Semen Hitler

For other persons with the same name, see Hitler (name).

Semen Konstantinovich Hitler
Native name	Yiddish: סעמיאָן קאָנסטאַנטינאָוויטש היטלער‎ Ukrainian: Семен Костянтинович Гітлер Russian: Семён Константинович Гитлер
Born	1922 Orynyn, Podolia Governorate, Ukrainian SSR
Died	(1942-07-03)July 3, 1942 (age 19-20) Sevastopol, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Fortified district forces
Years of service	1940–1942
Rank	Red Army man
Unit	74th separate machine-gun battalion
Battles/wars	World War II Siege of Odessa Siege of Sevastopol †
Awards	Medal "For Courage"

Semen Konstantinovich Hitler (Yiddish: סעמיאָן קאָנסטאַנטינאָוויטש היטלער‎, Ukrainian: Семен Костянтинович Гітлер, Russian: Семён Константинович Гитлер, 1922 – July 3, 1942) was a Red Army man, participant of the World War II on the Eastern Front who has been awarded the Medal "For Courage".

Biography

Semen Hitler was born in a Jewish family from the town Orynyn, Podolia Governorate, Ukrainian SSR, in 1922. A member of the Komsomol, he joined the Red Army in 1940.

After the beginning of the German invasion of the USSR, he was mobilized by the district military commissariat and sent to the front line. He took part in defence of Odessa, as a machine-gunner of the 74th separate machine-gun battalion of the Tiraspol Fortified District.

In battles for Odessa, on August 18, 1941, he supported an offensive of his riflemen platoon and was eliminating the enemy for eight days in a row. He was wounded but didn't stop firing. After that, he crawled for 10 kilometers to return to his fellow soldiers. Hitler didn’t even throw away his machine gun, though it surely was heavy and out of ammo; but the soldier didn’t want the Germans to claim the weapon. For his actions, September 8, 1941, he was awarded the Medal "For Courage".

He was killed in the battle for Sevastopol on July 3, 1942.

Hitler is among the few servicemen of the Red Army who shared a last name with the top leaders of the Third Reich. According to the Russian archive database Podvig Naroda, which contains information about Soviet warriors of the World War II who were awarded orders and medals, among the rewards holders there were 45 people with the surname Bormann, 18 people with the surname Hess, 34 people with the surname Herring, 71 people with the surname Muller.

Hitler's family had survived under the occupation and then moved on to Israel changed their surname to Hitlev.

There is a popular legend, spread by his relatives: the commandant of the occupational administration of Orynyn had discovered the Jewish family but after checking their documents he was too frightened to send them to a concentration camp.

Bibliography

• Yegorov, Oleg (2018) Heroes with the same names as villains: Red Army's namesakes of Nazi leaders, Russia Beyond, Archived.

References

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