Gentlemen, I am 25 years old and have killed 309 top Nazi knights, don't you think you've been hiding behind my back for too long?
These were the words of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the first Ukrainian and Soviet girl to stay in the White House, known as "The Lady of Death."
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was born in Ukraine in 1916, fought with the Red Army during World War II, and became the most lethal sniper in history. In just months - a number that placed it among the greatest snipers of all time.
From a young age, Pavlichenko showed unparalleled athletic prowess, competed in many sports disciplines, and fell in love with shooting after hearing a boy brag about his accomplishments, she once wrote: “It was enough to make me run into the field.”
Soon her love for sports grew and she joined the shooting club and was awarded a sniper badge, as well as a shooting certificate. While attending Kyiv Ukrainian University, Pavlichenko decided to further develop her skills and enroll in a sniper school.
When Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, 24-year-old Pavlichenko rushed to the recruiting office in Odessa, and a recruitment officer tried to convince her of a different career path, suggesting that she should become a nurse instead, but soon backed out after revealing her diplomas and credentials.
Pavlichenko joined the Red Army's 25th Rifle Division as a sniper, and was among 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army during World War II, and out of only 500 to win.
With weapons and supplies in short supply, Pavlichenko initially had to fight without a gun at all, only a grenade, and she wrote in her diary: “It was very frustrating to have to monitor the course of the battle with just one grenade.”
Destiny played its part in Pavlichenko's life, and a comrade in arms was so badly wounded that he could not fight for his rifle, and it was not long before Pavlichenko was given the opportunity to open her "personal account with the enemy".
In the following months, Pavlichenko mastered the martial arts between leaving the camp in the early hours of the morning and returning at night, moving to advanced positions near the enemy and lying motionless waiting for an opportunity to shoot.
She later wrote, "You need a great deal of self-control, willpower, and stamina to lie down for fifteen hours straight without moving."
Pavlichenko was wounded four times in battle, and a shrapnel in the face in June 1942 heralded the end of her time in the fighting, but the Soviet High Command deemed Pavlichenko too valuable to lose, and ordered her evacuation from Sevastapol by submarine.
After a month recuperating in hospital, Pavlichenko had a new role to play – to drum up support for a second front in Europe to aid Russia in its fight against the Germans, and in late 1942 was sent on a tour of Canada, the United States and Great Britain.
In the United States, Pavlichenko became the first Soviet citizen to be received by a US president after Franklin D. Roosevelt welcomed her into the White House, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt invited Pavlichenko to tour the country and talk to Americans about her combat experiences to help increase support for the war.
At first, the American press seemed more concerned with what Pavlichenko wore than with her achievements on the battlefield, and journalists called her questions about whether women could wear makeup on the front line, and asked her why she was wearing a uniform that made her look fat, and the newspapers described her as " The sniper girl” underestimated her achievements by arrogance and discrimination on the basis of sex.
Pavlichenko's gentle handling of the questions quickly turned sharper. "I am amazed at the kind of questions the reporters in Washington put to me," she told Time magazine. I wear my uniform with honor, with the Order of Lenin.”
She continued, "Obviously the important thing for American women is whether they wear silk underwear under their uniforms. They haven't learned yet."
By the time her propaganda tour arrived in Chicago, the combative Pavlichenko had taken to the stage in front of a crowd of men, saying, "I am 25 years old and have so far killed 309 fascists, don't you think, gentlemen, that you are hiding behind my back?" A moment of silence fell into the crowd, before it was replaced by a moving roar of support.
Returning home, Pavlichenko was promoted to major, twice awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, and although her tour of the West did not achieve her goal of securing an immediate second front in Europe, Pavlichenko returned home as a hero, and continued to train Soviet snipers on the front lines.
After the war, she finished her education at Kyiv University and became a historian. In 1957, Eleanor Roosevelt visited Pavlichenko in Moscow during a visit to the Soviet Union. As Cold War tensions escalated, Roosevelt was only able to visit Pavlichenko away from the eyes of the Soviets.
