Mamayev Hill - "Hall of the Warrior Glory"

The cylindrical "Hall of the Warrior Glory" is the seventh part of the immens memorial complex on the Mamayev Kurgan (Mamayev Hill). In the middle of the hall is a hand holding the torch of Eternal Fire surrounded by speakers, delivering the sounds of a mourning melody. The walls of the hall are decorated with 43 masaic banners, bearing the names of 7,200 fallen defenders of Stalingrad. The following text can be read above the banners:

"Yes, we were only mortals and few of us survived it, but we all fulfil our patriotic duty to out sacred motherland."

Mamayev Kurgan:
The Mamayev hill (height 103.0 on military maps) was the highest point in Stalingrad (today: Volgograd) and thus an important objective of the German 6th Army during the battle of Stalingrad. Fighting for this hill began on 13 September 1942, when German troops assaulted the fortified Mamayev, which was defended by elements of the Soviet 62th Army. When the Germans took the hill, they began firing on the centre of Stalingrad. The Soviet 13th Guards-rifle Division (10,000 men strong) retook Mamayev on 16 September 1942, suffering extreme losses. The Germans assaulted the hill an avarage of 12 times a day and the hill changed several times of ownership during the battle. The 6th German Army managed to take half of Mamayev hill on 27 September 1942. This situation remained unchanged untill the defenders's relief by the Sovjet winter offensive on 26 January 1943.

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Source

• Text: Kaj Metz
• Photos: Mark F. Levisay

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