Figure 1.-- Zoia Kosmodemianskaia was an 18-year old girl and member of the Moscow Komsomol. She joined the partisans when the NAZIs began what they hoped was the final drive on Moscow. She was captured by the Germans trying to burn down their stables at Petrischevo, a villasge near Moscow. She was tortured, but did not reveal any information. She was then hnged (November 29, 1941). Here we see German soldiers escorting her to the gallows. She told one of them, "You can't hang all 190 million of us." The sign arond her neck read, "She set fire to houses." We wonder who the boy ar the right was.

Some children and youths became famous in the Soviet for their war-time exploits. Many died during the War. We do not yet know many of these young heros, but to like to add accounts of their heroic acts during the War here. For the most part information about their activities has been published in the Soviet Union and not widely deseminated in the West. Hopefully our Russian readers will be able to provide some information here.

Zoia Kosmodemianskaia

One such hero was Zoia Kosmodemianskaia. She was an 18-year old girl and member of the Moscow Komsomol. She joined the partisans when the NAZIs began what they hoped was the final drive on Moscow. She was captured by the Germans trying to burn down their stables at Petrischevo, a villasge near Moscow. She was tortured, but did not reveal any information. She was then hnged (November 29, 1941). Here we see German soldiers escorting her to the gallows. She told one of them, "You can't hang all 190 million of us." What Zoia did not know was that the NAZIs planned to kill a subsantial part of the Soviet populastion and was developing efficent methods for killing and sterilizing people in massive numbers. X=Zoia was executed just a few days before The Soviet Winter offensive which would prove desestating to the German forces trying to take Moscow. Zoia's frozen body was recovered when the Red army retook Petrischevo 2 weeks later. The nose the Germans used was still sround her neck.

Created: 4:39 AM 3/20/2005
Last updated: 4:39 AM 3/20/2005