Memorials of the Second World War. Perpetuating Historical Memory

Wherever you go in our country, in a city or in a small village, everywhere you come across tank monuments in parks, modest gravestones by the road, obelisks on the grounds of enterprises and schools, and memorial plaques on the facades of buildings.

Myrnohrad. Donetsk region. War memorial

Memorial complexes and nameless graves of unknown soldiers preserve the memory of the events of the Second World War.

Myrnohrad. Donetsk region. Monument to the fallen Red Army soldiers and underground fighters

Selydove. Donetsk region. War memorial

Kropyvnytskyi. The "Fortress Ramparts" memorial complex

Ukraine, drenched in blood, was freed from the Hitlerites in 1943-1944, but in 76 years no single register of war memorials has been created.

"Sviati Hory" National Nature Park. Donetsk region. Memorial complex

Cherkasy. Hill of Glory. Memorial complex

Kropyvnytskyi. Memorial complex

Kropyvnytskyi. The "Fortress Ramparts" memorial complex

The burials of Red Army soldiers arose spontaneously. Medical orderlies of the field hospitals and local residents buried the fallen in craters from aerial bombs and in trenches.

The Arabat Spit. Kherson region. Henicheska Hirka. Memorial complex

Zolotonosha. Cherkasy region. Mass grave of Red Army soldiers

By decision of the front's Military Council, the first memorial signs were erected.

Myrnohrad. Donetsk region. A memorial sign on the mass grave

"Sviati Hory" National Nature Park. Kamyshev's Oak. The grave of the scout V. M. Kamyshev

Chasiv Yar. Donetsk region. A memorial sign to the soldier-miners of the mining administration

Chasiv Yar. Donetsk region. A memorial sign to the soldier-workers of the refractory plant

Most often this was an obelisk of brick, crowned with a little star.

Vesele. Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. A mass grave in the cemetery

Moskovske, Pokrovsk district, Donetsk region. A memorial sign to the fellow-villager soldiers

The reburial of the remains of Soviet soldiers took place in the post-war years in the centre of settlements.

Ivanivka. Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. A mass grave and a memorial sign to the fellow-villager soldiers

Zhelanna, Yasynuvata district. Donetsk region. War memorial

Zhelanna, Yasynuvata district, Donetsk region. A mass grave of 18 Red Army prisoners of war who died of their wounds, taken off a train during transport from Krasnoarmiisk to Yasynuvata and buried at the station. Surnames unknown

Mykolaivka, Pokrovsk district, Donetsk region. War memorial

Petrivka, Pokrovsk district, Donetsk region. War memorial

Novotoroitske, Pokrovsk district, Donetsk region. War memorial

Myroliubivka, Pokrovsk district, Donetsk region. War memorial

On the common mass graves new monuments were set up, in the hope that "the people's path to it would not become overgrown".

Lysivka. Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. A mass grave and a memorial sign to the fellow-villager soldiers

Velyki Didushychi, Stryi district, Lviv region. War memorial on Hoshivska Street

Skole. Lviv region. War memorial

Chasiv Yar. Donetsk region. War memorial

This place was not always chosen where, in the quiet, one could perform the ritual of remembrance.

Ploske. Svaliava district; Zakarpattia region. A memorial sign to the fellow-villager soldiers

Zhydachiv. Lviv region. War memorial

Dolyna. Ivano-Frankivsk region. War memorial

Most often the memorials were opened in parks and in other public places, where during festive events, demonstrations and public festivities people would not conduct themselves reverently and with restraint.

Holubyne. Svaliava district; Zakarpattia region. A memorial sign to the fellow-villager soldiers

Vasylkivka. Dnipropetrovsk region. War memorial

Vasylkivka. Dnipropetrovsk region. War memorial

Avdiivka. Donetsk region. War memorial

Novomoskovsk. Dnipropetrovsk region. War memorial and eternal flame

Often the burial area is much larger than the spot where the monument stands, but the mounds have disappeared over time.

Drohobych. Lviv region. War memorial

After the war, architects and sculptors, in designing monuments, created the image of the defender of the motherland, the soldier's widow or the grieving mother.

Myrnohrad. Donetsk region. A monument on the mass grave

Chasiv Yar. Donetsk region. War memorial on the school grounds

Chervonyi Yar, Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. Mass grave

Pershe Travnia, Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. Mass grave

The architects took on the task of recreating the events of the most brutal war in all world history, so that future generations could picture, from the sculptural image, the scene of battle, the heroes and their feats.

