Galina Fedorivna Romanova (Ukrainian: Галина Федорівна Романова; 25 December 1918 – 3 November 1944) was a Soviet medical student and anti-Nazi resistance fighter during World War II. She was a member of the "European Union" (Europäische Union) resistance group in Berlin, which comprised a network of German intellectuals, workers, and foreign forced laborers. Romanova was executed by the Nazi regime for her activities.
Early Life and Education
Galina Romanova was born on December 25, 1918, in the village of Romanivka, in what is now Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine (then part of the Ukrainian People's Republic). She pursued studies in medicine, enrolling at the Dnipropetrovsk Medical Institute in the late 1930s. Her education was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.World War II and Resistance
Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Romanova, like many other young people from occupied Soviet territories, was forcibly conscripted into forced labor in Germany. She was transported to Berlin, where she was compelled to work in the Siemens & Halske factory, a major industrial complex critical to the German war effort.While in Berlin, Romanova became involved with the "European Union" resistance group. This organization, founded by figures like Robert Havemann, Georg Dertinger, and Paul Rentsch, aimed to undermine the Nazi regime through various means. The group engaged in activities such as distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, gathering intelligence, and providing assistance to fellow forced laborers and prisoners of war. Romanova utilized her medical knowledge to aid sick and injured forced laborers and played an active role in the group's communication and propaganda efforts. She helped establish connections between different cells of the resistance movement, often using her identity as a medical assistant to move more freely and discreetly.
Arrest and Execution
In 1943, the Gestapo successfully infiltrated and uncovered the "European Union" resistance group. Galina Romanova was arrested in October 1943. Despite harsh interrogations and torture, she reportedly refused to betray her comrades or provide information about the resistance network.On 27 April 1944, Romanova, along with several other members of the "European Union," faced trial before the Volksgerichtshof (People's Court), the Nazi regime's supreme political court. She was found guilty of "high treason" and "undermining the war effort," charges that carried a mandatory death sentence under Nazi law. Galina Romanova was executed by guillotine on November 3, 1944, at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin, just weeks before her 26th birthday.