The premiere took place on September 13, the birthday of intelligence officer Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya
The Central Academic Theater of the Russian Army (CATRA) of the Russian Ministry of Defense opened its 94th season with the premiere of the play “Girls” on the 100th anniversary of the birth of intelligence officer Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya.
The premiere took place on September 13, the birthday of intelligence officer Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. She was born in 1923, and in 1941 she stood up to defend her hometown. Together with other 18-year-old Muscovites and Muscovite women, Zoya became part of a sabotage and reconnaissance group that operated in the west of the Moscow region.
The performance is based on the play by playwright Daria Veryasova “9903” (the number of the famous special military unit of the intelligence department of the Western Front headquarters) about the intelligence officers Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, Vera Voloshina, Klavdiya Miloradova, Klavdiya Sukacheva, Rita Zagirova, Margarita Karavai.
“For me, this is not just a premiere, this is the result of 20 years of work: with archives, with veterans, with relatives of soldiers and commanders of military unit number 9903. And the girls to whom the play is dedicated are not just girls for me, I knew them personally. Margarita Mikhailovna Panshina (Rita Karavai) and I were just friends, I often visited her. This play and performance is a huge responsibility. Before these girls, before their relatives, before their own conscience,” says the author of the play, Daria Veryasova.
The main goal of the production of “Girls” is to preserve historical memory.
“Every choice we make determines the future, and sometimes the future of our country. The example of courage and perseverance of Zoya and other girls gives us confidence that our generation is also capable of withstanding trials, finding light, valor and kindness within itself,” noted director Yulia Shulieva.
Representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense and veterans paid tribute to the memory of Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. On the centenary anniversary of the Soviet intelligence officer, event participants laid wreaths and flowers at her burial place at the Novodevichy cemetery. The event was also attended by students from the capital’s school named after Zoya and Alexander Kosmodemyansky, where they studied.
HELP “KP”
In November 1941, in the village of Petrishchevo near Moscow, Kosmodemyanskaya burned several houses occupied by the enemy. Two days later, at night, during a second attempt to commit arson, she was captured by a German sentry. On December 29, 1941, after prolonged brutal torture, without revealing her name and the names of her comrades, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was executed by the Nazi invaders in the village of Petrishchevo, Ruza district, Moscow region. A new museum has been opened near the place of her death, which tells about the defense of Moscow and the dramatic events in the village of Petrishchevo.
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