Soviet Stavropol, 1972 -- 18 postcard images

Michael Laxer
Feb 24, 2024
2 min read

V. I. Lenin Square

Published in 1972, this packet of 18 particularly vivid photographs showed images of the Russian city of Stavropol which is south of Rostov-on-Don and Volgograd. At this time it was a rapidly growing administrative, cultural and industrial city with a population of around 250,000.

Stavropol saw fighting during the Russian Civil War and was heavily damaged during the Second World War when it was occupied by the Germans in August, 1942. It was liberated in January, 1943.

The famous Russian author and poet Mikhail Lermontov was exiled to the city in 1840 and as a result here you will find photos of both a library and regional drama theatre named in his honour.

There are also terrific photos of various streetscapes, buildings and monuments including the Children's World Department Store, the Yuri Gagarin Palace of Culture, the very moving Monument of Eternal Glory (WWII Memorial) on Komsomol Hill, and others. The Monument to General Iosif Apanasenko, who was killed in action at the Battle of Kursk in 1943, is quite beautiful.

The cards were meant for a domestic audience and I have translated the descriptions from Russian.