Fascinating Frieze Moments At The Shon-Sharaf Museum

There are a couple of large, bronze friezes outside the front entrance to the Shon-Sharaf museum, dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. A lot is going on in the friezes. Military preparations, a country pulling together for the war effort. Inspiring. Terrifying.

Small boys building big toys.

Portraits of the engineers of destruction and the aproned workers.

Old women, back at home, picking cotton to help finance the war effort.

Scenes of evacuating the wounded and then operating on them.

Victory! A family reunion and celebration at war's end.

Dynamic Dioramas At The Shon Sharaf Museum

Of course, the most fun part at the Shon-Sharaf museum dedicated to the Great Patriotic War is the group of cool dioramas. Nothing says War Is Hell and we won more than a Nazi beat down with a shovel.

Arrival in Berlin for the final showdown, fighter planes buzzing.

A little reconnaissance. Four eyes are better than two eyes, human or otherwise. Can a German shepherd be trusted? Nazis, impaled and scared.

At the old Tashkent train station, soldiers and officers, guarding and waiting. Nice jodhpurs.

Artillery, busy. Soldier in a log bunker, resting.

Going in for the kill with that lethal shovel.

Reliving The Great Patriotic War At The Shon-Sharaf Museum

The Great Patriotic War is what the Russians and former Soviet bloc countries call World War II. Uzbekistan recently built a museum complex dedicated to that war and the place is filled with the usual hero, sacrifice, violent, tribute efforts. Celebrating the war is an enduring piece of propaganda for the countries on the Eastern front. 

Triumphant entrance.

Beyond the main museum, the grounds are filled with military equipment and trench re-creations. Inside, a classic collection of mean guns and cases filled with uniforms, artifacts.

The entrance lobby features a huge mural, an elaborate illustration of a frozen moment at chaotic Tashkent train station. Soldiers leaving, families saying goodbye to loved ones. Biting bread for good luck.

There are also displays of the war effort at home. A powerful woman using a big tractor. Those boots were made for plowing. Uzbeks were busy growing cotton to finance the fight.

Not holding back with the hand grenades and the yell for victory.