On January 28, 1945, Roza Shanina, a legendary Soviet sniper, fell in combat. At the age of 19, she voluntarily enlisted in the Red Army to avenge the murder of her three brothers at the hands of the Nazis.
With her Mosin Nagant rifle, she avenged her brothers by single-handedly killing 59 Nazis, 12 of them elite Wehrmacht snipers.
Roza, whose name was inspired by Rosa Luxemburg, was a kindergarten teacher whose parents were farmers, and when she learned of the murder of her three brothers at the hands of the Nazis at the front, she did not hesitate to take up a rifle to avenge them.
In the last entry of her war diary she wrote: ” Despite my desire to be safe, I cannot help going to the front line of combat. I am not afraid of them, I will fight hand to hand if necessary”.. .. she died placing her body on top of a grenade to protect and save the lives of her wounded comrades.