Only Germany guards them carefully
The fate of the monuments to Soviet troops in Europe is not easy. Traditionally, assessments of historical events and monuments in their honor range from the stigma of “symbol of occupation” to heartfelt gratitude for liberation from fascism.
There are over 4,000 memorials in Europe dedicated to the historic battle of the Soviet army against fascism. More than 2.5 million Soviet soldiers who took part in the defeat of Hitler’s Germany are buried in them. Most monuments and graves of Red Army soldiers are there
in Hungary – 940, in Poland – 560, c
Czech Republic and Slovakia – about 60
Similar memorials can be seen in Austria, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia, Croatia, France, Romania, Bulgaria and even the United States.
For 30 years, the topic of the future of the largest monument in the center of Sofia – that of the Soviet Army – has been taken up periodically. Built in 1954, it has repeatedly dawned with insulting inscriptions, masks on sculptures, and even painted as characters from American comics.
Only 3 days ago came the last call to be dismantled, and a year ago municipal councilors from “Democratic Bulgaria” submitted a report to the municipality. And the experience of previous controversies shows that the discussion “for” and “against” the Monument to the Soviet Army in the center of the capital never reaches the end.
But how do societies in other European countries receive “Soviet soldiers” on their territory?
The Soviet War Memorial in Vienna, better known as the Monument to the Heroes of the Red Army, is located on Schwarzenbergplatz, near the ideal center of the Austrian capital. The semicircular white marble colonnade, partially enclosing a 12-meter figure of a Red Army soldier, was unveiled in 1945 in memory of 17,000 Soviet soldiers killed during the Vienna Offensive during World War II. The fighter of the sculpture in the center has a gold helmet and holds the Soviet flag.
Vandal attacks on the monument have become more frequent in recent years. In April 2012, part of the monument was painted red. In May 2014, it was covered with the colors of the Ukrainian flag due to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. In February 2015
red paint was poured on
the written words of Stalin,
with which he congratulated the Soviet forces on their victory in the Vienna offensive in 1945, when the city was captured. In January 2017, the monument was attacked again with red paint on an inscription on the central column.
The monument to Soviet tankers in Prague, known as the Pink Tank, was erected in 1945 on Kinski Square, a very busy place in the Czechoslovak capital at the time, to symbolize the country’s liberation from the Red Army. For many Czechs and Slovaks, this tank later became a symbol of the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops, which in August 1968 defeated the Prague Spring.
For decades, the tank stood on its 5-meter pedestal, aiming its barrel menacingly at a nearby tram stop. In April 1991, the Czech artist David Cherni and his friends painted it pink. Then the status of a national cultural monument was removed, and the monument was dismantled and taken to a military museum 20 km from Prague. Since 2002, it has been replaced by a fountain.
In June 2011, the Pink Tank temporarily returned to Prague as part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet occupation forces.
In 2020, another monument in Prague, the statue of Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev, was dismantled. In November 2017, unknown people painted it pink and wrote “1956, 1961, 1968, 2017” – the dates of the suppression of the Hungarian uprising, the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Prague Spring and the 120th anniversary of Konev’s birth. A little
after dismantling Russia
filed a criminal case
against the actions of the municipal authorities in Prague, which are “cynical and violate the commitments made by the Czech Republic.”
Germany preserves some of the most impressive monuments dedicated to the Soviet victory. In 2019, the government allocated more than 9 million euros to renovate the memorial complexes of Soviet soldiers in Berlin – in Treptow Park and Tiergarten. Germany has also wondered for decades whether there should be monuments to the Soviet army in Berlin. A 20-meter monument has been erected for decades, 300 meters from the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate. Granite steps, surrounded by two T-34 tanks and two heavy howitzers, lead to an arched colonnade. In the middle of the pedestal stands a 6-meter Soviet soldier with a bayonet on his rifle.
“Soviet tanks as a symbol of a denied policy of force have no place in Berlin! They must be removed from the Soviet Army Memorial at the Brandenburg Gate! ” This call was made in 2014 by Bild and Berliner Zeitung.
IN Estonia the most famous Soviet monument is that of the liberators of Tallinn, famous as the Bronze Soldier. The memorial was unveiled in 1947 in the city center. For many Estonians, it was a symbol of Soviet occupation and repression. Due to political disputes, in 2007 the government decided to remove the statue. The announcement of the plan led to the largest mass protests and civil disobedience known to Estonia.
Key to the urban landscape in the Hungarian capital Budapest is the monument erected on Freedom Square in honor of 80,000 Red Army soldiers who died during the liberation of the Hungarian capital from the Nazis. In 2020, Prime Minister Victor
Orban called him
“Monument to the Soviet occupation”
In 2007, protesters demanding the removal of the monument set up camp in front of it.
Poland it has most actively raised its sights against the Soviet past. In 2017, the country passed an updated decommunization law that stipulates that monuments and memorials marking “people, organizations, events and dates that symbolize communism or another totalitarian regime” must be dismantled. As early as November 2017, Poland began the destruction of the monument of gratitude to the Soviet Army in the center of Szczecin. A year later, the monument to the Red Army, the last Soviet monument in Warsaw, was dismantled in the Polish capital.
According to a 1997 list of Soviet monuments, there were 561 in Poland. An inspection in early 2021 found that only 112 of them remained.
In response to the war against Soviet monuments in Europe in mid-2020, the Kremlin announced that it would impose sanctions and criminal liability on countries that dismantle their monuments in praise of Soviet heroes or the Soviet army.
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