Aleksandra Samusenko | |
|---|---|
 Aleksandra Samusenko in 1943 | |
| Born | 1922 |
| Died | 3 March 1945(1945-03-03) (aged 22–23) |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union |
| Branch |  Red Army |
| Years of service | 1935–1945 |
| Rank | Guards Captain |
| Unit | 1st Guards Tank Army |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Order of the Patriotic War,1st & 2nd class Order of the Red Star |
Aleksandra Grigoryevna Samusenko (Russian:Александра Григорьевна Самусенко,Ukrainian:Олександра Григорівна Самусенко,Oleksandra Hryhorivna Samusenko; 1922 – 3 March 1945) was aSovietT-34 tank commander and aliaison officer duringWorld War II.[1] She was the only female tanker in the1st Guards Tank Army.[1]
Samusenko was awarded theOrder of the Red Star for bravery in theBattle of Kursk.[2] She also received theOrder of the Patriotic War 1st and 2nd class.
Born inChita or inZhlobin District,[3] Samusenko began hertour of duty as a private in aninfantryplatoon. She participated in theWinter War (1939-1940) against Finland as a private in an infantry regiment.[3] Later, she graduated from the tank academy and was assigned to the 1st Guards Tank Army. Samusenko received herOrder of the Red Star when her tank crew defeated three GermanTiger I tanks.[2] Later Samusenko participated in theLvov–Sandomierz Offensive.[1]
U.S. ArmySergeantJoseph Beyrle, who had escaped fromStalag III-CPOW camp inAlt Drewitz in early January 1945, encountered Samusenko's tank brigade in the middle of January. Beyrle, the only American soldier known to have served with both the United States Army and the Soviet Army in World War II, eventually persuaded her to allow him to fight alongside the unit on its way toBerlin, thus beginning a month-long stint in a Soviet tank battalion, where his demolitions expertise was appreciated. Beyrle, who reported that Samusenko had lost her husband and her entire family during the war, cited Samusenko as a symbol of the fortitude and courage displayed by the Soviet people during that period.[4]
World War II veteran and writerFabian Garin, in his bookTsvety na tankakh (Flowers on Tanks), mentioned an episode when a certain Mindlin, who fell in love with Samusenko, asked her "not to smoke and drink." Samusenko parried with "Maybe you've fallen in love?", kissed him on the head and stopped smoking and drinking thereafter.[5]
In his 1975 book, the Russian author Y.A. Zhukov wrote that Samusenko was a veteran of theSpanish Civil War[1] of 1936–1939, although Garin discounted this rumor inTsvety na tankakh. According to Garin, it came from a soldier named Balandin, who told battalion commander Zhukov that Samusenko had fought in Spain:
My [Balandin's] submachine gunner Kolka... approached her and said: "[...] I saw you already underHuesca...¡No pasarán!" And she replies: "I don't remember you" [...]
Zhukov then asked why she concealed her service and Balandin replied that he did not know, "but for some reason many don't want to reveal that they fought in Spain".[5] Garin, however, further cites Samusenko's boyfriend Mindlin, who later said that "she has never been there".[5]
Samusenko died on 3rd March, 1945 at the age of 22 or 23. Samusenko died from wounds in the then-German village ofZülzefitz (70 km fromSzczecin) during theEast Pomeranian Offensive. There are two versions of the circumstances of her death. According to World War II veteran Pyotr Demidov, she was crushed under thetracks of a Soviet tank whose driver could not see the accompanying people in the darkness.[1] According to another version, it was a German self-propelled artillery vehicle.[3] She was buried inLabes, today inPoland, near the monument toWilliam I.[1]
On 13 March 1945, Samusenko was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 1st class.[3]