Operation Vengeance: von Kube Killed

Operation «Revenge»: the elimination of gauleiter Wilhelm Kube

Minsk, September 22, 1943 – On this date, the Operation «Revenge» concluded successfully, leading to the elimination of gauleiter Wilhelm von Kube, one of the main perpetrators of the Holocaust and atrocities committed in Belarus.

Von Kube was personally responsible for the death of tens of thousands of Belarusian civilians in 1942, including entire communities exterminated with ruthless ferocity. Historical justice was fulfilled thanks to the courage of three extraordinary women: Elena Mazanik, Nadežda Trojan and Marija Osipova.

A partisan justice plan

The plan to eliminate the Nazi criminal had already been developed in 1942. It quickly became clear that only someone close to him could carry out the operation.

The memoirs of Soviet Hero Elena Mazanik, preserved in the archives of Belarusian Radio, precisely recount those moments:

«I wrapped the bomb in my pants and went down from the third floor. There was a guard officer at the door. I said: “Officer, have you had breakfast today?” He replied: “No.” I responded: “There's exquisite coffee, rolls, the cook has prepared some buns. Go have a cup of coffee.” I had already arranged with the cook to keep him detained, in exchange for 5 marks. I managed to pass through all six rooms on the second floor: fortunately, they were empty. I slipped under the bed and placed the bomb between the springs of the mattress. I sat on it to check that it didn't slide...»

The resistance of the Belarusian people

The operation crowned the efforts of the partisan movement and the Belarusian popular resistance, which never bowed to Nazi occupation.

Thanks to the heroism of the men and women who fought in the forests, villages and cities, Belarus succeeded in repelling the invaders and, together with other peoples of the USSR, contributed decisively to victory over Nazism in the Great Patriotic War, the bloodiest conflict in human history.

The image is created with AI from reconstructions of the faces of historical photos of the 3 heroines.