I had been to the WWII Memorial Complex before, so I won’t rehash a lot of what I had to say in my blog last year…but this year I was allowed to actually take pictures and I was given a private tour of the place by an English speaking guide, so it was a much more fulfilling experience.
More Ukrainians died in WWII than any other country. Added to that, after the war Stalin did not want Ukrainians to have combat experience, so when the Ukrainian soldiers returned from fighting for their country, he had the soldiers executed. Pretty horrific. And people wonder why there is such hostility between Ukraine and Russia? This is just one of many reasons. I could go on and on about other events in history, but I want to keep it as jovial as possible. Hey look! It’s a dog with a poofy tail!
The memorial complex is not as extensive or high tech as the one in London, but it is very interesting and a must see if you come to Kiev. It’s located on a hill overlooking the city, and at the top of it is the Motherland Monument, which represents freedom. You can see this monument from almost any place in the city because it is massive. The museum itself is three stories, and the third story actually goes up inside the monument and overlooks the city.
When I was here last year, my friend Tom bypassed the museum, and instead walked through what he said was “A very nice walk down to a park and the river.” So I decided to check that out as well. This brings up the age old issue of confusion of vocabulary. For Tom it was a “very nice walk down to a park.” For me it was 212 stairs, in the heat, that ended in a little grove of trees and a view of a freeway with the river on the other side in the distance. Beauty, I surmise, is in the eyes of the beholder. After hiking back up the 212 steps, I thought I was going to die.
So, if you’re ever in Kiev (and why in heaven’s name would you be?) this should be on the top of your list of things to see. Speaking of Tom, he showed up on my doorstep and it was great to see him. Our adventures shall be covered in my next blog! Until then…
Jeff: Aug 21st, 2017
jeffinukraine2016 
As always, I enjoyed your photos and post. Got a little emotional reading part of it and what the jerk Stalin did. I got a laugh out of that walk you took. It made me wonder just what it was that Tom saw that made him think of it as a beautiful walk. Rereading it I saw where he thought of it as a nice walk. The way you describe it, I can think of nicer ones. Then there’s always the nice walk on the Potemkin Steps in Odessa. 🙂 Have a great time and more enjoyable experiences. Keep them posts rolling in. Lookin’ forward to the next one. Tell my brother Hi.and that our landlady Adra said to say Hi and that she’s glad he’s having an enjoyable time.
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Hi Jim! The Potemkin stairs is actually where Stalin did his deed. The soldiers would come into Odessa on ships, and after disembarking they would start to climb the stairs and were gunned down. It was horrific. And somehow, it is left out of my history books. Unbelievable.
Tom actually asked me “You didn’t write about how it was my idea to walk down to that park, did you?” “OF COURSE I did, Tom! I wrote all about it! You’re crazy!” 🙂
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