Monument to Kalashnikov with a German rifle. Sculptor Shcherbakov will change the monument to Kalashnikov with a German rifle. Small arms of the Wehrmacht infantry division

On the pedestal of the monument to the gunsmith Mikhail Kalashnikov in Moscow, a drawing of a German assault was found rifle StG 44, developed in Nazi Germany during the Second World War by the designer Hugo Schmeisser.

The discrepancy was discovered by the military historian Yuri Pasholok, who placed in Facebook a photograph of the monument and a copy of the drawings.

“It's a very small background thing. I even wonder how they saw her. We took it from sources. And where we took it, it says "Kalashnikov assault rifle". Something from the Internet, ”Shcherbakov explained the appearance of the German rifle diagram.

The executive director of the Russian Military Historical Society, which ordered the erection of the monument, told the "Moscow" agency that a fragment of the sculptural composition would be cut down.

Note that the monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov was erected on the Garden Ring on September 19. It was designed at the initiative of the Russian Military Historical Society.

The Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK) was put into service in 1949. Outwardly, it vaguely resembles the StG 44, but the mechanisms, assemblies and ammunition are different. Despite this, it is widely believed that the Soviet designer "stole" the development.

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A drawing of a German automatic rifle StG 44 was found on a sculptural composition dedicated to the Soviet designer Mikhail Kalashnikov. The historian drew attention to the diagram of an assault rifle of the Third Reich on a bas-relief on Facebook. “Just don’t say it’s them by accident. For this you have to beat, painful and in public. These are sculptor boys, damn it! ”- reads the caption to the published photo.

The StG 44 assault rifle (Sturmgewehr 44, aka MP 43 / MP 44) was developed by designer Hugo Schmeisser during World War II. Until 1945, about 420 thousand copies were made.

“So far we have no data on the error. We have seven submachine guns, the eighth submachine gun in the hands of. In addition, we depict locksmith and drawing tools. If there is a mistake, we will fix it. The most important thing now is to separate what is happening from the political chatter, ”he said.

According to Shcherbakov, he would like the historian Yuri Pasholok, who discovered an error on the monument, to personally contact the sculptor, "so that I understand what is wrong and where." “At the same time, someone says that this specialist from social networks does not really exist. If there is a specialist and he is right, then we will be very grateful and will make some corrections, ”the author of the monument noted.

At the same time, according to Kononov, the fact that the oversight was discovered suggests that the StG and the Kalashnikov assault rifle are "completely different machines, and it is categorically wrong to accuse Kalashnikov of borrowing."

The Kalashnikov monument by the sculptor Salavat Shcherbakov was solemnly opened at the intersection of Sadovaya-Karetnaya and Dolgorukovskaya streets in the center of Moscow on September 19. In society, the reaction to the new Moscow landmark turned out to be ambiguous. Many Muscovites are embarrassed by the figure of the famous weapon designer and are not sure that such persons should be immortalized. This position was indicated, in particular, by the musician.

At the same time, the artist is confused not only by the ethical side of the issue, but also by the aesthetic one. "Okay. Let Kalashnikov. But why such a mediocre, ugly sculpture? ”Says the musician. According to him, even in soviet times "This idol" would not have passed the artistic council. “Well, why are we so disfiguring our city, disgracing ourselves in front of the whole world?” He concluded.

Makarevich was supported by his colleague - a singer who performed last year at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016. “I cannot remain silent ... it is disgusting to erect such a monument in the center of the capital. A man with a machine gun in his hands! All the authorities are so concerned about the psychological state of children, constantly introducing new prohibitions, and immediately erects a monument to Kalashnikov with the Automaton in the center! What do we teach children? Fight? Make this picture Normal !? There is not enough emotion to express indignation, ”the artist wrote on his Instagram (spelling of the original).

“No dancer or singer will listen to the opinion of a sculptor as he danced or sang. This is a profession, and you don't have to get into it ",

- said Shcherbakov. According to him, even professionals behave modestly and do not absolutize everything as the ultimate truth.

