A young Jewish girl pilot, who flew into enemy held territory in order to get supplies to a partisan band and who lost a leg in combat with several Messerschmidts while carrying out the assignment, is cited in the local press today.
The pilot, Rose Lemberg, was an aviation student in Kiev when the war broke out. She was immediately mobilized for service with the Red Army. One day, recently, the commander of her squadron summoned her and asked her if she were willing to substitute for an ill pilot “on a very dangerous mission.” It was necessary, he said, to fly into enemy territory at night, locate a guerrilla band carrying out important operations and drop food to them by parachute.
That night, Miss Lemberg left the airdrome for her destination, flying an unarmed plane. Just as dawn was breaking over her home field-many hours after she should have returned-her plane was seen circling the field for a landing. When the ground crew rushed up to the ship after it landed, they found the pilot in a semi-conscious condition, bleeding from severe leg wounds which necessitated that one leg be amputated.
It was not until several days later that she was able to tell what had happened. After she had located the partisan band and dropped the supplies, she was discovered by two German fighters, who immediately attacked her. Unable to fight back she directed her plane directly at the Messerschmidts and dodging and weaving succeeded in outrunning her pursuers, although her craft was badly shot up.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
