Lyudmila Pavlichenko (nee Belova) was born on July 12, 1916 in the town of Belaya Tserkov near Kiev. Her father, Mikhail Belov, worked as a mechanic, and during the Civil War he supported the Bolsheviks and became a regimental commissar. Then he got into the service in the internal affairs bodies. When Lyudmila was fourteen, the Belovs family moved to Kiev. In parallel with studies in the tenth grade, the girl got a job as a polisher at the Kiev plant Arsenal. In 1932, she fell in love with Alexei Pavlichenko, whom she met at the dance and married him. They had a son. However, the husband turned out to be windy, and pretty soon the couple broke up.
In 1937, Lyudmila entered the history department of Kiev State University, in her student years she was seriously engaged in shooting and gliding. One day, while walking in the park with friends, she went to the shooting gallery of Osoaviahima (Society for the Promotion of Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction). The shooting instructor, a former red commander who was fired after being wounded, drew attention to the girl who shot without a miss, and got her to be sent to study at the Kiev school of snipers.
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- © Israel Ozersky
But Lyudmila was in no hurry to put on her uniform. After graduating from the fourth year of university and leaving her son with his parents, she went to practice at the Odessa Museum, where she planned to engage in historical research. However, her plans violated the war.
Immediately after the attack of Hitler's Germany on the Soviet Union, Lyudmila Pavlichenko volunteered for the front and was sent to the 25th Infantry Division named after V.I. Chapaev.
On the shores of the Black Sea
The war for Lyudmila Pavlichenko began with the fighting in Bessarabia and near Odessa.
"She was not given a rifle in her hands for more than a month, constantly repeating that" a woman cannot shoot, it is better than a peasant. " She broke this attitude because she was confident in her abilities and was determined to take revenge on the fascist invaders, ”said historian and writer Alla Begunova in an interview with RT.
On August 8, 1941, the Romanian and German troops reached the Dniester Liman, on the 12th, the Red Army stopped them after a breakthrough in the Kuyalnikovo area, but on the 13th, Odessa was completely blocked by the Nazis from the land. The troops of the Maritime Army (which included the 25th Infantry Division), along with local volunteers, heroically defended the city.
- Residents of Odessa are preparing for the defense of the city
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- © Georg Selma
In late September - early October, the Red Army twice launched a counteroffensive, causing serious damage to the enemy. However, due to the fact that the front line had already advanced far to the east, it was decided at GHQ that it was becoming inadvisable and risky to defend Odessa to the troops blocked in it. From October 1 to October 16, 86 thousand troops, 15 thousand civilians, equipment, artillery pieces and ammunition were evacuated from the city to the Crimea by sea. Earlier, in August — September, 125 thousand civilians were taken out of the city.
For 73 days the Red Army held about 300 thousand enemy soldiers and officers near Odessa. German-Romanian troops suffered losses in the amount of 160 thousand people, 200 airplanes and 100 tanks.
For the first time as a sniper, Lyudmila Pavlichenko tried her hand at the distant approaches to Odessa, near the town of Belyaevka, and in the first collision destroyed two enemy soldiers.
“Excellent training on sniper courses allowed Lyudmila Pavlichenko to benefit in the most crucial areas. On assignments, she periodically sent along with her colleagues and often surpassed experienced male snipers in the number of enemies destroyed. Single attacks of the girl sniper in most cases also ended in success. The destruction of important officers of the enemy army was often added valuable information about the plans of the enemy - more than once valuable documents fell into the hands of a sniper, ”said Elena Zhelamskaya, a researcher at the Victory Museum, in an interview with RT.
In total, in the incomplete three months of fighting in the territory of the Odessa region, 179 (according to other sources — 187) Romanian and German soldiers overtook the bullets of a female sniper.
From Odessa, the 25th Infantry Division was evacuated by one of the last. Arriving in Sevastopol, the unit immediately moved to the north of the Crimea, from where it retreated with the battles, taking the line from the western Inkerman lighthouse to the village of Biyuk-Otarkoy (today - Frontovoye). In late October - early November, the Nazis made the first attempt to assault Sevastopol, which was unsuccessful, but by November 9-10, the city was completely surrounded by land.
In the middle of November, the Nazis tried to attack Sevastopol along the whole front, but were only able to advance slightly. The nazi offensive was temporarily suspended. In early 1942, the Soviet command landed troops in Kerch and Yevpatoria, which pulled back large enemy forces, but on January 7, the Germans again captured Yevpatoria, and by the end of spring they broke the main forces of the Crimean front on the Kerch Peninsula.
This allowed the Nazis to return to active actions against besieged Sevastopol. He led the assault on the city of Erich von Manstein. Six corps of German-Romanian troops were thrown to Sevastopol. The use of artillery in the assault on the city, according to Manstein, was the most massive in all the years of the Second World War.
Under Sevastopol, Lydia Pavlichenko brought the score of their victories to 309 (according to separate sources - to 343). Including she destroyed 36 enemy snipers.
“The work of a sniper, in addition to the skill to go unnoticed, also required patience, endurance and endurance. Lyudmila Mikhailovna could lie for hours without moving in the steppe under the scorching sun, in the snow in severe frost, spend the night under the open sky or stay awake for days to track down and destroy at least one more enemy. Subsequently, all these difficulties and hardships affected her health, ”said Elena Zhelamskaya.
The fame of a talented sniper girl reached Hitler's forces. Pavlichenko tried to trap, distracting her with the help of skillfully made stuffed animals and pets released in the places of sniper duels. But each meeting with the next “colleague” brought Lyudmila a new victory.
