Read the story of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. The immortal feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. Know, Soviet people, that you are descendants of fearless warriors! Know, Soviet people, that the blood flows in you of great heroes who gave their lives for their homeland without thinking about the benefits! Know and th

In January 1942, an issue of the newspaper Pravda with the essay “Tanya” was published. In the evening, the story told in the newspaper was broadcast on the radio. This is how the Soviet Union learned about one of the dramatic stories of the Great Patriotic War: a captured partisan remained silent during interrogation and was executed by the Nazis without telling them anything. During interrogation, she called herself Tatyana, and it was by this name that she initially became known. Later, a specially created commission found out that her real name was Zoya. Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

The story of this girl became one of the canonical legends about Soviet heroes. She became the first woman during the war to be posthumously awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the USSR.

Later, like almost all other iconic feats of Soviet citizens, the story about Zoya was revised. In both cases, there were some distortions. Reality was either varnished, turning the girl into a faceless heroic-romantic figure, or, conversely, covered in black paint. Meanwhile, the real story of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya’s combat performance and her death is truly full of both horror and valor.

On September 30, 1941, the battle for Moscow began. Its start was marked by a huge disaster, and the capital was already preparing for the worst. In October, the city began selecting young people for sabotage operations behind German lines. The volunteers were immediately told the not very good news: “95% of you will die.” Nevertheless, no one refused.

Commanders could even afford to select and reject unsuitable ones. This circumstance, by the way, is important in this sense: if something had been wrong with Zoya’s psyche, she simply would not have been enrolled in the detachment. Those selected were taken to a sabotage school.

Among the future saboteurs was a very young eighteen-year-old girl. Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

She ended up in military unit 9903. Structurally, she was part of the intelligence department of the General Staff and worked at the headquarters of the Western Front. Initially it consisted of only a few officers. Military unit 9903 functioned since June 1941, its task was to form groups for operations in the rear of the Wehrmacht - reconnaissance, sabotage, mine warfare. The unit was commanded by Major Arthur Sprogis.

Initially, the results of the sabotage school’s work could hardly be called impressive. There was too little time to prepare each sabotage group. In addition, the front line was constantly rolling to the east, and contact with the groups thrown behind German lines was lost. In the fall of 1941, Sprogis organized a mass recruitment of volunteers for the first time.

The training went quickly. The first deployment behind enemy lines took place on November 6th. The date already says a lot: there was no talk of thorough sabotage preparation. On average, 10 days were allocated for training; Zoya’s group received only four days for preparation. The goal was to mine the road. Two groups set off. The one in which Zoya was walking returned. The other was intercepted by the Germans and died in its entirety.

The order was formulated as follows:

“You must prevent the supply of ammunition, fuel, food and manpower by exploding and setting fire to bridges, mining roads, setting up ambushes in the area of ​​the Shakhovskaya - Knyazhi Gory road... The task is considered completed: a) destroy 5-7 cars and motorcycles; b) destroy 2–3 bridges; c) burn 1–2 warehouses with fuel and ammunition; d) destroy 15–20 officers.

The next raid was planned soon - after November 18. This time the combat mission of the saboteurs looked more than gloomy.

As a desperate measure, the Supreme Command Headquarters decided to resort to scorched earth tactics. On November 17, order No. 428 was issued:

To deprive the German army of the opportunity to be stationed in villages and cities, to drive the German invaders out of all populated areas into the cold in the field, to smoke them out of all rooms and warm shelters and force them to freeze in the open air - this is an urgent task, the solution of which will largely determine the acceleration of the defeat of the enemy and the disintegration of his army.

The Headquarters of the Supreme High Command orders:

1. Destroy and burn to the ground all populated areas in the rear of German troops at a distance of 40–60 km in depth from the front line and 20–30 km to the right and left of the roads.

2. In each regiment, create teams of hunters of 20–30 people each to blow up and burn settlements in which enemy troops are located.

3. If our units are forced to withdraw in one area or another, take the Soviet population with them and be sure to destroy all populated areas without exception so that the enemy cannot use them.

Was it a smart idea to burn villages? To a certain extent it was. The Wehrmacht suffered from poor quartering conditions, and several thousand extra frostbite among soldiers in the Feldgrau hammered an extra nail into the Reich's coffin. Was this idea cruel? More than. If the army mechanism stood behind the Germans and the Wehrmacht could provide its soldiers with at least tents and stoves, the residents of the burned villages could not count on anyone’s help.

In the fierce winter of war, completely different views of the world collided. The people who sent saboteurs to their death understood perfectly well that the disorganization of the German rear would ricochet back on their own fellow citizens. They proceeded from the logic of total war, where the enemy must be harmed by all means.

Residents of the destroyed settlements had their own view of things and, of course, could not be delighted that part of their village would turn into coal in the middle of winter. Subsequently, the Headquarters recognized this measure as erroneous and canceled it. However, privates and junior officers had no room for maneuver: they were soldiers, obliged to follow orders. The specific command for the saboteur squad looked like this:

“Burn 10 settlements (Comrade Stalin’s order dated November 17, 1941): Anashkino, Gribtsovo, Petrishchevo, Usadkovo, Ilyatino, Grachevo, Pushkino, Mikhailovskoye, Bugailovo, Korovino. Completion time: 5–7 days.”

It is characteristic that the order did not at all arouse delight among the young saboteurs. Therefore, according to one of them, Margarita Panshina, they decided not to set fire to residential buildings, limiting themselves to military purposes. It should be noted that in general there were different housing options in Wehrmacht units, but most often residents were expelled from houses where headquarters, communications centers, etc. were located. significant objects. Also, the owners could be evicted to a bathhouse or barn if there were too many soldiers in the house. However, it regularly turned out that German soldiers were quartered next to the peasants.

The group went on a new raid on the night of November 22. However, the Komsomol members, of course, were not real saboteurs. Soon the detachment came under fire and scattered. Several people went their own way and were soon captured by the Germans. These people were executed, and one of the saboteurs, Vera Voloshina, went exactly the same way as Zoya: she was tortured, achieved nothing and was executed only after torture.

Meanwhile, the surviving part of the detachment made their way through the forests to their destination. From a local resident we learned which villages there were Germans. What follows is less like a special operation, but a squad of students with little to no basic training cannot be expected to act like experienced soldiers.

Three people went to the village of Petrishchevo: Boris Krainov, Vasily Klubkov and Zoya. They moved towards the village one by one and, judging by Klubkov’s later testimony, set fire to several buildings. Tangles was captured in the confusion; he came across soldiers while returning to the forest. He was later recognized as a traitor who betrayed the group, but this version looks rather dubious.

