Monument to Grinkevich

The monument is located in the square of Theater Square , bounded by Artyom Street , Gurov Avenue, Theater Avenue and located between the Opera and Ballet Theater and the Donbass Palace Hotel (Hotel). Geographic coordinates: In the square, in addition to the grave of Grinkevich, there is also the grave of another liberator of Donbass during the Great Patriotic War - Lieutenant General, member of the Military Council of the Southern Front Kuzma Akimovich Gurov . Both did not die in Donetsk (Gurov died on September 25, 1943 in the village of Gusarka, Kuybyshevsky District, Zaporizhia Region ; Grinkevich died on October 11, 1943 in the village of Kharkov, Zaporizhia Region ^[3] ), but their bodies were transported after death and buried here. Gurov’s heart is buried separately from his body - at the place of death, in the village of Gusarki, Zaporizhia region ^[4] . The burial of the bodies of these military leaders far from the place of death is explained by the instruction of the NGO from April 4, 1942, according to which the bodies of commanding officers, from the regiment commander and above, were sent to the rear, where they were buried in squares of cities and towns so as not to lose their graves ^[5] .

Franz Andreevich Grinkevich commanded the 32nd Guards Tank Brigade ^[2] , which liberated Stalin in September 1943 . In one of the battles, Grinkevich was mortally wounded and died on October 11, 1943 in the village of Kharkiv Zaporizhzhya region ^[6] .

Franz Grinkevich was awarded three orders of the Red Star , Red Banner and World War II . The last order received shortly before his death.

According to legend, the tankers buried him in the center of Stalin, built a pedestal on the grave with a photograph of their commander, and with their own hands pulled the T-34-76 battle tank on which Grinkevich fought. The tank actually installed on the grave was not equipped with a walkie-talkie and could not be a command vehicle. ^[7]

The first version of the monument was a brick and plastered pedestal in the form of a cube articulated with an inclined prism onto which a T-34-76 battle tank was loaded. The pedestal had a double stylobate and a cornice. On the frontal plane was a large portrait of Franz Andreevich Grinkevich, who was in a glazed niche, as well as two tablets with information about the colonel’s guard, his exploit and words of gratitude ^[5] .

In 1964 ^[8] , a high granite pedestal and marble slabs appeared on the grave with the inscription “Cast eternal glory to the heroes who fell in the battles for freedom and independence of our Motherland”. 1941-1945 " . For some time the old tank stood on the new pedestal ^[9] , but then it was replaced by a more modern T-34-85 tank , and the battle tank from Theater Square was moved to the courtyard of the local history museum , which was then located in the same building as the Krupskaya library .

In 1972, the tank, together with the museum, moved to another place and until 2010 stood in front of the facade of the museum of local lore overlooking Chelyuskintsev Street ^[10] . In 2010, the tank was sent to the site of military equipment to the monument " Your Liberators, Donbass ." Museum employees staged a solemn farewell to the tank under the " Farewell of the Slav " ^[11] .

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  T-34 Grinkevich at the Museum of Local Lore

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  T-34 Grinkevich on the site at the monument to Your Liberators, Donbass .

• Monuments and commemorative signs // All about Donetsk .: Reference manual. - Donetsk: Donbass , 2003 .-- S. 156-162. - ISBN 5-7740-0782-0 .
• Monument to Grinkevich // TV Guide. Special issue. Donetsk is tourist. 150 best places for families. - Donetsk, August 2010. - No. 2 . - S. 7-8 .

• Dmitry Zaborin. Stone faces of Donetsk // “Friday” (“ Salon of Don and Bass ”). - April 15, 2005. Archived on November 29, 2012.
• Grave of F.A. Grinkevich (neopr.) . Date of treatment August 1, 2006. Archived on September 28, 2007.
• Grinkevich Franz Andreevich (1905-1943) (neopr.) . Date of treatment December 7, 2006. Archived November 29, 2012.
• Panorama: Intersection with Gurov Ave. Mogil Grinkevich F.A. (tank) (neopr.) . Date of treatment May 21, 2007. Archived on September 28, 2007.
• Grave of F. A. Grinkevich (neopr.) (Inaccessible link) . Date of treatment June 11, 2007. Archived November 29, 2012.
• Photo of the first monument to Grinkevich (neopr.) (Inaccessible link) . Date of treatment August 18, 2008. Archived November 29, 2012.
• Donetsk Encyclopedia → TANK (neopr.) . Date of treatment June 22, 2010. Archived November 29, 2012.
• The liberation of Donbass. Liberators in granite and bronze (neopr.) (Inaccessible link) . Date of treatment June 29, 2010. Archived September 10, 2010.
• Alexander Kashkakha. Tank - traveler (neopr.) . Retro . Donetsk. Author’s site of Evgeny Yasenov (April 8, 2011). Date of treatment April 9, 2011. Archived February 8, 2012.