Across the street from Belgrade's New Cemetery and actually part of its complex lies the Liberators Memorial, a tribute to the Russians and Red Army soldiers and Yugoslav Partisans who liberated Belgrade in 1944. The sculpure seen here and the relief in the background are the works of sculptor Rade Stankovic, whose work I showed you (although then unknowingly, and thanks to reader "Knez," who told me!) last August.Here's a blurb from the Belgrade National Museum's publication on Stankovic: "...Emulating Michelangelo, Rodin and Meštrović, Rade Stanković (1905-1996) created in plaster, stone and bronze a world of powerful movements in which he focused on representing a universal sculptural theme - human figure..."
Note--thanks to "Belgrader" in the comments below, I altered the title and made an addition to the text.
7 comments:
This is actually not a monument (background) but an entrance to the graveyard of liberators of Belgrade (2,944 Yugoslav partisans and 961 Red Army soldiers).
Carved relief in stone was made by Rade Stankovic. There is also a statue of a Red Army soldier in the middle of the graveyard by Antun Augostincic.
On 9th May '88, Day of Victory over fascism the statue which is in foreground on your photo was revealed it represents a partisan with a lowered rifle as a sign of peace keeping eternal guard over his fallen friends.
The monument is actually not a tribute to Russia and Red Army but to both Yugoslav partisans and the Red Army who fought together.
I'm too young to remember this but I do recall that the liberation was actually a race between partisans and Russian Red Army in order to liberate Belgrade first and create field of influence, something that Tito and partisans didn't want, a strong Russian influence in our liberated country, that's why the liberation was almost not coordinated between them.
wow! the previous commenter sure knows his stuff eh?
Very interesting!
Hello readers and especially Belgrader! I wasn't really sure if this was a cemetery since I wasn't able to discern whether the plaques inside were actual burial markers or just names of those (Partisan and Red Army; sorry for the unforgivable error of neglecting the Partisans!). But it seems it is a cemetery from what you say. Thank you so much for clarification.
impressive monument!! thank's for share us! regards
Cemeteries are a great place in every city to visit. I am not a big fan of such, but I have strolled through the cemetery in Gardoš and there are some amazing things to see. Never saw this one.
Fascinating stuff, I love learning new things and I love cemeteries
Those were turbulent times...and project, even today, a convoluted history. I'm sure the note about the "race" is factual, for the Soviets wanted nothing less than to control all of Eastern Europe.
Isn't it intereseting how quickly enemies can become allies and vice versa? The ends, in wartime, usually justify the means.
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