Tamara Bunke
| Tamara Bunke | |
|---|---|
Bunke in 1962 wearing the tilted beret of the newly formed Cuban People's Defence Militia
|
|
| Born |
Haydée Tamara Bunke Bider November 19, 1937 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Died |
August 31, 1967 (aged 29) Vallegrande Province, Bolivia |
| Cause of death | Killed in action |
| Resting place |
Che Guevara Mausoleum Santa Clara, Cuba |
| Nationality |
East German Cuban |
| Occupation | Communist revolutionary, Cuban spy |
| Organization | National Liberation Army (Bolivia) |
Haydée Tamara Bunke Bider (November 19, 1937 – August 31, 1967), better known as Tania or Tania the Guerrilla, was an Argentine-born East German communist revolutionary and spy who played a prominent role in the Cuban government after the Cuban Revolution and in various Latin American revolutionary movements. She was the only woman to fight alongside Marxist guerrillas under Che Guevara during the Bolivian Insurgency (1966–1967) where she was killed in an ambush by CIA-assisted Bolivian Army Rangers.
Bunke was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the daughter of German communists Erich Bunke and Nadia Bider (who was of Polish origin). Her father Erich had joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1928 and fled with his wife to Argentina when the Nazis came to power in 1933. Her parents immediately joined the Argentine Communist Party, ensuring that Tamara and her brother Olaf would grow up in a highly charged political atmosphere. Their family home in Buenos Aires was often used for meetings, helping refugees, hiding publications and occasionally stashing weapons.
As a youth Bunke was a keen athlete and an excellent student, who developed a particular fondness for the folk music of South America. However, in 1952, the family returned to East Germany and settled in Stalinstadt (later named Eisenhüttenstadt).
Bunke thrived in her new environment and began studying political science at Humboldt University in East Berlin. She soon joined the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany's youth organization, the Free German Youth (FGY). In addition, she also joined the World Federation of Democratic Youth, allowing her to attend the World Festival of Youth and Students in Vienna, Prague, Moscow and finally Havana, Cuba. Her keen interest in and familiarity with Latin America, along with her linguistic abilities (she spoke fluent Russian, English, Spanish and German), soon saw her translating on behalf of the FGY's International Department. In this capacity she entertained and translated for the growing stream of visitors from Cuba, following the victory of the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
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