Pin made in the Soviet Union. The text on the pin reads:”Tarusa”. Tarusa also known as Tarussa, is a town and the administrative center of Tarussky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Oka River, 76 kilometers (47 mi) northeast of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 9,660 (2010 Census).
Soviet authority in Tarusa was established on December 27, 1917. In the following years, the town’s churches were closed and a monument to Stalin was erected on the central square. During World War II, German troops approached Tarusa and took it on their way to Moscow.
The town was occupied by the Germans between October 24 and December 19, 1941. After that, the town was retaken by the Red Army which crossed the Oka River in winter under the frantic German fire and successfully attacked the German strongholds on the higher bank of Oka. Remnants of the town’s fortifications and the town wall can still be seen today in the community park near the Peter and Paul Cathedral.