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On October, 14, 2015 a delegation of the All-Russian Scientific-Research Institute of Aviation Materials headed by Academician of RAS, Evgeny N. Kablov, Director General of VIAM took part in a solemn ceremony of unveiling a monument to the 7^th Bauman division of the national militia.

The monument can be deservedly considered as national, placed in the center of Moscow in the Razgulyay square.  Ordinary citizens, representatives of different organizations, including VIAM transferred the funds to its establishment.
    

Veterans, deputies, residents of the district took the initiative to immortalize the memory and finally it was approved at the meeting of the commission of the Moscow State Duma on the monumental art in July this year.  The sculptor Zurab K. Tsereteli and the architect Michael M. Posochin became the authors of the project. The sculpture composition with the high of three meters represents a female figure, embodying a widow and a mother with a photograph of a dead soldier at her hands, and also a little girl, symbolizing the future generations.

The 7^th division was formed on July, 3-7, 1941.  Over 200 thousand people joined the ranks, including employees of VIAM and plant “Aerogeopribor”, higher-educational teaching personnel and students of the Moscow State Technological University named after N.E. Bauman, the Moscow Institute of Chemical Engineering, the Moscow Engineering and Economics Institute named after Sergo Ordzhonikidze and representatives of many other enterprises of the district. Large number of soldiers of the division died outside the town of Yukhnov, the Kaluga Region and near the Smolensk village of Otnosovo on the bank of Vyazma.

“Thanks to all those who initiated the establishment of the monument, because it is really good cause”, - Nikolai N. Gontschar, Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation told at the opening ceremony. -“We should revere the memory of those who died in that terrible war”. He also expressed his gratitude to VIAM and other organizations for their help in the establishment of the monument and pointed out, that many employees of the institute had died for our capital.

As stated by Konstantin K. Yasinsky, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and employee of VIAM, “Today`s event is necessary and very useful for our young people and they should be brought up in our heroic history, patriotism and by the example of warriors-victors”. In turn, Aleksey M. Smirnov, chairman of the Council of young specialists and scientists of VIAM pointed out, that “Youth of VIAM fully support the initiative “People`s monument” and consider it necessary to revere the memory of fallen heroes and to care about veterans”.

In the course of the opening ceremony, the representatives of VIAM honored the memory of the national militia, laid basket and flowers at the monument.

On the same day, a festival concert was held at the Moscow Children`s Variety Theater and was devoted to the opening of the monument.

During the ceremony the Council of Deputies and the Veterans` Council of Basmanny District awarded a medal and expressed their gratitude to VIAM. Cand. of Sc. (Tech.) Denis V. Grashchenkov, Head of scientific-research bureau “Nonmetallic materials, metallic composite materials” was presented awards.

“Many young specialists, engineers and scientists work at our Institute, and they care with respect to domestic history and honor the memory of those who fought on fronts of the Great Patriotic War and also created weapons of the Great Victory”, - Denis Grashchenkov pointed out. He reminded, that 63 employees of the institute had been awarded with battle medals “For defense of Moscow” for their courage and heroism in those years, and most of them had fought namely as a part of the 7^th division of the militia of the Bauman district of Moscow. “Truly the People`s monument to the warriors-militiamen of the Bauman district embodies unfading military valour and greatness of spirit of our nation, true patriotism and persistence of those, who defended the freedom of our Motherland”, - Representative of VIAM declared.

Denis Grashchenkov pointed out, that: “The establishment of the monument to warriors-militiamen of the Bauman district, among whom had been quite a few employees of our institute,  evoked a vivid response in the hearts of the current generation of VIAM  and the leadership of the institute, who unanimously supported the initiative. The team of the institute voluntarily collected and transferred over 120 thousand rubles.”

It is remarkably, that on October, 10 an initiative group of VIAM`s employees carried out voluntary Saturday work (sybbotnik in Russian) on improvement of a monument to warriors of the 7^th division of national militia of the Moscow Bauman district, established at the 242 kilometer of Minsk highway.