A collage on a 1978 Soviet postcard depicts memorial sites in the city of Rivne, Ukraine, dedicated to the military and revolutionary history of the Soviet era.
What is shown on the postcard
The postcard features three distinct views. The left, largest photograph shows the Monument to Soviet Army Soldiers, Partisans, and Underground Fighters, designed as a vertical pylon with relief portraits of a Soviet soldier and a bearded partisan. The top-right inset depicts a bust of Oleko Dundich on a tall granite pedestal. The bottom-right inset shows a single-story building with a sign—a memorial museum of the Soviet underground.
Historical note
During the post-war decades, Rivne was heavily memorialized by Soviet authorities as a major hub of the partisan and underground movement in Western Ukraine. The monument to soldiers and partisans on Lenina Street (now Soborna Street) served as a key ideological landmark. The bust of Oleko Dundich, a Serbian revolutionary who died during the Russian Civil War, marked his burial site in the Central Park of Culture and Rest named after T. G. Shevchenko.
Present day
Under decommunization and derussification laws in Ukraine, most of Rivne’s Soviet-era monuments were altered. The main monument to the soldiers and partisans on Soborna Street was dismantled. The bust of Oleko Dundich in Shevchenko Park was dismantled in 2022, and his remains were exhumed and reburied in a city cemetery.
Questions and answers
- What sites are depicted on this postcard? The postcard features three sites in Rivne: the Monument to Soviet Soldiers, Partisans, and Underground Fighters, the bust of Oleko Dundich, and a memorial house-museum.
- Where was the bust of Oleko Dundich originally located? The bust of Oleko Dundich was located over his grave in the T. G. Shevchenko Park of Culture and Rest in Rivne.
- Are these monuments preserved today? No, during the decommunization process, the monument on Soborna Street was dismantled, and the bust of Dundich was removed from the park, with his remains relocated to a cemetery.
See also
The «Old Postcards» archive includes other views of Rivne from 1978.
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