Marina Shafrova-Marutaeva is considered a national hero of Belgium, known as the "Belgian Joan of Arc." This 33-year-old woman was the daughter of Russian nobility. In 1982, a film titled "Somewhere the Oriole Cries" was made about her, which few remember today.

Her father, Captain Alexander Shafrov, fought on the side of the White Army and, after their defeat, emigrated with his family to Estonia, and then in 1929 to Belgium. Marina married Russian émigré Yuri Marutaev and had two children. In 1939, the family applied to the Soviet embassy for passports, which they received in May 1940. However, they did not manage to leave Belgium due to the German occupation.

In October 1940, Marina joined the Belgian resistance. She translated and distributed reports from the Soviet Information Bureau in French. In August 1941, she participated in an ambush where a German motorcyclist was killed. But she felt this was not enough. On December 8, 1941, in Place Porte de Namur in Brussels, Marina stabbed a German officer, the deputy commandant of the city, and managed to escape in the chaos. In response, the Germans took 60 Belgians hostage, threatening to shoot them if the criminal did not surrender within eight days. The Resistance command forbade Marina from surrendering, but she did not listen.

On December 16, Marina went to the commandant's office and killed another German officer, stating that she had nothing to lose. She was arrested, but during interrogations, the Germans could not believe that a fragile woman could plan such murders. Marina claimed she acted alone because "you bastards need to be killed." The tribunal sentenced her to death, but the Governor-General of Belgium, Folkenhausen, hesitated to confirm the sentence. Residents of Brussels brought flowers to the prison, and leaflets appeared everywhere with the inscription "Glory to Russia!"