Penza, 7 May 2015. PenzaNews. The grand opening of the memorial “They Fought for Their Motherland” dedicated to the memory of heroes of the Second World War, took place near the Penza State University on Thursday, May 7.

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The monument worth over 3 million rubles was financed by the university and at its initiative. The plates of the monument made of modern heavy-duty material “alucobond” immortalize the 428 names of PSU professors, staff members and students who fought in the battles of the Great Patriotic War.

“420 students, staff and faculty of our university went to the front and fought for their country during the war. Many of them died. Afterwards, 257 participants of the Great Patriotic War worked at the Polytechnic Institute. Unfortunately, many of them have not lived up to our time,” Alexander Gulyakov, PSU rector, said.

According to him, at present the University Veterans’ Council consists of 25 war veterans and 55 veterans of the labor front, six of them like war veterans Alexei Shurman, Ikhil Goreshnik, Boris Maleev, and veterans of the labor front Oleg Barsukov, Nikolai Vashkevich, Nadezhda Lobanova, continue their strife.

“This monument lists the names of 420 people: fortunately, 25 of them are currently alive. Our sacred duty is to remember them, honor them and learn from their example of serving our homeland,” Alexander Gulyakov stressed.

The University rector also addressed the words of gratitude to the monument builders, who created the quality memorial in the shortest time possible.