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Maria "Masha" Bruskina ( be, Марыя Барысаўна Брускіна ''Marïya Barïsawna Bruskina''; russian: Мария Борисовна Брускина ''Mariya Borisovna Bruskina''; 1924 – 26 October 1941 in
Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the adm ...
) was a Belarusian Jewish nurse and a member of the
Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the adm ...
Resistance during World War II. While volunteering as a nurse, she cared for Soviet forces, and assisted them in escaping. For this, she was executed by German forces.


Biography

Masha Bruskina lived in
Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the adm ...
with her mother, senior product manager of the Book Trade Office of the
BSSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...
State Publishing House. She was an avid reader and learner. She was a pioneer leader and a member of the school committee of
Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...
. In December 1938, the newspaper ''Pioneer of Belarus'' published a photograph of Masha with the caption: "Masha Bruskina - the schoolgirl of 8th grade in school № 28, Minsk. She has only good and excellent marks in all subjects". In June 1941, Maria Bruskina graduated from Minsk secondary school № 28.


The execution

She volunteered as a nurse at the hospital in the Minsk Polytechnic Institute, which had been set up to care for wounded members of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
. In addition to caring for the soldiers, she helped them escape by smuggling civilian clothing and false identity papers into the hospital. A patient told the Germans what Bruskina was doing, and she was arrested on October 14, 1941, by members of the
German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwa ...
's 707th Infantry Division and the 2nd Schutzmannschaft Battalion, Lithuanian auxiliary troops under the command of Major Antanas Impulevičius. After being arrested, Bruskina wrote a letter to her mother on October 20, 1941: Local German authorities decided on a public hanging to make an example of Bruskina, along with two other members of the resistance, 16-year-old Volodia Shcherbatsevich and World War I veteran Kiril Trus. Before being hanged, she was paraded through the streets with a placard around her neck which read, in both
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
and
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
: "We are partisans and have shot at German troops". Members of the resistance were made to wear similar signs whether or not they had actually shot at German troops. She and her two comrades were hanged in public on Sunday, October 26, 1941, in front of Minsk Kristall, a yeast brewery and distillery plant on Nizhne-Lyahovskaya Street (15 Oktyabrskaya Street today). The Germans let the bodies hang for three days before allowing them to be cut down and buried. A witness of the execution said: Olga Shcherbatsevich, the mother of Volodia Shcherbatsevich, was hanged the same day as her son with two other members of the resistance in front of the
National Academy of Sciences of Belarus The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) ( be, Нацыянальная акадэмія навук Беларусі, russian: Национальная академия наук Беларуси, НАН Беларуси, НАНБ) is ...
.


Identification and remembrance

For decades after the war, Bruskina was officially referred to only as "the unknown girl", allegedly due to
antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
from Soviet authorities. Up to 2009, Bruskina's name was not acknowledged on the memorial plaque at the execution place. However, since 2009, a new memorial plaque at the execution place has been placed. The Russian inscription now reads "Here on October 26, 1941 the Fascists executed the Soviet patriots K. I. Truss, V. I. Sherbateyvich and M. B. Bruskina". Bruskina was first recognized in the 1960s, as most of her family and friends had been killed in the
Minsk Ghetto The Minsk Ghetto was created soon after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It was one of the largest in Belorussian SSR, and the largest in the German-occupied territory of the Soviet Union.Donald L. Niewyk, Francis R. Nicosia, ''The Colu ...
. A monument for Bruskina was erected in HaKfar HaYarok in
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and a street was named after her in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. file:Oktyabrskaya street Minsk 7b.jpg, Commemorative at the entrance of Minsk yeast plant, at the place of execution K.I. Trus, V. I. Scherbachevich and M. B. Bruskina. file:Memorial to Jewish Women Fighters, Israel.jpg, Monument in memory of M. Bruskina and other Jewish women, who fought against the Nazis. Kfar Ha-Yarok, Israel.


See also

*
List of female Heroes of the Soviet Union This is a list of female Heroes of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together wi ...


References

* Cholawski, Shalom. "Minsk", in ''
Encyclopaedia of the Holocaust The ''Encyclopedia of the Holocaust'' (1990) has been called "the most recognized reference book on the Holocaust". It was published in an English-language translated edition by Macmillan in tandem with the Hebrew language original edition pub ...
'' vol. 3, p. 975. Captioned photograph of Masza Bruskina's hanging.


External links

*, a lecture by Daniel Weiss
''The Harvest'', a musical based on the life of Masha Bruskina
*Nechama Tec and Daniel Weiss: "A Historical Injustice: The Case of Masha Bruskina". ''
Holocaust and Genocide Studies The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hist ...
'' 11:3 (1997), p. 366-377
Online abstractThe new 2009 memorial plaque at the execution placeThe old memorial plaque at the execution place that was removed 2009.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruskina, Masha 1924 births 1941 deaths People from Minsk Belarusian Jews Soviet Jews Children in war Female resistance members of World War II Jewish resistance members during the Holocaust Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Belarusian people executed by Nazi Germany Belarusian nurses People executed by Nazi Germany by hanging Executed Soviet people from Belarus Soviet partisans Belarusian partisans