On This Day…November 29th.
F6F Hellcat of VF-1 lands at Tarawa Atoll (Betio) on November 29, 1943.
18 year old Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya is led to her death on November 29, 1941 for her crimes as a Russian partisan. She was tortured before her hanging and her body left for weeks on the gallows with the placard on her neck saying, “Arsonist”. She had burned houses containing German communications.
Her last words were, “Hey, comrades! Why are you looking so sad? Be brave, fight, beat the Germans, burn, trample them! I'm not afraid to die, comrades. It is happiness to die for one's people!" and to the Germans, "You hang me now, but I'm not alone. There are two hundred million of us. You can't hang us all. They will avenge me.”
Adolf Galland in his flying gear with his dog, Schweinebauch (Pork Belly), Northern France, November 29th, 1940.
This USMC decorated the back of his work jacket with what he called a "Jawja" peach (presumably his girlfriend was a southern girl...). On board the USS Lexington (CV-16) 11/29/1943.
USS Maryland (BB-46), also known as "Old Mary” by the crew, is hit by a kamikaze pilot in the Philippines 29th Nov 1944.
Henri Bureau, US Army, Vietnam, November 29th, 1966.
Amazing story about Zoya to be so brave at 18 years old and then we see that bast**d Galland ,always seen as a nice guy he was a Nazi and a criminal just like all the rest ,I hope it's hot wherever he is now...
N.
Oh, Neil, there’s some awful, terrible photos of Zoya out there and even this one I was a little reluctant to share. In one you can clearly see photos of other nazis taking photos of her dying. I think she was a special person, even her teachers at school remarked on her humanity, sense of fairness, and creativity. I’m glad the story impressed you, she is an inspiration.
Pork Belly ? ! That's the best name he could come up with? Well, it's an ORIGINAL name, fer sure!
That’s one awful picture, the last moments of a person who knows her fate, as brave as she was, I always doubt recollections where the condemn says he/she is not afraid of death. I guess in the final moments we all are, and given the circumstances the speech is just too Soviet Propaganda for me to believed those were her exact words. Anyone who fights oppression ought to be remembered, that alone was worth her photo David, thank you
Those words do sound suspiciously grandiose. Her wiki bio (is that a legitimate source?) indicated that some people in the village allege that there were no German troops in the village of Petrischevo at the time. I don't know how that would explain the photos... Soviets in German coats? Perhaps the villagers had since consumed too much turnip vodka. Intriguing - and part of the reason why I look forward to these posts.
I am certain the villiage was occupied by Germans, in fact I understand the Nazis only took her body down from the gallows just before the village fell back into Russian hands. There are photos that show her tortured body after being cut down which tell their own story.
I know of the reports that the houses she burned maybe did not contain Germans, but I think (maybe just wishful thinking) she at least did something she believed in. And died for it. Her last words as I wrote were told to the crowd. Her very last words (just before she died) were reported by a single person (Russian) "Farewell, comrade! Fight, do not be afraid! Stalin is with us! Stalin will come" - Now THAT sounds like propaganda all day long.
Haha - it does. It is interesting teasing out the historical lies/embellishments from historical fact. That history can be a fluid changing thing and not always set in stone is a realization which has taken a long time to grow on me. I believe the old mayor of New York, Fiorello La Guardia , once said; "The only thing new in this world is the history you don't know"...or perhaps someone else said it? - Ha, there it is again! see what I mean! 🙂