Lydia Litvyak was awesome.

Who was Lydia? A girl who became a World War II fighter ace. The first woman to shoot down a Nazi plane, the record-holder for most enemies downed: 12 solo, four shared kills. She was called the "White Lilly of Stalingrad".

Lydia even became a free hunter: she wouldn't fly as directed, but rather did as she will. Find Nazis, shoot them down. Talk about awesome.

Was she Jewish? It's possible, but seems unlikely. Although reported by some as such, her ethnicity was officially recorded as (goyishe) Russian.

Sadly, the odds say that no ace can fly forever. Litvyak was shot down over Ukraine in August of 1943. She wasn't even 22 years old.

Here's where it gets strange: her body was never recovered. In fact, there is a rumor that she was captured, survived the war, and spent the rest of her life in Europe.

We doubt it... but that would have been awesome.