Heroes of the Nation
When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, most of these women were aged 16 to 18. Over the next four years, they served as nurses, truck drivers, partisans and communications operators. At the end of the war, they were awarded medals and prizes and declared "heroes of the nation."
As they approach the end of their lives, and despite the breakup of the Soviet Union, their contributions are still remembered with invitations to attend parades and visit schools to tell children about their experiences.
In this photo is Elizaveta Ivanovna Zienievich. She became a nurse in the partisan force.
"My brother Alexander was shot by the Germans in a village near Zaskovichi and his body was brought into the command headquarters. They showed him to me and my sister, but we didn't say who it was.'
As they approach the end of their lives, and despite the breakup of the Soviet Union, their contributions are still remembered with invitations to attend parades and visit schools to tell children about their experiences.
In this photo is Elizaveta Ivanovna Zienievich. She became a nurse in the partisan force.
"My brother Alexander was shot by the Germans in a village near Zaskovichi and his body was brought into the command headquarters. They showed him to me and my sister, but we didn't say who it was.'
Agnieszka Rayss / Courtesy of The Guardian
Anastasia Konstantinovna Vishnievska was a truck driver through the war.
"I lived through a lot... God forbid today's young people should go through the same things we did."
"I lived through a lot... God forbid today's young people should go through the same things we did."
Agnieszka Rayss / Courtesy of The Guardian
Galina Fedotovna Tarelko comes from a village in the Mogilyov oblast.
"The Germans executed communists, so we had to go into the forest. I cooked for the partisan troops; I was young, so others did the fighting."
"The Germans executed communists, so we had to go into the forest. I cooked for the partisan troops; I was young, so others did the fighting."
Agnieszka Rayss / Courtesy of The Guardian
Lidia Petrovna Bondar was a nurse whose parents survived the first world war.
"If you're constantly living in a war you finally don't feel the fear because you get used to it. In some terrible way it was normal."
"If you're constantly living in a war you finally don't feel the fear because you get used to it. In some terrible way it was normal."
Agnieszka Rayss / Courtesy of The Guardian
Galina Ivanovna Pogorelova was a nurse at the Leningrad front, the Baltic front and the Karelian front. '
"When we took the wounded away we were often bombarded by the Germans. We had 'death passports', metal tags with our name and last name to identify us in case we were killed. This is how the four years of war went by."
"When we took the wounded away we were often bombarded by the Germans. We had 'death passports', metal tags with our name and last name to identify us in case we were killed. This is how the four years of war went by."
Agnieszka Rayss / Courtesy of The Guardian
Valentina Petrovna Baranova was in the military communications corps, and is head of the veterans' union in Grodno.
"I'm a happy person. My years are my wealth," she says.
"I'm a happy person. My years are my wealth," she says.
Agnieszka Rayss / Courtesy of The Guardian
Zinaida Konstantinovna, army communications worker.
Agnieszka Rayss / Courtesy of The Guardian
Zinaida Nikolayevna Famienska, partisan.
Agnieszka Rayss / Courtesy of The Guardian
Maria Antonovna Pospelova remembers a walk through the woods when she was in the partisan force.
"I was surrounded by a pack of wolves. I had a pistol with only two bullets. I climbed onto the trunk of a felled pine tree, crossed myself, and they finally left."
"I was surrounded by a pack of wolves. I had a pistol with only two bullets. I climbed onto the trunk of a felled pine tree, crossed myself, and they finally left."
Agnieszka Rayss / Courtesy of The Guardian
Agnieszka Rayss / Courtesy of The Guardian