Vintage 1970's Soviet Postcard Folder of the Streets of Volgograd (Stalingrad)!

Children's Railroad

Recently I came across a folder of postcards published in the USSR in the 1970's that show a variety of streetscapes, important sites and monuments in the city of Volgograd. Volgograd, of course, was called Stalingrad during the Second World War and was the site of not only the largest battle in human history but of the battle where the Red Army turned the tide against the forces of Nazi Germany and its allies.

Over the course of this pivotal battle in the history of the modern world the entire city of Stalingrad was completely destroyed.

The devastation was on a scale that staggers belief.

After the war the city was not only rebuilt but was rebuilt in a way that is both amazing and that also honoured the nearly incomprehensible sacrifices of the city's citizens and of the Red Army's soldiers during the battle with the creation of monuments to their heroism.

When Stalin died and his crimes were revealed and acknowledged by Khrushchev and the Soviet regime, the city's name was changed to Volgograd.

Without any further ado, here are the 31 postcards of 70's era Soviet Volgograd.

All of the captions below the photos are taken from the back of the postcard.

(Click on images to enlarge)

View of Lenin Prospect

Corner of Gogol St.

View of Peace St.

The Volgograd Planetarium 

Volgograd at Night

View of the Volga

Lenin Volga-Don Canal

Street Scene

Central Department Store

Obelisk over the common grave of the fallen soldiers
of the Civil and Great Patriotic Wars

Public Garden

Monument to Lenin on Lenin Square

Staircase leading to the Main Embankment 

Gorky Drama Theatre

"The Grieving Mother" Memorial to the fallen soldiers of
Stalingrad

Street scene of the Lenin Prospect

Monument to fighter-pilot V. Kholzunov
Hero of the Soviet Union

Fallen Warrior Square

Memorial to the fallen soldiers of Stalingrad

Open air cafe

Central Market

Bridge over the river Tsaritsa

The 22nd Party Congress Volga Hydro-Electric Station

View of the Soviet Army Officers Club

View of the 22nd Party Congress Volga Hydro-Electric Station

Main entrance of the Dzerzhinsky Tractor Works

 Interesting monument in front of the Tractor Works no doubt to honour the fact that during the battle factory workers built tanks under fire that were literally driven right off the production line and into battle.

Mill, a relic of the battle

Main Embankment 

Memorial to the fallen soldiers of Stalingrad

"To the Builders of Communism" Monument

See also: Sketches of the Soviet Union in the 70's: Anton Refregier -- Part II Ukraine, Latvia, Armenia, Turkmenia and Georgia

See also: 30 Vintage Streetscapes of Estonia in the 1980's