Pavlichenko sniper Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko - sniper

Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko is a sniper whose biography contains a huge number of facts proving her invaluable contribution to the victory over the Nazis in the Great Patriotic War. On account of her destruction of 309 German soldiers and officers. Moreover, among the liquidated opponents there were 36 enemy snipers.

Childhood and youth

Date of birth - July 12, 1916. Place of birth is the Ukrainian city of Bila Tserkva. She studied at school number 3 located near the house. And when Lyudmila was 14 years old, the family moved to live in the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv.

From childhood, the girl was distinguished by her fighting character and courage. She did not like games for girls, communicating mainly with boys. The father of Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko (nee Belova), who always dreamed of a son, was glad that his daughter was in no way inferior in strength and endurance to her peers - boys.

At the end of the ninth grade, Lyudmila went to work at the Arsenal plant, where she worked as a grinder. She was able to successfully combine labor activity and studying in the 10th grade.

Lyudmila got married early. At the time of marriage, she was only 16 years old. Soon the young couple had a son, Rostislav (died in 2007). But family life did not work out: having lived together for several years, the couple divorced. But Lyudmila did not refuse the surname of her husband. The husband of Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko died at the beginning of the war.

First training

While working at the Arsenal plant, L. M. Pavlyuchenko began to visit the firing range frequently. More than once she heard the boastful conversations of the neighbor guys who talked about their exploits at the training ground. At the same time, they argued that only boys can shoot well, and girls cannot do it. The story of Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko as a shooter began precisely with the fact that she wanted to prove to these boastful guys that girls can shoot just as well, or even better ...

In 1937, L. Pavlyuchenko went to study at Kyiv University. Entering the Faculty of History, she dreamed of becoming a teacher or scientist.

When the war broke out

At the time of the invasion of the USSR by the Germans and Romanians, Lyudmila, the future hero of the USSR, lived in Odessa, where she arrived for graduation practice. She decided to go to the army, but the girls were not taken there. To get into the army, she had to prove her courage and willingness to fight enemies. One day the officers gave Lyudmila a strength test. She was given a gun in her hands and pointed to two Romanians who collaborated with the Nazis. She was overcome by anger at these people, bitterness for those whom they had taken their lives. Then she shot them both. After this impromptu assignment, she was finally accepted into the army.

In the rank of private Pavlyuchenko, Lyudmila Mikhailovna was assigned to the 25th Infantry Division. Vasily Chapaev. She wanted to get to the front as soon as possible. Realizing that she would have to shoot to kill there, Lyudmila did not yet know how she would behave when faced with the enemy face to face. But there was no time to think and reflect. On the first day, she had to raise her weapon. Fear paralyzed her, the Mosin rifle (caliber 7.62 mm) with a 4-fold increase trembled in her hands.

Specifications rifle sniper rifle arr. 1930:

caliber: 7.62 mm;

weight: 4.27 kg;

muzzle velocity: 865 m/s;

length: 1230 mm;

magazine capacity: 5 rounds;

sighting range: 1300-2000 m;

rate of fire: 10 rounds per minute;

loading type: manual.

Sight characteristics:

magnification: 3.5x;

Exit pupil diameter: 6 mm;

field of view: 4° 30';

removal of the exit pupil from the surface of the eyepiece lens

· is 72 mm;

Resolution power: 17″;

sight length: 169 mm;

sight weight: 0.270 kg.

But when she saw how a young soldier fell dead next to her, struck by a German bullet, she gained self-confidence and fired. Now nothing could stop her.

First tasks

Lyudmila firmly decided to go to sniper courses. Having successfully completed them, junior lieutenant Pavlyuchenko opened her combat account. Then, near Odessa, she had to replace the platoon commander who fell in battle. She, sparing no effort, destroyed the hated Nazis, until she received a concussion from a shell that exploded near. Her fighting spirit was not broken even by hellish pain. She continued to fight on the battlefield...

In October 1941, the Primorsky Army was transferred to the Crimea, where Lyudmila, along with her colleagues, began to defend Sevastopol.

Day after day, as soon as the sun began to rise, Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko went out “hunting” - a sniper whose biography is filled with events proving her loyalty to the Motherland. For hours on end, and in the heat, and in the cold, she was in ambush, waiting for the appearance of the "target". There were cases when I had to duel with venerable cruel German snipers. But thanks to endurance, endurance, lightning-fast reaction, she again and again emerged victorious even from the most difficult situations.

The snipers of the Great Patriotic War are poetically called the angels of death, and one glamorous magazine recently ranked them among the bloodiest killers. But you peer into Pavlichenko's face - beautiful, feminine, looking for the seal of death, and stumble upon the soft gaze of large and as if luminous eyes.

In addition to stunning vision, the sniper Pavlichenko had a keen ear and developed intuition. She learned to feel the forest as if she were a beast. Time after time she returned unharmed from the neutral zone, slipping out from under the very nose of the Fritz. They chatted as if the sniper had been charmed from death by a sorceress and as if she could hear everything within a radius of half a kilometer. And she remembered the ballistic tables by heart, calculated the distance to the object and the correction for the wind in the most accurate way.

Unequal fight

Often, Luda went on combat missions with Leonid Kutsenko. They began serving in the division almost at the same time. Some of their colleagues said that Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko was the front-line wife of Leonid Kutsenko. Her personal life before the war did not work out. It is possible that these two heroic people were indeed close.

Once, having received an order from the command to destroy the enemy command post discovered by the scouts, they quietly made their way to the indicated area, lay down in a dugout and began to wait for a convenient moment. Finally, the unsuspecting German officers appeared in the field of view of the snipers. They did not have time to approach the dugout, as they were struck down by two accurate shots. But the noise from the fall was heard by other soldiers and officers of the Nazi army. There were quite a lot of them, but Lyudmila and Leonid, changing positions, destroyed them all one by one. After laying down many enemy officers and signalers, the Soviet snipers forced the enemy to leave their command post.

Death of Leonid Kutsenko

German intelligence systematically reported to the command about the activities of Soviet snipers. A fierce hunt was conducted behind them, numerous traps were arranged.

Once a couple of brave Russian snipers, who at that moment were in ambush, were found. Heavy mortar fire was opened on Pavlyuchenko and Kutsenko. A mine exploded nearby, Leonid's hand was torn off. Lyudmila carried out a seriously wounded friend and made her way to her. But, no matter how hard the field doctors tried, Leonid Kutsenko died from severe wounds.

Bitterness from the loss loved one further strengthened Lyudmila in her desire to exterminate her sworn enemies. She not only took on the most difficult combat missions, but also taught shooting to young fighters, trying to give the maximum of her invaluable sniper experience.

During the defensive battles, she brought up more than a dozen good shooters. They, following the example of their mentor, rose to the defense of their homeland.

In the mountains

Winter was coming on the rocky territory near Sevastopol. Acting in the conditions of mountain warfare, L. Pavlyucheno went into an ambush under the cover of night. From three o'clock in the morning she hid either in dense fog, or in mountain ledges, or in damp hollows. Sometimes the wait dragged on for many hours, and even days. But there was no hurry. It was necessary to follow the path of patience, calculating each step in advance. If you find yourself, then there will be no salvation.

