A remarkable story of survival, resistance and resilience. Mark Epstein was still a teenager when the infamous 900 day siege of Leningrad began in 1941. While members of his family and his classmates starved to death, Mark counted the days he until he’d be old enough to enlist in the Soviet Army. 

On his 18th birthday in 1942, he rushed to the enlistment office, was handed a rifle and in a few weeks, proved his mettle as a sniper on the front lines.