The grave of the unknown soldier. Military trick of Nikolai Egorychev

The memorial architectural ensemble Tomb of the Unknown Soldier celebrates its 50th anniversary on 8 May.

On Monday, members of the collegium of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, headed by Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov, laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden. Also, the ceremony was attended by veterans-front-line soldiers, members of the public council under the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, as well as pupils of pre-university educational institutions Ministry of Defense. The event ended with a solemn march of the guard of honor company, RIA Novosti reports.

The idea of creating a memorial to the unknown soldier in the USSR arose 20 years after the end of World War II - in 1965, when Moscow was awarded the title of a hero city. The great merit that the idea was realized belongs to the then First Secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee Nikolai Yegorychev.

The remains of the Unknown Soldier and the capital in 1966 from a mass grave located at the site of fierce battles in Zelenograd, 40 kilometers from Moscow.

Later Yegorychev said: "If it were a shot deserter, they would have removed his belt. He could not have been wounded, taken prisoner, because the Germans did not reach that place. So it was quite clear that it was Soviet soldier who died heroically defending Moscow. No documents were found in his grave with him - the ashes of this private were truly nameless. "

In the capital, the coffin was transferred to an artillery carriage and, accompanied by soldiers of the guard of honor and participants in the war, with an unfolded battle banner to the sounds of a mourning march of a military brass band, was taken to a permanent burial place near the Kremlin wall.

After the end of the funeral meeting, the coffin was lowered into the grave in the Alexander Garden. An artillery salute thundered; battalions of all types of troops marched solemnly along Manezhnaya Square, paying their last military honors to the Unknown Soldier.

On May 8, 1967, a memorial was opened at this place. architectural ensemble"Tomb of the Unknown Soldier", designed by architects DI Burdin, VA Klimova, Yu.R. Rabaev and sculptor N.V. Tomsk.

Was also lit Eternal flame glory, which emanates from the middle of a bronze star, placed in the center of a mirror-polished black Labrador square, framed by a platform of red granite. The torch was brought from Leningrad, where it was lit from the Eternal Flame on the Field of Mars.

The eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier lit general secretary Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev, taking the torch from the hands of the Hero Soviet Union Alexey Maresyev.

The monument is a tombstone covered with a bronze battle banner, on which lie a soldier's helmet and a laurel branch. The eternal flame of glory burns in the center of the memorial, next to it is the inscription: " Your name unknown, your feat is immortal. "

The memorial also includes a granite alley with dark red porphyry curbstones, each with the name of the hero-city and an engraved image of the Gold Star medal. The pedestals contain capsules with the earth of the hero cities. The ensemble also includes a red granite stele in memory of cities. military glory.

Since December 12, 1997, in accordance with the decree of the President of Russia, post No. 1 of the guard of honor was moved from the Lenin Mausoleum to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The guard is carried out by the military personnel of the Presidential Regiment. The changing of the guard takes place every hour. According to presidential decree No. 1297 of November 17, 2009, the monument was given the status of the National Memorial of Military Glory.

After the bloody end of the First World War at the beginning of the twentieth century, a tradition arose according to which the state erects a monument or obelisk - as a symbol of memory and as a token of gratitude to the fallen heroes, whose names cannot be established.

The monument to the unknown soldier-hero first appeared in London in 1920. Memorial complexes to the Unknown Hero are in Paris under the Arc de Triomphe, in Washington at the Arlington Cemetery and in several other countries.

In commemoration of the festive celebrations on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the crushing defeat of the troops of Nazi Germany near Moscow, on December 3, 1966, the ashes of a nameless warrior-hero were taken from a soldier's grave on the Leningradskoe highway, with honors transferred, and triumphantly buried near the Kremlin wall.

May 8, 1967, on the days of the holiday Great Victory, at the burial site, a symbolic Memorial of Military Valor - "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" was opened.

According to the idea of a creative group of talented architects, the memorial ensemble was created by the sculptor-monumentalist Nikolai Tomsky.

On the same day from the fire on the Field of Mars L. Brezhnev lit the burial Eternal Flame v.

Commemorative composition

The Aleksandrovsky Garden occupies a special place in the gallery of the central parks of the capital. A popular holiday destination with an area of 10 hectares is located on the northwest side.

