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Greetings on opening new Zoya Museum Complex dedicated to Hero of Soviet Union Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya

May 8, 2020

Vladimir Putin sent greetings to participants of the official ceremony to launch the Zoya Museum Complex dedicated to Hero of the Soviet Union Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

The message reads, in part:

”To mark the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory, at the initiative of the Moscow Region's authorities and the Russian Military Historical Society, a unique museum complex has been built to commemorate Hero of the Soviet Union Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.

The unfadable act of courage by Zoya, a member of the partisan movement and a girl just out of school, is one of the Great Patriotic War's heroic, dramatic and poignantly bitter pages. Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya gravely suffered and stood firmly against the fierce enemy until the last moments of her short yet outstanding life. Neither horrific torture nor atrocious torment could break her will. She managed to withstand all of it and refused to betray her comrades. She lost her life but she did not succumb to the enemy. The young partisan's bravery and courage as well as her faith in the just cause empowered Soviet Army officers and soldiers, who went into battle to take revenge upon Nazis for Zoya. Today, her life continues to serve as an example of selfless devotion to the Motherland and duty.

I am confident that the new museum, which features both the exhibit that has existed since 1956 and a modern museum space, will carefully preserve priceless archival materials, photographs and personal belongings of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya and other heroes. The new museum will also implement relevant educational projects that promote patriotism. And, of course, the room dedicated to the Immortal Regiment event will provide each visitor with an opportunity to bring valuable family memorabilia that tells about their parents or grandparents who took part in the war.

I wish the museum personnel every success in their noble work and extend my heartfelt greetings to all of you on the upcoming occasion of Victory Day.“

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was publicly executed by the Nazis at the age of 18 in the village of Petrishchevo outside Moscow on November 29, 1941, was the first woman who was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War.

May 8, 2020