When the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR, formed in 1922, it included Russian and fourteen other republics and covered an area of more than eight-and-a-half million square miles (with Russia making up more than seventy-five percent). The formation followed a three-year, brutal civil war, World War I, and the Bolshevik Revolution, so most citizens were guardedly optimistic about the future. To get the economy back on its feet, Lenin allowed small private businesses, retail shops and farms to operate and sell goods.
Lenin died two years later which brought on a six-year struggle for power from which Joseph Stalin finally emerged. The good mixed with the bad as he initiated rapid industrialization but expanded the forced labor system. His government also conducted what is known as the Great Purge, a mixture of deportations, executions, and “kangaroo court” trials to get rid of the opposition.
With an eye to Hitler’s rise to power and unable to create an anti-Nazi coalition, Stalin signed a non-
aggression pact with Germany in 1939. However, not one to let treaties get in the way, Hitler ordered his forces to invade the Soviet Union in 1941, the largest land invasion in history.
This is the world in which Anastasiya Biseniek lived. She was an ordinary woman who led an ordinary life, working on the railroad and raising two children with her husband Fyodor. Or so it seemed.
Instead, she joined a partisan detachment called Friendly. Using her position at the railroad she was able to distribute leaflets and copies of the underground newspaper at the depot. When the order came to evacuate the city, she refused and became leader of the partisans who remained behind. Her activities included performing sabotage on transports, organizing traffic jams and derailments, and damaging track and rolling stock. Her son, Yuri, was also a partisan, and he sent her intelligence information she was able to forward to her superiors.
Anastasiya eventually recruited and trained two assistants, one of whom worked in the canteen at the German airfield and was able to obtain intelligence that was passed onto officers with the Red Army. The other woman worked as a cleaner in a military unit and was able to establish contact with Soviet POWs, who she later helped to escape.
Meanwhile, Anastasiya continued to conduct sabotage, and in the summer of 1943, after one event in which she laid mines that destroyed several locomotives, she was arrested. However, there was no evidence to convict her, so after a month in captivity, she was let go. As it turned out, the arrest was a ruse to organize surveillance against her.
After her release, she was informed about mass arrests that had occurred as the result of betrayal by several members of the organization. Realizing she would probably be arrested again at some point, possibly soon, Anastasiya decided to provide the names of her remaining connections and supplies to the surviving group members so they could continue her work of sabotage and intelligence gathering. Upon her return home, Anastasiya was arrested and taken to Porkhov where she was tortured. However, she refused to cooperate or identify any of her compatriots, so the Germans transferred her to the Zapolyansky death camp. According to reports from surviving inmates, she was greatly respected because of the help and care she gave others.
Tragically, Anastasiya was executed on October 13, 1943. The camp was dismantled three short weeks later in preparation for the advancing Soviet army who would take the are in January 1944.
Anastasiya and none other partisans of the Pskov region were declared Heroes of the Soviet Union, and a large granite memorial plaque was placed at the Dno train station where she worked. A central street in the town was also named in her honor.
Danish Days (Coming 10*15*26)
Can hearts filled with hate find love?
Near the end of the “second war to end all wars,” Norwegian American OSS agent Frida Westgard finds herself assigned to Denmark, of all places. Initially sent as a radio operator, she is then transferred to Copenhagen to collect intelligence. A job made more dangerous when she becomes entangled in local resistance activities led by the handsome man known only as Rejsende–traveler.
Stig Arenfeldt has hated the Germans for as long as he can remember, so when they invade and occupy his beloved Denmark, he jumps at the chance to join the resistance. Now, five years later, the war may finally be at an end, but he won’t quit until the last soldier is gone…or dead. Then he’s paired with the attractive American agent who preaches forgiveness. A concept that has no place in his life. Unfortunately, the more they’re together, the more her words infiltrate his soul, and he begins to dread the day she’ll walk out of his life.
