volgograd, 4

rodina-mat' zovyot!
so proclaims the famous russian propaganda poster from world war II
she holds out the oath of service for the red army
while beckoning towards the brethren going off to fight the fascists
and so proclaims the icon of mother russia,
brandishing a sword 108 feet high
calling on all russians to defend the volga
striding the top of mamayev kurgan in central volgograd
the motherland statue, rodina-mat' zovyot!

the statue itself is 279 ft [85 meters] tall
it was the tallest in the world when erected in 1967
it [and the memorial at the base] were created as a memorial for the battle of stalingrad
the deadliest battle of wwII [and quite possibly the deadliest ever]
there's even a grand marshall of the soviet union buried there
the memorial has a big hand holding an eternal flame in the middle
there are two guards at both entrances
and they do a changing of the guard similar to the one we saw in moscow
i have to say, it's pretty awesome to see

there's a reason the soviets decided to build the monument on mamayev kurgan
most of the area around volgograd is pretty flat
not michigan flat, more like illinois/indiana flat
mamayev kurgan is the tallest hill around
and during the battle, it was used as a headquarters and observation area
it changed hands numerous times throughout the 200 day battle
the hill is also incredibly close to the river, which was the german goal
so the soviets defended it fiercely, throwing everything they had to its defense
complete divisions were obliterated on both sides fighting on that hill

for any/everyone who cares,
here's a fun little story about the battle
the man in charge of the german army when they surrendered was friedrich paulus
the germans surrendered at the end of january 1943
upon hearing that they were mere days from defeat,
hitler field-promoted paulus to generalfeldmarschall, the highest rank possible
[second only to reichsmarschall hermann göring]
since no german field marshalls had ever been captured alive,
the clear implication was that paulus was kill himself to avoid capitulation
much to hitler's anger, paulus surrendered soon afterwards
commenting on hitler's expectation for his suicide, he said,
'i have no intention of shooting myself for that austrian corporal'
he remained in soviet custody until 1953, and moved to eastern germany

so, yeah, that was my day