GERMANS CALLED HIM JOHNNY-ON-THE-SPOT

This story goes back thirty years. It happened in the German city of Magdeburg. In a matter of minutes Captain Ihor Bielikov, Soviet Air Force, became not only a celebrity but a national hero of the German Democratic Republic. The Soviet officer made headlines and the DEFA Studios made a film. Thirty years later, Ihor Bielikov, now a retired colonel, lives and works in Luhansk. The man whose heroic deed was lauded by Soviet propaganda and cited as a worthy example for every Young Pioneer, again attracted public attention due to an event that took place at the city’s Hospital No. 1. A shipment of humanitarian aid arrived from Magdeburg and then it transpired that the key role in the arrangement had been played by the hospital’s civil defense chief Ihor Bielikov. Yes, former the Air Force captain is now on the list of Magdeburg’s honorary citizens, entered beside the name of Chancellor Bismarck.

On March 13, 1969 Captain Bielikov drove to Magdeburg from a nearby town to undergo a prescribed medical checkup as an applicant to the Soviet Military Academy. It was early in the morning with few passersby in the streets, and the man immediately noticed that something was happening on the sixth floor of a large apartment building. He took a closer look and saw a little girl in a window. A moment later something horrible would happen, he realized. Service in the paratroops had taught the captain a lot of things, including emergency procedures under a variety of circumstances. If one’s parachute did not open, those on the ground would run over and spread a piece of hard canvas to cushion the fall. As it was, the captain had only his trench coat and no one around to help. Quickly he took it off, just as the girl fell out, grabbing the sill, then letting go and plummeting to the pavement, but the captain was there and caught her in his trench coat. Experts later estimated that the captain sustained an impact of some 250 kilograms considering the altitude and rate of acceleration. In other words, it was like being hit by a motorcycle. The Germans called him a Johnny-on-the-spot. At the moment of impact he felt nothing. He even thought the girl had missed the trench coat. He unfolded it with trembling hands. She was there, all right. She got out, sat on the asphalt and started whimpering, calling for her mother. It was then Ihor heaved a sigh of relief. The girl was crying, but not because she was hurt. She had not a scratch on her. And then people started gathering, and her shocked mother came running out of the store. Katherine’s parents were both 45 each, and if the worst happened they would lose the only child they would ever have.

Captain Bielikov, being accustomed to military discipline, made certain that the child was safely with her mother and hurried off for the checkup, which he had to pass that very day. But he did not. The shock had its toll, and the medical equipment showed it. Finally, it was decided he would be tested again later.

Katherine Kleman’s grateful parents and the admiring public of Magdeburg took care that the Soviet captain’s exploit would be remembered. A memorial plaque appeared on the building’s facade, describing and depicting what happened on November 13, 1969. A session of the City Council elected Ihor Bielikov honorary citizen of Magdeburg. Incidentally, the list, which had 150 such names, was reduced to some thirty during the past several years, according to Mr. Bielikov, with his name still on it.

Ihor Bielikov has been in touch with the Klemans and the mayor of Magdeburg for the past three decades and has been invited to attend every city festivity and family celebration. Katherine, now 34, is married and has a 4-year-old son. Her parents are still alive and every time they meet the man who saved their daughter they cry with joy.

This year Mr. Bielikov’s relations with the German municipal authorities entered a new phase as the Burgomaster assisted in providing humanitarian aid to the hospital where Mr. Bielikov currently works. Two trucks arrived from Germany early this November, delivering articles of basic necessity: medical equipment, functional appliances, and medications. All this was collected in four months. This Ihor Bielikov marked the thirtieth anniversary of his act of heroism.