3. A Woman Who Fought Against the Nazi Hordes in Her Own Tank
Soviet heroine Aleksandra Leontievna Boyko (1918 – 1996) not only fought in the front lines against the Nazi forces, but did so in her own heavy tank. “Own” in this case is quite literal, as the tank in which she fought was actually owned by her and her husband, Ivan Boyko, who fought in the vehicle alongside his wife.
The Boykos lived in the Siberian town of Magadan, having volunteered to work in that rugged region, where wages were higher and the opportunities for advancement were greater. It was the back of beyond, and with nothing to spend their money on, they saved their wages. When the Germans invaded in 1941, the Boykos learned that Aleksandra’s hometown of Kiev had fallen, and soon thereafter, that Ivan’s home village of Nezhin had been captured. From family and friends, they heard of atrocities, burned homes, ravaged cousins, and relatives murdered or dragged off to Germany as slave workers. They decided to do something about it.
