Vera Kharuzhaya ( be, Вера Харужая, russian: Ве́ра Заха́ровна Хору́жая, pl, Wiera Charuża, 27 September 1903 – November 1942) was a

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

writer, school teacher and activist from the Soviet Union deployed to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

for sabotage and espionage operation during the interbellum. She was executed as a partisan by the Germans during World War II.

Life

Vera Kharuzhaya was born into the family of an administrative worker in

Babruysk Babruysk, Babrujsk or Bobruisk ( be, Бабруйск , Łacinka: , rus, Бобруйск, Bobrujsk, bɐˈbruɪ̯s̪k, yi, באָברויסק ) is a city in the Mogilev Region of eastern Belarus on the Berezina River. , its population was 209 ...

, Russian Empire, before the

Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

. In 1919 she graduated from a workers school in

Mazyr russian: Мозырь , nickname = , image_skyline = Mazyr Montage (2017).jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_flag = , image_shield = Coat of Arms of Mazyr, Belarus.svg , image_map = , map_caption ...

. The town was handed over to the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

in the

Riga Peace Treaty The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga ( pl, Traktat Ryski), was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, among Poland, Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus) and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish–Soviet War. ...

and became part of the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

. Kharuzhaya found employment in the public schools teaching, and served as Political commissar of local

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 ...

branches in the areas of

and

(now eastern Belarus). In 1922-1923 she worked in the administration of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of Belarus, also working in several Belarusian Soviet newspapers.

Deployment to Poland

Since 1920 Kharuzhaya actively participated in the subversive anti-Polish campaign led by the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

. After graduating from the senior communist party school in the Soviet Union, in February 1924 she was secretly deployed across the border to the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

. While in eastern Poland (present-day

West Belarus Western Belorussia or Western Belarus ( be, Заходняя Беларусь, translit=Zachodniaja Bielaruś; pl, Zachodnia Białoruś; russian: Западная Белоруссия, translit=Zapadnaya Belorussiya) is a historical region of mod ...

), she was appointed member of the Central Committee of the Komsomol of West Belarus and printed illegal Belarusian communist papers.Хоружая (Khoruzhaya)
at dic.academic.ru In September 1925, Kharuzhaya was arrested by the Poles, convicted of subversive activity and sentenced to 8 years of prison. In 1932 she was handed over to the USSR in exchange for a Polish political prisoner held in a Soviet prison. In 1935, Kharuzhaya was expelled from the Communist party, following her husband denouncing her to the authorities. In 1937, during the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

, she was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

and spent two years in prison. In August 1939 Kharuzhaya was released. After the German attacked the Soviet Union, Kharuzhaya joined a partisan unit. In November 1942, she was arrested and eventually executed by the Germans. In 1960, Kharuzhaya was posthumously granted the title of

Hero 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 with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

. On that occasion one of the streets in the centre of

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 admi ...

was renamed by the Soviets in honour of Kharuzhaya.

References

Вера Захаровна Хоружая
at molodguard.ru

at vulica.by * Новиков Г.И. Вера Хоружая. 2 изд. Мн., 1973; • Булацкий Г.В., Талапина С.В. Вера Хоружая — революционер, публицист. Мн., 1973; • Жизнь, отданная борьбе. Мн., 1975.; • Селеменев В., Селицкая Л. Ордер No. 37. Как Вера Хоружая не стала «польской шпионкой» // Народная газета. 2001. 9 лют. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kharuzhaya, Vera 1903 births 1942 deaths People from Babruysk People from Bobruysky Uyezd Belarusian partisans Soviet partisans Prisoners and detainees of Poland Communist Party of Western Belorussia politicians Communist Party of Byelorussia politicians Heroes of the Soviet Union Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Belarusian people executed by Nazi Germany Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Soviet women in World War II Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany 20th-century Belarusian women politicians 20th-century Belarusian politicians

Life

Deployment to Poland

See also

References