In any case, Klubkov escaped from captivity and returned to his own, which is a rather non-trivial step for a coward and a traitor. In addition, Klubkov’s testimony does not conflict with the data of Krainov and the Germans captured later who were involved before this story.

In addition, the persistent torture of Zoya later indirectly testifies to Klubkov’s innocence: he knew no less than Zoya, and, if you believe the version of betrayal, the Germans had absolutely no need to torture Kosmodemyanskaya. Since Klubkov was shot, it is extremely difficult to verify his testimony, and in general, a dark trail of understatement trails behind this case.

Some time later, Zoya went to the village again - to set fire to buildings, in particular the house in the yard of which horses were kept. Instinctively, any normal person feels sorry for horses, but in war conditions, a horse is not a cute animal with smart eyes, but a military transport. Thus, it was an attempt on a military target. Subsequently, a Soviet memorandum stated:

“...in the first days of December at night she came to the village of Petrishchevo and set fire to three houses (the houses of citizens Karelova, Solntsev, Smirnov) in which the Germans lived. Along with these houses, the following were burned: 20 horses, one German, many rifles, machine guns and a lot of telephone cable."

Apparently, she managed to burn something during the first “visit” of the saboteurs to Petrishchevo. However, after the previous raid, Zoya was already expected in the village. Again, the wariness of the Germans is often explained by Klubkov’s betrayal, but after the raid and the capture of one saboteur, it was not necessary to receive any separate information to assume that there was someone else in the forest.

Between the two attacks, the Germans gathered a gathering and posted several sentries from among the residents in addition to their own soldiers. It is very easy to understand these people: a fire in a winter village is a death sentence. One of the guards, a certain Sviridov, noticed Zoya and called the soldiers, who captured Zoya alive.

Subsequently, assumptions were made about the complete absence of Germans in the village of Petrishchevo and the capture of saboteurs by local residents. Meanwhile, in Petrishchev and nearby, two people were captured - Klubkov and Kosmodemyanskaya, and they were armed with revolvers.

Despite the inexperience of the Komsomol members, an unarmed person, obviously, would not go for a revolver, and they could only be captured by numerous people who themselves had firearms - that is, the Germans. In general, in the Moscow region, things were extremely bad with entire residential buildings, and settlements where there were no Germans at all were rare. It was in this village that units of the 332nd Wehrmacht Infantry Regiment were quartered, and in Sviridov’s house, next to which Zoya tried to set fire to the barn, there were four officers.

On November 27 at 7 pm Zoya was brought to the house of the Kulik family. Details of further events became known from her. After the usual search, interrogations began. To begin with, the captured saboteur was beaten with belts and her face was mutilated. Then they drove her through the cold in her underwear, barefoot, burned her face and beat her continuously. According to Praskovya Kulik, the girl’s legs were blue from constant beatings.

During interrogations, she did not say anything. In reality, Kosmodemyanskaya did not possess any valuable information and nevertheless did not provide even unimportant information about herself to those who tortured her. During interrogations, she called herself Tanya, and under that name her story was published for the first time.

It was not only the Germans who beat the girl. On May 12, 1942, the accused resident of the village of Smirnova testified during interrogation:

“The next day after the fire, I was at my burned house, citizen Solina came up to me and said: “Come on, I’ll show you who burned you.” After these words she said, we headed to Petrushina’s house together. Entering the house, we saw partisan Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was under the guard of German soldiers. Solina and I began to scold her, in addition to scolding, I swung my mitten at Kosmodemyanskaya twice, and Solina hit her with her hand. Then Petrushina, who kicked us out of her house, did not allow us to mock the partisan. the day after the partisans set fire to houses, including mine, in which German officers and soldiers were located, their horses stood in the courtyards, which burned in the fire, the Germans set up a gallows on the street, drove the entire population to the gallows of the village of Petrishchevo, where I also came. Not limiting myself to the abuse that I carried out in Petrushina’s house, when the Germans brought the partisan to the gallows, I took a wooden stick, walked up to the partisan and, in front of all those present, hit the partisan’s legs. It was at that moment when the partisan was standing under the gallows, I don’t remember what I said.”

Here, of course, it is easy to understand everyone. Zoya carried out the order and harmed the enemy as much as she could - and objectively did serious harm. However, the peasant women, who lost their homes because of this, could not have warm feelings for her: they still had to survive the winter.

On November 29, the denouement finally came. Kosmodemyanskaya was executed publicly, in the presence of Germans and local residents. Zoya, by all accounts, walked to the scaffold calmly and silently. Near the gallows, as residents later said during interrogations, she shouted:

“Citizens! Don’t stand there, don’t watch, but we must help fight! This death of mine is my achievement.”

Zoya’s specific words before her death became the subject of speculation and propaganda; in some versions she makes a speech about Stalin, in other versions she shouts: “The Soviet Union is invincible!” - however, absolutely everyone agrees that before her death, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya cursed her executioners and predicted the victory of her country.

For at least three days the numb body hung, guarded by sentries. They decided to remove the gallows only in January.

In February 1942, after Petrishchev’s release, the body was exhumed; relatives and colleagues were present at the identification. This circumstance, by the way, allows us to exclude the version according to which some other girl died in Petrishchevo. The short life of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya ended, and the legend about her began.

As usual, during the Soviet period Zoya’s story was glossed over, and in the 90s it was ridiculed. Among the sensational versions, a statement about Zoya’s schizophrenia surfaced, and most recently the Internet was enriched with a speech about Kosmodemyanskaya by a famous public figure and psychiatrist in the first specialty, Andrei Bilzho:

“I read the medical history of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, which was kept in the archives of the psychiatric hospital named after P.P. Kashchenko. Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was in this clinic more than once before the war; she suffered from schizophrenia. All the psychiatrists who worked in the hospital knew about this, but then her medical history was taken away because perestroika began, information began to leak out and Kosmodemyanskaya’s relatives began to be indignant that this was insulting her memory. When Zoya was taken to the podium and was about to be hanged, she was silent, keeping a partisan secret. In psychiatry this is called mutism: she simply did not could speak because she had fallen into a “catatonic stupor with mutism,” when a person moves with difficulty, looks frozen and is silent.”

It is quite difficult to take Bilzho’s word for several reasons. God be with him, with the “podium,” but in a professional sense, the “diagnosis” causes bewilderment.

Such a condition does not develop instantly (a person was walking and suddenly froze); it takes time for the development of complete stupor, usually several days, or even weeks, explains in psychiatrist Anton Kostin. - Considering that before being captured, Zoya underwent training for saboteurs, then was thrown to the rear, performed meaningful actions there, the statement that she was in a catatonic stupor at the time of her execution is, let’s say, a serious assumption. In the photograph, Zoya is being led to execution by the arms and legs, she moves independently, but in a stupor the person does not make movements, he is immobilized, and she should have been dragged or dragged along the ground.

