![]() The Museum of the Great Patriotic War principally chronicles the Russian experience - politically, home front, economically and principally militarily of WW2. Suffice it to say that this is an absolutely essential stopover for those wishing to understand Russia’s past as well as its present. I’d have a tough time recommending this above a visit to the Kremlin but it’s a close call. Being an avid enthusiast of the time period I could have easily spent a second day here. No country suffered more than the Soviet Union during the Second World War and this museum complex is a fitting memory to those who served. She was able to give interpretations and perspective on the museum along with several personal family stories that added a whole new dimension to my understanding of the time period. That aside, I found the interaction and commentary with my guide (Tatiana Sazonova at to be quite valuable. English signage is actually fairly adequate so those traveling alone will do fine. The latter had several unique exhibits that covered quite a bit of new territory for me especially regarding the battles in the Caucasus and the partisan wars, in addition to sections on "softer" topics such as home life and humor during the war. The highlights for me were the dioramas and main collection. I then spent the rest of day in the museum alone, exploring the collection for several hours until closing. We first toured the halls and then the dioramas, covering each in detail. The interior is huge and roughly organized into four categories: the six famous dioramas, a didactic section on various aspects of the war, two large memorial halls, and everything else (exhibits, upper floor art gallery, etc.). The walk from the station to the museum is an integral part of the experience here as you can almost feel the Victory Monument’s winged Nike descend upon you as you near the museum.Īdmission to the museum proper is a straightforward affair with a reasonable price (~100R if I recall). It is easily accessible via the Kutuzovskaya Metro station, about a five minute walk from the museum. ![]() I visited the Great Patriotic War Museum with a private guide on a Sunday after spending several days around Red Square and the Kremlin. Confronting the true scope of the loss at this monument in a critical step in understanding the arc of Soviet history, in my opinion, and I think that this for me was the single most important site to witness on our trip to Russia. One comes away in awe of a nation that sacrificed itself quite literally to rid the world of its most dangerous idea ever. It may seem to westerners (did to me) that every edifice and artwork created after WWII is a monument to WWII, and the boundless optimism with which the USSR was dreamed and built prior to the rise of fascism never returned. ![]() The giant allegory of victory bounds skyward in an unbelievably large rotunda surround by bas reliefs of hero cities and lists of their sacrifices, over an ethereal catacomb where the allegorical sculpture of loss holds a fallen soldier, the passageway down to approach this secular chapel space lined by literal books of the dead. The memorial complex on Victory (Pobedy) Hill is the most moving, significant, and impressive monument that I have ever seen. Any attempt to memorialize the unfathomable scope of this tragedy and it's effect on the then-young nation is daunting. The USSR lost 50 citizens for every American citizen killed in the fight against fascism, and the humanitarian tragedies in "Soviet Hero Cities" are unthinkable by any contemporary standard. Many Americans, myself included, vastly overestimate our own involvement in the war. Over 10,000,000 Soviet soldiers died in WWII, with civilian casualties totaling at least that number again as the besieged and relatively young USSR fought to rid the world of fascism, and for its own ongoing existence. Oh and the museum wasn't that great anyway unless you are a real war buff, and they charge foreigners much more to enter. Basically nobody there spoke english, so that makes foreigners easy targets because there's only so little you can do when they know you can't communicate. This is after they found out i was leaving moscow the next day. However at the video room, the tapes have coincidentally been sent to the security company for archival, and cannot be retrieved until 3 days later. Managed to get to the manager and i told him i wanted to review the security tapes, she became absolutely hysterical. With the help of some kind translators, found out that she accused me of lying and claimed i did not come with a jacket. When i came back later to get my stuff, my jacket was gone and the same lady snapped at me "no number, no jacket". Left my bag and jacket at the counter, the lady only gave me a tag for my bag and when i explicitly asked for a tag for my jacket and she said there was no need. My leather jacket got stolen by the museum staff at the coat check.
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