In the morning, as usual, I came to work, and I was urgently summoned to the military enlistment office. A lot of girls gathered there. They were all young, 18–20 years old. And I was 18 at the time. Of course, we didn’t know what war was like yet.

That”s where we learned the true face of the war. The medical unit was located near the village of Spartanovka. Our machine gun company occupied the maternity hospital building. The Germans fiercely bombarded us. We were ordered to retreat with the wounded to the Volga. There was a cover group with us. But most of all, we were afraid of being wounded in the stomach because we had seen enough of the suffering of our soldiers. No one wanted to die. But the order — “to defend the city” — worked impressively.

…We gave first aid and took the serious patients to the operating room. The belief in victory gave us strength, a united spiritual brotherhood. After the liberation of Stalingrad, we were sent to Somovo station of the Voronezh region. There is a photo of me with a bouquet of flowers to remember those days. Stalingrad was behind us. New trials were ahead.