Where the Germans Stopped

Where the Germans Stopped

To keep me out of trouble in the subways and flea markets, my Russian host finagled a car and driver for us while we were in Moscow. Every time our driver passed through a decaying foundry and industrial area on the edge of Moscow he would puff up his chest and straighten his back in a kind of salute.

“Why are you so moved by this tired old part of town?” I asked him.

He pointed to a bronze row of sculptures that resembled tank traps used in war. “This is where the Germans were stopped in 1944,” he said. “A million people starved and froze to death on both sides of this siege line that winter. And we prevailed.”

“Fair enough,” I said, “I endured three days without power on Camano Island last year. I was forced to grind my coffee beans by hand. I know adversity.”

The folky people in the foreground are characters from the painter, Nikoli Pirosmani, a poor Georgean artist who painted on paper bags for his supper.