A fact from Soviet War Memorial (Vienna) appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 17 April 2011 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Soviet Union, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Soviet UnionWikipedia:WikiProject Soviet UnionTemplate:WikiProject Soviet UnionSoviet Union
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Russia, a WikiProject dedicated to coverage of Russia on Wikipedia. To participate: Feel free to edit the article attached to this page, join up at the project page, or contribute to the project discussion.RussiaWikipedia:WikiProject RussiaTemplate:WikiProject RussiaRussia
This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history
This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Austria, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to articles about Austria on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please join the project.AustriaWikipedia:WikiProject AustriaTemplate:WikiProject AustriaAustria
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Vienna, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Vienna on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ViennaWikipedia:WikiProject ViennaTemplate:WikiProject ViennaVienna
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Death, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Death on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.DeathWikipedia:WikiProject DeathTemplate:WikiProject DeathDeath
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Sculpture, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Sculpture on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SculptureWikipedia:WikiProject SculptureTemplate:WikiProject Sculpturesculpture
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Visual arts, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of visual arts on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Visual artsWikipedia:WikiProject Visual artsTemplate:WikiProject Visual artsvisual arts
Latest comment: 13 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion
Hello, it was interesting for me to write this article and now I hope everyone will improve it and correct the mistakes I've no doubt made.
Leidseplein (talk) 05:20, 3 April 2011 (UTC)Reply
I originally thought a picture for the infobox that was more of an overview of the whole site would be better. I tried several from Wikimedia Commons like this but they just kept displaying the red x instead of the picture when I tried to use them. I think the pictures used now are fine but if anyone can make more of an overview picture display correctly in the top box, like perhaps this one, go ahead and replace it if you think it looks better. Not a big deal.
Latest comment: 9 years ago3 comments3 people in discussion
Here is what the article is conveying to the reader in summary: "Soviet soldiers invaded Austria, which at the time was part of Nazi Germany, forced the Germans out of Vienna, raped our women and looted our country, and they had the nerve to build this memorial to their dead soldiers who fought against our Nazi rulers?!?!?! How dare they!!!"
Now, the fact is, we are not here to bash the Soviets or the Soviet war dead, who of course sacrificed a great deal to literally liberate Europe from the Nazi terror. That is a fact, of course, that cannot be denied by anyone. That minor detail aside, this article is about a statue. A memorial. It is not a platform for condemning alleged or real Soviet war crimes, or for denouncing the Soviet liberation of Vienna, or for promoting the idea that the statue should be destroyed so Austrian neo-Nazis stop trying to deface it (of course the local press in Vienna never want to admit the existence of neo-Nazis in Austria or even the Nazi past of Austria, but this is a different matter altogether), and so on.
These monuments used to exist in the middle of almost every city in the ex-eastern block countries. As a person from outside the western and eastern blocks even I feel disgusted by seeing these monuments built by oppressors of Eastern Europe to honor the "liberators". The most grotesque one is the one in Berlin just next to Brandenburg Tor and Reichstag. Articles about these statues should have a section regarding their controversy and how they were used as propaganda tools.