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
Family members of traitors to the Motherland Family members of traitors to the Motherland Traitor of the Motherland family members (Russian: ЧСИР: члены семьи изменника Родины) was a term in Article 58 of Criminal Code of RSFSR about criminal prosecution of wives and children (kin punishment) of all people who were arrested and convicted as "traitors of the Motherland" in the Soviet Union during Stalinist purges of 1930s and later. The practice of automatically convicting wives and children was a base element of the Great Purge. It introduced a new category of the inmates designated for the family members of the person who was recognized as the