The installation of the monument was timed to coincide with the Day of the Armourer in Russia. The website published congratulations to the workers of the military-industrial complex from Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which the Russian leader also mentioned Kalashnikov. “We are rightfully proud of Russian craftsmen, engineers, designers, whose creative genius created unique, world-famous weapons. The names of such talented gunsmiths as Pavel Zakhava, Georgy Shpagin, Mikhail Kalashnikov will forever remain in the military, heroic history of the Fatherland, ”the text of the congratulation says.

It should be noted that the sculpture installed in Moscow depicting the world famous gunsmith is not the first work on this topic. The previous monument to Kalashnikov was erected in 2015 at the military memorial cemetery in Mytishchi, where the designer was buried after his death in 2013.

“It's a very small background thing. I even wonder how they saw her. We took it from sources. And where we took it, it says "Kalashnikov assault rifle". Something from the Internet, ”the sculptor explained.

Shcherbakov also noted that "if there is a mistake," then it "can be corrected very easily."

The sculptor said that he and his colleagues are now trying to contact an expert who reported the error. "There is no political motive that one of us slipped it," Shcherbakov stressed.

“We are already in contact with everyone. We'll find out everything calmly. The biggest negative thing about this is the behavior of the press and the public. Just some kind of bacchanalia. And the question is working. We once made the star a little smaller on the general's shoulder straps. We fixed it. There are mistakes, ”said the sculptor.

The sculptor then could not explain to RBC what caused the error, assuring that there was no malicious intent, and the young team "tried very hard".

The Ministry of Culture of RBC said that they are not engaged in the installation of monuments, recommending "to address questions to the Russian Military Historical Society or the author of the sculpture Salavat Shcherbakov."

Earlier, singer Andrei Makarevich criticized the monument to Kalashnikov, named his "mediocre, ugly sculpture." In response to this statement, the executive director of the Russian Military Historical Society, Vladislav Kononov, posted on his Twitter page a photo of Mikhail Kalashnikov's daughter, who, according to Kononov, said that “the dog is barking, the caravan is moving.”

Shcherbakov himself called the criticism from Makarevich “unethical”.

"If it was a normal conversation with arguments, this is one thing, but when a person just barked, as they say, it is disrespectful not only to me, but also to the millions of people who like this [the Kalashnikov monument]," the sculptor in a conversation with correspondent of RBC.

The Sturmgewehr 44 rifle was developed in 1943 by the designer Hugo Schmeisser. In total, until 1945, more than 400 thousand of these rifles were produced. The design allowed for single and semi-automatic fire due to the removal of powder gases. The shooting was carried out with 7.92 mm cartridges. Sighting range was about 500-600 m. The rifle was equipped with a magazine for 30 rounds.

According to one of the hypotheses, the Kalashnikov assault rifle is a copy of the StG 44 rifle. "Rumors of plagiarism are fueled by the fact that after the war, more than 50 samples of the StG 44 rifle were taken to the city of Izhevsk, where the AK-47 was actually created," wrote in the magazine "Military Review". However, the authors of the note indicated that the StG 44 and AK-47 are "completely different" from each other. "If you consider every detail of the machines separately, then you will not find anything in common with each other," they wrote in the note.

Monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov on September 19 at the intersection of Sadovaya-Karetnaya and Dolgorukovskaya streets. The sculptor Salavat Shcherbakov became its author. The monument was also opened by the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky, who said that Mikhail Kalashnikov is "[inventor Ivan] Kulibin of the 20th century" and is "a cultural brand of Russia."

The 9.8 m high monument represents the figure of Mikhail Kalashnikov holding an AK-47 assault rifle in his hands. The pedestal depicts the main developments of the gunsmith - various modifications of the Kalashnikov assault rifle and machine gun.

At the monument to the designer inaugurated in Moscow small arms Mikhail Kalashnikov discovered an element with a drawing of the German StG 44 assault rifle, developed in 1944 and in service with the Wehrmacht and the SS. According to Interfax, about this in Facebook reported military historian Yuri Pasholok. He posted on his page a photo of this detail of the monument and an explosion-diagram of StG 44. The author of the monument, sculptor Salavat Shcherbakov, is ready to dismantle this element from the bas-relief, Vladislav Kononov, executive director of the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO), told Interfax. RVIO was the customer of the monument. Kononov added that experts have confirmed that indeed the monument depicts a diagram of a German rifle.

