1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: The things that we endure shape our identities, for better 7 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: or for worse. What we go through influences our future decisions. 8 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: If we don't learn from our mistakes, history is bound 9 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: to repeat itself. During one of the darkest periods in 10 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: American history, one young girl refused to let injustice sully 11 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: her spirit. It all began on an afternoon in eighteen 12 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: thirty five, twelve year old Aramenta entered a bustling shop 13 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,399 Speaker 1: in Maryland. As she stood near the counter, she noticed 14 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:08,479 Speaker 1: a plantation overseer arguing with a teenage boy. The Civil 15 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: War hadn't broken out in the US yet, and the 16 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:14,960 Speaker 1: boy was enslaved, just like Aramenta. She couldn't help but 17 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: listen in on their dispute. Apparently, the boy had run 18 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: away from the plantation. Now it was the overseer's job 19 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: to bring him back. Their arguments escalated, and the man 20 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: lunged to grab the boy, but the boy turned and ran, 21 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: evading the man's grip by a hare. In a fit 22 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: of rage, the overseer grabbed a two pound brick from 23 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: a nearby shelf and he hurled it toward the boy, 24 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: but his aim was off. Instead, it struck Arimenta on 25 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: the head with a sickening thud. She collapsed to the floor, unconscious. 26 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: Blood trickled from the wound as she lay motionless. Indifferent 27 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: to her condition, the overseer left Aramenta to be helped 28 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: by others. Floating between life and death, she was sent 29 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: to her mother's home to heal. When she finally regained consciousness, 30 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: the world seemed blurry and distant. Her head throbbed with 31 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: every heartbeat. For months, her mother nursed her back to health. 32 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,519 Speaker 1: Aramenta recovered for the most part, but the injury was 33 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,519 Speaker 1: life changing. From that day forward, she suffered from severe 34 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: headaches and seizures, but she was resilient. After this traumatic event, 35 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: Aramenta wanted to ensure that others didn't suffer the way 36 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: that she did, so she turned to the art of 37 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: healing in order to become an expert healer. Aramenta started 38 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: learning everything she could about plants and herbs. Enslave people 39 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: often relied on plants for medicinal purposes, drawing on traditional 40 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: knowledge passed down through generations. She had learned many of 41 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: these skills from her mother. She could treat infectious diseases, 42 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: including smallpox, with a home brew Aramenta was also in 43 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: a unique position because she spent more time away from 44 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,239 Speaker 1: the plantation than others were able to. Therefore, she could 45 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: explore and experiment with plant life. Thereby perfecting her recipes. 46 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: Aramenta became famous among other enslaved people or her medical acumen. 47 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: Eventually she gained attention from people outside her community. After 48 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: the Civil War broke out in eighteen sixty one, the 49 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: Union Army asked her to join their efforts as a nurse, 50 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: and this was a huge deal for someone who had 51 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: lived most of their life on a plantation. But Aramenta 52 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: was one of the lucky few who could leave, so 53 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: she slipped away to join Union forces. It was risky, 54 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: but Aramenta had survived scary things before. She was brave. 55 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: In her new role. She used herbal remedies to treat 56 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 1: wounded soldiers. Even though she was in a new environment 57 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: and still suffering from her head trauma, she quickly learned 58 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: to forage for the kinds of plants she needed. Because 59 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: of this, one colonel noticed how well equipped she was 60 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: out in the rugged wilderness, so he came to her 61 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: with a daring request. He wanted her to help raid 62 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: nearby plantations and free the enslaved people there. Aramenta was 63 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: more than ready for the challenge. Throughout the rest of 64 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: the war, she helped rescue over seven hundred people. She 65 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: was a hero, and she did it all while managing 66 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: headaches and seizures. As heroic as she was, Aramanta couldn't 67 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: go on living like this. She had so much more 68 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: she wanted to do in life. Following the war, many 69 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: freed people still needed medical care, and countless families hoped 70 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: to reunite. Araminta could help them, but she needed to 71 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,120 Speaker 1: put an end to her own pain first, so she 72 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: traveled to Boston for brain surgery. She was eager to 73 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: get it over with, but once she went into the 74 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: operating room, there was a problem. Modern comforts for pain reliefs, 75 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:35,599 Speaker 1: such as anesthesia, weren't available. Resourceful as ever, Araminta asked 76 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: the doctor for a bullet. He was naturally confused, so 77 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,720 Speaker 1: she explained that during the war she had seen soldiers 78 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:43,839 Speaker 1: bite down on bullets as a way to cope with 79 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: painful procedures. So this was how Aramenta withstood brain surgery 80 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: and survived. Go ahead and add that to the list 81 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:54,719 Speaker 1: of courageous feats, right. Aramanta went on to continue healing 82 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: people just like she wanted, except no one called her 83 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: Araminta anymore. That's because earlier in her life, after escaping enslavement, 84 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: she marked the occasion with a new name. She took 85 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,920 Speaker 1: her mother's first name and her husband's last name, and 86 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: that's how she became known as Harriet Tubman. Confidence is key, 87 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: whether you're going into an interview for a new job 88 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: or climbing Mount Everest, it's important to put faith in yourself. 