Mum's still the word for Maria Lyovina, 100April 7, 2008, 8:31
Spy buster, aged 100, keeps her secrets
Russia's oldest counter-intelligence officer is 100 years young. And
although she's long retired, Maria Lyovina is still barred from
revealing sensitive details about her work in the past.
She may not look like your archetypal secret agent but Maria Lyovina
was catching spies long before the world had ever heard of James Bond.
A great grandmother three times over, her Ulanovsk flat is filled
with family photographs. One is a striking image of the young woman
German agents came to fear.
Maria was working as a secretary in a Leningrad factory when the
Soviet Union entered the Second World War.
She was recruited by Army officers looking for an experienced typist.
She joined SMERSH, a counter intelligence group dedicated to catching
traitors and undercover Germans. Its name literally meant 'death to spies'.
Maria knew her work was vital and that meant doing it under any conditions
"Well, I just worked and worked. I even had to sleep on the snow. The
most difficult thing was probably being covered with an overcoat in
winter and being ordered to type in the cold. Breathing on my fingers
was the only way to keep them working," she recalls.
Maria's reports led directly to the capture of several German spies
and Russians who were in league with the Nazis.
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:19 CST