Ml. Sergeant Jelena K. Stempkovskaya - radio operator of the 216th Rifle Regiment, Southwest Front
(1921 - 1942)
Heroine of the Soviet Union
She was born in 1921 in the village of Mazurychino in Belarus, in a peasant family. She graduated from the Tashkent Pedagogical Institute and then lived in Uzbekistan. When the war began, she volunteered for the army and in February 1942 completed her radio courses. She joined the Rifle Battalion of the 216th Rifle Regiment Southwest Front as a signalman.
In June 1942, when her battalion broke through the siege in the Belgorod area, it provided contact with the regiment's staff. She replaced the fallen sniper rifle and brought enemy fire on her post. Meanwhile, she covered the departure of her unit with alternating fire from two machine guns. She was originally thought to have fallen in this fight. It was only later that it became clear that after she ran out of ammunition, she was captured and interrogated, but she revealed nothing about the radio ciphers or her regiment.
The Germans executed Jelena in captivity, and she was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the USSR on May 15, 1946. The technical school in Volgograd and the school in Tashkent are named after her.
(1921 - 1942)
Heroine of the Soviet Union
She was born in 1921 in the village of Mazurychino in Belarus, in a peasant family. She graduated from the Tashkent Pedagogical Institute and then lived in Uzbekistan. When the war began, she volunteered for the army and in February 1942 completed her radio courses. She joined the Rifle Battalion of the 216th Rifle Regiment Southwest Front as a signalman.
In June 1942, when her battalion broke through the siege in the Belgorod area, it provided contact with the regiment's staff. She replaced the fallen sniper rifle and brought enemy fire on her post. Meanwhile, she covered the departure of her unit with alternating fire from two machine guns. She was originally thought to have fallen in this fight. It was only later that it became clear that after she ran out of ammunition, she was captured and interrogated, but she revealed nothing about the radio ciphers or her regiment.
The Germans executed Jelena in captivity, and she was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the USSR on May 15, 1946. The technical school in Volgograd and the school in Tashkent are named after her.