When the Germans located and fought women in the Red Army, orders were given to kill
and shoot the women instantly. The German Military along with the Nazis saw the use
of women in the military as an example of how backwards Bolshevism, communism and subsequently
the Soviet Union was. They saw this as an attack on traditional values, and because
of this they wished to execute them instantly. Hundreds of women soldiers, snipers and tank
crew members were shot on sight or hanged when they were taken by the Germans, but after
the losses of Operation Babarossa Stalin had allowed women to join up. Today we look at
a teenager who at the age of 18 was killed fighting in the Red Army, and was executed
in barbaric fashion. So join us as we look at the HORRIFIC Execution Of Kseniya Konstantinova,
and remember as always to support, please make sure to subscribe.
Kseniya Konstantinova was born on the 18th April 1925, in Russia in a small village called
Lubny. Little is known about her early life and education, but at the age of 12 she saw
her father Semyon be arrested by the NKVD, the organisation asked with conducting police
work and overseeing labour camps in Russia. They were a group that throughout history
have become synonymous with carrying out political repression, execution thousands of citizens
who dissented against Stalin and the government, and they also carried out Stalin’s Great
Purge.
The NKVD were also responsible for overseeing and administering the Gulags and the systems
of forced labour. Kseniya’s father had been accused of false charges by his colleague,
he was a primary school teacher and after his arrest he was sent to prison for 5 years
and regarded as an enemy of the people. Kseniya and her brothers were also then treated poorly,
and were looked down upon and it was this label that she wished greatly to shed. Kseniya
wished to change people’s perceptions that she was not the enemy, and in 1940 she trained
at the Lipetsk Paramedic and Obsetric school. It took her two years to graduate and she
then began to work in a small village hospital.
This drive to prove herself and to shake off the stigma that the NKVD labelled her family,
led her into the Second World War. At the time, the Germans had invaded the Soviet Union
and things were looking rather bleak for the Soviets. Initially the Wehrmacht rampaged
through the Balkans and during Operation Barbarossa there were huge losses to not just the military
but the army. It was this that led Josef Stalin to accept women to join the Soviet military
and the red army. After the huge losses of the initial part of Barbarossa he changed
his mind allowing women who were previously refused to serve in the Red Army permission
to reapply and take up arms. This saw a large number of women, thousands to join service
as not just nurses but as snipers, tank crews, anti aircraft battery staff and also regular
infantry soldiers. Women inside of the Red Army were greatly celebrated after the war,
but the Germans saw this as a horrific assault on their values. The Nazis had instilled the
traditional values into German society, and deemed that women should only be housewives
and mothers, serving their husbands inside of domestic roles.
The fact the Soviets saw women in military service led to a number of German officials
and officers stating that any Soviet woman found in uniform or bearing arms must be executed
immediately, on the spot by gunshot or some even said they should be hanged from trees.
This included the Partisans, a communist resistance movement that saw thousands of women take
up arms against the Germans in the Balkans, and subsequently many women were executed
by the Germans in horrific fashion because of this. To shake off the reputation she and
her family had, Kseniya Konstantinova then ran away from home in 1943, and wished to
help the war effort. She joined up with the Red Army as a medical, and left a small note
for her mother explaining that she felt that she needed to go and help the Soviet Union
against the war machine of the German Army.
She wasn’t even 18 when she joined and volunteered for service within the Red Army. In Early
1943 she was sent to an infantry training brigade based in the Volga district, and within
a few months she was placed into service in the army as a medic. She joined the 730th
Infantry Regiment of the 204th Infantry Division, and she was quickly placed in the heart of
battle tending to wounded soldiers, and helping to evacuate them out of the heat of battle.
During intense and savage fighting in the Kursk area in July 1943, Konstantinova was
plunged into the heart of the fighting, and she helped to make enemy soldiers retreat.
This then allowed her to to carry and evacuate dozens of soldiers who were injured. She carried
them herself from the battlefield and was awarded the Medal for Battle Merit, such was
her bravery. Kseniya was just 18 when she did this, and she continued to carve a reputation
for herself for hard work and rescuing many soldiers.
During the Battle for the Kursk Bulge, she did receive injuries and was forced into hospital
for a spell whilst she recovered from concussion, but shortly after she went back to the front
lines. Her division was later withdrawn to the reserve army during reorganisation, and
was absorbed into the 43rd Army based on the Kalinin Front. Kseniya went with her battalion,
and she saw action there and took part in the offensive to take Demidov, a small city.
The Red Army were able to force the Germans out by the 21st September 1943, but the fighting
was ferocious, and later she saw service also in a battle for Shatilovo village on the 1st
October. During this Konstantinova was incredibly busy as her battalion saw heavy losses and
many soldiers were injured. She even helped to evacuate her commander, Ivan Klevakin when
he suffered wounds in the fighting, but returned once more to help her fellow soldiers.
She continued to administer first aid in the heat of the ferocious fighting, however whilst
she was in the middle of administering first aid to a wounded soldier, the Germans struck
back. A group of around 100 soldiers managed to penetrate the Soviet lines and they shocked
the Soviets and managed to encircle a number of Soviet forces, and they opened up their
machine guns at the Red Army along with Konstantiova. She picked up a machine gun herself, and whilst
by a cart carrying wounded soldiers she returned fire at the enemy. She held off as best as
she could, defending the wounded soldiers, and managed to kill 12 enemy German soldiers.
She took out a dozen of the enemy, until she was hit and was suffering from a head injury
that left her completely unconscious and out cold, surrounded by the enemy.
She was then taken prisoner by the Germans who saw her as a huge threat. As mentioned,
many German generals saw women who took up arms as a huge attack on traditional German
values, and subsequently ordered that those were to be executed on sight. Kseinya Konstantinova
was taken captive, and when she awoke after being knocked out, she was taken as a prisoner
of war and she was interrogated brutally. She was asked about Soviet Red Army military
operations and missions in the local area, but Konstantinova refused to give over any
information at all. She was horrifically tortured and mutilated, and was left near to dead,
however her execution was incredibly barbaric.
During the mutilation of her, and in an attempt to get her to give over information a decision
by the Germans was made that she was a lost cause. It was decided that the interrogation
would never give over any information and because of this, the soldiers in charge executed
her in barbaric fashion. Kseniya Konstantinova was left for dead, and she was stabbed a number
of times. She was butchered completely by the Germans, before she was pinned to the
ground, with a wooden stake placed straight through her body, pinning her corpse to the
ground. This was aimed to shock those who found her, and the mutilated corpse of the
Soviet nurse was discovered the next day, and her fellow soldiers many who she knew
were appalled and shocked. The stake was removed, and her body was then taken away and she was
given full military honours at her funeral when she was buried. Within a few months,
she was also awarded the title the Hero of the Soviet Union, the highest military honour
within the Union for bravery.
At the heart of the story is a young girl of 18 who’s family were shamed and given
a bad name following false accusations levelled at Kseniya’s father. She wished to rid this
reputation from herself, and by signing up to fight against the Germans and to help the
Red Army turn the tide in the war, she certainly earned the respect of so many. She was regarded
as an excellent medic, who did so much to help soldiers escape the battlefield, and
recover. However her execution by the Germans was incredibly savage, being impaled with
a wooden stake and pinned into the ground, with her dead body showing how brutal the
enemy were in her torture. Kseniya Konstantinova was a incredibly brave young lady, who met
her demise after fighting so well for her nation.
Once again thanks for watching.
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Once again thanks for watching.