As the war progressed, Lia was called into service as a radio operator. After receiving training, she worked with the brave souls who flew over Leningrad in dirigibles, reporting the movements of the Nazi troops. One of the flyers, Anatoly Shalyopa, would later become her husband. They married in December 1944, after the blockade had been lifted from Leningrad, but before the end of the war.

At the memory of May 9, 1945 -- the day of German surrender -- Lia's eyes light up, and she breaks into a wide smile of pure happiness. "I was up at the university, there was a whole crowd of people there. We all knew the announcement was going to come, and we all were just waiting, ready to burst with joy.

"We waited and waited, and finally the announcement came! Everyone was crying and cheering, kissing and hugging each other -- even people who didn't know each other. You have to understand what we had been through," she says, leaning forward in her chair, "you have to understand the suffering that the people of this city endured, to understand the feeling that we had on that day.

"There have been only two days like that in my entire life. The first was victory day, and the second was the day my son was born."