The architectural and memorial ensemble composition "The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" in the Alexander Garden is a tombstone with a soldier's helmet and a symbolic laurel branch installed on it, which rest on a falling battle banner.

In a niche made of ornamental labradorite, a memorable epitaph-inscription reads: "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal." And from the bronze five-pointed star "splashes out" the Eternal flame of memory. According to one version, the author of the inscription is Sergei Mikhalkov, according to another, it is the result of collective literary work.

To the right of the memorial composition there is a symbolic granite-block alley of cities' glory: dark-red porphyry slabs with the name of the city and an engraved-relief "Golden Star". The sacred soil capsules that were brought from the defenses of the hero cities are stored inside the slabs.

The left side of the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier is a wall made of Karelian quartzite of dark crimson shades with a symbolic dedication: "1941 For the fallen for the Motherland, 1945".

To the right of the memorial alley of heroic cities is a red-granite stele-block on a pedestal. Its gilded inscription reads: "Cities of Military Glory." Now this title has been awarded to 45 Russian cities for the special courage and heroism of people in the struggle for the freedom of the Fatherland. The stele, which appeared after the reconstruction of the memorial in 2010, is about 10 m long and a little less than 1 m high, on the left has the left-hand text "Cities of Military Glory", on the right - their names are carved in ten columns.

Since December 1997, Post No. 1 of the Guard of Honor was relocated from the Mausoleum to the Memorial. Servicemen of the Presidential Regiment are on duty day and night, changing hourly.

In 2009, by presidential decree, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was given the status of a memorial of military glory of national importance.

- a symbolic monument in honor of the soldiers who died in the battles. The first Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was erected in Paris in memory of the victims of the First World War. The ceremony of its opening and lighting of the Eternal Flame took place on November 11, 1920. In Soviet Russia, the first memorial structure in memory of heroes who fell in armed struggle against enemies during the February and October revolutions and Civil War, was opened in the center of the Field of Mars in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) on November 7, 1919 (the Eternal Flame has been burning since 1957).

The memory of the heroism of Soviet soldiers during the Great Patriotic War has been immortalized by many memorial structures, including the graves of the Unknown Soldier in a number of cities in the country. In Moscow, the memorial Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was erected in the Alexander Garden near the Kremlin wall. The remains of the Unknown Soldier were transferred here in the days of the 25th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi troops near Moscow in 1966 from a mass grave from the 41st kilometer of the Leningradskoye Highway - the place of bloody battles.

On December 2, 1966, a mass grave was opened, the ashes of one of the buried were placed in a coffin entwined with an orange-black ribbon - a symbol of the soldier's Order of Glory, and a 1941 helmet was placed on the coffin lid. Until the next morning, changing every two hours, young soldiers and war veterans stood guard at the coffin. And on December 3 at 11.45 the coffin was installed in an open car, and the funeral procession moved along the Leningradskoe highway to Moscow. In the capital, the coffin was transferred to an artillery carriage and, accompanied by soldiers of the guard of honor and participants in the war, with an unfurled battle banner to the sounds of a mourning march of a military brass band, was taken to a permanent burial place near the Kremlin wall.

On May 8, 1967, the memorial architectural ensemble "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" was opened on this site and the Eternal Flame of Glory was lit, which bursts out from the middle of a bronze star placed in the center of a mirror-polished black Labrador square, framed by a red granite platform. The torch was brought from Leningrad, where it was lit from the Eternal Flame on the Field of Mars.

On the granite slab of the tombstone is inscribed: "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal."

To the left of the tombstone there is a wall of crimson quartzite with the inscription: "To those who fell for their Motherland. 1941-1945".

On the right is a granite alley, where blocks of dark red porphyry are located with capsules with the earth of hero cities embedded in them: Leningrad (taken from the Piskarevsky cemetery), Kiev (from the foot of the Obelisk to the participants in the defense of the city), Volgograd (from the Mamayev Kurgan), Odessa (from the defense lines), Sevastopol (from the Malakhov Kurgan), Minsk, Kerch, Novorossiysk, Tula (the land was taken from the front lines of the defense of these cities) and the hero fortress Brest (the land from the foot of the walls).

Each block bears the name of the city and the engraved image of the Gold Star medal.

