Kochanova about women in war: their heroism and self-sacrifice had no bounds and changed the course of history

The war tested women's resilience with particular cruelty, tearing the most precious values out of their hearts: children, husbands and parents – as stated by Natalya Kochanova, the Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, during The Female Face of Victory conference dedicated to the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War and held under the auspices of the Council of the Republic in co-operation with the Belarusian Women’s Union

At the beginning of her speech, Ms. Kochanova noted the symbolism of the fact that the meeting was taking place on the eve of a significant date: the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, “The path to that Victory ran through the battle of good and evil, light and darkness, justice and lawlessness in the calendar of world history. The monstrous Nazi machine had no mercy for men, the elderly, children, and those who, by their nature, were born to create and preserve peace. The war tested women's resilience with particular cruelty, tearing the most precious values – children, husbands and parents – out of their hearts.”

Ms. Kochanova recalled that, eighty years after the end of the Great Patriotic War, Belarusians are more aware than ever of the enormous, invaluable contribution of women who are commonly considered to be weak, “Actually, the life proved the opposite more than once. Young girls, brave mothers and wise grandmothers demonstrated their incredible resilience in the most difficult times – at the front and in the rear. Being spiritually strong, they became a symbol of great heroism and self-sacrifice that knew no bounds and changed the course of history. Their exploits are forever recorded in the annals. In the rear, at factories, women took the place of men who had gone to the front. Their gentle hands turned into sturdy and strong ones: at night, they swaddled babies, but cast weapons and ammunition at daytime. Everything was being done by them for the Victory! Their hard work on the verge of human capabilities became critically important, and their solidarity, responsibility, and mutual support were the cornerstones of collective resistance and the national spirit.”

Among the underground fighters and partisans, doctors and nurses, snipers and tank crew members there were glorious Belarusian women. “The exploits of Yelena Mazanik, Nadezhda Troyan, Maria Osipova from Minsk, Anna Maslovskaya, Yefrosinya Zenkova from the Vitebsk Region, Zinaida Portnova and Tatiana Marinenko from Polotsk and many others will forever resound in our hearts with an immortal ode, every line of which is written with blood, tears and pain – but also with faith, hope, and love. Zinaida Tusnolobova-Marchenko was also among them. She is an example of extraordinary strength, human resilience and courage. The legendary nurse saved more than a hundred soldiers from battle fields, despite a shower of bullets and exploding shells. In one of the battles, she was seriously injured, lost her arms and legs. Despite the terrible ordeal, the woman remained spiritually strong. The mere mention of her name encouraged Soviet soldiers to fight fearlessly against fascism, endowing them with indestructible strength and a desire to take revenge at all costs,” Ms. Kochanova noted, adding that the meeting with this legendary woman (one of the 17 female doctors awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title) left a deep mark in her hear. “When I was a schoolgirl, I had a great honour to congratulate this woman on Victory Day. I well remember our warm meeting and her request to defend our country – so that the tragedy that our older generation had to go through would never happen again. These words are forever in my heart, and I share them with my children and grandchildren,” she said.

There are many such examples of female heroism, and the Chairperson of the Council of the Republic emphasised, “Hundreds of thousands of women lost their loved ones, undermined their health, became disabled, were doomed to loneliness and terrible memories. They cherished the hopes for a future that their husbands, fathers, and children – who died in that war – never saw. Every lost and unborn life is not just a number: it is an irreparable loss for the entire generation.”