Concern Kalashnikov JSC (part of Rostec State Corporation) stated that the company's specialists “did not carry out the author's supervision of the sculptural composition and were not involved as consultants”. As the representative of the concern Sofia Ivanova told the agency, the experts are ready to advise the creators of the monument.

The sculptor Shcherbakov expressed his readiness to correct the mistake, if it really is confirmed. He explained to the Moskva agency that it was difficult for him to communicate in social networksas he "works more with clay than with a computer." “At the same time, someone says that this specialist from social networks does not really exist. If there is a specialist and he is right, then we will be very grateful and will make some corrections, ”he added.

Scheme of the German assault rifle StG 44

“We have seven submachine guns, the eighth submachine gun in the hands of Mikhail Kalashnikov. In addition, we depict locksmith and drawing tools. If there is a mistake, we will fix it. Now the most important thing is to separate what is happening from the political chatter, ”Salavat Shcherbakov said.

RVIO is grateful to the historian who noticed the erroneous drawing, the head of the organization said. He assured that the sculptor had already arrived at the site and "is dismantling this slab, since, in the opinion of experts, this is indeed a scheme of German weapons." RVIO had one wish for a weapon - the machine gun, which Kalashnikov had in his hands, was supposed to represent one of the first samples, Kononov explained. “Everything else that concerns the bas-relief and other things is the flight of the creative imagination of the sculptor and artist. Unfortunately, this mistake has crept in, ”he noted.

Thanks to Shcherbakov's mistake, "the myth that Kalashnikov borrowed some ideas from his foreign colleagues, primarily from the German designer Schmeisser, has been debunked," the RVIO believes. “Thanks to the comparison of the schemes, everyone now sees and knows that the Kalashnikov assault rifle is a completely different device,” Kononov said.

The monument to Kalashnikov was solemnly unveiled at the intersection of Sadovaya-Karetnaya and Dolgorukovskaya streets on September 19. At the ceremony, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky called Kalashnikov a cultural brand of Russia. The head of Rostec Sergey Chemezov also took part in the ceremony.

The monument is a sculptural composition. One part of it is a five-meter figure of a designer with a submachine gun in his hands, Kalashnikov stands on a 4-meter pedestal.

The editor-in-chief of the magazine "Kalashnikov. Weapons, ammunition, equipment" Mikhail Degtyarev told Metro about the connection and differences between the Kalashnikov assault rifle and the German Mkb.42 rifle and why its drawing appeared on the monument to the great Russian gunsmith. According to Degtyarev, this is the result of the carelessness of the creators and customers of the monument. And this is the second exactly the same "puncture" by the sculptor Salavat Shcherbakov, who had previously armed a Soviet soldier with a German carbine in the Farewell to a Slavic woman monument at the Belorussky railway station in Moscow. The expert also dispelled all rumors regarding possible plagiarism of German developments by Mikhail Kalashnikov when creating his legendary weapons... We also asked questions to the author of the sculpture himself. Recall that today the historian Yuri Pasholok discovered a diagram of the German Mkb.42 rifle on the bas-relief of the monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov.

Shameful inattention.

This is really a drawing of a German machine gun, - says Mikhail Degtyarev. In general, this is certainly a shame and a scandal. The result of the unprofessional work of a group of sculptors and the customer - the Russian Military Historical Society. It should be noted that the creator of the monument, Salavat Shcherbakov, "distinguished himself" in the patriotic arms section for the second time. And it is time to excommunicate him from state orders and patriotic themes. In the case of the monument "Farewell to a Slav" at the Belorussky railway station in Moscow, he managed to cross a Soviet soldier with a German carbine. Then there was also a scandal and it was partially possible to correct the error, and now again on the same rake.

Answering the question of how the creators of the monument could have stumbled upon a drawing of a German machine gun and taken it for a Soviet expert, he said that it was just a consequence of inattention. According to the expert, a big problem is that the creators of the monument did not delve into the specifics of weapons at all.

