Geography of the USSR. Smolensk under the german occupation

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In all the photos we see the cathedral in the background. in the first two, the building on the left with its long facade was the house of the Red Army

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The church on the right, in the foreground before the cathedral, is the Trinity Monastery.

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Finally two photographs from the bottom of the street. In the firt one, an abandoned Soviet tank. And another taken, apparently on July 15, shows a fish shop that has been burned by artillery fire.

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I think that as we already know the city quite a bit, the time has come to take a tour of the city with photographs of German soldiers doing tourism in the city.



German pilots in the Cathedral of the Epiphany





Other members of the Luftwaffe visiting the city



A young soldier at the Mikhail Glinka Monument



The Monument to the Heroes of the War of 1812



A soldier looks out into the void on the destroyed bridge



A group of smiling soldiers pose for the camera in the remains of the burned-out tram next to the city wall





Another Soviet tank abandoned in front of an advertising sign

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But the most comfortable way to get to know a city is accompanied by a local guide.

Here is a group of incredible photographs in which an officer tours the main monuments of Smolensk with a local policeman who acts as a guide. Let's see them


Hotel Molotov in Smirnova Square


In front of a small Orthodox church


1812 monument


On the bridge


Watching the panorama from the bridge






Several in the Cathedral


The Soviet Haus

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But the city can also be visited without a guide.
These are three photos from my collection.

In front of the teapot building.


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In the 1812 monument.


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From the top of the cathedral. Picture of old MarK tanks from the 1914 War


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Another German soldier poses on a snowy day with the Cathedral in the background of the image.

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Some other places

We will see some other places in the city of which there are some photographs during the German occupation

Like the building of the savings bank, which today is practically the same (as we can see in the final chapter of images from then and now)

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Another typical place in the city is the clock on the building of the Hotel Europeyskaya (from the late 19th century) at the intersection of Bolshaya Sovetskaya and Lenina streets.
The clock is said to have stopped during the bombing of the city on the night of June 29, 1941.







We cannot forget on Kiev Avenue of the Police Academy Building, which the Germans converted into the headquarters of the SD (Sicherheitsdienst) until September 1942.



Another building that remained intact and was used by the Germans was the Telegraph Building





Which is on the same street (Karl Marx) as the Dramatic Theater building.

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Finally, among the train tracks near the station, we saw the silhouette of the Church of Saint Bárbara.



Two closer images





Let us also remember that we have talked about the municipal government of the city (Bügermeisterei), and it was located in the Noble Assembly building.



This is the building



And this is an image of the office of Mayor Boris Menshagin, appointed by the Germans. Appears here signing the Smolensk Appeal. December 1942