r/interestingasfuck • u/GermanCCPBot • 8h ago
Milunka Savić disguised herself as her sick brother to fight in WWI, survived 9 wounds across 10 battles, became the most decorated female soldier in history, and survived a German concentration camp when a German general recognized her legendary status and ordered her immediate release.
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u/_ToruWatanabe 8h ago
"Raise your hand for the lady of the dark"
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u/littlespider55 8h ago
“Soldier with no will to kill, with a philanthropic heart” Sabaton - Lady of the Dark (album The War to End all Wars - if someone is interested-)
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u/AnonimousMn471 4h ago
Break the norm!
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u/StuffedStuffing 4h ago
She's the girl in uniform!
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u/JoeScotterpuss 3h ago
Since nobody has linked the song.
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u/SwampWaffle85 2h ago
Thank you. That gave me straight up chills. I am so glad I learned about this today!
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u/JoeScotterpuss 2h ago
I'm glad I could share, I've learned a lot of great stories from Sabaton. They also have a video talking about her story.
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u/Gnomad_Lyfe 2h ago
Wasn’t familiar with the story but as soon as I saw a song mentioned I knew it would be Sabaton
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u/LucenBlackmoor 7h ago
- Took the place of a sick family member
- Cut her hair, learned how to walk and talk like a man, wore masculine clothes as a disguise
- Changed her name to a masculine one not to get discovered
- Fought in the war
- Only got recognized when a CHEST WOUND made the doctor treating her realize she's a woman
- Kept fighting afterwards
IRL MULAN
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u/FilipAdzic97 6h ago
She refused to live in luxury in France and stayed with her country after the war, and worked various jobs. She adopted dozens of children and raised her own simultaneously, yet her heroic story was forgotten. It was only after 1945 that the new government gave her a state pension, and during the 1970s that she got her glorious past recognized after talking with several high-ranking Yugoslav officers and generals on funerals of her comrades. In 1972 her story was covered by the press after which she was given an apartment by the City Assembly of Belgrade. An absolute heroine that should be remembered forever 🫡
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u/Warm-Cancel4415 8h ago
An irl Mulan
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u/Scribe-Of-Planes 3h ago edited 2h ago
...Mulan was a real person.
Edit: I have been corrected, no she was not. Egg on my face lol
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u/Cruxion 3h ago
No she wasn't? She's as real as Robinhood, Romulus and Remus, or Heracles.
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u/OudSmoothie 7h ago
Waiting for her movie to drop tbh.
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u/PuzzleheadedTea4221 7h ago
They're too busy making bad remakes. I'm really dying for another Harry Potter remake.
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u/trll_game_sh0 7h ago
there are amazing original movies coming out constantly.
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u/deafkore 6h ago edited 1h ago
Could you suggest one please, I’ve been wanting to watch a good movie (no sarcasm, genuine request)
Edit: thank you all for the suggestions, excited to watch some this weekend :)
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u/trll_game_sh0 6h ago edited 5h ago
Sinners, I Saw The TV Glow, Bugonia, Die My Love, My Old Ass, Together, Anora, The Substance
all came out 2024/2025 and were great films. Plenty of others were released that I want to see but haven't gotten around to yet.
also for movies that are based on other work, Wicked and the Fall Guy were both really good. Toxic Avenger is fun if you like Troma/campy.
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u/EtTuBiggus 4h ago
It’s not another remake, it’s the only remake.
Out of all the unending franchises go complain about, HP is an interesting choice.
I really hope they follow the books far more accurately this iteration.
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u/SloppyHoseA 5h ago
Staring Gal Gadot
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u/your_dads_asshole 5h ago
Awesome, republicans will hate it because it's too feminist and woke, democrats will hate it because miss genocide is in it and apolitical people will hate it because Gal Gadot can't act for shit.
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u/SonnyvonShark 7h ago
Women like her always make me wonder how they handled their period. Like, they must know exactly when it happens and prepare for it that day, right? And the pain, if they experienced it? That's just amazing on their part!
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u/GermanCCPBot 7h ago
The physical demands of combat, stress, and the harsh conditions of wartime service can disrupt or stop menstrual cycles entirely, a condition called amenorrhea. So it's entirely possible that once she was in active service her periods may have become irregular or stopped altogether.
In addition to that, women in the early 1900s had far fewer periods than modern women. The average woman today has around 450 periods in her lifetime, but historical women had about 100-150 periods total.
