Russian Women on the Eastern Front?

[MissQueenie]

I'm putting together a Russian impression for my first-ever battle this month, and I'm hoping someone here can point me in the direction of some good information. I'll be a private in the Russian Army in 1944 at the battle for Dukla Pass.

What was life like for women in Russia at the time? Did their lives change dramatically under Stalin? It seems so unusual that women were permitted to fight and die in the front lines with their male countrymen -- this seems to indicate that women were being treated with greater equality under communism, or that with the casualty rates being what they were the Russian army couldn't afford to pick and choose. Maybe both? How did the Russian people react to this? How did the rest of the world react?

Where did these women come from? What were their lives like before the war? Were women treated differently by the men in their units? Were women conscripted, or did they join for other motivations?

I could ask questions all day, so any information at all would be treasured. If anyone can recommend any good research materials, books, etc I would be very thankful!

 

[Paul]

Here is a start if you have not already read it
http://www.greatwardifferent.com/Great_War/Women_Warriors/Hirschfeld_01.htm

 

[MissQueenie]

Thanks for the great resource! I can't wait to take a look at it when i get home this evening...looks like there's lots of info there.

 

[Lincsong]

Stalag 17

In that movie there were Russian female POW's in an enjoining camp.

"Hey Animal, get a load of the Russian broads."

 

[Story]

Russian women, in general -
http://www.unclepasha.com/russian_brides_olesya/women_quotes.htm


Russian women also served in their country's uniformed army.
In 1939, they were drafted and trained. When the war began,
thousands more volunteered. They were initially taken into
support and nursing jobs, but eventually trained as sharp-
shooters, submachine gunners, automatic riflemen, mortarmen,
machine gunners, and signalers. Other Russian women served in
ground combat operations, as engineers, technicians, radio
operators, turret gunners, drivers, and mechanics in tank units.
Thousands served in the infantry and in command positions. More
than 1,000 graduated from the special sniper school.


Background reference reading
http://webhome.idirect.com/~kjcottam/resist.htm
According to the above, 70% of the 800,000 Russian women who served in the Soviet army in WW2 fought at the front. One hundred thousand of them were decorated for defending their country.
http://tls.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25340-2009407,00.html

If you like the hobby, you might want to take up the role of a sniper. Soviet women snipers are credited with over ten thousand enemy killed.
http://www.smh-hq.org/gazette/features/enemygates.html

LYUDMILA PAVLICHENKO
http://www.snipersparadise.com/history/pavlichenk.htm

More on Soviet snipers
http://www.russian-mosin-nagant.com/soviet_sniper_article.htm
and a source for a Kalifornia-legal Mosin sniper rifle

http://www.interordnance.com/Mercha..._Code=INTERORDNANCE.com&Product_Code=MOSI0021

Happy hunting, Tovarich.


For folks with high speed connections - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxtDPLUY0oo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLi_m656tQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLFM8zpZ0AA

 

[Dixon Cannon]

I think we have a match...

Enemy At The Gates

I think this is you MissQueenie!!

-dixon cannon

 

[Matt Deckard]

I love enemy at the gates

 

[Hondo]

I love enemy at the gates

If its anything like gates and our MissQueenie so do I

BTW Great photo in your avatar Matt :eusa_clap

 

[Twitch]

Here is a great site with info on Russian women pilots if you can use it http://pratt.edu/~rsilva/sovwomen.htm

Lilya Litvak was known as the White Rose of Stalingrad. She was the leading ace with 12 victories.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Here is another must see.

The Inner Circle

vodka, revolution, ballet, onion domes, furry hats and the guy who played Mozart!

Worth a rent!
Shows a little more of how the females lived and worked and what they wore. Not quite battlefield... though a good visual of the culture.

 

[Story]

Umm....

So what happened to MissQueenie since we began this deluge of answers & suggestions?

 

[MissQueenie]

So what happened to MissQueenie since we began this deluge of answers & suggestions?

Oops! Sorry about that...all sorts of crazy life stuff happened!

Let's see...I got my uniform last night and OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS what is up with those soviet trousers?! I knew they were going to be very large...I could handle "very large" with a belt. They look rather like enormous jodhpurs...I could fit not-so-little Soviet children in the big airbags on each side! I had a good laugh when I got suited up, but I think having a belt and wearing my hat and boots will make the look come together.

Now, the real question...does anyone have any idea how the Soviet rucksacks configure? I can't figure out the straps!

I'll post pictures of my uniform and some of the ration packages I made over the weekend tonight or tomorrow.

 

[BellyTank]

A good Russian film-

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111579/

"Burnt by the Sun"/"Utomlyonnye solntsem" (1994)

Looking forward to seeing you in Russian garb, Queenie!