According to the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the word "Volgograd" was replaced by "Stalingrad" on the stone parapet near the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Further from the alley of hero cities in honor of the cities of military glory, opened in 2010. The monument is a block about 10 meters long, made of red granite. On it there are inscriptions - "Cities of military glory" and a list of names of the cities themselves.

The tombstone of the grave-monument is crowned with a volumetric bronze composition - a soldier's helmet and a laurel branch, lying on a battle banner (installed in 1975).

By decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 8, 1997, a permanent guard of honor from the Presidential Regiment was established at the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow. According to the document, the changing of the guard at the post takes place every hour from eight to 20 hours. In exceptional cases, by decision of the head of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, the guard of honor may be exhibited at a different time.

By decree of the President of Russia to preserve the historical cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation, the memorial "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" was given the status of the National Memorial of Military Glory. It was included in the State Code of Especially Valuable Objects of the Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Russia.

In the same year, the reconstruction of the memorial began. In connection with the work, the Eternal Flame on December 27, 2009 was moved to Poklonnaya Gora in Victory Park. February 23, 2010 after completion renovation works he was returned to the Kremlin wall.

On May 8, 2010, the National Memorial of Military Glory was inaugurated after reconstruction.

Wreaths and flowers are laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in memory of those who died for Russia on the battlefields. Here, the heads of delegations of foreign states pay tribute to the heroes during their visits to Russia.

V last years a tradition was born: early in the morning on Victory Day, veterans of the Patriotic War and young people with candles in their hands gather at Post No. 1 for a watch in memory.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is an architectural memorial ensemble in the city of Moscow, near the walls of the Kremlin, in the Alexander Garden. In the center of the composition, it has been burning for 34 years. People come to the monument to bow to the soldier who gave his life for his Motherland.

Description

The tombstone is decorated with a bronze composition: a laurel branch and a soldier's helmet, reclining on the banner of military glory. In the center of the architectural composition there is a labradorite niche, where the words are carved: "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal." In the middle of the niche there is a bronze five-pointed star, in which the eternal flame of military glory burns.

To the left of the burial there is a wall of quartzite with the words written on it: "1941 to those who fell for their Motherland, 1945". To the right of the grave is a granite alley with dark red porphyry blocks. Each of them depicts the Gold Star medal and inscribed the name of the hero-city: Kiev, Leningrad, Odessa, Stalingrad, Minsk, Sevastopol, Smolensk, Murmansk, Tula, Brest, Novorossiysk, Kerch. The blocks contain capsules with earth taken from the listed objects.
On the right side of the alley there is a red granite stele, on which the names of forty

Idea of creation

In 1966, Muscovites were preparing to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the defense of their city with special solemnity. The position of the first secretary of the Moscow city party committee at that time was held by Nikolai Grigorievich Yegorychev. This man was one of the communist reformers who played an important role in the policy of the state.

Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War they began to celebrate with special splendor since 1965, after Moscow became a hero city, and May 9 was made a festive, non-working day. It was then that the idea arose to erect a monument to ordinary soldiers who lost their lives during the defense of the capital. Egorychev decided to make this monument nationwide. In 1966, Nikolai Grigorievich got a call from Nikolayevich and said that there was a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Poland, and offered to erect such a monument in Moscow. Egorychev replied that he was just considering this project. Soon sketches of the memorial were shown to the first leaders of the country - Mikhail Andreevich Suslov and Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev.

Seat selection

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a monument close to the heart of every person. The choice of the site on which it will be located was given exceptional importance. Egorychev immediately suggested erecting a memorial in the Alexander Garden, there was just a suitable place for it. However, this idea did not like Brezhnev. The biggest obstacle was that there was an obelisk in this area, created in honor of the three hundredth anniversary of the House of Romanov in 1913. After the coup of 1917, the names of the reigning persons were erased from the pedestal, and in their place the names of the revolutionary leaders were knocked out. The list of the titans of the revolution was compiled personally by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. And in the USSR, everything that was connected with this person was not allowed to be touched. However, Yegorychev took the risk, deciding to move the obelisk slightly to the side without the highest approval. Nikolai Grigorievich was sure that he would not receive permission anyway, and the discussion of this issue would drag on for many years. Together with the head of the architectural head of the capital, Fomin Gennady, they moved the obelisk, so deftly that no one noticed it. However, in order to start global construction work, the approval of the Politburo was needed, which Yegorychev received with great difficulty.