It happened somehow that on Bezymyannaya she was alone against six submachine gunners. Noticing her the day before, when Pavlyuchenko destroyed many of their soldiers in an unequal battle, the Germans sat down over the road. It would seem that Lyudmila is doomed, because there were six Nazis, and at any moment they could notice her and destroy her. But even the weather stood up for her. A thick fog descended on the mountains, which allowed our sniper to find a convenient place for an ambush. But it still needed to get there. Moving in a plastunsky way, Lyudmila Mikhailovna crawled towards her cherished goal. But the Germans did not lose their stubbornness and persistently fired at her. One bullet almost hit the temple, the other went through the top of the cap. After that, having instantly assessed the location of the opponents, Pavlyuchenko fired two accurate shots. She answered both the one who almost hit her in the temple, and the one who almost put a bullet in the forehead. The surviving four Nazis continued their hysterical shooting. They pursued her, but as she crawled away, she killed three more, one after the other. One of the Germans ran away. She saw the bodies of the dead, but, fearing that one of them was pretending to be dead, she did not dare to immediately crawl up to them. At the same time, Lyudmila was aware that the one who ran away might just about bring other submachine gunners. And the fog thickened again. She nevertheless decided to crawl up to the enemies struck by her. They were all dead. Having picked up the weapons of the dead (automatic and light machine gun), she disappeared in time in an ambush. Several more German soldiers approached. They began to fire randomly again, and she fired back at once from several types of weapons. Thus, the Soviet sniper tried to convince the enemies that more than one person was fighting with them. Gradually moving away, she was able to hide from her opponents and survive in this unequal battle.

Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko - Hero of the USSR

TTD SVT40

• rifle caliber - 7.62;
• the weapon weighs 3.8 kg without bayonet and ammunition;
• cartridge caliber - 7.62x54 mm;
• rifle length - 1 m 23 cm;
• standard rate of fire - from 20 to 25 rounds per minute;
• initial bullet speed - 829 meters per second;
• sight range - up to 1.5 km;
• magazine holds 10 ammo.

Sight PU

Magnification : 3.5x
Field of view: 4°30′
Exit pupil diameter: 6mm
Aperture: 36
Eye relief: 72mm
Length: 169 mm
Weight: 270 g
Resolution power: 17′′

Pavlyuchenko was soon transferred to a neighboring regiment. Hitler's sniper operated on its territory, killing a lot of Soviet soldiers and officers. Also, two snipers of the regiment were killed by his bullet. For more than a day there was a silent battle between a German shooter and a Soviet sniper. But the Nazi fighter, accustomed to sleeping in a dugout, exhausted himself faster than Lyudmila. And although her whole body ached from the cold and dampness, she turned out to be more agile, literally a fraction of a second ahead of the enemy aiming at her.

Having hit him with a deadly bullet, Lyudmila Alexandrovna crawled up and took out a sniper book from the pocket of the fascist. From it, she learned that it was the famous Dunkirk, which killed more than 500 British, French and Soviet soldiers.

By that time, numerous injuries and contusions worsened Lyudmila's condition so much that she was forcibly sent on a submarine to the mainland.

Since October 25, 1943, Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko has been a Hero of the Soviet Union. Later, on the direction of the Main Political Directorate, she traveled with the Soviet delegation to Canada and the United States of America.

During her visit overseas, Pavlichenko attended a reception with the President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt and even lived for some time in the White House at the invitation of his wife Eleanor Roosevelt.

The women became friends. One remarkable fact. Not knowing English, Lyudmila always performed in Russian. But for the sake of communication with Eleanor Roosevelt, she learned English. Then there was a long-term correspondence. In 1957, an American came to visit Pavlichenko.

In the meantime, the president's wife, as the first lady of America, organized a trip around the country for Soviet representatives. Ludmila performed in Washington, New York.

The delegation was received by President Roosevelt. At the press conference, Lyudmila made a splash. "What colour underwear you prefer?" - the journalists' questions were one more provocative than the other. The sniper was not at a loss: “For such a question in our country, you can get a face in the face. Come on, come closer ... ”The next day, all the US newspapers wrote about her.

But most of all she was remembered in Chicago. I must say that by that time the Soviet Union, more than ever, needed the opening of the Second Front. Western partners in the anti-fascist coalition were in no hurry to open it. Pavlichenko spoke about this. “Gentlemen,” she declared, “I am twenty-five years old. At the front, I managed to destroy 309 fascist invaders. Don't you think you've been hiding behind my back for too long?! The crowd of thousands froze, and then exploded with applause and shouts of approval.

In America, she was given a Colt, and in Canada, a Winchester.

"Lady Death"- the Americans admiringly called her, and country singer Woody Guthrie wrote the song “Miss Pavlichenko” about her.

IN summer heat, cold snowy winter
In any weather you hunt down the enemy
The world will love your pretty face, just like me
After all, more than three hundred Nazi dogs fell from your weapons ...

In Canada, the delegation of the Soviet military was greeted by several thousand Canadians who gathered at the United Station in Toronto.

Upon returning, Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko, a sniper whose biography has become an example for many brave fighters, serves as an instructor at the Shot sniper school.

Postwar years

After the war, after graduating from Kyiv University, this legendary Soviet woman works as a researcher at the General Staff of the Navy. She worked there until 1953.

Later, her work was related to helping war veterans. She was also one of the members of the Association of Friendship with the Peoples of Africa, visiting many African countries more than once.

Memory

Until the end of her life, it was Lyudmila Pavlyuchenko who was the symbol of heroism, stamina and courage of a Russian woman. The children from the pioneer organization, with whom she often spoke, loved to listen to her stories about the war. They gave her a slingshot, which was kept in the small museum of L. Pavlyuchenko for many years. In addition to this memorable gift, awards and souvenirs presented to Lyudmila on numerous business trips were kept there.

The grave of Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlyuchenko, who passed away on October 27, 1974, is located in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

During the war, the Nazis called our countrywoman - the famous sniper - the Bolshevik Valkyrie, and American, Canadian and British journalists - the queen of fire, Lady Death and sniper No. 1

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Victory over fascism, Russian and Ukrainian filmmakers made a gift to our veterans and everyone who is not indifferent to the heroic past of the Fatherland in these troubled times - the feature film "Nezlamna" about the legendary sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who destroyed 309 fascist soldiers and officers during the war and prepared dozens of new marksmen for the army.

Ludmila Mikhailovna is also interesting to the Ukrainian viewer because she is our countrywoman, originally from the White Church, lived and studied in Kyiv in the pre-war years, and left Odessa for the front. Why did the fragile girl choose the unfeminine profession of a sniper? How did the war affect her future fate? On the eve of the anniversary, the correspondent of "FACTS" was told about this Doctor of Historical Sciences Vladimir Fedorovsky.

“The war prevented the divorce from the unloved first husband and the return of the name of Belov”

- Luda's youth passed in the 30s of the last century,- says Vladimir Fedorovsky. — Still, as they say, the smoke of the civil war has not cleared, and the prerequisites for a new war have appeared in the socio-political life of our country and other countries. So that young people could master military specialties even before being drafted into the army, Osoaviakhim was created in the Soviet Union - the Society for the Promotion of Defense, Aviation and Chemical Construction. In his schools, flying clubs, in courses, young men and women learned to drive cars, fly gliders and airplanes, use weapons, and studied radio business ...

One day, while walking with fellow students in Shevchenko Park, Lyudmila (at that time a student at the Faculty of History of Kiev University) looked into the shooting range to shoot from a small-caliber rifle. When the guys fired back, the elderly owner of the shooting range asked whose fourth target was. “Mine,” Luda said embarrassed. She had not yet seen her results and was afraid that she would be scolded. “For excellent shooting, Osoaviakhim rewards you with the right to make an additional free shot!” - said the man and handed the cartridge to the girl. Luda again got almost into the top ten.

