Voskresenskaya Zoya Ivanovna, whose biography is full of unexpected facts, for a long time was known to the general public only as a children's writer. New pages of her life were ajar after declassifying the materials of the NKVD. It turned out that she took up writing activities after the resignation. For previous years, her main job was foreign intelligence.
What are biographical facts based on?
Most of the stories related to the description of the life of this extraordinary woman were taken from archival materials or the recollections of people who knew well how Zoya Voskresenskaya lived and worked. Her biography is supplemented with reliable information thanks to the memoirs of family members. But even the closest people did not all know about the real life of Zoya Ivanovna. Relatives could not even guess about some twists in her fate.
The scout herself only once gave an interview to television journalists. However, for reasons of conspiracy, it was destroyed. Remained short fragments - the memories of the heroine.
Children and teenagers
Most sources indicate the date of April 27, 1907. This is the day Zoya Voskresenskaya was born. The biography contains a fact that indicates the place of birth - this is the Tula province, Uzlovaya station. Aleksino is another village with which the girl’s childhood was connected.
In 1920, his father died unexpectedly. Mother with three children was forced to move to Smolensk. To help the family, Zoe had to work at fourteen. From that moment on, she did not think herself out of work.
Work days
The girl’s first place of work was the library of the 42nd battalion of the Cheka of the city of Smolensk. It is also known that she had to work both at the factory and at the headquarters of special forces. Three years later, she moved to the post of political instructor in a colony for juvenile delinquents. It was the year 1923.
In 1928, she was offered a position in the Zadniprovsky district committee of the CPSU (b). Young woman did not plan to leave Smolensk. But fate decreed that she soon moved to Moscow.
In August 1929, Zoya Voskresenskaya, whose biography from this date acquired many secrets and mysterious moments, was enlisted in the staff of the Foreign Department of the OGPU.
Foreign intelligence activities
Harbin is the first city where the young reconnaissance woman for two years carried out the most various orders of the Center. Responsible, decisive, punctual, unusually attractive - Zoya Voskresenskaya was already at that time.
Her biography as a scout contains information and facts that confirm that the girl fully met the requirements that a professional of this profile should have had. After Harbin was Latvia, Austria, Germany, Finland, Sweden …
Along with direct intelligence work, Zoya Ivanovna performed managerial functions. Since 1932, she headed the Foreign Department of the OGPU, which had a representative office in the city of Leningrad.
From 1935 to 1939 in Finland, Zoya Voskresenskaya was precisely the deputy resident of the NKVD intelligence. Biography, photos of this period of the scout's life are represented by very scarce materials. Everything is connected with a huge degree of secrecy, which was a necessary condition for successful work.
Before the war itself, Zoya Voskresenskaya-Rybkina returned to Moscow. She was instructed to engage in analytical activities. In a short time, she becomes one of the leading intelligence analysts. The most secret information flocked to the employee, which allows her to draw important political conclusions. Thanks to painstaking work, a memorandum was drawn up to Stalin, which talked about the possible start of a war with Germany. However, the report was rudely ignored by management.
Legends
Everyone who was closely acquainted with Zoya Ivanovna noted her outstanding artistic abilities. Perhaps this was what helped her to complete the Center’s most difficult tasks. Legends, according to which the scout had to live abroad, offered her a variety of roles.
Madame Yartseva is the pseudonym most often used by Zoya Ivanovna during her stay abroad. Working in Helsinki, she was officially issued by the head of the Intourist Hotel team from the representative office of the Soviet Union. The position required a great return of strength, energy, and the ability to negotiate at different levels. In addition to the duties that had to be performed according to legend, a lot of intelligence work was carried out. And she demanded even greater dedication.
From 1941 to 1944, a scout worked in Sweden as a press secretary of the Soviet embassy. Thanks to close cooperation with various officials, it was possible to break off relations between Finland and fascist Germany. This made it possible to transfer a significant part of Soviet troops to other sectors of the front, reinforcing them with additional forces. A huge role in this was played by Zoya Voskresenskaya-Rybkina. The biography of the scout tells that she was lucky in her life to collaborate with many prominent people, for example, P. A. Sudoplatov, A. M. Kollontai.
Personal life
Fate was such that more than once the young woman had to put the interests of the state above personal ones. That is why the marriage with the first husband broke up - he did not accept the lifestyle of his wife. The relationship could not be maintained, despite the fact that a son was already born in the family by that time.
In 1936, the new Soviet consul B. A. Rybkin arrived in Finland, where Zoya Ivanovna was already working at that time. In fact, he was a resident of the NKVD intelligence, his deputy was Zoya Voskresenskaya. Rybkina is the surname that Zoya Ivanovna took after her marriage to a scout.
This happened six months after they met. For the conclusion of the union it was necessary to obtain the permission of the leadership. The Center considered that the close relationship between these people could favorably affect their intelligence work and approved the decision to create a family.
In 1947, Boris Arkadevich died near Prague. The circumstances of the death were not fully clarified, but no further investigation was possible. Zoya Ivanovna was very upset by the loss of her husband. In 1953, the scout was dismissed from the Department. At her own request, she was transferred to the service in Vorkuta as the head of the special unit of one of the prison camps. It is known that at that time Voskresenskaya made a lot of efforts for the rehabilitation of illegally convicted people.
