Battle of Stalingrad the way to Berlin." At the beginning of the battle there were 75,000 women and girls from the Stalingrad area who had finished military or medical training, and all of whom were to serve in the battle. Women staffed a great many of the anti-aircraft batteries that fought not only the Luftwaffe but German tanks. Soviet nurses not only treated wounded personnel under fire but were involved in the highly dangerous work of bringing wounded soldiers back to the hospitals under enemy fire. Many of the Soviet wireless and telephone operators were women who often suffered heavy casualties when their
The Motherland Calls posed for the sculpture. It is also believed that the statue has parallels with the figure of the "Marseillaise" on the Triumphal arch in Paris, and that the statue's pose was inspired by the statue of Nike of Samothrace. At night, the sculpture is illuminated by floodlights. It was specially illuminated as part of a light show titled "The Light of the Great Victory", marking the 72nd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. When the memorial was dedicated in 1967 it was the tallest statue in the world, measuring from the tip of its sword to the top of