Immortal Regiment KRSU. Military doctor (Colonel of the medical service Rafa Aidarbekova)

Rafa Imanalievna Aidarbekova – participant in the Great Patriotic War, colonel of the medical service, graduate of the 1st Moscow Medical Institute, associate professor, candidate of medical sciences, honored doctor of the republic. In 1941, she was one of the first Kyrgyz women to volunteer for the front. She was the first Kyrgyz woman at the front to be promoted to lieutenant colonel.

Rafa Imanalievna was born in 1918 in Pishpek. Her father, Imanaly Aidarbekov, was an outstanding statesman, the first leader of our state, one of the founding fathers of Kyrgyzstan, prime minister, chairman of parliament, mayor of the capital, chairman of the Supreme Court. Imanaly Aidarbekov was arrested on a false denunciation in 1937. He refused to betray his comrades, for which he was tortured for a year in the NKVD, after which he was shot in 1938. In 1957, Imanaly Aidarbekov was rehabilitated, and then his ashes, along with the remains of other repressed great sons of Kyrgyzstan, were buried in the memorial complex «Ata-Beyit».

Rafa Imanalievna, as the daughter of Imanala Aidarbekov, who was considered «an enemy of the people», was denied access to education. With the help of friends, Rafa Imanalievna was able to secretly leave for Moscow from the NKVD, hiding in a box under the carriage in which the dogs were transported. Thus, having arrived in Moscow, she saved her life. In Moscow, Rafa Imanalievna got a job as a nurse in a hospital. After some time, she entered the 1st Moscow Medical Institute, where she studied morning and afternoon, and worked as a nurse in a hospital at night. When the Great Patriotic War began, Rafa Imanalievna graduated early, in 1941, from the medical faculty of the 1st Moscow Medical Institute and volunteered for the front. Before leaving for the front in 1941, Rafa Imanalievna wrote a letter to her mother: «Dear mother, I thought that I would see you after graduating from college, but this did not happen. I'm going to the front. Please don't cry. I – a part of our people. We must save the lives of our soldiers and officers, and may my hands do everything possible to achieve this! Our victory depends on each of us. I hug and kiss you warmly. Your daughter Rafa».

Rafa Imanalievna Aidarbekova was at the front until the last day of the war. She spent all the years of the Great Patriotic War in the active army. She began her military activities as a surgeon in the 58th medical battalion of the 2nd division, working in difficult sectors of the front. Together with her colleagues, she saved the lives of Soviet soldiers – defenders of the Fatherland. Always on the front line, she remembered that her main task was to save lives. Bravery, literacy, professionalism, determination and perseverance allowed the fragile Kyrgyz girl to become the head of the surgical department of the 4th Ukrainian Front.

She had to endure many difficulties, like all those who were on the front line. Rafa Imanalievna recalled that when the Soviet Army advanced towards Berlin, they had to swim across the Dnieper. Rafa Imanalievna did not know how to swim, but needed to move forward, and here her strong character and the support of the soldiers played a role. Soldiers helped her swim across the Dnieper – the entire battalion took turns supporting the young surgeon so that she would remain alive. This is how Rafa Imanalievna learned to swim. After the end of the war, she constantly went to the pool, and once even swam across Lake Issyk-Kul.

Rafa Imanalievna fought on the fronts of Moscow and Leningrad as part of the 4th Ukrainian Front. As part of the active Soviet Army, she directly participated in the liberation of Moscow, Kyiv, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and, as a military surgeon, reached Berlin.

During the war, surgeon R.I. Aidarbekova performed thousands of surgical operations. She saved the lives of many Soviet soldiers and officers. Rafa Imanalievna was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Star, 14 medals, as well as many other orders. Rafa Aidarbekova was demobilized only in 1946, since the surgical hospital where she was the head provided medical assistance to returning Soviet soldiers and officers in Poland for another year after the end of the war.

At the front, military surgeon R.I. Aidarbekova met her only love. This was the military surgeon Zyfar Igemberdievich Igemberdiev, who, as the head of a surgical hospital in the active army, saved the lives of thousands of soldiers and officers by performing more than three thousand surgical operations. He also reached Berlin as part of the active army, meeting there the end of the war. After the war, Rafa Imanalievna married him. Zyfar Igemberdievich defended his doctoral dissertation in Moscow under the guidance of the famous academician A.V. Vishnevsky. Subsequently, Professor Z.I. Igemberdiev was appointed Minister of Health of Kyrgyzstan. He opened the first burn center in Kyrgyzstan. Their son Azamat also became a surgeon.

After the war, Rafa Aidarbekova defended her dissertation. Over 40 years of work as an associate professor-surgeon at the Kyrgyz State Medical Institute, she has trained many competent and qualified specialists who still work for the benefit of our people.

Rafa Imanalievna Aidarbekova passed away in 1996. Blessed memory to her and everyone who defended our Motherland in the Great Patriotic War!

Aizhana Aidarbekova