In addition, as we remember, Zoya was not silent during the interrogations and execution, but, on the contrary, regularly talked with those around her. So the version of stupor does not stand up to even the most superficial criticism.

Finally, it is difficult to believe Bilzho for one more reason. After the scandalous remark, the whistleblower said that his father went through the entire Great Patriotic War on the T-34. Meanwhile, due to the fact that in our time the archives of the Great Patriotic War are largely open, we can check this and make sure that Guard Senior Sergeant Georgy Bilzho held the responsible position of head of the ammunition depot during the war.

The post, without any irony, is important, but regarding the T-34, the brain specialist still told a lie, and this circumstance undermines the credibility of the literal interpretation of what was written in the medical history.

Information about Zoe’s mental problems did not appear today. Back in 1991, an article was published according to which Kosmodemyanskaya in her youth was examined at the Kashchenko Hospital with suspected schizophrenia.

Meanwhile, no documentary evidence of this version was ever presented. When trying to establish the authorship of the version, it was discovered that the doctors who allegedly stated this “appeared” only to throw in a sharp thesis, and then mysteriously “disappeared.” In reality, everything is much more prosaic: in her youth, the girl suffered from meningitis, and subsequently grew up as an introverted, but quite mentally healthy teenager.

The story of the death of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya is monstrous. A young girl went to commit sabotage behind enemy lines in one of the most brutal and uncompromising wars in human history, in pursuance of a controversial order. No matter how you feel about everything that’s happening, it’s impossible to blame her personally for anything. Questions for its commanders arise naturally. But she herself did what a soldier should do: she caused damage to the enemy, and in captivity she suffered monstrous torture and died, demonstrating to the end her unyielding will and strength of character.

The story of the young intelligence officer Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya is well known to many generations of Soviet people. The feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was discussed in history lessons at school, articles were written about her and television programs were filmed. Her name was assigned to pioneer squads and Komsomol organizations, and schools still wore it today. In the village where the Germans executed her, a monument was erected, to which numerous excursions were organized. Streets were named in her honor...

What do we know

It seems that we knew everything that was possible to know about the heroic girl. However, quite often this “everything” came down to such cliched information: “...partisan, Hero of the Soviet Union. From a family of rural teachers. 1938 - became a member of the Komsomol. In October 1941, as a 10th grade student, she voluntarily joined the partisan detachment. She was captured by the Nazis during an arson attempt, and after torture she was hanged. 1942 - Zoya was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 1942, May - her ashes were transferred to the Novodevichy cemetery.”

Execution

1941, November 29, morning - Zoya was led to the place where the gallows were built. It was not her neck that they threw a sign with an inscription in German and Russian, on which it was written that the girl was a house arsonist. On the way, the partisan was attacked by one of the peasant women, who was left without a home due to her fault, and hit her in the legs with a stick. Then several Germans started taking photographs of the girl. Subsequently, the peasants, who were herded to watch the execution of the saboteur, told the investigators about another feat of the fearless patriot. The summary of their testimony is as follows: before the noose was thrown around her neck, the girl made a short speech in which she called for fighting the fascists, and ended it with words about the invincibility of the USSR. The girl’s body was not removed from the gallows for about a month. Then she was buried by local residents only on the eve of the New Year.

New details emerge

The decline of the communist era in the Soviet Union cast its shadow on those long-standing events of November 1941 that cost the life of a young girl. New interpretations of them, myths and legends began to appear. According to one of them, the girl who was executed in the village of Petrishchevo was not Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya at all. According to another version, Zoya was still there, but she was captured not by the Nazis, but by her own Soviet collective farmers, and then handed over to the Germans because she set fire to their houses. The third provides “evidence” of the absence of the partisan at the time of execution in the village of Petrishchevo.

Understanding the danger of becoming popularizers of yet another misconception, we will supplement the existing versions of another one, which was outlined by Vladimir Lot in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, as well as some of our own comments.

Version of real events

Based on archival documents, he describes the following picture of what happened at the turn of autumn and winter of 1941 in the Moscow region. On the night of November 21-22, 1941, two groups of Soviet intelligence officers were sent behind enemy lines on a combat mission. Both groups consisted of ten people. The first of them, which included Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, was commanded by Pavel Provorov, the second by Boris Krainov. The partisans were armed with three Molotov cocktails and food rations...

Fatal task

The task assigned to these groups was the same, the only difference being that they had to burn down different villages occupied by the Nazis. So, the group that Zoya was in received the order: “Penetrate behind the front line with the task of burning settlements in the enemy rear, in which German units are located. Burn the following settlements occupied by the Nazis: Anashkino, Petrishchevo, Ilyatino, Pushkino, Bugailovo, Gribtsovo, Usatnovo, Grachevo, Mikhailovskoye, Korovino.” To complete the task, 5–7 days were allotted from the moment of crossing the front line, after which it was considered completed. Then the partisans had to return to the location of the Red Army units and report not only on its implementation, but also report information received about the enemy.

Behind enemy lines

But, as often happens, events began to develop differently than planned by the commander of the saboteurs, Major Arthur Sprogis. The fact is that the situation at the front at that time was tense. The enemy approached Moscow itself, and the Soviet command took various measures to delay the enemy on the approaches to Moscow. Therefore, sabotage behind enemy lines became commonplace and happened quite often. This, of course, caused increased vigilance of the fascists and additional measures to protect their rear.

The Germans, who vigorously guarded not only the main roads, but also forest paths and every village, were able to detect groups of reconnaissance saboteurs making their way to their rear. The detachments of Pavel Provorov and Boris Krainov were fired upon by the Germans, and the fire was so strong that the partisans suffered serious losses. The commanders decided to unite into one group, which now numbered only 8 people. After another shelling, several partisans decided to return to their own, interrupting the mission. Several saboteurs remained behind enemy lines: Boris Krainov, Vasily Klubkov and Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. These three approached the village of Petrishchevo on the night of November 26-27, 1941.

After a short respite and designating a meeting place after completing the task, the partisans set off to set fire to the village. But failure awaited the group again. When the houses set on fire by Krainov and Kosmodemyanskaya were already burning, their comrade was captured by the Nazis. During the interrogation, he revealed the meeting place of the partisans after completing the mission. Soon the Germans brought Zoya...

In captivity. Witness testimony

The further development of events can now be judged mainly from the words of Vasily Klubkov. The fact is that some time after the interrogation, the occupiers offered Klubkov to work for their intelligence in the Soviet rear. Vasily agreed, was trained at the saboteur school, but, once on the Soviet side (already in 1942), he found the intelligence department of the Western Front, which he was sent on a mission, and he himself told Major Sprogis about what happened in the village of Petrishchevo.

