Leningrad
Kyra Petrovskaya
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/colorizations/35778/leningrad
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.ww2incolor.com/gallery/colorizations/35778/leningrad
She was drafted into the Red Army in 1941 at the beginning of the Siege of Leningrad and became a sharpshooter and a lieutenant. Her mother and grandmother, died of starvation while she was in the army.
After being wounded twice, Kyra returned to service as a field nurse. During that time, she rescued a homeless orphan boy, who later became the subject of her book, Shurik. Toward the end of the war, she was decorated with three medals. She left for Moscow in 1943 and joined the Moscow Satire Theatre, renewing her artistic career.
In 1960, she met and married Dr. George Wayne, a distinguished psychiatrist. They traveled extensively, leading to Kyra becoming an enrichment lecturer on Royal Viking Line cruises, which she pursued for 10 years. Her husband died in 1994. Kyra has one son and five grandchildren. She is passionate about dogs, some of which are the subjects of her books.
I mean no disrespect in saying this, but lucky Dr. George Wayne!!! Not only brave, Im sure, but she’s ah, WOW!..well at least in the 1940s of course…
Fortunately, there was a happy ending for this pretty warrior! On the other hand, from accounts I have read, as the Red Army was withdrawing in 1942 in the Voronezh area, it left behind many male and female sharpshooters ordered to hide in the crown of trees. Of course, ultimately they met a sad, unglamorous fate.