Soon she became a cadet of the Kiev school of snipers Osoaviakhim. The senior instructor of the school was the same employee of the shooting range - Alexander Vladimirovich Potapov, a former non-commissioned officer of the Life Guards of the Jaeger Regiment of the tsarist army, and during the years of the civil war - a red commander, dismissed from service after a serious wound. By the way, Lyudmila's father was also a participant in the civil war. He fought together with Vasily Chapaev, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

Alexander Potapov turned out to be a good teacher. He taught Lyuda and her comrades how to move correctly on the battlefield, disguise themselves, watch the enemy for hours, who also knows how to be invisible, how to detect the enemy by the smallest changes in the situation, terrain, how to memorize all the details. To do this, he forced girls and boys to watch, for example, a construction site, and then tell how many workers there are, who does what, what they did in a day. After such a tedious lesson, Potapov went with his wards to the forest, to Pushcha-Voditsa, where the cadets practiced shooting. Once the teacher showed the children a mind-blowing trick. It is called - "knock out the bottom of the bottle." He put a bottle of lemonade on a stump so that the opening of the neck looked at the shooter, and fired from a fairly decent distance from an ordinary three-line Mosin rifle of the 1891/1930 model. The bullet went through the hole and knocked out the bottom of the bottle so that the bottle itself remained intact. Pavlichenko soon also learned to repeat this trick.

In June 1941, Luda graduated from the fourth year, she wanted to write a study about Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Immediately after the exams, she went to Odessa, where she lived in a student hostel and worked in a public library.

Her nine-year-old son asked to go to the city to the sea with her. By the way, the film does not mention that the 25-year-old student had a child. The fact is that personal life Lyudmila was not easy. At the age of fifteen, when Luda was in the eighth grade and lived with her parents in Belaya Tserkov, the schoolgirl met at a dance with a student of the Agricultural Institute - a handsome and favorite of women, Alexei Pavlichenko, who was much older than her. The girl fell in love at first sight and soon became pregnant. Luda's father (at that time an NKVD officer) Mikhail Belov tracked down Alexei and forced him to marry. Lyudmila gave birth to a boy, whom she named Rostislav, Rostik. But Pavlichenko turned out to be a dishonest person and their life together did not work out.

Mikhail Belov was soon transferred to serve in Kyiv. Here the girl went to work at the Arsenal plant, graduated from evening school. Perhaps this is what made it possible then to write in the questionnaires that her origin was from the workers. The family tried not to advertise the fact that Lyudmila's mother, from a noble family, was a highly educated woman, instilled in her daughter a love of knowledge and foreign languages. In fact, it was the grandmother who raised her grandson, the son of Lyuda, in whom she did not have a soul.

Lyudmila hated the father of her child so much that when he tried to repent, she gave him a turn from the gate, did not even want to pronounce his name. She was going to get rid of the name Pavlichenko, but the war prevented her from filing for divorce. Already at the front, near Sevastopol, she met a new, true love - her commander and sniper, also Alexei, Kitsenko. Luda called him only Lesha or Lenya.

Kitsenko soon died. Having covered Lyudmila with himself during the shelling, he was mortally wounded. The profession of a sniper is very dangerous. Sometimes, after the first shots, the enemy opened aimed return fire. If the sniper did not have time to change position in time, it could cost him his life.

“The Nazis often shouted: “Lyudmila, come to us! With us you will not need anything ... "

- In 1942 (at that time Lyudmila was already famous) Pavlichenko and another sniper - Hero of the Soviet Union Vladimir Pchelintsev - as part of a delegation of Soviet youth were sent to America to an international student forum, the historian continues. — There, a fragile girl in military uniform really liked Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the President of the United States. The first lady invited Lyudmila to live for a few days in the White House - she wanted to get to know the Soviet woman better. And one day, when Luda was changing clothes, seeing four terrible scars on her back, the first lady of the country began to cry softly. After all, Pavlichenko had several wounds and a shell shock. Enemy snipers were after her.

* Pavlichenko, who arrived in America with a Soviet delegation in 1942, was very much liked by Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the President of the United States. And the first lady invited Lyudmila to live for a few days in the White House

Once, none of our snipers and observers could determine for a long time where the enemy shooter was hiding. And only Lyudmila managed to detect it. In such cases, she often resorted to a rather risky method - she caused fire on herself: she lifted a helmet or a rag doll in a commander's cap above the trench parapet on a shoulder blade. After the shot of the Nazis, she or her partner-observer spotted the target and opened fire back. But then Pavlichenko discovered a completely incomprehensible tactic: the enemy skillfully disguised himself and, having found a victim, left his shelter, approached the target, finding himself where no one expected him, then fired and just as quickly disappeared. Of course, he did not leave Lyudmila's bullet. From his documents we learned that this fascist fought in Western Europe since 1939, on his account there were more than five hundred (!) Killed officers and soldiers.

During the first months of the war and the defense of Odessa (and Luda came to the military registration and enlistment office on June 22), she destroyed 179 fascists. By July 1942, that is, in a year, she brought the score to 309. Unfortunately, there are no official documents confirming this achievement at the moment.

But the fact that the young woman really fought bravely is a fact. Often, together with other snipers or scouts, she went to the enemy rear and destroyed the enemy there. Once, thanks to her well-aimed shooting, her comrades defeated the headquarters of a German military unit and seized valuable documents. The fame of her exploits spread on many fronts. The commander of the Primorsky Army, General Ivan Efimovich Petrov, presented Lyudmila with a nominal semi-automatic rifle SVT-40 (Tokarev self-loading rifle) with an optical sight. She had a magazine for ten rounds, it was not necessary to distort the shutter after each shot, which made it possible to significantly increase the rate of fire. With this rifle, we see Pavlichenko in most newspaper photographs. But on combat exits, Lyudmila and other experienced snipers took the good old "three-ruler" - simpler and more reliable, with greater lethal force. This weapon was not afraid of sand and dirt that got into the mechanism.

By the way, in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of Russia, among the personal belongings of the famous sniper, there is a Canadian hard drive with an optical sight and even an ordinary boyish slingshot, which the Sevastopol pioneers presented to Lyudmila with the words: “Aunt Lyuda, if you suddenly run out of ammunition ...”

Not only ours knew about Lyudmila Pavlichenko, but also those who could become her new victims. The Nazis often shouted to the sniper: “Lyudmila, come to us! With us you will not need anything ... "But in response they received bullets ...

In the summer of 1942, after a failure on the Kerch Peninsula, the Soviet command surrendered Sevastopol to the enemy, which our soldiers, sailors and officers defended for 250 days and nights. Lyudmila Pavlichenko, who had received yet another wound by that time, was ordered by General Petrov to be evacuated in a submarine. After treatment, she was no longer allowed to go to the front, she worked in the rear.

"Gentlemen, don't you think you've been hiding behind my back for too long?"

- The United States, as you know, was in no hurry to open a second front, says the scientist. — Volunteers were sent to the UK - pilots, sailors, air defense specialists. And America helped the Soviet Union only with material resources, supplying tanks, planes, cars, food under Lend-Lease. Despite this, it was very difficult for the Soviet country to fight: Hitler, for whom the industry of occupied Europe worked, reached Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad and the Caucasus. Therefore, the Soviet government sent diplomats and representatives of various organizations to the United States, who were supposed to form public opinion about the need to provide military assistance to the USSR.