From the interrogation report

1942, March 11 - Klubkov testified to the investigator of the special department of the NKVD of the Western Front, state security lieutenant Sushko:

Around two o’clock in the morning I was already in the village of Petrishchevo,” says Klubkov. - When I got to my site, I saw that the houses of Kosmodemyanskaya and Krainov had caught fire. I took out one bottle of flammable mixture and tried to set the house on fire. I saw two German sentries. I got cold feet. He started running towards the forest. I don’t remember how, but suddenly two German soldiers pounced on me, took away my revolver, two bags of ammunition, a bag of food containing canned food and alcohol. Delivered to headquarters. The officer began interrogating. At first I didn’t say that I was a partisan. He said he was a Red Army soldier. They started beating me. Then the officer put a revolver to his head. And then I told him that I had not come to the village alone, I told him about the meeting place in the forest. After some time they brought Zoya...

The interrogation protocol of Klubkov was 11 pages. The latter contains the line: “Recorded from my words, read by me personally, to which I sign.”

Klubkov was present when Zoya was interrogated, which he also told the investigator:

Were you present during the interrogation of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya? - they asked Klubkov.

Yes, I was present.
- What did the Germans ask Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya and what did she answer?

The officer asked her a question about the assignment received from the command, which objects she was supposed to set on fire, where her comrades were. Kosmodemyanskaya remained stubbornly silent. After which the officer began to beat Zoya and demand evidence. But she remained silent.

Did the Germans turn to you for help in obtaining recognition from Kosmodemyanskaya?

Yes, I said that this girl is a partisan and intelligence officer Kosmodemyanskaya. But Zoya didn’t say anything after that. Seeing that she was stubbornly silent, the officers and soldiers stripped her naked and beat her with rubber truncheons for 2–3 hours. Exhausted from torture, Zoya shouted at her executioners: “Kill me, I won’t tell you anything.” After which she was taken away and I never saw her again.

Monument to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya at Novodevichy Cemetery

conclusions

The information contained in the interrogation report of Klubkov would seem to add one very important circumstance to the Soviet version of the death of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya: she was betrayed by her own comrade in arms. Nevertheless, can this document be completely trusted, knowing about the methods of “extorting” testimony from the NKVD? Why was it necessary to keep the testimony of the traitor secret for many years? Why was it not immediately, back in 1942, that the entire Soviet people were told the name of the man who killed the Hero of the Soviet Union Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya? We can assume that the case of betrayal was fabricated by the NKVD. Thus, the culprit in the death of the heroine was found. And certainly publicity about the betrayal would have completely destroyed the official version of the girl’s death, and the country needed heroes, not traitors.

What the document cited by V. Lot did not change was the nature of the sabotage group’s mission. But it is precisely the nature of the task that rightly causes many, so to speak, mixed feelings. The order to set the villages on fire somehow completely ignores the fact that there were not only Germans in them, but also our own, Soviet people. A logical question arises: who did these types of methods of fighting the enemy cause more damage to - the enemy or their own compatriots, who were left on the threshold of winter without a roof over their heads and, most likely, without food? Of course, all the questions are addressed not to the young girl Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, but to the mature “uncles” who came up with methods of fighting the German invaders that were so merciless towards their own people, as well as to the social system in which such methods were considered the norm...

A summary of the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, which was given in history textbooks to Soviet schoolchildren, for several decades was for them the best lesson in patriotism and love for the motherland, courage, and an example to follow. And for modern boys and girls, this woman, or rather girl, is an example of heroism. Zoya’s feat is still being discussed, new facts and evidence are emerging, controversy and even speculation are arising around it. Who was Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya?

Biography of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya

Zoya was a simple girl from the Tambov village of Osiny Gai. She was born into a family of school teachers on September 13, 1923. The family lived near Tambov until 1929, and then was forced to flee to Siberia, fearing denunciations and arrest. The fact is that Zoya’s grandfather was accused of anti-Soviet activities and executed for this. But the Kosmodemyanskys lived in Siberia for only a year, then moved to the outskirts of Moscow.

Zoya lived a short life, and her significant milestones were a meager number of events, not all of which can be called happy:

• excellent studies at school, but lack of mutual understanding with classmates,
• meningitis, meeting Arkady Gaidar in a sanatorium during treatment,
• studying at a sabotage school and sending Zoya’s group behind the Nazi lines,
• successful completion of several tasks, capture and execution.

The difficult life of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, hardships and difficulties did not take away her patriotism and love for the Fatherland. The girl firmly believed in socialism and victory in the War, steadfastly endured all the hardships of captivity and accepted death with dignity - this is a fact that skeptics and pro-Soviet figures are unable to dispute.

Background to the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya

In November 1941, when the Nazis were rapidly advancing and their troops were already on the approaches to the capital of the USSR, Stalin and the military commanders decided to use the so-called “Scythian” tactics in the fight against the enemy. Its essence was the complete destruction of populated areas and strategic objects on the path of advance of enemy forces. This task was to be carried out by sabotage groups, which were specially trained for this purpose in specialized schools, in accelerated courses. One of these groups included Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

In accordance with Stalin’s order No. 0428, the group was supposed to commit sabotage and destroy more than 10 villages in the Moscow region with Molotov cocktails:

• Anashkino and Petrishchevo,
• Gribtsovo and Usadkovo,
• Ilyatino and Pushkino,
• Grachevo and Mikhailovskoye,
• Korovino, Bugailovo and others.

The saboteurs set out on a mission on November 21, 1941, in two groups. They were ambushed near the village of Golovkovo, as a result of which only one group remained, which continued to carry out such a cruel, but necessary task in those realities.

Brief summary of the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya

After the losses suffered as a result of shelling of groups near the village of Golovkovo, the task became more complicated, and the saboteurs, including Zoya, had to gather all their strength to complete the task of Stalin himself. Kosmodemyanskaya was supposed to burn the village of Petrishchevo near Moscow, which was a transport hub for fascist movements. The girl and her colleague, fighter Vasily Klubkov, partially completed the task, destroying 20 horses of the German army along the way. In addition, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya managed to disable German communications, which helped eliminate contact between several German units in the Moscow region and reduce their offensive activity, albeit for a short time.

The leader of the group of saboteurs who survived the ambush, Krainov, did not wait for Kosmodemyanskaya and Klubkov, and returned to the rear. Realizing this, Zoya decided to continue working behind enemy lines on her own and returned to Petrishchevo to start setting fires again. One of the village residents, who at that time was already serving the Germans, by the name of Sviridov, grabbed the girl and handed her over to the Nazis.

