The magnetic mine used to kill Wilhelm Kube, the Generalkommissar of Nazi-occupied Belarus, was delivered to the maid Yelena Mazanik by Mariya Osipova. This operation cemented Osipova's reputation within the Soviet partisan movement, leading to her designation as a Hero of the Soviet Union in October 1943 for her role in the high-stakes assassination plot.
Early Career and Education
Born in 1908 in Sierkavicy, Mariya Borisovna Osipova grew up in a peasant family within the Mogilev Governorate. She entered the workforce at 13 in a glass factory before joining the Communist Party in 1928. Her academic background included studies at the Lenin Higher Communist Agricultural School of Byelorussia, followed by a degree from the Minsk Law Institute in 1940. Before the German invasion, she served at the Supreme Court of the Byelorussian SSR and later worked as a legal assistant.
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Following the German occupation of Minsk, Osipova organized an underground resistance cell operating from her former law school. Starting with 14 members, the group expanded to 50 participants by 1943. Under the pseudonym "Chernaya," she coordinated sabotage, distributed anti-Axis literature through the newspaper "Zvezda," and maintained logistical links between various partisan brigades, including the "Dima" unit and the "Zheleznyak" brigade. Her group actively hid Jewish refugees and Soviet prisoners of war in attic spaces across the city.
Assassination of Wilhelm Kube
Osipova played a pivotal role in the conspiracy against Wilhelm Kube, who oversaw the Minsk Ghetto. Tasked with recruiting an inside source, she worked alongside Nadezhda Troyan to vet and prepare Yelena Mazanik, a domestic servant at Kube's mansion. Osipova provided the magnetic mine used in the lethal attack. Following the success of the mission, she evacuated to the forest to escape German retribution.
Post-War Political Service
After the war, Osipova participated in the reconstruction of Minsk and held various public offices. Between 1947 and 1962, she served as a deputy in the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR. During her tenure, she headed the pardon department of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, where she advocated for the rehabilitation of resistance members. She remained active in politics until 1963 and spent her final years in Minsk until her death in 1999.
Fast facts
- Born: 1908, Sierkavicy
- Died: 5 February 1999, Minsk
- Pseudonym: Chernaya
- Education: Minsk Law Institute
- Hero of the Soviet Union awarded: 29 October 1943
- Burial site: Eastern Cemetery, Minsk
- Awarded Righteous Among the Nations: 1995
Questions readers ask
What was Osipova's role in the partisan movement?
She served as a communication liaison, an intelligence gatherer, and an organizer of sabotage missions against the German military.
What did Osipova do after the war?
She focused on city reconstruction, served as a deputy in the Supreme Soviet, and worked to clear the names of fellow resistance members.
Achievements
- Order of Lenin
- Hero of the Soviet Union
- Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour
- Medal "Veteran of Labour"
- Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
- Worked as partisan and politician
- Educated at Lenin Higher Communist Agricultural School of Byelorussia and Minsk Law Institute
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