No, it’s not a strip club… Brest Fortress is famous for its defense against the Nazis which took place from the 22nd to the 30th of June, 1941. One of the first battles of Operation Barbarossa, it was a vicious fight. The Brest Fortress, defended by the Red Army against the Wehrmacht, held out longer … Continue reading »
Filed under Belarus …
The Mound Of Glory, Belarus
The Mound of Glory is a memorial complex, located 21 km from Minsk, Belarus on the Moscow Highway that is intended to honor Soviet soldiers who fought during World War II. It was established in 1969 on the 25th anniversary of the “liberation” of Belarus from the Nazis during Operation Bagration (1944) by bringing in … Continue reading »
Scenes Of Brest, Belarus
Brest is a grim city. A very Soviet-style city dominated by large industries. Nevertheless, the people can be good fun. In this pub pictured below a group of guys started chatting to us in passable English. They started with the preliminaries – where we were from, what we were doing there and such. They soon … Continue reading »
Photo Of The Day: Fall From Grace
Imagine being on the ground to take this picture! The photographer was damned close to the action – or just lucky…
The Countryside of Belarus
A good way to get a feel for a country you are visiting is to take a train journey through it. Andy, Nigel and I took the train from Minsk to Brest and I snapped these photos to try and provide a better sense of what Belarus is like outside the main cities:
Visiting The Museum Of Confiscated Art In Brest, Belarus
One museum in Brest that Andy, Nigel and I enjoyed was the Museum of Confiscated Art (Known locally as the Museum of Salvaged Artistic Values), a display of valuable international art pieces (paintings, sculptures, ceramics) seized by Brest border guards as they were being smuggled out of the country. The museum itself is in an … Continue reading »
Stalin Line Military Complex, Belarus
The original Stalin Line was a line of fortifications along the western border of the Soviet Union. Work began on the system in the 1920s to protect the USSR against “western aggression.” The line was made up of fortified bunkers and gun emplacements, similar but less elaborate than the Maginot Line (and equally ineffective). Following … Continue reading »