Captivity and execution of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was captured by the Nazis on November 28, 1941. The following facts are known for certain about her time in captivity and the torment that the young Komsomol member had to endure:

• regular beatings, including by two local residents,
• spanking with belts on naked bodies during interrogations,
• being driven through the streets of Petrishchev without clothes, in the bitter cold.

Despite all the horrors of torment, Zoya Anatolyevna Kosmodemyanskaya not only did not disclose any information about her groups or assignments, but did not even give her real name. She gave her name as Tanya and did not provide any other information about herself or her accomplices, even under torture. Such resilience amazed not only the local residents, who became unwitting witnesses to her torment, but also the torturers themselves, the fascist punishers and investigators.

Many years after the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, her captivity and execution, it became known that villagers who were then serving for the Germans, whose houses she burned - the wives of the elder Smirnov and the punisher Solin - took part in the torture. They were convicted and sentenced to death by the Soviet authorities.

The Nazis turned the execution of Zoya herself into a whole demonstration performance for local residents who did not show them due respect. The girl was paraded through the streets with an “arsonist” sign on her chest, and a photo was taken in front of Zoya, who was standing on the scaffold with a noose around her neck. But even in the face of death, she called for fighting fascism and not being afraid of invaders. The girl’s body was not allowed to be removed from the gallows for a whole month, and only on the eve of the New Year did local residents manage to bury Zoya.

Posthumous recognition of the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya and new facts

After the liberation of the village of Petrishchevo from the Nazis, a special commission arrived there, identified the body and interviewed witnesses to the events. The data was provided to Stalin himself, and after studying it, he decided to posthumously award Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In addition, they were given a directive to publish material about the feat in the media so that the whole country would learn about the heroism of a simple Komsomol member.

Modern historians have already provided supposedly genuine facts that the girl was betrayed to the Nazis either by her partner or by the group commander, and her heroism and perseverance are just fiction. These data have not been confirmed by anything, nor have they been refuted. Despite attempts to denigrate socialism and everything connected with it, the feat of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya to this day serves as an example of patriotism and heroism for Russians.

Family

Zoya Anatolyevna Kosmodemyanskaya was born on September 13, 1923 in the village of Osino-Gai (the village in various sources is also called Osinov Gai or Osinovye Gai, which means “aspen grove”), Gavrilovsky district, Tambov region, in a family of hereditary local priests.

Zoya's grandfather, the priest of the Znamenskaya Church in the village of Osino-Gai Pyotr Ioannovich Kozmodemyansky, was captured by the Bolsheviks on the night of August 27, 1918 and, after cruel torture, was drowned in the Sosulinsky pond. His corpse was discovered only in the spring of 1919; the priest was buried next to the church, which was closed by the communists, despite complaints from believers and their letters to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in 1927

Zoya's father Anatoly studied at the theological seminary, but did not graduate from it; married local teacher Lyubov Churikova.

Zoya had been suffering from a nervous disease since she was moving from 8th to 9th grade... She... had a nervous illness for the reason that her children did not understand. She didn’t like the fickleness of her friends: as sometimes happens, today a girl will share her secrets with one friend, tomorrow with another, these will be shared with other girls, etc. Zoya did not like this and often sat alone. But she was worried about all this, saying that she was a lonely person, that she could not find a girlfriend.

Captivity, torture and execution

Execution of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya

External images
	Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya is led to execution 2.
	The body of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

Zoya’s fighting friend Klavdiya Miloradova recalls that during the identification of the corpse, there was dried blood on Zoya’s hands and there were no nails. A dead body does not bleed, which means Zoya’s nails were also torn out during torture.

At 10:30 the next morning, Kosmodemyanskaya was taken out into the street, where a gallows had already been erected; a sign was hung on her chest that read “House Arsonist.” When Kosmodemyanskaya was brought to the gallows, Smirnova hit her legs with a stick, shouting: “Who did you harm? She burned my house, but did nothing to the Germans...”

One of the witnesses describes the execution itself as follows:

They led her by the arms all the way to the gallows. She walked straight, with her head raised, silently, proudly. They brought him to the gallows. There were many Germans and civilians around the gallows. They brought her to the gallows, ordered her to expand the circle around the gallows and began to photograph her... She had a bag with bottles with her. She shouted: “Citizens! Don't stand there, don't look, but we need to help fight! This death of mine is my achievement.” After that, one officer swung his arms, and others shouted at her. Then she said: “Comrades, victory will be ours. German soldiers, before it’s too late, surrender.” The officer shouted angrily: “Rus!” “The Soviet Union is invincible and will not be defeated,” she said all this at the moment when she was photographed... Then they framed the box. She stood on the box herself without any command. A German came up and began to put on the noose. At that time she shouted: “No matter how much you hang us, you won’t hang us all, there are 170 million of us. But our comrades will avenge you for me.” She said this with a noose around her neck. She wanted to say something else, but at that moment the box was removed from under her feet, and she hung. She grabbed the rope with her hand, but the German hit her hands. After that everyone dispersed.

In the “Corpse Identification Act” dated February 4, 1942, carried out by a commission consisting of representatives of the Komsomol, officers of the Red Army, a representative of the RK CPSU (b), the village council and village residents, on the circumstances of the death, based on the testimony of eyewitnesses of the search, interrogation and execution, it was established that Komsomol member Z. A. Kosmodemyanskaya before her execution uttered the words of appeal: “Citizens! Don't stand there, don't look. We must help the Red Army fight, and for my death our comrades will take revenge on the German fascists. The Soviet Union is invincible and will not be defeated." Addressing the German soldiers, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya said: “German soldiers! Before it's too late, surrender. No matter how much you hang us, you can’t hang us all, there are 170 million of us.”

Kosmodemyanskaya’s body hung on the gallows for about a month, repeatedly being abused by German soldiers passing through the village. On New Year's Day 1942, drunken Germans tore off the hanged woman's clothes and once again violated the body, stabbing it with knives and cutting off her chest. The next day, the Germans gave the order to remove the gallows, and the body was buried by local residents outside the village.

Subsequently, Kosmodemyanskaya was reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

There is a widespread version (in particular, it was mentioned in the film “The Battle of Moscow”), according to which, having learned about the execution of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, I. Stalin ordered the soldiers and officers of the 332nd Wehrmacht Infantry Regiment not to be taken prisoner, but only to be shot. The regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Rüderer, was captured by front-line security officers, convicted and later executed by court verdict. .

