June 26, 1941, Brest Fortress- 09:00 hrs.

"Soldiers of the Red Army, suppressed masses of the Soviet Union! Drop your weapons and give up the futile resistance! Stop fighting for the criminal government of the Judeo-Bolshevik Oppressors! The German Reich, under the leadership of it's Furher Adolph Hitler is here to liberate you from their yoke! We come as friends and those who choose to surrender now will be treated to a meal, a shower, and the utmost respect! Anyone left after this opportunity will be destroyed!"

Natalia gritted her teeth as the sound of the voice, speaking heavily accented Russian, continued to filter through the blasted windows of the armory where she and Arsen had ended after escaping from Roderich. Trapped in the basement of the Fortress Armory, she found herself feeling more and more helpless as the hours went by and a new bombardment had begun to rain down upon the Brest Fortress, though she had become used to that since the war started. Then, when the guns fell silent she had expected to helplessly watch as the attacking troops attempted to storm the castle which stood as a symbol of the resistance, yet to her surprise an attack did not come, instead the voice of a German propagandist began to rain down an even more offensive bombardment-urging the men to abandon their posts and surrender.

"Soldiers you have only three minutes left before your destruction! Surrender now and save yourself. Officers, will you willfully condemn your families to death? The Soviet Union is not worth dying for! We do not come to kill you as enemies but as friends! We came after the illegal Judeo-Bolshevik leadership which has abused your rights and purged your fellow countrymen! Surrender soldiers! Those who stay will have no one to blame but themselves! Choose wisely! Liberation or Death?"

"Good God, when will that rat shut his face?" Natalia growled, tightening her grip upon the Mosin-Negant bolt action rifle in her hands, "He has been repeating the same thing for fifteen minutes."

Around her some of the men nodded, a few muttered their agreement, but in general they sat in silence waiting quietly for the promised bombardment which was to come in only a few moments. Just then the German's voice was replaced by a scratchy recording of Katyusha, a folk styled song written in 1938, which told the story of a young maiden waiting for her love who was on the border defending his county.

Blinking with surprise Natalia turned her gaze towards the cellar's ceiling and tilted her head slightly so that she could listen more carefully, "Are they...?" she whispered, not believing that the Germans would be playing such a famous Russian song. "I think it is." whispered a soldier, who's name was Grigori Petrov, "I wonder if they expect us to run to it."

Arsen chuckled, "Perhaps their mothers read them the Pied Piper one too many times." this brought out a few laughs though the tense mood within the room didn't disperse. Allowing herself to smile Belarus was about to answer when the look out let out a shout, "Would you look at those traitorous scums!"

Blinking Natalia turned her head as Lieutenant Potapov went over to the look out, "What are you screaming about?" he hissed angrily; though one quick look into the Complex yard silenced him, "Oh..." was all he could say. Now curiosity filled everyone present and they all quickly rushed the windows, pushing and trying to catch a glimpse of the scene outside, "Son of a bitch, they're surrendering. Look at them, fucking bastards." Pushing her way through Natalia was finally able to see clearly and once they did her stomach dropped slightly at the sight of the crowd of troops which was filtering its way out of their hiding places and to the enemy positions, their arms raised high over their heads.

"You know, if I didn't need the bullets I'd shoot them right here and now." Petrov growled, "Traitorous Fascists."

Watching the men Natalia shook her head with a sigh, "No...not really. They're just scared for their lives. Simple as that."

Hearing her the crowd of troops turned their gaze to Natalia, frowns all around, "You're defending them?" one of them asked, "Really?"

Natalia shook her head, "I'm not defending or condemning. I'm simply stating a fact. Harsh but true."

Though she was unhappy to see those who were supposed to defend and fight for their nation abandoning the fight through surrender she could also understand the fear of death and the hope for survival. This was something she'd seen over and over again throughout her long and varied existence as a nation, when during war after war her own people or the enemy nation's people would throw down their weapons and surrender to the other side. In the early years she'd felt anger and hatred for those which she felt were abandoning her, but soon as she grew more mature, the feeling changed to disappointment. Though not because of any feeling for herself but because she felt that surrendering while your fellow comrades in arms stayed to fight on was the same as betraying a brother and betraying one's family was a horrible offense.

Just then a hush fell over the troops as a new sight came into view, this time of civilians, women, children, and even some wounded men who could not fight started to filter out. Sighing Belarus watched them go, arms raised, white handkerchiefs in their hands. "Maybe now they'll get some relief from this hell she thought.

