Yelizaveta Chaikina

Yelizaveta Ivanovna Chaikina (Russian: Елизавета Чайкина; 28 August 1918 – 23 November 1941) often referred to as Liza Chaikina, was the Secretary of the Kalinin Komsomol Penovsky underground committee, a Soviet partisan detachment organizer and posthumous Heroine of the Soviet Union.[1]

Yelizaveta Chaykina
Елизавета Чайкина
Born28 August 1918
Runo, Tver Oblast, Russian SFSR
Died23 November 1941 (aged 23)
Peno, Penovsky District, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union

Partisan activities

After joining the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1939 Chaikina was selected to be the secretary of the Penovskiy Komsomol committee. In June 1941 she was sent to the Kalinin regional party courses before leading a partisan detachment beginning on 14 October 1941. Under her leadership, the partisan group took control of small settlements, raided Axis strongholds, and gathered military intelligence from reconnaissance missions.[2]

On 22 November 1941, Liza Chaikina was sent to Peno with the purpose of discovering the size of the enemy garrison. On the way to Peno, she came to the farm "Krasnoye Pokatishche" to visit her friend, the intelligence officer Marusya Kuporova, where she was seen by the praepostor who informed the Germans. The Germans broke into Kuporova's house, shooting the Kuporova family members and taking Chaikina prisoner. Chaikina was subsequently taken to Peno. Even under torture, she refused to give information about the whereabouts of the guerrilla squad and was shot on 23 November 1941.[3]

Awards and recognition
1969 Stamp featuring her portrait

Chaikina was posthumously declared a Hero of the Soviet Union on 6 March 1942 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.[2][4]

The German ship Heinrich Arp was renamed the SS Liza Chaikina in 1947. Later other ships of the Soviet Union and Russia were named also named in her honor.[5]

The 630th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Force named a squadron in her honor.[6]

1978 Soviet envelope featuring Chaikina

In philately, her portrait was featured on a 1969 Soviet postage stamp and a 1978 envelope. (both pictured)

In October 2002 the Chaikina street in Ukraine's capital Kyiv was renamed to Olena Stepaniv street.[7]

See also

References
  1. Art.com >> LISA CHAIKINA, RUSSIAN WORLD WAR II PARTISAN.
  2. Melnikov, A. "Чайкина Елизавета Ивановна". www.warheroes.ru. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  3. Запись № 405338528 ОБД «Мемориал». Книга памяти. Тверская область. Том 4.
  4. Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР «О присвоении звания Героя Советского Союза тов. Чайкиной Е. И.» от 6 марта 1942 года // Ведомости Верховного Совета Союза Советских Социалистических Республик : газета. — 1942. — 25 марта (№ 9 (168)). — С. 1.
  5. Mitchell, W.H.; Sawyer, L.A. (1995). The Empire Ships. London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong: Lloyd's of London Press Ltd. ISBN 1-85044-275-4.
  6. "Чайкина Елизавета Ивановна". www.let65sk1ost.narod.ru. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  7. "More than 40 city objects were renamed in the capital, the names of which are related to the Russian Federation and its satellites (У столиці перейменували ще понад 40 міських об'єктів, назви яких пов'язані з російською федерацією та її сателітами}". Kyiv City Council (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
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