World War II is a turning point in history not only for Europe but for the whole world. The events experienced by millions of people, the thousands of deaths, the hunger and misery of civilians, the two atomic bombs, and the consequences after the war with destruction and desolation have forever changed ideologies, behaviors, and mentalities. Within this context, the memory of the destruction and the painful experience of the inhabitants of European countries will also become a subject of management by both the victors and the defeated, both for internal purposes and for international diplomacy. Visual works were produced from the memory of this war, with which their commissioners wished to keep it alive in perpetuity, to impose certain aspects of it and to silence others. This study identifies, records, and examines, for the first time at a pan-European level, the main works of art that were created in public spaces around the events of World War II, the battles of image, memory, and public history during the Cold War and the West-East dichotomy. It sheds light on aspects of the history of the Cold War through the history of monuments, while also aiming to interpret the evolution of post-war art in divided Europe.