On May 9, 1999, the Museum of Military Glory of Saratov, reorganized from a branch of the local history museum, solemnly opened the exhibition in Victory Park on Sokolovaya Hill. On the site of the museum a unique collection of military equipment was collected, which then totaled more than 50 units. Exactly a year later, the new museum building began working there, where a collection dedicated to the Great Patriotic War was moved from the old building.
Saratov during the war
The beginning of the war, the Saratovites met the same way as all Soviet people - statements from 22 thousand volunteers who were ready to fight for their homeland. Within a few months, the city’s enterprises were redesigned for military output, and garment factories sewed soldiers' uniforms.
Enterprises, institutions and educational institutions falling into the zone of front-line operations were evacuated to Saratov and the Saratov Region. To the machines, instead of men who went to war, women, retirees, students, high school students got up. The motto of the people who performed the labor feat was: “One norm for themselves, the second for the comrade who went to the front.”
35 large enterprises of the military-industrial complex of the USSR worked in the city. During the war years, their output doubled. Every third military aircraft took off from the Saratov aircraft factory.
The region has become a major evacuation center. She received more than 200 evacuation hospitals, where the care of the wounded, in addition to medical staff, was provided by local residents. In Saratov itself, 30 hospitals were located.
“The rear was the front here”
That was the name of one of the exhibitions of the Museum of Military and Labor Glory of Saratov, open to the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory. In 1942, becoming a front-line city, he continued his labor feat, ensuring victory in the Battle of Stalingrad.
German aviation made regular raids, the purpose of its strikes were factories, oil storage facilities, railway junctions, and hospitals. Saratov sky was protected by Soviet anti-aircraft gunners and pilots, among whom were female combat units.
Residents of Saratov and the region, trying to help the front even more, transferred their savings to the manufacture of tanks and military aircraft, which the soldiers needed. There was not a single enterprise that would not exceed state plans.
Saratovites, like the whole country, greeted the long-awaited victory with glee. And then again there were years, but of peaceful work aimed at restoring the country's economy, destroyed by the war. In just five years, the volume of production in the region has doubled compared with the pre-war period.
The Saratov Museum of Military and Labor Glory was created so that the memory of the heroic deeds of fellow countrymen at the front and in the rear was alive forever.
Museum and Memorial Complex
In 2017, the government of the Saratov region, combining the memorial objects located on Sokolovaya Hill, into a single institution, decided to call it the Saratov historical and patriotic complex “Museum of Military and Labor Glory”.
It consists of:
- The memorial complex "Cranes", created in honor of the Saratovites who died at the front. Here the Eternal flame burns, lit in memory of their feat.
- Saratov State Museum of Military Glory, which includes an exhibition of equipment and an exposition dedicated to rear workers.
- Monuments to participants in military conflicts, border guards, rescuers and firefighters, liquidators of accidents in Victory Park.
The complex is one of the main attractions of the city, where many patriotic events are held. Thousands of guests of Saratov visit it annually, local residents come here as families to stand at memorials, visit exhibitions, take a walk in the park.
Old museum building
On May 9, 1982, the Cranes memorial complex was inaugurated. Birds wedged over Saratov, recalling the events and heroes of the war. On the same day, the Museum of Military Glory of Saratov, located in a small room, began working on Sokolovaya Hill. It was one of the departments of the museum of local lore, but at the same time it became an integral part of the newly created Sokolovaya Gora complex.
His first exposition spoke about the heroes of his countrymen who accomplished feats at the front: I.V. Panfilov, V.V. Talalikhin, N.M. Skomorokhov and other defenders of the Motherland. More than 300 Saratovites received the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, 32 people became full holders of the Order of Glory.
New Exhibition Hall
On May 9, 2000, the new building of the Museum of Military Glory in the Victory Park of Saratov was opened, as well as a platform with military equipment that attracted everyone's attention. The pavilion housed a temporary exhibition of relics of World War II; museum staff opened a permanent exhibition exactly one year later.
