RUSSIA'S WAR MEMORIAL

VICTORY PARK

In Moscow, Victory Park covers 182 hectares. It opened in 1995 with representatives from 56 countries, including President Clinton, present. The metal relief 462-foot high oblique is beautiful. A Mosque, Synagogue, and Russian Orthodox Church are in the park.

We entered the main building to find a Russian band waiting for us. The director stood at rigid attention in a uniform that looked a bit big for him. After they played and sang the Russian National Anthem they swung into the Star Spangled Banner. We all stood at attention and sang loudly along with them as more than one of us had tears in our eyes. What a delight! So far from home, on foreign soil and to have such a warm welcome was wonderful.

A local, very Russian, docent then toured us though the excellent museum. The many dioramas were some of the best I’ve ever seen. Svetlana interpreted for us as we moved through the museum. The guide said, “Twenty-seven million Russians died during WW II, seven million were military and 20 million were civilians. The Battle of Moscow in 1941 was followed by the Battle of Stalingrad, which lasted 200 days killing 4 million people. That battle ended in ’43 when Russian soldiers surrounded 90,000 Germans.

“The Nazis couldn’t capture Leningrad so they bombarded it in a siege that lasted 900 days! The Russians would not surrender. People had no heat, water, or food and were given 4-inches of bread a day. One million died in the first destruction of Leningrad in 300 years.

“Kiev was liberated in November ’43. The Nazis lost 70% of their forces on Russian territory. The siege of Berlin lasted 22 days.”

In the Hall of Glory 12,000 hero names are engraved on the walls. Reliefs encircle the dome and in the center a bronze soldier welcomes and represents the drive from Moscow to Berlin.

It is an excellent war museum with outstanding displays.
At the time of my visit Moscow was in high gear for the 65th D-Day anniversary celebrations. President Bush was due in the city in a few days. Orange, yellow and red flags were all over town. Thousands of flowers---tulips and pansies, were being planted.

INTERESTING VISIT

KGB MUSEUM and RESTAURANT

The KGB Museum is not far from the Kremlin. We passed uniformed guards as we entered. A rather high-up member of the organization met us in the lobby. His English was good and he had a wonderful sense of humor.

He told us, “The KGB was started in 1917 and has changed its name 13 times. In fact it is in the Book of Guinness for that. The organization is presently known as FSB—Federal Security Bureau.

“KGB agents did not wear their rank when on a mission. The FSB reports directly to the President. Today our biggest problems are terrorism and drugs. We have lost 19 agents, ten in one day a while ago, in the fight on terrorism.”

Moving into one of the display rooms he continued, “The first director of the KGB used furniture in his office that was made in America.” In another room he continued, “The US counterfeited documents so perfectly that it was hard to distinguish them from the real thing. But what eventually gave them away was a high-tech secret. The US used stainless steel staples while the Russians still used a material that rusted and the deception was caught.”

Another room showed different secret devises for spying. One listening devise was discovered thousands of feet under the water. When Gary Powers’s plane was hit by a missile in 1960 his plane broke in two and Powers floated to earth. He had cyanide capsules but chose not to use them. Captured, he spent a year and a half in captivity and was eventually exchanged for some Russian the U.S. was holding.

The guide continued, “After Powers release the building was remodeled and his prison cell became my new office.”

It was an interesting tour and not being into that kind of stuff I cannot determine how good the museum was, but the men were well taken by all the spy stuff. I did enjoy the talk of the guide. Before heading to lunch we stopped briefly in a large, well-stocked KGB grocery/variety store.

We lunched at the Sword and Shield restaurant, which was the old KGB restaurant, located about a block down the street from the KGB museum. Pictures of KGB agents covered the walls. A great western-style salad started the meal, followed by a good borsch, pork and rice and finally topped off with ice cream and tea or coffee. We wondered if the chef was the same one who cooked for Brezhnev, Andropov, and Gorbachev. Probably not.

It was an interesting morning in Moscow, Russia.