After the bloody end of the First World War at the beginning of the 20th century, a tradition appeared according to which the state erects a monument or an 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 hero-soldier first appeared in 1920 in London. Memorial complexes There is an unknown hero in Paris under the Arc de Triomphe, in Washington at the Arlington Cemetery and in a number of other countries.
In commemoration of the festive celebrations on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the crushing defeat of the troops of fascist Germany near Moscow, on December 3, 1966, the ashes of a nameless warrior-hero were taken from a soldier's grave, which is on the Leningrad Highway, transferred with honors, and triumphantly buried near the Kremlin wall.
May 8, 1967, during the holidays Great Victory, at the burial site, the opening of the symbolic Memorial of military valor - "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" took place.
by design creative team talented architects, the commemorative memorial ensemble was created by the monumental sculptor Nikolai Tomsky.
On the same day, from the fire on the Field of Mars, L. Brezhnev lit a grave Eternal flame V .
Commemorative composition
The Alexander Garden occupies a special place in the gallery of the central metropolitan parks. A popular recreation area with an area of 10 hectares is located on the northwestern side.
The architectural and memorial ensemble composition "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" in the Alexander Garden is a tombstone with a soldier's helmet mounted on it and a symbolic laurel branch, which rest on a falling battle banner.
In a niche made of ornamental labradorite, a memorable epitaph-inscription reads: “ Your name it is not known, your feat is immortal. And from the bronze five-pointed star, the Eternal Flame of Memory “splashes out”. According to one version, the author of the inscription is Sergei Mikhalkov, according to another, it is the result of collective writing.
To the right of the commemorative composition is a symbolic granite-block alley of cities' glory: porphyry dark red slabs with the name of the city and the chased-relief "Golden Star". Capsules with sacred earth, which was delivered from the defense lines of hero cities, are stored inside the slabs.
The left side of the Memorial of the Unknown Soldier is a wall of Karelian quartzite in dark crimson hues with a symbolic dedication: "1941 to the Fallen for the Motherland 1945".
To the right of the memorial alley of the heroic cities rises a red-granite stele-block on a pedestal. Its gilded inscription reads: "Cities 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, has a left-sided text “Cities of Military Glory” on the left, and their names are carved on the right, arranged in a dozen columns.
From December 1997, Post No. 1 of the Guard of Honor was relocated from the Mausoleum to the Memorial. The servicemen of the Presidential Regiment keep watch day and night, changing hourly.
In 2009, by presidential decree, the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" was given the status of a memorial memorial of military glory of national importance.
Historically, during wars, many soldiers died and their remains were not or could not be identified.
In the 20th century, after the end of the bloody World War I, a tradition began to form, according to which nations and states erect monuments to the Unknown Soldier, symbolizing memory, gratitude and respect for all the dead soldiers whose remains were never identified.
The first monument to the unknown soldier appeared in London in 1920. Typically, such monuments are placed on the grave, which contains the remains of a deceased soldier, whose identity is unknown and it is considered impossible to establish it.
And it is these monuments that are the most revered.
Türkiye.
Erected in memory of the unknown martyrs of the Canakkale front, who died during the Dardanelles operation of the First World War. Opened August 20, 1960.
Bulgaria, Haskovo.
Monument to Dunno warrior.
Spain Madrid.
Built in 1840, it houses the remains of unknown fighters who died in the May 2 Uprising.
Greece. Constitution Square, Athens.
Finland. Hietaniemi Military Cemetery, Helsinki.
Peace Tower. Built in 1970 in the city of Tondabayashi (Japan) by followers of the Ideal Free Church. It is a symbol of peace throughout the world; inside, unidentified remains of people are buried, and the list of those who died from hostilities is constantly updated, regardless of nationality, religion and race.
Stele of the Unknown Soldier in Mogadishu, Somalia.
Romania. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Karol Park, Bucharest.
Egypt. Cairo: Includes the tomb of President Anwar Sadat.
Russia. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Alexander Garden, Moscow.
Serbia. Monument to the Unknown Hero (since 1938), Mount Avala, Belgrade.