The Americans received the Soviet guests mostly in a friendly manner. But there were also those who considered the Union exclusively a hotbed of Bolshevism. They tried to shorten the program of meetings and speeches of our delegations. “Miss Pavlichenko,” said the mayor of Chicago to Lyudmila, who arrived in the United States in 1942. - You are so young, you should enjoy life, and not waste time on long and fruitless conversations. You will succeed when you are old. Three minutes is enough for you…” “Even one minute is enough for me, Mr. Mayor,” the girl smiled. "Gentlemen! - Luda turned from the podium to the crowd of thousands. - I am 25 years old, and I have already managed to destroy 309 fascists at the front. Don't you think you've been hiding behind my back for too long?" The crowd froze, and a minute later burst into applause.

... In 1944, Lyudmila continued her studies at the university. But even after graduation, she remained in the army for some time. She rose to the rank of major. Taught sniper fire tactics in the military educational institutions. After being transferred to the reserve, she switched to public work: she was a member of the presidium of the Committee of Soviet Women and the Soviet Peace Committee.

She got married and raised her son. True, in the film the boy is shown as the son of her husband, Alexei Kitsenko, who died near Sevastopol. To emphasize the optimistic, life-affirming idea of ​​the picture, its creators in this case resorted to fiction.

Hero of the Soviet Union Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko died early - in 1974, at the age of 58. The health of a fragile woman was undermined by a long lying on the cold damp earth, stress, injuries and concussions. And in peacetime - numerous meetings and receptions. No, war is still not a woman's business.

The famous American bard, country songwriter Woody Guthrie, like millions of ordinary Americans, was ashamed and at the same time delighted with her charm and even composed the song Miss Pavlichenko, which was then sung by all of America and in which there were the words: "The world will love your dear face just like me. After all, more than three hundred Nazi dogs fell from your weapons ... "But that will be later, in the fall of 1942. And then, in 1941, at the very beginning of the war, Lyudmila Pavlichenko went to the front as a volunteer, defended Odessa as part of the Primorsky Army, and when the platoon commander died in the midst of the battle, she took command.

From October 1941 she defended Sevastopol. Not just heroically defended, but entered into world history as the best female sniper, having destroyed 309 German soldiers and officers and won 36 duels with fascist snipers. Moreover, only facts confirmed by documents or intelligence data were taken into account. So, for almost three days she fought a duel for endurance and endurance for the sake of one decisive shot with one of the German high-class snipers, preempting his shot by a fraction of a second. And when she crawled up and took away his documents, more than 300 French and British killed in the Dunkirk area, and about a hundred of our fighters, were recorded in the sniper book of Sergeant Staube. Her female heart responded with pain when, in the bag of another fascist she killed, she found a children's toy and a cheap little toy watch...

Lyudmila Mikhailovna was born on July 12, 1916 in the village of Belaya Tserkov near Kiev. After school, she worked for five years at the Arsenal plant in Kyiv. In 1937, she entered the Faculty of History of Kiev State University, managed to complete 4 courses, at the same time she graduated from sniper courses at OSOAVIAKhIM. The war found her in Odessa, in the city library, where she worked on her thesis about Bogdan Khmelnitsky. So Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko became a sniper of the 54th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division (Chapaevskaya) of the Primorsky Army of the North Caucasian Front.

Every day, still dark, at about three o'clock in the morning, Lyudmila usually crawled out with her partner beyond the line of our defense to ambush "hunting". For hours I had to lie, disguised, motionless on the dirty wet ground, under drizzle, rain and snow in winter, or under the scorching sun in summer. Sometimes for the sake of one shot it was necessary to wait a day or two. But she learned to endure, knew how to shoot accurately, disguise herself well, studied the habits of the enemy. Where does a young woman, yesterday's student, get such endurance, patience, endurance and perseverance?

In the museum Armed Forces in Moscow, in the exposition dedicated to L. Pavlichenko, among the many exhibits, there is a slingshot donated by Sevastopol children, and one of the fragments that wounded Lyudmila.

“When I went to fight, at first I felt only anger because the Germans violated our peaceful life. But everything that I saw later gave rise to such inextinguishable hatred in me that it is difficult to express it with anything other than a bullet in the heart of a Hitlerite ... "

She saw the body of a 13-year-old girl, on which the Germans demonstrated to each other their ability to wield a bayonet. The brains are on the wall of the house, and next to it is the corpse of a three-year-old child who annoyed the fascist with his crying, and a mother distraught with grief, who lost her mind, who was not even allowed to pick up and bury her child.

“Hatred teaches me a lot. It taught me how to kill enemies. Hatred sharpened my eyesight and hearing, made me cunning and dexterous. .. As long as at least one invader walks our land, I will mercilessly beat the enemy!"

And she continued her difficult, hard, unfeminine work. "... I usually lie in front of the front line, under a bush or tear off a trench, ... lying in one place for 18 hours is a rather difficult task, and you can’t move ... Patience here is hellish ... My first rifle was broken under Odessa, the second - near Sevastopol ... In general, I had one so-called output rifle (premium SVT from General I.E. Petrov. - Auth.), And a working rifle - an ordinary three-line rifle. I had good binoculars. "

They were repeatedly covered by mortar and artillery fire. “In Sevastopol, I again came to my unit. (After the hospital. - Auth.). Then I had a wound in the head. I was always wounded only by fragments of long-range shells, everything else somehow passed me by. concerts" were rolled up to snipers, which is downright terrible. As soon as they find sniper fire, they start sculpting on you, and now they are sculpting for three hours in a row. There is only one thing left: lie down, be silent and do not move. Either they will kill you, or you have to wait until they shoot back..."

During the second assault on Sevastopol, on December 19, 1941, Lyudmila was seriously wounded, a fragment hit her in the back. Then her faithful friend and partner sniper Leonid Kitsenko saved her, pulled her out of the shelling. Pavlichenko survived by a miracle and returned to duty again. During the next mortar attack, her partner was seriously wounded, his arm was torn off by shrapnel. Lyudmila, despising the danger, almost full height among the gaps, quickly, as soon as she could, dragged him to her. But it was not possible to save Leonidas. During the third assault, she went out into ambushes alone, without a partner. After another wound, Senior Sergeant L. Pavlichenko was evacuated along with other wounded on June 19, 1942 on the L-4 submarine to the Caucasus, to Novorossiysk.

She will never return to the front lines. A new page was opening in the history of her life.

"... If we see that Germany is winning the war, we should help Russia, if Russia wins, we should help Germany. And let them kill each other as much as possible, although I do not want under any circumstances to see Hitler as the winners ..." So declared on June 24, 1941, Democratic Senator Harry Truman, the future President of the United States. Nevertheless, the Soviet leadership persistently tried to persuade the allies to open a second front in Europe as soon as possible.

In September 1942, it was planned to hold a World Student Assembly in Washington on the role of youth in the anti-fascist struggle, about which US President Franklin D. Roosevelt informed I.V. Stalin with a request to send delegates from the USSR. Now, after the expiration of time, one can only be surprised at the natural foresight of the leader of all times and peoples in the selection of candidates for this trip.

