Around Christmas time in 2001 I
received a phone call from my friend Tony Noyes (now sadly departed). "Do
you want to come with me and a few mates to Volgograd next year?" he
asked. "Yes" I said in the blink of an eye. Sorting out some papers
today, I came across my notes from the trip. I thought I'd transcribe some of
them and here is Part 1.
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| Central Volgograd (Stalingrad) from the River Volga |
First evening and time for a
beer – which is easier said than done. At first glance the Intourist Hotel –
inexplicably - doesn’t seem to have a bar. In the house rules (four pages of
tightly written words) it says that guests may immediately move to the front of
and queue that forms at the bar. Anyway, it transpires that there is a bar up
on the second floor - discreetly positioned so as to discourage non-residents. We are told that the
unwanted non-residents are “very friendly ladies”. It’s six in the evening but
the bar is closed.
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| View from Hotel Room |
Undaunted we remember that, earlier
in the day, we’d heard music coming from the theatre bar across the road. We
venture across, go down some stairs and push through a pair of swing doors. Two
men come to greet us. One is in military camouflage and the other has his
enormous torso squeezed into a tight-fitting suit. The paramilitary says
‘coats” rather gruffly and we meekly comply.
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| Model of 6th Army HQ - NKVD Museum |
In the interior the lights are dim and the place is empty apart from a couple of girls dressed in tight green basques who appear to be bar staff. Thinking about our modest budgets for the trip we extricate ourselves and find a pavement bar outside. Two beautiful girls walk by offering up coy glances, smiles and a friendly “hello”. We deduce that these must be a couple of the ‘very friendly girls’ that we’d been told about earlier. We draw our anoraks closer and busy ourselves with our beers.
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| The Factory District from Mumayev Kurgan Hill |
The next morning we stroll
down to the bank of the might River Volga before returning for breakfast and
then visiting Fallen Heroes Square and the Railway Station. The latter has
fabulous ceiling paintings showing scenes from the revolution and a badly
overpainted patch covering a picture of Stalin which was defaced in the
Khrushchev era.
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| Station Ceiling Mural |
Next the Reconciliation Cross,
the fireship Gasitel on the bank of the Volga and finally the site of
the headquarters bunker of the Soviet 13th Guards Division. This
historic site is atop a sewage overflow and is surrounded by fishermen most of
whom are periodically swigging from bottles of vodka. After lunch with ‘new
Russians’ we go up to the Mameyev Kurgan memorial complex. We meet a veteran
with a chest full of medals and talk to him for ages. He tells us that he was
one of four machine gun company commanders who spent eleven days fighting on
the hill (which is still covered in battlefield debris). He is tearful at
times.
Vasily Chuikov told us “we hold – you take the hill – you go to die – and die expensively”.
Vasily Chuikov told us “we hold – you take the hill – you go to die – and die expensively”.
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| Steps to the Motherland Statue |
Back to the centre of town
which is place where people watch. Watchers are everywhere. In the lobby of the
hotel – all day, every day. They sit, they stare. They stand, they stare. They
are everywhere. They don’t smile they just watch.
To read Part Two click here.