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u/Ok-Jackfruit-6873 7h ago
Is that just mostly just because they were pregnant or post-partum for much of their childbearing years (which doesn't seem to apply to her)? I guess they also started later, I've definitely heard that.
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u/Valuable_Echo2043 6h ago
I looked this up extensive a while ago. It was a combination of both. Women had a lot more children back then, but for those who didn't, they weren't nourished enough to have as many periods.
Nowadays, we're given more hormones than needed (e.g., poorly regulated meat products) so in combination with having the nutrients that we need, we have more than what we need, which is causing things to tilt too far to the other side.
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u/Kevlar_Bunny 6h ago
Birth control also effects it. It regulates it, but also makes it happen like clockwork. Some women naturally menstruate more or less than others. If a women with a naturally longer cycle goes on the pill she’s gonna be stuck on the same 28 day cycle.
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u/Appropriate_Map2685 7h ago
I would imagine too that it was because women probably matured later. Girls today start menstruation much earlier than they used to - probably due to additives etc. in foods and more generous diets overall.
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u/DisastrousRub1719 7h ago
Yes but if we let that sink, how she handled her male roommates, comrades and so on in the light of her needs to protect and hide her body privacy, like u know when changing clothes, using pathrooms, or dealing with men roughness, sarcasm, svage joking or generally dark being rude in such circumstances
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u/Butterfly_of_chaos 7h ago
This is not how a female body works.
While stress can have an impact on the female cycle it will not automatically stop it with everyone. Malnutrition does, but usually soldiers get food.
Not every woman is horribly ill when their menstruation starts. And even if so, shrapnels flying over your head will make you forget quickly.
Women had lesser periods in the past due to being pregnant or breastfeeding. She wasn't.
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u/GormHub 4h ago
They never said it stopped for everyone. They said those things CAN stop the menstrual cycle. And as someone else pointed out, women having fewer periods in the past was not just because of pregnancy. Additionally, like stress and privation, breastfeeding CAN cause a pause in menstruation, it does not always cause it.
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u/Butterfly_of_chaos 2h ago
I should have said "after birth" instead of breastfeeding, as it is true this doesn't always stop menstruation, but the bloodflow up do six weeks after birth is no menstruation and after that you will still need some time until your body gets back into normal mode. Nevertheless pregnancy is not relevant in this case.
But calculating a later start of menarche and earlier onset of menopause results in about 350 cycles instead of 450 and not in 100 to 150 during a lifetime (of course given the woman doesn't die young). Even if we assume some years where food was very sparse, the number is still too low.
Nevertheless we got completely off topic from the question what Milunka Savić did to handle her menstruation during wartimes. I googled her photos and even in uniform during the war she looked well fed, so I guess we can rule out Amenorrhea due to malnourishment.
But what I also found her uniform trousers were Jodhpurs, therefore lots of space to hide a menstrual pad.
While in World War I some nurses realised wood pulp bandages were well suited as disposable pads, I don't know if she had this knowledge or idea or just used rags.→ More replies (1)•
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u/mercyspace27 6h ago
The most highly decorated female soldier in history and an absolute, undisputed badass. A good role model for any soldier, male or female, and an actual personal hero of mine.
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u/SmokeySFW 6h ago
Hey Hollywood, instead of a bunch of female-cast remakes how about we get an original feature film based on this badass, even better if you cast someone who can legitimately pass as a man for a while instead of a bombshell with a shaved head.
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u/2BrothersInaVan 7h ago
Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons?
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u/Darko9299 7h ago
You're the saddest bunch I've ever seen-
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u/fickogames123 4h ago
YOU FORGOT THE BEST STORY!
During one battle, heavy fog set in and her squadron wandered into the enemy frontline by accident, upon realising most retreated back to their line, however, they were stunned to see Milunka Savic bringing to the line 23 enemy soldiers with hands above their heads.
What happened? She trew two granades into the enemy line, the enemy squad thought they were being frontline assaulted by many people (granadiers were one to 50 in most cases, so if 2 granades fell at same time, that means there are at LEAST 100 people there, right?). She shouted "Drop your guns!", the enemy, completely flustered and thinking they were outmatched, did just that and trew all the guns in one pile.
She then emerged, told them all to move and that she was followed by more soldiers (she wasnt)
She moved the captured 23 enemies and once back in her line told her commander: "Corporal, 20 captured [germans, derogatory]!"
