Osipova Maria ; Daughter: Tamara

Osipova, Mariya Osipova, Tamara After the Germans conquered Minsk on June 28, 1941, Mariya Osipova’s apartment became a central meeting place for local underground activists. Osipova herself led one of the groups, which consisted of lecturers and students from the city’s Law Academy. Throughout the occupation, she played an active role in many partisan operations and she was later awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. Over the course of Osipova’s wartime activities, she helped many Jews escape from the Minsk ghetto and her apartment became a way station for Jews intent on joining the partisans. Furthermore, Osipova and her group arranged for the fleeing Jews to receive false identity documents once they reached her apartment. Osipova’s daughter, Tamara (b. 1928), escorted these Jews to the forest. Tamara managed to take at least ten Jews to join the partisans, among them Yelena Gelfand-Krechetovich, who stayed in the Osipovas’ flat from August 1941 until May 1942. During the war, Osipova also helped three Jewish children that escaped from the ghetto themselves. She brought them back to her home and took care of them for a few days before moving them to a safer shelter. Osipova endangered her life and the life of her daughter by continuing with her rescue activities and she became known as one of the major figures in the Minsk underground during the war. She used this position to save many people. Most Jews aided by Osipova maintained contact with her for many years after the war. On January 2, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Mariya Osipova and her daughter, Tamara Osipova, as Righteous Among the Nations.