Estonia. "Bronze Soldier", Military Cemetery, Tallinn.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Carabobo, Venezuela.
Canada. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Confederate Square, Ottawa.
Indonesia. "Field of Honor", Bandung
Memorial to the Unknown Soldier, next to the Tomb of the Unknown Sailor at the Kembang Kuning Military Cemetery in Surabaya.
Belgium. Congress Column, Brussels: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is at the base of the column.
Syria. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Damascus.
Hungary. Heroes Square, Budapest.
Ukraine. Park of Eternal Glory, Kyiv
The Monument of Eternal Glory, opened on November 6, 1957, is an obelisk 27 meters high. At the foot of the obelisk, on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Eternal Flame burns. The alley of Fallen Heroes leads to the obelisk. On both sides of it there are tombstones over the graves of 34 hero warriors.
Czech Republic. National Memorial on Zizkov (Vitkov) Hill, Prague.
Argentina. Cathedral, Buenos Aires: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of Independence.
Israel. "Garden of the Missing", Mount Herzl, Jerusalem.
Memorial of Heroes. Zimbabwe, Harare.
Germany. Unter den Linden, Berlin
Inside the 19th century guardhouse (Neue Wache).
Brazil. National Monument to those killed in World War II, Rio de Janeiro.
Lithuania. Kaunas, Vienybes Square
The grave of Nezinomas kareivis, with the remains of a soldier who died during the Lithuanian Wars of Independence in 1919.
Poland. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Marshal Piłsudski Square, Warsaw
It was built as an arcade of the Saxon Palace, destroyed in 1944. There are the remains of soldiers who died between 1918 and 1920.
Portugal. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Monastery of Batalha.
Italy. Grave of Milite Ignoto as part of the Vittoriano complex. Rome, Piazza Venezia.
"Tomb of the Unknowns", Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, United States of America.
France. Under the Arc de Triomphe, Paris.
Great Britain. "Unknown Warrior", Westminster Abbey, London.
India. "Amar Jawan Jyoti (Flame of the Immortal Warrior)", India Gate, New Delhi.
Australia. Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
Monument to fallen soldiers fighting for freedom. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Austria. Heldenplatz (Heroes' Square), Vienna.
Peru. Plaza Bolivar (Bolivar Square), Lima: contains the remains of a soldier who died in 1881 during the Second Pacific War.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
at the Kremlin wall in Moscow.
I know it's not my fault
The fact that others did not come from the war.
The fact that they are - who is older, who is younger,
Remained there. And it's not about the same
That I could and could not save them.
It's not about that. But still, still…
(A. T. Tvardovsky, 1966)
The memory of the heroism of Soviet soldiers during the Great Patriotic War immortalized by many memorial structures, including the graves of the Unknown Soldier in a number of cities across the country.
In Moscow, the memorial "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" was built in the Alexander Garden near the Kremlin wall.
In December 1966, on the days of the 25th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi troops near Moscow, in the Alexander Garden from a mass grave located 41 kilometers from Moscow, in places of bloody battles, he was solemnly buried under Kremlin wall Ashes of the Unknown Soldier.
The eternal fire of glory was lit on the grave.
Fire erupts 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 delivered from Leningrad, where it was lit from the Eternal Flame on the Field of Mars. “Your name is unknown, your deed is immortal,” is inscribed on the granite slab of the tombstone.
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Next to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, on a low granite pedestal along the Kremlin wall, blocks of dark red stone are placed in a row, under them in urns is stored Holy Land hero cities - Leningrad, Kyiv, Minsk, Volgograd, Sevastopol, Odessa, Kerch, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Brest Fortress, Tula and Smolensk.
On each block there is the name of the city and a chased image of the Gold Star medal. The tombstone of the grave-monument is crowned with a voluminous bronze composition - a soldier's helmet and a laurel branch lying on a battle banner.
At the Eternal Flame on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a permanent post of the guard of honor from the Presidential Regiment was installed - post No. 1 of Russia.
