Where on Earth Week 22: Moscow


Congrats go out to Jim Lee and Kyle for correctly identifying this as the holocaust memorial “behind the Great Patriotic War Museum” in Moscow.

The memorial can be found within Victory Park, an enormous complex in the suburbs of Moscow which houses a Russian Orthodox church, a synagogue, a mosque, a rather large museum detailing the events of World War II, a one-ton memorial obelisk standing 140 meters tall, and this 8-meter tall, memorial to the victims of the holocaust. This sobering Tragedy of Peoples is a haunting portrayal by controversial Moscow sculptor Zurab Tsereteli.

Victory Park itself isn’t the first place on most tourist itineraries. In fact, most visitors probably never make it out this far from the city center. The park, despite its morbid themes expressed in a variety of artistic ways, is still a very nice place for a stroll as well as an opportunity to observe locals enjoying themselves on a sunny afternoon. Many Russians come here to just hang out, skateboard, and drink. It’s an odd mixture of paying respect to the war dead and seizing the day.