When it comes to female sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko, people often know her by the nickname "Lady Death" for her achievements in shooting down hundreds of fascists, but along with that, she also participated in another front, which was to encourage the US and its allies to open a second front against the fascists through receptions in the US.
"I decided to prove that girls can also become shooters"
“My first combat mission was sniper hunting. In the summer, we would go out together at three thirty in the morning. One pair lay in one place, and the other pair lay 300-400 meters away. You couldn’t talk to each other, you couldn’t whistle, you couldn’t move, you couldn’t smoke, and you couldn’t do anything at all. This continued until 9-10 pm. During this time, one sniper could kill 5 fascists. Maybe 3. Or maybe none. It all depended on how mobile the enemy was. We didn’t open fire on the first people we met, focusing only on targets of high tactical value,” Lyudmila recalled.
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| Sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko of the 25th Chapayev Rifle Division. Photo: Rian |
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was born in 1916 in the town of Bila Tserkva near Kiev. From a young age, she was distinguished by her strong physique and fighting spirit, and always tried to be as good as her son in everything. When Lyudmila entered the 10th grade, she began working at the local arms factory. There, she developed a passion for shooting and even took a short sniper course.
"When I heard the boy next door boasting about his exploits at the shooting range, I decided to prove that girls could shoot well too, and I started practicing hard and long-term," Lyudmila told American journalists.
In 1937, Lyudmila entered the history department of Kiev University, hoping to become a teacher or scientist . However, she was unable to complete her studies – the war broke out while she was doing her pre-graduation internship in Odessa. When Hitler’s army invaded the Soviet Union, Lyudmila decided to volunteer for the front. She was not accepted as a soldier and was advised to become a nurse. “They wouldn’t take girls into the army, and I had to resort to all sorts of tricks to become a soldier,” Lyudmila recalled.
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| Gunner Lyudmila Pavlichenkov takes part in combat missions. Photo: Getty |
One of the most dangerous female snipers on the Eastern Front
To join the Red Army, Lyudmila had to prove her ability to use weapons and pass an impromptu test. She was given a rifle and pointed at two Romanian officers who were working with the Nazis. Only by taking out these targets could she prove her readiness to fight on par with the men. The targets were killed cleanly and Private Lyudmila was drafted into the Red Army's 25th Infantry Division, named after Vasily Chapayev.
In the first months of the Great Patriotic War, Lyudmila fought in Moldova and Odessa. More than 100 fascist soldiers and officers were killed by this sniper. Later, her regiment was transferred to Crimea and she took part in the heroic defense of Sevastopol.
With her own shooting talent, Lyudmila had killed 257 fascists by February 1942 and received praise from the Red Army Military Council of the Southern Front. Notably, among the targets of the female Red Army sniper were 36 enemy snipers. They were sent to stop the “Lady Death”, the nickname later given to Lyudmila by the American press.
For her achievements, Lyudmila was promoted to Lieutenant and put in charge of a rifle platoon that she had formed from soldiers who had just arrived at the front. Another special point was that the Red Army sniper met the love of his life at the front. During the battle near Sevastopol, Lyudmila met Lieutenant Leonid Kitsenko, who was also a sniper. The lovers began to carry out combat missions together, which further strengthened their relationship. Soon, Lyudmila and Leonid reported to their superiors about getting married, but the war did not allow them to officially become husband and wife.
However, in March 1942, during a combat mission, the lovers' sniper position was discovered and the fascists concentrated fire on the Soviet snipers. Thanks to Leonid protecting her with his body, Lyudmila was not injured. However, Lieutenant Leonid died from his severe wounds.
Lieutenant Kitsenko’s sacrifice only strengthened Lyudmila’s fighting spirit. “It turned out that by destroying the Nazis, I was saving lives,” Lyudmila wrote in her memoirs.
But in June 1942, Lyudmila was seriously wounded by a mortar shell while she had killed 309 fascist soldiers, according to official statistics. She was evacuated from the besieged Sevastopol and taken to the Caucasus for treatment. Her next mission was to travel to America.
“Battle” for the 2nd front on American soil
In the United States, Lyudmila was given an important diplomatic mission: to convince the Americans of the need to open a second front. This forced Nazi Germany to withdraw its forces from the Eastern Front so that the Soviet Union could counterattack.
Lyudmila arrived in the United States in late August 1942, along with Moscow City Committee Secretary Nikolai Krasavchenko and sniper Vladimir Pchelintsev. In the United States, the Soviet delegation was warmly welcomed. “We were surprised to see the train station filled with students. They came from all over the world to welcome the Red Army in our person. An army that fought to the end with the fascists,” Lyudmila recalled.
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| Ms. Lyudmila Pavlichenko during a meeting with US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in Washington. Photo: Rian |
“Lady Death” immediately became a star of the American newspapers, but journalists often asked her about her private life. Lyudmila answered very intelligently: “I wear my uniform with pride! The Order of Lenin on my chest is washed in blood. It is clear that for American women, the presence of silk underwear under the uniform is much more important than the uniform itself, and its real purpose. They still do not seem to have discovered it.”
Lyudmila spent three months in the United States, and during her trip around the country she had a lot of conversations with the First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt. It seems that the First Lady gave the Soviet girl some useful advice on how to communicate with the press. The American public nicknamed Lyudmila “Lady Death”.
Lyudmila never forgot the main purpose of her visit to the United States and continued to emphasize that the Americans had a duty to help Europe and the Soviet Union in the fight against Hitler. At one of the press conferences, tired of another series of questions about the life of a female sniper, Lyudmila uttered her famous phrase: "I am 25 years old, and I have been at the front. I have destroyed 309 fascist invaders. Don't you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind me for too long?" The audience greeted these words with applause, and American society realized the need to help the Eastern Front. However, it was not until 1944 that the Allies opened a second front, when the Red Army had already taken the initiative on the battlefield.
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| Sniper Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko at the Belt of Glory monument in the village of Dachnoye (Odessa) in 1971. Photo: Rian |
In 1943, the Soviet State awarded Lyudmila the highest award – the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war, she graduated from Kiev University and became a senior researcher at the General Staff of the Soviet Navy.
Lyudmila remained in touch with Eleanor Roosevelt and the two friends continued to correspond until the First Lady's death. They met again in 1957 when Eleanor went to Moscow on business.
TUAN SON (synthesis)
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Source: https://baodaknong.vn/quy-co-tu-than-va-2-cuoc-chien-chong-lai-quan-phat-xit-trong-chien-tranh-ve-quoc-vi-dai-247743.html
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