The head of the group - Krasavchenko Nikolai Prokofievich, the organizer and ideological inspirer of the delegation, the secretary of the Moscow city committee of the Komsomol, was engaged in the preparation of partisan sabotage and underground groups in case of the capture of Moscow, the organizer of the volunteer Moscow partisan detachment (operated on the territory of Belarus). Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Nikolaevich Pchelintsev went to the front from the 4th year of the Leningrad Mining Institute, a famous sniper of the Leningrad Front, Master of Sports of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union. By the beginning of the summer of 1942, he destroyed 144 Nazis, the total score was 456 enemy soldiers and officers, of which 14 were snipers. And junior lieutenant Pavlichenko, a sniper of the Primorsky army, who destroyed 309 soldiers and officers, of which 36 were snipers. Awarded the Order of Lenin. She will receive the title of Hero of the Soviet Union later, in 1943.

Neither the delegates themselves, nor their leaders could fully imagine what this trip abroad could turn out to be for them. But to say that they were received well means to say nothing ... At one of the speeches, they were given a note: "I don't like communists, and all Russians are communists. I came out of curiosity, to see what kind of people you are. Frankly, I liked it Please accept a small amount from me and buy yourself a gift of your choice - in memory of this meeting. And a check to bearer for $1,000.

Delight and applause, whistling and shouts of approval accompanied every speech of our delegates. “Gentlemen!” a resonant girlish voice echoed over the large crowd in Chicago. “I am 26 years old, at the front I managed to destroy 309 fascist invaders. Don’t you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind my back for too long?” There was complete silence for a minute, then the crowd exploded into a roar of fury and a roar of approval.

During their stay in the USA and Canada (from August 24 to November 1), the Soviet delegation visited 43 cities, spoke at 67 rallies, which were accompanied by a spontaneous collection of money to help the USSR. The collected amount amounted to several million dollars. America and Canada seem to have awakened from a long hibernation. Newspapers published articles about Russia, about the Soviet people: "It is impossible to defeat a people with such representatives!" Organizations, societies, movements were created in support of Russia, for the opening of a second front. So, in November 1942, the US Military Information Committee was created, which began to regularly broadcast: reports of the Red Army's military operations, news about life in the Soviet Union. Soviet films were shown in cinemas documentary"The Defeat of the Germans near Moscow".

And then, at the personal invitation of W. Churchill, our delegation left for Great Britain to participate in the International Youth Congress. They were showered with gifts - from sniper rifles to fur jackets from the Association of Furriers, and personally Ludmila was presented with a luxurious silver fox fur coat. Our youth delegation was a kind of catalyst that accelerated and intensified many processes of our diplomacy, radically changed the attitude of the allies towards the Soviet Union, towards our army, towards our people and brought great benefits that can hardly be overestimated.

Lyudmila Mikhailovna no longer participated in hostilities, she taught at the "Shot" courses. After the war, she graduated from Kyiv State University, from 1945 to 1953 she worked as a researcher at the General Staff of the Navy. She retired in 1953 with the rank of major due to illness (a disabled person of the 2nd group): three wounds and four concussions affected her. She did a lot of work in the Soviet Committee of War Veterans, participated in international congresses and conferences. Author of the book "Heroic Reality". She died on October 27, 1974 in Moscow, and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

A street on the Central Hill of our city, between Tereshchenko and Suvorov streets, is named after Lyudmila Pavlichenko. So the legendary sniper Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko forever remained in the guise of our hero city of Sevastopol.

Pavlichenko Lyudmila Mikhailovna, born July 12, 1916 in Belaya Tserkov, Kyiv region, died in 1974. Ukrainka, the most successful Soviet sniper during World War II, the Soviet Union.

The feat of Lyudmila Pavlichenko.

- the most successful sniper in history.

During the war, Lyudmila was the only sniper who had 309 German soldiers on her account, including several dozen officers. " When I went to fight, at first I felt only anger because the Germans violated our peaceful life. But everything that I saw later gave rise to a feeling of such inextinguishable hatred in me that it is difficult to express it with anything other than a bullet in the heart of a Nazi", - said the sniper;

The achievements of Lyudmila Pavlichenko surpassed not only all female sniper achievements, but also most male ones;

There is a version that Lyudmila Pavlichenko had a special structure of the eyeball. In addition to stunning eyesight, she had a keen ear and excellent intuition. She learned to feel the forest as if she were a beast. They said that she was charmed from death by a healer and that she heard everything within a radius of half a kilometer. And she remembered the ballistic tables by heart, calculated the distance to the object and the correction for the wind in the most accurate way;

In October 1941, the Primorsky Army was transferred to. For 250 days and nights, in cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet, she heroically fought against superior enemy forces, defended Sevastopol;

Once Lyudmila entered into combat with 5 German machine gunners. Only one managed to escape;

Pavlichenko and her lover Leonid Kitsenko were instructed to make their way to the German command post and destroy the officers who were there. Having suffered losses, the enemies fired mortars at the place where the snipers were. But Lyudmila and Leonid, having changed their position, continued to conduct well-aimed fire. The enemy was forced to leave his command post;

During the execution of combat missions by snipers, the most unexpected incidents often happened. Lyudmila once told about one of them herself: “ Once 5 snipers went into a night ambush. We passed the front line of the enemy and disguised ourselves in the bushes by the road. In 2 days we managed to exterminate 130 fascist soldiers and 10 officers. Angry Nazis sent a company of submachine gunners against us. One platoon began to bypass the height on the right, and the other - on the left. But we quickly changed our position. The Nazis, not understanding what was happening, began to shoot at each other, and the snipers returned safely to their unit».

Awards of Lyudmila Pavlichenko.

Medal "Gold Star" of the Hero of the Soviet Union;

Two orders of Lenin;

Lots of medals.

On March 16, 1942, a rally of snipers was held. Among the speakers was Lyudmila Pavlichenko. On her account, there were 187 killed Nazis in Sevastopol, by this moment she managed to liquidate 72 Germans. It was on this day that she vowed to kill at least 300 enemies. By July of this year, her personal "account" had reached 309 killed German soldiers and officers.

« They do not shun anything, German soldiers and officers. Everything human is alien to them. There is no word in our language that would define their vile essence. What can be said about the German, in whose bag I saw a doll taken from our child and a toy watch? Is it possible to call him a man, a warrior? Not! This is a rabid jackal that must be destroyed in order to save our children.”, - said Lyudmila, explaining what exactly prompted her to exterminate the Germans;

When Lyudmila was 15 years old, and she bore the name Belova, she fell in love with Andrei Pavlichenko, who was much older than her. However, soon their romance was interrupted, but Lyudmila was pregnant. Then her father, who at that time was an officer of the NKVD, found the father of the child and forced him to marry. Nevertheless, Lyudmila and Andrei could not create a strong one, the couple broke up. Lyudmila hated her ex so much that when he tried to repent, she refused to listen to him, did not even want to say his name. She was going to get rid of the surname Pavlichenko, but the war prevented her from filing for divorce;

At the front, Lyudmila Pavlichenko met another sniper, Alexei Kitsenko. It was him who, until the end of her days, the sniper remembered as true love. The couple even submitted a report to the management, in which they spoke about their desire to marry. Nevertheless, this was not destined to happen, since Alexei died during the assignment along with his beloved. He was severely wounded, and Lyudmila carried him from the battlefield on her own hands. The man could not be saved. Then real anger jumped in Lyudmila, and, in addition to the destruction of the Germans, she also undertook to teach the soldiers sniper skills and everything that she herself knew. Thanks to her, the Soviet army had several more excellent snipers.

