Maria Osipova is one of the legendary Soviet underground workers during the Great Patriotic War. She was an active participant in Operation Retribution, which resulted in the liquidation of Wilhelm Kuba, the general commissioner of occupied Belarus.
Biography: early years
Maria Borisovna Osipova (nee Sokovtsova) was born on December 27, 1908 in the Belarusian village of Serkovitsa, near Vitebsk. Parents were employees of a local glass factory. The family lived modestly. Maria went to work at 13, which was the norm for that time. Like her parents, she began to work at a glassworks.
In parallel, Maria became the head of the district pioneer organization, and then a delegate to the All-Union Congress of the Komsomol. Even then, she actively participated in the socio-political life of her native village.
When Maria was 25 years old, she moved to Minsk and entered the Higher Communist Agricultural School. After her graduation, she became a student at a law institute. Having received a diploma, Maria began working in the Supreme Court of Belarus. She was prophesied a good career. Before the war, then a year remained.
Activities during the Second World War
June 22, 1941 the Nazis treacherously occupied Belarus. Wilhelm Kube was appointed the so-called viceroy. In the early days of the occupation, Maria, together with one of the teachers of the law institute, created the first underground group in Minsk to combat fascism. Initially, it included only 14 people.
Underground workers assisted Soviet prisoners of war, distributed leaflets, hid Jews, and collected information about the Nazis. Osipova’s group was also involved in sabotage operations. It was a dangerous job, but Maria did it very well. In correspondence with the leaders of other underground groups, she was referred to as "Black".
In September 1943, Osipova brought a mine to Minsk, which was intended for William Cuba. At the risk of her life, she hid it in a bag with lingonberries. A few days before, Maria had persuaded the Soviet intelligence agent Elena Mazanik, who served in the house of Cuba, to lay a mine under his mattress. The explosive device worked, and on September 22, 1943, Hitler's governor was destroyed. For the operation, Osipova became a hero of the USSR.
After the war, Osipova remained to live in Minsk. In the period from 1947 to 1963, she was a deputy. In parallel, she worked as deputy director of the Fundamental Library of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus.