It is quite understandable how a layman could stumble upon this image - I'm sure chief Editor magazine "Kalashnikov. Weapons, ammunition, equipment". There are a lot of discussions on the Web on the primary and secondary nature of weapons of this period - the 40s of the last century. And the fact that in one place there could be, conditionally, illustrations of the Kalashnikov assault rifle of the first issues and a diagram of the Mkb.42 rifle is nothing surprising. There are a lot of such compilations. And taking into account the fact that these images were not subjected to professional examination, and the sculptors themselves, as their "performance" at the Belorussky railway station showed, do not want to delve into the specifics of the armory. They thought these drawings were similar, and if they discovered the material about AK, then this is what it is. I'm one hundred percent absolutely sure that they just opened a website and took an image from there. Otherwise, they should be in prison, in my opinion.

The son of his class.

We also touched on the theme of the myth that Mikhail Kalashnikov "spied" the idea of \u200b\u200bhis weapon from the Germans, and the legendary Soviet machine gun itself could be plagiarized. The expert considers this version to be completely untenable. He cites the type of car body as an example: the creation of vehicles of a certain shape cannot be considered plagiarism, since they still differ in "stuffing".

This is absolute nonsense, I really do not recommend amateurs to read fabrications on this topic by the same non-professionals, - says Degtyarev. It is necessary to read the works of real gunsmiths. I will explain to you the similarities between the Mkb.42 and the Kalashnikov assault rifle using a clear example. Once there was a type of car body "sedan", which is characterized by four wheels, the presence of a hood, a horizontal trunk and the presence of four doors. And then the first sedan appeared and the rest after it, they are also sedans. Only they have a completely different engine, a different transmission, a different braking system, and so on. But the presence of four wheels unites them all, of course.

Thus, the German machine gun, mistakenly depicted on the monument, simply gave rise to this class of weapons, says Degtyarev. And you need to compare the legendary AK with other Soviet counterparts, with which it competed at the stage of creation. The exhibition of the Artillery Museum of St. Petersburg is dedicated to this.

And now Mkb.42 and Sturmgewehr 44 * are class-forming products, - the specialist explains. The Germans were the first to make weapons with this concept. All those who followed were followers of this class. And the decision to create soviet weapons in this class did not take Kalashnikov. And it is necessary to compare the Kalashnikov not with the Sturmgewehr, but with a dozen other Soviet developments in this class, which non-specialists simply do not know. An exhibition on this topic has just opened in the Artillery Museum of St. Petersburg. It is called "On the way to AK-47", which contains various domestic products that preceded the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Here you need to compare them with each other. AK simply surpassed them all in terms of the totality of qualities.

The sculptor's word.

Note that according to the latest reports, the sculptor Salavat Shcherbakov, the author of the monument to the gunsmith Mikhail Kalashnikov, is ready to correct the bas-relief of the monument after a conversation with the historian Yuri Pasholok, who discovered an error in the composition.

The metro contacted Shcherbakov and asked if it was true that this was the second monument he had made, where the image of German weapons was mistakenly used instead of Soviet ones.

I think it's all not interesting and nonsense, - says Shcherbakov, complaining that the phone has no charge left for a long conversation. - The words "similar" and "curiosity" are there. Yes, it is not necessary at all, well, in general, I'm not interested. So let me not answer.

This is not nonsense, but this very small one takes up space and is easily corrected and has nothing to do with the press, - the sculptor explains. There is a specific bug and it is being fixed. This is just a working moment and has nothing to do with politics. I am surprised at the interest of the press. Either she has nothing to do, or political views so raging ...

* - StG 44 (German Sturmgewehr 44 - assault rifle 1944) is a German assault rifle developed during World War II. About 450 thousand units were produced. Among the machines of the modern type, it became the first development that was mass-produced. From submachine guns (PPSh, etc.) of the Second World War, it differs in a significantly greater range aimed shooting, primarily due to the use of the so-called intermediate cartridge, more powerful and with better ballistics than the pistol cartridges used in submachine guns.