Novooleksiivka. Kherson region. War memorial

Zolotonosha. Cherkasy region. Tank monument

Sviatohirsk. Donetsk region. War memorial

Vyhoda. Ivano-Frankivsk region. War memorial

The greatest masters of Soviet architecture submitted their works to competitions; most of them are embodied in granite, bronze and stone.

Pryluky. Chernihiv region. Monument to the Young Guard member Oleh Koshovyi, a native of Pryluky

Velyki Sorochyntsi, Myrhorod district, Poltava region. Monument to the underground fighter Olha Bondarenko

Zapsillia. Krasnopillia district. Sumy region. War memorial

Shebelkivka, Donetsk region. War memorial

Serhiivka. Sloviansk district. Donetsk region. A mass grave on the monastery grounds

Zolotyi Kolodiaz. Dobropillia district. Donetsk region. Mass grave 

In small settlements, mass-produced sculptures cast in art workshops were installed.

Pysmenna. Dnipropetrovsk region. War memorial

Kleban-Byk. Kostiantynivka district. Donetsk region. War memorial

Novoekonomichne. Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. War memorial

Maiachky. Sloviansk district. Donetsk region. Mass grave 

Yablunivka. Kostiantynivka district. Donetsk region. Mass grave

Responsibility for the preservation of the memorials was placed on the local authorities.

Izium. Kharkiv region. An exhibition of military equipment on Mount Kremenets

Izium. Kharkiv region. War memorial on Mount Kremenets

Izium. Kharkiv region. Memorial sign

Nykonorivka. Dobropillia district. Donetsk region. Mass grave 

Sloviansk. Donetsk region. A mass grave by the road

Sloviansk. Donetsk region. A mass grave in the cemetery

Enterprises and educational institutions took patronage over the monuments, tidying the surrounding area during spring subbotniks and planting flowers.

Pavlohrad. Dnipropetrovsk region. Tank monument

Pavlohrad. Dnipropetrovsk region. Memorial sign

Mezhova. Dnipropetrovsk region. War memorial

Bobrynets. Kirovohrad region. War memorial

Economic decline, the closure of enterprises and schools, and insufficient funding led to the poor appearance of the monuments, many of which were built in the 1950s-1960s.

Truskavets. Lviv region. War memorial

Druzhkivka, Donetsk region. Monument to the members of the underground organisation "Leninska Iskra"

Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka. Donetsk region. War memorial

Myrnohrad. Donetsk region. A mass grave in the cemetery

Myrnohrad. Donetsk region. A mass grave in the cemetery

There are soldiers' graves with tilted tombstones, with sunken earth and cut-off stars on a little metal pyramid. Unknown burials in the steppe or in the forest thickets will not be seen even by a rare passer-by; no one will bring a little flower or remember the soul of the one who fell in battle.

A single military burial. Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region.

It has happened that monuments were completely destroyed by metal hunters, who smashed the sculpture in search of reinforcing bars.

Pokrovsk. Donetsk region. A destroyed memorial on Olshanskyi Street

Some memorials are being restored by the efforts of veterans' organisations, religious communities and caring citizens.

Pokrovsk. Donetsk region. War memorial in a public garden

Shevchenkove. Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. War memorial on the school grounds

Hrodivka. Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. War memorial in the centre of the settlement

By those who try to preserve the names of the soldier-countrymen and of the soldiers who liberated our land from fascism, old memorial signs and sculptures have in recent years been replaced with new gravestones of modern materials. Often the lists of the fallen on the memorial slabs are supplemented with new surnames that have become known thanks to search work.

Udachne. Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. War memorial in the centre of the settlement

Perhaps they are not always executed to a high artistic standard, but the main thing is that history is not forgotten. It is another matter when new memorials are opened for the sake of publicity, formally erecting, in place of the old monument, a new slab with the traditional inscription "Glory to the fallen heroes" without indicating the date or information about the burial. In a few years no one will be able to say whose mass grave it is and in whose honour the monument was set up.

Novopavlivka. Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. A memorial sign on the mass grave

Dachenske. Pokrovsk district. Donetsk region. A memorial sign to the 4,000 Red Army prisoners of war shot in the concentration camp

In some villages, symbolic memorial signs and crosses are set up in the cemeteries or by the churches in memory of all those who fell at the front, who were not buried by the Christian rite and to whose graves no one will come with a memorial prayer.

Zaderevach. Stryi district. Lviv region. A memorial cross to those who fell in battles for the Homeland

Preserving the monuments of the war — is part of the history and culture of our society and state.