Tanya was led in. She was motioned over to a bench. On the table opposite her were telephones, a typewriter, a radio set and piles of staff papers.
"Officers began to assemble. The owners of the house (the Voronins) were ordered to leave. The old woman lingered, and an officer shouted, 'Get out, woman!' and jabbed her in the back.
"The commanding officer of the 332nd Infantry of the 197th Division, Lieutenant-Colonel Rüderer, himself interrogated Tanya.
"Sitting in the kitchen the Voronins were able to hear everything that went on in the room. Tanya answered the officer without hesitation, loudly and defiantly.
" 'Who are you?' asked the lieutenant-colonel.
" 'I won't tell you.'
" 'Was it you who set fire to the stables?'
" 'Yes, it was.'
" 'Your aim?'
" 'To destroy you.'
"Silence.
" 'When did you cross the front line?'
" 'On Friday.'
" 'You got here too soon for that.'
" 'Why should I waste time?'
"They asked Tanya who sent her and who came with her. They demanded that she should tell them who her comrades were. Through the door came her answers: No; I don't know; I won't tell; no! Then straps hissed through the air, and struck home, lacerating the bare flesh. After a few minutes a youngish officer tottered out of the room into the kitchen, buried his head in his hands and sat thus till the end of the interrogation, his eyes tightly shut and his hands stopping his ears. Even the nerves of a fascist could not stand it.
"Four burly men had taken off their belts and were lashing the girl. The owners of the house counted two hundred blows. Not a sound came from Tanya. And afterwards she again said: No; I won't tell; only her voice sounded fainter than before."
Sergeant Karl Bauerlein (who was later taken prisoner by the Red Army) was present at the tortures to which Lieutenant-Colonel Rüiderer subjected Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. In his deposition he wrote:
"The little heroine of your people remained staunch. She did not know the meaning of betrayal…She turned blue with the cold, blood flowed from her wounds, but she said nothing…
Tanya was kept in the Voronins' hut for two hours. After the interrogation she was taken to the hut of Vasili Kulik.
"She went under guard, still half undressed, barefoot through the snow.
"When they brought her into Kulik's hut there was a large purple-black bruise on her forehead, and weals on her arms and legs. She was breathing heavily. Her hair was dishevelled, and the sweat had glued her black locks to her lofty brow. The girl's hands were bound behind her. Her lips were bloody and swollen. She had evidently bitten them when the fascists had tried to wring a confession out of her.
"She lowered herself down on a bench and sat there calm and still. A German sentry stood at the door. The girl asked for, water. Vasili Kulik stepped up to the water tub, but the sentry was too quick for him. He snatched the lamp from the table and held it up to Tanya's lips.
By this he meant to say that she should be given kerosene to drink, not water.
"Kulik began to plead for the girl. The sentry snarled at him, but then grudgingly gave way. She drank thirstily, draining two large mugfuls.
"The soldiers billeted in the hut surrounded the girl and amused themselves noisily at her expense. Some of them pounded her in the sides with their fists, others held lighted matches under her chin, and one of them drew a saw across her back.
"Only when they had diverted themselves to their hearts' content did the soldiers retire to herd. Thereupon the sentry put his rifle at the ready and ordered Tanya to get up and go out of the house. He marched her along the street, the point of his bayonet almost touching her back. Then he shouted: 'Zurück!' and marched the girl in the opposite direction. Barefoot, wearing nothing but her underclothes, she walked through the snow until her torturer himself was cold and decided that it was time to return to the warm hut.
"That sentry stood guard over Tanya from ten in the evening till two in the morning, and every hour he led her out into the street for fifteen or twenty minutes.
"At last a new sentry took over. The unfortunate girl was allowed to lie down on the bench.
"Praskovya Kulik, eager to talk to Tanya, seized at the first opportunity.
" 'Who might you be?' she asked.
" 'What is it to you?'
" 'Where do you come from?'
" 'I'm from Moscow.'
" 'Are your parents alive?'
"The girl made no reply. She lay until morning without moving, without a word or a groan, although her feet were frostbitten and must have caused her great suffering.
"In the morning the soldiers began to erect a gallows in the centre of the village.
"Praskovya again spoke to the girl, 'Was it you the day before yesterday?'
" 'Yes…Were any Germans burnt?'
" 'No'"
" 'A pity. What was burnt?'
" 'Their horses. They say some arms were burnt too…'
"At ten o'clock in the morning the officers came in. One of them again asked Tanya, 'Tell us who you are.'
"Tanya did not answer.
" 'Tell us where Stalin is.'
" 'Stalin is at his post,' answered Tanya.
"The master of the house and his wife did not hear the rest of the questioning, for they were driven out of the house and allowed in again only when the interrogation was over.
"They brought in Tanya's clothes: her blouse, trousers and stockings. Her kitbag was also there, with salt and matches in it. Her hat, fur jacket, soft woollen jumper and boots had vanished. The noncoms had already shared them out among themselves; the mittens had gone to the red-haired officers' cook.
"They dressed Tanya, and the owners of the hut helped her to pull her stockings onto her blackened feet. On her chest the Germans hung the bottles of benzine which they had taken from her, and a board with the inscription: 'Houseburner.' Thus they marched her out onto the square with the gallows.
"The place of execution was surrounded by ten cavalrymen with drawn sabres, more than a hundred German soldiers and some officers. The village folk had been ordered to assemble and attend the execution, but only a few had come, and some of these, after standing for a little while, quietly slipped away to their homes, so as not to witness the terrible sight.
"Under the noose hanging from the crossbeam of the gallows were two boxes, placed one on top of the other. The executioners lifted the girl onto the boxes and threw the noose round her neck. One of the officers began to focus the lens of his Kodak on the gallows. The commandant made a sign to the soldiers acting as hangmen to wait.
"Tanya took advantage of this and, addressing the collective farmers, shouted in a loud clear voice, 'Comrades! Why are you looking so downcast? Be brave, fight, smash, burn the fascists!'
"A German standing next to her lunged out, trying either to hit her or stop her mouth, but she parried his blow and went on, 'I am not afraid of dying, Comrades! It is a great thing to die for one's people!'
"The photographer took the gallows from a distance and close too, and was now preparing to photograph it from the side. The hangmen glanced over at the commandant uneasily, and the latter hastened the photographer, 'Aber doch schneller!'
"Then Tanya turned towards the commandant and shouted to him and the German soldiers, 'You'll hang me now, but I am not alone. There are two hundred million of us, and you can't hang us all. My death will be avenged. Men, surrender while there is still time. Victory is sure to be ours!'
"The hangman wrenched at the rope, and the noose tightened around Tanya's throat. Tugging at it with both hands she stood up on her toes and shouted with all her strength, 'Farewell, Comrades! Fight, don't be afraid! Stalin is with us! Stalin will come!'
"The executioner raised his nailed boot and kicked out the lower box, which slid along the slippery, hard-packed snow. The top box tumbled down and hit the ground with a thud. The crowd swayed back. There was a shriek, arid the sound of it was flung back by the distant wall of the forest…"
Next: Klava's Story