# Polina Gelman

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Soviet military aviator (1919–2005)

Polina Gelman Native name Полина Гельман Born 24 October 1919 Berdichev, Ukraine Died 25 November 2005(2005-11-25) (aged 86) Moscow, Russia Allegiance Soviet Union Branch Soviet Air Force Service years 1941–1957 Rank Lieutenant Colonel Unit 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment Conflicts World War II Awards Hero of the Soviet Union

**Polina Vladimirovna Gelman** ([Russian](/source/Russian_language): Полина Владимировна Гельман; [Ukrainian](/source/Ukrainian_language): Поліна Володимирівна Гельман; 24 October 1919 – 25 November 2005) was a flight navigator in the all-female [46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment](/source/Night_Witches) who was awarded the title of [Hero of the Soviet Union](/source/Hero_of_the_Soviet_Union) in 1946 for having totaled 857 sorties during [World War II](/source/World_War_II).

## Early life

Polina Gelman was born to a working-class [Jewish](/source/Jewish_people) family in [Berdichev](/source/Berdichev), Ukraine, in 1919. After the death of her father, she lived in [Gomel](/source/Gomel), Belarus, with her mother. In 1938, she completed her tenth grade of school and graduated from the Gomel glider school. Admitted to the history department of [Moscow State University](/source/Moscow_State_University), she attended some classes at the school before the war cut her schooling short.[1][2]

## World War II

A history major at MSU at the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Gelman was recruited by [Marina Raskova](/source/Marina_Raskova) to join the newly formed women's aviation group. Following training at Engels Military Aviation School, she was deployed to the [Southern Front](/source/Southern_Front_(Soviet_Union)) in May 1942 with the women's [588th Night Bomber Regiment](/source/Night_Witches), later redesignated as the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment in 1943. Starting in September 1943, she began flying as navigator for [Raisa Aronova](/source/Raisa_Aronova), who also went on to become a Hero of the Soviet Union. By the end of the war she reached the rank of senior lieutenant and totaled 857 combat sorties, dropping 113 tonnes of bombs, having participated in bombing campaigns in the North Caucasus, Stavropol, Kuban, Novorossiysk, Crimea, Kuban, Kerch, Belorussia, Poland, and Germany across the [Southern](/source/Southern_Front_(Soviet_Union)), [Transcaucasus](/source/Transcaucasian_Front), [North Caucasus](/source/North_Caucasian_Front), [4th Ukrainian](/source/4th_Ukrainian_Front), and [2nd Belarusian](/source/2nd_Belorussian_Front) fronts. The day after the end of the war she was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union, which was awarded to her over a year later on 15 May 1946.[3]

## Post-war life

Continuing her career as a professional military officer, she was sent for instruction as a military translator, graduating from the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in 1951.[4]

Gelman settled in [Moscow](/source/Moscow) following her retirement from active service as a [major](/source/Major_(rank)) in 1957, and worked at the Institute of Social Sciences teaching [political economy](/source/Political_economy) as a college instructor until retiring in 1990. She attained the rank of [lieutenant colonel](/source/Lieutenant_colonel) in the reserves. A member of the [Communist Party of the Soviet Union](/source/Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union) since 1942, she was sent as an advisor and translator to [Cuba](/source/Cuba).[5] She died in Moscow on 25 November 2005 and was buried in the [Novodevichy Cemetery](/source/Novodevichy_Cemetery).[6][7]

## Honours and awards

- [Hero of the Soviet Union](/source/Hero_of_the_Soviet_Union) (15 May 1946)

- [Order of Lenin](/source/Order_of_Lenin) (15 May 1946)

- Two [Orders of the Red Banner](/source/Order_of_the_Red_Banner) (25 October 1943 and 22 May 1945)

- Two [Orders of the Patriotic War](/source/Order_of_the_Patriotic_War) 1st class (26 April 1944 and 11 March 1985)

- Two [Orders of the Red Star](/source/Order_of_the_Red_Star) (9 September 1945 and 30 December 1956)

- [Medal "For Battle Merit"](/source/Medal_%22For_Battle_Merit%22) (19 November 1951)

- campaign and jubilee medals

[6]

## See also

- [Soviet Union portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Soviet_Union)
- [Aviation portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Aviation)

- [46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment](/source/46th_Guards_Night_Bomber_Regiment)

- [List of female Heroes of the Soviet Union](/source/List_of_female_Heroes_of_the_Soviet_Union)

- [List of Jewish Heroes of the Soviet Union](/source/List_of_Jewish_Heroes_of_the_Soviet_Union)

- [Polikarpov Po-2](/source/Polikarpov_Po-2)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECottam199856_1-0)** [Cottam 1998](#CITEREFCottam1998), p. 56.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESimonovChudinova201734_2-0)** [Simonov & Chudinova 2017](#CITEREFSimonovChudinova2017), p. 34.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESimonovChudinova201734-35_3-0)** [Simonov & Chudinova 2017](#CITEREFSimonovChudinova2017), p. 34-35.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESimonovChudinova201735_4-0)** [Simonov & Chudinova 2017](#CITEREFSimonovChudinova2017), p. 35.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:0_5-0)** Simonov, Andrey. ["Гельман Полина Владимировна"](http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=2012) [Gelman, Polina Vladimirovna]. *warheroes.ru*. Retrieved 2018-01-19.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESimonovChudinova201736_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTESimonovChudinova201736_6-1) [Simonov & Chudinova 2017](#CITEREFSimonovChudinova2017), p. 36.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECottam199858_7-0)** [Cottam 1998](#CITEREFCottam1998), p. 58.

### Bibliography

- [Simonov, Andrey](/source/Andrey_Simonov); Chudinova, Svetlana (2017). *Женщины - Герои Советского Союза и России*. Moscow: Russian Knights Foundation and Museum of Technology Vadim Zadorozhny. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9785990960701](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9785990960701). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [1019634607](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1019634607).

- Cottam, Kazimiera (1998). *Women in War and Resistance: Selected Biographies of Soviet Women Soldiers*. Newburyport, MA: Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Co. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1585101605](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1585101605). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [228063546](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/228063546).

## Further reading

- Nazaryan, Alexander (July 19, 2025). ["Overlooked No More: Polina Gelman: Fearless 'Night Witch' Who Haunted Nazi Troops"](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/19/obituaries/polina-gelman-overlooked.html). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved July 20, 2025.

Heroes of the Soviet Union of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment Posthumously Yevdokiya Nosal Yevgeniya Rudneva Vera Belik Tatyana Makarova Olga Sanfirova Veterans Raisa Aronova Marina Chechneva Rufina Gasheva Polina Gelman Antonina Khudyakova Natalya Meklin Yevdokiya Nikulina Zoya Parfyonova Yevdokiya Pasko Nadezhda Popova Nina Raspopova Larisa Rozanova Yekaterina Ryabova Irina Sebrova Mariya Smirnova Maguba Syrtlanova Nina Ulyanenko Yevgeniya Zhigulenko

Authority control databases International VIAF FAST WorldCat National United States Other Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine Yale LUX

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