"They beg their daughters in vain at home, the maternal gaze is no longer powerful – Turgenev girls are standing at the military enlistment offices and district committees." From 600,000 to a million women fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War in different periods, 80,000 were officers. Many joined the army only after graduating from high school or as first-year students…Before World War II, women did not serve in the Red Army, but after June 22, 1941, up to half of the volunteers who applied to join the army were from women. In addition, women joined the people's militia, participated in the guerrilla movement, and fought in sabotage groups of the state security and military intelligence. In total, 90 women were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for their exploits during the war (more than half were posthumously awarded). Most of them, who survived the most terrible war in the history of mankind, considered their contribution to the destruction of the Third Reich not to be their merit, but to be a great success of which they were proud.The book by Nina Petrova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, is the first detailed history of Soviet women's participation in the Great Patriotic War. The story of the lives and exploits of millions of Soviet women, based on memoirs and archival documents that have been closed to historians for many years.