The armored vehicles department, which starts at the Strelka and is located on the embankment, amazed visitors with the variety of machinery that it presented. It included 25 tanks and 18 self-propelled guns, which were originally exhibited in the armored vehicles department (the number of exhibits increased over time). The monstrous "King Tiger" and "Ferdinand" panzers elicited the most public excitement. Some of the exhibited machines suffered no combat damage, but many of the armored vehicles were pierced, and an inscription was placed next to each bullet hole explaining how the damage had occurred and what weapon had caused it.
Such explanations were not superfluous. The exhibition was visited by military experts and delegations from the front. Here, they were able to gain knowledge and learn about new methods of warfare. Still, most visitors were those who worked in the rear. They could ensure that their back-breaking work and hardship were not in vain. Yet another exhibition provided visitors with the opportunity to see the face of the enemy. It was in fact quite scary. This exhibit presented instruments of torture from the Nazi concentration camps and equipment from the gas chambers.
You will find two covered pavilions behind the intersection of the avenue with the embankment and to the left of the embankment. These were used to exhibit small arms and mortars, radios, examples of uniforms, banners, and awards that had been captured from the Germans. Lectures were also presented on how to use weapons as well as on air and chemical protection. Currently, these pavilions have been replaced by playing fields in Gorky Park.
The engineering and automobile departments as well as the home front department were located behind the covered pavilions, near the former Large Mass Field. They extended right up to Golitsyn Pond.
After the war, the exhibition continued to operate just as successfully, as it continued to attract masses of visitors but time passed, and, in August 1948, the head of the Moscow City Council submitted a report to Josef Stalin that read as follows:
"The exhibition of captured weapons, which was established by the decision of the State Defense Committee has done considerable work in promoting the combat power and historic victories of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. During its existence, the exhibition has been visited by more than 7.5 million people.
The exhibition, having successfully addressed its objectives, has now completed its role. Its continued existence is no longer necessary. In addition, the exhibition occupies one-third of the best real estate in the Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure, and thereby it creates a number of difficulties in providing a cultural service for workers in Moscow."
The proposal was accepted, and a committee to close the exhibition was created, chaired by the Chief Marshal of Artillery. Most of the exhibits were transferred to the Central Museum of the Red Army (now the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow).
Such explanations were not superfluous. The exhibition was visited by military experts and delegations from the front. Here, they were able to gain knowledge and learn about new methods of warfare. Still, most visitors were those who worked in the rear. They could ensure that their back-breaking work and hardship were not in vain. Yet another exhibition provided visitors with the opportunity to see the face of the enemy. It was in fact quite scary. This exhibit presented instruments of torture from the Nazi concentration camps and equipment from the gas chambers.
You will find two covered pavilions behind the intersection of the avenue with the embankment and to the left of the embankment. These were used to exhibit small arms and mortars, radios, examples of uniforms, banners, and awards that had been captured from the Germans. Lectures were also presented on how to use weapons as well as on air and chemical protection. Currently, these pavilions have been replaced by playing fields in Gorky Park.
The engineering and automobile departments as well as the home front department were located behind the covered pavilions, near the former Large Mass Field. They extended right up to Golitsyn Pond.
After the war, the exhibition continued to operate just as successfully, as it continued to attract masses of visitors but time passed, and, in August 1948, the head of the Moscow City Council submitted a report to Josef Stalin that read as follows:
"The exhibition of captured weapons, which was established by the decision of the State Defense Committee has done considerable work in promoting the combat power and historic victories of the Soviet Armed Forces in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. During its existence, the exhibition has been visited by more than 7.5 million people.
The exhibition, having successfully addressed its objectives, has now completed its role. Its continued existence is no longer necessary. In addition, the exhibition occupies one-third of the best real estate in the Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure, and thereby it creates a number of difficulties in providing a cultural service for workers in Moscow."
The proposal was accepted, and a committee to close the exhibition was created, chaired by the Chief Marshal of Artillery. Most of the exhibits were transferred to the Central Museum of the Red Army (now the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow).
