Natalya Kachuevskaya
Natalya Kachuevskaya | |
|---|---|
Kalmyk ASSR, RSFSR, USSR | |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union |
| Service/ | Red Army |
| Rank | Private |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Hero of the Russian Federation |
Natalya Aleksandrovna Kachuevskaya née Spirova (Russian: Наталья Александровна Качуевская; 22 February 1922 – 20 November 1942) was a medic in the Red Army during World War II who committed suicide with a grenade when surrounded, taking out several enemy soldiers in her death as well as avoiding capture. She was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation in 1997.
Early life
Born on 22 February 1922 to a Russian family in Petrograd, she grew up with heavy influence of the theater arts since her mother and aunts were actresses. Shortly after her birth her family moved to Moscow, where she graduated from her tenth grade of school in 1940 before entering the State Institute of Theater Arts.[1]
World War II
The theater school she had completed one semester at was evacuated to
On 20 November her unit engaged in an offensive to encircle enemy forces. While tending to a group of wounded soldiers in a recently retaken dugout, she saw through the broken door in the dugout a sizable force of German soldiers advancing across the steppe. Taking satchel of grenades and a machine gun belonging to one of the wounded, she ran out from the dugout towards a hill to distract the Germans, who opened fire on her. Despite her wounds, she reached the hill and positioned herself to return fire, taking out several German soldiers before running out of bullets. When the Germans came close to her, she detonated her grenades, killing herself while taking out enemy soldiers surrounding her.[3]
Posthumous recognition
Not awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union during the war unlike other people who did similar feats, she was eventually posthumously awarded the Medal "For Courage" on 19 February 1996 before receiving the title Hero of the Russian Federation on 12 May 1997. Nevertheless, she was honored and celebrated in numerous ways before receiving the title, with streets, a young pioneer squad, and a minor planet named in her honor.[4][5][6]
See also
References
- ^ Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 294.
- ^ Ехо планеты (in Russian). Изд. ТАСС и Союза журналистов СССР. 1998.
- ^ a b Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 294-295.
- ^ "Качуевская Наталия Александровна". warheroes.ru. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ Roshal, Solomon (12 March 2013). "Наталья Александровна Качуевская". krylatskoe.mos.ru. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ Simonov & Chudinova 2017, p. 295.
Bibliography
- OCLC 1019634607.