Geographical position

Bobruysk is located in the south-west of Mogilev region, 145 km away from the capital of Belarus.

Historical background

Bobruysk was seized with Hitler’s army of soldiers in the first days of warfare. The operation on its liberation started only on June 24, 1944. The soldiers of the 1-st Belarusian front participated in Bobruysk operation under the head of General K. K. Rokossovsky. The Soviet troops stroke from the land and the air. Rokossovsky brought tanks, infantry, horse troops and aviation into play. A fierce battle was waging for several days. As a result, the town was liberated on the 29^th of June.

Population

The population of Bobruysk comprises almost 218 thousand people.

Sights

The residents of Bobruysk had to overcome a lot of hardships during the Great Patriotic War. The German invaders occupied the town, burnt down and sacked houses, killed innocent people, destroyed all that could give hope for the bright future. The liberation of the town was truly “a great occasion with tears in the eyes”, that is why after a while, it was decided to build a memorial in memory of soldiers, participated in the town of Bobruysk liberation.

The initial version of the memorial to the soldiers-liberators was erected in 1964. After a year, it was decided to add an obelisk and two stelae to it. They were intended for the arrangement of the list of the soldiers died in course of the operation of the liberation of Bobruysk. After nine years due to the work of historians, the list was replenished with the names, for the arrangement of which two additional plates were needed. In mid 1990s, four more plates were added to the memorial.

The local authorities made a decision to reconstruct the memorial in 1998. An architect E. Agunovich answered for the realization of the project. His candidature has been chosen with good reason for this task, as the master is a laureate of the State Prize of the BSSR, as well as the member of Paris Academy of Humanities in the sphere of architecture. The memorial was established after a year of the beginning of the project development and it was made of aluminium and bronze. Thus, the memorial to the soldiers-liberators is an open book nowadays. Its pages include 938 names of soldiers, who gave their lives for the liberation of Bobruysk.

The upper part of the memorial is in the shape of a half-sphere, which serves as gates. A sculpture of a rider is established on the pillars, which represent columns of twenty-metre high. A sculptor H. V. Burlakin was an author of it. If you look more attentively, then you can notice that Saint George sits solemnly on a horse. He wears a uniform of the Soviet soldiers by the sculptors decision. He thrusts a spear into a serpent, which symbolizes the defeated fascists’ army.

You can’t visit Bobruysk without seeing this monumental memorial to the soldiers-liberators. It makes you think about courage and firmness of the Soviet soldiers, who stopped the enemy with the cost of their lives and secured the better tomorrow for their descendants.