Posthumous recognition of the feat

Zoya’s fate became widely known from the article “Tanya” by Pyotr Lidov, published in the newspaper “Pravda” on January 27, 1942. The author accidentally heard about the execution in Petrishchevo from a witness - an elderly peasant who was shocked by the courage of an unknown girl: “They hanged her, and she spoke a speech. They hanged her, and she kept threatening them...” Lidov went to Petrishchevo, questioned the residents in detail and published an article based on their questions. Her identity was soon established, as reported by Pravda in Lidov’s February 18 article “Who Was Tanya”; even earlier, on February 16, a decree was signed awarding her the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).

During and after perestroika, in the wake of anti-communist criticism, new information about Zoya appeared in the press. As a rule, it was based on rumors, not always accurate memories of eyewitnesses, and in some cases - on speculation, which, however, was inevitable in a situation where documentary information contradicting the official “myth” continued to be kept secret or was just was declassified. M. M. Gorinov wrote about these publications that in them “some facts of the biography of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya were reflected, which were hushed up during Soviet times, but were reflected, as in a distorting mirror, in a monstrously distorted form”.

Researcher M. M. Gorinov, who published an article about Zoya in the academic journal “Domestic History,” is skeptical about the version of schizophrenia, but does not reject the newspaper’s reports, but only draws attention to the fact that their statement about suspicion of schizophrenia is expressed in a “streamlined” way. form.

Version about the betrayal of Vasily Klubkov

In recent years, there has been a version that Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was betrayed by her squadmate, Komsomol organizer Vasily Klubkov. It is based on materials from the Klubkov case, declassified and published in the Izvestia newspaper in 2000. Klubkov, who reported to his unit at the beginning of 1942, stated that he was captured by the Germans, escaped, was captured again, escaped again and managed to get to his own. However, during interrogations he changed his testimony and stated that he was captured along with Zoya and handed her over, after which he agreed to cooperate with the Germans, was trained at an intelligence school and was sent on an intelligence mission.

Could you please clarify the circumstances under which you were captured? - Approaching the house I had identified, I broke the bottle with “KS” and threw it, but it did not catch fire. At this time, I saw two German sentries not far from me and, showing cowardice, ran away into the forest, located 300 meters from the village. As soon as I ran into the forest, two German soldiers pounced on me, took away my revolver with cartridges, bags with five bottles of “KS” and a bag with food supplies, among which was also a liter of vodka. - What evidence did you give to the German army officer? “As soon as I was handed over to the officer, I showed cowardice and said that there were three of us in total, naming the names of Krainev and Kosmodemyanskaya. The officer gave some order in German to the German soldiers; they quickly left the house and a few minutes later brought Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. I don’t know whether they detained Krainev. - Were you present during the interrogation of Kosmodemyanskaya? - Yes, I was present. The officer asked her how she set the village on fire. She replied that she did not set the village on fire. After this, the officer began beating Zoya and demanded testimony, but she categorically refused to give one. In her presence, I showed the officer that it was indeed Kosmodemyanskaya Zoya, who arrived with me in the village to carry out acts of sabotage, and that she set fire to the southern outskirts of the village. Kosmodemyanskaya did not answer the officer’s questions after that. Seeing that Zoya was silent, several officers stripped her naked and severely beat her with rubber truncheons for 2-3 hours, extracting her testimony. Kosmodemyanskaya told the officers: “Kill me, I won’t tell you anything.” After which she was taken away, and I never saw her again.

Klubkov was shot for treason on April 16, 1942. His testimony, as well as the very fact of his presence in the village during Zoya’s interrogation, is not confirmed in other sources. In addition, Klubkov’s testimony is confused and contradictory: he either says that Zoya mentioned his name during interrogation by the Germans, or says that she did not; states that he did not know Zoya’s last name, and then claims that he called her by her first and last name, etc. He even calls the village where Zoya died not Petrishchevo, but “Ashes”.

Researcher M. M. Gorinov suggests that Klubkov was forced to incriminate himself either for career reasons (in order to receive his share of dividends from the unfolding propaganda campaign around Zoya), or for propaganda reasons (to “justify” Zoya’s capture, which was unworthy, according to the ideology of that time, Soviet fighter). However, the version of betrayal was never put into propaganda circulation.

Awards

• Medal "Gold Star" of the Hero of the Soviet Union (February 16, 1942) and the Order of Lenin (posthumously).

Memory

External images
	Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya's fighting friend Claudia Miloradova at the monument to Zoya Petrishchevo village, Moscow region, 1975.

Monument at the Partizanskaya metro station

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya's grave at Novodevichy Cemetery

Museums

Monumental art

Monument to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya near school 201 in Moscow

Monument to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya in the courtyard of school number 54 in Donetsk

Monument to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya in Tambov

• Monument in the village of Osino-Gai, Tambov region, in the birthplace of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. Tambov sculptor Mikhail Salychev
• Monument in Tambov on Sovetskaya Street. Sculptor Matvey Manizer.
• Bust in the village of Shitkino
• Monument on the platform of the Partizanskaya metro station in Moscow.
• Monument on the Minsk highway near the village of Petrishchevo.
• Memorial plate in the village of Petrishchevo.
• Monument in St. Petersburg in Moscow Victory Park.
• Monument in Kyiv: square on the corner of the street. Olesya Gonchar and st. Bohdan Khmelnytsky
• Monument in Kharkov in “Victory Square” (behind the “Mirror Stream” fountain)
• Monument in Saratov on Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya Street, near school No. 72.
• Monument in Ishimbay near school No. 3
• Monument in Bryansk near school No. 35
• Bust in Bryansk near school No. 56
• Monument in Volgograd (on the territory of school No. 130)
• Monument in Chelyabinsk on Novorossiyskaya Street (in the courtyard of school No. 46).
• Monument in Rybinsk on Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya Street on the banks of the Volga.
• Monument in the city of Kherson near school No. 13.
• Bust near a school in the village of Barmino, Lyskovsky district, Nizhny Novgorod region.
• Bust in Izhevsk near school number 25
• Bust in Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory, near gymnasium No. 91
• Monument in Berdsk (Novosibirsk region) near school No. 11
• Monument in the village of Bolshiye Vyazemy near the Bolshevyazemskaya gymnasium
• Monument in Donetsk in the courtyard of school number 54
• Monument in Khimki on Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya Street.
• Monument in Stavropol near gymnasium No. 12
• Monument in Barnaul near school No. 103
• Monument in the Rostov region, village. Tarasovsky, monument near school No. 1.
• Bust in the village of Ivankovo, Yasnogorsk district, Tula region, in the courtyard of the Ivankovo ​​secondary school
• Bust in the village Tarutino, Odessa region, near the primary secondary school
• Bust in Mariupol in the courtyard of school No. 34
• Bust in Novouzensk, Saratov region, near school No. 8

Fiction

• Margarita Aliger dedicated the poem “Zoe” to Zoya. In 1943, the poem was awarded the Stalin Prize.
• Lyubov Timofeevna Kosmodemyanskaya published “The Tale of Zoya and Shura”. Literary record of Frida Vigdorova.
• Soviet writer Vyacheslav Kovalevsky created a dilogy about Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. The first part, the story “Brother and Sister,” describes the school years of Zoya and Shura Kosmodemyansky. The story “Don't be afraid of death! "is dedicated to Zoya’s activities during the harsh years of the Great Patriotic War,
• The Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet and the Chinese poet Ai Qing dedicated poems to Zoya.
• A. L. Barto poems “Partisan Tanya”, “At the monument to Zoya”

Music

Painting

• Kukryniksy. “Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya” (-)
• Dmitry Mochalsky “Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya”
• K. N. Shchekotov “The Last Night (Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya).” 1948-1949. Canvas, oil. 182x170. OOMII named after. M. A. Vrubel. Omsk.

