Victory Museum, Moscow

[warhawk]

Opened on 50-th anniversary of Victory in Great patriotic war (May 9th 1995), Victory museum is located at the Victory square in Moscow.

Venue can only be described in one word - I M M E N S E

 

 

 

 

 

Besides the usual weapons and medals, a very interesting part of the exhibit are huge dioramas of key battles,

which slowly merge into murals (border is very hard to see, even up close).

 

 

 

 

 

Also of interest is the Hall of glory - where names of all recipients of People's hero of USSR medal are inscribed.
Two busts at the entrance are of Kozhedub and Pokrishkin - most famous Soviet fighter-pilots

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the entire second floor is occupied by 'Z' propaganda, so I skipped it.

But the subtle indoctrination also awaits outside...

 

 

More pics HERE

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Edited November 15, 2024 by warhawk

[TheyJammedKenny!]

This is too bad.  It's an excellent space, but the iconography suggests to me of how WWII might have been depicted by the New Masters of Europe had Germany won the war.  It's very socialist-realist, in-your-face about the USSR's single-handed victory (aside from an "oh, by the way" monument down the road to the "rest" of the Allies), and designed to turn WWII into a kind of religious experience.  

 

In comparison did the VDNH exhibit include features on the "Special Military Operation?"

[warhawk]

1 hour ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

and designed to turn WWII into a kind of religious experience.

 

Oh, absolutely. You can induce that from the term Great Patriotic War itself.

IMHO, all countries do it to a degree (just TRY to criticize some actions of some WWII veterans in most countries), but here it is turned-up to 11.

 

 

1 hour ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

In comparison did the VDNH exhibit include features on the "Special Military Operation?"

 

Not that I noticed. At least not as blatantly and aggressively as in Victory Museum and around it.

Edited October 27, 2024 by warhawk

[grubber]

Wrong page. this should be under the jokes section

[Mike]

I've moved this to armour related.  Can we keep away from the snide comments and digs please?  If OP wants to post up more pics of a place we'll probably never go to now, it'll at least be a bit interesting to some of us.

[grubber]

Snide comments? Get a life

[Kingsman]

On 10/27/2024 at 9:41 PM, Mike said:

Can we keep away from the snide comments and digs please? 

Agreed.  We need to divorce the WW2 achievements of the Soviet Union in the defeat of Germany and fascism from its Cold War activities and what has happened since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the creation of the Russian Federation.  These are 3 distinct eras that cannot be conflated together.  The Soviet Union of WW2 and the Cold War and the Russian Federation are 3 very different countries.  An important distinction I have had to make when dealing with Ukraininan trainees and others in my work.

 

Don't forget that there is a National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War as a memorial equally commemorating the GPW, at Pechersk near Kyiv.  Both countries share that common heritage.

 

Simple fact, as put forward by Jonathan Dimbleby in his recent book "Endgame 1944 - How Stalin Won The War".  The war against Germany would not have been won without the industrial effort and human sacrifice of the Soviet Union of the day.  Do not lose sight of this because most of us who have contributed so far benefited from it.

 

How 21st century fascism in Europe was defeated - as it must necessarily be - is a history yet to be written.  Bovington Tank Museum is grasping that nettle to some extent with a Ukraine conflict exhibition to be created over the winter quiet season.

Edited October 30, 2024 by Kingsman
Revision

[Saeran]

Great pictures, looked at the 'extra' ones too.

 

The sword, was it the "Sword of Stalingrad" that Churchill gave to Stalin?

[warhawk]

3 hours ago, Saeran said:

The sword, was it the "Sword of Stalingrad" that Churchill gave to Stalin?

 

Inscription on the holster:

 

Кто к нам с мечом придет, от меча и погибнет.

Whoever comes to us with a sword, will perish by the sword

 

 

Inscription on the blade:

 

Этот символический меч был изготовлен Туляками

В честь 50 летия победы над Фашисткой Германией

This symbolic sword was made by Tulans (people of Tula)

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the victory over Fascist Germany

 

Edited October 30, 2024 by warhawk

[noelh]

There's little doubt that Russia and the USSR contributed the most of the defeat of Fascism in WW2. Even it was a less than a democratic regime. The Russian people sacrificed a lot in a heroic struggle against fascism. 

 

The museum quite rightly commemorates. It's history after all. 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2024 by noelh

[vaoinas]

On 15/11/2024 at 00:45, noelh said:

There's little doubt that Russia and the USSR contributed the most of the defeat of Fascism in WW2. Even it was a less than a democratic regime. The Russian people sacrificed a lot in a heroic struggle against fascism. 

 

The museum quite rightly commemorates. It's history after all. 

 

 

 

Soviets/russians would have done very little without the massive lend lease help they had. 

Also the massive casualties they had were partly caused of the tactics they held, as they valued soldiers life

much less than other allies. So it's hard to compare the contribution that way.

 

Today of course their propaganda says it was mainly the soviet contribution alone, that won the World War II.

Edited May 8 by vaoinas

[scautomoton]

We could debate the impact of Soviet actions during WW2 and their contribution to the downfall of Nazism endlessly. In point of fact though, their sacrifice was huge, their war effort was massively funded with help from the USA (as was Britain's), and their actions tied the Nazis up in the East long enough for the West to get into a position where the European mainland could be freed from Nazi occupation. It was a team effort. Trying to say whose contribution mattered more is like trying to say whether a sperm or an egg is more important to the creation of a foetus.

 

Even JFK in his June 10th 1963 speech made note of the Soviet actions during WW2 - "no nation in the history of battle ever suffered more than the Soviet Union in the course of the Second World War". High praise indeed from a rival country's leader at the height of The Cold War.

 

And in case anyone questions me, I stand with Ukraine. I just hope that one day Russia casts off it's obsession with autocratic governance and Europe moves forward into the bright future we all believed in during the 1990's.

[The Scotsman]

Ah Russia and their achievements ....bless em..... where hubis tends to smash headlong into reality

[hansxy]

The contribution of the Soviet Red Army in World War II was enormous. Without the Soviet Red Army, the European battlefield in May 1945 would not have ended.