A Soviet teenager who poisoned dozens of Nazi soldiers and then shot dead three German officers during a brutal interrogation has been posthumously hailed as one of the most fearless resistance fighters of World War II, after newly surfaced accounts detailed her final, horrific moments at the hands of the Gestapo.
Zinaida Portnova, known to history as Zina, was just 17 years old when she was executed by gunshot in a remote forest in Belarus in January 1944. But before her death, the young girl—who had joined the partisan resistance at age 16—staged a desperate, bloody escape attempt that left her Nazi captors reeling. According to witness testimony and Soviet archival records, Portnova was captured after a sabotage mission went wrong, and during her first interrogation, she snatched a pistol from the table, killing the Gestapo officer in the room and two additional guards in the ensuing chaos.
The story of her capture, torture, and execution has now been re-examined by historians, painting a portrait of a girl who refused to break, even when blinded by her torturers. Portnova, born in Leningrad on February 20, 1926, was sent to live with her grandmother in the small village of Obol in northern Belarus in the summer of 1941, just as Operation Barbarossa—Hitler’s massive invasion of the Soviet Union—was launched. The German advance was swift and merciless, and within weeks, the Wehrmacht had overrun the region, imposing a brutal occupation regime.
Portnova’s first encounter with the enemy was a violent one. When Nazi soldiers arrived at her grandmother’s farm demanding the family’s cattle, the elderly woman refused. A soldier struck her, and the livestock was seized, leaving the family destitute.
That moment of humiliation and violence, historians say, ignited a burning hatred in the teenage girl. By 1942, Portnova had joined the underground resistance movement known as the “Young Avengers,” a youth detachment of the Communist Party operating deep inside occupied Belarus.
Her work was multifaceted and highly dangerous. She distributed Soviet propaganda leaflets, hid weapons for Red Army soldiers, spied on German troop movements, and became adept at creating bombs and explosives. But her most audacious act came in August 1943, when she infiltrated the kitchen serving the local German garrison.
Working as a cook’s assistant, Portnova laced the soldiers’ meals with a massive dose of poison. The attack sickened and killed dozens of Wehrmacht troops, throwing the local command into chaos. Suspicion immediately fell on the young kitchen worker, but Portnova brazenly ate a portion of the poisoned food herself to prove her innocence.
She fell violently ill the next day, but the ruse initially worked—she was released, though her absence from work the following day raised further suspicion.
Fleeing to join a partisan detachment, Portnova wrote to her mother: “Mom, we are now in a partisan detachment. Together with you, we will defeat the Nazi invaders.” She continued to participate in armed attacks and sabotage operations, killing scores of enemy soldiers.
But her luck ran out in late 1943 or early 1944, when she was sent back to Obol on a reconnaissance mission to investigate a failed partisan operation. Local police collaborating with the Germans recognized her and turned her over to the Gestapo.
What followed was a scene of extraordinary defiance. During her initial interrogation, a Gestapo officer left a pistol on the table—either carelessly or as a psychological tactic. Portnova grabbed it, firing point-blank into the interrogator.
Hearing the gunshots, two guards rushed into the room, and she shot them both dead. She then fled the facility, running into a nearby forest. But the escape was short-lived.
German soldiers tracked her to a river and recaptured her, dragging her back for a second, far more savage interrogation.
According to Soviet accounts, the Nazis tortured Portnova brutally, seeking the names of her partisan comrades. She refused to speak. The torture was so severe that she was blinded—her eyes were damaged by her captors.
Despite her condition, she remained silent. After the interrogation, the Germans loaded her battered body onto a truck, drove her deep into the woods, and shot her dead. She was one month shy of her 18th birthday.
Portnova’s death was meant to be a warning—a brutal, shameful execution designed to break the spirit of the resistance. Instead, it cemented her legacy. In 1958, she was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the highest honor in the USSR, making her the youngest female recipient of the award.
Memorials in her honor stand across Russia and Belarus, and her story is taught in schools as a testament to the ferocity of Soviet resistance against the Nazi occupation.
Historians note that Portnova’s actions were part of a broader wave of partisan warfare that severely disrupted German supply lines and morale in the occupied territories. The partisans, particularly active in the Balkans and Belarus, were considered one of the most successful resistance movements in history. But Portnova’s individual story stands out for its sheer audacity—a teenage girl who poisoned an entire garrison, shot down three Nazis in a bid for freedom, and faced her execution without betraying her comrades.
Her final moments, as recounted by witnesses and later Soviet investigations, were marked by a chilling dignity. Despite being blinded and tortured, she reportedly shouted defiance at her executioners before the gunfire rang out. The Nazis, who had sought to inflict “great shame” upon her, instead created a martyr whose bravery continues to resonate more than 80 years later.
Zinaida Portnova remains a symbol of youthful resistance, a girl who chose to fight a monstrous regime with every weapon she could find, and who paid the ultimate price for her courage.