Today, many exhibits are participating in the exhibits on display for visitors, of which about 100 units fall to the share of military equipment and weapons. The collection of national economic equipment collected in recent years is represented by more than 50 units.
Exposition “Tragedy and feat. Century XX "
The most terrible and destructive war of the last century, unfortunately, was not the only one that claimed the lives of many people. "Hot spots", armed conflicts, local wars - these are all the names associated with the need for armed protection of the population or interests of the country.
The purpose of the main museum exposition is to tell that solving problems with weapons in their hands leads to innumerable troubles related to loss of life, suffering, destruction, broken destinies. At the same time, the defense of the Fatherland is a feat that must not be forgotten.
Chronicle of military events, stories about the fate of several generations of Saratovites who survived the war years, personal items, awards of war veterans - all this tells about the war of the 40s of the last century. Periodically, the exhibition is replenished with new materials that appear as a result of research and scientific work of the museum staff and assistants.
The second part of the exposition is about the participation of Saratovites in wars little known to the population of our country. The fate of internationalist warriors is as complex and tragic as the war years of older soldiers. But we know much less about their exploits.
The center, which combined both parts of the exposition, became a section with 21 volumes of the Book of Memory. It contains the names of fallen countrymen forever. In two volumes - the names of the people who created the Victory away from the front, working at the machine tools.
Aircraft Yak-1b
In the center of the hall is an authentic fighter plane, which was built at the Saratov Aviation Plant. The only surviving combat vehicle became the central exhibit of the Museum of Military Glory of Saratov. A photo of the airplane adorns booklets and guides to the memorial complex.
The Saratov plant, which produced 8668 Yak-1 and 4009 Yak-3 fighters during the war years, not counting anti-aircraft guns, PPSh machine guns, mines and grenades, made a worthy contribution to the victory over fascist Germany. Allied pilots who fought alongside Soviet fighters also preferred to fly on Saratov planes.
Now the museum Yak-1b flew the battle route from Stalingrad to Sevastopol in the 1940s, personifying the unity of the labor and military exploits of the Saratovites.
Labor Saratov
In 2015, an exhibition dedicated to working days during the war was opened at the Museum of Military Glory of the city of Saratov. The collection contains documents and photographs that were provided by museums, enterprises, archives of the city. Local residents who generously shared their personal collections did not stand aside.
To illustrate the presentation of the material, the museum staff used the method of reconstructing a certain situation. Museum visitors will be interested in visiting the interiors of an apartment, a school class, a factory floor or a design bureau of those war years.
Open air exhibition
The exhibition of military equipment, opened in 2000, contains many military units that participated in the battles of World War II. It was not easy for the museum staff to collect this collection, since the city was not in the zone of front-line operations, and all the equipment repaired in the factory shops was sent back to the front. The city authorities made a lot of efforts helping the museum. Great help was rendered by Belarus, generously sharing exhibits.
Today, visitors can see on the sites of the Saratov Museum of Military Glory various artillery pieces, armored vehicles, missile systems, as well as a significant collection of aircraft, helicopters and modern spacecraft. There are such rare exhibits as an armored train and a combat boat.
Sanitary wagon pharmacy
Among the exhibits of the Museum of Military Glory of Saratov there is a real pharmacy car, which, as part of a medical train, participated in the evacuation of wounded soldiers from the south-west direction. Tours are held on the car, which should be booked in advance.
The military sanitary train was formed from wagons of a specific purpose. The wagons for the seriously and lightly wounded were distinguished by their equipment. Also included were carriages with a kitchen and office space.
Inside the museum car is a pharmacy, which was also a warehouse for medicines and medical equipment. In addition, there is a dressing room, an operating room and a sanitary pass - the site of the initial examination of the wounded and first aid. By some miracle, a boiler room and an autoclave fit for sterilization of medical instruments and linen.
