Why the Germans were afraid of the nurse Maria, and what did she do, besides rescuing the wounded

2023 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 13:10

A document often circulates on social networks, which many consider to be a fake of jingoistic patriots: a petition to confer the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on medical instructor Maria Baide. For what? For the fact that she recaptured prisoners from the Germans, personally killing twenty Nazis in the battle. Those who doubt in vain doubt. This is quite possible, because Maria Baida was not only a medical instructor, but also a military intelligence officer.

I went to the front voluntarily

Maria Baida was a peasant by birth. She was born in Crimea, left school early and started working on a state farm. Hard work did not harm her health: only the muscles became stronger and the shoulders wider. When the Nazis attacked the Soviet Union, state farm Maria was nineteen. She rushed to the recruiting office. She wanted to fight.

The girl was enrolled in the fighter battalion as a nurse. Fortunately, she carried the weight of an adult man calmly - all that remained was to learn how to provide first aid and not to coward under fire. But Baida was never cowardly, and quickly coped with the bandages. Instead of a nurse, she became a medical instructor - she could train other nurses.

When the Germans approached Sevastopol, Maria asked to transfer her to intelligence. The fact is that there they would have entrusted her with a weapon - after all, in military intelligence and a medical instructor must be able to shoot. That is, Maria actually became a scout, only with additional responsibilities.

The idea of asking for the rear did not arise. Maria managed to see terrible pictures, a real hell on earth - the Nazis did not particularly spare the local population. Especially considering that before the war in Crimea there were a lot of Jewish collective farms … All of them stood empty, with burnt houses, corpses lay on their streets. The Nazis also did not ignore other residents of Crimea. Maria wanted to shoot, shoot, shoot, as in the famous propaganda campaign: if you see a German, kill the German!

Any "language" will speak

Baida quickly mastered all the science needed in military intelligence. And she moved silently, and fired accurately, and perfectly navigated the terrain. Always kept cool. The wounded were sometimes carried out from under the very noses of the Germans. Since there was not so much work for the medical instructor - this was not an infantry, Maria often went on reconnaissance herself. Penetrated into the rear of the enemy, examined the positions, got "tongue".

One day, with her tongue, she took a hefty chief corporal. Carrying him to his own people was much harder than sacks of beets or the same wounded: he resisted. And, although Maria twisted it into a ram's horn several times, a hitch arose as a result. The Germans noticed the Soviet intelligence officers, a firefight began. One of Baida's comrades was wounded and one was killed.

Of course, upon her return, Maria was put on her lip for careless work. And two hours later, they summoned me to the headquarters. The “language” turned out to be non-linguistic. We decided to put pressure on him psychologically - and it was right. Seeing Baida, both corporal shook and made it clear that he was ready for any cooperation. The information from him was very valuable. Mary was given thanks in front of the formation.

Miracle from Mary the state farm

On the night of June 1942, a small group of scouts, along with Maria, was separated from the reconnaissance company. It happened in the environment. The four scouts had to shoot back on their own, without a chance to join their own. Every now and then they ran out of ammunition, and then Baida jumped out of hiding, quickly robbed the dead Nazis and returned with fresh ammunition to shoot further.

She jumped again - and a grenade exploded nearby. Maria managed to feel that her head had gotten, and fell into unconsciousness. When she woke up, it was still night. His head was bloody, and there was no shooting nearby. Maria listened to herself and realized that she had all the signs, at best, concussion. Nearby, she heard German speech and realized that the Nazis had laid, it seems, her entire company. Pain and hatred seized her.

She somehow fumbled for someone else's machine gun, checked if it was loaded, and crawled to speak German. She looked into the hiding place. A dozen scouts were still alive; the prisoners were herded into one corner. There were a little more than twenty Germans. What followed seemed impossible - like frames from 21st century films about superheroines.

Baida jumped inside and slashed at the Germans with a burst. Sixteen Nazis fell to the ground in blood - but the machine gun fell silent. Maria immediately intercepted him and began to kill the Germans with a rifle butt. Precisely to kill. She killed four. There was no one else - the prisoners rushed at the others, realizing what was happening. One commander. Eight fighters. And she, the medical officer and Sergeant Major Baida. All that remains of their company. But it remains!

The scouts collected trophy weapons, ammunition - but they could only get through with a minefield. Baida said she had already mapped out the path. She looked scary, the concussion was obvious - but they could all rely only on Maria and on a miracle. And Mary performed this miracle. On a dark night, she led her guys through a minefield.

Life after exploration

Maria was captured a month after leaving the hospital - the fighting was hot. She went through every possible bullying before she was sent to a concentration camp. In every camp she tried to escape, but they kept catching her - and sent on until she ended up in the infamous Ravensbrück women's camp.

Baida would not have been Baida if she had not tried to revolt in him. Preparation failed and she was locked in an ice punishment cell in January. She was supposed to die herself soon. On May 8, the door of the punishment cell was opened by the Americans. They found a skeleton - but the skeleton is still alive. The woman, whose age was even impossible to understand, was carried into the light in her arms. Also, on hand, they were handed over to the Soviet side. Maria could not walk. Due to tuberculosis, she even had difficulty breathing. It was surprising that she was still alive.

A year after the Victory, Baida began working as a waitress in a restaurant. She got married, gave birth to a daughter and a son. I lay down on planned operations to remove grenade fragments from my head - then many had such planned operations. Already quite an adult she moved to Sevastopol. And I got a job at the registry office. She liked it there. There, the lovers kissed, becoming husband and wife, and a year later, the recent groom resorted to registering the baby. And life went on, and went on, and did not end.

Maria was far from the only heroine of the great war: As a Soviet tanker Alexandra Rashchupkina, she successfully passed herself off as a man for 3 years.