A young partisan’s tragic end and difficulties in Russian spelling are in the spotlight of tonight’s Historama.
Nazis torture young Soviet partisan to death
On this day in 1941, an 18-year-old partisan girl named Zoya Kosmodemyanskya was tortured and hung by the Nazis.
The invaders came within 60 kilometers of Moscow, and Zoya was part of a specially selected group of 20 young adults on missions behind German lines.
Only three succeeded in their mission – and only one returned alive.
Zoya was caught after burning down several houses and horse stables.
She was later named a “Hero of the Soviet Union.”
Russia sinks in spelling mess
On this day in 1783, the Russian language got a bit more confusing.
The letter “ё” was introduced to replace the combination of “e” “o.”
The two dots over the top of the letter are often omitted, leading to various misunderstandings.
For example, one word can have two entirely different meanings, depending on whether it has “e” or “ё.”
More importantly, life can become a bureaucratic nightmare when your name is spelled differently on different documents.
”To be or not to be?”
This day in 1971 saw a historic premier of Hamlet starring iconic poet, singer and actor, Vladimir Vysotsky.
He once revealed he had dreamt of playing the Prince of Denmark since childhood.
Vysotsky was already a cult figure, but his portrayal of Hamlet went down as the best ever in Russia.
He later wrote a famous poem about it – called “My Hamlet.”