For what merits to the Soviet intelligence officer Anna Morozova a monument was erected in Poland

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In June 2010, on the eve of the Day of Partisans and Underground Fighters, a monument to a brave Soviet girl, affectionately known by local residents as “our Anya”, was solemnly opened at the cemetery of the Polish village of Radzanovo. During the Great Patriotic War, Anna Afanasevna Morozova headed an international underground organization, fought against the Nazis as part of the united Soviet-Polish partisan detachment on the territory of occupied Poland. Her feat was reflected in Soviet cinema: Anya became the prototype of the main character of the television series Calling Fire on Ourselves, which had incredible success.

How Anya Morozova, a twenty-year-old accountant from Seshcha, showed herself at the beginning of the Second World War

The news of the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR overtook Anya in the small village of Seshcha in the Bryansk region, where she lived with her parents and four brothers and sisters. As the eldest of the children and seeking to help her father and mother, after the age of eight, the girl graduated from accounting courses and got a job. She found a place in her specialty in the aviation unit based at a military airfield built in Seshcha back in the 1930s.

Having learned about the beginning of the war, accountant-clerk Anna Morozova decided to volunteer for the Red Army. However, the military command judged differently and invited Anya to stay at home. This was due to the approaching front line and the real danger of the capture of the airfield by the Germans. When Soviet troops left Seshcha, the Nazis set up an airbase there for three hundred bombers, the main target of which was Moscow. Given the enormous strategic importance of the facility, the party leadership decided to form a special reconnaissance and sabotage group under the leadership of Konstantin Povarov. Morozova was sent to it and received the pseudonym "Reseda". According to the instructions, Anya was to enter the service of the Germans. She succeeded without much difficulty: the girl did not hide anything about her previous job, and the new owners did not see a threat in the fragile young girl.

How "Reseda" and its international brigade acted behind enemy lines

The main task of Povarov's detachment was to carry out sabotage at the airfield. Anna was instructed, first of all, to find reliable people among the local residents and establish communication with the partisans. The group grew and gradually intensified its work. The underground workers managed to organize the delivery of small-sized mines with a clockwork mechanism and carry out several successful sabotage.

After the ridiculous accidental death of Konstantin Povarov, Anya took over the leadership of the brigade. Youth and lack of experience did not prevent the brave girl from becoming an excellent organizer and conspirator. "Reseda" was able to attract to the underground activities both local residents serving the Germans and the Poles and Czechs mobilized into the German troops. Foreign assistants provided the Soviet patriots with detailed maps of the location of the airfield facilities and the air defense system around Seshcha. In addition, they managed to create a guidance post for Soviet aircraft at the airbase. As a result, a series of devastating airstrikes were inflicted on the object. Information about the planned sorties of German aviation, which was supplied by the anti-fascist staff, was very important. Anya personally gave the partisans information about the organization of a recreation center near Sesch, after which not one of the two hundred German aces who came there to rest survived.

How Morozova becomes a member of the Jack group, and what tasks were assigned to her

For almost two years, Anna successfully operated under the very nose of the Germans. In September 1943, when the Red Army liberated Seshcha, the experienced underground worker did not want to stay at home, but preferred to continue fighting the enemy. She completed a course in a reconnaissance school, having mastered the specialty of a radio operator, and was included in the special group "Jack" with a new pseudonym "Swan".

In July 1944, 10 paratroopers landed in a forest deep behind enemy lines - in East Prussia, in the area of Hitler's headquarters "Wolf's Lair". From the very beginning of the operation, the detachment found itself in a difficult situation. Several parachutes were firmly stuck in the branches of trees, they could not be removed, and this circumstance seriously unmasked the paratroopers. The Germans sounded the alarm and began a massive hunt for Soviet intelligence officers. For a long time, "Jack" managed to quickly change deployment and evade ambushes and direction finders. In the face of constant harassment, the team transmitted about seventy radio messages of extreme importance to the Center. All responsibility for communication fell on Anna, since the second radio operator died in one of the skirmishes with the Germans. In addition, Morozov, who knows German well, was given the obligation to come into contact with the local population, which was extremely risky for Anya.

How the scout "Swan" fought to the end, and what award was awarded posthumously

More and more units rushed to catch the paratroopers, nicknamed by the Germans "forest ghosts". Deprived of any support, in summer equipment, with a limited supply of food, exhausted and suffering from diseases, people from the "Jack" group lost their last strength, died. In November, they sent a radiogram to the command with a request to allow them to leave Prussia for Poland, while they themselves continued their reconnaissance, realizing the importance of information before the impending Soviet offensive on the Wolf's Lair. However, the forces were unequal, and the group was surrounded. In the last battle, Anya alone managed to elude her pursuers. After three days of wandering through the woods with a walkie-talkie, she met Polish partisans. She fought bravely in their squad. But in one battle she was seriously wounded. Overcoming the pain in the shattered hand, "Swan" fired back to the last bullet. And when she realized that it would not be possible to get away from the SS men, she blew herself up with a grenade, so as not to be given alive into the hands of the enemy.

The courage and dedication of the young scout were duly appreciated. At home, Anna was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and Poland awarded her the Order of the Grunwald Cross, which is awarded for exceptional military service.

And another scout staged an assassination attempt on Wrangel and rammed a White Guard ship.