Monument to the Liberators of Rēzekne

Location: Rēzekne, Latvia

Completed: 1974

Architects: E. Salguss (architect), O. Siliņš and O. Kalējs (sculptors)

Genre: War memorial, Soviet monument, former USSR

The monument marks the Red Army’s victory over occupying German forces in April 1944. Rēzekne was a strategically important railway junction for the Eastern Front during World War II and although the Soviet’s emphasised the liberation of the city, the primary reason for attacking Rēzekne was to more or less to annihilate it and hence neutralise the enemy’s supply line. The Russians achieved their aim with a series of airstrikes followed by ground attacks on German Army warehouses and other military objects. The campaign killed a large number of Rēzekne’s civilian population and destroyed about 80% of its buildings, which Soviet propaganda later attributed to the Germans.