"Twisted their hands"

In Volgograd, a scandal continues due to the destruction of the Park of the Stalingrad Widows, which was located in the security zone at the foot of Mamaev Kurgan. Experts declare that the authorities of the city and the region are grossly violated by the country's legislation in the field of protection of cultural heritage objects and practically “twisted their hands” to put a signature under this project. Representatives of a variety of public movements and organizations of the city express their outrage by the destruction of the memorable park.

A wave of public protests rose in Volgograd at the end of July, when the park was almost destroyed: the trees were cut down, stumps were uprooted, heavy equipment earned on the site. The Stalingrad regional committee of the Communist Party in its official appeal called the authorities the "act of the next vandalism." The leadership of the Volgograd Regional Branch of the All -Russian Women's Union of the Russian Union of the Russian Union, Nadezhda of Russia, stated that they were outraged by the soulless destruction of the Stalingrad Widow Park and the “uprooting of historical memory.” The head of the Roman Roman, the head of the Investigation Department for the Central District of Volgograd with a request to initiate a criminal case on the fact of cutting down Widow park.

The first tree in memory of the husband, who died during the Battle of Stalingrad, was planted by the worker of the Volgograd Tractor Plant Lyubov Plaikov

The memorial park of the Stalingrad widows appeared near Mamaev Kurgan in 1965. His discovery was timed to the 20th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The first tree in memory of the husband, who died during the Battle of Stalingrad, was planted by the worker of the Volgograd Tractor Plant Lyubov Plakova. Her example was followed by other women who lost their husbands during the war. Near some trees, signs were installed on which the names of the dead were written. Then this site was at the Mamaevo Kurgan and received its unofficial name for the park of the Stalingrad widows. And Inna Goff and Jan Frenkel wrote about this story "in the park at Mamaev Kurgan", which Maya Kristalinskaya sang:

"In the park near Mamaev Kurgan
The widow planted the apple tree,
Attached a plank to the apple tree,
On the plank brought the words:
"My husband was a lieutenant at the front,
He died in the forty -second year,
Where is his grave, I don't know
So I will cry here ... "

The first warnings about gross violations of the Federal Law "On Cultural Heritage Objects (Monuments of History and Culture) of the Peoples of the Russian Federation", when reconstructing the territory of the Vida Park, sounded from the lips of experts and human rights defenders back in November 2016.

I was heard only after the park was destroyed

-Since November last year, I contacted state bodies, warned the public through social networks, journalists and activists-ecologists, veteran organizations, said that it was planned to implement dubious projects in the security zone of Mamaev Kurgan. But I was heard only after the park was destroyed, ”says Galina Shipilova, an expert on conducting a state historical and cultural examination.

The project of improvement of the memorial park, which was developed by the Architectural and Landscape Center "Green Art", was posted on March 20 on the website of the State Protection Committee of Cultural Heritage of the Volgograd Region. The positive results of the examination of this project were also published there, which was held by LLC Architectural and Restoration Workshop of Tikhonov. The trees in the Park of the Stalingrad Widows are in a “oppressed state, the inventory of wood plantings did not reveal trees that have a good condition,” the examination said.

Galina Shipilova says that on April 5, she sent her comments to the committee, indicating three main violations of the requirements of the legislation on the protection of cultural heritage objects available in the landscaping project.

The improvement cannot be cutting down all the trees and replacing them with new ones. The park is called memorial because the trees in it are memorial, which means that each tree should have a special approach

-Firstly, I immediately doubted the desire of the design organization to preserve the park as an object of cultural heritage, since I knew that it was planned to build a very large parking lot on its territory. Secondly, the design organization of the Architectural and Landscape Center LLC Green Art does not have a license to work on the territory of the cultural heritage object. And, thirdly, the state historical and cultural examination of such projects should be carried out by an expert commission of three or more experts. Only one expert worked with the project. And most importantly, work on the conservation should be carried out at the cultural heritage object, that is, that is, that is, Restoration was called a landscaping professions, says Galina Shipilova.

According to her, the work on cutting trees began long before the approval of the project - back in mid -March. And the expert Viktor Tikhonov, in an interview with Radio correspondent, Svoboda himself unexpectedly called the project approved by him the landscaping of the Park "Lays".

