On September 13, an EWCS dedicated to the 100th Birth Anniversary of Z. Kosmodemyanskaya, a Hero of the Soviet Union, was put into postal circulation in the On the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 series

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya (1923-1941) was a Red Army soldier of the subversive reconnaissance group of the Western Front headquarters, the first woman to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously) during the Great Patriotic War.

She was born on September 13 of 1923 in the village of Osino-Gai, currently the Gavrilovsky District of the Tambov Region. On October 31, 1941, Kosmodemyanskaya became a fighter of a subversive reconnaissance group, officially named Partisan Unit 9903 of the Western Front Headquarters.

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya's group received a combat assignment to burn 10 settlements within a week. The task was to be carried out within the framework of the order of the Supreme High Command to burn settlements in the occupied territory.

Kosmodemyanskaya managed to fulfil only a part of the combat order, having organized the arson of three houses with sleeping Nazi soldiers going to the front, as well as destroyed their transport and horses. During the second arson attempt, the alarm was raised and Kosmodemyanskaya was arrested. She was tortured after having been captured and finally executed by hanging.

Before her death, Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya gave a legendary speech, urging the villagers to fight the Nazis and not to fear death in this struggle.

Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya became one of the symbols of heroism of the Soviet people in the Second World War.

The commemorative stamp provides an image of the emblem of celebration of the 80th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945; the main illustration features a Monument to Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya by Zurab Tsereteli installed in the town of Ruza.

In addition to the issue of the envelope with a commemorative stamp, JSC Marka produced special cancels for Moscow, Tambov and Dorokhovo of the Moscow Region.


Design Artists: A. Moskovets (stamp); N. Karpova (illustration).
Quantity: 500 thousand envelopes.

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