There are of course many dreadful and heartbreaking stories to come out of World War II.
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.