Polina Gelman

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]

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/branch Soviet Air Force
Years of service1941–1957
RankLieutenant Colonel
Unit46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment
Battles/warsGreat Patriotic War
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union

Early life

Born to a working-class Jewish family from the Ukrainian city of Berdychiv in 1919, after the death of her father she lived in Gomel, Belarus with her mother. In 1938 she completed ten grades of school and attended a glider school before entering Moscow State University, which she attended until 1941.[2][3]

World War II

Gelman volunteered in October 1941 for the newly formed Aviation Group No.122, which consisted of the three women's aviation regiments of Soviet Air Forces founded by Marina Raskova after repeated disqualifications of her attempt to volunteer as a result of her short stature. Following training at Engels Military Aviation School, she became a navigator in 1942 in the all-female 588th Night Bomber Regiment, later redesignated as the 46th Taman Guards. Gelman had completed 860 missions and attained the rank of senior lieutenant by the time of Nazi Germany's capitulation to the Allies. She was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in 1946.[2][3]

Postwar activities

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.[4][5]

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][3]

Gelman's memoirs were published in Moscow in 1982. She died on 25 November 2005 in Moscow, where she was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery.[6]

Honours and awards
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See also

References
  1. Sakaida, Henry (2012-04-20). Heroines of the Soviet Union 1941–45. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781780966922.
  2. Simonov, Andrey. "Гельман Полина Владимировна". warheroes.ru. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  3. Janina, Cottam (1998). Women in War and Resistance: Selected Biographies of Soviet Women Soldiers. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Co. ISBN 1585101605. OCLC 228063546.
  4. Piero., Milanetti, Gian (2013). Soviet airwomen of the great patriotic war : a pictorial history. Roma: IBN. ISBN 9788875651466. OCLC 955303338.
  5. "Тревожные ночи". www.a-z.ru. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  6. "Гельман Полина Владимировна". airaces.narod.ru. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
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