In June 1942, after another wound, which turned out to be extremely difficult, Lyudmila Pavlichenko was evacuated to the Caucasus.
- The defense of Sevastopol and the battle for the Crimea (September 1941 - July 1942). Marines are attacking the fascist positions
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- © Eugene Chaldea
This happened already during the decisive assault on Sevastopol, which began on June 7. Despite the fierce resistance of the Soviet troops, ten days after going on the offensive, the Nazis were able to achieve a breakthrough, reaching the foot of one of the main heights in the defense of Sevastopol - Sapun-gore and capturing a number of key artillery forts.
At the end of the month, the position of the defenders of the city became hopeless. Evacuation began, but it turned out to be impossible to completely withdraw troops from the city, as it was in Odessa. Only the commanding staff and part of the wounded were able to ship to the Caucasus. Several thousand fighters went to the open sea on light watercraft, some of them were rescued by Soviet ships that were in the water area at that time.
July 1, 1942 the resistance of the defenders of Sevastopol in most parts of the city was discontinued. It lasted only in the area of the 35th battery and at Cape Chersonese. The Nazis were able to crush the resistance of the Soviet soldiers there only in mid-July. Tens of thousands of Red Army men were captured. To date, the total losses of the Red Army in Sevastopol (including sanitary) are estimated at 200 thousand people, the German-Romanian troops - at 300 thousand.
The 25th Infantry Division, in which Pavlichenko served, was completely destroyed. Its banners are recessed in the Black Sea.
Perhaps the June wound saved Lyudmila's life.
World fame
“The fame of an outstanding young sniper spread through the Soviet Union rather quickly. Often, Lyudmila Mikhailovna got into the lenses of cameras of photo reporters, notes illustrating her exploits were printed in newspapers. For many war veterans and home front workers, she became a role model and a symbol of stubbornness in the fight against the enemy, ”said Elena Zhelamskaya.
After Ludmila recovered from her injury, in the fall of 1942, she, along with another sniper Vladimir Pchelintsiv, was sent to the USA and Canada as part of a delegation of Soviet youth, where she participated in meetings with the public, journalists and politicians.
- Gettyimages.ru
- © Les Lee
In the States, local media correspondents and ordinary Americans initially were not eager to talk about the war, instead sleeping Lyudmila with questions about clothing preferences and whether women use lipstick on the front.
At the next meeting, Pavlichenko decided to stop empty talk. “I am 25 years old, at the front I managed to destroy 309 fascist invaders. Do you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind my back for too long? ”
These words, spoken by a young Soviet soldier in front of an audience in the United States, deprived the Americans of speechlessness and made the public explode with applause.
“The speeches of Lyudmila Mikhailovna became a real revelation for the Americans, who very remotely imagined what was happening at that moment in the territory of the USSR and Europe. The participation of women in the war in general was a strange phenomenon for them. Pavlichenko, by her example, tried to show that it was imperative to fight against the Nazis in Europe, ”stressed Elena Zhelamskaya.
As part of the delegation, Ludmila visited the reception of US President Franklin Roosevelt. The sniper girl even made friends with the American first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and at her invitation lived for some time in the White House. “Pavlichenko’s popularity in the West can be explained by her wit, excellent knowledge of the English language. Thanks to Lyudmila, America got acquainted with the type of real Russian person. An important role, of course, was played by friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt, which was indeed very close. In total, they met 15 times and maintained relationships until the death of Eleonora, ”said Alla Begunova.
After returning to the USSR, Lieutenant Lyudmila Pavlichenko served as an instructor in the Sniper school of the sniper, transferring her skills and experience to a new generation of fighters against Nazism. October 25, 1943 she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. After the victory, Lyudmila completed her studies at the university, interrupted by the war, and became a research officer at the General Staff of the Soviet Navy. Then she worked in the Soviet Committee of War Veterans. Pavlichenko's life was interrupted in 1974, when she was only 58 years old - the consequences of injuries and the most difficult conditions in which Lyudmila fought affected. In honor of her, streets in various cities of the USSR were named, commemorative postage stamps were issued. In 2015, the movie “Battle for Sevastopol” was released, the main character of which was Lyudmila.
Although Pavlichenko became famous as the most productive female sniper in history, experts see her role not only in this.
“Despite the fact that the opening of the second front in Europe took place 2 years after the visit of Lyudmila Pavlichenko across the ocean, she made a significant contribution to bringing this moment closer. She managed to achieve serious changes in the American perception of the current events of the war in the USSR and Europe, ”said Elena Zhelamskaya.
- © Shot from the film “Battle for Sevastopol” (2015)
According to Alla Begunova, precisely such people as Lyudmila allowed the Soviet Union to break Nazism.
“I had the honor to talk a little with Pavlichenko at the age of 15, when she came to our school. It was without a doubt a very extraordinary person. She was kind, sympathetic, highly educated, had an incredible wit and charm, attracting the attention of others. Pavlichenko was a representative of the post-revolutionary generation, which brought up on the ideals of selflessness, devotion to the Motherland and the party, readiness for the great future to master new professions and, if necessary, to take up arms.
Thanks to people like Pavlichenko, we managed to withstand terrible blows in the first months of the war, and then turn the tide and reach Berlin. In addition, Ludmila made an incredible feat, destroying more than 300 fascists, she had the pedagogical gift, having succeeded in training the fighters, ”concluded the expert.