Movies

• “Zoe” is a 1944 film directed by Leo Arnstam.
• “In the Name of Life” is a 1946 film directed by Alexander Zarkhi and Joseph Kheifits. (There is an episode in this film where the actress plays the role of Zoya in the theater.)
• “The Great Patriotic War”, film 4. “Partisans. War behind enemy lines."
• “Battle for Moscow” is a 1985 film directed by Yuri Ozerov.

In philately

Other

Asteroid No. 1793 “Zoya” was named in honor of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, as well as asteroid No. 2072 “Kosmodemyanskaya” (according to the official version, it was named in honor of Lyubov Timofeevna Kosmodemyanskaya - the mother of Zoya and Sasha). Also the village of Kosmodemyansky in the Moscow region, Ruzsky district, and the Kosmodemyansk secondary school.

In Dnepropetrovsk, eight-year school No. 48 (now secondary school No. 48) was named after Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. Singer Joseph Kobzon, poets Igor Puppo and Oleg Klimov studied at this school.

The electric train ED2T-0041 (assigned to the Alexandrov depot) was named in honor of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

In Estonia, Ida Virumaa district, on the Kurtna lakes, a pioneer camp was named in honor of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

In Nizhny Novgorod, school No. 37 of the Avtozavodsky district, there is a children's association “Schools”, created in honor of Z. A. Kosmodemyanskaya. School students hold ceremonial celebrations on Zoya's birthday and death day.

In Novosibirsk there is a children's library named after Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

A tank regiment of the National People's Army of the GDR was named after Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

In Syktyvkar there is Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya Street.

In Penza there is a street named after Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

In the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, on the Seversky Donets River, there is a children's camp named after Zoya Komodemyanskaya.

see also

• Kosmodemyansky, Alexander Anatolyevich - brother of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Hero of the Soviet Union
• Voloshina, Vera Danilovna - Soviet intelligence officer, hanged on the same day as Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya
• Nazarova, Klavdiya Ivanovna - organizer and leader of the underground Komsomol organization

Literature

• Great Soviet Encyclopedia . In 30 volumes. Publisher: Soviet Encyclopedia, hardcover, 18,240 pp., circulation: 600,000 copies, 1970.
• Folk heroine. (Collection of materials about Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya), M., 1943;
• Kosmodemyanskaya L. T., The Tale of Zoya and Shura. Publisher: LENIZDAT, 232 pp., circulation: 75,000 copies. 1951, Publisher: Children's Literature Publishing House, hardcover, 208 pp., circulation: 200,000 copies, 1956 M., 1966 Publisher: Children's Literature. Moscow, hardcover, 208 pp., circulation: 300,000 copies, 1976 Publisher: LENIZDAT, soft cover, 272 pp., circulation: 200,000 copies, 1974 Publisher: Narodnaya Asveta, hardcover, 206 pp., circulation: 300,000 copies ., 1978 Publisher: LENIZDAT, paperback, 256 pp., circulation: 200,000 copies, 1984
• Gorinov M. M. Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya (1923-1941) // National history. - 2003.
• Savinov E. F. Zoya's comrades: Doc. feature article. Yaroslavl: Yaroslavl book. ed., 1958. 104 p.: ill. [About the combat work of the partisan detachment in which Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya fought.]
• You remained alive among the people...: A book about Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya / Compiled by: Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation Valentina Dorozhkina, Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation Ivan Ovsyannikov. Photos of Alexey and Boris Ladygin, Anatoly Alekseev, as well as from the collections of the Osinogaevsky and Borshchevsky museums.. - Collection of articles and essays. - Tambov: OGUP “Tambovpolygraphizdat”, 2003. - 180 p.

Documentary film

• “Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. The truth about the feat" "Studio Third Rome" commissioned by State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company "Russia", 2005.

Notes

1. Some sources indicate the erroneous date of birth of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya - September 8
2. Magazine "Rodina": Saint of Osinov Gai
3. Zoya changed her last name in 1930
4. M. M. Gorinov. Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya // Domestic history
5. Closing of the church in the village of Osinovye Gai | History of the Tambov diocese: documents, research, persons
6. G. Naboishchikov. Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya - Russian Maid of Orleans
7. Senyavskaya E. S."Heroic symbols: reality and mythology of war"
8. 1941-1942
9. ...The 197th Infantry Division and its 332nd Regiment found their death in two cauldrons near Vitebsk on June 26-27, 1944: between the villages of Gnezdilovo and Ostrovno and in the area of ​​Lake Moshno, north of the village of Zamoshenye
10. Mind Manipulation (book)
11. Library - PSYPORTAL
12. Vladimir Lota “About heroism and meanness”, “Red Star” February 16, 2002
13. Chapter 7. WHO BETRAYED ZOYA KOSMODEMYANSKAYA
14. Sergey Turchenko. The truth about Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya
15. Oleg Kazmin. Purity recreated in music //

In the village of Osinov-Gai, Gavrilovsky district, Tambov region, into a family of hereditary local priests, a girl Zoya was born on September 8, 1923, and her brother Alexander was born on July 27, 1925.

Their father, Anatoly Kosmodemyansky, studied at the theological seminary, but did not graduate from it. He married a local teacher, Lyubov Churikova.

House of Kosmodemyansky

The Kosmodemyansky family: Lyubov, Shura, Zoya, Anatoly.

In 1929, the family fled to Siberia to escape denunciation. Then she moved to Moscow, thanks to the efforts of her sister L. Kosmodemyanskaya, who served in the People's Commissariat for Education.

Anatoly Kosmodemyansky died in 1933 after intestinal surgery; his mother raised the children alone.