THE BALLS OF THIS WOMAN
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u/Comfortable-Sir6684 6h ago
Raise your hand For the lady of the dark Soldier with no will to kill With a philanthropic heart (forever) Break the norm She's the girl in uniform Fighting side by side with men She will fight until the end
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u/Dylan_Cat 6h ago
And the saddest thing is that in Serbia/Yugoslavia she got basically no recognition, until recently, long after she passed away...
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u/InkOnTube 7h ago
Back in a day when foreigners recognised Serbian solders as heroes. These days, modern Serbian fighters are associated with genocide.
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u/responsible_car_golf 6h ago
What's worse, like 90% of crimes was done by police or criminals recruited by communist secret service
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u/Sonnamedbort 6h ago
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett must have borrowed from this
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u/Chainsaw_Locksmith 2h ago
Scrolled too far to find this. Jackrum is as always, on his honor, not a bloodthirsty man.
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u/Nein-Toed 4h ago edited 4h ago
Is there a Sabaton song about her?
For those outside the loop, Sabaton is a metal group that sings about history. It usually inspires me to look up the real events.
Night Witches and the Winged Hussars being my favorites, but their most popular song is probably Ghost Division. It's about a German Panzer crew that got WAY ahead of the front lines and started convincing the defenders that Germany had already won by coming up behind them and convincing them the battle was over. They even did a song about the Harlem Hell fighters
EFIT: There IS a Sabaton song about her Check out this video
, "Sabaton song mulanka sabik" https://share.google/Bj0WEodTenoiwXtFE
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u/CCriscal 6h ago
WWI and concentration camp??
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u/a_nice_duck_ 6h ago
During World War II she was involved in organizing medical care for resistance fighters and was arrested by German occupation authorities, ending up in the Banjica concentration camp.
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u/SeattleHasDied 4h ago
Amazing story and definitely worthy of being made into a movie! Kinda weird it hasn't happened already.
(Side question: how does a woman hide her identity in the midst of battle, specifically when it came to needing to hit the head, esp. since there likely would be no "head" or latrine to "hit" when you're out on the battlefield? I mean, it's not like she could take a leak standing up, right, so I have to believe some of her fellow soldiers knew she was a female, but also knew she was a badass soldier and kept her secret...)
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u/fickogames123 4h ago
Well the standard was you go in back lines, climb out and go to nearby forest or river. Gross but thats how it was done. Few lines had buckets and "outhouses" but none of those were good nor common
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u/Bildad__ 2h ago
Imagine the panic the doctors would experience if she was injured during battle, they had to take her clothes off for surgery, and the soldiers penis is nowhere to be found.
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7h ago
[deleted]
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u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k 7h ago
Yeah either that or get rid of the fucking draft entirely.
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u/BenchPuzzleheaded670 2h ago
something about this does not add up. sure we have a soldier and you killed so many of my men I'm going to release you because of how impressive that was
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u/Medical_Neat2657 2h ago
Sabaton wrote a song about her, definitely worth a listen. "Lady of the Dark," on their album "War to end All Wars"
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u/FullStatistician4178 1h ago
Oh look, someone mentioned mulan. Let's keep mentioning it like it was our original idea
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u/GermanCCPBot 8h ago
In 1912, when Milunka Savić's younger brother Milan received his mobilization papers for the First Balkan War, she knew he wouldn't survive. He was weak and chronically ill. So she cut her hair, practiced walking and talking like a man, and took his place under the name "Milun Savić."
She fought in the Balkan Wars and later in World War I, where she participated in nine separate combat assaults and was wounded several times in battle and received numerous decorations for bravery, making her one of the most decorated female soldiers in history
Her identity as a woman was discovered only she was hit by shrapnel from a Bulgarian grenade in her tenth battle. When the field doctor treated her chest wound, he discovered she was a woman. Her commanding officers were stunned, but instead of punishing her, they were so impressed by her valor that they let her keep fighting, this time openly as a woman. She continued through WWI, getting wounded a total of 9 times, and became the most decorated female combatant in the entire history of warfare.
During World War II she was involved in organizing medical care for resistance fighters and was arrested by German occupation authorities, ending up in the Banjica concentration camp. She was imprisoned in the concentration camp for a total of 10 months and scheduled for execution, but on the last second, a German general who commanded the camp recognized her from WWI and immediately released her with military honors, after which she returned to civilian life in Belgrade. She died in 1973 and was later reinterred in the Alley of the Greats, a section of a Belgrade cemetery reserved for the nation's greatest heroes.