The "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" memorial in Moscow is a place for laying wreaths on holidays, it is visited by numerous delegations, including heads of foreign states and governments arriving in Moscow on official visits.
Every year on the ninth of May, Muscovites go to the Eternal Flame to bow to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. However, few people already remember the people who created this memorial. The eternal flame has been burning for 46 years. It seems like he has always been there. However, the history of its ignition is extremely dramatic. It had its own tears and tragedy.
In December 1966, Moscow was preparing to solemnly celebrate the 25th anniversary of the defense of Moscow. At that time, the first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee was Nikolai Grigoryevich Egorychev. A person who played a prominent role in politics, including in the dramatic situation of the removal of Khrushchev and the election of Brezhnev to the post of General Secretary, one of the communist reformers.
Especially solemnly, the anniversary of the victory over the Nazis began to be celebrated only in 1965, when Moscow was awarded the title of Hero City and May 9 officially became a non-working day. Actually, then the idea was born to create a monument to ordinary soldiers who died for Moscow. However, Yegorychev understood that the monument should not be Moscow, but nationwide. This could only be a monument to the Unknown Soldier.
Somehow, at the beginning of 1966, Alexey Nikolayevich Kosygin called Nikolai Yegorychev and said: "I was recently in Poland, I laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Why is there no such monument in Moscow?" “Yes,” Yegorychev answers, “we are just thinking about it right now.” And he talked about his plans. Kosygin liked the idea. When work on the project was over, Yegorychev brought the sketches to the premiere. However, it was necessary to acquaint Brezhnev with the project. And at that time he left somewhere, so Yegorychev went to the Central Committee to Mikhail Suslov, showed sketches.
He also approved the project. Soon Brezhnev returned to Moscow. He received the Moscow leader very coldly. Apparently, he became aware that Yegorychev had reported everything to Kosygin and Suslov earlier. Brezhnev began to ponder whether it was worth building such a memorial at all. At that time, the idea was already in the air to give exclusivity to the battles on Malaya Zemlya. In addition, as Nikolai Grigorievich told me: "Leonid Ilyich understood perfectly well that the opening of a monument close to the heart of every person would strengthen my personal authority. And Brezhnev did not like this even more." However, besides the question of the "struggle of authorities" other, purely practical problems arose. And the main one is a place for a monument.
Brezhnev rested: "I don't like the Alexander Garden. Look for another place."
Two or three times Egorychev returned to this question in conversations with the General. All to no avail.
Egorychev insisted on the Alexander Garden, near the ancient Kremlin wall. Then it was a unkempt place, with a stunted lawn,
the wall itself required restoration. But the biggest obstacle lay elsewhere. Almost on the very spot where the Eternal Flame is now burning, there was an obelisk built in 1913 for the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. After the revolution, the names of the reigning house were scraped off the obelisk and the names of the titans of the revolution were knocked out.
The list was allegedly compiled personally by Lenin. To assess what happened next, let me remind you that at that time touching anything connected with Lenin was a monstrous sedition. Yegorychev suggested to the architects, without asking anyone highest resolution(because they won’t allow it), quietly move the obelisk a little to the right, to where the grotto is located. And no one will notice. The funny thing is that Yegorychev was right. If they had begun to coordinate the issue of moving the Lenin monument with the Politburo, the matter would have dragged on for years.
Yegorychev appealed to the common sense of Gennady Fomin, head of the Moscow architectural directorate. Persuaded to act without permission. By the way, if something went wrong, for such arbitrariness they could easily be deprived of all positions, if not worse ...
And yet, before starting global construction work, the approval of the Politburo was required. However, they did not intend to convene the Politburo. Yegorychev's note on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has been lying in the Politburo since May 1966 without movement. Then Nikolai Grigorievich once again went for a little trick.
He asked Fomin to prepare materials for the design of the monument: models, tablets - by November 6, the anniversary of the revolution - and put them in the rest room of the presidium in the Palace of Congresses. When the ceremonial meeting ended and members of the Politburo began to enter the room, I asked them to come and see the models. Someone was even surprised: after all, they had nothing to do with the anniversary of the revolution. Told them about the monument. Then I ask: "What is your opinion?" All members of the Politburo unanimously say: "This is great!" I'm wondering if I can get started?