American country singer Woody Guthrie wrote the song "Miss Pavlichenko" about her;

Lyudmila Pavlichenko learned English because during her visit to the city she became close friends with the wife of American President Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt. They corresponded for many years. And in 1957, Eleanor even flew to visit Lyudmila in Moscow;

In April 2015, the Battle for was released, dedicated to Lyudmila Pavlichenko. The Ukrainian side financed the film by 79%, the Russian side - by the remaining 21%. However, due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on the territory, this film was released under the name "Invincible";

In this tape, Lyudmila Pavlichenko is presented as an ethnic Ukrainian. In the film, she even sings a song in Ukrainian. However, the Russian side believes that such data is incorrect, since Lyudmila allegedly always called herself a Russian soldier. However, there is no evidence for this.

.

Pages or groups dedicated to Lyudmila Pavlichenko, in social network was not found.

Biography of Lyudmila Pavlichenko.

Until the age of 14, Lyudmila studied at Belaya Tserkov, after which she and her family moved to Kyiv;

While studying in the 9th grade, Lyudmila simultaneously worked as a grinder at the Arsenal plant;

1932 - Lyudmila, whose maiden name was Belova, married Alexei Pavlichenko, in the same year she gave birth to a son. Soon the marriage was annulled;

1937 - enters the Faculty of History of Taras Shevchenko Kiev State University. She began to get involved in gliding and shooting sports;

Lyudmila was in Odessa on graduation practice when the Second World War. Without hesitation for a long time, literally in the first days of the war, Pavlichenko volunteered for the front;

Passes short-term sniper courses, after which he finds himself in the ranks of the 25th Chapaev Rifle Division. She took part in the battles that took place on the territory of Moldova. Was involved in the defense of Sevastopol and Odessa;

June 1942 - was wounded, after which she was sent with a delegation to the USA and. During the visit, she met with Franklin Roosevelt, then President of the United States.

July 1942 - Lyudmila Pavlichenko already had 309 Germans killed, including 36 officers. In addition, Ludmila also taught a large number of snipers;

After the end of the war, Lyudmila defended her diploma at Kiev University, and also became a senior researcher at the Main Staff of the Navy;

1956 - went to work in the Soviet Committee of War Veterans;

Lyudmila Pavlichenko was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Perpetuation of the memory of Lyudmila Pavlichenko.

1976 - in honor of the 60th anniversary of Pavlichenko, a postage stamp with her image was published;

1976 - in honor of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a ship of the Ministry of Fisheries was named and launched, which in 1996 was scrapped;

In Sevastopol and the White Church there are streets named after Lyudmila Pavlichenko. By the way, in Bila Tserkva on this street there is also a school where a sniper trained. Directly in it there is a museum dedicated to Lyudmila Pavlichenko.

How often do users from Ukraine look for information about Lyudmila Pavlichenko in a search engine?

As can be seen from the photo, users of the search engine in September 2015 were interested in the query "lyudmila pavlichenko" 859 times.

And according to this, you can see how the interest of Yandex users in the query "lyudmila pavlichenko" has changed over the past two years:

The highest interest in this request was recorded in May 2015 (about 12.5 thousand requests);

** If you have materials about other heroes of Ukraine, please send them to this mailbox

At the age of 27, Lyudmila Pavlichenko from Kiev became a Hero of the Soviet Union and the first female sniper to be awarded this title during her lifetime. And also - the first Soviet woman received in the White House, which will be our story. She didn't even think about that, of course. A man lived, went to school, worked at the Arsenal plant. In 1937, Lyudmila entered the history department of the Kiev State University named after T. G. Shevchenko, where she did not smoke menthol cigarettes with a bottle of rum-cola, but went in for gliding and shooting. Thus, the fourth-year student Pavlichenko was always ready for work and defense, and right from her summer practice in Odessa she went to beat the invaders.

As the media unanimously report, by July 1942, not a student, but a sergeant of the 54th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Chapaev Division of the Primorsky Army, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a participant in the battles in Moldova, the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol, had 309 destroyed enemy soldiers and officers. Including 36 enemy snipers. Including, according to legend, a specialist with five hundred lives on his account. A lot, especially for a girl. 23rd place in the world in terms of performance, taking into account the fact that since 1942 Lyudmila Mikhailovna did not fight, but taught young people at the Shot courses.

Of course, among us there are citizens who will have the idea of ​​the unnatural nature of such activities, which will certainly develop into arguments about totalitarian education in the evil empire. The same question, according to the testimony of her partner on a trip to the United States and Great Britain in the fall of 1942, Vladimir Pchelintsev, was taken up by a certain Jesse Storri. He outlined his impressions of communicating with Lyudmila Mikhailovna on the pages of the magazine of the Canadian youth magazine "New advance": "I discovered interesting fact, helping to better understand her anti-fascist character, at breakfast at the White House, where Mrs. Roosevelt received the Canadian delegation. We were in the living room, chatting at ease with Mrs. Roosevelt, when she suddenly said that she had received a Soviet delegation here the day before. One of Ludmila's questions that Mrs. Roosevelt asked her was: “How did she, a woman, manage to shoot at the Germans, seeing their faces at the moment of aiming? It's hard for American women to understand that!" Lieutenant Pavlichenko answered briefly: “I saw with my own eyes how my husband and my child died ... I was nearby ...”. This fact, it must be said, is not found in any biography.

But another fact is very well known: Lieutenant Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Senior Lieutenant Vladimir Pchelintsev and Komsomol leader Nikolai Krasavchenko performed an important state mission - to shame the Allies, who in every possible way avoided opening a second front. Just for the occasion, I dug up a couple of rare frames from the US Library of Congress, which, apparently, had not been published before. And the bonus is a country-style song about a heroic sniper, composed by famous performer Woody Guthrie. He, like millions of ordinary Americans, was still ashamed.

“A historian by education, a warrior by her mindset, she fights with all the fervor of her young heart,” wrote the Krasny Chernomorets newspaper of May 3, 1942. Who wants details - can read memoirs. The newspaper, surprisingly, did not lie. For a long time, after her partner Leonid Kutsenko was mortally wounded, Lyudmila went to "work" alone, until the very evacuation from the besieged Sevastopol. Although often it came out sideways to her. And in the fall of 1942, together with a colleague from the Leningrad Front, Vladimir Pchelintsev, and Nikolai Krasavchenko, secretary for propaganda of the Moscow City Komsomol Committee, she left for the USA, and then to England. With an agitation trip, let's say so.

From the front SVT. For work, she had the usual "three"

Another shot "for the front-line newspaper"

Both companions are worthy of all attention. The son of a Kraskom who died in 1920 from typhus, adopted by his mother's second husband, an officer of the Red Army, the young man was brought up in the Spartan spirit. “In the 9th and 10th grades, I do physical education and military affairs. I train at the OAH Shooting Club. I am in charge of military affairs at the school. At this time, I passed the standards for the badges of the TRP, VS, GSO, VS of the 2nd stage, PVC. Repeatedly participated in shooting competitions. Grade 10 passed in a stubborn struggle for knowledge, ”Vladimir deduced in his autobiography with his own hand. I had to fight because Pchelintsev studied in Petrozavodsk, where pests made their criminal nest. They forced the youth to learn Finnish. “Only after the elimination of the enemies of the people, we could study properly,” Vladimir notes, transferring us to the difficult atmosphere of that time.

