Maria Bauer

Maria Bauer (b. c. 1920) was a West German women taken into custody by the Soviet Union during World War III. She was sent to a prison camp in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast not far from the town of Smidovich. In spring of 1952, she and four other inmates, after having sex with several guards, were able to escape.

Bauer made her way towards Smidovich. She met Vasili Yasevich in the woods. After agreeing not to turn her in, Yasevich enlisted the help of David Berman, a Jewish neighbor, who agreed to claim Bauer as his niece and give her a place to live. Berman was amused by the prospect of helping a German; Bauer was astonished a Jew was willing to help her. .