Just then Lieutenant Potapov's voice cut through the uncomfortable tension which has descended over the group, "Well, regardless of what we think, we better get prepared for a serious attack." Potapov said, stepping away from the window as the last group of civilians walked out of the main gates and to the world outside. As if to punctuate his words an explosion erupted in the ground not far from the central island. This was quickly followed by another bomber and another explosion. Soon, the entire complex was being rocked by explosives which rained down upon the earth and buildings from the seemingly ceaseless wave of planes, as though they were hail from a storm, the only difference being that they were made of fire rather than ice.

-xxxx-

Roderich looked out at the the red bricked cluster out in the distance, watching the bombardment of the Fortress which he no longer wished to wait for the surrender of. That damned thing can't hold out much longer." He thought with a grim frown on his face, Not when there isn't a foundation to stand on. Watching for a few a minute longer Roderich lowered the binoculars and turned away from the scene, with the new group of surrendered soldiers in German hands. Roderich now had a chance to find out if Natalia had been able to escape to the Fortress or not, hopefully she was or else he would have allowed the biggest catch of his life to slip through his fingers. Walking slowly Roderich looked over the sad, dirty, and exhausted faces of the Soviet troops which were just now entering the German positions. "Hey, I need a translator!" he shouted to a few of the guards stationed to watch the Soviets, "Nothing too fancy, just enough to get these swine to understand me."

Nodding one of the guards turned and began to call for a man named Alexander, obviously the name of a translator, to come to him. Meanwhile Roderich pulled a drawing of Natalia which he had requested be made by one of the men in his regiment last night. Looking down at it now he wondered if any of these men would recognize her based on the imagination of the artist, "Oh well, it'll have to do." he muttered just as a scrawny man who looked as though he'd be more at home in a university rather than a battlefield approached Roderich and saluted, "Hail Hitler." he said.

Roderich nodded, "Hail." he replied raising his arm, "Are you Alexander?"

When the man nodded Roderich smiled, "Good. I need you to translate something important for me." he said, "Ask these men if anyone of them has seen this woman." he held up the sketch to the translator, "Anyone who identifies her will get an extra ration of food and water."

Nodding Alexander took the paper and approached the line of Soviet prisoners and began to call out to them in Russian while Roderich watched, his hands held tightly behind his back. When Alexander finished and held out the drawing for the group to see, which erupted into excited shouts and pointing, each man desperately trying to prove that he'd seen her and knew where she was now. Watching this Roderich frowned, "Silence!" he shouted, "Tell them to speak one at a time or no one will eat!" When Alexander translated the crowd instantly grew quiet, "Very good. Now, who has seen this woman recently?" A group of hands shot up into the air. Nodding Roderich pointed to a soldier who told him he'd seen her running through the complex early that morning with another soldier, but he didn't know what had become of her since then. Hearing this Roderich nodded, "Alright, give him his rations and an extra hunk of bread." As the desperate man was led away Roderich pointed to another hand, "You, when did you see her?" he asked, stepping forward the man shouted out in Russian, "He says he may have seen her running through the complex late last night" Hearing this Roderich frowned and he stepped closer to the Russian who had spoken, "Ask him where she was running. Did she leave the walls?"

As the translator and the man had their conversation Roderich's sharp quick eyes flicked from one to the other, wondering if maybe the man was lying to get more bread, "He says he is not sure as he didn't watch her long enough. I had asked him to describe her to make sure and he says that her hair was shorter than the drawing indicates."

Roderich frowned, "Shorter? How short?"

"It's was up to her jaw." the translator explained after a quick back and forth., causing Roderich's frown to deepen. "That might not have been her at all." he said, looking down at the drawing, "Do you suppose he is lying sir? It would not surprise me." Hearing this Roderich nodded slowly, "It is quite likely...just give him extra bread regardless. Thank you."

"Of course! Hail Hitler." Alexander saluted.

Returning the salute Roderich turned and walked away, his eyes trained down on the drawing in his hands as he walked away from the dirty exhausted prisoners. It's possible she cut her hair...though I do not see how she could manage. Frowning more Roderich began to quickly make his way deeper into the German command center which had been set up not far from Brest Fortress. Either way, we need to storm the complex now. He thought with a frown, Before she has a chance to run off again.