V. N. Pchelintsev with the rank of sergeant

Entering to study as a geologist at the Leningrad Mining Institute, he continued to shoot: from 02/22/1940 - shooter of the 1st class, from 03/14/1940 - master of sports of the USSR, from 04/27/1940 - instructor of shooting sports of the III category. Of course, with the outbreak of the war, Vladimir volunteered for the army, although senior students, starting from the third, in 1941-42. had a deferment from the draft (imagine). He ended up in the 83rd fighter battalion of the NKVD, then - in the 11th rifle brigade of the 8th army of the Leningrad Front. It is considered one of the "initiators" of the sniper movement. On February 6, 1942 he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. By this time, there were 102 enemy soldiers and officers on my personal account. The total score is 456, including 14 snipers.

As for the Komsomol member, he was included in the small delegation as an inspirer and link between Soviet and non-Soviet youth. He also had some combat experience. As the journalist and writer Leonid Mlechin informs us, in 1946 an anonymous letter addressed to Stalin was sent to the Central Committee, aimed at the head of Moscow, Georgy Popov. Nikolai also got it, whom the Moscow authorities just decided to move on: “The young careerist Komsomol member Krasavchenko went to the front, was captured by the Germans, it is not known where the party card is. By unknown means he got out of the rear of the enemy. He would have a place in the camps. But Popov gave him a new party card, sent him abroad among the members of the youth delegation, and then made him secretary of the Moscow Committee and the Moscow City Committee of the Komsomol. ... Popov insistently urged the election of Krasavchenko at the last congress of the Komsomol as secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League. But even the youth saw through what kind of fruit Krasavchenko was, and failed him.

Delegates in all their glory. Photo from the archive of the Library of the US Congress

It was near Smolensk, where a group of Moscow youth was sent to build defensive structures. The Germans advanced so rapidly that people were taken prisoner. Krasavchenko, realizing what awaited him, buried the Komsomol ticket, and not the party (otherwise he would have been a communist) ticket in some shed. But when he went out to his own, he honestly told how everything was, and they gave him a new one. And since they were released abroad, therefore, the party and the government believed his story about what had happened.

And the prehistory of the trip is such that a good friend of the Soviet people, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a telegram to Joseph Vissarionovich. In it, he (as always) expressed sincere sympathy for the courageous struggle of the Soviet people, spoke of the ever-increasing efforts of the allied states and big role in the anti-fascist struggle of the youth, especially its advanced part - the students. And already, as if casually, he announced that from September 2 to 5, the World Student Assembly was going to be in Washington, where the delegations of the allied powers - the USA, the USSR, England and China should take the leading place. Send, in general, at least a couple of delegates.

I am inclined to assess the ideological combination for the selection of delegates as exceptionally correct, which to some extent justifies the civilian suit of Comrade. Krasavchenko in difficult years for the country. The problem is obvious: the allies (first of all, Great Britain) openly dynamized the solution of a strategically important issue. Negotiations on the opening of a second front had been going on since June 1941, and specifically in the spring of 1942, Molotov flew to the United States, and then to England again on the same occasion. Everyone politely agreed, but in a letter to Stalin dated July 18, and then during negotiations with the head of the Soviet government in Moscow in August 1942, Churchill announced Britain's refusal to open a second front in Europe in 1942. "The same was confirmed on behalf of the President F. Roosevelt and US Ambassador to Moscow A. Harriman, who was present at the talks between W. Churchill and J. V. Stalin, "- this is what information can be gleaned from the pages of the publication" The Great Patriotic War. Questions and Answers ".

For a public relations campaign to manipulate public opinion in the dynamist countries, young and beautiful white people of the Caucasian race were chosen, representing the two Slavic people and having a specific result. After the defeat of the airfields in the 41st, it was still a little tight with the pilots, the sailors and tankers also lagged behind, and in general things were rubbish at the front - Kharkov could not be recaptured, the landing near Kerch and Feodosia failed, the Germans rushed to Stalingrad. And here, personally, with their own hands, 411 fascists were killed for two. Living Hero of the Soviet Union. Yes, and who went out with him to the American and English public? Weak girl, and already with the Order of Lenin, by the way! Moreover, Pavlichenko fought from the very beginning and was a unique phenomenon in her own way.

In the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, Pchelintsev and Pavlichenko quickly resolved the issue of clothing. In particular, they altered the figure of a general's uniform. I can’t say for sure, but the rank of junior lieutenant was awarded to the lady before the trip. And this is also explained purely logically: just a sergeant will not represent a huge country! Again, a strange relationship of subordination: Pchelintsev was already a senior lieutenant. He recalled that they figured out the form literally in a day.

ml. lieutenant Pavlichenko in a magnificent cap.

“Having measured his, I was satisfied - everything was just right. The general's buttonholes disappeared, and now in their place infantry crimson, with a gilded edging, were sewn on, and three brilliant ruby ​​\u200b\u200b"cubes" and infantry emblems were attached to them. Gold chevrons are sewn on the sleeves - three gold stripes with a break. From his tunic he outweighed the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. Well, in the form of a junior lieutenant, Lyudmila Pavlichenko also looked with the Order of Lenin and the medal "For Military Merit". They showed themselves in uniform to Mikhailov (first secretary of the Central Committee of the Komsomol - TS). He liked our costumes. To our "regalia", he, on behalf of the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, Colonel-General Shchadenko, added two more modest awards each - the gilded signs "Sniper" and "Guards," he recalled. They also gave fashionable “bottle” boots. I cannot remain silent: the presentation of the guards badges in this case was pure window dressing, especially since the 25th Chapaev division, in which Pavlichenko served, died in July 42 and was officially disbanded by that time.

But for the Americans and the British, this was completely unimportant, they did not understand the Soviet military uniform. But in terms of appearance, it was a winning move. The guard is the guard. And the trip to the USA, Canada and then the UK was extremely successful. Every time in a new place, guests from the fighting country of the Soviets felt the inexhaustible interest of the public. Literally from the first day, about which the hardworking Pchelintsev left a similar report. In addition to the daily report, he very colorfully described his sniper talents and somehow very noticeably rubbed off Lyudmila - either she refuses to shoot (they were asked about it all the time), then she gets fat from beer, then it turns out that it’s as if she doesn’t exist.

At the Embassy in Washington

“Today is August 27th. At 5:30 o'clock, and no wonder that we got up with difficulty. But there was no time to cool down. Just a few minutes later, our express arrived in Washington. At 5.45 he made the last turn of the wheels and stopped under the arches of the capital's railway station. It was dark and gloomy, with a slight haze and dampness in the air. Imagine our surprise when, looking out the window, we saw many people meeting us on the platform. However, at that moment we were no longer busy contemplating the crowd on the platform, but the thought that we had finally arrived in Washington - the goal of our trip. We arrived on the 14th day of the journey, leaving several thousand kilometers behind. Say what you like, but it is impressive and remains forever in the memory,” writes Pchelintsev. And they spent the night at all in the White House, under the tutelage of Eleanor Roosevelt, whom they later spoke of with great feeling.

Gift photo of Eleanor Roosevelt. From the archive of V. Pchelintsev.

with officials. Lyudmila's ability to make others laugh was noted even by the gloomy Pchelintsev

And here is a TASS message from August 30: “In a conversation with journalists, Krasavchenko asked them to convey to the American youth and the entire American people greetings from the Soviet people fighting at the front against the Nazi hordes. Krasavchenko briefly described the many-sided participation of Soviet youth in the struggle against the aggressor. He expressed the hope that the stay of the Soviet delegation in the USA would strengthen the friendship between American and Soviet youth and that the active participation of the youth of all the united countries in the war would hasten the final victory over Hitlerism. Lyudmila Pavlichenko conveyed to the American women fighting greetings from Soviet women and spoke about the selfless work of Soviet women, inspired by hatred for the enemy. Pchelintsev spoke about the art of the sniper and concluded: “We can win and we will win. So Stalin said, so be it.

