Maria Filippovna Limanskaya

Marija Filippowna Limanskaja ( Russian Мария Филипповна Лиманская ; * 1924 in Staraya Poltawka , Volga German Republic , Soviet Union ) was a military policewoman in the Red Army at the time of the Second World War . She gained notoriety through a photo that showed her as a traffic policeman in front of the Brandenburg Gate , which attracted worldwide attention.

Life

Marija, called Mascha , volunteered as a military policeman in the Red Army in 1942. Little is known about her early days in the military. However, it is known that as a soldier she was in Sevastopol and Rostov-on-Don , among other places , and barely escaped with her life several times. So it so happened that shortly after leaving an accommodation, the house was destroyed by an aerial bomb. She was equally lucky when she was almost run over by a truck rushing by.

In May 1945 she was ordered to control the traffic to the Brandenburg Gate . She gained notoriety when she was filmed and photographed by the Soviet photographer and war correspondent Yevgeny Chaldei .

The photos he took were published in numerous newspapers around the world. After her time in front of the Brandenburg Gate, she was deployed as a traffic policeman at the Potsdam Conferences in July 1945 .

She made the acquaintance of Winston Churchill . He asked her if the English soldiers had kept their manners towards her and her colleagues, to which she replied: "If they don't, our soldiers will defend us," Churchill walked away smiling.

After the end of the war, Limanskaja married and had two daughters, but the separation followed relatively quickly. After a long time alone, she married the war veteran Viktor and was married to him for 23 years until his death. Limanskaja lives in Swonarjowka ( Звонарёвка ) in the Russian Oblast of Saratov .

Web links

• Report in English

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Maria Filippovna Limanskaya, librarian
2. ↑ Brandenburger Madonna Maria Limanskaja became a symbol of victory over Germany , last accessed on January 9, 2014 (Russian)
3. ↑ Forgotten image of the Second World War ( Memento of the original from January 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.