HOWEVER, MORE PERSONAL STORIES DO PROVIDE A UNIQUE INSIGHT INTO WHAT SO MANY WENT THROUGH DURING THE DEADLY WAR.

 However, more personal stories do provide a unique insight into what so many went through during the deadly war.

Zinaida Portnova's story is one of particular significance, with some nowadays labelling her as a 'one woman army'.

Born in Leningrad, Russia, in February 1926 - Portnova had quite the life, even though it was cut pretty short.

She was a seventh-grade student at the 385th school in the Russian city in 1941, when she left for her grandmother's house in the Vitebsk region.

Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union shortly after that, and an incident with Nazi troops led to Portnova despising them.

German soldiers hit her grandmother while they were confiscating the cattle, leading to the girl (quite understandably) having strong negative feelings towards them.

Portnova joined the Belarusian resistance movement in 1942, and began by distributing Soviet propaganda leaflets in German-occupied Belarus.

She also collected and hid weapons for Soviet soldiers and reported on German troop movements.

The war efforts did not stop there though, as Portnova began learning how to use a gun.

She participated in rather risky sabotage actions at a pump, local power plant, and brick factory. 

These actions ended up killing up to an estimated 100 German soldiers during World War II.