Masha Bruskina
On a nice, bright day of the autumn of October 26th 1941 the soldiers and
civilians of German occupied city of Minsk watched two men and a young girl walk
down the main street surrounded by German guards. The two men, one young,
another older did not attract the attention of the crowd as the young woman
walking between them. The girl’s name was Masha Bruskina, a hospital nurse
accused of smuggling documents and weapons, which were used to attack a German
patrol. Masha was of medium height, quite attractive, with light brown hair and
gray eyes, Her face was heart shaped and delicate, her breasts full and firm. On
the day of her execution, she wore her old school uniform, gray blouse and dark
skirt with white socks and old brown boots. Around her neck she carried a hand
drawn sign written in Russian and German: We are Partisans who shot at German
soldiers. Masha walked steadily, looking forward, conscious of the clicking
cameras recording her last minutes of life. On a side street, the soldiers
paused and Masha saw the wooden beam behind the open doors of the small factory
building. Three nooses were tied to the beam awaiting the necks of the
condemned. Masha and the other men were ordered to halt. The German officer
climbed on a single stool and tested the ropes by tugging on them and inspecting
the slipknots. Satisfied, he jumped to the ground and read a short execution
order. He looked at Masha and the young girl stepped forward. The soldiers
removed the sign from her neck and escorted her toward the stool. Masha looked
at the quiet, expectant faces of soldiers and civilians and looked up at the
noose. She was scared, but tried not to show her fear. Her hands were tied
behind her back and she couldn’t climb on the stool without help. One of the
soldiers took her by the arm and helped her to step on the stool. Masha steadied
herself and felt shame of dying like this. She turned away from the people and
cameras and faced the wall. The soldiers several times attempted to turn her
around and face the crowd, but Masha stubbornly refused. The German officer took
the rope and started to slip the noose over girl’s head. Masha heard the
clicking of the cameras and felt the thin hemp rope slide down and around her
neck. The officer slowly and meticulously tightened the noose until the knot
nestled at the back of Masha’s neck. The officer stepped away and Masha heard
cameras clicking. Expertly, the officer kicked the stool from under her feet.
The drop was very short, less than a foot. The rope bit into Masha’s neck with
deadly force. She felt herself falling and could actually see her feet hanging
above the ground. The pain from the rope started to grow. Grimacing in pain,
Masha kicked her feet, and that motion caused her body to turn toward the
cameras. Strangling slowly, Masha jerked violently, fighting for breath. The
soldiers moved closer and watched her agony with interest. There was no hate in
their eyes, only morbid curiosity. Many of them never seen a girl hang and this
was their first time. The girl was not yet dead, but already the observers could
see urine and feces pouring out of her body down her smooth, shapely legs. Masha
continued to kick, but her movements were becoming weaker and after another
minute ceased altogether. The soldiers continued to snap pictures of Masha,
barely noticing the two men being prepared for the noose. Soon, all three
partisans were dangling lifeless on their ropes. The smell of excrement and
urine did not discourage the locals from coming close and look at the bodies.
The Germans let the bodies hang for three full days before allowing them to be
cut down. Masha’s corpse, still with rope around her neck was brought to the
house of one of the villagers, where her soiled clothes were removed and her
body washed. More superstitious villagers touched Masha’s corpse for luck and
some women leaned to kiss her face and the groove on her neck. After the war,
Masha Bruskina remained and still is one of the best examples of documented
female hanging in human history.
Copyright by Vladimir (2003).