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Largest World War One Mausoleum: The Mausoleum of Mărășești set world record

Feb 07, 2020
Largest World War One Mausoleum: The Mausoleum of Mărășești set world record
MARASESTI, Vrancea County, Romania--The Mausoleum of Mărășești, a memorial site in Marasesti, Vrancea County, Romania, is   dedicated to the commemoration of the Battle of Mărășești and Romanian Army members who were killed during World War I; containing the remains of 5,073 Romanian soldiers and officers killed in the First World War, it sets the world record for being the Largest World War One Mausoleum, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

The memorial took architects George Cristinel and Constantin Pomponiu 15 years to build and was unveiled on 18 September 1938 by King Carol II.

The Battle of Mărășești, (August 6 to September 8, 1917) was a battle fought during World War I between Germany and Romania.
The Romanian campaign was part of the Eastern Front of World War I, with Romania and Russia allied with Britain and France against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.

Starting with August 6, 1917, in this area was the battle from Mărășești, it was the largest battle ever given by the Romanian Army. For 29 days it was a continuous battle with attacks, counter-attacks on previously established positions.

There were more than 60 strong attacks by the German army, there were massive losses, somewhere at 24,000 / 27,000 say some figures from the dead and missing Romanians, the German side would have risen even to 45,000 dead and missing soldiers.

"In the historical annals, the Battle of Mărășești is called "The Romanian's Verdun" as a duration, importance and loss was a small Verdun ", says Mircea Balica, guardian of the Mausoleum

The motto of the Romanian Army during the battle was "Pe aici nu se trece" (English: "They shall not pass"), probably inspired from the famous slogan of General Nivelle during the Battle of Verdun. Romania lost over 27,000 men, including 610 officers, while Germany lost over 47,000.
Largest World War One Mausoleum: The Mausoleum of Mărășești set world record
The Marasesti mausoleum was built from donations. Subscription lists were made, who had money, donated, who did not, came and helped work to erect the monument.

The land for the construction of the mausoleum was donated, along with an important sum of money, by George Ulise Negropontes, descended from a Greek noble family, who was after the First World War the Mayor of the city-hero Marasesti.

The daughter of Ulysses Negropontes, Elena, was the wife of General Eremia Grigorescu, who made history in the battles in Marasesti. From their marriage resulted a son who would bear the name of his grandfather, Ulysses.

Ulysses was decorated by the French state with the highest distinction, the "Legion of Honor".

"Important personalities of the world belong to the Negropontes family. John Negropontes was the former head of the Central  Intelligence Service of the United States of America (CIA), considered the right hand of former US President George Bush. John Negropontes was also US ambassador to Iraq," the Romanian newspaper 'Adevarul' reported.
Largest World War One Mausoleum: The Mausoleum of Mărășești set world record
In the same Vrancea County, there are three other smaller, simian mausoleums dedicated to the First World War: in Focsani Sud (12 miles/20km), Marasti (15 miles/25km) and Soveja (31 miles/50km).
Largest World War One Mausoleum: The Mausoleum of Mărășești set world record
The GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for the longest memorial wall for war veterans is the 150.42-m Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, USA, completed in 1982 according to the designs of American artist and designer Maya Ying Lin. Vietnam Veterans Memorial consists of a 75.21-m-long wall made of dark gabbro granite, onto which the names of 58,191 servicemen and women were inscribed in a highly regular font spacing and 1.35-cm height, listed in chronological order of death.

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS also recognized the world record for the longest surviving soldier on record; it is Antonio Todde (Italy) who served during World War I. Born 22 January 1889, he died on 4 January 2002 aged 112 years 346 days, surpassing the previous record held by John B. Salling of the US Confederate Army by 41 days.
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