Yet, there were still two more waves of bombers making their way towards the fortress which made the storming impossible, or else there would be many many German deaths on his hands. Frustrated Roderich took a deep breath, "It's alright." he muttered, "She isn't going to run anywhere while death rains down from above." He smiled slightly and nodded "and soon I'll have her and the forsaken fortress." Just then, as the last plane flew off, the first artillery gun went off not too far away.

-xxxx-

The first bomb from the second bombardment fell with a sudden fwoomp! Which shook the foundation of the building she found herself in and the shock wave rocked her to the core. It was almost instantly followed by another powerful bunker buster which erupted near by and then another and another. "Mother fuckers!" shouted one of the soldiers near her, he was sitting hunched over his hands covering his ears much like everyone else. "First planes and then an artillery bombardment," he suddenly began to laugh, "The Fritzes are desperate to get us aren't they?" As the laughter spilled out from the sole soldier it quickly began to spread to the other men and women in the basement until finally the room was filled with uproarious laughter, from Natalia included. "Cowards and bastards."Arsen suddenly said, shouting to be heard over the noise of the bombardment, "Where I come from you'd have to fight it out hand to hand like a man." he proclaimed.

"Maybe if we hide long enough the bastards will give up." someone suggested which sent more laughter through the basement; though honestly they all understood that this was going to be a fight to the death.

Twenty minutes or so later the guns suddenly stopped dropping their deadly payload and the Fortress fell silent once more. Blinking the occupants of the basement lowered their hands and looked up at the basement's ceiling. "Is it over?" someone asked. "Shit if I know." his friend replied, "Only way to find out is to go and look."

Climbing to the upper level the troops, Natalia included, crowded around the windows, weapons ready, just in case. What they didn't see was any enemy troops, though that they did see was a scene which seemed to have been taken out of the pages of science fiction book about a foreign planet; the landscape was absolutely full of craters, smoke, and fire. "My God..." whispered one of the soldiers, his eyes widening with horror, "Just look at what the Fritz has done."

"Horrifying..." agreed another. "Make one wonder how we'll survive this doesn't it?"

Just then the harsh gruff voice of Lieutenant Potapov, "There is no need for fruitless speculation. We'll fight to the end, our Homeland depends on it. Now keep your eyes peeled, the enemy is sure to enter soon enough"

Nodding the troops quieted down and watched the gates near their area, looking for the tell tale sign of enemy troops when there came movement from the thick layer of smoke and a cry of "Germans!" off in the distance, which a moment later was followed by the sound of an uproarious cheer from Soviet positions and the sound of fighting. "Ah! There we go!" shouted Potapov, pulling out his pistol, "With me! To battle!" he shouted and leaped out of the building's window, his officer's pistol pointed straight ahead; followed closely by the men under his command which pushed forward weapons in hand, cheering at the top of their lungs, "Urrrraaa!"

For her part Natalia let out a loud harsh scream which would have frozen the blood in the veins of anyone who heard it as she charge, rifle in hand, next to her Arsen was doing the same while also shouting out words in his native language as he ran into the smoke and fire of battle. As the group came closer they began to see that the soil closer to the central castle, where the bombing had been more intense had been turned to glass from the heat and now as they ran they could hear it crunch under their feet. Another sound which also became clearer as they ran was the sound of their comrades engaging the enemy up ahead, the sound of guns, blades and brutal hand to hand combat coming through the fog of warfare before the picture of death cleared through. A moment later the two armies, if they could be called that, collided in a clash of iron, flesh, and blood.

Unfortunately for the defenders of the fortress had a limited amount of weapons, forcing them to fight with rifles, pistols, or bayonets, along with a very limited amount of machine guns. This, as expected, meant that those without guns or knives had to improvise, using hammers, shovels, and even broken furniture as clubs or else taking whatever had been dropped by their dead comrades to beat the enemy. Meanwhile the attacking army was armed to the teeth, and prepared fully for an attack.

Together the two groups screamed, fired, cut, and beat each other to a pulp and all around Soviet and Wehrmacht soldiers to fall wounded or dead. As for Belarus, seeing the outline of an enemy helmet she raised her rifle and fired, aiming for the man's head. Hearing a loud ping along with seeing the helmet being blown off of the man's head satisfied to the fact that he was down; the action was repeated once again with a new enemy, and then another. Soon Natalia was passionately engaged with the Austrian and German troops with a fervor and desire for revenge which made all things around her blurred into one simple objective: kill as many fascist troops as possible. All around her the other Soviets were doing the same, though for them the stakes were much higher- either kill or be killed.