I see that Brezhnev has nowhere to go - the Politburo voted "for" ...
Last most main question- where to look for the remains of a soldier? At that time, a large construction was going on in Zelenograd, and there, during earthworks, a mass grave, lost since the war, was found. The secretary of the city committee for construction, Alexei Maksimovich Kalashnikov, was entrusted with conducting this case. Then even more delicate questions arose: whose remains will be buried in the grave? What if it turns out to be the body of a deserter? Or a German? By and large, from the height of today, no matter who is there, anyone is worthy of memory and prayer. But in 1965 they didn't think so. Therefore, everyone tried to carefully check. As a result, the choice fell on the remains of a warrior, on which military uniform well preserved, but which did not have any commander's insignia. As Yegorychev explained to me: “If it were a deserter who had been shot, the belt would have been removed from him. He could not have been wounded, taken prisoner, because the Germans had not reached that place. soviet soldier who died heroically defending Moscow. No documents were found with him in the grave - the ashes of this private were truly nameless."
The military developed a solemn burial ritual. From Zelenograd, the ashes were delivered to the capital on a gun carriage. On December 6, hundreds of thousands of Muscovites were standing all along Gorky Street from early morning. People wept as the funeral cortege passed by. Many old women secretly overshadowed the coffin with the sign of the cross. In mournful silence, the procession reached Manezhnaya Square. The last meters of the coffin were carried by Marshal Rokossovsky and prominent members of the party. The only one who was not allowed to carry the remains was Marshal Zhukov, who was then in disgrace ...
On May 7, 1967, a torch was lit from the Eternal Flame on the Field of Mars in Leningrad, which was delivered to Moscow by relay. They say that there was a living corridor all the way from Leningrad to Moscow - people wanted to see what was sacred to them. In the early morning of May 8, the cortege reached Moscow. The streets were also filled to overflowing with people. Hero took the torch at Manezhnaya Square Soviet Union, the legendary pilot Alexei Maresyev. Unique chronicle footage that captured this moment has been preserved. I saw men crying and women praying. People froze, trying not to miss the most important moment - the lighting of the Eternal Flame.
The memorial was opened by Nikolay Egorychev. And Brezhnev was supposed to light the Eternal Flame.
Leonid Ilyich was explained in advance what to do. That evening in the final information program they showed a television report of how the general secretary takes the torch, approaches the star with the torch, then a cliff followed - and in the next frame they already showed the lit Eternal Flame. The fact is that during the ignition an emergency occurred, which was witnessed only by people standing nearby. Nikolai Yegorychev: "Leonid Ilyich misunderstood something, and when the gas went off, he did not have time to immediately raise the torch. As a result, something like an explosion occurred. There was a bang.
Brezhnev was frightened, staggered back, almost fell. "The highest instruction immediately followed this non-instruction to cut this impartial moment from the television report.
As Nikolai Grigorievich recalled, because of this incident, television covered the great event rather sparingly.
Almost all the people involved in the creation of this monument had the feeling that this is the main business of their lives and it is FOREVER, FOREVER.
Since then, every year on May 9, people come to the Eternal Flame. Almost everyone knows that he will read the lines carved on a marble slab: "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal." But no one comes to mind that these lines had an author. And it all happened like that. When the Central Committee approved the creation of the Eternal Flame, Yegorychev asked the then literary generals - Sergei Mikhalkov, Konstantin Simonov, Sergei Narovchatov and Sergei Smirnov - to come up with an inscription on the grave. We settled on the following text: "His name is unknown, his feat is immortal." Under these words, all the writers put their signatures ... and left.
Egorychev was left alone. Something in the final version did not suit him: “I thought,” he recalled, “how people would approach the grave. Maybe those who lost their loved ones and do not know where they found peace. What will they say?