Search for remains

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow was intended for a soldier who died for his homeland. Then in the city of Zelenograd, large-scale construction was carried out, during which it was discovered with the remains of soldiers. However, the Politburo had many sensitive questions. Whose ashes to bury? What if it will be the remains of a German or a shot deserter? Now each of us understands that any person is worthy of prayer and memory, but in 1965 they thought differently. Therefore, all the circumstances of the death of the soldiers were thoroughly checked. We opted for the remains of a soldier who survived military uniform(there were no commander insignia on it). As Egorychev later explained, the deceased could not have been wounded and taken prisoner, because the Germans did not reach Zelenograd, the unknown was also not a deserter - before the execution they removed their belt. It was clear that the body belonged to a Soviet man who died heroically in the battle for the defense of Moscow. No documents were found with him, his ashes were truly nameless.

Burial

The military developed a ritual for the ceremonial burial of the unknown soldier. The body of a soldier from Zelenograd was delivered to Moscow on a gun carriage. In 1966, on December 6, from the very morning, thousands of people stretched along Gorky Street. They cried as the procession marched past. The funeral cortege reached Manezhnaya Square in mournful silence. The last few meters, the coffin was carried by leading party members such as Marshal Rokossovsky. Evgeny Konstantinovich Zhukov was not allowed to carry the remains, since he was in disgrace. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the photograph of which you can see in this article, has become an iconic place that everyone was eager to visit.

Eternal flame

On May 7, 1967, a torch from the Eternal Flame was lit in Leningrad on the relay, the fire was delivered from the capital. They say that all the way from Leningrad to Moscow was littered with people. On the morning of May 8, the procession reached the capital. The first to receive the torch at Manezhnaya Square was the legendary pilot, hero of the Soviet Union, Alexei Maresyev. A unique newsreel has survived, capturing this moment. People froze in anticipation of the most important event - the lighting of the Eternal Flame.
The opening of the memorial was entrusted to Yegorychev. And Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev happened to light the Eternal Flame.

Commemorative inscription

Everyone who comes to the memorial sees the words at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal." This inscription has authors. When the Central Committee approved the project for the creation of the monument, Yegorychev gathered the country's leading writers - Simonov, Narovchatov, Smirnov and Mikhalkov - and invited them to compose an epitaph. They stopped at the proposal: "His name is unknown, his feat is immortal." When everyone dispersed, Nikolai Grigorievich thought about the words with which each person would approach the grave. And he decided that the inscription should contain a direct appeal to the deceased. Egorychev phoned Mikhalkov, and they came to the conclusion that the line that we can observe today should appear on the granite slab.

Nowadays

In 1997, on December 12, a decree of the President of Russia was signed, according to which the guard of honor is transferred from to the place where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located. There is a changing of the guard every hour. In 2009, on November 17, in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 1297, the burial site became a National Memorial of Military Glory. From December 16, 2009 to February 19, 2010, the monument was subject to reconstruction, in connection with which the guard of honor was not exhibited, and the laying of flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was temporarily suspended. On February 23, 2010, the Eternal Flame was returned to the Alexander Garden, it was lit by Dmitry Medvedev, then President of the Russian Federation.

Conclusion

Monument Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has become a symbol of grief for all soldiers who sacrificed their lives to save the Motherland. Everyone who was involved in the creation of this memorial felt that this work was the main thing in his life. We will disappear, our descendants will leave, and the Eternal Flame will burn.

The second World War for our country still remains the most tragic and great event in our history. The memory of those killed in these years is immortalized in many monuments and monuments that are located in all cities of Russia. Many unidentified soldiers were buried during the war. To honor their feat, a monument to the Unknown Soldier is erected on such graves. There is such a memorial in Moscow - in the Alexander Garden near

The value of such monuments

All over the world, monuments to those killed in the war are erected so that people remember what the soldiers gave their lives for. The graves of soldiers are often unnamed, and before they did not come to honor their memory. But after one of the bloodiest wars - the First World War - a tradition was formed to perpetuate the memory of such warriors in monuments. They are usually installed at the disposal site. This is how the descendants express their gratitude and respect to the soldiers who died in the battles. The first monument to the Unknown Soldier was erected in 1920. Something similar was created in Russia at the same time, however, this memorial symbolized the memory of the heroes who died during the revolution.