Suddenly a German charged forward, a knife in his hands, raising her rifles Natalia pressed down on the trigger and heard the recall of an empty chamber. Freezing with surprise for an instant Belarus failed to react in time and the German crashed into her, the knife digging itself deep into her chest Letting out a scream of pain and surprise Natalia quickly turned her rifle and sent the bayonet into the other man's stomach, causing his body to jolt backwards as blood seeped out of his mouth and washed over the blade and the gun. Pushing him back with her booted foot Natalia pulled the blade out of him and turned to face a second attacker who was coming at her from behind all while blood seeped from her wound and covered her shirt. As the second attacker fell, Natalia noticed a pistol laying at her feet,.threw down the rifle, and quickly grabbed it just as two grey clad soldiers attacked her. Yelping with surprise Belarus fired wildly, hitting one man twice in the chest while the other man shot her in the shoulder before he was taken out by a shovel to the neck; which caused blood to arch out of the wound and spray Natalia.

It was then that the order to retreat was shouted out to the remaining Soviet troops.

Hearing this Belarus snapped out of her haze and made her escape towards the bridge leading to the Holmsky Gates of the central castle, only to notice Arsen, who was using his rifle to beat a corpse. Swallowing Belarus grabbed the young Armenian, who had seemingly gone mad by the violence of battle, and pulled him away to the just as the Soviet machine gunners in the Holmsky Gates had finally unjammed their weapon to light up the deadly instrument.

-xxxx-

Austria cursed the Soviets, he cursed Natalia, and he cursed the men responsible for his position, "Bloody bastards! Shits! Good for nothing barbarians! Animals! Subhumans! Can't they fucking lay down their guns and die like civilized men?!" He kicked the table and chairs of the military HQ where his glorious invasion was falling apart because of one stubborn Fortress. The fact that not even the surrender of scores of troops, a bombardment of immense proportion and unimaginable fire power had done nothing to break the will of the defenders enraged him even more than he could imagine. This is not how it was supposed to work! Hitler promised an easy glorious victory! Not this bloody quagmire! Good God! Out of breath and energy Roderich sat on one of the chairs confiscated from a near by hotel and lit a cigarette, "Something needs to be done." he muttered, "Or else I'm finished. Ludwig will..." he shook his head and shakily took another drag, "Something needs to be done..." He sighed and lolled his head back against the wall, eyes closing. Just then the door to the room opened and Fritz Schlieper entered, looking tired and haggard he saw the cigarette in Roderich's mouth and extended his hand, "May I?"

Roderich's eyes opened with a flutter and he looked over the commanders disheveled appearance, "What happened to you?" he asked holding out the cigarette. Taking the smoking tube Schlieper inhaled deeply before answering, "Hitler called."

Hearing this Roderich let out a snort, "No kidding?"

Scowling Schlieper took a drag, "He wanted to know if the Fortress will be ready for an official visit." he swallowed and took another drag. "Can you believe that?" he shook his head with disbelief, "You can imagine how he reacted when I told him it wasn't yet taken."

Roderich's brows shot up with surprise, "He wants to visit this hole?"

Schlieper nodded, "He wanted to show off in front of Mussolini, the idiot."

Taking a deep breath Roderich stood up and grabbed the cigarette from between Schlieper's lips, "So now what?" he asked biting down on the cardboard tube, "Are we going to be taken to Berlin and shot?"

"No." Schlieper snapped, "I've called for one final bomb-"

"One bomb?" Roderich asked, an amused smirk on his lips, "How will that-"

"A two tonne bomb." Schlieper finished. "It will blow this place to the ends of the earth and then we'll just have to clean the entrails off of the walls in time of Hitler's visit."

Blinking Roderich removed the cigarette from his mouth with a shaking hand and exhaled before whispering to himself, "My God...two tonnes..." he shook his head in disappointment, Even Natalia can't survive that."

"It will be here at 14:00 hrs.."

Nodding Roderich looked down at his watched, which read 11:00. "Right."

