This title was awarded to her posthumously. The 18-year-old Kosmodemyanskaya was one of many saboteur combatants who died during the defense of Moscow at the very beginning of Russia’s participation in World War II, in the Fall of 1941. Even under cruel torture, she didn’t betray her comrades and would not reveal her identity – instead, she called herself ‘Tanya’. Before her execution, ‘Tanya-Zoya’ delivered a brave speech. Her words resonated in the hearts of the denizens of the Petrishchevo village, Moscow Region, occupied by the Germans. After the liberation of the village in January 1942, they told the story of the brave girl to war journalist Pyotr Lidov. It was to his credit that the feat of the saboteur resounded throughout the country. Lidov pushed for the exhumation of Zoya’s grave, who was initially buried as an unknown partisan, and for establishing her identity. The war journalist’s essays brought her posthumous fame and the title of Hero of the USSR. In the Soviet Union, the name of Kosmodemyanskaya became a synonym for the heroism of the Soviet people during the war. Schools, streets and villages, mountain peaks, asteroids and ships were named in her honor; and, of course, countless movies and poems, operas and songs were also dedicated to her. ? Kira Lisitskaya (TASS; Public domain)