B
T

 

[geo]

Soviet women served in various roles, such as anti-aircraft artillery, airplane pilots (first reconaissance and bombers, later extended to fighters), communications, traffic control, tank crews, doctors, nurses and others. There were both women-only tank crews and mixed crews, with husband and wife serving in the same tank. Women never served in the infantry, but there were women partisans. A very good perspective on the war on the Eastern front is found in Sven Hassel's books. Also, don't forget that the Soviets lost more than 20 million in the war, so you should look full of hate of the Fascists.

 

[MrBern]

I've always thought it a shame that EnemyAtTheGate was a nice movie, but didnt actually show the girls doing any sniping. Instead it devolved into a typical hollywood love triangle.
Instead, you can look to History Channel for interviews w. those very productive female snipers.

 

[MrBern]

polish

This is still my favorite.
From PBS's Dare to Resist
http://www.pbs.org/daringtoresist/

Polish Jew partisan Faye Lazebnik Schulman was a photographer & documented her time in th woods onthe PolishRussian border.

You gotta love a girl who fights in leopardskin fur.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Oops! Sorry about that...all sorts of crazy life stuff happened!

Let's see...I got my uniform last night and OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS what is up with those soviet trousers?! I knew they were going to be very large...I could handle "very large" with a belt. They look rather like enormous jodhpurs...I could fit not-so-little Soviet children in the big airbags on each side! I had a good laugh when I got suited up, but I think having a belt and wearing my hat and boots will make the look come together.

Now, the real question...does anyone have any idea how the Soviet rucksacks configure? I can't figure out the straps!

I'll post pictures of my uniform and some of the ration packages I made over the weekend tonight or tomorrow.

Welcome to the world of RKKA reenacting!

I got started with it five years ago as my first reenacting impression and I still love it. I am currently a yefreitor (corporal) and squad leader with the 20th Guards Mechanized Brigade.

Yes, the trousers (called sharovari) are supposed to be like that. It actually makes them really comfortable in the field, believe me. Since you said you appear to be using belt-loops, they are likely m1943 sharovari. They should have either one or two small buckle-adjusters on the sides or in the back, with which you can adjust the waist about a size or two without even using an actual belt.

The rucksack (meshok) is strange to figure out at first, but is actually really easy. I could show you in about 2 seconds in person and you would go "ah ha!" and have no problems from then on. It is a bit harder to explain however. Essentially, you put anything you want in the meshok, then bunch of the top of the sack, pulling it tight with the piece of twine which runs through the top. Then wrap any of the extra twine around the top so you essentially have a bag tied up at the top (it should look like an old-timey moneybag) but with the strap hanging loose at the botton. Then take the strap in both hands and twist it around itself so it forms a loop, slip the loop over the tied-up top of the meshok and pull it tight. If done right, you end up with a "backpack" with each side of the loop forming a shoulder strap.

In terms of general Soviet womens issues, it was a bit of all of the factors you mentioned really. The Soviets needed warm bodies to carry rifles and stop German bullets, plus they had been spreading a general idea of the equality of women for years even before the war. During the war, they simply took that idea and turned it into women serving in the military. There was of course some traditionalists who didn't like the idea, and after the war they spent a lot of effort putting women "back in their place" just like the US did. However, Russian women serving in the front lines as combat troops generally worked pretty well, and you would find both all-women formations as well as mixed male/female units.

If you have any questions about WW2 soviet equipment, weapons, uniforms, etc. don't hesitate to ask or PM me. Here is our unit website. And also try listening to my 1930s and 40s Russian internet radio station, which is accessable in the link in my signature. It will help get you in the mood for your event!

www.8thguards.org

 

[Miss Neecerie]

And also try listening to my 1930s and 40s Russian internet radio station, which is accessable in the link in my signature. It will help get you in the mood for your event!

www.8thguards.org

Radio Moscow is the coolest station ever....I have listened to it quite a lot! Huge thanks for keeping it running!

 

[Ben]

Way Late

This is way late, but just in case anyone happens to look at this again:

Dr. Ruth Westheimer was a sniper on the Russian front during the second world war. It is one of those random facts that I have in my head, but I imagine that if you look up her biography, you might be able to find out more as well.

 

[tallyho]

This is way late, but just in case anyone happens to look at this again:

Dr. Ruth Westheimer was a sniper on the Russian front during the second world war. It is one of those random facts that I have in my head, but I imagine that if you look up her biography, you might be able to find out more as well.

found this about her.

Westheimer was born in Frankfurt, but since her family was Jewish she was sent without her parents to Switzerland when she was ten years old and spent World War II there.

In 1945, she learned that her parents had perished in the Holocaust, most likely at the Auschwitz concentration camp, and she decided to immigrate to Israel, where she joined the Haganah in Jerusalem. Notwithstanding her height (4 ft 7 in) she was trained as a sniper and was seriously wounded in action by an exploding shell during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was several months before Westheimer was able to walk again.