-xxxx-

Brest Belorussian SSR- June 26, 1941 14:00 hrs

Natalia fell back against a wall and took a deep breath before wincing. The wounds which she had sustained during battle had not all yet healed fully and each breath sent a shot of pain through her body. "Miss Arlovskaya, you're hurt." Arsen said, the young man was sitting near her, his eyes roaming over her bloodied uniform. Natalia shook her head, "N-No, it's from the enemy, the blood is from the enemy." she said with a nod.

"Yes but-"

"Look after your own wounds." Natalia suddenly snapped, gesturing to his bloodied arm, "That's much more important that what's happening to me."

It had been two hours since the short skirmish between the Soviet Forces and those of the German army which had attempted to once again take the Brest Fortress. Since then she'd met with one of the main commanders of the Fortress resistance, Lieutenant Kizhevatov. Having been stuck here during the start of the war with his whole family, he had suffered immensely during the Siege but neither he nor his family had been willing to surrender. Until finally feeling that there was no other choice for them, Kizhevatov had forced them to leave when the Germans had given the chance. Now, as she sat her gaze turned to the Lieutenant sitting in the corner of the room she could see that he was near emotional collapse, refusing to engage with anyone. Swallowing she stood and silently went over to him, "Comrade Lieutenant?" she said softly, causing the man to jolt and look up at her with red and tired eyes. Embarrassed to be caught in this position he quickly wiped his eyes and hardened his expression, "Yes Comrade Arlovskaya?" he asked, remembered her from the song and dance show which had come to the fortress on the 21st. "Are you alright sir?" she asked, sitting down next to him, "I can understand the hardship you must be going through but a sane mind is important for all of us right now."

Hearing this the Lieutenant took a deep breath and nodded, "Yes, of course...it is just..." looking away as he trailed off he seemed to be fighting off another wave of emotion. "I'm worried I have made a terrible mistake today." he whispered, "I sent them to the enemy. I insisted it was safer."

Frowning slightly with confusion Natalia looked over the man's face,"Who?" she asked simply.

"My family...My children."

Just then Natalia remembered the man's family, which had been sitting in the front row of the theater when she was performing. "They were here weren't they?"

The man nodded, "I only pray... hope that the Germans will have mercy on the children. Surely they will not harm them."

"Of course not. It would be inhumane." Natalia agreed, after all how could men with families kill children?

"Sir, if they had stayed here they would surely die. Out there they have a chance."

"That is what I've been telling myself since I made them leave, but still I-" he broke off and looked away.

Swallowing Natalia gently placed her hand on his shoulder, "Don't do this to yourself...you did what anyone would do in this situation, believe me."

Hearing this Kizhevatov turned his gaze to her then nodded, "You're right of course. Forgive me." then after a moment he added, "Thank you."

Nodding Natalia gave him a small smile, hoping it would reassure him, though he did not return it to her.

Sighing Natalia leaned back where she sat and closed her eyes, It was almost impossible to believe, and Natalia wouldn't have if she wasn't living through it at this very moment, but the Soviet defenders of the castle had been fighting off four to five major waves of attack a day, most helped by their few machine gun nests which made the area vastly more dangerous for the Germans but of course with supplies exhausted, water practically non-existent, and casualties mounting it couldn't be much longer until the will was broken. At least she had thought so, until she'd seen a group of soldiers carving an inscription into the fortress wall: I AM DYING BUT I WILL NOT SURRENDER.

If our armies fight this hard everywhere then the invasion should be driven back sooner rather than later. Natalia thought as she closed her eyes, If only the end of this war would come quickly.

Just then the sound of a sole plane flying over head roused her interests, as well as the interest of others, "One plane." someone said, "Is it ours?" another asked.

Frowning Natalia forced herself to stand, to go to the windows and other open holes in the walls to look, yet just as she arrived she saw something fall out of the plane, something huge, fat, and descending very fast. A moment later, whatever it was, buried itself into the ground...

