Памятники Иркутска

Kolchak Memorial

On Angarsk Street near the Znamenski monastery and not far from the city center of Irkutsk lies the memorial to Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, a White commander during the Russian Civil War. The memorial was erected in 2004 to commemorate the 130th anniversary of his birth. Kolchak occupies an interesting place in the history of Russia and Siberia.  Earlier in his life Kolchak had explored the Artic on a scientific expedition. For his bravery, had even been awarded a gold medal by the Russian Geography Society in 1906 (Eidelman, 25: 2009). When war broke out across Europe, Kolchak served in the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Imperial Navy. After the October Revolution he overtook the White faction in a coup and ruled from Tomsk, until he was forced to flee to Irkutsk. It was there that he was captured in 1919. The following year he was executed by Bolsheviks. “Legend has it that, as he waited to be shot on the banks of a tributary of the Angara River, the admiral sang, “Shine, shine my star,”(Eidelman, 26: 2009).  The memorial was built on the spot where he died.  
 
To his day, the attitudes toward Kolchak and his monument are mixed and controversial. Not everyone agrees on what kind of a role he played in the war. In 2017 “A law suite against the mayor’s office and the government of the Angara region demanding the demolition of the Kolchak memorial,". In addition, local lawyer Oleg Fedorov wants the city of Irkutsk to remove Kolchak’s name from the memorial tablet from outside of the train station, as well as from the museum of local history. In the words of a local historian, the Admiral ordered the execution of over one hundred civilians in the Baikal region. “Alexander Kolchak usurped power and declared himself the ruler of all of Russia… it is unnatural to erect monuments to such people,” (Chernova, 2017). Local journalist and historian Aleksey Petrov doesn’t agree, “He influenced Siberia, and Irkutsk in particular – that is indisputable,”(Kajsin: 2018).
 
This thought process started a dialogue about the life and deeds of Kolchak and whether or not the monument should continue to stand in Irkutsk.  The newspaper “Red Spring” published an article that captured the thoughts of Sergei Yazeva, a professor at Irkutsk State University. His words were critical. “My attitude to the presence of the monument Kolchak rather negative. I believe that this monument should not have erected in Irkutsk. Everything I know about Kolchak makes me think that he is not worthy of a monument… The fact that he was shot does not make this him worthy, his standing does not improve because of it. I think that the descendants of tens of thousands of people who were shot, hung, and raped by the Kolchak regime were not happy about the opening of this monument,”. Despite the negative opinions of some members of the community, it was ruled on June 15th, 2018 that the Kolchak memorial would not be removed (Kajsin: 2018). The debate will surely continue.


Chernova, Marija.  “V Irkutske vnov' iniciirujut snos pamjatnika Kolchaku”. Radio Svoboda. 18 July 2017.https://www.svoboda.org/a/28622426.html.
Chichigina, Alena. “Pamjatnik Kolchaku v Irkutske: snosit' nel'zja ostavit'”. Komsomolskaya Pravda, 15 June 2018.https://www.irk.kp.ru/daily/26842/3883720/.
Eidelman, Tamara. “Alexander Vasiliyevich Kolchak.” Russian Life, Vol. 52, 2009, pp. 24-26.
Kajsin, Sergei. “Panjatnik Kolchaku ne dolzhen byl pojavit`sja v Irkutske”. Krasnaja Vesnya, 30 Mar. 2018.https://rossaprimavera.ru/article/e9c32f8e. 

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