"The tragedy of peoples" - a monument that does not leave indifferent

Moscow is not just the capital of the Russian Federation, it is a majestic city with an incredibly interesting history, ancient monuments of architecture, modern shopping centers and stormy life, which many provincial inhabitants dream of. Moscow by right can be called one big attraction. Here, everywhere you look - everywhere there is a place of great interest for tourists: the Kremlin, Red Square, Arbat, the Tretyakov Gallery and many, many other objects. One such is the "Tragedy of the Nations" - a monument that is located on Poklonnaya Hill. It is here that we will make our today's journey.

Poklonnaya Hill

There is a place in Moscow dedicated to the victory over the German fascists. His name is Poklonnaya Gora. It is a gently sloping hill that lies in the western part of the capital, between the two rivers - Setuniu and Filka. Already in the XVI century, the first mention of the existence of the Poklonnaya Hill. But in those distant times it was located not in Moscow itself, but far beyond its borders.

Today, scientists continue to fight over the solution of the origin of the name of the site. With the name "mountain" all is more or less clear: in the Central Russian strip so called every place, which at least slightly rose above the earth. And about the word "Poklonnaya" different theories are put forward: one of the most common versions is the proposition that the name "worship" appeared from the word "bow". It was the bow in those centuries that it was customary to express my respect and respect. Travelers, arriving or leaving Moscow, bowed to the city in the place where the monument is located.

Poklonnaya Hill has experienced much in its lifetime: the meeting of the ambassadors of the Crimean Khan Mengli-Giray in 1508, and the camp of the Polish troops in 1612, when they were about to storm Moscow. And in 1812 Napoleon waited here for keys from the capital of Russia.

Today it is a memorial complex, in which there are many monuments dedicated to the victory in the Great Patriotic War. "The tragedy of the peoples" is a monument located on Poklonnaya Hill and deserving the greatest respect.

Tsereteli and his brainchild

Before the description of the monument "Tragedy of the Nations" appears in our article, I would like to say a few words about its creator Zurab Tsereteli. The monument is dedicated to millions of people who died in gas chambers, concentration camps and ditches. Tsereteli decided to perpetuate the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The sculptor created his masterpiece solely from his own motives. Neither the state nor the municipality of Moscow did not order the sculptor to create such a statue. Tsereteli poured this composition out of bronze solely for his money and at the request of his own soul and memory. Zurab survived the war as a child, he saw the death camps and remembered those soldiers who were not destined to return home.

Create a monument on Poklonnaya Hill Tsereteli decided during his work in Brazil.

Description of the monument

Sculptural composition reaches a height of almost eight meters. It was installed in 1997. "The tragedy of peoples" is a monument depicting an endless series of people sentenced to death. The gray line consists of naked and emaciated women and men, old people and children. These people differ from each other in growth, and their heads are similarly naked, their faces are frozen, their eyes are empty and their hands are hidden. All of them are doomed and silently stand in line for death.

The monument on Poklonnaya Hill begins with three figures. This is a man, a woman and their teenager son. The family must first accept death. The husband and wife are trying to somehow protect their child: Mom covered his eyes with the palm of his hand, Dad also made an attempt to protect him. But all in vain: no one will survive. The rest of the line follows, does not notice each other. Everyone thinks about his - this is their last seconds on Earth.

The last figures attract the earth, they become conditional and resemble stones and merge with granite steles. On these 15 plates the different languages of the republics that were part of the USSR are carved the words "May the memory of them be sacred, so that it will be preserved forever!" And on the last, the 16th stela, these words are written in Hebrew.

Scandal around the composition

"The tragedy of peoples" is a monument that caused mixed opinions among the population of Moscow. It even wrote an appeal to the then measure of the city of Luzhkov with a request to move the monument to another place. The citizens motivated their desire by the fact that the sculpture causes melancholy, overtakes the mournful feelings, and, in general, provokes depressing feelings.

The people simply demanded that the structure be removed away from human eyes, if it can not be destroyed at all. As a new haven for the monument, they called the backyard of the museum. In their opinion, it is his place, since not all guests will visit this territory.

He will live forever

Poklonnaya Hill (a monument to the "Tragedy of the Peoples"), despite the discontent of Muscovites, continues to amaze the minds of the guests of the capital with its monumentality and grandeur. Powerful work Tsereteli is called to live forever. The strong composition has withstood hard trials, like the people to whom it is dedicated, and continues to exist, despite all oppression and intent to destroy it and break it.