 8 and 9. The monument to the warrior-liberator these days is buried in flowers.

Frequent guests in the park are representatives of numerous anti-fascist organizations in Germany, who hold their rallies and celebrations here.

For most of the year, the Treptow memorial park is deserted. Cleanliness and safety are meticulously maintained here, even in snowy winter all the paths are cleared.

In winter, the park freezes ...

There are several attractions in the park that attract tourists:

playground with slides, towers and water attractions;
the boat station offers walks on the Spree;
Archenhold Observatory, where you can see a telescope with huge lenses.

A visit to the Archenhold Observatory will be especially interesting for children.

Travel companies in Berlin offer tours of the German capital, which include a visit to Treptow Park. There are no separate tours of the memorial.

How to get there?

The transport map of Berlin shows that the best way to get to Treptow Park is by train: routes S7 and S9 to the stop Ostkreuz, then transfer to the circle line to the Treptower Park stop.

The whole let from the center of Berlin will take no more than 30 minutes.

There are several more buses (166, 365, 265). But in this case, you will have to take a walk along Pushkinskaya Alley.

The road from the center of Berlin to the park will not take more than half an hour.

Andres Jakubovskis

What do tourists say?

Eugene, 36 years old, Moscow:

“Treptow Park on May 9th makes a strong impression. I saw how parents read with their children in Russian the inscription over the mass grave: “The Motherland will not forget its heroes!” A large group of young anti-fascists chanted 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 got a lot of pleasure.”

Irina, 24 years old, Belgorod:

“The tour was booked at the Russian tourist office, paid 25 euros each. The itinerary included the zoo, the Reichstag, museum island and Treptow Park. The guide was knowledgeable, told a lot of interesting things. On the territory of the memorial, except for us, there was no one. But flowers are everywhere.

A monument to a Russian soldier with a girl in her arms is located in Berlin. The author of this monument is the sculptor E.V. Vuchetich. This is not the only monument in Berlin dedicated to Soviet soldiers-liberators.

About the monument

"Warrior-Liberator" - this is the name of the monument to a soldier with a rescued girl in her arms, which was erected in Berlin's Treptow Park. The monument was erected in honor of the victory of our great people over the fascist invaders. It weighs 70 tons, its height is 12 meters.

Liberator Warrior creators:

E.V. Vuchetich (sculptor).
S.S. Valerius (engineer).
I WOULD. Belopolsky (architect).
A.V. Gorpenko (artist).

The ashes of 7,000 Soviet soldiers who fell during the storming of Berlin are buried in this memorial. The names of only 1000 of them are known, and in total 75,000 of them died.

The bronze monument "Warrior-Liberator" is made in the form of a figure of a Soviet soldier standing on the fragments of a fascist swastika with his head held high. With one hand he holds the rescued girl, who trustfully clung to his chest, and in his other hand he holds a sword. But the sketch of the monument was somewhat different. Initially, the sculptor planned to put a machine gun in the warrior's hand, but I.V. Stalin insisted that it be a sword. In the end, it was done as the leader wanted. The sword that the warrior-liberator holds in his hand is associated with two more monuments. This is "Motherland" in Volgograd and "Rear Front" in Magnitogorsk. It is understood that all the figures depicted on these three monuments are holding the same sword. All of these monuments are dedicated to the Great Patriotic War.

The sword in the hands of the warrior-liberator is an exact copy of the weapon of Prince Gabriel. He fought against the "knight dogs" side by side with Alexander Nevsky. The sword in the hand of the Berlin warrior is lowered, which symbolizes the world, but, as I.V. Stalin, "woe to the one who forces our hero to raise him again." A Soviet soldier with a German girl in his arms is known throughout the world. The feat, which was immortalized in bronze, will forever serve as an example to posterity. A photo of a monument to a soldier with a girl in her arms is presented in this article.

pedestal

The monument to a soldier with a girl in his arms is installed on a pedestal, inside of which there is a hall of memory. On the walls there is a mosaic panel depicting representatives of different nations, they lay wreaths at the grave of Soviet soldiers. Above them is an inscription in Russian and German, which reads: “Now everyone recognizes that the Soviet people, by their selfless struggle, saved the civilization of Europe from fascist pogromists. This is the great merit of the Soviet people before the history of mankind. This phrase is a quote from the report of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin.

The central part of the hall is a cube-shaped pedestal carved from black stone. On it stands a golden casket, inside of which is stored a parchment book bound in red morocco. The names of all the soldiers who died in the battles for Berlin and are buried are inscribed there. The hall is decorated with a large chandelier made of rubies and crystal, which is made in the form

Creation of a monument

May 8, 1949 - this is the date of opening To get the right to create a monument to a soldier with a girl rescued in her arms, sculptors and architects had to take part in the competition. 33 projects of the monument were presented. The winners of the competition were E.V. Vuchetich and Ya.B. Belopolsky. Their project was chosen for implementation.

The following people took part in the construction of the memorial complex:

a German foundry called Noack;
the workshops of Puhl & Wagner, specialized in mosaics and stained glass;
horticultural associations Späth nursery;
1200 German workers.

