Think of someone as brave in battle. Are you thinking of a man or a woman?
In many wars, women's sacrifices are not acknowledged or ignored. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of World War II, we will mention the eight women whose stories of bravery and courage make them stand out among millions of others.
Cheng Ben Hua: A woman who faces death with a smile
When Japan invaded China in 1937, Cheng Ben Hua was at the forefront of the resistance. Moments before he was stabbed to death, his image became a symbol of fearless resistance from the Chinese.
This photo was taken by a Japanese photographer who filmed the last moments of Cheng Ben Hua's capture and imprisonment during the fighting.
He was gang-raped several times during his imprisonment but refused to bow to oppression.
In the photo, she is smiling with death in her eyes, her arms tied and she is looking at the camera without fear.
The image depicts a similar five-meter-tall statue erected in his honor in Nanjing. This is where the Japanese army massacred at least 300,000 Chinese women, children and men.
She was 24 when she was killed in 1938. World War II broke out in Europe a year later, but for the Chinese it had already begun two years earlier.
According to Fan Jianchuan, a Chinese historian and director of the museum, "Cheng Ben Hua deserves the most respect among the millions who died in the war." A shocking figure who impressed me the most.
Noor Inayat Khan: detectives Serpent s rise
Noor Inayat Khan, an Indian princess and British spy, was from the family of Tipu Sultan, a Muslim ruler of Mysore in the 18th century. His father was Indian and his mother was American. She was born in Moscow and educated in Paris.
Due to his mastery of the language, he had the opportunity to join the undercover agents of the British Special Operations. She was one of the British spies who entered Nazi Germany-occupied France by parachute. Their aim was to sabotage Nazi activities, to co-operate with the resistance movement in France, and to monitor the movement of German troops.
Noor Inayat worked as a radio operator. She was the first woman to take such a dangerous responsibility. She kept changing her place to avoid being captured by the Nazis.
One day, he was arrested by the Gestapo, a Nazi police officer, and severely tortured.
He tried to escape from prison several times. After each such attempt, hardships were added to them. He is said to have passed on no valuable information to the Germans, who knew him only by his pseudonym Madeleine. The Germans did not even know that Noor Inayat was Indian.
In September 1944, Noor Inayat Khan and three other British female spies were transferred to a concentration camp in Dachau, Germany, where they were shot dead on September 13.
For his bravery, Noor Inayat Khan was awarded the British George Cross and the Gold Medal, as well as the French Military Award Crowie de Guerre. There is also a memorial to him in London's Gordon Square Gardens.
Speaking to the BBC, Sharabani Basu, author of the book 'Spy Princess' on Noor Inayat Khan, said that he is still a beacon for the people today, not only because of his unparalleled bravery but also because of these principles. Even those for whom he fought.
Noor Inayat Khan's views were mystical, so she did not believe in violence, but she sacrificed her life in the fight against fascism.
Lyudmila Pavlichenko: Lady Death
Lyudmila Pavlichenko is one of the most successful snipers in history. During the war that followed Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, they targeted and killed 309 German soldiers.
The victims were dozens of German snipers who lost to Polychenko in the cat-and-mouse game. She was nicknamed "Lady of Death" because of her performance during the sieges of Svastopol and Odessa.
German snipers could not hit her but she was injured by a mortar. She soon recovered, was removed from the battlefield, and her reputation continued to be used to support the Soviet Union's military operations.
As a representative of the Soviet Union's Red Army, he traveled to many countries around the world, including meeting with US President Franklin Roumult. Although he was awarded the Soviet Union's Gold Star Hero Award, his name was later largely erased from the pages of history.
Gender equality activist and broadcaster Irina Slovanska told the BBC: "It's amazing not to recognize and commemorate a woman who has the best marks and the best talent."
"The Soviet Union's narrative of World War II focuses on a brave soldier. No matter how many memoirs have been made about war heroes and unknown soldiers, women are not part of this narrative.
Nancy Week: The White House
Nancy Week's personality was extraordinary in many ways. She was a deadly warrior, a fearless lover, a fearless drinker and a fierce enemy of the Nazis.
She was born in New Zealand but raised in Australia. She dropped out of school at the age of 16 and moved to France to work as a journalist. She is said to have misrepresented that she knew how to write ancient Egyptian.
There she married Henry Foucault, a French industrialist, and lived in Marseille, France, when German troops invaded France in 1939.
Nancy Week became part of the French resistance movement. She helped Allied pilots head toward Spain. When the Germans found out about their network, they fled to Britain via Spain.
