Lady Death-Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko

The life of the most notorious female sniper in history, whose full name is Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko, was not an easy one, even if her life was full of success. Let's take a look.

Born on July 12, 1916 in what is now Ukraine, Pavlichenko moved to Kiev with his family at the age of 14. She joined a shooting club there. She got married at the age of 16. Although she had children, her marriage did not last long. Pavlichenko remained in Kiev, enrolled as a student at Kyiv University and continued to hone his sniping skills. In 1937, as a student at Kyiv University, she earned a master's degree in history, focusing on the life of Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

Lyudmila, 24, in June 1941; He was in his fourth year to study history at Kyiv University when Germany began invading the Soviet Union. Pavlichenko was among the first volunteers in the recruiting office, requested to join the infantry, and then was assigned to the 25th Rifle Division of the Red Army. Pavlichenko also had the option of becoming a nurse, but she refused it and in the following years said: “I joined the army when women were not yet accepted”. There she became one of 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army, of whom about 500 survived the war. Near Belyayevka, as a sniper, he hunted down his first two enemies using a Tokarev SVT-40 semi-automatic rifle with 3.5x spray. He rose to the rank of senior sergeant.

Pavlichenko fought near Odessa for about two and a half months, causing 187 fascist deaths. When the Romanians took control of Odessa, his unit was sent to Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, where it fought for more than eight months. In May 1942, Pavlichenko was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant by the Army Council of the South for killing 257 German soldiers. The total number of confirmed kills during World War II was 309, including 36 enemy snipers.

In June 1942, Pavlichenko was wounded by mortar fire. He withdrew from combat after recovering from his wound due to his rising status. It was not long before the Soviet authorities established a new career for him. Lyudmila became the leader of a propaganda tour. This move stemmed from fears of Pavlichenko's death in action.

In 1942 Pavlichenko was a living legend. The Soviets knew that the news of Lyudmila's death risked demoralizing the Soviet troops and the country. As a result, Pavlichenko became a military folk hero. The new battleground was the public arena. Pavlichenko was sent to Canada and the United States on a promotional visit and became the first Soviet citizen to be accepted by the US President when Franklin Delano Roosevelt greeted him at the White House. Pavlichenko was later invited by Eleanor Roosevelt to travel to America, sharing her experiences. This was the beginning of their friendship with Mrs. Roosevelt.

Pavlichenko appeared before the International Student Assembly was held in Washington DC, later attended CIO meetings. He gave performances and speeches in New York and Chicago. He stood in front of the large crowd in Chicago and scolded the men for supporting the second front: “Gentlemen,” he said, “I am 25 years old and have killed 309 fascist invaders so far. Gentlemen, don't you think you've been hiding behind me for too long? He settled over the crowd with his words, then caused a rising roar of support.

Having reached the rank of major, Pavlichenko never returned to the war, he became an instructor and trained Soviet snipers until the end of the war. He was awarded the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1943 and is commemorated on a Soviet postage stamp. After the war, he completed his education at Kyiv University and started his career as a historian. From 1945 to 1953 he was a research assistant of the Chief Headquarters of the Soviet Navy. He was later active on the Soviet Veterans' Committee. Pavlichenko died on October 10, 1974, at the age of 58, was buried at the Novodevichye Cemetery in Moscow. A second Soviet commemorative stamp featuring the portrait of Lyudmila Pavlichenko was issued in 1976.

Woody Guthrie, an American folk singer, dedicated many songs to the fight against Nazi Germany with the onset of World War II. Guthrie adorned his guitar with the slogan "This Machine Kills Fascists". He wrote several songs denouncing Hitler and praising his Soviet opponents. One such song, Miss Pavlichenko, honored legendary Ukrainian female sniper Lyudmyla Pavlichenko with the phrase "300 Nazis fell with your gun."