At the age of 58, Pavlichenko's life came to an end, due to a stroke as a result of her suffering for years from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and alcoholism, which were said to have contributed to her early death.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was born in Ukraine in 1916, fought with the Red Army during World War II, and became the most lethal sniper in history. In just months - a number that placed it among the greatest snipers of all time.
From a young age, Pavlichenko showed unparalleled athletic prowess, competed in many sports disciplines, and fell in love with shooting after hearing a boy brag about his accomplishments, she once wrote: “It was enough to make me run into the field.”
Soon her love for sports grew and she joined the shooting club and was awarded a sniper badge, as well as a shooting certificate. While attending Kyiv Ukrainian University, Pavlichenko decided to further develop her skills and enroll in a sniper school.
When Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, 24-year-old Pavlichenko rushed to the recruiting office in Odessa, and a recruitment officer tried to convince her of a different career path, suggesting that she should become a nurse instead, but soon backed out after revealing her diplomas and credentials.
Pavlichenko joined the Red Army's 25th Rifle Division as a sniper, and was among 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army during World War II, and out of only 500 to win.
With weapons and supplies in short supply, Pavlichenko initially had to fight without a gun at all, only a grenade, and she wrote in her diary: “It was very frustrating to have to monitor the course of the battle with just one grenade.”
Destiny played its part in Pavlichenko's life, and a comrade in arms was so badly wounded that he could not fight for his rifle, and it was not long before Pavlichenko was given the opportunity to open her "personal account with the enemy".
In the following months, Pavlichenko mastered the martial arts between leaving the camp in the early hours of the morning and returning at night, moving to advanced positions near the enemy and lying motionless waiting for an opportunity to shoot.
She later wrote, "You need a great deal of self-control, willpower, and stamina to lie down for fifteen hours straight without moving."
Pavlichenko was wounded four times in battle, and a shrapnel in the face in June 1942 heralded the end of her time in the fighting, but the Soviet High Command deemed Pavlichenko too valuable to lose, and ordered her evacuation from Sevastapol by submarine.
After a month recuperating in hospital, Pavlichenko had a new role to play – to drum up support for a second front in Europe to aid Russia in its fight against the Germans, and in late 1942 was sent on a tour of Canada, the United States and Great Britain.
In the United States, Pavlichenko became the first Soviet citizen to be received by a US president after Franklin D. Roosevelt welcomed her into the White House, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt invited Pavlichenko to tour the country and talk to Americans about her combat experiences to help increase support for the war.
At first, the American press seemed more concerned with what Pavlichenko wore than with her achievements on the battlefield, and journalists called her questions about whether women could wear makeup on the front line, and asked her why she was wearing a uniform that made her look fat, and the newspapers described her as " The sniper girl” underestimated her achievements by arrogance and discrimination on the basis of sex.
Pavlichenko's gentle handling of the questions quickly turned sharper. "I am amazed at the kind of questions the reporters in Washington put to me," she told Time magazine. I wear my uniform with honor, with the Order of Lenin.”
She continued, "Obviously the important thing for American women is whether they wear silk underwear under their uniforms. They haven't learned yet."
By the time her propaganda tour arrived in Chicago, the combative Pavlichenko had taken to the stage in front of a crowd of men, saying, "I am 25 years old and have so far killed 309 fascists, don't you think, gentlemen, that you are hiding behind my back?" A moment of silence fell into the crowd, before it was replaced by a moving roar of support.
Returning home, Pavlichenko was promoted to major, twice awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, and although her tour of the West did not achieve her goal of securing an immediate second front in Europe, Pavlichenko returned home as a hero, and continued to train Soviet snipers on the front lines.
After the war, she finished her education at Kyiv University and became a historian. In 1957, Eleanor Roosevelt visited Pavlichenko in Moscow during a visit to the Soviet Union. As Cold War tensions escalated, Roosevelt was only able to visit Pavlichenko away from the eyes of the Soviets.
At the age of 58, Pavlichenko's life came to an end, due to a stroke as a result of her suffering for years from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and alcoholism, which were said to have contributed to her early death.
super lady
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