Her husband, Foucault, remained in France, where he was captured, tortured and killed by the Nazis. Shortly afterwards, Nancy Week re-entered France by parachute to begin work for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE).
He took part in many dangerous activities. He claimed to have killed a German soldier with his own hands. In 1990, he said on a TV show, "At SOE, we were taught to do judo, which I practiced a lot." But that was the only time I used it. "
Once the valuable radio codes of the Allied forces were lost during the battle, Nancy Weeks cycled 500 kilometers to the enemy's area to get an alternative code. The journey took them three days. She was well prepared to get information from German soldiers.
He told an Australian newspaper: "A little bit of powder and a little bit of alcohol was enough for the journey and I would pass through German military posts, pointing to them and asking if they would look for me."
During his war days, he narrowly escaped capture. The Germans called him The White House because of his ability to escape, and this is the name of the book he wrote.
Nancy Week received several awards. He died on August 7, 2011 at the age of 98. He had bequeathed his ashes to France and scattered.
Jane Weill: Reporter, spy and politician
Jane Vial was born in the Republic of the Congo but moved to Paris at an early age and was working as a journalist when World War II broke out.
Vial left Paris for the southern part of the country and joined the French resistance movement. Southern France was not yet fully occupied by the Germans, but there was a puppet government.
She monitored the movement of Nazi troops and passed information to coalition forces.
She was arrested in January 1943 and charged with treason.
Tim kept his secrets out of the hands of the authorities because he had coded his data so well that his secrets could not be solved.
Jane Weil was first sent to a concentration camp but was later transferred to a women's prison. But later they escaped or were released and thus survived the war.
In 1947, she was elected a member of the French Senate.
Heidi Lemar
The Austrian-born cinema star became famous for her brilliant work, the shining Hollywood star had six marriages.
She was born into a wealthy Jewish family where she was named Hedwig Eva Maria Kessler. Her first marriage was to an arms dealer who forced her to entertain her friends instead of acting. Heidi Lemar's husband's friends included many Nazis.
Lemar escaped the situation quietly, first to Paris and then to London. In London, he met Louis B. Meyer, head of MGM Studios.
Louis B. Meyer offered her a contract in Hollywood and began to portray her as the most beautiful woman in the world. He became famous due to more than 30 successful films but he got the status of a hero when he became an inventor.
Heidi Lemar developed a system for Allied torpedoes that could change its frequency to deal with the threat of being jammed by the enemy. Many elements of his unparalleled invention can still be seen in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology.
Mia E: Sword and poison together
Mia E's struggle had already begun before Japan invaded Burma in World War II.
She was a passionate campaigner for independence from British rule. She joined the resistance forces in World War II and always carried a sword and a bottle of poison to defend herself.
In 1944, he crossed enemy territory and hills on foot to reach British-occupied India and fight the Japanese. During the journey, he covered his wounds with a bandage and turned down offers of help from the men accompanying him.
In India, he helped create pamphlets dropped on Burma. The pamphlet detailed the Japanese atrocities against the people of Burma.
She wanted to return to Burma with her husband after the birth of her first son, but she gave her seat to another fighter and returned after the war ended in October 1945.
Her struggle for independence continued later, first against foreign invaders and later against her country's military junta.
Resuna Seed: A lioness
Rasona Seed is a different name on this list in that she partially sided with the Allies in World War II. She was a key figure in Indonesia's struggle for independence. Their real enemy was not Japan, but the Dutch who imposed the colonial system on their country.
Seed became politically active at an early age and formed her own political party, The Indonesian Muslim Association. He was a little over twenty years old at the time. He formed his party on the basis of religion and nationality.
According to an author who wrote a book on her, she was a fiery speaker. They thundered like lightning. People called him a tiger because he dared to sharply criticize the Dutch authorities.
The Dutch intercepted his speeches several times and on one occasion he was arrested and imprisoned for 14 months. When the Japanese invaded Archipelago in 1942, Resona Seed joined a pro-Japanese organization, but she continued her struggle for independence.
Fighting continued in Indonesia after the defeat of Japan because the Dutch wanted to re-establish their sovereignty and initially sought help from Britain. This led to a very violent conflict lasting four years.
The conflict ended in 1949 when the Dutch rulers recognized Indonesia's sovereignty. Resona Seed was instrumental in this struggle. She was a strong advocate of gender equality and women's education. Resona Seed is one of the few women in Indonesia to have the status of a national hero.
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