History of the Monument to the Unknown Soldier

In the Soviet Union, they began to celebrate the victory in the Great Patriotic War on a large scale only in 1965. At this time, our capital, like many other cities, was given the status of a hero city, and May 9 became a national holiday. On the eve of the anniversary of the great battle for Moscow, the government of the country thought about how to create a monument that could perpetuate the feat of the defenders of the city. It was supposed to be a memorial of national importance. Therefore, we stopped at erecting a monument to the unknown soldier.

Moscow was an ideal place for this, because thousands of soldiers died in the battles for the city, and a lot of them were not identified. A competition was announced to create the monument. The project of the architect V.A.Klimov was recognized as the best. He believed that he must necessarily be located in the park so that a person could sit next to him and think. Best place for him it was chosen near the Kremlin wall - a symbol of the invincibility of Russia. And in 1966, work began on the monument. It was created by architects V.A. Klimov, D.I.Burdin and Yu.R. Rabaev. The most famous writers and poets were involved in creating the inscription on the monument. The best were the words of S. Mikhalkov: "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal." The grand opening of the monument took place on the eve of Victory Day in 1967. In subsequent years, it was repeatedly supplemented with new elements and restored. To this day, the Monument to the Unknown Soldier remains in the Great Patriotic War.

How the burial of the ashes of a warrior took place

Before the creation of the memorial, they thought for a long time who to bury in the grave under the monument. After all, it must necessarily be an unidentified warrior who died in the battles for Moscow. And in 1966, forty kilometers from the city, in Zelenograd, a mass grave was discovered. They chose a soldier wearing a well-preserved uniform. The experts ensured that he was not a deserter, otherwise he would not have been wearing a belt. This warrior could not be a prisoner either, since there was no Nazi occupation in this place. On December 2, the soldier was transferred to a coffin entwined with a St. George ribbon. They put a soldier's time on the lid. Until the morning, young soldiers and war veterans stood by him in a guard of honor. On the morning of December 3, the coffin was taken to Moscow along the Leningradskoye Highway as part of a funeral procession. In front of the Alexander Garden, the coffin was transferred to an artillery carriage. The whole procession was accompanied by a guard of honor, alongside, to the sounds of a mourning march, war veterans walked and carried unfurled battle banners.

How the monument was created

After the burial of the ashes of the unknown soldier - a month later - they began to create the memorial itself. He looked at that time not the same as now, then several times the composition was supplemented. At first, the memorial was with the words of S. Mikhalkov, a tombstone over the grave and a bronze star with the Eternal Flame. A granite wall was made next to the monument, on which the names of all hero cities were immortalized. The opening of the monument took place in a solemn atmosphere: the national anthem was sung and fireworks were thundered. The Eternal Flame was also lit, which was brought from Leningrad. The memorial was supplemented in 1975 with a bronze composition - a soldier's helmet on an unfurled banner.

What is the monument now

Modern youth may not even answer what kind of monument it is and what is its significance. But this war still for most people remains the Great Patriotic War, and until now the monument to the unknown soldier is a place for laying wreaths in holidays, it is visited by foreign delegations. There are always people around him who came to honor the memory of the victims. Since 1997, there is Post No. 1 next to the monument. The soldiers of the Presidential Regiment replace each other every hour. In 2009, the reconstruction of the complex began. At this time, the Eternal Flame was moved to Poklonnaya Hill, and after the opening of the renovated monument in 2010, it was returned back. During the restoration, a ten-meter stele was added to the memorial, perpetuating the memory of

Description of the monument to the unknown soldier

The memorial is located in the Alexander Garden under the Kremlin wall. Every person who comes to Moscow considers it his duty to visit the monument to the unknown soldier. His photo can be found in all books dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, in newspapers and on the Internet. But it's still better to see it in reality. The composition is made of shiny red granite and black labradorite. On the tombstone is a bronze soldier's helmet lying on an unfolded banner. In the center of the square of mirror-polished black stone is a bronze star. The Eternal Flame bursts out of it. On the right is a low stele 10 meters long, on which the names of cities of military glory are engraved. And the memory of the hero cities is immortalized on a granite alley from

This memorial is known all over the world and is now one of the sights of Moscow. People come here not only on Victory Day, but simply to honor the memory of the fallen and pay tribute to the feat of the defenders of the Motherland.