Architectural and sculptural competition to complete the temporary cemetery with 6 845 buried Red Army soldiers killed during liberation of Bratislava was among the most important architectural competitions in the early fifties. Although it was won by Emil Bellus (in collaboration with young architects Ivan Matusik and Ferdinand Milucky), in subsequent selection Jan Svetlik was chosen, no doubt for ideological reasons among others. Surprisingly, the project benefited from substantial changes it underwent during the period that had elapsed from concept to completion. To verify the design, even a 1:1 scale mockup has been erected and the project has been presented to Nikita Khrushchev on his visit to Bratislava. The unwieldy stalinist monument has been transformed into a classical elegant 37.5 m (123 ft.) high obelisk. It was erected on a square podium of the column hall. Mounted at the top of the structure is a figure of a soldier with a flag by Klement Trizuljak. Scattered also around other prominent spots of the devoted site are statues by more prominent sculptors (Tibor Bartfay, Jozef Kostka, Jan Kulich, Rudolf Pribis, Ladislav Snopek), which - however traditionally realistic - do not suffer from the proletarian clumsiness of the early fifties.

Literature:
BEISETZER, Ladislav: Pamätník sovietskym hrdinom na Slavíne v Bratislave. Architektura ČSR 19, 1960, p. 517 – 519.
GOČÁR, Josef: K soutěži na památník Rudé armády na Slavíně v Bratislavě. Architektura ČSR 13, 1954, p. 79 – 85. 
LUKAČOVIČ, Štefan: Súťaž na pamätník Sovietskej armády na Slavíne. Architektura ČSR 13, 1954, p. 74 – 78. 
NAHÁLKA, Peter – CHORVÁT, Miloš: Návrh pamätníka na Slavíne. Architektura ČSR 14, 1955, 9 – 10, p. 347 – 350.
PETERAJOVÁ, Ľudmila: Ďalšia etapa vo vývoji našej architektúry. Výstava ideových architektonických a sochárskych návrhov na Slavín v Bratislave. Kultúrny život 8 (31. 10. 1953), 44, p. 6. 
DULLA, Matúš – MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta: Architektúra Slovenska v 20. storočí. Bratislava, Slovart 2002. 512 p., p. 181, 189, 215, 283, 418.
DULLA, Matúš: Slovenská architekúra od Jurkoviča po dnešok. Bratislava, Perfekt 2007. 196 p., p. 26.

Photo:
Matúš Dulla