Probably: "Thank you, soldier! Your feat is immortal!" Although it was late in the evening, Yegorychev called Mikhalkov: “The word“ his ”should be replaced with“ yours ”.
Mikhalkov thought: "Yes," he says, "this is better." So the words carved in stone appeared on the granite slab: "Your name is unknown, your feat is immortal"...
It would be great if we no longer had to compose new inscriptions over the new graves of unknown soldiers. Although this, of course, is a utopia. One of the greats said: "Time is changing - but our attitude to our Victories does not change." Indeed, we will disappear, our children and great-grandchildren will leave, and the Eternal Flame will burn.
To the point:
A date that is inextricably linked with Victory Day. On May 8, in the center of Moscow, in the Alexander Garden near the walls of the Kremlin, a fire was lit at the Grave Unknown Soldier. It was in 1967 - half a century ago. The place of common sorrow and memory always has flowers. They were carried today.
A soldier's helmet and a laurel branch lying on a battle banner. In Russia, there are many monuments related to the war, where the heart aches, but among them the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a special place. Here is the main guard of honor of the country, post number one.
Servicemen of the Presidential Regiment are replaced every hour. Perfect harmony. Every movement perfected. There are always a lot of people here. And there are many who cannot hold back their tears. People come here who never found out where their loved ones died in the war, who received a funeral for the grandfather of the father or son, which reads: "Missing."
“This is a symbol of all those who died during the war, defending our Motherland, people whom we do not know and will never know, but they selflessly gave their lives,” the girl says.
“Always coming here, we come, first of all, to the Eternal Flame to bow, to pay tribute to our soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War,” the man notes.
The idea to perpetuate the memory of ordinary soldiers of the Great Patriotic War appeared in the 60s, then during the Brezhnev era, celebrations in honor of the victory became regular, and May 9 was declared a day off. In the year when the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow was celebrated, builders discovered a mass grave near Zelenograd. On the uniform of one of the fighters, the military insignia of a private was dismantled. No documents were found on him. His remains were transferred to the Kremlin wall.
All the way, the ashes of the hero were accompanied by a guard of honor. Four months later, the Eternal Flame broke out at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - a piece of flame was delivered from the Field of Mars in Leningrad on a special armored personnel carrier. Pilot Aleksey Maresyev, Hero of the Soviet Union, took over the relay and passed the torch Secretary General party to Leonid Brezhnev. On the footage of the chronicle, a historical moment - the memorial near the Kremlin wall was opened under volleys of artillery salute.
“The entire Alexander Garden, the entire Manezhnaya Square was filled with people. Everyone considered it their duty to bow to the Unknown Soldier. And many believed that it was his relative who was buried here, or his father, brother, son, and so on,” says Sergey Khmelidze, a veteran of the 154th separate commandant’s Preobrazhensky Regiment.
For 50 years, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was closed to the public only once - in 2009, when the monument was reconstructed. The eternal flame was temporarily moved to Poklonnaya Gora - to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. A couple of months later, he returned to the Kremlin wall.
Neither hurricane wind nor heavy rain can extinguish the flame - there are several special electric igniters inside, they work in automatic mode and constantly keep burning. Once a month - prevention. From the outside, it looks like a ritual - the gas workers carefully raise the bronze star, and the head of the brigade bends over the burner to remove the soot and fumes.
Today, the events of 50 years ago were reconstructed near the Kremlin wall - servicemen of the Presidential Regiment in dress uniform of the 1956 model, with the help of the same historical torch, transferred the flame to a specially equipped armored personnel carrier for the period of prevention, and then returned it to its place. Despite the bad weather, hundreds of people came to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Flowers and wreaths were laid by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, representatives of the collegium of the Ministry of Defense and veterans.
The battle is long over...
By the hands of all friends
The guy is put in the globe of the earth,
It's like being in a mausoleum...
These words of the front-line poet Sergei Orlov were written almost a quarter of a century before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier appeared in Moscow, which became a symbol of the valor of nameless heroes. "Your name is unknown - your feat is immortal" - the words echoed by another refrain of the Great Victory: "No one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten."
