Bronze soldier from Tallinn
The bronze soldier ( Estonian : Pronkssõdur ) , originally a monument to the liberators of Tallinn (Estonian: Tallinna vabastajate monument , Russian : Монумент освободителям Таллина , sometimes also Tõnismäe monument , monument erected in 1947 by the Estonian authorities in the Soviet capital Tallinn , in 1947 Estonian authorities which, from the Soviet and Russian point of view, commemorates the liberation of Estonia by the Red Army from the German occupation in September 1944 and honors the fallen soldiers of the Red Army. This view is not shared by many Estonians , for them the statue is a symbol for the occupation and oppression of their country by the Soviet Union in 1940/41 and 1944–1991.
Establishment
The monument designed by the architect Arnold Alas with the bronze figure of a soldier designed by the Estonian sculptor Enn Roos was unveiled on September 22, 1947 on the third anniversary of the Red Army march into Tallinn on the Tõnismägi elevation ( 59 ° 25 ′ 52 ″ N , 24 ° 44 '23.9 " E ). The approximately two-meter-high bronze statue placed in front of a free-standing stone wall depicts a soldier in the Soviet Army. The soldier commemorates his fallen comrades with bowed head, removed helmet and shouldered rifle. The model for this statue was the wrestler Kristjan Palusalu .
According to official information, 13 members of the Red Army who had previously been buried elsewhere were buried under the memorial in April 1945:
- Lieutenant Colonel Michail Kulikow (Михаил Петрович Куликов), commander of the 657th Rifle Regiment of the 125th Rifle Division (* 1909 in Morshansk , Tambov Oblast , † September 22, 1944)
- Captain Ivan Syssojew (Иван Михайлович Сысоев), political commissar in the 657th Rifle Regiment of the 125th Rifle Division (* 1909 in Arkhangelsk Oblast , † September 22, 1944)
- Colonel Konstantin Kolesnikow (Константин Павлович Колесников), deputy commander of the 125th Rifle Division (* 1897 in the Lieutenancy of Saratov , † September 21, 1944)
- Captain Ivan Serkov (Иван Степанович Серков), Chief of Reconnaissance of the 79th Light Artillery Brigade (* 1922 in Ryazan Oblast , † September 21, 1944)
- Guard -Major Vasily Kuznetsov (Василий Иванович Кузнецов), commander of 1222. Selbstfahrlafette Regiment (1908 * in the Ivanovo 22, † September 1944)
- Lieutenant Vasily Volkov (Василий Егорович Волков), commander of a grenade launcher platoon of the 125th Rifle Division. (* 1923 in Kalinin Oblast , † September 22, 1944)
- Captain Alexei Brjanzew (Алексей Матвеевич Брянцев), political commissar of 1222. Selbstfahrlafette Regiment (December 29 * 1917 in the province Altai September, † 22 1944)
- Guard Sergeant Stepan Chapikalo (Степан Илларионович Хапикало), gun commander in the 26th independent Guard Heavy Tank Regiment (* 1920 in Poltava Oblast , † September 28, 1944 after illness)
- Staff Sergeant in the Medical Service Jelena Warschawskaja (Елена Михайловна Варшавская), Divisional Feldscher in the 40th Guards Grenade Launcher Regiment (born January 23, 1925 in Poltava Oblast , † September 23, 1944)
- Sergeant Vasily Dawydow (Василий Иванович Давыдов), gun commander in the 30th Guards Grenade Launcher Regiment (* in Kalinin Oblast , † September 22, 1944)
- Lieutenant Colonel K. Kotelnikow (К. Котельников), († September 22, 1944)
- Lieutenant IM Lukanow (И. М. Луканов) († September 22, 1944)
- Private Dmitri Below (Дмитрий Андреевич Белов), scout of the 23rd Artillery Division
An Eternal Flame was added to the monument in 1964 .
confrontation
After Estonian regained independence, representatives of the Russian minority continued to meet at the monument to commemorate May 9, Victory Day , and September 22, the day the Red Army marched into Tallinn. These actions led to numerous protests from the Estonian population and also resulted in protests by Estonian nationalists. When tensions intensified in September 2006, police cordoned off the area around the memorial and guarded it around the clock for several months.
On January 10, 2007, the Estonian Parliament ( Riigikogu ) passed a law on the protection of war graves. This law created the basis for the removal of tombs located in “inappropriate places” and for reburial of those who were buried there.
On February 15, the parliament passed the law against prohibited monuments by 46 votes against 44 . This was supposed to prohibit the public display of monuments that glorify the Soviet Union or the Soviet rule over Estonia. The bronze soldier was explicitly mentioned and his dismantling was stipulated within thirty days after the law was signed by the president. However, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves made use of his right of veto and refused to sign the law on the grounds that it was not constitutional.
Removal of the monument and reconstruction elsewhere
On the night of April 27, 2007, the Estonian authorities had the memorial removed on the grounds that the war dead who were buried here in the center of the city next to a bus stop would not be given any real grave rest and that it would therefore be sensible to move them to a cemetery.
The Estonian authorities had initially rebuilt the memorial free-standing in the Filtri Street Cemetery in Tallinn ( 59 ° 25 ′ 16.8 ″ N , 24 ° 45 ′ 55.3 ″ E ); the official opening took place on May 8, 2007.
After the stone structures had been reconstructed in the immediate vicinity, the bronze soldier found his final location there ( 59 ° 25 ′ 17.9 ″ N , 24 ° 45 ′ 55.7 ″ E, ).
Political consequences and cyber attacks
The Russian government protested in an official statement against the removal of the monument, which in Russia was understood as a desecration of the grave and deliberate provocation.
In the course of the removal of the Bronze Soldier, demonstrations by Russian-speaking non-citizens since the evening of April 26, 2007 led to the strongest unrest in Tallinn since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the regaining of Estonia's national independence, which lasted two nights and resulted in one death 70 injured claimed. 900 people were arrested.
In addition, numerous hacker attacks have taken place over several weeks since April 27, 2007, targeting state bodies, including the Estonian parliament , the state president , various ministries, banks and the media.
In 2008, an Estonian citizen of Russian origin was charged and sentenced. In March 2009 Konstantin Goloskokow, a functionary of the government-affiliated Russian youth organization Naschi , claimed to be the mastermind behind the attacks. However, the Russian government subsequently rejected all allegations.
Economic consequences
According to a report by the Estonian government made a year after the controversial relocation of the monument, Estonia's long-term losses linked to the incident tentatively added up to 450 million euros (around 3.6% of annual GDP ). Although Russia never imposed official trade sanctions on Estonia, much of the rail and ship transit traffic for Russian goods was diverted to non-Estonian ports. Estonia's tourism industry posted a drop of 18 percent in Russian tourists, while demand for numerous Estonian products in Russia, especially in the food sector , fell.
swell
- ↑ Tallinnas Tõnismäel asuv punaarmeelaste ühishaud ja mälestusmärk ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Internet sabotage: Kremlin youth confess to attack on Estonia. In: The world . March 11, 2009, accessed February 21, 2014 .
- ↑ Aljoscha's expensive move
Web links
- Dispute over Soviet monuments focus on eurotopics.net (offer from the Federal Agency for Civic Education)