With Ambassador of the Soviet Union to the USA M. M. Litvinov

The program of the visit was extremely busy - they traveled all over the country, met with students, trade unions, labor collectives and even the Association of furriers. Almost everywhere - with constant success. Here is what Vladimir Nikolaevich reports on this matter:

“By the end of the meeting, the ministers, already out of breath, bring paper slips to the presidium and pass us paper sheets: “I don’t like communists, and all Russians are communists! I came here out of curiosity to see what kind of people you are? a small amount and buy yourself a gift of your choice - in memory of this meeting" - signature. Here, on a narrow form, is a check. The first time, I remember, I turned it in bewilderment in front of me and asked the translator:

What it is? He smiled.

Congratulations! It's a check to bearer for a thousand dollars. A gift, as you can see from the note, you can make yourself rich!

As we were in America, we received more and more of these bank checks. Spending them on ourselves, of course, did not occur to us. In addition, we received a lot of such checks, which went to the aid fund, then "Soviet Russia", then the "Red Army", then to the "second front". And so it happened that we began to attach "our" nominal checks to all the others and to transfer in bulk to the embassy M. M. Litvinov. The total amount soon reached an impressive size, on the order of several hundred thousand dollars!

It is understandable, since snipers had examples from life, and appropriate texts were prepared for them. Particularly Lude. “Lyudmila has spoken before the International Student Assemblies in Washington DC, before the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), as well as in New York, but her speech in Chicago is remembered by many.

Gentlemen, - a sonorous voice resounded over the crowd of thousands gathered. - I am twenty five years old. At the front, I have already managed to destroy three hundred and nine fascist invaders. Don't you gentlemen think you've been hiding behind my back for too long?! The crowd froze for a minute, and then exploded into a frantic roar of approval….”

This is how numerous sources describe the most acute moment of the trip, without giving, however, a link to the source. We won't give it either.

It should be noted that Soviet snipers (and a Komsomol member) traveled around the USA and Canada not alone, but together with representatives of other allies, specially selected by the American committee "International Students Service". Pavlichenko, a Chinese woman Yun-Wang (a former actress, a friend of Chiang Kai-shek's wife, a student at Columbia University), Irena Morray, the leader of the Washington Committee of the ISS, British pilots Peter Kahran and Scott Malden, as well as "representative of the Netherlands Abdul Kadeer, a native of Dutch West Indies. On the west - Pchelintsev with Krasavchenko in the company of two more British pilots and a Dutch naval lieutenant.

In the middle is Captain Peter Kachran, a Scot . A photofrom a b-ki known to you.

The delegation is almost at full strength. From the archive of V. Pchelintsev.

Pchelintsev cites a curious episode about American democracy in connection with a visit to Pittsburgh, where in the morning he met two policemen in the hotel corridor. “From his explanation, I realized that Pittsburgh is a special city in America: it is a city in which the overwhelming majority of the population comes from Germany, Germans! Many in the city do not hide their sympathy for Hitler, admire the successes of the Nazi army on the Eastern Front, hate the Russians, there are many fascist youths in the city. The fact that there were two Russians in the youth delegation that arrived in the city became known to them from the press. And all the newspapers say that one of them is a sniper who exterminated one and a half hundred of their compatriots! The reaction of the fascist elements is understandable, their unequivocal threats to "deal with the Russians" - that's even how it happened.

The Association of Furriers kindly presented the envoys of the Red Army with bear jackets, and another fur coat made of silver fox.

And at the end of September, when the program was exhausted, the Soviet Consul in the United States, Viktor Fedyushin, said that it was still too early to go home, since Prime Minister Churchill personally sent an invitation to visit the UK. “You must understand correctly, my dear ones, that your stay in America, your trip around the country, has brought enormous benefits, which can hardly be overestimated. It would not be an exaggeration to say that in some cases the attitude towards us has changed radically in the United States. Many issues that until recently had to be settled for weeks, or even months, are quickly and favorably resolved. I will reveal a small “official secret” - Maxim Maksimovich Litvinov recently said at an embassy meeting in Washington that your youth delegation was an unexpected catalyst that accelerated and intensified many processes of Soviet diplomatic activity in the United States, ”the consul admonished the snipers.

Farewell party at Hunter College, organized by a certain "Russian war reliefe". The second front - that's what we expect from you, gentlemen Americans, and you are talking about milk ... ", Pchelintsev said irritably about the slogan.

Running through the visit in italics, we will only say that Churchill received them personally, the snipers were organized to visit military units, presented with rifles, and at the end a meeting with Charles de Gaulle was organized. Everyone assured that the opening of a second front was not far off, everyone was ready and the matter was small. And old de Gaulle boasted that his pilots were ready to fight fascism - you just give them planes. This, of course, was about the future Normandie-Niemen. Well, of course, meetings with working people.

I wonder what's in her hand? She told de Gaulle that snipers don't smoke

“She was enthusiastically greeted by the workers of the factory she visited. At a rally in London organized on November 22, 1942 by the Women's Committee of the Anglo-Soviet Friendship in honor of Pavlichenko, English women promised to be worthy of their Soviet sisters, ”says the official website of the Russian Ministry of Defense, which has not lost the sparkling style of the editorials of the formidable 40- x years.

I make a remark to you, comrade Englishman. Your weapon has not been cleaned for a long time

Senior Lieutenant Pchelintsev did not like Uncle Winston. “The descendant of the Duke of Marlborough studied the officer standing in front of him. The prime minister did not know one thing, that he also had a descendant in front of him, who, like himself, was proud of his pedigree, although it spoke of my common origin from a distant ancestor, a forest beekeeper, a "bee". But my great-grandfather laid down his life in Bulgaria, near Shipka, in 1877 in a fight with the Turks. Grandfather died in 1905 near Mukden, in Manchuria, in a battle with the Japanese. His father also laid down his head in 1920 near Kursk in a battle with the White Guards, ”these were the thoughts that were born in his head during the languid handshake of the legendary prime minister and the terry anti-Soviet.

Let's talk about the results: interest in the Soviet Union and the war it waged alone against the whole of Europe increased dramatically. Of course, it played a key role Battle of Stalingrad, but Soviet snipers (and Komsomolets) gave an iron informational reason. For example, American radio began to include stories about life in the USSR in national and local broadcasts, reporting details of the heroic struggle of Soviet soldiers and partisans.

The British brag about the tanks, which "are about to go across the strait." Overcoats are made to order through the efforts of Ambassador Maisky, buttons and buttonholes are custom-made.

In November 1942, the newly formed US Office of Information organized weekly radio broadcasts on the Soviet Union. And in 1942, I will tell you, in America there were more than 28 million radio stations, which covered 82.8% of the entire population of the country. The cinemas of Great Britain and the USA showed the Soviet documentary film "The Defeat of the Germans near Moscow". In general, the public was very much in favor of helping the allies. But the second front was eventually opened when the collapse of Germany was an obvious matter. But a well-known film about a lost private will tell you about this better than me.

And if I'm lying, then the song of old Woody Garty "Miss Pavlichenko" does not at all look like a deceitful craft of the Kremlin special services. There are heartfelt lines in it: "The world will love your sweet face, just like I do. After all, more than three hundred Nazi dogs fell from your weapons." What is it?