A monument to a soldier with a girl in her arms was cast in Leningrad at a factory and then sent to Berlin. The care of the monument was obliged to carry out the Soviet military commandant's office. In 2003, it was under restoration, and in 2004 it was returned to its place.

The monument to a soldier with a girl has become an integral part of Berlin over the years of its existence. An agreement was concluded between the victorious countries and Germany, in a separate chapter of which it is written that the memorial "Warrior-Liberator" was given the status of eternal. The German authorities are obliged to look after it, restore it, and finance its preservation. To this day, Germany fulfills the terms of the agreement, and the monument has been properly maintained. A Soviet soldier with a German girl in his arms is one of the most well-groomed monuments in the country. In 2003, Germany financed the restoration of the monument, which spent almost three million euros.

The feat of a soldier

The monument to the unknown soldier with a girl in her arms was created on the basis of real events, and the name of this hero has survived to this day. The prototype of the warrior-liberator is Nikolai Masalov from the Kemerovo region, a Soviet soldier. During one of the assaults on Berlin, namely on April 30, 45, he heard a child crying. Under the bridge, located on the front line, he found a fair-haired girl of three years old, who was sitting near her murdered mother, tugging at her, crying and calling "mutter". Without hesitation, the soldier grabbed the baby and ran with her in his arms to his own. The Germans began to fire, wounded Nikolai in the leg, but he did not abandon the girl, carried her out of the battlefield, risking his life. On the Potsdam bridge, the very one from under which N. Masalov carried the child, in 2003 a plaque was installed in memory of the feat that the Soviet soldier accomplished.

prototype

The history of the monument to a soldier with a girl in her arms is known to many, but what was the fate of the one whose feat is captured in this bronze statue? Nikolai was drafted into the ranks of the Soviet Army at the age of 17, took courses and received the specialty of a mortar. It was hard to study, because the soldiers had to master in one winter what was supposed to be 2 years.

N. Masalov received his baptism of fire in 1942 at the front near Bryansk. The fighting was so heavy that of the entire company where he served, only five soldiers survived. After that, Nikolai Ivanovich served under the command of General Chuikov and defended Mamaev Kurgan. Of all his comrades, only one captain Stefanenko reached Berlin with him. N. Masalov himself suffered three wounds and was shell-shocked twice.

After the war, he returned to his native village, and then moved to the city of Tyazhin, where he worked as a supply manager in a kindergarten. Glory fell on the hero 20 years after the last volleys of guns died down. A documentary film was made about him, all the newspapers wrote about his feat. He managed to visit Berlin. He saw the monument, the prototype of which he became. The Soviet hero was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Berlin in 1969. Nikolai Ivanovich was modest, and he did not like that his act was called a feat. He himself said that he did not consider it heroism. Now Nikolai Ivanovich is no longer alive.

About those who posed for the author

Monument to the Soviet soldier with a girl in her arms E.V. Vuchetich created from nature. There are several versions about who posed for the author, and perhaps all of them are true, since different people could act as models at different times. The sculptor sculpted a German girl from the three-year-old Sveta, the daughter of General A.G. Kotikov, who was the commandant of the Soviet sector in Berlin.

According to some data, as a model of a soldier, E.V. Vuchetich was posed by Colonel V.M. Gunaz. According to another version, it was Sergeant Ivan Odarchenko. He is depicted on the mosaic panel inside the pedestal twice: as a worker and as a hero-soldier. According to the third version, the cook who served in the Soviet commandant's office in Berlin posed for the sculptor.

Sculptor

Owl monument. a man of genius created a soldier with a girl in his arms. He was not only a sculptor, but also taught, for several years he was president of the Academy of Arts. And what war is, he knew firsthand. In 1941, he volunteered for the front. In 1943, due to a severe concussion, he was discharged, and he returned to Moscow, where he began working as a military artist. At the beginning, Viktorovich Vuchetich was a private. Commissioned already in the rank of lieutenant colonel. The artist created sculptures of leaders, prominent political figures, heroes of war and labor, outstanding generals. All creations of E.V. Vuchetich are life-affirming, they are filled with drama and romanticism. The sculptor died in 1974.

Copies of the monument

A monument to a soldier with a girl in his arms, or rather, its smaller copies, are installed in the cities: Sovetsk (Kaliningrad region), Vereya (Moscow region), Tver, Moscow (at the entrance to the club for bikers "Night Wolves"). Until now, the layout of the monument, the height of which is 2.5 meters, has been preserved. Until 1964, he was in Germany, then he was transferred to Serpukhov, where until 2008 he stood near the hospital, and in 2009 he was transferred to the territory of the Cathedral Mountain memorial complex.

Warrior-liberator in faleristics and numismatics

A monument to a soldier with a girl in her arms was often depicted on coins:

1 ruble 1965 issue;
a coin of 10 marks of the GDR (1985);
10-ruble coin dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory (2015 issue).

On medals:

to the twentieth anniversary of the Victory (1965);
20 years of the Berlin Brigade (1982 release);
medal "Lviv connection" (1984).

