Lida Vashkevich

There was a communist underground in the Nazi-occupied city of Hrodna. One of the groups was led by Lida’s father. Lida’s father was in charge of one of the groups. Underground liaisons and partisans came to him, and every time the commander’s daughter was on duty at his house. From the outside it looked like she was playing. But in reality she was looking and listening to see if the police or patrols were approaching, and if necessary, she signaled her father.

She got paper for leaflets, buying a couple of sheets from different stores, often with the help of her friends. I delivered it to the agreed place. And the next day the whole city read the words of truth about the victories of the Red Army at Moscow, Stalingrad. Warned about the raids. She traveled by train from station to station to deliver an important message to partisans and underground fighters. She carried explosives past fascist checkpoints in a bag filled to the top with coal and tried not to bend so as not to arouse suspicion.

Lida was awarded the medal “Partisan of the Patriotic War” of the 1st degree. After the war Lida Vashkevich continued her studies and then worked as a teacher.