Alyosha

Monuments serve the purpose to establish memory and create identity. Most monuments erected during the Soviet regime were taken away after Estonia regained its independence in 1991. The Bronze Soldier Alyosha, located in the center of Tallinn, remained in its place. For Estonian nationalists this monument was the symbol for Soviet occupation and marked the beginning of Stalinist repressions. However, for many Russians the monument was one of the few remaning symbols that connected them to Russia and Russian identity. Alyosha brings us the people who gathered to the Bronze Soldier in 2005-2007 and whose behaviour created a new line in our cultural memory. What mattered were the rituals around the monument, not the monument itself.