A very soulful walk just outside the city of Yekaterinburg.Russia, stopping off whilst riding from Moscow on the TSE.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, I’m not one for art and monuments but I have to admit, it blew me away.
Created by Ernst Neizvestny and situated at Yekaterinburg’s Memorial Complex for the Victims of Political Repression, a sculpture honouring the memory of victims of Stalin’s Great Terror
Standing at 9ft 10 inches in proper money it depicts two crying masks. One faces towards Europe and the West; the other looks East out towards Asia.
The tears, remarkable small interpretations of the main masks.
During the great purge 1936-1938 it is estimated that between 950,000 - 1,200,000 individuals were either murdered or died of starvation or maltreatment. 75% of all who perished in the gulags were ethic minorities.
Also targeted were criminals, academics, priests, and former white army personnel and supporters. Basically anyone who opposed the Stalinist police state.
There were many native Russians paying homage to lost loved ones
Neizvestny, a native of Yekaterinburg, proposed thus monument in 1990, but due to bureaucracy, including arguments over the size! It was not completed until 2017. Neizvestny died in 2016.
Thank you for walking with me.