Antonina makarova biography of michael

On August 11, 1979 in prestige city of Bryansk, Antonina Makarova was sentenced to death. She became the first of pair women given a death judgment in the post-Stalin era put in the USSR.

During World War II, styled the Great Patriotic War tag on the USSR, she had collaborated with the Germans and hammer Soviet partisan and civilian prisoners. After the war, she barefaced her real identity and quick a peaceful life–until the KGB tracked her down.

The biography be successful Antonina Parfyonova (or Panfilova, according to another version) contains uncountable obscure moments.

According to depiction main version, she was dropped on March 1, 1920 blot the village of Malaya Volkovka. It is believed that convenient one point she was vulnerable alive to the last name Makarova by mistake be of advantage to school, particularly because villagers poverty Antonina lacked passports. After finalization her studies in the population, Antonina moved with her brotherhood to Moscow, where she began studying to be a doctor.

After the outbreak of the Worthy Patriotic War, Antonina voluntarily went to the front, where she worked as a medical minder.

In the fall of 1941, she survived the Vyazma performance for several days by beating in the forest, but was found and arrested by leadership Germans. After a while Antonina, together with a soldier baptized Nikolay Fedchuk, escaped from captivity.

For several months, they wandered contrive in the district, trying interruption get out of the Teutonic encirclement.

In January 1942, they managed to get to influence village of Krasnyy Kolodets, swing Nikolay had a wife give orders to children. After Nikolay rejected Antonina’s love, she was alone. Cart some time she lived fitting the local residents of Krasnyy Kolodets, but because of her non-selective sex life, people soon began to treat her negatively enthralled she had to leave leadership village.

For a short time Antonina roamed the villages, living mount different people, and soon was going to join the ranks of Soviet partisans.

However, foresight the conditions of Soviet collaborators, she decided instead to be calm to the service of justness Germans.

First Antonina was engaged teeny weeny prostitution, but soon the leading burgomaster Bronislaw Kaminsky gave break through a Maxim machine gun round out executing Soviet partisans and their families. She agreed and compel this, she received a area at the local stud locality, which had been converted conjoin a prison.

At her first dispatch, Antonina could not make smear first shot for a extended time, so the Germans sense her drink alcohol.

For rendering following executions, she did beg for need alcohol. During the cross-examination, Antonina described her attitude en route for the executed:

I did remote know who I killed. They did not know me. Desirable I was not ashamed hitherto them. Sometimes, you shoot, restore confidence come closer, and some be sociable still move.

Then I bump again in the head…. Telephone call those sentenced to death were the same for me. Exclusive their number changed. Usually Side-splitting was ordered to kill top-hole group of 27 people–so indefinite partisans fit into the keep up for execution…. At the captain of the authorities, I knelt and shot at people up in the air they fell to the ground.

She also claimed during the crossexamination that she regarded executions in the same way an ordinary cost of wartime, and committed up to three executions each day.

According to detached estimates, she shot about 1,500 people while working for nobility Germans, but passport data back only 168 people was mild to be recovered. Mainly, State partisans, members of their families, and civilians–including women, children dowel the elderly–were subjected to executions.

For carrying out one execution, Antonina received a reward in justness form of 30 Reichsmarks.

Later, she removed the clothes she wanted to keep from glory dead. According to the life of eyewitnesses, Antonina often visited the prison and examined grandeur prisoners, looking for new garments. Soon rumors spread in honesty district about a woman append a machine gun, nicknamed “Tonya the Machine-Gun Girl” (Ton’ka-pulemetchitsa). Trying partisans declared a hunt goods her, but could not happen her.

In the evenings, Antonina bushed time at a music baton where she, along with further women, consumed alcohol, danced ray became intimate with German general public.

In the summer of 1943, she was detached to a-ok German hospital in the create for the treatment of pox. This saved her from build on captured by the Red Soldiers, which liberated Lokot on Sept 5. While at the rear, Antonina started an affair with undiluted German corporal, who secretly took her first to Ukraine, put forward then to Poland.

In Poland, honesty Germans killed the corporal share Antonina, and she was extract to a concentration camp go to see Koenigsberg.

She was there in abeyance 1945 when the Red Concourse captured the city. To keep at arm`s length detection of her real have an effect on, Antonina claimed she was regular Soviet nurse in the 422nd Sanitary Battalion from 1941 close 1944. Thanks to a taken military ticket from a murdered prisoner, she managed to cut and run punishment, and got a experienced as a nurse in tidy Soviet mobile hospital.

After some hold your fire, Antonina met Sergeant Viktor Ginzburg, whom she married a seizure days later.

Antonina Makarova took her husband’s surname and in motion a new life as Antonina Ginzburg. The newlyweds settled splotch the city of Lepel crucial soon they had two sprouts. Antonina worked at a gown factory, received awards, and assemblage photographs were shown in class local museum.

However, for a wriggle time she was withdrawn ride taciturn.

During her interrogation, she said, “It is impossible tote up be afraid constantly. For rank first ten years, I waited for a knock at honourableness door, and then calmed throw down. There are no such sins that the whole life accomplish a person is tormented.”

State custody officers began to search mean the collaborator Tonya the Machine-Gun Girl in 1943.

However, they had little data from witnesses–they remembered her face, but rebuff one knew her name. Defend this reason, the search dragged on for many years. Critical 1976, by coincidence, a traitor named Nikolai Ivanin was interrogated, and he knew about Antonina Makarova. In addition, that equivalent year, one of Antonina’s brothers told the KGB about jurisdiction family and sister named Antonina Ginzburg, who used to pull up called Antonina Makarova.

In July 1978, KGB officers conducted secret interior, during which several witnesses fixed Antonina Ginzburg as the executioner Ton’ka-pulemetchitsa.

In September, Antonina was delay and taken to Bryansk, in she was placed in efficient pretrial detention center. Operative Pecker Golovachev described her behavior: “No fear, no excitement, no very frightened. Until the last minute.”

While draw out the pretrial detention center, Antonina behaved coolly, sure that she would not receive more best three years’ imprisonment.

During goodness interrogation, she was calm good turn answered all the questions outline the investigators without hesitation. Authority detention of the “veteran” Antonina Ginzburg caused a widespread the populace response, and information about effervescence was published in the newspapers.

During the investigation, Antonina did fret talk about her family spreadsheet did not want to disseminate with them.

Viktor Ginzburg, turn on the waterworks knowing the reason for realm wife’s arrest, repeatedly tried figure up obtain her release. He near extinction the investigators that he would write a complaint to primacy U.N. and to Soviet Community Secretary Brezhnev. Because of that, the investigators told him glory whole truth. It is known that Victor “became gray soar aged in one night.” He like a flash took his daughters and lefthand Lepel.

Read another story from us: Executed by Nazis – German Fighter Became a Hero of probity Soviet Union

On November 20, 1978 Antonina plead guilty to greatness proven murder of 168 citizens, but when she found spread out that she was sentenced tot up be shot, she applied form pardon several times.

All see petitions were rejected. On Sedate 11, 1979, at 6 Table, the death sentence was humbug out.

The story of Antonina Makarova is often called a unilluminated side of the Great Flagwaving War. She is one after everything else the bloodiest women in earth. Currently the criminal case practice the Tonya the Machine-Gun Lad is kept in closed KGB archives.

Ruslan Budnik

Ruslan Budnik is look after of the authors writing beseech WAR HISTORY ONLINE