The Battle of Stalingrad

The Museum of Russia Art presents a three-day exhibition dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad, in collaboration with Rossotrudnichestvo (Russian Cultural Centre) and Russia’s Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The exhibition will be on view from May 9 through May 11, 2015. The exhibition includes approximately 60 photographs featuring scenes and participants of the battle, as well as war-period materials and original artwork.

Unprecedented in its scope, the Battle of Stalingrad lasted 200 days, from July 1942 to February 1943, deploying almost two million people, two thousand aircraft, and two thousand tanks. About 800,00 German soldiers and officers were killed, wounded or captured during that time. The Soviet troops defeated five armies: two German, two Romanian and one Italian. The victory of the Soviet troops in the Battle of Stalingrad on February 2, 1943 was a turning point that changed the course of WWII. In his message to Stalin on February 5, 1943, President Roosevelt called the Battle of Stalingrad an epic struggle. The city of Stalingrad, the site of fierce urban warfare, suffered substantial losses.  It was renamed Volgograd after Stalin’s death and awarded the honorary title of the Hero City on the 20th anniversary of the end of WWII in 1965.

Additional support for this exhibit is provided by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and The Dakotas.