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Mobilised Imtm ladHstry, they have equal rlffhffl with men and equal obligations . . .Russian WomenAt WarTHE remarkable winter * campaign of the Red Army wiiulii Imie ii»en impossible without its women. The women have provide.] the arms, rraus l»ine*J them to the fronts, and, in thousands of case*, used them.In Britain, the Empire and the United a rates the work of women in the war has been 0/ paramount importance, but ti has been regarded as exceptional The recruitment ot a omen has been undertaken almost reluctantly and apologetically tn Russia it was taken for grantedIt aaa. indeed, not a new police, bur merely the acceleration ot a process wnich had been going on for years For aecunry reason*, the sovifi does not publish detailed figures of her a omen at war But from pre-war figures and some ofthe facte released, we ran see thr part they are playing in industryIn 1938 more than 42 per cent of all workers m industry werr »omen In the professions. *he percentage o' a omen varied from .‘*• 7 of all doctors to 14 4 of all engineers In anticipation of the war. the Soviet gave special encouragement to women to tratn for mghly specialised jobs in 1939 They look economic and political responsibilities on a scale unknown In other countries—277 women were Deputies at the Supreme Soviet, more than 422.000 werelputles at local Soviets. 14 000 were chairmen of collective farms, and so onThe war brought no special conscription of women Under the Constitution (hey were explicitly guaranteed equal rights with men. and these equal rights meant equal obligations Labor legislation has made no discrimination between the sexes All workers were Mroren to their jobs In 1*41. withA Russia* girl warkar fit* Hta cap ta th« top a! an incendiary bomb, tafora Ika vsi a third of war munition* work*** wara woman. Now mar« Hian half at them art woman.sDsence from the job an offence tried by a Military Court and classed as desertionThe decree of February. 1942. mobilised all men and women between the ages of 16 and 45. and all men up to 65 Their hours are the same as those of the men eight hour* a day. six days a week, with dally overtime up :o three hours paid at the rate of time and a half Annual holidays have been dropped lor the duration. To prevent nara-shlp and injury to mothers, aertain ixcepUoas are made The result of this mobilisation has been astonishing In some Industries. notably food and textiles 91 per cent of all workers ar- now women But the most remarkable thing has been the intake of women into the heavy industries. For instance, the number of women workers in some oilfields has multiplied four times.In Baku, manv officials trained their wives to lake ihelr places before going on active service. On-Baku combine alone employs 3.500women The number of womrn coal miners Is steadily increasing Atear ago if was stated that 1 600 women had taken the place of men ji the mines The Siorrian Zamirika roal mine, awarded 'he title of the Best Mine in the Soviei Union is run by a woman—’he daughter of a miner tn the pit Many ihousands of women are working in the blast furnaces and steel mills One L* in charge of allrepairs Another is ‘chief of casting • Some 10.000 are working in •he Far Eastern fisheries Women lumber;acks have become a common pi ore -their numbers In the Archangel district h»ve doubled On the rallwavs there were mar.y women engine drivers before the war—4.000. to be precise Their numbers have now been trebled a' least All tram.* and trolley base* everywhere are worked by women The Moscow Underground l.« run by women. Seventy thousand women railway workers were trained last vear. and 123.000 of 'he 170 000 newlv trained 'ractor dn*fell frw«m»*f M Hn mm •# Hi« ffulx ritl*vers are women All women beta rrn 'he ages of 14 and 50 are liable to be called upon for seasonable land workBur If Is perhaps the work of lhe women In the armed force' that strikes the rest of the world a.lt; mas-’ extraordinary There are110 separate women* service* In1 he USSR, and no woman ran be conscripted as a woman The military service law of 1939 however, gave the right 'o the Armv ana Navv Commbv'ana'* to coiisrrlp' professional women — engineerdoctors veterinarians for special servlres The other women serving with the combatant unit.* r» volunteers and are under the authority of the General Red Armv administrationThe pre-war attitude of the Government was against active participation bv women in fighting Bu' the women seemed to have taken matters into tneir n»n hands If the army would not have them thev would fight as partl-'■n* Within a month of the Ger-man invasion reports of women fighting a* partisans came through The 18-year-old girl guerilla Tanta ‘Zova Koemndomvan-.skaya» became 8 national heroineand when *he was finally raptur«*atortured bv, the Germans, andnanged iho wands of women swore to avenge herThe official polfcv seems to have changed and in Leningrad for instance. appeals were made to women to learn to handle machine-guns. mortars. Arc Thousands of the women on rolledive farm* learned ro use machine-guns and •rained in the art of sniping -In case their homes were over-runLudmila Pavlichenko. the smpei who took part in the defence of Sebastopol and acrounred for 309 German*, in world-famous Another well-known woman soldier is Nina Amlova a machine-gunner who claims more than V*n German victims The rest of the world L* apt to regard these women as frea';.* but the soviet treats them exacth like other soldiers and make* use of their skill as instructor*It was reported recently that one voting woman lieutenant was training 35 girls snipers Two women have trained 1(1000 reserveslor the Red Armv since the war began Women Arm* sniprr instructor* now exist in great number*There have been no report* of women fighter pilot* but mwy have had success In bombers Mat Marla Rakova, who «»/ killed in action in January 1943 won rtie highest decoration* Li Evdokia Nnssal wa* rcrntlv awarded tne Hero of the Soviet Union' aftei 354 night fiighta Co) Grimdou-bovm a member of the Supreme Soviet is another famous woman pllo’ rnmmsndln: a ‘quadrnn of bomber* Manv other Russian air-women have received decora'Ion* for ino operational flights and up ward*But 11 is ot course in an uuxiliarv capacity m% everything from telephonist* to mechanics that the women are serving In the greatest numbers The Red Armv Medical Corps is now staffed ar.d run almost entirely bv women The nurses go into action Thev have 'n if they are to be of real service in a climate where wounded mm die In ten minutee if left unai 'endedTheir arrivlty ui the firing line has resulted in 60 to 70 p.c of wounded instead of 15 to 20 dc.belnc saved Hiev have won hundreds of decora I JonsAltogether 3.654 women have been decorated for gallantry on the battlefield Ty pical of these women volunteers t* Flrsr Aid Instructor Dorofeyeva who carried 42 men under fire in a single action, and Zova Shes-nveva who had her ieg shattered when tarrying her 21st man—and his anti-tank rifle Tv Pica 1 also is the fact that now after several operations she is working again In a Moscow no*pi-talThese fact* and figures are given not to suggest thar other nation* could or *hould mobilise their Aomen In the same wav but simply to show the logical results of true equality between men and women German rommrniatorj have again and again asked, almost In oewilderment. Where do the Ru**ian* ger *0 mant toldtrr**•• The answer fo a great extent is In the total mobilisation of rjieir women who have replaced mm in even’ )ob
Newspaper Details
Adelaide Advertiser
Adelaide, South Australia, AU
Sat, Mar 18, 1944
Page 4
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 02 Aug 2020
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