Memorial to the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition Workers Who Died on the Fronts of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.
This sculpture by Kirill Chizhov takes the form of a symbolic wall separating peacetime and wartime.
On the one side of the bronze sculpture you can see the typical outer apparel of the World War II period, cap and jacket, and a working handset. On the other side, there is a relief image of soldiers at an air defence gun against the background of the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman Pavilion.
The area around the monument is paved with granite. You can walk right up to the monument to get a better look at the details and lay flowers. The landscape design is rounded off by a field of wildflowers and meadow-grass the strict borders of which maintain the geometry of the overall composition.
The History of Creation
On 10 July 2019 a monument to the workers of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition who lost their lives during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 was solemnly unveiled. The four-metre bronze monument was erected on the Square of Industry in front of Pavilion No. 57 Russia — My History.
The date of 10 July was specially selected. On this day in 1941 the Battle of Smolensk began on the main approach to Moscow. It took the lives of 127 out of the 260 workers of the All-Union Agricultural Exhibition who went to join the people's volunteer corps of the 13th Rostokino division.
From 1967, in front of administrative building No. 230, a stele with the names of the workers who died during the war used to stand, but it was lost in the 1980s. The opening of the monument represents another symbolic event in the programme of reconstruction for VDNH.
Young sculptors took part in a design competition to create a model of the memorial. The selection process was supervised by sculptor and People's Artist of Russia Alexander Rukavishnikov. Kirill Chizhov was selected as the winner. His design is called The Wall.