Polina Gelman

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Polina Gelman (1945)

Polina Vladimirovna Gelman ( Russian Полина Владимировна Гельман , Ukrainian Поліна Володимирівна Гельман ; born October 11 jul. / 24. October  1919 greg. In Berdichev (now Ukraine ); died 29. November 2005 in Moscow ) was a Soviet university teacher as well as bomber pilot and political officer in World War II .

Life

Polina Gelman was born to Jewish parents. After the death of their father, the family moved to Gomel in 1920 . During her school days, she took flying lessons from the local glider club . At the beginning of the German-Soviet War , she was a third-year history student at Moscow University . Four months later, in October 1941, Gelman enlisted in the Red Army .

After some hesitation, Gelman was trained as a navigator and bomb shooter with the 588th Night Bomb Regiment (Night Witches) . She came to the front on May 27, 1942. Her regiment, designated the 46th Guards Regiment in 1943 , consisted only of women. They flew at night with simple Polikarpow Po-2 biplanes , during which they attacked their targets mostly with the engine switched off. After a briefing from Yevdokia Nossal , Raisa Aronova became her pilot. Gelman set a record of 18 missions in one night.

After Gelman had joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1942 , she became a political officer (Politruk) of the regiment and was responsible for its communications. In three years she fought in the southeast of Russia , in the Caucasus , in the Crimea , in Belarus , Poland and East Prussia . After 857 missions, the war was over for Lieutenant Gelman in Berlin . In addition to 113 tons of bombs had 620,000 leaflets with propaganda dropped. In addition, units were supplied with ammunition and food behind enemy lines.

Polina Gelman was named Hero of the Soviet Union on May 15, 1946 . She graduated from the military with a degree in foreign languages ​​and taught at the military academy. In 1956 she retired as a major . Afterwards she worked as a translator for Spanish at the Komsomol . Gelman had been a lecturer since 1964, interrupted by a scientific mission to Cuba . From 1970 to 1990 she worked as an assistant professor for political economy at the party institute for social sciences in Moscow. In the 1990s she visited Israel as an official guest of the Israeli government. On April 27, 2000 Gelman was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the reserve .

Gelman married the former soldier Vladimir N. Kolosow (1921–1994) in 1948; their daughter was born in 1949.

Polina Gelman died on November 29, 2005. The urn was buried next to her mother's in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Quote

Gelman told her mother in 1941: “I have decided to go to the front. I am a daughter of the Jewish people and I have an open account with Hitler. "

Awards and honors

Memorial plaque at the girls' high school in Homel

The Heroine of the Soviet Union (No. 8962) was also awarded the Order of Lenin (No. 59069) , two Orders of the Red Banner , two Orders of the Red Star , two Orders of the Great Patriotic War, and other medals.

Rachel Aronowna Kownator wrote the biography Held fun Sovetnfarband, Polina Gelman in 1948 in Yiddish .

In Berdychiv, Ukraine, in Homel (Gomel) , Belarus and in the Israeli city of Ashkelon streets were named after Gelman. There are two memorial plaques at the girls' high school and at the center of the DOSAAF in Homel.

Fonts

  • “О боях, пожарищах и друзьях-товарищах…” (essay) 1995, new edition: Финансовая академия, 2002.

Web links

Commons : Polina Gelman  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

literature

  • А. А. Simonov: "Гельман Полина Владимировна." In: Симонов А. А., Чудинова С. В. Женщины: «Герои Советского Союза и России." Музей техники Вадима Задорожного, 2017. ISBN 978-5-9909607-0-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Yadvashem.org: Polina Gelman . (English, accessed May 28, 2019)
  2. ↑ Published by: Der Emes, Moscow 1948.
personal data
SURNAME Gelman, Polina
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kolosowa, Polina Vladimirovna (married name); Гельман, Полина Владимировна (Russian spelling); Ге́льман, Полі́на Володи́мирівна (Ukrainian spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Soviet bomber pilot and political officer
DATE OF BIRTH October 24, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Berdychiv
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 2005
Place of death Moscow