“Lady Death”

Image that you are a 24 year old female living in Russia at the beginning of WWII.  Now add to this that Hitler has declared war on your country. Would you march yourself to the recruiters office and demand to be a sniper?  I am sure that this is not what most of us would do, but this is exactly what Lydumila Pavlicheno, “Lady Death” did.

Lyudmila Mykhailvna Pavlichenko was born 1916 in Belaya Tserkov, in the Ukraine outside of Kiev to Mikhail and Elena Belova. She was a self-proclaimed tomboy, who refused to be outdone by any boys.  It was not surprising that this 14 year old girl took up shooting when a young man bragged that he was a better shot then all the other kids in Kiev. She loved shooting so much that she enrolled in a sniper school while attending Kiev University.

At 16 years of age Lydumila married a doctor, Alexei Pavlichenko, and gave birth to a son. The marriage soon ended due to Lydumilas desire to further her education. She returned to her parent’s home where she did household chores, took care of her baby, attend night school, and worked in a factory as a grinder.

When Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, in June 1941, she was only 24 years old.  She was in the first round of volunteers.  Since she was a female, the recruiters thought that she should be a nurse.  However, she had no desire to pursue that career.  Once she proved what an amazing shot she was, they allowed her to be the only female in the sniper brigade. She was a sniper in the Red Army’s 25th Rifle Division 

Since there was a shortage of weapons and supplies, she was given one (1) frag grenade.  When one of her comrades was severely injured, he handed her his Mosin_Nagant bolt action rifle.   At this time, she still had not won the respect of her follow snipers (all males). They told her that if she was able to kill two (2) Romanian soldiers a few hundred yards away that she would have a place in the squad, if not she would be sent back home.  She quickly shot both enemy soldiers in the head.

She perfected her art by leaving early in the morning and not returning to camp until late in at night.  She would find a location near the enemy camp and lay in wait, lying still for extremely long hours, not making the slightest movement until the opportunity presented itself. She fought in both Odessa and Moldavia where most of her 309 kills happens.  At least 100 of these kills were officers.309 confirmed kills.  “Confirmed kills” require witnesses, so there could have been additional kills.   

Lyudmila Pavlichenko https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHKjOl9ocR0  Wood Guthrie wrote a song as a tribute to her.  The song was called Miss Pavlichenko.

Awards and Honors

1.      Hero of the Soviet union  10/25/1943

2.      Two (2) Order of Lenin 7/19/1942 and 10/25/1943

3.      Two (2) Medal for Military Merit 4/26/1942 and 6/13/1952

4.      Campaign medals 

She was gracious when she took questions from reporters.

When she toured NY, she was greeted by Mayor LaGuardia and a representative of the International Fur and Leather Workers Union.  They presented her with a full length raccoon coat.

A total of 2000 female snipers were in the Red Army, only 500 survived the war.

She is the deadliest female sniper in history

Among the 309 kills, were 36 enemy sniper kills.  Her longest duel lasted for 3 days, she described this as one the tensest experiences of her life.  To the detriment of her opponent, she was the victor. She felt great satisfaction as a hunter. 

She remarried while at war, however her love was wounded on the battle field and died in her arms.

When she reach 100 kills, she was promoted to Senior Sergeant.  When her tally went into the 200 she was promoted for a 2nd time to Lieutenant.  The Germans gave her the nickname “Lady Death”.

The Germans tried to bribe her into defecting from the Red Army.  They offered her chocolates and to make her an officer.  When their poor attempt to bribe her did not work, they stated “If we catch you, we will tear you into 309 pieces and scatter them in the wind.”  She was very pleased that they had her tally correct.

During the battles she had been wounded 3 times and was able to fight again.  However, in June 1942 she was wounded a 4th time by shrapnel to the face. The Soviet High Command knew that she was too valuable to leave in the field. She was evacuated and spent months in the hospital recovering from her wounds.

After her recovery, she was sent on a tour of Canada, The USA, and Great Britain.  Her mission was to help promote a second front against the Germans. She was the first Soviet Citizen to be received by the White House.  She and Eleanor Roosevelt hit it off spectacularly   The First Lady invited her to take a tour of the country to talk about her combat experience and raise support for war.

When the tour first began,   the press was more focused on her “not so female” appearance.  She did not worry that her hair was not styles, she wore no make-up, and the press said that her uniform made her look fat.  The press went so far to name her the “Girl Sniper”.  They were more worried what she looked like than the amazing achievements she had made.

At one press conference she told the reporters” Gentleman, I am 25years old and I have killed 309 fascist occupants by now. Don’t you think, gentlemen that you have been hiding behind my back for too long?”   Another time she stated, “I wish you could experience a bombing raid.  You would forget about the cut of your outfit.” She told Time Magazine…..it is plain to see that with American women what is important is whether they wear sill underwear under their uniforms.  The bluntness that she gave to the reporters won her the support of the American press.

When she arrived back home she was a hero and was promoted to Major.  She continued training soldiers for the front line.

In 1957, Eleanor Roosevelt visited her in Moscow during a visit to the USSR. This was during the Cold War and tensions were high.  The two ladies could only visit with a handler.  They were left alone for a short time which allowed them to catch up and remember the summer they spent touring the States.

After the war she finished her education at Kiev Univ and became a historian,

She died at the age of 58.  She passed away due to a stroke.  She suffered from PTSD, depression and alcoholism/.