At school, Zoya studied well, was especially interested in history and literature, and dreamed of entering the Literary Institute. However, relations with her classmates did not always work out - in 1938 she was elected Komsomol group organizer, but then was not re-elected. As a result, Zoya developed a “nervous disease.” According to some reports, Zoya was repeatedly hospitalized in the children's department of the hospital named after. Kashchenko and she were suspected of schizophrenia (in fact, whether she had schizophrenia or not does not change the essence).

In 1940, Zoya suffered from acute meningitis, after which she underwent rehabilitation at a sanatorium for nervous diseases in Sokolniki, where she became friends with the writer Arkady Gaidar, who was also lying there. In the same year, she graduated from the 9th grade of secondary school No. 201, despite a large number of missed classes due to illness.

Alexander and Zoya Kosmodemyansky.

On October 31, 1941, Zoya, among 2,000 Komsomol volunteers, came to the gathering place at the Colosseum cinema and from there was taken to the sabotage school, becoming a fighter in the reconnaissance and sabotage unit, officially called the “partisan unit 9903 of the headquarters of the Western Front.”

After a short training, Zoya as part of the group was transferred to the Volokolamsk area on November 4.

On November 17, Supreme Commander Order No. 428 was issued: “to deprive the German army of the opportunity to be located in villages and cities, drive the German invaders out of all populated areas into the cold fields, smoke them out of all rooms and warm shelters and force them to freeze in the open air”, for this it was prescribed “to destroy and burn to the ground all populated areas in the rear of German troops at a distance of 40-60 km in depth from the front line and 20-30 km to the right and left of the roads.”

To carry out the order, on November 18 (according to other sources, 20) the commanders of the sabotage groups were ordered to burn 10 settlements within 5-7 days. The group members each had 3 Molotov cocktails, a pistol (Zoya had a revolver), dry rations for 5 days and a bottle of vodka. Having gone out on a mission, two groups (10 people each) came under fire near the village of Golovkovo and suffered heavy losses. The survivors united under the command of Boris Krainev.

On November 27 at 2 o'clock in the morning, Boris Krainev, Vasily Klubkov and Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya set fire to three houses in which German officers and soldiers were located in the village of Petrishchevo (Ruzsky district of the Moscow region).

Krainev did not wait for his comrades at the agreed meeting place and left, safely returning to his own. Klubkov was captured by the Germans and, according to one version, “surrendered” Zoya. Zoya, having missed her comrades and being left alone, decided to return to Petrishchevo and continue the arson.

On the evening of November 28, while trying to set fire to S. A. Sviridov’s barn, Kosmodemyanskaya was noticed by the owner and handed over to the Nazis. Sviridov was awarded a bottle of vodka for this.

During interrogation, Kosmodemyanskaya identified herself as Tanya and did not say anything definite. Having stripped her naked, she was severely beaten, then the sentry assigned to her for 4 hours led her barefoot, in only her underwear, along the street in the cold.

At 10:30 the next morning, Kosmodemyanskaya was taken to the street where a gallows had already been erected; a sign was hung on her chest that read “House Arsonist.” When Kosmodemyanskaya was led to the gallows, one of the local residents hit her legs with a stick, shouting: “Who did you harm? She burned my house, but did nothing to the Germans...”

Execution of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

Before the execution, Kosmodemyanskaya said: “Citizens! Don't stand there, don't look. We must help the Red Army fight, and for my death our comrades will take revenge on the German fascists. The Soviet Union is invincible and will not be defeated." And addressing the German soldiers: “German soldiers! Before it's too late, surrender. No matter how much you hang us, you can’t hang us all, there are 170 million of us.”

Kosmodemyanskaya’s body hung on the gallows for about a month, repeatedly being abused by German soldiers passing through the village. On New Year's Day 1942, drunken fascists tore off the clothes of the hanged woman and once again violated the body, stabbing it with knives and cutting off her breasts. The next day, the Nazis gave the order to remove the gallows, and the body was buried by local residents outside the village.

Subsequently, Kosmodemyanskaya was reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya's grave in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Zoya became the first woman to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War. (posthumously).

Zoya’s fate became widely known from the article “Tanya” by Pyotr Lidov, published in the newspaper Pravda on January 27, 1942. The author accidentally heard about the execution in Petrishchevo from a witness - an elderly peasant.

Zoya's younger brother Alexander was 16 years old when the Nazis executed his sister. As a child, he was very friendly with Zoya, her death was a heavy blow for him. He asked to be sent to the front, but the military registration and enlistment office refused because of his age.

Only in April 1942 was his request granted: he was drafted into the army, and in 1943 he graduated from the Ulyanovsk Military Tank School.

Alexander received baptism of fire on October 21 near Orsha. The crew of the KV tank of the guard, Lieutenant Kosmodemyansky, with the inscription on the side “For Zoya,” was the first to reach the enemy trench, using fire and tracks to pave the way for the accompanying infantry. In that battle, the crew destroyed 10 dugouts, several guns, a self-propelled gun, and up to a company of enemy soldiers.

Tank "Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya".

Later, he participated in the liberation of Belarus and the Baltic states, in breaking through the German defense lines in East Prussia, and in the assault on the Koenigsberg fortress.

Commander of the self-propelled unit of the 350th Guards Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment (43rd Army, 3rd Belorussian Front) Guard, Senior Lieutenant Kosmodemyansky A.A. On April 6, 1945, under enemy artillery and mortar fire, he crossed the Landgraben Canal in the city of Königsberg and destroyed an artillery battery, an ammunition depot and many Nazis. Then, covering the actions of the troops with fire, he ensured the construction of a bridge across the canal and the crossing of Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns. For courage and resourcefulness in battle, he was appointed commander of the SU-152 battery.

Alexander Kosmodemyansky.

On April 8, in a battle northwest of Koenigsberg, his battery, having overcome a minefield and dense barrage fire, was the first to break into the Queen Louise fort and, having inflicted significant damage on the enemy with powerful fire, forced the fort’s garrison to capitulate. When the surviving remnants of the garrison of the Koenigsberg fortress began to retreat to the west, Kosmodemyansky’s battery provided fire support to the Soviet rifle units pursuing the enemy.

On April 13, 1945, in a battle near the village of Vierbrudenkrug (northwest of Koenigsberg), Kosmodemyansky’s battery destroyed 4 enemy anti-tank guns, up to a company of soldiers. But the enemy managed to set fire to Kosmodemyansky’s self-propelled gun. Having got out of the flaming car, Alexander, together with the infantrymen, burst into the populated area and knocked out the enemy from it. At this time, enemy artillery opened fire. Alexandra Kosmodemyansky received a shrapnel wound, which turned out to be fatal.

The title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to Alexander Anatolyevich Kosmodemyansky on June 29, 1945 (posthumously); he was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery next to his sister’s grave.

The grave of Alexander Kosmodemyansky in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery.