During World War II, one woman sniper became the worst nightmare for the Nazis of the Eastern Front. Lyudmila Pavlichenko, better known to the enemies as “Lady Death”, is the most successful female sniper in history, having a record of 309 confirmed kills in her time battling the Nazis.
Her career as a sniper was so impressive, that the Nazis tried to bribe her on the radio numerous times saying “Lyudmila Pavlichenko, come over to us. We will give you plenty of chocolate and make you a German officer.”
The enemy became so afraid, that by the end of her time at the frontlines, the Nazi bribes turned into threats.
One message stated, “If we catch you, we will tear you into 309 pieces and scatter them to the winds!” to which Pavlichenko only responded by saying she was happy the enemy knew of her record.
Born in 1916 in Ukrain, Pavlichenko described herself as a tomboy, and especially competitive against boys to prove that girl could be just as good un anything- if not better.
Pavlichenko and her family moved to Kyiv when she was a teenager, where she took classes in sharpshooting, and later developed an interest in History and enrolled in the University of Kyiv.
After her university was bombed by the Nazis, she decided to enlist as a sniper in the Red Army. Recruitment officers tried to push Pavlichenko to become a nurse, however, after she took out a few Romanians working with the Nazis, she officially got enlisted as a sniper for the army.
She was among the 500 out of the 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army, who survived to see the war’s end.
During her career in the frontlines, she engaged in duels with enemy snipers and won every single one; garnering her promotions and badges for her exquisite career.
In June of 1942, after getting injured in a battle, the Soviet high command deemed her too valuable of an asset and withdrew her from battle before she could fully heal and return to the frontlines.
Instead, her new role was to be the poster girl for the Soviet high command propaganda. She traveled to the United States in an attempt to rally the Americans to join the war. But the American press with their sexist comments were more interested in topics such as her style or her lack of makeup.
Growing tired, Pavlichenko responded by saying “Who had time to think of her shiny nose when there is a battle going on?”
In one of her speeches during her tour in America, Pavlichenko stated: “Gentlemen, I am 25 years old and I have killed 309 fascist occupants by now. Don’t you think, gentlemen, that you have been hiding behind my back for too long?”
Upon her return to the Soviet Union, Pavlichenko was promoted to major and given the title Hero of the Soviet Union, the country’s highest military distinction. She also never returned to battle, instead, she trained other snipers in the military, and returned to finish her studies at the University of Kyiv, and became a historian.
