Знаете, что больше всего запомнилось из событий того дня? Стоит наш подбитый танк, - Боюсь в человека стрелять, - призналась я взводному.
- А тебе в человека и не придется стрелять. Ты в фашиста стрелять будешь, - с раздражением ответил он. - И не забывай, что именно фашисты твою маму убили...

It is winter, our platoon is on its way to the shooting-ground keeping to the footworn track. The banks of snow are more than a yard thick. The subject of today’s exercise is “How to act under a raid by air.” Suddenly our commander shouts: “Air! Airplanes!” The platoon must to scatter momentarily, and everyone is running through the thick snow. In a minute or two we hear: “All clear!” The exercise could be repeated several times as we make our way. Finally we feel utterly exhausted. Everyone wants to fall on the snow and not to get up; he want to die and nothing more…

Marusia said: "Let me take the watch now." She got up, it was a sunny day, and she apparently moved the lens. As soon as she got up, there was a shot, and she fell. Oh, how I cried! The German was 200 meters away from us. I screamed so loud it could be heard all over the trenches, soldiers ran out: "Quiet, quiet, or they'll open mortar fire!" But how could I be quiet?

I knew he was a fascist, that they had attacked our country, they killed, burned, hanged our people, but he was still a human being. It was such a condition... When I killed the second one, I was in a horrible state again. Why? Because I saw him through my optical sight: a young officer. He seemed to look at me and suddenly I killed him. But he was a human being! Basically, a horrible state. But afterwards I grew somehow desensitized. I killed -- it was supposed to be that way.

Мы выбрали позицию и определили цель. Залп произвели одновременно - и два фашиста упали замертво. Сразу же на наши позиции обрушился минометный огонь. Долго мы лежали, боясь пошевелиться, но все обошлось благополучно.

I remember how I killed my first fascist. Together with my partner Zina Vershinina we occupied our sniping positions. While observing enemy positions, I spotted a machinegunner. I aimed and shot. It was unclear whether I hit him or not. But when I returned to the detachment, everyone already knew I’d killed an enemy. An artillery observer reported this. He saw it in his periscope, how the enemy machine gunner was killed. Everyone was joyous, they hurries to congratulate me. And I wept, for I had to kill a man…