Breaking Sticks

Last week I wrote about American Defectors who died in the Soviet Union. But not all Americans met such terrible fates, at least according to legend. Tania Chernova was a New Yorker who claimed to have traveled to the Soviet Union in an attempt to rescue her Belarusan grandparents from the German invasion. Finding her grandparents killed by Nazis, Tania decided to stay in Russia. She snuck into Stalingrad through the city sewer system in an attempt to avenge herself on Nazis. She called them "sticks", and referred to the Germans she killed as "broken sticks". While fighting in Stalingrad she fell in love with the Vasily Zaytsev, a Russian sniper later awarded "Hero of the Soviet Union". When Tania was wounded, she returned to the United States, believing Vasily was dead. Some historians are skeptical of the veracity of Tania's story, but it's compelling none the less. Any similarities between her story and that of Karen are entirely coincidental...except, perhaps, in the upcoming sequel...