
Written by Madina Ismagilova
The idea of producing a series of tanks «Tambovskiy kolkhoznik» (“Tambov collective farmer”) with the help of money donated by citizens belongs to the Tambov region dwellers. For this reason, in 1949 a monument was unveiled in Tambov, on the pedestal of which a T-34 battle tank was hoisted.

History of creation
The front line went through 200 kilometers from Tambov in autumn of 1942. However, people of Tambov region made a big contribution to the victory over fascist Germany. Many of them protected their motherland on the battlefield and others worked in the rear. Tambov dwellers were the first in the country who donated a large amount of money for creating the tank column «Tambovskiy kolkhoznik» (“Tambov collective farmer”). People who did not have money, donated products and warm clothes. In total, 214 thousand poods of bread, 4700 pounds of meat, 3000 kilograms of wool were donated to the Red Army Fund, and 100 wagons of gifts were sent to soldiers. Due to this money about 300 tanks of the famous model «T-34», 25 squadrons of combat aircraft, several torpedo boats were produced in a month and sent to the front. All citizens of the USSR supported this idea and then such tank columns appeared in Moscow, Kuibyshev, Gorkov, Ivanovsk, Ryazan, Voronezh and Novosibirsk.

Purpose of creating the monument
A monument with one of the tanks from this column was created in Tambov in 1949. You can see it now on the Moskovskaya street. This tank headed by Philip Antonovich Gokov the Hero of the USSR had taken part in the Battle of Stalingrad, fights on the Kursk Bulge and battles for the liberation of Ukraine. The author of this project is V.G. Samorodov. The chief idea of the monument is to show the meaning of the Victory, in which the feat of arms of warriors was based on labor heroism. Thus, the design of a pedestal imitating masonry made of stones could symbolize the contribution to the national business of each person working in the rear. This was also indicated by the content of the preserved relief inscription on the northern plane of the pedestal: «The successes of the Red Army would not have been possible without the support of the people, without the dedicated work of the Soviet citizens in factories, mines and mines, in transport and agriculture. The selfless work of the Soviet dwellers in the rear will go down in history along with the heroic struggle of the Red Army, as an unprecedented feat of the people in the defense of their homeland». On the south side was the text of a telegram sent to Tambov, in which the Supreme Commander conveyed «my Stalinist greetings and gratitude to the Red Army». The image of the relief banners on the facade and the direction of the line of inscriptions from both sides seemed to “exalt” both feats of battle and labor.
