Memorial plaque in memory of People’s Militia Divisions of 1941
In July 1941 divisions of the People’s militia, volunteer formations from those who were not subject to conscription for mobilization, were created in every district of Moscow. Poorly trained and poorly armed, the militia suffered huge losses in the battles of the summer and autumn of 1941. Of the twelve Moscow divisions, nine were actually killed, but they delayed the German offensive on Moscow, allowing them to gain time to organize a defensive line on the nearest approaches to the capital. Zamoskvorechye was part of the Kirov and Moskvoretsky districts, where the 9th and 17th divisions of the People’s militia were formed. They consisted mainly of workers and employees of local factories and enterprises. By the time they had left Moscow at the end of July 1941, there were 8,701 people in the 9th Division, and about 7,000 people in the 17th one. Most of them were killed or captured in the fierce battles of October 1941 in the area of Spas-Deminsk and Yelnya. The memorial plaque to the Muscovites-militia of 1941 was installed in Moscow in 2001. It was commissioned by the city administration by sculptor V.A. Surovtsev. The memorial includes a short explanatory inscription and two relief scenes of front-line life. Each of these elements is placed separately and complicates the integrity of the entire composition. Surovtsev contrasts two colorful scenes: the farewell of a girl with a soldier going to the front, and the departure of a car with the militia. Colliding the theme of romantic love with the theme of service to the motherland within the monument, the sculptor gives the work pathetic pathos, bravura and tension. In the image of a warrior saying goodbye to his beloved, the strength of the national character is read.
Address: Moscow, Bakhrushina str., 24, p. 1
