In Vinnitsa you can find many interesting places. But if you have already arrived here – it is definitely worth visiting the ruins of Hitler’s headquarters Werwolf, the national memorial complex for the victims of the Nazi regime, and on the way to them lost a small museum of World War II.
It is located in the village Stryzhavka, which is 10 kilometers from Vinnitsa. It is quiet and fascinating here.
In the past, this museum was a children’s health camp. The most interesting thing is that right in the backyard of this camp are the ruins of Hitler’s headquarters Werwolf (Wehrmacht headquarters).
Yes, it’s interesting how children had a rest in Soviet Union times, almost on the historical ruins:)
Museum exhibits
In the museum itself there are weapons not only from the Second World War, but also from Afghanistan. The wars fought by the Soviet Union in the second half of the 20th century. There are even remnants of hailstones and tornadoes from the antiterrorist operation zone of the Ukrainian army in Donbass.
Machine guns, machine guns, and pistols in all sorts of condition, from clean and like new, to rusty fragments. Soviet, German, Czech, homemade.
We were even handed a submachine gun – a PPSh-41 (Shpagin’s machine-pistol) and an MG-42. They were working! The bolts clicked and you could pull the trigger. It’s unusual to hold a machine that can kill.
Also on display in the museum are many personal belongings and equipment. These include communications equipment, playing cards, postcards, propaganda newspapers and leaflets, both German and Soviet. They are on shelves along the walls. Each item has its own story.
There are busts of Stalin and Hitler, paintings of these leaders. There are mannequins in uniform. And also improvised furnishings of the dugout, the office. Flags, pennants, shell casings, fragments of wings, propellers from aircraft, tracks from tanks – that’s what is in the room. All this is collected by enthusiasts over the years.
Regarding personal items and other supplies, I can’t even believe they were ever used. They are so simple when you look back over the past 70 years since World War II.
Each of these items had a life of their own, and now they have found peace in the yard of a former pioneer camp, now a World War II museum near Vinnitsa.
Next we went to the courtyard – where we entered the territory of the World War II museum near Vinnytsia. There are cars, German and British anti-aircraft guns, an anti-tank gun, a field kitchen, remnants of downed German planes with unit identification marks, and air bombs of all different sizes. Markings on the wings and tails are noticeable – perhaps how many enemy planes were shot down.
But I don’t believe it’s real – the paint is so well preserved.
Histories of the Museum of World War II near Vinnitsa
In addition to showing things, the guide paid attention to the emotional component. For example, she told a story – when during the war a cannon from a downed Soviet plane was dug in by the locals as a gate post in the yard. It was accidentally spotted by military searchers. And when they dismantled the gate, it turned out that there was still a shell in the chamber. The cannon had stood as a gate post for over 50 years!
Another story about anti-tank mines. The police were conducting routine activities in the private sector. They found a path of anti-tank mines in one grandmother’s yard! They had been dug in to make it easier to walk between the house and the garden. They were even used to carry heavy objects. The mines didn’t go off – just because there wasn’t enough weight – after all, a tank weighs several tens of tons. Now the mines have been deactivated and their casings are in a museum.
How to get to the museum
To the museum you have to walk 500 meters from the road along Turisticheskaya Street, if you come by commuter bus on the M21. It will be visible at once – there is a makeshift gatehouse, and immediately behind it there is military equipment – anti-aircraft guns, cars of those years.
Музей на карте – Google Maps (will open in a new window).
Cost of attendance
Entrance to the museum territory is 50 UAH ($50). At the entrance, you can immediately pay for the tour and buy a souvenir. There are a lot of souvenirs – badges, cards, coins. The highlight of souvenirs – you will be minted a coin with the coat of arms of Vinnitsa on one side and a stylized swastika on the other (swastika is prohibited in Ukraine – according to the law it’s a Nazi symbol).
Souvenirs are inexpensive – in 20-100 hryvnias you can manage (in 2021 prices). We bought a coin for 40 UAH as a gift for a comrade, who could not go because of COVID.
Also here you can order services – to ride a tank, to shoot from a cannon. But I do not remember their cost).
Next, the tour guide goes with you – and the room assembly hall of the same former children’s camp. And here begins the interesting part.