Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War II

The Kiev Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 moved twice until it was solemnly opened on its current place on May 9 ( Victory Day ) 1981 by the Secretary General Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev , head of the Soviet state . On June 21, 1996, the museum was given its current status as the National Museum of Ukraine by decree of President L. D. Kuchma .

One of the largest museums in Ukraine (more than 400 thousand ^[2] exhibits) the museum is most associated with the 102-meter monument to the Motherland , which has become one of the most recognizable views of Kiev. Over the years the museum has existed, more than 21 million visitors have visited it.

The memorial complex occupies 10 hectares on a hill on the right bank of the Dnieper . It contains a giant chalice of the Eternal Flame , an exhibition of military equipment from the Second World War , as well as from the post-war years, an alley of Hero Cities .

Along the slopes of the Dnieper passes the front alley, which goes to the gallery of the Main Entrance, leading to the square and the museum building. The gallery’s sculptures represent the heroic defense of the USSR’s border from the German attack , the horrors of the German occupation, the partisan struggle, the labor feat of the rear, the battle for the Dnieper . These are the sculptural compositions “First Frontier Fights”, “Unconquered”, “Heroic Underground”, “Heroic Partisans” and “Rear Front”. On the main square of the memorial there is a sculpture group “Transfer of weapons” and a bronze composition “Heroic exploits of Soviet soldiers”. Blocks with the sacred ground of the Hero Cities are installed in the retaining wall - this is the alley of the Cities of Heroes. ^[one]

The monumental sculpture of Mother Motherland was designed by architect Yevgeny Vuchetich . The sculpture is located above the museum building and the entire structure is 102 meters high and weighs 530 tons. The museum is a five-story building, four floors of which are located in the massif of the hill, and the fifth floor, where the Battle Glory Hall is located, is externally a pedestal of the sculpture Motherland. On the walls of the opening hall are the names of 1098 military units awarded the names of liberated settlements of Ukraine and 252 names of partisan and underground units fighting against the Nazis in the occupied territory of Ukraine. Next is the cinema hall and halls with an exposition dedicated to the heroic struggle of the Soviet people against the Nazi invaders. In the Hall of Military Glory on pylons lined with white marble - the names of people who were awarded the titles of Heroes of the Soviet Union and Heroes of Socialist Labor for feats in the Great Patriotic War. In the center of the hall is the Order of Victory with a diameter of 5 meters. ^[one]

At the beginning of 2010, 1,186 letters were taken to the memorial complex of the museum that were taken out by the Nazis from Kamenetz-Podolsky . This correspondence, dated June-July 1941, was stored in the collections of museums in Vienna (Republic of Austria ). The letters were not printed, read, or attributed. After the museum turned to the media and campaigned on forums on the Internet, some letters found their addressees.

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  Sculptural composition " Heroic Partisans "

• Memorial Complex. Kiev: "Mistetstvo." 1983 Compiled by: V. A. Zhukovsky, V. D. Olshansky, V. P. Fomin.
• Memorial over the Dnieper. Guide. Kiev: "Mistetstvo." 1985. Authors: V. D. Olshansky, A. I. Filatova.
• Memorial over the Dnieper. Photo Guide. Kiev: "Mistetstvo." 1987. Authors: V. D. Olshansky, A. I. Filatova.

• Museum website
• Virtual tour of the museum from panovision.com.ua
• 'Kiev' Motherland is celebrating its 25th anniversary ' , May 8, 2006, .net Correspondent .
• 'Kiev "Motherland" celebrates its 23rd anniversary " , May 8, 2004, podrobnosti.ua .
• Photo 1024x768 (1)
• Photo 1024x768 (2)
• Group May 9. Photo album