Similar projects are made by completely random people, completely terrible quality. By law it is impossible, but in our city everything is possible

- I understand that they were in a hurry. Well now to do. Dates, regulations and everything else. But designers are a complete disgrace. Similar projects are made by completely random people, completely terrible quality. According to the law, it is impossible, but in our city everything is possible. The electronic version of the documents was sent to me for examination, and there work is already going on with might and main. The federal law is violated, but it turns out that you can do [examination], because they promised. How to be here? - asks Tikhonov.

Tikhonov also confirmed Shipilova’s information that the design company has no license to work with cultural heritage objects in the security zone. When asked why he signed an act of state historical and cultural examination of such a problematic project, expert Tikhonov replied that he was "twisted his hands."

I refused to do an examination, but my hands were twisted. They asked, forced, they said - the city really needs

- Now an interesting situation has developed - we (experts) have no right to interfere in the creative process. Such documents are held that just a groan. They made a bark. I refused to do an examination, but my hands were twisted. They asked, forced, they said - the city is very necessary, Viktor Tikhonov admits now.

Work in the security zone of Mamaev Kurgan is carried out to the World Cup, which will be held in Volgograd. Not far from Mamaev Kurgan, the Volgograd-Arena stadium is being built, at which matches will be held.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Council of the Volgograd Regional Branch of the Society for the Protection of History and Culture Monuments Valery Kotelnikov, on March 20, sent an appeal to the Department of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation for the South and North Caucasus Federal Districts with a request to "conduct an audit whether the cultural committee or the State Protection Committee of the cultural heritage of the Volgograd Region was permit for these work."

- I received a response from the Department of the Ministry of Culture that they redirected my letter to the regional committee on state preservation of cultural heritage objects and that they are holding the situation under control. On April 20, I received a response from the state guard committee in which they recognized the violations indicated by us. Indeed, work was carried out on this site without their permission. But what responsibility the perpetrators were brought to, they still have not been informed, ”says Kotelnikov.

These green spaces have come to a deplorable state and have long been needed to update

The director of the FSBBUK "State Historical and Memorial Museum-Reserve" Stalingrad Battle "Alexei Vasin now claims that the whole story with the creation of a widow park is just a myth, trees in the Mamaeva area of Kurgan landed, he says, since 1943, their life life exceeds 60 years.

- To date, these green spaces have come to a deplorable state and have long been in need of updating. The territory at the foot of Mamaev Kurgan, reserved for a memorial park, did not receive proper care for a long time, the examination showed that most of the shrubs and trees are dried or sick, says Vasin.

The chairman of the Road Facilities, Improvement and Environmental Protection Committee Vitaly Zemtsov, willingly talks about the reconstruction plans of the park.

- Already in the spring, about 1,700 young green trees and shrubs of different breeds - catalps, birch, chestnuts and conifers will be planted on the site of old and sick plantations. The care of young plantings will be carried out using an automatic watering system. Currently, workers are proceeding to the vertical layout of the territory and laying the trenches under the arrangement of future pedestrian paths, ”says Vitaly Zemtsov.

The city hall official said that in addition to pedestrian, bicycle paths will also appear in the park, a green amphitheater will be broken, modern park lamps and garden furniture are installed - urns, benches and park sofas. It is planned to complete the improvement by May 2018.

At the same time, we were not able to get a clear answer to the question of whether the mayor's office intends to build a parking lot in one of the parts of the former Stalingrad widow park, although such construction in the security zone of Mamaev Kurgan is prohibited by federal law on the protection of cultural heritage objects. The editors of Radio Liberty sent the corresponding request to the governor’s apparatus. There is no answer yet. Meanwhile, it is known that the Governor of the Volgograd Region Andrei Bocharov personally gave an order to cut the park and the construction of a parking lot to part of its territory.

Now, at the place where the Stalingrad Widowing Park was located, the excavator grows the pit. The place of work is fenced with a temporary fence. Almost all the sawn trees of the old park have already been taken out. The uproot stumps are piled in a large pile. There, heavy vehicles carry soil and fertile soil. Mamaev Kurgan no longer has a park of widows.