Pre-Order Link: https://books2read.com/u/3LoGlw
Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star-Spangled Banner fame) and has lived in historical places all her life. She is a volunteer docent and archivist at the Wright Museum of WWII. She now lives in central New Hampshire where she explores the history of this great state, immerses herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors, and drinks copious amounts of tea.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5TYQPOkFcM
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/soviet-partisans-the-rag-tag-scourge-along-wwiis-eastern-front/
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/second-world-war/eastern-front/operation-barbarossa-and-germanys-failure-in-the-soviet-union
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Soviet-Partisans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasiya_Biseniek
Lenin died two years later which brought on a six-year struggle for power from which Joseph Stalin finally emerged. The good mixed with the bad as he initiated rapid industrialization but expanded the forced labor system. His government also conducted what is known as the Great Purge, a mixture of deportations, executions, and “kangaroo court” trials to get rid of the opposition.
With an eye to Hitler’s rise to power and unable to create an anti-Nazi coalition, Stalin signed a non-
This is the world in which Anastasiya Biseniek lived. She was an ordinary woman who led an ordinary life, working on the railroad and raising two children with her husband Fyodor. Or so it seemed.
Instead, she joined a partisan detachment called Friendly. Using her position at the railroad she was able to distribute leaflets and copies of the underground newspaper at the depot. When the order came to evacuate the city, she refused and became leader of the partisans who remained behind. Her activities included performing sabotage on transports, organizing traffic jams and derailments, and damaging track and rolling stock. Her son, Yuri, was also a partisan, and he sent her intelligence information she was able to forward to her superiors.
Meanwhile, Anastasiya continued to conduct sabotage, and in the summer of 1943, after one event in which she laid mines that destroyed several locomotives, she was arrested. However, there was no evidence to convict her, so after a month in captivity, she was let go. As it turned out, the arrest was a ruse to organize surveillance against her.
After her release, she was informed about mass arrests that had occurred as the result of betrayal by several members of the organization. Realizing she would probably be arrested again at some point, possibly soon, Anastasiya decided to provide the names of her remaining connections and supplies to the surviving group members so they could continue her work of sabotage and intelligence gathering. Upon her return home, Anastasiya was arrested and taken to Porkhov where she was tortured. However, she refused to cooperate or identify any of her compatriots, so the Germans transferred her to the Zapolyansky death camp. According to reports from surviving inmates, she was greatly respected because of the help and care she gave others.
Tragically, Anastasiya was executed on October 13, 1943. The camp was dismantled three short weeks later in preparation for the advancing Soviet army who would take the are in January 1944.
Anastasiya and none other partisans of the Pskov region were declared Heroes of the Soviet Union, and a large granite memorial plaque was placed at the Dno train station where she worked. A central street in the town was also named in her honor.
__________________
Near the end of the “second war to end all wars,” Norwegian American OSS agent Frida Westgard finds herself assigned to Denmark, of all places. Initially sent as a radio operator, she is then transferred to Copenhagen to collect intelligence. A job made more dangerous when she becomes entangled in local resistance activities led by the handsome man known only as Rejsende–traveler.
Stig Arenfeldt has hated the Germans for as long as he can remember, so when they invade and occupy his beloved Denmark, he jumps at the chance to join the resistance. Now, five years later, the war may finally be at an end, but he won’t quit until the last soldier is gone…or dead. Then he’s paired with the attractive American agent who preaches forgiveness. A concept that has no place in his life. Unfortunately, the more they’re together, the more her words infiltrate his soul, and he begins to dread the day she’ll walk out of his life.
Pre-Order Link: https://books2read.com/u/3LoGlw
Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star-Spangled Banner fame) and has lived in historical places all her life. She is a volunteer docent and archivist at the Wright Museum of WWII. She now lives in central New Hampshire where she explores the history of this great state, immerses herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors, and drinks copious amounts of tea.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5TYQPOkFcM
https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/soviet-partisans-the-rag-tag-scourge-along-wwiis-eastern-front/
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/second-world-war/eastern-front/operation-barbarossa-and-germanys-failure-in-the-soviet-union
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Soviet-Partisans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasiya_Biseniek
Photo Credits:
Map of USSR 1922: By Soviet Russia Today - https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/64496/the-union-of-soviet-socialist-republics-soviet-union-soviet-russia-today, Public Domain
Joseph Stalin: By Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Public Domain
Anastasiya Biseniek: By Unknown - Creation date: 1930's or early 1940's Original Publication: Abramova, M.; Levashov, A. (1969) Fair use.
Commemorative Plaque: By Olexandr7 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
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