Also, the image of the monument is present on the sign of the GSVG (Group of Soviet Forces in Germany).

Monument to the Soldier-Liberator in Berlin, history May 8th, 2009

Liberator Warrior- a monument in Berlin's Treptow Park. Sculptor E. V. Vuchetich, architect Ya. B. Belopolsky. Opened May 8, 1949. Height - 12 meters.

The bronze sculpture of a warrior is set on a green hill - a stylized mound. On it, on a round pedestal, stands the figure of a soldier with a lowered sword and a little girl in her arms. Under the warrior's feet is a fascist swastika cut by him. The total height of the monument is 28.6 meters, the height of the sculpture itself is 12 meters.

It is believed that Sergeant Nikolai Masalov, who in April 1945 carried a German child out of the shelling zone, served as the prototype for the figure of a soldier with a child. In memory of the sergeant on the Potsdamer Brücke bridge in Berlin, a memorial plaque was erected 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."

Ivan Gaponenko writes:

In 1990, with a group of tourists, I visited the GDR. Berlin tour guide Albina Schweigel showed us Book Street, which in April 1945 was the front line in the battle for Berlin. “On the left side, there were Soviet soldiers in the houses, on the right side, selected SS units,” Albina explained.

We approached the red brick memorial sign. Albina translated for us an inscription made in German: “Trofim Andreevich Lukyanovich, senior sergeant of the Soviet Army, on April 29, 1945, here saved a German child from the bullets of the SS men. Five days after his heroic deed, he died of severe wounds. Honor and glory to his memory.”

Albina told what happened that day.

The battle for Berlin was raging, and civilians - old men, women, children - were hiding in a bomb shelter. When there was a lull between the fights, a five-year-old girl, disobeying her mother, got out into the street. Noticing the absence of her daughter, the mother rushed out into the street. And suddenly, from the window of the house where the SS men settled, a burst of machine-gun fire crackled - a woman, bleeding, collapsed dead on the pavement. The daughter burst into tears when she saw her dead mother. Hearing the crying of the child, Lukyanovich rushed to save the girl. Crawled, picked up, crawled back. When he had already reached his own people and handed the child over to his comrades, a shot rang out from the German side. An SS sniper's bullet mortally wounded the hero. In the medical battalion, he came to his senses. He told his comrades that he was born in 1919 in Belarus, in a working-class family. He worked as a fitter at the Minsk Watch Factory. At the beginning of the war, a German air bomb hit the house where Lukyanovich's family lived. Mother, wife, two daughters and mother-in-law died.

Doctors fought long and hard for the life of the hero, but they could not save ...

And the German girl saved by the Soviet fighter was taken up by Frau Zilke, whose husband died near Stalingrad.

- And what was the fate of the girl? We asked Albina. She smiled and replied, “It's me...”

She said that she graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the Berlin College and works as a guide-instructor at the city department of Intourist.

And in Berlin's Treptow Park, 5,000 Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of the city sleep in eternal sleep. There are red carnations on the gravestones, and white Russian birches rustle in the wind nearby, reminding of the distant Motherland. On a bronze pedestal stands a 13-meter figure of a Soviet soldier-liberator with a girl in his arms, saved by him.

Memorial Complex

The memorial is located in a park on the territory of the former East Berlin. The total area of the majestic building is 280 thousand square meters.

The memorial was created by order of the SVAG (Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Military Administration) number 139 dated June 3/4, 1947 "On the construction of monuments in the Treptow and Pankow parks of the city of Berlin to the fallen Soviet soldiers."

The authors of the complex are sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich, architect Yakov Belopolsky, engineer Sarra Varelius and artist Alexander Gorpenko. Work on the creation of the memorial from June 1947 to May 1949 was carried out by 7 thousand builders. At the same time, the remains of soldiers from other parts of Berlin were reburied.

The complex has two entrances in the form of arches with inscriptions in Russian and German. The inscription reads: "Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in the battles for the freedom and independence of the socialist Motherland." Alleys from the entrances lead to the three-meter stone sculpture "Motherland". And already from the sculpture you can see the entire memorial and the 12-meter monument.

The granite from which the memorial was created was taken from the ruins of the Reich Chancellery.

The entrance to the memorial cemetery is framed on the right and left by 13-meter granite banners. On both sides, kneeling warriors are carved near the banners. From the entrance, a terraced staircase descends to the central part of the architectural complex. Five mass graves are located along its main axis, and on both sides of the main axis there are 16 sarcophagi (eight on the right and on the left) with bas-reliefs.

Out of 7.2 thousand names of 2.77 thousand people are known.

Sculpture restoration

A large-scale restoration of the sculpture, which lasted more than a year, was completed in 2004. The bronze soldier was dismantled and transported to the island of Rügen. There, the support structure was strengthened near the 45-ton sculpture, and the metal was cleaned. The work was carried out by Metallbau. Other parts of the memorial were also restored.

The monument is administered by the city development department of the Berlin Senate. The restoration cost the department 5.3 million euros, and 1.35 million euros were spent on work directly related to the sculpture.

Eternal glory to our heroes! Happy Victory Day!