Nazi Germany wasted virtually no time taking over Norway in 1940, and held on to control of that country for four years. Then late in 1944, the Soviet Union's armed forces started the process of liberating Norway by capturing Kirkenes. It was a natural starting point, since the city is only eight miles from the border. The Soviets bombed the heck out of the city, and the Germans torched everything in sight while leaving. That didn't leave much behind, but at least Kirkenes was out of German hands.
The Norwegians, of course, were grateful. Therefore, it erected a statue of a Soviet soldier as something of a thank-you. The monument remains there to this day. It's on a hill overlooking the center of the city. During our visit, we didn't have time to take an upclose look at it. The boat awaited.
But we did have time to check out a statue in the middle of downtown. It's a tribute to the mothers of the city who played an unsung role during World War II. It was put up in 1994, 50 years after the Soviet liberation.
Someone has volunteered to show us around this city, which has two months of non-stop daylight and two months of non-stop darkness:
No comments:
Post a Comment