The explosion, when it occurred was wholly unexpected. The ground near the buildings was lifted into a large plume rising twenty to thirty meters into the air, followed almost instantaneously by a shock wave which rippled out from the epicenter. Natalia's eyes widened as she watched the wave of soil moving towards her, like the surface of a lake after a rock has been tossed into it. As the wave moved it pushed, lifted, and threw whatever lay in it's path, until it came to hit the building. Screaming Belarus ducked away from the window and covered her head just in time for the energy to smash into the walls, windows, and soldiers, sending everything flying. To her horror, while she could not see the damage, Belarus could clearly hear the men scream while their bodies were flung across the room and into the walls on the other side. A moment later the building's outer wall began to collapse burying Natalia and leaving her in darkness

The next thing she knew she was being exposed to the light of the sun, which shone hard and strong down upon her, exposing her bloodied and injured body to it's rays. Around her there were voices speaking German. "W-What?" she muttered, forcing her eyes open, shaking her head to clear it of haze and confusion. It was suddenly after that which she heard another voice, this one smoother, with an upper crust pronunciation. In fact it reminded her of the German language instructors which would often come to teach the children of the Noble Class back when the Russian Empire still existed. "How is she? Is she alive?" she heard the voice say, her knowledge of the German language coming quite handy in this moment. "She is sir!" came a reply, also in German, from one of the men holding her.

Blinking the blood from her eyes Natalia's eyes adjusted to the light and she could see that she was being help up by two German soldiers, What the-?" she thought before raising her head to see how she had come into their hands.

What she saw chilled her blood- the fortress was crawling with foreign troops, marching about in their grey or black uniforms calling out every once in a while in German: "Jews and Commissars against the wall!" Pale and horrified Natalia watched as the men she had suffered and fought with were herded out from the rubble of collapsed buildings or from the ground where they lay, cut, twisted, and completely disoriented. Unfortunately the soldiers gave her little time to look over the situation before she was herself herded with the line of Soviet troops who stood while an officer walked along the line with shorter man who was translating, "Give up the Commissars, Jews, and Communists! Those who do will get as much water as they please!"

Hearing this Natalia's eyes quickly scanned the faces of the men who had been herded together until one man stepped out and pointed at another who was standing not too far from him. "Him. He's a man you want." he said, just as a hiss rose from the other soldiers. "Son of a bitch!" someone shouted, "You should be shot for that!" Hearing the anger the Germans quickly lead the man away as the German officer stepped up to the soldier who had been revealed. "Are you a Commissar?" he asked in German with a smirk that made it clear he didn't really care about the answer, it was all just a bit of fun for him.

The soldier lifted his head and blinked, the sun's rays stabbing into his sensitive eyes as he had been living in darkness for the past four days. Suddenly a pang of recognition hit Natalia, the man was Yefim Moiseevich Fomin, a political officer who had been stationed at Brest Fortress and had been the one who had invited Natalia to visit the city in the first place. Now he stood, an expression of disappointment clear on his face as he watched the man who had betrayed him dunk his head into the barrel of water the Germans brought along with them, his slurps and splashing clearly heard. Sighing he turned his gaze back to the German and straightened his plain green uniform before standing taller to face his enemy, "My name is Fomin, Yefim Moiseevich. Proud citizen of the Soviet Union, a Commissar, and a Jew."

"He says he is a Jew sir." said the translator after which the German officer was quick to order Fomin's execution. Closer her eyes Natalia turned away from the wall which Fomin had been pressed against but the sound of the firing squad felt like a clap of thunder on this clear summer day. Flinching slightly Natalia lowered her head and even as she was forced to move by the soldiers out of the Fortress she just watched the ground which had soaked up the blood of her people for hundreds of years as she was pushed ahead out of the Fortress at gun point.


A/N: Although the Defense of Brest Fortress is not as well known to many as say the Battle of Stalingrad, it is in fact one of the most important in the Eastern Front. From the first hour of Operation Barbarossa the the Fortress of Brest was to be an important propaganda victory for the Nazis and thus it was imperative that the German/Austrian forces take it. For the soldiers and officers of the Red Army, the Fortress represented their honor and in many ways their nation, thus there was no other option but to defend it to the last. I have tried to capture some of the feelings and realities of the situation as best I could.

Historical Note: Officially the battle "ended" on the 26th of June when the main Fortress was taken and the officers captured. Yet, fighting did not truly end within the Fortress Complex for at least another month. With the most famous defender Major Pyotr Gavrilov fighting on until the 23rd of July when he finally was captured. In the end the Defense of Brest Fortress accounted for 5% of losses for the German Forces during Operation Barbarossa.

As for the Officers which Natalia meets they are all historical figures, Commissar Yefim Fomin was posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin in 1954.

Lieutenant Kizhevatov died on the 29th of June, 1941. In 1965 he was posthumously declared Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1942, his entire family which included his mother, wife, and three children, the youngest being two years of age, were executed by the Germans.