Jump to content

Polina Gelman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by PlanespotterA320 (talk | contribs) at 02:09, 2 April 2018 (added Category:Flight navigators using HotCat). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Polina Gelman
Native name
Поліна Володимирівна Гельман
Born24 October 1919
Berdychiv, Ukraine
Died25 November 2005(2005-11-25) (aged 86)
Moscow, Russia
Allegiance Soviet Union
Service/branchSoviet Air Force
Years of service1941 — 1957
RankLieutenant Colonel
Unit46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment
Battles/warsGreat Patriotic War
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin Order of the Red Banner Order of the Red Banner Order of the Patriotic War (1st class)
Order of the Patriotic War (1st class)
Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"

Template:Medal Liberation of Warsaw
Template:Medal 800th Moscow

Polina Vladimirovna Gelman (Russian: Поли́на Влади́мировна Ге́льман, Ukrainian: Поли́на Володи́мирівна Ге́льман; 24 October 1919 – 25 November 2005) was a decorated Soviet Air Force officer, recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union for her service with the famed Night Witches unit during World War II.[1]

Military career

Born to a working-class Jewish family from the Ukrainian city of Berdychiv in 1919, Gelman joined the Soviet military in October 1941 after repeated disqualifications of her attempt to volunteer as a result of her short stature. Following a course of training in aviation, she became a navigator in 1942 with the all-female 588th "Night Witches" Night Bomber Regiment, later known as the 46th Taman Division. Gelman had completed 860 missions by the time of Nazi Germany's capitulation to the Allies and was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in 1946.[2]

Later life

Continuing her career as a professional military officer, she was sent for instruction as a military translator, graduating from the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in 1951.[3][4]

Gelman settled in Moscow following her retirement from active service as a major in 1957, and worked at the Institute of Social Sciences teaching political economy as a college instructor until retiring in 1990. She attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in the reserves. A member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union since 1942, she was sent as an advisor and translator to Cuba.[2]

Gelman's memoirs of her years as a pilot were published in Moscow in 1982. She died on 25 November 2005 in Moscow, where she was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery.[5]

Honours and awards

See also

References

  1. ^ Sakaida, Henry (2012-04-20). Heroines of the Soviet Union 1941–45. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781780966922.
  2. ^ a b "Гельман Полина Владимировна". www.warheroes.ru. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  3. ^ Piero., Milanetti, Gian (2013). Soviet airwomen of the great patriotic war : a pictorial history. Roma: IBN. ISBN 9788875651466. OCLC 955303338.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Тревожные ночи". www.a-z.ru. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  5. ^ "Гельман Полина Владимировна". airaces.narod.ru. Retrieved 2018-01-19. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polina_Gelman&oldid=833717088"