" We were eight children in our family, the first four were all girls, I was the oldest. Papa once came home from work and wept: “I used to be happy that we had girls first…Brides-to-be. But now in every family someone is going to the front, and we have nobody…I’m too old, they won’t take me; you’re all girls, and the boys are still little.” In our family this was keenly felt. Courses for nurses were organized, and my father took me and my sister there. I was fifteen, my sister fourteen. He said: “This is all I can offer for our victory…My girls…” There was no other thought then. A year later I wound up at the front… "

― Svetlana Alexievich , War's Unwomanly Face