In 1943, the English bombed a research and production center for V-1 and V-2 rockets in northern Germany. The Nazis were then forced to look for safer locations for their bases. One of the sites chosen for the new underground production center is a mine in the French town of Thil (near Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg).
Prisoners from the Errouville concentration camp (Meurthe-et-Moselle) were brought to work in this secret installation. Hundreds of Soviet women were among the prisoners.
Some prisoners tragically perished under the rubble of the mine, but a few young girls managed to escape. On the night of May 7 to 8, 1944, with the support of French Resistance agents, a group of 37 women and 27 men escaped. After walking about 70 kilometers for two nights, they joined the French partisans in the Argonne forests between the towns of Saint-Miel and Bar-Le-Duc and created a Resistance unit composed entirely of women. This combat unit is made up of Soviet women (Russians, Belarusians, Jews, etc.).
The female detachment, named “Rodina”, could only fight for a short period of about 4 months, but it fought successfully, remaining in the memory of the local population as an example of heroism and courage. "
