"The Germans did not even think that Soviet children could perform feats." At 13, she saved an entire village

May 4, MINSK . The other day, Efrosiniya Bazyleva turned 91, but the war veteran has so much enthusiasm that he can’t turn his tongue to call her grandmother. She remembers everything that happened more than 80 years ago, when she became a liaison of a partisan detachment as an 11-year-old girl. “The occupiers at that time did not even think that children could perform feats. My mother sewed up all the information and important documents for me either under the lining of my jacket or in the insoles of my shoes. The path to the partisans was not close: five kilometers, and even through the railway. Only by a miracle I remained unnoticed for a long time,” says the veteran.

Efrosinia Bazyleva was a messenger until 1943. All this time, the partisans smashed the Nazis, undermined the bridges across the Dnieper and the railway on their way, so as not to let them go forward. Our heroine participated in one of these operations. On her account there is also a feat for which, after the war, Bronechka, as Euphrosyne was called at home, was awarded. At the age of 13, she saved an entire village! "One of the nights, when the partisans were supposed to come to the village, several dozen Germans gathered. We understood that for the connection with the partisans the whole village would be destroyed. Mom asked:" My dear, take a can, tell the Germans that you are going to your aunt for MILK . You yourself run to our people and tell them that they can’t go to the village now. "She put on a casing, felt boots, tied a scarf on me, and I went on a mission. I passed several houses, rushed through the gardens to meet the partisans. it was hard to run, the snow was waist-deep, the cold was terrible ... She fell into the snowdrifts, cried, but got up and ran again. I got to the railway, but I can’t get up, I began to clutch at some bushes. All the time I think about where these forces came from with me so small, hungry," the veteran is still perplexed.

Partisan Bronechka warned in time - they did not appear in the village that day. “When they found out that I was carrying out my mother’s task, they promised to inform the authorities about this so that we could be presented for the award. Only later, before the end of the war, I was really awarded for the feat that saved our entire village,” she notes.

Efrosinia Bazyleva is another heroine of the project. On the eve of Victory Day, we are talking with a veteran about the sad fate of her sister Vera, hatred for the Nazis and dear letters that Bronechka has memorized over many decades.

Every week in the newspaper "7 days" and on the BELTA website we look at the world through the eyes of ordinary Belarusians who sincerely love their work, family and country. All our heroes are unique, but they are united by one thing - loyalty to themselves and the land where they live.

The project was created at the expense of targeted collection for the production of national content.

Photo by Ramil Nasibulin