89 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: Like the Little Engine that Could always said I think 90 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: I can. I think I can. In fact, sometimes confidence 91 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: can help us achieve great things when the deck is 92 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,479 Speaker 1: stacked against us. It's the boost that we need to 93 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: overcome the odds and achieve greatness. And when we're confident 94 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: in our skills, we have no problem taking on a 95 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 1: difficult task without question. We might even tell the other 96 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,279 Speaker 1: person that we can do it with one hand tied 97 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: behind our backs. Well, for some people, that extra challenge 98 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: isn't so many metaphorical. For one woman, it was her 99 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 1: daily life. Her name was Anastasia Amelianova Igorova and she 100 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,440 Speaker 1: was born in the Soviet Union in nineteen twelve. Her 101 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: young life was plagued by tragedy, with her father dying 102 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: when she was only nine. She was left at an 103 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 1: orphanage by her mother just a few years later. Anastasia 104 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: grew up committing crimes both large and small to get by. 105 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: She stole and she panhandled. But in nineteen twenty seven, 106 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,719 Speaker 1: her whole life changed. A tragic fall from an automobile 107 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: left her permanently disfigured, unable to secure help from the government, 108 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: and refusing to become a collective farm worker for the 109 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:40,119 Speaker 1: Soviet Union, Anastasia did what she always did. She found 110 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: a way to survive. She set out on her own, 111 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:46,920 Speaker 1: traveling despite her injuries. But this wasn't something really done 112 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: by people in her condition or in her country. But 113 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: Anastasia wasn't like anyone else. She was fiercely independent, choosing 114 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,239 Speaker 1: to venture out into the world and overcome her circumstances. 115 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:02,279 Speaker 1: She traveled throughout Ukraine and the Caucuses, covering much of Russia, 116 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: with little to her name except her will and her wits. 117 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: In nineteen forty five, toward the end of World War II, 118 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: she found her way into Poland. Of course, Anastasia didn't 119 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: speak the language, but she managed to skirt by and 120 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: make her way to Austria, now Allied territory. It was 121 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: here where she was temporarily imprisoned in a refugee camp 122 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: for displaced persons before she was released. Back on the road, 123 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: she traveled to Yugoslavia. Her final stop was Italy. Sadly, 124 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: she experienced a decline in her mental state that resulted 125 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: in being committed to a facility in Naples. That's where 126 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 1: the Soviets rediscovered her. Their plan was to take her 127 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 1: back to her home country as part of an initiative 128 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: to search for and retrieve former citizens for repatriation. Well, 129 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: Anastasia knew what would happen if she told them the truth, 130 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: so she fed them a line about being taken by 131 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: the Germans and shuttled all over Europe. And Asia, satisfied 132 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,400 Speaker 1: with her tale of woe, the Soviet authorities whisked her 133 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: back home and placed her in the custody of her 134 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 1: mother and brother, people she had seen in years, and 135 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: that's where her story pretty much ends. Little is known 136 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: of her life after her epic journey had come to 137 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: a close. The Soviets instituted a number of rules and 138 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: laws to prevent tramping the vagrant kind, not the levacious kind, 139 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: so it's likely that Anastasia settled down and lived the 140 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 1: rest of her life in her homeland. It's a shame 141 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: that more people don't know about her trek across multiple 142 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,920 Speaker 1: continents because the car accident she survived didn't just injure her. 143 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: It had taken something from her. That fall from the 144 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: car had damaged her leg so badly it had to 145 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: be amputated, but she never let it keep her down. 146 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: Anastasia managed to travel thousands of miles on one leg, 147 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,199 Speaker 1: using various crutches and walking aids. There were no prosthetics 148 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 1: available to her, so she may do with what she 149 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:47,960 Speaker 1: had and came back with a heck of a story 150 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: to tell her estranged family. She had survived on her 151 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: own as a one legged traveler, kicking but metaphorically, of course. 152 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 153 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 154 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 155 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: This show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 156 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 157 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 158 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 159 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:31,079 Speaker 1: Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.